Well, howdy Now I have to let y 'all know is
there are different TV shows that my sister I
will take turns watching But she and I have differing
views on which British shows are the ones that
are important She's of the mindset that if somebody
has not died in a British countryside, then it's
not really a good British show I'm more of the
sci -fi person or whatever Netflix ends up picking
up. And I don't think either of us watches the
great bake -offs. I don't know if they're American
or British, but they all look like the same type
of cake to me anyway. But one of the things that
I really liked was watching The Crown. I saw
all six seasons of it, and in my mind, Vanessa
Kirby is still my Princess Margaret. Always will
be. The thing about The Crown is that it's all
this discussion about the life and times, the
background of Queen Elizabeth II and everything
that went into her reign. And one of the things
with this show is to be able to see all of the
dramas that were happening behind the scenes.
And sometimes I feel like I enjoyed watching
the dramas of the British monarchy, so it keeps
me from thinking about the dramas in our own
country. But one of the interesting parts of
the story of the royal family is that Elizabeth
II's father, George VI, was never supposed to
be king in the first place. Is that originally
it had been King Edward VIII. But King Edward
VIII ended up abdicating the throne. He let it
go. He walked away from his crown after about
a year of being the king. And the reason for
this was because of whom he wanted to marry.
So he was wanting to end up marrying a woman
who had been divorced but her spouse was still
alive. Now after King Henry VIII, we would have
thought for sure that divorces were not nearly
as big of a deal in England, but apparently it's
only not a big deal if the king has taken off
somebody's head. But in looking at more modern
day times, is that King Edward VIII knew that
he would not be allowed as the head of the Church
of England to marry the woman that he loved.
So, he walked away and he left the crown and
ended up marrying her, living together for the
rest of their lives, and King George VI, the
father of Queen Elizabeth II, ended up becoming
the king. And history would soon follow. But
in seeing this is that as Edward became the Duke
of Windsor, what we saw is that he ended up leaving
the authority and going and taking on a different
title with no influence, no political position
whatsoever in England. Now, did Edward end up
changing as a person because of losing the title?
Well, no. But this idea of losing one's title
because of the love that one has ends up showing
what it was that he believed to be important.
Now, it turns out that many people who had worked
with him while he was in office would end up
saying that he never really cared that much about
being the king anyway. But it also ends up asking
the point of why it was okay for him to lay down
his crown and the influence that he had. Now,
not looking at a romantic type of love, but rather
a deeper, more of an agape type of love, the
love of God, we end up seeing Jesus who lost
his throne for the whole world. What we see is
that Jesus ends up stepping away from the apparent
glory that he had being God the Son in the presence
of God the Father in the realm of heaven. Now
it says in the scriptures some interesting terms
and it said that he had the form of God and I
want to point out a few things to you because
it can be easy in our English language to misunderstand
what they are trying to get across in this. You
see, it wasn't as if Jesus was somehow just looking
like God. That's not what form means in this
original Greek. In fact, you could translate
it to nature. having the nature of God. It would
be sort of like if you were to take clay, and
if you were to make the form of the clay into
a cup, then it would be a cup. If you were to
make the form of the clay into a horse, then
it would be a horse. form of the clay into a
vase but you would not because it's pronounced
vase and we need to tell everybody else that's
how you pronounce it it is not vase it is vase
okay clearly Europeans you need to get on the
right track and stop putting you in the word
color I don't understand that at all anyway but
in understanding that the form the Greek word
morphe it is looking at the idea of one's essential
nature Okay, so the idea is that Jesus truly
has the nature of God, but when it points out
that he has emptied himself, it is not talking
about emptying himself of his divine nature.
But what we also need to point out is that it's
also saying he took on the form of a servant,
which means he has the nature of a servant. The
only way you can have the nature of being a servant
is if you also have taken on the nature of being
a human. And that's what we end up seeing here,
is that the idea of emptying himself, it's not
about emptying himself of his divine nature,
but rather the divine privileges. The idea that
he's able to then proclaim and show in this overt,
obvious sense that he himself is God. that that
is something that He is stepping away from. You
see, emptying Himself, it's not the nature, but
maybe what might look like the attributes, what
might be the appearance. Because even though
He's the same person, He's stepping away from
the title. He's stepping away from all of the
things that might appear to come with that. But
the thing is, is that who He is, does not change
based on the way that he appears in human form.
The way he has taken on a human servant nature
alongside being truly God. But that's what we
end up discovering about what it is for Jesus
to humble himself for us, is that in humbling
oneself, it is not about losing who you truly
are. Because think about all the things that
Jesus continued to do all the things about who
Jesus continued to be as the Messiah sent by
God Because none of that changed in being a servant
see that's something that we oftentimes lose
sight of is the idea that who you are and that
the true power and strength of what it is to
have your character and nature does not change
because of what you've stepped away from. We
wonder sometimes, I wondered when I was a kid,
how long that some people had as influence. in
our world and one of them was George Washington
and I always thought it was very strange that
George Washington is a very popular person, very
popular at the time with the revolution, very
popular as a military leader and then it's very
popular going into the presidency and that he
was there for two terms and that people continued
to want him in that position and he deliberately
said no. Why? That's what I think about this
is that Washington was not looking to serve himself
or his ambitions is that instead Washington leaves
after two terms because he knows that if he were
to stay there longer It would become more about
him Than it would be about the people If he were
to be there for longer than that amount of time,
is that it would become more about a nation shaped
in his image. But a nation is never supposed
to be in the shape of one human's image. And
that's the thing what we end up seeing here,
is that stepping away from a role, from an appearance,
from a title, is oftentimes what is needed in
order to truly do what is right for the people.
And that's what we end up seeing with Jesus.
Jesus is coming in today on this Palm Sunday
into Jerusalem. And all the people are crying
out, Hosanna! And yet with this realizing that
the King has come is that Jesus is not there
to now make himself the one to dominate and to
lord it over the Roman government. or even the
people of Israel. Why is He there? He's there
to serve. The thing with making it about the
people is that when He comes into Jerusalem,
He knows that He's going to be giving His life
because He knows that the leaders, the teachers,
the law scholars, they are the ones who are going
to be looking to make sure that one man dies
for the people in the words of Caiaphas. And
so as he comes into the city, he knows what is
to come, but he also knows how important that
is going to be. Because unless a leader is willing
to sacrifice and to be humbled, then that leader
will never truly be able to do what is right
and needed for the people. Even as we were the
ones who needed our sins. our death taken away
by God Himself. See, obedience is not meant for
glory. It's not meant for power. As Jesus is
obedient to the Father, we wonder, you are God
Himself. Why is this so important? Because of
the role that is needed to do what is needed
for us. See, sometimes we have to step away from
the very thing that might make life easy because
we know what our calling is truly meant to be.
One of those that comes up is Mother Teresa.
Because Mother Teresa ended up stepping away
from where she had been in order to pursue what
it was that she knew was needed. Is that as much
as we may think about how those who would spend
their life in monasteries and convents and to
think, well, they've already left all of the
fun and the joy and all of the ease and luxury
of the world to serve God. But let's be honest.
Convents and monasteries are really not that
bad. I remember a friend of mine in St. Louis
spending a week with some men at a monastery
just on the other side of the river and finding
out that apparently monks in East St. Louis really
enjoy watching the Simpsons. No, I was surprised
as you are as well. But the truth is that...
We don't have to always easily walk away from
everything. I know how blessed I am to have a
vehicle, to have a home, to have opportunities
to go to Taco Bell, and then to spend the evening
regretting it. And it's so important to realize
that that's something that's easy to step away
from, but at the same time to realize what Teresa
was going toward. Because as she was leaving
an easy teaching job at the convent, she was
moving toward the slums of Calcutta. As she is
founding the Missionaries of Charity, what we
see in her is that she knows that it's more important
to do what was needed than it was to stay in
what was comfortable. And that's a question that
I think we all need to pause and to ask. Have
you discovered anything that requires you to
empty yourself to live out your true calling?
That's hard to say in our nation. We are a place
where we continue to talk about the American
dream and about all the things that we want to
make sure that we achieve. But in reality, has
it actually made us better as people? Maybe wealthier
than other nations. Maybe making sure that things
are prettier and we have a McDonald's in every
neighborhood, but has it made us better as people?
Because truly if we are to ask what it is to
follow after God, to be people who follow Christ
Jesus even into Jerusalem, is that it means that
we have to be the people willing to empty ourselves.
Because we have to know and to trust them to
believe that even emptying ourselves of what
might appear great of the titles of the things
that give us some level of comfort and joy Is
to realize that it doesn't change our being doesn't
change who we are in the eyes of God That is
something that we need to have this week Before
we can get to Easter, we have to have the time
of empty. We have to have the opportunity to
see that as much as the people may praise the
man coming into the city on the back of a donkey,
we remember that it's not on top of a giant steed.
It is on an animal that is lowly, one that has
continued to work. and to slave and to push.
That instead of being the one who takes on the
glory is instead it is the one who takes on the
humility. Because Jesus was exalted because of
humility. See, that's the thing about the exaltation.
Was Jesus already exalted being God the Son?
Yes. But it wasn't the type of exaltation that
would bring us life. As long as we are serving
a God who is exalted up on a throne that never
comes down to be with us and to go through everything,
then we are a people who are forever to be pitied
because we are a people whose God has not brought
us salvation. But the exaltation of who Jesus
is now is as God the Son who is also our Savior.
See, being comfortable in all of this. It's not
the idea of comfort that we might look for. There
was a book that was saying, I believe it was
called The Subtle Art of Not Giving a, well,
a word that I can't say in church. But one of
the things about it is how to just let go and
stop worrying about the things that don't really
matter. And what it says is the idea of have
we Become comfortable with the idea that each
of us will someday die Because if we think about
the things that we truly put our time and attention
on that truly make life so difficult It's the
things where we want to try to somehow make life
Comfortable or avoid our mortality or somehow
have a legacy that makes us look good in the
future Something where we can try to hold on
to this world no matter what Then what we end
up doing is making life harder for ourselves
and for the people around us when we realize
the things we can't control. When we realize
the things that are truly bogging us down and
harming us. But when we pause, we're willing
to be comfortable with the fact that each of
us is going to a place where life will not have
its light upon us. Then we realize what it is
that truly matters. We discover the things that
are important, that at each and every moment
in this life, we're asking this question of,
where am I going because of where Christ has
gone before? See, Jesus embraced death, but it's
also because he knew that there would be hope,
that there would be life beyond the things that
were right there. how difficult it must have
been to follow and obey the Father, with how
many times people kept chasing Him and pushing
Him and taking away from Him what little He may
have already had. But He also knew what the purpose
was. And that's my question to you. Do you know
what it is that you are meant to pursue now?
Are you willing to realize that your life is
not about the comforts and the ease that we have
at this very moment, but to know that our future
does not lie here? Are you willing to admit that?
Are you willing to see that? Are you willing
to realize that we need to stop trying to avoid
the pain that comes from being a disciple of
Christ? We need to stop trying to avoid the pain
that comes as a disciple of Christ as those who
follow after God in Christ Jesus We need to stop
being so afraid Whenever we don't always get
our way We need to stop being afraid whenever
we don't think that we have power. We need to
stop being afraid Whenever we have to let others
Take the glory instead of ourselves. We have
to be stop being afraid when we don't get the
credit We need to stop being afraid of letting
go Letting God be the one to determine our future
Because the more we cling The more damage we
do and the only hope that we have of proclaiming
Christ to a world that truly needs him is if
we're willing to let go and go to the cross with
Him and to let Him be the one to give our future
and our hope. So whatever it is right now that
you are afraid of pursuing because you don't
know how difficult it may be or how much you
may lose in going to it, my hope and prayer is
that you are no longer afraid and that you'll
be willing to let go of this life so that we
can gain the one. that is truly eternal. Thanks
be to God.