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Spectator or Spectacle

Spectator or Spectacle? [Palm Sunday]

March 16, 2008

Text: Luke 19:29-40

Luke 19:29-40

29 When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, 30 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. 31 If anyone asks you, 'Why are you untying it?' just say this, 'The Lord needs it.'" 32 So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them. 33 As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, "Why are you untying the colt?" 34 They said, "The Lord needs it." 35 Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. 36 As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. 37 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, 38 saying,

"Blessed is the king

who comes in the name of the Lord!

Peace in heaven,

and glory in the highest heaven!"

39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, order your disciples to stop." 40 He answered, "I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out."

NRSV

Imagine you’ve gone to a health club for the first time in your life. You’ve made a wonderful decision to get fit, look better, feel healthier.

You go out and buy Nike workout apparel, complete with headband. You get a routine from a personal trainer, and on a Monday you begin.

But then, you hear a loud, surprising sound coming from the far end of the club. It sounds like a…grunt! You look over, and there’s this guy sweating profusely, doing a bicep curl with a 300 pound dumbbell. He looks like this.

How do you feel?

Can you say…INTIMIDATED?

It’s very natural. You start out doing something good for yourself, in a nice atmosphere, and suddenly a bunch of gym rats who look like Schwarzenegger clones start grunting at the other end.

Some gyms do something about this.

Planet Fitness has installed in its locations a “lunk alarm.”

They define a “lunk” as someone who uses excessive noise in lifting, such as grunting or clanking the weights. If they are too noisy, then the alarm—which is a purple siren—sounds out. It’s a warning, to quiet down.

Here’s the rationale:

Over 80% of the Planet Fitness membership is derived from people who are coming back to the gym for the first time in their adult lives to get in shape. Planet Fitness strives to make the environment pleasant, non-threatening and supportive of those people who often feel out of place in more aggressive workout facilities. And in all cases of violations, people are light heartedly notified of the rule and asked to stop. The "Lunk Alarm" is sounded as a way of reinforcing the no grunt and judgment free zone.

—www.fitcommerce.com

I understand this. I enjoy working out at the Y. And you see people there ranging from the beginning treadmill variety to the guys who scratch their back with barbells.

BUT…where do you draw the line? Where do you draw the line between working out “nicely,” and working out too “aggressively”?

Hmmm. I wonder if you can ask that question about our spiritual workouts. Where do you draw the line? Do you want to workout your soul without too much exertion, or will your soul workout be laced with grunting and sweating? Where do you draw the line?

You could ask this of the people greeting Jesus with hosannas on that first Palm Sunday.

They’re following Jesus with the zeal of people on January 2^nd who’ve made a New Year’s resolution to get fit. You know the energy, the drive, the enthusiasm you feel at the beginning.

This crowd just can’t wait to see Jesus going to the throne, putting the Romans in their place.

OUR JESUS is going to do this! Our Jesus, who loves the little children. Our Jesus, who forgives sins. Our Jesus, who feeds the hungry, heals the sick, raises the dead.

OUR JESUS! HOSANNA IN THE HIGHEST! BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!!!!

BUT… somewhere along the line, they forgot little clues Jesus dropped along the way that this isn’t what it’s like to be his follower. You can’t follow Jesus thinking that one light workout is all he expects of you.

Every so often, Jesus would warn the disciples that his motto ISN’T “no pain, all gain.” One of the biggest clues he dropped was just a few weeks before Palm Sunday. Turning to the large crowd following him, he said:

“…Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:27

Now, on Palm Sunday, Jesus doesn’t condemn their forgetfulness.

He accepts their praise and love, knowing that it’s the best they can offer him right now. But don’t you think that somewhere in the back of Jesus’ mind, as he’s riding that donkey, he’s asking himself, “When you see how this story plays out—how I’ll end up on the cross in a few days: when you see the full story, and know what I know—will you be able to follow me past the gates, and on to Golgotha, where my cross awaits? Will you be able to carry the cross with me?”

Palm Sunday asks each of us to ask ourselves, “Where am I in following Jesus? Am I at the stage of working out primly, properly, in a nice room with televisions on the wall, lifting my 5 pound dumbbell while catching up with Oprah? Or am I at the stage of straining and grunting and sweating at the other end of the gym with people who might not be as socially acceptable, and who are close to setting off the Lunk Alarm?

Palm Sunday asks each of us such questions.

Odds are, you and I are somewhere in between.

May I suggest that as we enter Holy Week with Jesus, we honor him by committing to move more toward the “grunt” stage. I know that sounds less socially acceptable. But when Jesus told us to carry our cross and follow him, as far as I can tell he didn’t add, “Carry it up until the time you start to sweat. Stop, rest awhile, cool off, have a Gatorade. I don’t want you to sweat or strain.”

Nope. He just said, “Carry the cross, follow me.”

Here’s a way to do this. I’m going to give you a two part workout routine.

The first part is a spiritual inventory. It has these questions:

On a 1 to 10 scale, how would you rate your own discipleship after Jesus right now?

What things keep this number from being higher?

[Laziness? Guilt? Holding on to grudges? Fear?]

What habits, actions or attitudes would help that area of your life?

[Pray more? Ask forgiveness from another person? Forgive another person? Be more generous? Be bolder in showing love?]

What changes can you make to start living out those habits, actions and attitudes?

[How will your lifestyle change? Your spending habits? Your time schedule? The people you choose to be with?]

Whom do you need to share these things with so they can help you and pray for you?

[Who will support you in this spiritual workout? When will you talk with her/him about this?]

Do you see what this spiritual inventory does? It moves you from fitting your faith to match your lifestyle. It moves you from working out when it’s convenient, and choosing a routine that’s not too strenuous. It moves you to making your lifestyle fit your faith—taking Jesus’ teaching and example seriously, putting your faith in him as your Lord. Doing this workout will make you grunt—AND THAT’S OK! If the lunk alarm goes off, IGNORE IT!

You’ll find the spiritual inventory I just described on your sermon notes. Before you go to bed tonight—before Holy Week goes any farther: fill this out. It’s just between you and the Jesus you sing Hosanna to this morning. It’s your gift to the Christ who went to the cross for you.

The spiritual inventory is the first part of the Holy Week workout routine.

The second part is this:

Pay the price.

It is impossible to fill out that spiritual inventory honestly and not see how it’s going to cost you.

It WILL cost you.

You might have less disposable income, because you’ve committed to spending less on yourself and more on others. You might be creative in this. You might commit to “tithe” that rebate check you’re going to get from the government. You might give 10% of it to the work of God. Or 50%. Or even all of it. Do you really need a better TV?

Getting in shape spiritually may cost you friends. Can you really hang around people who are tacky, who gossip, or lie, or worse, and enjoy their company if you are serious about your spiritual fitness? But, as I recall, Jesus didn’t have many friends with him around his cross, either.

Following Jesus may make you lose respectability. You may lose status or influence. You may lose the promotion if you stand up for your values. You might not get your way like you’re accustomed to.

Who knows what carrying the cross will cost you.

What we do know is if it doesn’t cost you, it’s not the cross you’re carrying.

Some of you remember how protestors in the 60’s were abused. What the civil rights marchers went through is legendary—fire hydrants were opened up on them, dogs were released, and dirty jail cells awaited them.

Times have changed. Modern protestors aren’t as willing to take the risk of actually being inconvenienced. In Washington, D.C., protestors at a meeting of the World Bank were outraged that [vegetarian food] was not available in jail. And in a New Mexico city, a police chief set up a system at the jail for reserving booking time in advance so that activists protesting a visit by President Bush could make bail in time to go home to bed.

These protestors who don’t want to be inconvenienced are the ones curling 5 pound dumbbells.

YOU are lifting something heavier.

Did you know that some of the prettiest jewelry ever made is in the form of a cross?

And they’re worn quite fashionably by a lot of people.

After walking this Lenten road these past several weeks, I ask you:

WHICH CROSS WILL BE YOURS THIS WEEK?

The one made of gold, decorated with diamonds, and worn comfortably around the neck?

Or will it be the one that’s cruder, stained with sweat and blood?

This week will you be a spectator? Or will you, with Jesus, be a spectacle of the love that changed the world?