Courage to Go Forth
Tony E Dillon-Hansen
25 March 2018
A sermon based upon Psalm 118; John
12:12-16
Will you pray with me? Holy and gracious God,
open our hearts and minds to receive the lesson given to us today. May the
words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight
O Lord, our Rock, Our Redeemer. Amen!
So we have been walking in the wilderness of Lent
And we are on the last leg with only a week left.
Perhaps this is one reason why we celebrate Palm Sunday.
For another reason, our scripture this week focuses upon the
arrival of Jesus into Jerusalem.
The
Importance of This Story
Each of the Gospels has a rendition of this arrival and that tells
us this is important. For the purposes of this discussion, I want you to
consider how courageous this was for Jesus.
Let’s consider the context. People have been lifting mighty big
perceptions of Jesus all over countryside.
People have heard and witnessed many things.
Many are starving for food and justice.
Many are starving for hope and what Jesus is saying.
The revolutionary sermons about the poor, equality, fairness and
real justice while challenging the stewards of power have made Jesus “famous.”
The countryside is now full of whispers about Jesus.
Let me remind you that, “A whisper in the ear can be
heard for miles.”
We know how that “whispered” story will change over
time.
Jesus unapologetically proclaims that which the people
have been starving to hear.
For this, Jesus has been called the Messiah.
In their minds, Messiah is a great king, or general, that has come “on a colt”
to save the people from oppression.
Yes, Jesus is not only preaching the Truth
that all people are deserving of God’s grace, love and
healing,
Jesus calls out corruption and traditions that deform
God’s love for all people.
It is necessary to note that the people outside of the
city are marginalized, and simply discarded for being sick or different. They
literally are the fringe of society.
The high priests have comfort with Jesus away in the
country,
The corrupt elites don’t want to care about the people
(or Jesus) outside those walls,
but not this day.
Speaking
Truth to Power
Today is the day the Lord has made for those whispers
to come to the city.
We know that Jesus has made many scribes uncomfortable,
and Jesus means to bring that discomfort to Jerusalem.
Jesus is taking this mission into the center of the aristocracy
that has profited from the corruption by
the Pharisees and the Empire -- The Lions’ Den.
It is time to call out these people.
It is time to face the music for their spiritual and emotional neglects.
Jesus dares them “I am the face of the Truth” I am the body of the
oppressed.
Jesus dares those that have tried to arrest and to kill him.
Perhaps Jesus could have lived longer and preached more had he
stayed out of Jerusalem
because those leaders heard Jesus criticizing them, and they
believe the Truth is a threat to their leadership.
They want to silence Jesus, even like they did to John the
Baptist.
Jesus also knows this. Yet our people cannot afford obliviousness
anymore.
Today is the day the Truth cannot be quiet or hidden anymore.
Today, Jesus brings the Truth to power because they are clearly not
taking hints.
Today, the corrupt can no longer conveniently ignore the community
or the Truth.
Today is the day to set things right.
So what is the plan?
Instead of armed soldiers and trumpet fanfare, Jesus comes into
the city on a borrowed donkey with a rag-tag set of followers - No guns, no
weapons and no shields. A non-violent demonstration is a stark contrast to
Roman military, and thus, the Romans have little reason to consider Jesus a
threat.
Even with this, do you really think Jesus is without fear or
danger?
With each step forward, Jesus can feel the burden getting heavier
and heavier as more and more people pray their hopes onto Jesus.
Each step is closer to another sword, and we have to wonder who is
hiding in the crowd.
The effort to step forward is borne by the donkey, and you have to
wonder if the donkey was also feeling the increasing weight. The courage to
keeping going forward rises with each step.
The unknown, the potential of sabotage, assassination and more fear rise
as we get closer to the gate.
I can hear someone in the back asking, Tony that is powerful stuff
about Jesus, but what does that have to do with me?
I am glad you asked.
If you were a follower of Jesus witnessing all the threats against
Jesus,
would you have followed Jesus into this gate or would you have sat
back and waited?
Would you hold onto your fear of what could happen?
Would you have courage
to follow regardless of your own fears and discomfort?
Courage
Arises from Discomfort
It is interesting to note that The word courage comes from the
Latin and French “Coeur.”
-- meaning the heart or in terms of courage “coming from the
heart.”
Thus, to be courageous is to be whole-hearted.
We cannot be whole hearted while leaving parts of us behind
Another perspective, Philosopher Alan Watts calls “fake courage” a
form of armor.
This is to say that armor is used to hide both what is outside and
also what is inside our hearts. Therefore, real courage is possible through discerning
our suffering and our fears.
Real courage is understanding that our vulnerabilities are not
weaknesses.
Then, what is possible happens when we let our hearts be real and
authentic
-- by letting go of all that isn’t.
It took me a long time to come to terms with who I was as a
person.
I kept my own armor to hide who I did not think I should be.
Even when the “secret” was out, I still kept hiding myself from
myself.
Even more, I let others define what I was and what I could be.
The delusion caused inner turmoil, mutilated my vulnerability, and
denied my authentic self.
I even questioned my own being.
You know what God said to me?
God said, I don’t want an illusion or a shell.
I want you - authentic you.
Through miracle hands and voice of good people,
God reached towards me and reminded me that I too was a Child of
God.
That God loved me and made me just the broken way I am.
God says I too am worthy of love and dignity
So, God says let go of that armor.
God says, Be bold and be who you are meant to be.
Letting go was not easy and came with its own discomfort.
God says to connect and share your story
and now here I am.
I am still learning, as we all are, but I learned also what
You and I may want real justice and opportunity,
but no matter how you spin it, discomfort is part of feeling our heart’s passion (aka
courage).
We are all faced with our own mortality, our own discomfort. Steve Jobs said that when we live our lives realizing that death is going
to happen, we make no more excuses for things left undone.
Embrace your discomfort and embrace failure and fears – This is part
of authentic you.
Those qualities make you uniquely beautiful.
There are no guarantees in this life so you might as well make
your discomfort meaningful.
Today is the day the Lord has made for you to have a meaningful
life.
If we go living our life never taking the next step, we never move
from the spot we are.
If we don’t get up from our comfortable bed, we never discover the
value of courage.
Today is the day the Lord has made to wake up our heart’s passion,
our courage.
Waking up requires that we shed armor, take a chance and boldly be
who we are.
Susan David goes further, “courage is not an absence of fear;
courage is fear walking.” In other words, courage does not mean less fear. I am sure that Jesus had some fear about the
many threats. Courage means that despite our fears, we keep going, one step
at a time while revealing ourselves, our messiness, our hopes, our heart’s
passion and our courage.
Just like
the crowd on the steps of the Capitol.
The courage to do right and to do justice is powerful.
There is a underlying theme in this story.
Courage is contagious.
Like Jesus, courage starts with one soul.
Courage then connects a community because we can’t do this alone.
In fact, like whole-hearted courage cannot leave part of us
behind,
Jesus, by being among the marginalized and fringes of society,
shows us that we all are worthy of courage.
Courage of community invites all – no matter who you are, what
age you are, no matter where you are on life’s journey.
Let me remind you, Jesus and the followers have no weapons.
The crowd notices this too
– Jesus is someone like us and walks proud without weapons.
But wait, there’s more,
As more and more people join in,
the power of community is revealed: weapons or violence not necessary.
Maybe, they too were tired of violence and corruption like we are.
Maybe, they too were tired of being treated like social trash.
Maybe, the Spirit of God lifted hopes
And fed courage to be us – no weapons, no armies and no violence.
To be honest, Jesus probably drew encouragement from the crowd.
We can draw upon the love, hope, kindness and exuberance of the
community.
Our community and children calls us to act
With their branches and blankets, people reveal their hopes in
Jesus’s mission.
They give their solemn encouraging salute to keep going.
Today is the day that With courage, we stand and walk together.
We encourage each other.
(Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr made this pillars of their
work.)
What to Do
with Courage
Perhaps it
is time time to exercise our hearts.
Can you
feel the hearts in this room rise?
Can you
feel the motion and hope wanting to burst forth?
with all
of the energy and the Spirit around you!
I am
almost surprised you are exercising while still seated
because
today is the day the Lord has made for you!
This day,
we remember how one can change.
This day, we remember how one can inspire by daring to do what is
right.
I ask you
do you follow Jesus example?
Do you
connect your heart to your community?
The community needs you.
God wants you!
Today is the day
the right time is now.
There is no better time than right now to do the right thing.
So, be an agent of change, and
We start with ourselves.
I submit to you that what is in your heart is worthy of expressing.
Today, you can speak truth to power.
Today, you can speak truth to your family.
Today, you can speak truth to friends
When you are truthful to yourself.
Life is
hard and did not come with instructions.
Jesus as
your example suggests
To go
boldly into what’s right
Go boldly
into the lion’s den, tell your story.
And people
will listen and will follow.
That is one reason why this trip into Jerusalem is so important.
Each of you deserve to be valued as worthy
and through God, we have deserved grace.
We don’t want to be ignored or forgotten.
Through the community, we can share our story.
This is the day the Lord has made for Jesus to ride
To be an example of one soul with courage
That helped a community have courage.
Let that example help us find our voice and our courage.
We may not choose what falls into our lap, but
Let’s go fear walking and let our courage and the Spirit guide us
into the light.
Be courageously authentic.
Embrace your discomfort.
Have the courage to speak the Truth.
When we open up and connect,
we open up to the power of love and community.
We can transform together.
Thus, Truly
tell yourself that you are worthy of love.
That you
are a Child of God.
Tell
yourself to have courage to be yourself.
Because my
hearing isn’t good…
Turn to
the people next to you.
Tell them
they are a Child of God.
Tell them
to have courage to be who they are.
Are you ready to fear walk with God in this wilderness?
Are you ready to have courage to go forth?
This is the day the Lord has made,
Let us courageously rejoice!
