Reflections on “Lenten Love: Choose” Mark 11: 1-11

“Lenten Love:  Choose”  Mark 11: 1-11As we often do on Palm Sunday, Lisa, the Associate Pastor, and I preach a dialogue sermon.  this week, we used our dialogue to reflect on choices we make, based on the choices people made in the Palm Sunday story.  It might have gotten a bit complicated in its format.    

“Lenten Love:  Choose”  Mark 11: 1-11; March 24, 2024;  SAPC, Denton; Richard B. Culp

RBC:When they were approaching Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples ²and said to them, ‘Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden; untie it and bring it. ³If anyone says to you, “Why are you doing this?” just say this, “The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately.” ’ 

LP: ⁴They went away and found a colt tied near a door, outside in the street. As they were untying it, ⁵some of the bystanders said to them, ‘What are you doing, untying the colt?’ ⁶They told them what Jesus had said; and they allowed them to take it. ⁷Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it; and he sat on it. ⁸Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields. 

RBC:⁹Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting,
‘Hosanna!
   Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
¹⁰   Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!’

LP:  11 Then he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple; and when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.

RBC: Introduction:  Palm Sunday has arrived as we begin to close our Lenten preaching series on love.

Today, the word few connect with love is choose.  We invite you to reflect on ways you choose, particularly when you choose to love.

LP:  Lots of choices were being made that day when Jesus rode into Jerusalem.

Lots of choices are being made every day by each of us as we live out our lives.

Let’s look at some of those choices.

Move 1:  

Lisa: First choice – do the disciple do as Jesus instructs them and go and get the colt.

Richard: I suspect the disciples are wondering why in the world Jesus needs them to get a colt.

Yes, they know Passover is approaching.

surely they expect to gather with Jesus, probably in Jerusalem.

But why do they need a colt?

They’d been walking everywhere.  it’s just a couple o miles from Bethany to Jerusalem.  they’ve walked that far many times.

So maybe they were thinking about the symbolism of a colt.

I wonder if they thought about Zechariah prophesying that the long-awaited ruled would come riding on a donkey colt.   They’d probably been hearing that for years at the synagogue.

No compelling reason for the disciples to choose to go get the donkey colt.

Lisa:  Of course, they would do that! They were infatuated with Jesus. Infatuation is a bit like a drug - your brain goes a little haywire. the person is all you want to talk about, and you’ll do just about anything to please the person with whom you’re infatuated. In this stage, the disciples wanted instruction from Jesus to help prove their love. When Jesus told them to go and get a random person’s colt that had never been ridden, untie it, and, in essence, steal it, the disciples didn’t hesitate. It makes perfect sense, if you’re in the infatuation stage, totally captivated by Jesus and their human expectations of what kind of Savior he would be to them.

Do the disciples go and get the colt? 

They have to choose.

Move 2: 

Richard:  Next choice – do the bystanders give them the colt or not? 

LP: No, the stranger didn’t know the disciples. There were a lot of strangers in town for Passover, and they were suspicious and wary of these travelers who asked the owner to turn over his colt just because some unknown Lord says so. Colts were valuable in that time and the only form of transportation for many people. Imagine what would happen in Texas, if someone tried to walk away with a person’s horse!

Richard – I thought it was a bit odd that those men wanted the colt, but the Passover gathering always has lots of people coming to Jerusalem and lots of things happening that are not the norm.

Perhaps when they heard Jesus’ disciples tell them Jesus had sent them, they knew who Jesus was.  Had heard about him and all the things he was teaching and doing.  Maybe they wanted to contribute one small thing to help Jesus.

Or maybe they were just gracious people who heard about a need and agreed to meet it.

do the owners give the disciples the colt?  they have to choose.

Move 3:  

Richard;  New Testament scholars Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan begin their book, The Last Week, with the striking observation that actually there were two processions entering Jerusalem on a spring day in the year 30. 

One parade was the parade of palms in which Jesus rode a donkey colt.

The other was a parade with the governor riding into town for the high holy days.

Next choice – which parade do the people choose to go to?  

Lisa – One of the parades was for the Roman Governor.

The people go to the Roman Governor’s Parade. It is the one with pageantry on display. I love pageantry, and I wouldn’t have missed that. The governor’s parade had all the best horses, the shiny armor, the uniformed soldiers marching in formation, and the finest drum corps playing. It is the place where the people in power stand shoulder to shoulder networking with each other. It is also the place where those who want power are trying to get as close to it as possible. No one does power like the Roman Empire, and it is on display in the governor’s parade. The religious people are expecting some of this power to manifest itself in their hoped-for Messiah. They expected the Messiah to be a warrior who would go to battle for them. They might be looking for him in the Governor’s parade on that day.

Richard:  Why would someone choose the parade with Jesus riding a donkey colt?

Maybe they knew that when someone rode into a city on a donkey colt it was a sign they were coming in peace.  In a world of Roman domination and unity through submission, the idea of one coming in peace might have been worth seeking.

Maybe they were just desperate.  They shout “hosanna,” which we hear as a joyous celebratory shout, but it was also the cry of the desperate – “hosanna,” means “save us,” which God’s people had been crying out for generations. 

Maybe some people like the bring your own palm branch type of parade.  Not much majesty or power, but they are invited to participate, to be a part or what Jesus was doing.

Do the people go to the imperial parade or the palm processional 

They have to choose.

 

Lisa: Move 4:  Jesus has to make a choice. Does he choose the way of easy love by using his power and relationship to God to ask God to exempt him from the choice of real love and find another way? Or does Jesus choose the harder way that requires the sacrifice of all of him. Does he make the choice to sacrifice his life for love? Or does Jesus choose not to ride into Jerusalem to his death?

Next choice. Will Jesus choose to ride the colt to his death?

Richard: Years ago, when I was in seminary there was a controversial movie that came out called The Last Temptation of Christ.  It was based on the novel of the same name by

I went to see it.  Actually found it kind of slow, almost boring.  

What was so controversial?  As Jesus moves to his crucifixion, he has a dream about what would happen if he did not die on the cross. 

In the dream, he would be married, have kids, and live happily ever after.

Because we know the choice Jesus makes, we seldom consider what Jesus gave up to die on the cross.

He could have kept teaching and spent lots…

Think of the friendships he could have continued to develop.

Crowds were gathering.  His impact was growing.

He could have had quite a life as a leader and mover and shaker in the world.

Maybe he could have accumulated enough power on his own to take on the Roman government.

Maybe a love life.

Maybe a family.

Lisa: Jesus chose the path of love. Jesus’ kind of love isn’t infatuation. It burns bright, but it doesn’t flame out quickly. Jesus chose the path that claimed his life. Jesus knew the path was to suffering, and he had no illusions of a last minute rescue. He chose this path, because he knew the world needed a different kind of love. The world needed a love that wasn’t an illusion, but, instead, was a reality powerful enough to not only absorb our defeats and sufferings but strong enough to transform us into people capable of love. Jesus chose to walk the way to the cross to give the world this kind of love.

Jesus has to make a choice - Jesus chooses love.

Conclusion:   

richard: We have make choices everyday.

Lisa.  What do you choose?

Reflections on “Lenten Love: Forgiving Love” Jeremiah 31: 31-34; Hebrews 10: 11-25

A familiar text. I enjoyed exploring the idea of God "remembering our sins no more."  The first section on the old covenant and the new covenant may have not have been as clear as I would have liked.  it was in response to the tendency people have to see the Old Testament as only mattering if it relates to Jesus Christ.   For the Israelites, the words of Jeremiah were words of hope and promise that reminded them that God still cared about them and had a future for them.  

I find the Les Miserables illustration particularly powerful.  I am grateful for having read Tom Are, Jr. sermon that included the story.

I was not able to sort out the last story and its relationship to the Ernest Hemingway short story 

 “Lenten Love:  Forgiving Love” Jeremiah 31: 31-34; Hebrews 10: 11-25; St. Andrew Presbyterian Church; March 17, 2024

Jeremiah 31: 31-34  31 The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 32 It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband,[g] says the Lord. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, “Know the Lord,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.

Introduction:  We continue our Lenten love series, although

we are almost done with Lent.  Next week, Palm Sunday, and then on to Holy Week.

this week, we read the familiar words from the prophet Jeremiah that speak to love this is a forgiving love.

so let’s reflect a few minutes this morning on this passage.

Move 1:  Begin by looking at the idea of the old covenant and the new covenant

a.  when we talk about the old covenant and the new covenant, we often try to create a clear demarcation between the two.

1. We label the old covenant as the promise God made to God’s people in the Old Testament

and the new covenant is found in the New Testament and revolves around Jesus.

2.  there is some truth in that.  In fact, this passage in Jeremiah is the only time in the Old Testament that the term new covenant is used.

3.  And we remember, of course,  that Jesus uses new covenant language to define what he brings to the table, particularly as he describes how he sets the Lord’s Table for us with his body broken for us and blood shed for us. 

4. Sometimes this means we interpret Jeremiah’s prophecy only to be about pointing to Christ.

5.  we even push that interpretation to something like this - old covenant was for the Israelites, and the new covenant is for followers of Christ; old covenant only has meaning in Old Testament and new covenant only has meaning in New Testament.

6. Implied in that thinking, of course, is the idea that the Old  Testament and the relationship between God and Israel is somehow less important than the New Testament and has little value except as it points to Christ.

b.  No denying, of course, that the old covenant between God and Israel has been broken - Jeremiah tells us that.

1.  But the new covenant is still for Israelites.

2.  When Jeremiah speaks about the new covenant he is reminding the Israelites that God is not done with them.

3.  As Jeremiah shares this powerful prophecy it speaks to the character of Yahweh who continues to be in relationship with them and calls them into the future Yahweh has for them.

3. God  has created out of love; 

God has made covenant with Israel out of love;

God will not give up on Israel

God will continue to love Israel

4. How will God live out that love?

By forgiving Israel.

By forgiving us.

c.  As we read this text in light of God coming in Christ, it does not separate God’s commitment to be in covenant relationship with Israel, but builds on God's commitment to God’s people.

1.  The hope Jeremiah gives to the Israelites,

the hope that God will not forsake them

the hope that God will continue to be in covenant  relationship with them

the hope that is seen most fully in the coming Christ. 

2.  as we hear the prophecy of Jeremiah, we embrace the God of covenant who have loved, forgiven, and given hope to people since God called us into being.

the God of covenant who has loved, forgiven, and given hope to the Israelites;

The God of covenant who has loved, forgiven, and given hope to the world in the coming of Christ.

the God of covenant who continues to love, forgive, and give us hope today and into the future.

Move 2:  Jeremiah also offers a powerful image of the God who remembers our sins no more.

a.  How many times have you said, or heard someone say, “I forgive so and for what he or she did, but I’ll never forget.”

1. To be honest, that seems like a true reflection of what happens and a more than fair offer.

2.  We can forgive someone for what they have done to us, but we are still going to remember what happened.

maybe as a reminder to not trust the person

or to protect ourselves

2. Forgiveness, yes, but we still remember.

b.  But that is not the type of forgiveness God offers to us the prophet Jeremiah.

1. We hear God say, “I will forgive their iniquity and remember their sins no more.”

2.  We might call it Steadfast amnesia!

or Everlasting amnesia!

3.  Noelle, age 5, talking about her 2 yr. old sister tells me that “Rachel’s memory is broken. She can’t remember.”

4. We follow a God whose memory is broken, who not only forgives be remembers no more.

b. that does not mean we do not need to name our sins.

1.  We still are accountable for our sins.

2. We still need to acknowledge them so we can repent and move on from them.

3.  But, God chooses to forgive and then forget.

4.  We may remember and hold ourselves back or try to hold others back, but God will not!

God’s love at work in both forgiving and in not remembering.

Move 3: A final thought on provoking the possibilities offered to us by God’s forgiveness.

a.  the letter to the Hebrews picks up on the words we read from Jeremiah.

1. Notice, for instance, how the Holy Spirit is mentioned as the one who testifies to how God will remember out sins not more.

2.  But the letter also asks us how we might act wiht confidence because of God’s forgiveness.

b.  how do we respond to this new covenant, this forgiveness in where God remember our sins no more?

1. the Letter offers several thoughts, 

2. personally, I love the admonition to provoke the possibilities.

3. Provoke the possibilities of who we can be and what we can do when we are forgiven by God.

when we are no longer burdened by our sins.

when we no longer have God remembering what our sinfulness.

4. How do we provide the possibilities and imagine the new life to which we are called by God’s forgiveness.

b.  Perhaps you have seen the musical Les Miserables? There is that moment when Jean Valjean steals the candlesticks, and the priest looks at him and forgives him. 

But there is some­thing in that moment even more significant, I think. The priest looks at the man and believes that he can be better than his past indicates; that he can become new. He sings:

But remember this, my brother.

See in this some higher plan.

You must use this precious silver

To become an honest man.

In that moment, the priest had to look really deep to see that possibility in Jean Valjean. But to see the possibility of an honest man in a thief is an aspect of forgiveness. (Rev. Thom Are, Jr. Forgive Us as We Forgive, sermon preached at Village Presbyterian Church, July 14, 2013. Prairie Village, Kansas) 

provoke the possibilities as we imagine who we can be as forgiven people;

provoke the possibilities of who others can be when we extend forgiveness to others.

Conclusion:  The Spanish have a story about a father and a son who became estranged.  The son left home and the father set out to find him.  He searched for months with no luck. Finally, in a city where he thought his son might be, the father took an ad in a newspaper that simply said:  “Dear Paco, meet me in front of this newspaper office at noon on Saturday. All is forgiven. I love you.  Your father.”  On Saturday, 800 young men named Paco showed up looking for forgiveness and love from their estranged fathers.

and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, “Know the Lord,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.

¹¹And every priest stands day after day at his service, offering again and again the same sacrifices that can never take away sins. ¹²But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, “he sat down at the right hand of God,” ¹³and since then has been waiting “until his enemies would be made a footstool for his feet.” ¹⁴For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. ¹⁵And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying, ¹⁶“This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds,” ¹⁷he also adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.” ¹⁸Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

¹⁹Therefore, my friends, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain (that is, through his flesh), ²¹and since we have a great priest over the house of God, ²²let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. ²³Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. ²⁴And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, ²⁵not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.