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Therefore, Run!

Matthew 21: 1-11
Hebrews 12: 1-3, 12-14

There= is a lot of literature out there that describes what happened in Old Jerusalem t= hat day, as Christ’s triumphal entry into the city. Is that what it was? - someone get= ting a committee together, securing a donkey, providing the palm branches, gatheri= ng some folks together who love a parade, like a designer staged political ral= ly, with some well-trained cheer leader holding up the placards, It’s tim= e to shout now folks! Let’s hear it for Jesus!

No, it wasn’t a parade in Old Jerusalem that day, it was a journey. It was a journey of at least 33 years, beginning with the lack of hospitality in Bethlehem where Jesus was born, Joseph, Mary and Jesus fleeing to Egypt when King Herod killed all the male babies in Bethlehem. Then the scene shifts w= hen Jesus is 12, and on a trip to Jerusalem disappears from his family and was found discussing theology with the elders in the Temple, the beginning of tension with religious authorities. Then shift the scene to home town of Nazareth, and Jesus’ preaching as a young man in the local synagogue,= so angering the crowd that they lead him out of the village to push him over a precipice and kill him. But J= esus just walked straight through that crowd, and he just kept on walking!<= /o:p>

And w= hile he walked he spoke truth to power, and the politicians, the bureaucrats and the religious elite kept trying to break his back. And here he is again, in Old Jerusalem, and all the powers of darkness are there, and Jesus just keeps on coming; the climax to a difficult yet meaningful journey of 33 years. This journey took him around the occupied territory of Palestine; not a parade, a journey, a decisive journey, a journey that represents hard, heart-wrenching turning points in peoples’ lives. It is the kind of journey where so = much is left behind, and the future stretches out fearful and uncertain, and the= re is never the possibility of turning back. So here Jesus was, existing betwe= en what had been in his life, and what was to come in just a few days, and the well-meaning but misplaced adulation of a small crowd of followers. But in truth he was all alone, because no one understood what was happening in his life. No one that is, but the one he called “Father.” You see, no one can go with you on= those “turning point” kinds of journeys. You have to go it alone, and= at times you are not sure God even knows where you are and how fearful it is.<= o:p>

Wow! = He had spent all of those meaningful days in the Judaean hills, precious relations= hips were born, peoples’ souls were being fed, making hurting folks well, giving hope to the poor, pulling people out of their sin into lives with new meaning and purpose. And now the journey had taken nasty turn and thrust him into the midst of hate, fear, and jealousy, where a mob was determined to murder the Son of God. “Therefore Run!” Run, Jesus run!<= /p>

Do yo= u want to run with Jesus? - this lon= ely figure on a donkey, a symbol of weakness and forced humility? How can he sa= ve the world, for now he is going to die? Dead men tell no tales. Dead men hav= e no power beyond the grave. “Hey Jesus,” you’re not running w= ith us in the good life! Telling the Pharisees they were nothing more than white-washed caskets doesn’t gain you a spot on the Board of Director= s of the King David Bank in Old Jerusalem. Can’t get anyplace by speaking truth to power, Jesus. “Therefore, Run!”

So we= would shout Hosanna? What does it mean? Hurrah, Jesus! Bravo! Bully for you! Did anyone ever think about the real meaning of the word?

̶= 0;Lord, save now!” You want to run with that, in a 21st century world full of hypocrisy and lies, where no one any longer has the courage to speak truth = to power? Yes, “Run, Therefore!” And we do! We run away! Well, you see God isn’t look= ing for someone to do what Jesus did. Jesus has already done that! God is looki= ng for some witnesses to what Jesus has done.

The a= uthor of the letter to the Hebrews understood that. He goes through the list of ordi= nary folk whom God called to be witnesses to God’s mighty acts! And then he challenges us. Eugene Peterson puts it in these words: “Do you see what this means, all the= se pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running, and never quit= ! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both b= egan and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed, that exhilarating finish in and with God. He could put up with anything along the way: cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the pla= ce of honor, right alongside God.”

In th= is 21st century world, “Therefore, Run!” Run, looking to Jesus, looking awa= y from everyone else. Focus only on = the one who makes a life of transforming power and meaning possible. Look to the one who gives guidance and aid. Jesus found new life in the Spirit at the e= nd of the journey. He shares life in the Spirit with us. He is life in the Spi= rit, around us and inside of us. Let us run with perseverance, endure any suffer= ing any pain, let us keep our eyes on Jesus!

I am = not suggesting using Jesus. Many religious folk use Jesus like a “good luck” charm or a talisman. Using Jesus! Have you heard the parable of the bicycle? A man left a brand new bicycle at the marketplace while he went ab= out his shopping. He only remembered his bicycle the next day. So he rushed to = the marketplace expecting it to have been stolen. But it was right where he left it. So with joy he rushed into the temple to thank Jesus for having kept his bicycle safe, only to find when he got out of the temple, his bicycle had b= een stolen! The Roman Catholic priest who told me this story says to his people: “Please refer to St. Anthony for lost bicycles and to St. Gertrude for parking spaces. Jesus is busy with bigger problems.”

I rec= all one of Thornton Wilder’s characters in Our Town, saying: “I donR= 17;t care what they say with their mouths. Everybody knows that something is ete= rnal and it ain’t houses and it ain’t horses and it ain’t earth and it ain’t even stars. Everybody knows in their bones that something is eternal and that something has to do with human beings.”

Imagi= ne that! Human beings! “Therefore, Run!” Run into that life that goes on= and on without end. The life that gives us the power to endure and to be faithf= ul in our time, witnessing to the One who empowers all human beings to seek justice, dignity and love for every human being on the face of the earth. T= he One who found new life after the cross to make it happen! The One who now c= an transform the entire cosmos. = Witness giving up the old life for the new! “Therefore, Run!” Endure; continue in faith as long as life this world asks for it!