WEBVTT 00:00:00.649 --> 00:00:03.149 Hello, you are listening to Second City Sermons, 00:00:03.270 --> 00:00:06.230 a ministry of Second City Church in Midtown Harrisburg. 00:00:06.849 --> 00:00:08.750 It's our hope that these sermons will draw you 00:00:08.750 --> 00:00:11.169 more into the life of following God, Father, 00:00:11.310 --> 00:00:13.970 Son, and Holy Spirit. Please consider coming 00:00:13.970 --> 00:00:16.050 and joining with us each Sunday morning at 10 00:00:16.050 --> 00:00:18.690 a .m. in the heart of Midtown Harrisburg. You 00:00:18.690 --> 00:00:21.769 can find us online at secondcitychurch .org and 00:00:21.769 --> 00:00:24.289 on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. We hope 00:00:24.289 --> 00:00:28.829 you enjoy this sermon. God bless. Let me pray 00:00:28.829 --> 00:00:32.420 again for us. Lord, we're thankful for your Word, 00:00:32.619 --> 00:00:36.719 and most of all we're thankful that your Word 00:00:36.719 --> 00:00:43.200 directs us to the Word made flesh. The true God 00:00:43.200 --> 00:00:49.880 of true God, the mystery of our holy religion, 00:00:50.840 --> 00:00:57.439 God man, Christ, took on flesh for us. He might 00:00:57.439 --> 00:01:04.010 redeem us. God, as we just cried out with the 00:01:04.010 --> 00:01:09.989 crowd, crucify him. And we have cried out with 00:01:09.989 --> 00:01:16.250 the crowd, Hosanna. Lord, would you help us to 00:01:16.250 --> 00:01:19.930 see ourselves as not detached from the great 00:01:19.930 --> 00:01:26.549 story of redemption, but a part of it. That our 00:01:26.549 --> 00:01:32.739 sin is what drives Jesus to the cross, and our 00:01:32.739 --> 00:01:35.140 redemption is what we have through the empty 00:01:35.140 --> 00:01:38.340 tomb. God, I pray that we would not be detached 00:01:38.340 --> 00:01:40.780 this morning, but just as we heard from many 00:01:40.780 --> 00:01:45.439 of us the words of your holy scriptures, that 00:01:45.439 --> 00:01:50.939 our stories would be placed into yours. God, 00:01:50.939 --> 00:01:54.879 speak to us now, we pray. Draw us evermore into 00:01:54.879 --> 00:01:57.840 the life of Christ, our King. In his name we 00:01:57.840 --> 00:02:03.680 pray. Amen. Okay, so I have something to share 00:02:03.680 --> 00:02:09.340 with you. This is one of my favorite beer glasses. 00:02:10.939 --> 00:02:14.219 And some of you years ago saw another one of 00:02:14.219 --> 00:02:17.400 my favorite beer glasses. I'm gonna tell you 00:02:17.400 --> 00:02:21.659 about that other one. And then eventually I'll 00:02:21.659 --> 00:02:26.319 tell you about this one. That other one I got 00:02:26.319 --> 00:02:29.270 was from a trip. that I took with my youngest 00:02:29.270 --> 00:02:33.310 brother, who's now 29, but this was 17 years 00:02:33.310 --> 00:02:36.229 ago. I was graduating from a seminary in St. 00:02:36.349 --> 00:02:39.210 Louis. He flew out as a 12 -year -old. My parents 00:02:39.210 --> 00:02:42.250 put him on a plane from Seattle to St. Louis. 00:02:42.810 --> 00:02:45.229 And he went and he spent the last week with me 00:02:45.229 --> 00:02:47.430 there when I lived in St. Louis, where I lived 00:02:47.430 --> 00:02:49.830 for four and a half years. We went to some Cardinals 00:02:49.830 --> 00:02:52.969 games. We went to City Museum. Tannis, has y 00:02:52.969 --> 00:02:56.289 'all been there? If anyone, this is just some... 00:02:55.949 --> 00:02:57.909 Pastoral advice if anyone's in st. Louis go to 00:02:57.909 --> 00:03:03.710 the City Museum back to my sermon And and then 00:03:03.710 --> 00:03:06.509 when we left we drove straight from st. Louis 00:03:06.509 --> 00:03:09.770 over to the front the mountains in Colorado and 00:03:09.770 --> 00:03:12.629 then we camped at each of the national parks 00:03:12.629 --> 00:03:18.610 my brother and I in Utah and I got one Souvenir 00:03:18.610 --> 00:03:20.509 and then we made our way up through Crater Lake. 00:03:20.530 --> 00:03:22.949 We camped at Crater Lake and then up to Seattle 00:03:22.949 --> 00:03:25.889 Crater Lakes the National Park in Oregon I got 00:03:25.889 --> 00:03:29.270 one souvenir from that trip, and it was a beer 00:03:29.270 --> 00:03:32.090 glass from the Moab Brewery. And what happened, 00:03:32.530 --> 00:03:33.770 maybe some of you will remember, because I know 00:03:33.770 --> 00:03:37.969 I've told this story years ago, was that Melissa 00:03:37.969 --> 00:03:40.129 and I got married a few years later. We were 00:03:40.129 --> 00:03:42.110 living in Richmond, and we had our first place 00:03:42.110 --> 00:03:43.969 where we were renting, and three months into 00:03:43.969 --> 00:03:46.669 our young, fragile marriage, we only dated three 00:03:46.669 --> 00:03:48.030 and a half months, and we were engaged for five, 00:03:48.069 --> 00:03:51.729 so we barely knew each other a year. That glass 00:03:51.729 --> 00:03:54.469 fell to the floor of our kitchen and crashed. 00:03:54.889 --> 00:03:57.830 The one glass that I had from my trip with my 00:03:57.830 --> 00:03:59.789 youngest brother, and I had moved all the way 00:03:59.789 --> 00:04:02.530 from Seattle to Virginia away from my family, 00:04:02.909 --> 00:04:08.050 and I just start bawling. And my young bride 00:04:08.050 --> 00:04:15.030 is looking at me. What's going on? What do I 00:04:15.030 --> 00:04:19.310 do? What do I do? But it was my one souvenir 00:04:19.310 --> 00:04:21.910 from this sweet trip that I had with my brother. 00:04:22.050 --> 00:04:28.250 It was so much more than a glass. And y 'all 00:04:28.250 --> 00:04:30.709 know that, right? I mean, it's so much more. 00:04:30.750 --> 00:04:33.649 It had so much that it carried with it, so much 00:04:33.649 --> 00:04:36.689 that it meant beyond just being a glass. We know 00:04:36.689 --> 00:04:41.370 this. This is not just a random, you know, thing 00:04:41.370 --> 00:04:43.509 of metal that was made into a ring. This carries 00:04:43.509 --> 00:04:46.790 with it so much more than just being a metal 00:04:46.790 --> 00:04:53.529 band. We know that the sounds hate spoken in 00:04:53.529 --> 00:04:56.970 certain... context to certain people with certain 00:04:56.970 --> 00:05:02.689 tones are so much more than sounds that the sounds 00:05:02.689 --> 00:05:06.569 of love spoken the right time can be utterly 00:05:06.569 --> 00:05:10.149 transformative. So when a crowd gathers outside 00:05:10.149 --> 00:05:17.910 of Jerusalem and shouts things like, thank you, 00:05:18.170 --> 00:05:20.769 thank you, Jane, you got it, and shouts things 00:05:20.769 --> 00:05:26.949 like, Hosanna. It means a lot more than just 00:05:26.949 --> 00:05:33.769 sounds, right? When a crowd gathers and takes 00:05:33.769 --> 00:05:36.370 palm branches and waves them and throws them 00:05:36.370 --> 00:05:40.170 at the feet of somebody entering into the great 00:05:40.170 --> 00:05:43.970 city, they are not just thinking, man, you know 00:05:43.970 --> 00:05:46.910 what? This will be a good time. This will be 00:05:46.910 --> 00:05:49.670 fun. Why don't we all just grab branches and 00:05:49.670 --> 00:05:56.360 wave them? It's got so much more. When they take 00:05:56.360 --> 00:05:59.139 their cloaks and they throw them down in front 00:05:59.139 --> 00:06:02.600 of somebody riding in on a donkey, they are not 00:06:02.600 --> 00:06:05.240 thinking, you know what, let's play the floor 00:06:05.240 --> 00:06:08.860 is lava with the donkey. That's how they're thinking. 00:06:09.600 --> 00:06:14.199 It means so much more seeing something about 00:06:14.199 --> 00:06:16.920 their hopes and their desires and their thoughts 00:06:16.920 --> 00:06:23.540 maybe about what Jesus might do for them. in 00:06:23.540 --> 00:06:26.639 the gospels, in Mark and Luke and Matthew and 00:06:26.639 --> 00:06:31.399 John, we often have texts that are inviting the 00:06:31.399 --> 00:06:33.779 people that are engaging with Jesus and also 00:06:33.779 --> 00:06:36.680 us, the readers, to ask, what do we think of 00:06:36.680 --> 00:06:39.699 this Jesus? What do we make of him? Who is he 00:06:39.699 --> 00:06:42.459 for us? And I think the events of Palm Sunday 00:06:42.459 --> 00:06:43.939 are sort of doing the same thing. What do we 00:06:43.939 --> 00:06:50.089 do with Jesus? What do we make of him? The telling 00:06:50.089 --> 00:06:52.610 of the triumphal entry actually is one of those 00:06:52.610 --> 00:06:55.029 stories that happens in all the Gospels. I've 00:06:55.029 --> 00:06:56.709 mentioned before that, you know, that's something 00:06:56.709 --> 00:06:58.930 that we should always be attentive to, important 00:06:58.930 --> 00:07:03.870 event. In some, well in John, there's only palm 00:07:03.870 --> 00:07:05.870 branches that are mentioned, but the others, 00:07:06.110 --> 00:07:07.569 like the Gotham Arch we've been in, and then 00:07:07.569 --> 00:07:09.750 the Gospel Matthew that we just heard from, mention 00:07:09.750 --> 00:07:11.629 these branches and these clothes. And so I'm 00:07:11.629 --> 00:07:14.470 gonna talk about these. Talk about these which 00:07:14.470 --> 00:07:16.550 we've talked about in years past here and there 00:07:16.550 --> 00:07:18.250 in different kinds of ways But let's first consider 00:07:18.250 --> 00:07:22.870 these palm branches Isn't it kind of fun y 'all 00:07:22.870 --> 00:07:25.389 to like have something different and to wave 00:07:25.389 --> 00:07:27.509 them. I think it's fun I think it's fun to like 00:07:27.509 --> 00:07:30.889 attach it to my guitar and get a little action 00:07:30.889 --> 00:07:33.389 with that I think it's kind of fun. It's fun 00:07:33.389 --> 00:07:37.290 to shout hosanna together But of course these 00:07:37.290 --> 00:07:40.230 these things have a history and they have import 00:07:40.230 --> 00:07:42.670 they have meaning They have, of course, a history 00:07:42.670 --> 00:07:44.290 in our church, but they have a history in our 00:07:44.290 --> 00:07:46.750 church because they have a history in the text 00:07:46.750 --> 00:07:48.209 and they have a history behind them because they 00:07:48.209 --> 00:07:49.870 have a history with the Jewish people. It wasn't 00:07:49.870 --> 00:07:54.930 just something random that they were doing. When 00:07:54.930 --> 00:07:57.990 you join your voice with others, shouting things 00:07:57.990 --> 00:08:00.230 like, Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the 00:08:00.230 --> 00:08:03.850 name of the Lord, the King, waving branches, 00:08:03.990 --> 00:08:08.269 it has a certain kind of meaning behind it. Palms 00:08:08.269 --> 00:08:14.019 were the symbol of victory. and specifically 00:08:14.019 --> 00:08:19.019 Israel's victory, Israel's national hopes. It's 00:08:19.019 --> 00:08:22.420 a nationalistic symbol, the bald eagle, the stars 00:08:22.420 --> 00:08:27.480 and stripes. You all may know that there are 00:08:27.480 --> 00:08:31.120 some books that the Roman Catholic Bible has, 00:08:31.480 --> 00:08:33.700 that our Bible here does not, though they're 00:08:33.700 --> 00:08:36.509 very important books. A couple of those are first 00:08:36.509 --> 00:08:39.009 and second Maccabees. And part of what's happening 00:08:39.009 --> 00:08:41.750 in those books is telling the story of the Maccabean 00:08:41.750 --> 00:08:46.070 revolt. What happened was because the celly seeds 00:08:46.070 --> 00:08:48.649 were suppressing the Jewish customs and all that. 00:08:48.669 --> 00:08:53.269 There's this revolt. And in those books, palms 00:08:53.269 --> 00:08:58.529 are used in celebration of the restoration of 00:08:58.529 --> 00:09:02.389 Israel. The restoration of the Jewish temple. 00:09:03.559 --> 00:09:07.440 Palms were a way of saying we fought and we won 00:09:07.440 --> 00:09:13.919 and we got what we wanted Of course beyond this 00:09:13.919 --> 00:09:16.940 actually I mentioned this in years past I'm sure 00:09:16.940 --> 00:09:21.379 I have the palms were actually stamped onto the 00:09:21.379 --> 00:09:26.639 Jewish coins that symbolized this time the we 00:09:26.639 --> 00:09:32.299 won We won against the Romans So to wave a palm 00:09:32.299 --> 00:09:35.899 branch was to say, here's the one that's going 00:09:35.899 --> 00:09:38.179 to do it again. Here's the one who's going to 00:09:38.179 --> 00:09:41.419 give us what we want, who's going to establish 00:09:41.419 --> 00:09:45.139 our desires to bring us our national freedom. 00:09:47.480 --> 00:09:51.480 They shouted a part of Psalm 118, Hosanna, blessed 00:09:51.480 --> 00:09:53.240 is he who comes in the name of the Lord, but 00:09:53.240 --> 00:09:56.039 actually occasionally some of the gospel texts 00:09:56.039 --> 00:09:59.440 add that then they say the King, they add on 00:09:59.440 --> 00:10:05.100 to it. They wanted Jesus, and here's part of 00:10:05.100 --> 00:10:06.820 what I'm saying. They wanted him as long as he'll 00:10:06.820 --> 00:10:10.820 give them what they want. He'll restore their 00:10:10.820 --> 00:10:15.860 kingdom. And of course, in some ways, it's not 00:10:15.860 --> 00:10:21.240 like what they wanted was a bad thing. What was 00:10:21.240 --> 00:10:23.100 bad about it was that they wanted him to give 00:10:23.100 --> 00:10:30.220 them what they wanted. We wave our palm branches 00:10:30.220 --> 00:10:32.799 or we did wave our palm branches and and it's 00:10:32.799 --> 00:10:36.480 fun and we cry our hosannas and All that is good. 00:10:36.480 --> 00:10:38.600 But part of what we are also saying is that we 00:10:38.600 --> 00:10:41.399 engage with Jesus in the same way We are the 00:10:41.399 --> 00:10:45.179 fickle ones that say hey come Establish my kingdom 00:10:45.179 --> 00:10:51.000 Give us what we want Jesus Give us pretty hair 00:10:51.000 --> 00:11:01.320 Or hair Give us friends. Give us food that we 00:11:01.320 --> 00:11:03.679 can delight in and jobs that give us meaning 00:11:03.679 --> 00:11:08.059 and the spouses of our dreams and kids that listen 00:11:08.059 --> 00:11:13.480 to us. Give us politicians that can enact the 00:11:13.480 --> 00:11:18.440 laws that we deem right for our world. Give us 00:11:18.440 --> 00:11:25.799 what we want, Jesus. Be our King. Be our King. 00:11:27.950 --> 00:11:30.470 A pastor friend once told me this, everybody 00:11:30.470 --> 00:11:35.309 is ready to receive Jesus as long as it means 00:11:35.309 --> 00:11:39.850 a place in the sun. As long as coming to Jesus 00:11:39.850 --> 00:11:49.409 makes you go, ah. Everybody wants a Jesus to 00:11:49.409 --> 00:11:53.710 support what they do and how they think and how 00:11:53.710 --> 00:11:56.970 they want to live. Everybody wants that Jesus. 00:11:57.980 --> 00:12:03.820 Everybody wants the cosmic yes man. Everybody 00:12:03.820 --> 00:12:10.240 wants the God who says, I'm on your side. And 00:12:10.240 --> 00:12:12.659 when we have palm branches and we're waving these 00:12:12.659 --> 00:12:15.340 brother sisters, we are saying we do the very 00:12:15.340 --> 00:12:21.720 same thing. We are just like them. Just give 00:12:21.720 --> 00:12:25.679 us what we want, Jesus. But I said, you know, 00:12:25.679 --> 00:12:27.100 there's these two things that happen, right? 00:12:27.100 --> 00:12:31.820 The palm branches and the cloaks. We've talked, 00:12:31.840 --> 00:12:33.659 of course, about the donkey and all kinds of 00:12:33.659 --> 00:12:38.120 other things in years past, but the cloaks. So 00:12:38.120 --> 00:12:40.700 there's this wild story in Second Kings chapter 00:12:40.700 --> 00:12:43.019 nine. It tells about a really bad time in the 00:12:43.019 --> 00:12:48.019 history of Israel when kings forgot about God 00:12:48.019 --> 00:12:49.639 and sort of did whatever they wanted. You know, 00:12:49.639 --> 00:12:54.399 they established their kingdom. God, I'll use 00:12:54.399 --> 00:12:57.759 you as long as I get to do my thing, that kind 00:12:57.759 --> 00:13:01.299 of thing. And they led Israel away from God, 00:13:01.600 --> 00:13:03.539 and God through Elijah, one of his servants, 00:13:04.159 --> 00:13:08.639 anoints Jehu, this new king. And when he does 00:13:08.639 --> 00:13:12.399 this, he tells him that he is going to be specifically 00:13:12.399 --> 00:13:18.320 a king who brings judgment on Israel. And as 00:13:18.320 --> 00:13:21.460 Jehu is anointed for this task of bringing judgment 00:13:21.460 --> 00:13:24.960 on Israel, we hear this, okay? Then in haste, 00:13:24.960 --> 00:13:29.159 every man of them took his garment and put it 00:13:29.159 --> 00:13:32.940 under him. And they blew the trumpet and proclaimed 00:13:32.940 --> 00:13:39.340 Jehu's king. Sound familiar? Throw the cloaks 00:13:39.340 --> 00:13:44.080 down. You're the king. Cloaks have a history 00:13:44.080 --> 00:13:50.100 too. weren't playing floor is lava with the donkey. 00:13:50.320 --> 00:13:55.179 They were saying something. There's a story of 00:13:55.179 --> 00:13:57.879 the king of Israel being anointed and declared 00:13:57.879 --> 00:14:01.600 king and cloaks being put on him. Everybody's 00:14:01.600 --> 00:14:06.379 saying, you're the king. But for us, what you 00:14:06.379 --> 00:14:10.120 have to hear is that king was anointed for judgment. 00:14:11.820 --> 00:14:15.240 To bring judgment upon Israel. So what do we 00:14:15.240 --> 00:14:18.730 make of that? What do we make about this symbol 00:14:18.730 --> 00:14:27.090 that evokes the judgment of God? And rather unquestionably, 00:14:28.049 --> 00:14:32.509 the triumphal entry is the beginning, in a way, 00:14:32.730 --> 00:14:36.889 of this story of judgment. In the Gospel Mark 00:14:36.889 --> 00:14:40.049 that we've been in this spring, the very next 00:14:40.049 --> 00:14:42.809 story after the triumphal entry is Jesus cursing 00:14:42.809 --> 00:14:47.090 the fig tree, which is symbolizing Israel and 00:14:47.090 --> 00:14:53.009 their rejection of God. In Matthew, the very 00:14:53.009 --> 00:14:54.570 next story is not the story of the fig tree. 00:14:54.590 --> 00:14:58.190 That's the one after the next one. In Matthew, 00:14:58.269 --> 00:15:00.429 the story is of Jesus going into the temple and 00:15:00.429 --> 00:15:02.909 what does he do there? Hey y 'all, it looks good 00:15:02.909 --> 00:15:04.610 in here. Let's have a good time. No, he doesn't. 00:15:04.610 --> 00:15:08.850 He flips tables, right? What the triumphal entry 00:15:08.850 --> 00:15:12.350 does is it enters into this very great time of 00:15:12.350 --> 00:15:20.629 judgment. Judgment of God. Palms and cloaks. 00:15:22.350 --> 00:15:25.070 A do -what -we -want crowd. A crowd that says, 00:15:25.330 --> 00:15:27.590 Jesus, I will take you as long as you can be 00:15:27.590 --> 00:15:32.370 my king. And then a symbol of the judgment of 00:15:32.370 --> 00:15:37.750 God upon the very people of God. The crowd wanted 00:15:37.750 --> 00:15:40.029 a king. They wanted a king who would restore 00:15:40.029 --> 00:15:42.690 what they wanted. They wanted a king who would 00:15:42.690 --> 00:15:49.120 give them their heart's desires. They wanted 00:15:49.120 --> 00:15:56.019 what he would give them. But here's the thing, 00:15:56.019 --> 00:15:59.919 when you take that with the cloaks, there's a 00:15:59.919 --> 00:16:02.460 sense in which what is happening is Jesus saying, 00:16:02.659 --> 00:16:05.799 I see what you desire. And if you could just 00:16:05.799 --> 00:16:10.500 put the symbols together in a way, you might 00:16:10.500 --> 00:16:12.940 see that I want to give you something far better. 00:16:15.100 --> 00:16:19.019 A king that doesn't want to give them their kingdom, 00:16:20.820 --> 00:16:25.779 but his. And in order to do that, the king must 00:16:25.779 --> 00:16:30.539 come in judgment. And here's the thing, unlike 00:16:30.539 --> 00:16:34.000 the story of Jehu, where he goes on and assassinates 00:16:34.000 --> 00:16:39.879 King Joram to help restore order in Israel, here 00:16:39.879 --> 00:16:43.879 with Jesus, we have this king who brings judgment. 00:16:45.460 --> 00:16:51.139 and the king who bears judgment. I mean, part 00:16:51.139 --> 00:16:54.799 of what Jesus is doing is he is bearing or bringing 00:16:54.799 --> 00:16:57.580 judgment, flipping tables, cursing the tree. 00:16:57.860 --> 00:16:59.899 But as we go to the story, he's not the one just 00:16:59.899 --> 00:17:04.039 who brings judgment, but the one who bears the 00:17:04.039 --> 00:17:10.650 judgment. Jesus is the king. Not always that 00:17:10.650 --> 00:17:13.150 we want but he is the king that we need and he 00:17:13.150 --> 00:17:16.369 is specifically the king that we need Because 00:17:16.369 --> 00:17:19.130 he is the king who brings judgment and then he 00:17:19.130 --> 00:17:25.490 bears it himself And he does this again not to 00:17:25.490 --> 00:17:28.869 bring about what we always want but but we what 00:17:28.869 --> 00:17:33.670 we most need Jesus himself rides into Jerusalem 00:17:33.670 --> 00:17:41.079 on a donkey not just to enter in and say, look 00:17:41.079 --> 00:17:45.319 at this victorious entrance, but to make the 00:17:45.319 --> 00:17:50.039 journey to the cross. He goes to Calvin to bear 00:17:50.039 --> 00:17:55.599 the judgment properly of sin, properly of rebellion, 00:17:55.759 --> 00:17:59.759 properly of the rejection of God. He bears the 00:17:59.759 --> 00:18:03.220 judgment that we deserve, that he might bring 00:18:03.220 --> 00:18:10.220 us not to our kingdoms, but in his kingdom. Judgment 00:18:10.220 --> 00:18:13.720 we deserve he takes upon himself that the kingdom 00:18:13.720 --> 00:18:21.339 we don't deserve can be given to us. What I'm 00:18:21.339 --> 00:18:25.599 suggesting to you is these symbols in some ways 00:18:25.599 --> 00:18:32.480 are mixed. Mixed symbols. They're rich and they're 00:18:32.480 --> 00:18:36.230 deep. But we see their import when we can kind 00:18:36.230 --> 00:18:42.190 of feel it all together. I want to tell you a 00:18:42.190 --> 00:18:46.950 little bit about this glass. This is also not 00:18:46.950 --> 00:18:51.789 just a glass. And if for some reason one of you 00:18:51.789 --> 00:18:54.289 comes and breaks it, they're going to cry again. 00:19:01.219 --> 00:19:04.420 Because this glass I got half of my life ago 00:19:04.420 --> 00:19:07.660 When I went with one of my dearest friends my 00:19:07.660 --> 00:19:10.000 oldest friend outside of my family known him 00:19:10.000 --> 00:19:13.180 since I was three When he and I hitchhiked around 00:19:13.180 --> 00:19:17.519 Ireland He's a stocky redhead guy. It was awesome. 00:19:17.519 --> 00:19:21.220 It was perfect and We I got this at the Guinness 00:19:21.220 --> 00:19:23.599 Brewery If you if you've gone to that tour you 00:19:23.599 --> 00:19:25.619 go you end at the top where you get to look out 00:19:25.619 --> 00:19:29.940 over the city and you get Free glass of Guinness 00:19:30.579 --> 00:19:32.700 And I bought this one there. You can't even see, 00:19:32.720 --> 00:19:36.640 but there's a Christmas tree on it. But it's 00:19:36.640 --> 00:19:38.859 one of the fond memories of my life with one 00:19:38.859 --> 00:19:41.299 of my dearest friends. And this dear friend is 00:19:41.299 --> 00:19:44.160 going through one of, actually, I can say the 00:19:44.160 --> 00:19:48.279 worst time of his life right now. And so I was 00:19:48.279 --> 00:19:51.680 looking at this glass and thinking about this 00:19:51.680 --> 00:19:54.920 sermon. And I was thinking of how mixed this 00:19:54.920 --> 00:20:01.589 feels. where it brings such deep joy and also 00:20:01.589 --> 00:20:07.450 my heart breaks. And in some ways, I sort of 00:20:07.450 --> 00:20:10.630 want you to hear your own cries for Hosanna. 00:20:13.450 --> 00:20:18.130 And feel how mixed they are. Cry out to Lord. 00:20:19.109 --> 00:20:21.269 Save us, right? That's what we're saying when 00:20:21.269 --> 00:20:25.410 we say Hosanna. Save us Lord. And our shouts 00:20:25.410 --> 00:20:30.910 are mixed. heavenly hosts, the kingdom of God, 00:20:31.690 --> 00:20:35.430 an establishment of our way, our sinful desires. 00:20:37.890 --> 00:20:43.950 But here's the wonder, right? Is that zero question, 00:20:44.190 --> 00:20:48.230 Jesus knew how mixed they were as he entered 00:20:48.230 --> 00:20:53.410 into Jerusalem that day. He knew what palm branches 00:20:53.410 --> 00:20:57.210 meant and what cloaks meant. He knew that their 00:20:57.210 --> 00:21:02.410 hosannas would soon become, crucify him. He knew 00:21:02.410 --> 00:21:09.390 that. And in the wonder of God's grace, Jesus 00:21:09.390 --> 00:21:14.529 makes it today, not to the throne, but to the 00:21:14.529 --> 00:21:20.539 cross. And he does this because The kingdom that 00:21:20.539 --> 00:21:26.500 you want is not the kingdom that you need. The 00:21:26.500 --> 00:21:30.440 kingdom you need is the kingdom of God. And He 00:21:30.440 --> 00:21:32.740 brings that through His death and the resurrection. 00:21:33.180 --> 00:21:37.380 And the judgment that He brings is also the judgment 00:21:37.380 --> 00:21:43.680 that He bears for you. So go to Him. Go to Him 00:21:43.680 --> 00:21:51.809 in your mixed stuff. mixed hosannas. Jesus goes 00:21:51.809 --> 00:21:53.849 to the cross for you. Brothers, sisters, let's 00:21:53.849 --> 00:21:58.369 say this again. Hosanna. Hosanna. Say this after 00:21:58.369 --> 00:22:01.130 me. Blessed is the one who comes in the name 00:22:01.130 --> 00:22:04.670 of the Lord. Blessed is the one who comes in 00:22:04.670 --> 00:22:08.190 the name of the Lord. Hosanna. Hosanna. Let me 00:22:08.190 --> 00:22:11.769 pray. Lord God, I pray that we would come to 00:22:11.769 --> 00:22:15.109 you in our mixed stuff, sometimes crying out 00:22:15.109 --> 00:22:22.029 heartedly, Lord. Save us and Half -heartedly 00:22:22.029 --> 00:22:24.809 also the other half saying establish my kingdom 00:22:24.809 --> 00:22:27.829 and that you would work that through that half 00:22:27.829 --> 00:22:33.009 -hearted palm waving hosanna shouting cloak throwing 00:22:33.009 --> 00:22:36.029 That you would go to the place of the cross for 00:22:36.029 --> 00:22:37.890 us that we would know that you went there for 00:22:37.890 --> 00:22:41.109 us to bear the judgment that we deserve To give 00:22:41.109 --> 00:22:45.069 us the kingdom Not the one that we always think 00:22:45.069 --> 00:22:49.849 we want but the one we most need God, do this, 00:22:49.950 --> 00:22:57.829 please. This week, Lord, convict us that it is 00:22:57.829 --> 00:23:03.289 not just their shouts long ago that were mixed, 00:23:05.250 --> 00:23:09.450 that were tainted, that were distorted by sin, 00:23:10.269 --> 00:23:16.529 but it is even ours. Our sin that cries out, 00:23:16.730 --> 00:23:22.799 crucify Him. Show us our sin, Lord, this week. 00:23:24.140 --> 00:23:29.900 And may the cross loom large. Amen. Thank you 00:23:29.900 --> 00:23:32.180 for listening to Second City Sermons podcast. 00:23:32.740 --> 00:23:34.700 We hope this sermon has encouraged you to worship 00:23:34.700 --> 00:23:37.619 God and to celebrate the gospel of Jesus. Please 00:23:37.619 --> 00:23:39.980 consider subscribing to this podcast and joining 00:23:39.980 --> 00:23:43.180 us in person each Sunday at 10 a .m. You can 00:23:43.180 --> 00:23:46.480 find us online at secondcitychurch .org and on 00:23:46.480 --> 00:23:49.059 Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. Thanks again 00:23:49.059 --> 00:23:50.599 for listening. God bless.