Please turn with me to John chapter 12 verse 12.  As you’re turning let me bring us up to speed - with some background on what’s happening.

Palm Sunday - in the Hebrew calendar - was the time of the great Passover Festival - a religious gathering of the Hebrew nation.  Jews from all over the Diaspora made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.  The population of Jerusalem - normally about 90,000 - during Passover swelled to maybe 2 million plus people.   

Passover was a religious celebration - the commemoration of the Hebrew’s last meal in Egypt - the deliverance of God.  Some 250,000 plus lambs were sacrificed.  Also during that time was the Feast of Tabernacles - commemorating the Hebrew’s wandering in the wilderness - and God’s preserving His people. 

During the celebrations - people waved willow branches - symbols of sorrow.  And, myrtle branches - symbols of God’s goodness.  And, palm branches - symbols of prosperity and victory.

Palm branches symbolize what?  Prosperity and victory.  Specifically God’s bringing prosperity to the righteous - God’s people - not the despised - dreaded - Gentile - Romans.  And victory - the victory of God’s people - over their oppressors - the dreaded - Gentile - Romans.

Grab that.  Under the yoke of Rome - this is more than just a religious celebration - this is a celebration of nationalism - stirring up the people’s passions - their desires for national - political - and social deliverance.

For six days - prior to Palm Sunday - for six days Jesus has been hanging out in Bethany - about 2 miles south of Jerusalem - hanging out at the home of His friends Mary, Martha, and Lazarus - same Lazarus Jesus had raised from the dead.  Hanging out with His friends and His disciples.

On the sixth night they have dinner together.  Mary anoints Jesus’ feet with a very expensive perfume - an act of devotion and humility.  Which shows us Mary’s heart.  Judas Iscariot - the treasurer - goes off - complaining at the waste of resources.  Which gives us a glimpse of where Judas’ heart.  All of which foreshadows what’s coming.  The hearts of the people - great devotion and great betrayal.

The next day - Jesus - along with His disciples - Jesus begins His entrance into Jerusalem by making the 2 mile or so trip from Bethany to Jerusalem.

Which is where we pick up the account in John 12 - starting at verse 12:  On the next day - after the dinner in Bethany - on the next day the large crowd who had come to the feast - celebrating the feasts of Passover and Tabernacles - when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem - this large crowd - took the branches of the palm trees - which symbolize what?  The prosperity and victory of God’s people over their oppressors - they took the branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and began to shout, “Hosanna!  Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel.”

Hosanna means “save” - as in “Save us from the Romans!”  Along with “Hosanna” the crowd quotes Psalm 118:26:  “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord” - to which the people add - this wasn’t originally in the Psalm - the crowd adds - “Even the King of Israel.”  Point being that the crowd is ready to crown Jesus - their savior from the dreaded - Gentile - Romans - ready to crown Jesus - politically - the King of Israel.

Verse 14:  Jesus, finding a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written, “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your King is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.”

Let’s not pass by that too quickly.  The donkey is symbolic of humility - peace - Davidic royalty.  Before the horse was used, kings rode on donkeys.  The colt - a young donkey that had never been ridden on - never used but set apart for Jesus - the colt is a direct fulfillment of prophecy.

However - going on - verse 16:  These things His disciples did not understand at the first - there are parts of what’s happening here that even the disciples were clueless about; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written of Him, and that they had done these things to Him.

Point being that the crowd - and maybe even the disciples - the crowd is thinking politically:  palm branches - king on a donkey - procession.  It’s a coronation.  But Jesus - entering Jerusalem to die - is offering God’s people a very different deliverance.  Are we together?

Jesus is offering God’s people victory over sin and death - real eternal salvation.  Jesus is offering true prosperity - the abundance of life lived in relationship the living God - of being heirs of the riches of God’s kingdom.  All of which - is lost on the crowd.

Verse 17:  So the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him - Lazarus - from the dead, continued to testify about Him.

“Jesus is the guy who raised Lazarus from the dead.  We saw Him do it.” 

Verse 18:  For this reason also - for what reason?  Because the Bethany crowd was getting caught up in all this hoopla and was going on and on about Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead.  For this reason also the people went and met Him, because they heard that He had performed this sign - what sign?  Resurrection of Lazarus.

There’s a number of people here who were trying to get a glimpse of Lazarus - who’s become a local celebrity since coming back from death.  Maybe get him to autograph a palm branch or parchment or something.  Some are expecting Jesus to do something miraculous.  Call down fire and wipe out the Roman cohort or something.

Verse 19:  So the Pharisees - the religious leaders who were plotting to kill Jesus - and even plotting to kill Lazarus - since Jesus had raised from him from the dead - the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are not doing any good; look, the world has gone after Him.”  Jesus Christ Super-star.

How many of you know who this is?  This is Mary Pickford.  Known as “America’s Sweetheart” - Mary Pickford - back in the silent film era - Mary was the highest paid actor in Hollywood.  She had the most famous face in the world.  Mary Pickford was very famous.  Very popular.

This is who?  This is Alvin “Shipwreck” Kelly.  Back in 1924 - in response to a dare - Kelly sat on a flagpole for 13 hours and 13 minutes.  Started a national craze - hundreds of people sitting on flagpoles for days vying for title “King of the Pole.”  Huge crowds of people would come out to watch these guys just sitting on flag poles.

Kelly - very popular at the time - Kelly held the record.  In Atlantic City - with an audience of 20,000 admirers - Kelly sat on a flagpole for 49 days.

Popularity.  What’s popular.  What was popular.  How things and people become popular - so well known - and yet how fleeting and empty that popularity is.  

3D movies.  Gave people headaches.  Still do.  Stuffing telephone booths with people.  Or, the ever popular VW stuffing.  Anyone ever do this?

We all remember these - the ever popular 8 Track.  And this trend - the leisure suit - a popular trend that we’re thankful is no longer with us.

Then there was the Pet Rock.  They sold millions of these - with owners manuals - birth certificates - pedigrees.  By the way, do you know what you call a herd of pet rocks?  Gravel.

How many of you have one of these?  This is the Rubik’s cube for dummies version.

Before we come to our last three pictures - a short disclaimer.  Please understand that I’m not trying to take a cheap shot at the President.  That’s not the point.  The point is how a public figure - a popular figure -  can be exploited - used for our own selfish temporary gain - without really thinking about what that person actually stands for.  Are we together?

Next picture.  The Obama Aloha Shirt - retail value $69.99.  Next the Obama clock - retail value $49.95. If you think I’m making this stuff up - Google it.  Finally Obama Toothpaste.

Jesus was at the height of His popularity - hugely popular.  5 days later they crucified Him - hugely popular in a different sense.  How fleeting is popularity?  How easy it is for us to focus on a thing or a person - and to see them for what we gain - what they do for us - without really thinking about who that person actually is - what that person actually stands for. 

About a month ago Gwen gave me a book by Father Jonathan Morris entitled “The Promise.”  Anyone read this book?  Father Morris shares about a couple - Mary and Mark - married for 8 years - who for the last 3 years had been trying to have a baby.  Mary was weighed down with guilt.  Mark was tired of all the dehumanizing therapies and recommendations.

When Father Morris visited them they were thrilled to have a priest visit their home.  They lapped up every word about God and miracles.  They asked for prayers.  Father Morris suggested that they pray for God’s will to be done in their lives - that God allow Mary to become pregnant if that is what He wanted for them.

Father Morris writes, “I didn’t realize how strange my words would sound to them.  ‘Pray that God’s will be done?  What?!  We just want a baby!’  They wanted desperately for me to help them achieve their objective, but for my part I couldn’t promise anything.  God isn’t a vending machine.”  (1)

Way too often people come to God and expect Him to fix things for them - emotional wounds - disease - financial problems - a struggling marriage.  When God doesn’t give them the answer they want - or doesn’t answer in the immediate time frame that they think is appropriate - or God asks them to do something they can’t see any reason for - they assume the machine is broken.  They bang harder on the outside of the machine trying to get it to work the way they want.  They hit the coin return - expecting a refund.

Why doesn’t God do what we ask Him to?

The ever popular - raised Lazarus from the dead - Jesus comes riding into Jerusalem welcomed by a religious crowd whipped to a frenzy by nationalistic aspirations - and is crucified 5 days later.  Why doesn’t God do what we want Him to?  Burn out the Romans.  God is so popular when He performs the way we will Him to.

But, God isn’t competing in a popularity contest.  What lasting value is there to popularity - popularity that gets exploited for our own purposes. God isn’t focused on what’s temporal.  God isn’t a vending machine.  Praise God!

The bottom line isn’t what we will.  But, what God wills.  

Jesus entering Jerusalem isn’t about our vain purposes - but God’s.  God isn’t just saving a nation from dreaded - Gentile - Romans.  He’s saving the world from its sin.

We need God to work in our lives.  But we’ll never be at the point where God can freely work in us and through us if we keep coming to Him as some kind of wimpy performing God what jumps every time we say jump. 

I’ve really appreciated Steve’s sermons these last few Sundays.  It so great to be in a congregation where you can have tag team pastors - and I get to sit for a bit and soak in good teaching.  One of the things that Steve does that is really helpful is his sermon outlines with the acrostics.

Somehow this seemed to work out this Sunday.  If you’ll look at your sermon notes - with apologies to Steve - you’ll notice an acrostic there.

One of the lessons we can learn from Palm Sunday is the importance of making sure that our purposes are God’s purposes.  Try that with me, “The importance of making sure that our purposes are God’s purposes.”

There are four truths that run through Scripture that are integral to keeping us focused on what God is focused on - making sure that our purposes are His purposes.

The first letter on the acrostic is “P” for “Priority.”  Making God the priority of our lives.

George Atley was a missionary with the Central African Mission.  In 1989 he was killed.  There were no witnesses.  But the evidence indicates that Atley was confronted by a band of hostile tribesmen.  He was carrying a fully loaded - 10-chamber - Winchester rifle - and he had to choose either to shoot his attackers and run the risk of negating the work - the testimony of the mission - or to not defend himself and be killed.

When his body was later found in a stream, it was evident that he had chosen the latter.  Nearby lay his rifle - all 10 chambers still loaded.  He had made the supreme sacrifice, motivated by his burden for lost souls and his unswerving devotion to his Savior.

The Apostle Paul writes in Philippians 1:21 - Paul writes, “For me to live is - what? Christ and to die is gain.”

That’s the bottom line of living the Christian life.  In Greek its even more emphatic:  “To live Christ.  To die gain.” 

So many people are looking for something to tether their lives to - to commit to - to trust in.  To know Jesus is to realize that God Himself has reached to us - to save us from our sin and separation from Him.  To give our lives to God through Jesus Christ - to trust Him with everything we are - is to come to what life is - true life - found only in Jesus.  Life is Jesus Christ.  “To live Christ.”

Paul, later in the same letter to the Philippians - in chapter 3 - verse 8 - writes this,  “I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ.”

Paul was a man who traveled life’s road with many challenging and difficult experiences.  Hard circumstances that go beyond what most of us will ever experience.  Constantly he was under pressure to abandon his trust in God.  Paul says, there’s no greater priority in life than knowing Jesus Christ - even if pursuing God’s purposes for our lives means death.  “To die gain.” 

The pursuit of anything else - any other priority is worthless.  There’s no greater purpose in life than to exalt - to lift up and proclaim - Jesus the Savior and Lord - to live for Him with everything we are.  That priority and that purpose never changes - regardless of the circumstances.  Not for Paul.  Not for us.

Giving God priority in our lives is like pie.  Every part of our lives - family - work - school - ministry - recreation - whatever the parts of our lives - are like pieces of that pie.  God is to have first place in every piece.  The choices we make in every part of our lives need to be based on surrender to God - trusting God - obedience to God.

The second letter is an “A” for “Allow.”  Allow God to speak to you.

In the prayer letter that’s been going out these last few weeks - I wrote about Mary Geegh - who for 38 years was a missionary in India.  Mary wrote a book - called “God Guides” in which Mary writes about her experiences on the mission field - and in particular - she writes about how she was able to stay focused - through some pretty difficult circumstances - how she was able to stay focused on God’s purposes for her

Mary would take every situation and circumstance to God in prayer.  Go off by herself to a quite place where she could be alone with God.  She’d sit there with a pencil and paper.  Pour out her heart before God and then wait and listen for God’s answer - no matter how long that took - sometimes hours.  Whatever God said to do - she would write it down and then she’d do it.

One time there was an ongoing conflict between Mary and a colleague.  The colleague had 10 children and was usually sick and couldn’t carry out her work.  Mary was critical - because this lady was trying to hold onto her job when she wasn’t able to keep up with her responsibilities.  The conflict was getting pretty intense - pretty ugly - and was causing problems in the ministry.

One morning Mary was praying about all this - and waiting for God’s response - and God told her to take her colleague one fresh egg.  Which seemed kind of silly. 

Mary writes, “A dozen fresh eggs might be reasonable - but one!  That might insult my colleague.  So I wrote if off, and gave up for that morning.  At noon when I came home, there was a chicken in a large armchair in my living room!  The hen flew down and started to cackle, and there was an egg, freshly laid”

Mary took the egg and went to her colleague’s house.  The colleague’s son was outside.  So Mary - with embarrassment and anxiety gave the the egg to the boy and left quickly.

That night the colleague showed up at Mary’s house and said, “How did you happen to bring me that egg?  It was so fresh and good.”

Mary answered, when I was praying God told me to.

“Oh, that’s just like God!” said the colleague.  “He knew I had nothing to eat this day.  There wasn’t enough food for all, so I went without.  Then you brought the egg for me.  When I ate it, I felt so satisfied and strengthened.”   And that was the beginning of healing between Mary and her colleague. (1)

How are we going to know God’s purposes for us if we spend all our time talking at God about what we think He should be doing? 

Remember Samuel?  Learning to recognize the voice of God?  And Eli teaching him how to respond?  “Speak, for Your servant is listening.”  (1 Samuel 3:1-14) 

The bottom line is that we need to spend more time with God in prayer.  And more of that prayer time allowing God to speak to us.

The third letter is an “L” for “Listen” - We need to listen to others.

Do you know that when a 240 pound lineman - capable of running 100 yards in eleven seconds - collides with a 240 pound running back - capable of covering the same distance in ten seconds - the resulting kinetic energy is enough to move 66,000 pounds - or thirty-three tons - one inch?

That explains why some players stagger around the field mumbling to themselves after having their bell rung during a collision.  The likelihood is that they have been hit on the helmet by a blow approaching 1,000 G’s.  That means 1,000 times the force of gravity.  By the way, fighter pilots, in top physical shape, tend to black out at about 20 Gs.  These guys have been hit with a force approaching 1,000 Gs.

Paul writes to Timothy - 2 Timothy 2 - “You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.  The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.”  (2 Timothy 2:1,2)

Every one of us needs a Paul - a Godly mentor.  Someone - ahead of us spiritually - that we can bounce our lives and ideas off of - hopefully with less violence that 1,000 G’s - but with as much spiritual impact.  A Godly man or women who’ll help us to grow in our relationship with Jesus - who’ll keep us on track with God’s purposes - and to let us know when we’re drifting.  And, each of us needs to be a Timothy - helping others to follow God.

The last letter - making sure that our purposes are God’s purposes - the last letter is an “M” for meditate.  We need to mediate on God’s word.

Psalm 119:105 - “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a - what? a light to my path.”

One of the great joys of my life has been assembling U-Build It Furniture.  You know what I’m talking about?  Furniture that comes tightly packed in a box with a set of instructions and a parts bag - lots of little parts.  The way go from a box full of random parts to something that resembles the picture on the box is to follow the instructions.  Step by step.

There have been a number of times - following the instructions - when I’ve said to myself, “They’ve got to be kidding.”  I have no clue how this is going to accomplish that.  Ever been there?

But, the responsibility to be creative with the instructions isn’t mine.  My choice is to trust the manufacturer and follow the instructions.  Step by step.  And if I do that.  What results is what the manufacturer intended - purposed - which is what I needed - which is what was pictured on the box.

To meditate is to read - study - examine - memorize - to give careful thought to - God’s word - with the goal of allowing God to transform and direct our lives according to the power of His word implanted at the core of who we are.

When we’re willing to place our lives under the authority of God’s word - following the instructions - we’re set free from trying to do life on our own and to figure out how it all works together - trying to make sense out of all this.  When we choose to turn from that - to follow God’s word - we’re set free to become all that God has created us to be - to live out our life according to His great purposes for us.

What does it mean for us to live life focused on God’s purposes not ours?

The chancellor of the University of Glasgow introduced to the young men of that university, God’s missionary, David Livingstone.  When Livingstone stood up and walked to the front of the platform to speak to that group of university men, the students looked at him earnestly and in silence.  They saw his hair burned crisp under the torrid tropical sun.  They saw his body wasted and emaciated from jungle fever.  They saw his right arm hanging limp at his side, destroyed by the attack of a ferocious African lion.  God’s missionary. (3)

Life is not about us - God owing us a wonderful life - what we may think life is all about.  What we often get bent out of shape about when life doesn’t meet our expectations.  The savior riding into Jerusalem on a donkey.

Life isn’t about us.  Life is about God.  His purposes for us.  What He wills to do in us and through us - for His glory.

When we learn to live life focused on God - what we begin to realize in our lives - at the core of who we are - what we begin to experience - is not what’s popular - or what eventually will fail us - we begin to know the presence of God - who never leaves us - who supplies to us all that we need - spiritually - mentally - physically - even supplying to us the certain hope of eternity with Him.  Then in us - and through us - God’s purposes are accomplished to His glory.

_____________________________
1. Father Jonathan Morris, The Promise, Harper One, 2008
2. Mary Geegh, God Guides, http://www.god-guides.com
3. W.A. Criswell, Expository Sermons on Galatians