After he had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, saying, “Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it.'” So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” They said, “The Lord needs it.” Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, saying, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!” Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.” He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.” [NRSA: Lk 19:28-40]

Luke 19:28-40 “The Lord Has Need of It”
After he had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, saying, “Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it.'” So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” They said, “The Lord needs it.” Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, saying, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!” Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.” He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.” [NRSA: Lk 19:28-40]

The witness is not of Jesus riding in on a mighty war horse. Instead, it is a sign of humbleness and “a labor of love”… instead of a beast of a Cadillac Escalade Jesus arrives riding a base model Chevrolet Colt.

If Luke were our only Gospel, we would have no mention of palm branches, only coats being spread upon the road as ‘red carpet welcome’. So it might be known as Cloak Sunday instead of palm Sunday. It is interesting that tradition has preferred that we take palms from along lthe road over offering our coats and cloaks.

The core of the Colt along the Road and the Coats on the Road
What happens on the road? What happens at the parade?

A multitude of disciples begin telling of the deeds, signs, wonders, and accomplishments of Jesus…
• Praising God
• With Joy
• And a loud voice

17 examples in Luke’s Gospel
• “for all the mighty works which they had seen” (v. 37c). Note the abundance of Jesus’ miracles that Luke the physician records—mostly healings or exorcisms (4:31-37; 4:38-39; 5:12-16; 5:17-26; 6:6-11; 6:17-19; 7:1-10; 7:11-17; 8:22-25; 8:26-39; 8:40-56; 9:10-17; 9:37-43; 13:10-17; 14:1-6; 17:11-19; 18:35-43).
• Luke gives 17 accounts of might works and deeds done by Jesus

Those blessed by Jesus’s might works are praising
Those threatened by Jesus’s mighty works:
The Pharisees ordered Jesus to make the disciples stop the procession, stop with the branches, stop with the mockery of Jesus as {some kind of king.} If I even tried, the stones would speak the truth.

The Stones would speak the truth
• We celebrate the voices of jubilation and praise with our Palms, but it more important to deal with the voices calling for order, quiet, and silence.
• The voices of caution that tell the winds of the Holy Spirit which direction to blow are not voices of God.
• The voices of cold hard stones that have no life about them, will be given voices and become animated if needed.

Where is my voice in the celebration?
• Praising God
• Silent as a stone
• Calling God to keep quiet

Where are we in the story?
• For those who are praising God, we are on the right track
• For those who are the stone quiet already, is the greater call to be useful and purposeful for the kingdom…
• For those who are hesitant or cautious, do be hindered or wait any longer.

The World is divided between good and evil
We need to take a stand…
What good is it to take the side of good and keep quiet?
What good is it to take the side of evil and keep quiet, either?
Riding under the radar is no longer an option

The denomination is dividing whether we want it to divide or not… We can wait for the conversation to sneak up on us or we can face it head on
Elements of persons for extremes have called for action and “the majority” of silent stones in the middle have kept quiet…

Our country, likewise, has been divided into opposing camps and those who are silent hoping evils will reveal themselves and wrongs will right themselves without our taking a stand, hold the foolish thought more of the same will bring change.

When Peter steps up to tell Jesus that he cannot died and will not be killed, Jesus tells Peter that his heart and mind are being led by Satan and not the Spirit. God’s ultimate purposes will not be stopped.

What are we to do? Luke shows us two groups
If we are praising God with our whole heart and without reservation we need only continue
If we are saying things like,
• “Hold on”,
• “Wait a minute”,
• “Someone is trying something new and different”,
• “My way is being challenged.”
• We’ve never done that
• You are making me uncomfortable

On the other hand, We may be the one who needs to keep quiet and let the new thrive.
• The Lord has need of a colt, palms, branches, and disciples
• The Lord has need of the people, then and now.
• The Lord has need of the leaders, in Luke, and in 2022.
• The Lord has need of you and me

The Lord will proceed with or without any of the above.
• Lord Have Mercy on Me when I have
• Not waved the branches and raised your praise
• Not asked your will over my own
• Not spoke up and remained silent

What do we do?
We recognize that if God Needs animals and palm branches

1. God needs and desires us
2. We allow God to speak through us and our actions
3. Pay attention to hearts of stone that begin to sing praises.

Isnt their some middle ground, a safety zone, where I do not have to speak out and do not have to be called out?
As Jesus makes his way into Jerusalem, through his trial and examination, and to the cross, there is no time for quiet/comfort…

The story is the ultimate labor of love on our behalf.
For God so love the whole world that he gives his only son that through his sacrificial death may we know life and know it eternally.

Imagine taking your coat and throwing on the ground on a cold day as a sign of praise and devotion… if I am reluctant to offer my coat, how much less I’m I ready to give my heart.

If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith.
I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. [NRSA: Phil 3:4-14]

Philippi was a retirement community for military and government workers, as well as communities of the poor from the Greek region and from Rome. As a Roman colony, that didn’t have to pay tribute to Rome but was very Rome-like with a patriotic community of transplants in an area where Greeks visited for fertility worship. Finally, as a beautiful place of retreat and commerce, the community enjoyed a diverse group of people.

Located in the foothills of the LAKANI Mountains and mt PANGAION pan-ga-yawn, it sounds like our favorite town.

Paul’s primary theme in this passage is “Endurance in Faithfulness.”

Pressing toward the Heavenly Goal.

Pressing on – is an athletic term in Greek, as in a race.

Don’t give up when the goal is near.

We have the upcoming “run for the Son” race, and I encourage you to register today, even if you are running virtually at home. It is a worthy cause, and we need all who can help us win the prize for the most support. (Take a moment to sign up right now with your name and phone number, and we will follow up)

Pressing on also has a military use:

There would have been those in military service who had been given orders to push forward a line within a battle and the need to “Press On.”

A Time to Yield and a time to Press

There are many who press on when they should stop and yield, at the round-about, for example. There are drivers who neither slow down nor do they yield at the circle. There would be no need for the flashing speed monitors if drivers would approach all of downtown with courtesy and caution. This is not a place to press on.

Paul assures us we are on the winning team.

Know I will win the race before the race is over.

How? I belong to Jesus and Jesus is mine. Together, We are completing what Christ has already done for us, and the world.

The Catch?

If Jesus has won the race, then why bother, our team time cannot be beaten. I will coast along… Why not use the back burner, and let someone else step up.

Paul’s prescription:

Forget the past sufferings and failures and focus on the prize.

Every runner needs to be present in their current race and not think about the misery of training.

Every soldier needs to let go of what has been lost and see the need to complete the mission of today.

Do not worry or be anxious about what we have no control over, rather

Focus on the things that we can give our faithfulness.

Forgetting is a powerful work. It makes room for the possibilities of today and tomorrow.

Wendy’s mother lived with us for the majority of her battle with dementia. Alzheimer’s and Dementia are terrible thieves. The loss of memories has profound pain and anxiety. There came the point when the pain of suffering from lost memories opened the opportunity for Nancy to think she was living at the Hilton Head Island resort and woke every morning hoping that she had not missed the breakfast buffet.

What are the possibilities for trust, fellowship, witness, and service when we let go of what we have suffered through, failed, and left undone and start fresh in Christ?

When we forgive, as we have been forgiven, we are able to count on each other with fresh hearts of faith in Christ.

We can press on because the weight is gone.

In the movie “The Mission”, Robert DeNiro plays the part of a slave trader in South America who follows a tribe of native people at great suffering and cost to his own traveling party. He discovers the village is at the top of a waterfall and scales the mountain carrying his armor, weapons, and supplies in a giant net… as he reaches the top of the mountain, he is exhausted, weighed down, and defenseless as the natives surround him at the edge of the cliff.

He has two choices. Let go of the rope and all his possessions and face the tribe with nothing, or let go of the cliff, keep his possessions, and fall to the basin below. The chief warrior draws his spear and cuts the rope; DeNiro’s belongings and weapons gone, what is most likely his death, frees him up to meet his enemies. The tribe takes him in and saves his life. (Long epic movie worth the watch)

Paul asks a similar question: Are we holding on or pressing on?

Are we pressing on?

Toward the Heavenly Goal?

Do we know the outcome of the race of our life?

Are we Heaven bound?

Paul is describing a both/and/not yet relationship

What we know by faith is proven during “the course” of our life and in the end, our sharing in the resurrection.

To bind is to fasten to, to already bind, in the past tense is bound…being bound to Christ.

My sins are bound to the cross of Christ….

The Power of Forgetting

Nancy and apple pie Paul gives his credentials and says that he trades it all for what he finds in Christ, asking Roman citizens, and veterans to trade their history for a new future.