WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.480 I've decided that since it was my birthday, I'll 00:00:02.480 --> 00:00:04.679 just pick whichever illustration I like for this 00:00:04.679 --> 00:00:08.279 morning. And today, what I had on my mind was 00:00:08.279 --> 00:00:11.500 the book The Hobbit. Maybe you've heard of it. 00:00:11.580 --> 00:00:13.359 Maybe a few of you have heard of it. And for 00:00:13.359 --> 00:00:15.439 the rest of you, well, you're still stuck listening 00:00:15.439 --> 00:00:17.899 to it. So there you go. But just to give you 00:00:17.899 --> 00:00:20.940 a really brief short version, there's this small, 00:00:21.120 --> 00:00:24.179 very comfortable guy named Bilbo Baggins who 00:00:24.179 --> 00:00:27.039 gets pulled into an adventure with a group of 00:00:27.039 --> 00:00:30.359 dwarves, as we all do, of course. and they're 00:00:30.359 --> 00:00:33.000 trying to reclaim a mountain full of treasure 00:00:33.000 --> 00:00:37.679 from a dragon. And along the way, they face all 00:00:37.679 --> 00:00:41.759 kinds of dangers, but the real problem doesn't 00:00:41.759 --> 00:00:44.700 really show up until the dragon has already been 00:00:44.700 --> 00:00:49.700 defeated. Because once the treasure is finally 00:00:49.700 --> 00:00:54.299 within reach, everybody starts to change. The 00:00:54.299 --> 00:00:57.479 dwarf king who had gone after it starts hoarding 00:00:57.479 --> 00:01:00.740 and starts gripping with all he has because the 00:01:00.740 --> 00:01:04.500 dwarves want it. But the men in the nearby village 00:01:04.500 --> 00:01:08.180 want it as well. And the elves from far away 00:01:08.180 --> 00:01:12.200 want their share as well. You see, as much as 00:01:12.200 --> 00:01:15.540 they spent so much of this time pursuing what 00:01:15.540 --> 00:01:19.019 they thought would fix everything for them, almost 00:01:19.019 --> 00:01:23.290 tore them apart. And even when Bilbo ends up 00:01:23.290 --> 00:01:26.489 coming along and takes the most important treasure 00:01:26.489 --> 00:01:29.950 of the story, the arkenstone, the one that's 00:01:29.950 --> 00:01:33.049 supposed to belong to the dwarf king, he gives 00:01:33.049 --> 00:01:37.790 it away because it's the only way to stop a war 00:01:37.790 --> 00:01:41.290 from happening. And it raises this question, 00:01:42.189 --> 00:01:45.209 what if the very things that we think will fix 00:01:45.209 --> 00:01:49.859 everything are actually not... what we need the 00:01:49.859 --> 00:01:54.079 most. What if the things that we cling to are 00:01:54.079 --> 00:01:56.120 actually sometimes the things that will harm 00:01:56.120 --> 00:01:58.959 us? Because when we come to Palm Sunday, that's 00:01:58.959 --> 00:02:02.060 exactly what we end up seeing happening. The 00:02:02.060 --> 00:02:05.260 people see Jesus coming into Jerusalem and they 00:02:05.260 --> 00:02:09.129 think, this is it. This is the moment where everything 00:02:09.129 --> 00:02:12.849 gets fixed. Our nation will finally be complete. 00:02:13.129 --> 00:02:16.270 We will finally have the authority and the position 00:02:16.270 --> 00:02:19.509 we were always meant to have. We will finally 00:02:19.509 --> 00:02:21.949 get rid of all these people that are plaguing 00:02:21.949 --> 00:02:25.729 us that we don't want them in our area. The people 00:02:25.729 --> 00:02:28.629 see Jesus coming into Jerusalem and they think, 00:02:28.930 --> 00:02:33.349 this is it. This is the moment. But what they're 00:02:33.349 --> 00:02:36.729 expecting and what Jesus is actually bringing 00:02:37.120 --> 00:02:40.759 are not the same thing. See, to understand that, 00:02:40.860 --> 00:02:44.620 we need to step back. Because Palm Sunday, it's 00:02:44.620 --> 00:02:47.719 not just this moment we need to understand. This 00:02:47.719 --> 00:02:50.240 is the climax of things that have been happening 00:02:50.240 --> 00:02:53.500 for centuries throughout scripture, over and 00:02:53.500 --> 00:02:56.620 over, when we understand what's been going on. 00:02:57.219 --> 00:03:01.159 It starts with Abraham 4 ,000 years ago. You 00:03:01.159 --> 00:03:05.699 see, with Abraham, there was nothing built. that 00:03:05.699 --> 00:03:09.319 would be seen as this kingdom of Israel. There 00:03:09.319 --> 00:03:12.400 was no nation. There was no set of laws. There 00:03:12.400 --> 00:03:16.780 was no temple. Just a promise made to one person 00:03:16.780 --> 00:03:20.860 in a calling. Go to the land that I will show 00:03:20.860 --> 00:03:24.419 you and I will make you a great nation. That's 00:03:24.419 --> 00:03:29.639 it. Faith is simple. It's relational. It's portable. 00:03:30.900 --> 00:03:37.020 A tense and a voice. And then five centuries 00:03:37.020 --> 00:03:41.539 later, you see Moses come along. And with Moses 00:03:41.539 --> 00:03:47.500 comes a structure, okay? Laws, tabernacle, priesthood. 00:03:47.919 --> 00:03:51.759 You see now the faith in God himself, it has 00:03:51.759 --> 00:03:55.139 bones to it. It has something that people are 00:03:55.139 --> 00:03:58.879 holding onto. It can be taught. It can be organized. 00:03:59.460 --> 00:04:03.800 It can be preserved. But it doesn't stop there. 00:04:04.300 --> 00:04:07.840 There's still more to go. Because David, another 00:04:07.840 --> 00:04:11.419 five centuries after that, comes with a kingdom 00:04:11.419 --> 00:04:17.240 and kings. A capital up on a mountain. A sense 00:04:17.240 --> 00:04:21.920 of permanence. This is the moment where finally 00:04:21.920 --> 00:04:24.620 everybody feels like things are established, 00:04:25.019 --> 00:04:29.000 even as his son Solomon builds the temple. And 00:04:29.000 --> 00:04:32.209 here's the key to this. None of these things 00:04:32.209 --> 00:04:36.209 are really bad. God has given them all these 00:04:36.209 --> 00:04:39.930 things as a part of being his people, but over 00:04:39.930 --> 00:04:45.730 time something happens. The people begin to lean 00:04:45.730 --> 00:04:50.550 on the gifts instead of leaning on the God who 00:04:50.550 --> 00:04:55.649 gave them. The temple, it became their sense 00:04:55.649 --> 00:05:01.939 of security all by itself. Their identity, being 00:05:01.939 --> 00:05:04.699 the people of God, became something that they 00:05:04.699 --> 00:05:10.560 had pride in. The worship was not about what 00:05:10.560 --> 00:05:13.399 was happening inside of them, but rather what 00:05:13.399 --> 00:05:16.839 things looked like on the outside. And what was 00:05:16.839 --> 00:05:21.079 meant to point people to God became something 00:05:21.079 --> 00:05:24.139 that they started to depend on instead of Him. 00:05:24.459 --> 00:05:28.350 And if we're being completely honest, We don't 00:05:28.350 --> 00:05:31.889 just live in systems that do this. We do this 00:05:31.889 --> 00:05:36.870 in our own hearts. How we miss what it is that 00:05:36.870 --> 00:05:41.250 God is doing because we are so focused on the 00:05:41.250 --> 00:05:44.430 place where He is doing it. We have missed that 00:05:44.430 --> 00:05:47.910 God has been proclaiming His Word through this 00:05:47.910 --> 00:05:51.670 place, through these people, and instead we focus 00:05:51.670 --> 00:05:54.810 on making sure that everything is set up exactly 00:05:54.810 --> 00:05:58.889 the way we want it to be. And this is where the 00:05:58.889 --> 00:06:01.790 first part of the book of Isaiah speaks. When 00:06:01.790 --> 00:06:04.970 we look at chapters one through 39, we've been 00:06:04.970 --> 00:06:07.350 spending the last few months looking at Isaiah 00:06:07.350 --> 00:06:10.209 in our Sunday school and seeing what it is that 00:06:10.209 --> 00:06:12.829 God has been doing. Because on the surface of 00:06:12.829 --> 00:06:15.730 this section, everything still looks like it's 00:06:15.730 --> 00:06:19.750 intact. The temple is there. The kings are there. 00:06:20.290 --> 00:06:24.050 The rituals are happening. But underneath it 00:06:24.050 --> 00:06:30.350 all, there is injustice. idolatry, hollow worship, 00:06:31.250 --> 00:06:34.069 like finding a mountain full of treasure with 00:06:34.069 --> 00:06:37.689 the king in tow only to discover that the king 00:06:37.689 --> 00:06:40.389 you were looking to help was actually just in 00:06:40.389 --> 00:06:44.430 it for himself anyway. From the outside, it looks 00:06:44.430 --> 00:06:48.870 glorious, but inside, something is already going 00:06:48.870 --> 00:06:53.870 very wrong. And then five centuries after David, 00:06:54.910 --> 00:06:59.660 everything collapses. The people are exiled. 00:06:59.879 --> 00:07:01.980 They lose their land. They lose their power. 00:07:02.060 --> 00:07:03.959 They lose their position. They lose everything. 00:07:04.379 --> 00:07:07.439 The temple is destroyed. The king is gone. The 00:07:07.439 --> 00:07:12.879 land is lost. Everything they trusted, it's gone. 00:07:14.379 --> 00:07:16.959 And here's the hard truth from Scripture is that 00:07:16.959 --> 00:07:21.160 sometimes, sometimes God allows the things that 00:07:21.160 --> 00:07:26.480 we rely on to be shaken so badly, not because 00:07:26.480 --> 00:07:30.040 He's trying to destroy us, but because He wants 00:07:30.040 --> 00:07:34.579 us to let go and come back to Him. Because we 00:07:34.579 --> 00:07:39.319 keep trusting things that cannot hold us while 00:07:39.319 --> 00:07:42.879 God is bringing us back to Himself through the 00:07:42.879 --> 00:07:48.959 servant who can. See, right there, in that moment 00:07:48.959 --> 00:07:53.830 of collapse, there is a new voice there. saying 00:07:53.830 --> 00:07:58.569 comfort, comfort my people. This is not the kind 00:07:58.569 --> 00:08:01.389 of comfort that comes from getting the riches 00:08:01.389 --> 00:08:03.910 of the treasure you thought you wanted that all 00:08:03.910 --> 00:08:06.230 of a sudden when you have it and you pause and 00:08:06.230 --> 00:08:12.350 you say, what was that for? What's next? This 00:08:12.350 --> 00:08:15.589 is something deeper. This is God Himself saying 00:08:15.589 --> 00:08:19.029 that this did not happen because I failed you. 00:08:19.230 --> 00:08:22.370 This is not because I, the Lord your God, did 00:08:22.370 --> 00:08:25.750 not somehow live up to my promise. This happened 00:08:25.750 --> 00:08:30.449 because you trusted in the wrong things. And 00:08:30.449 --> 00:08:34.309 then he reveals something new. Salvation will 00:08:34.309 --> 00:08:38.529 not come through the kings or your systems or 00:08:38.529 --> 00:08:42.309 your power. It will come through my servant. 00:08:44.330 --> 00:08:47.730 Everything that you thought you knew is on its 00:08:47.730 --> 00:08:52.500 head. It says, the Lord God has given me the 00:08:52.500 --> 00:08:55.419 tongue of one who is taught. Morning by morning, 00:08:55.720 --> 00:08:59.500 He awakens my ear to listen. This is not just 00:08:59.500 --> 00:09:02.720 learning something out of a book. How many people 00:09:02.720 --> 00:09:05.539 have ended up going through their confirmation 00:09:05.539 --> 00:09:08.340 and their catechism, making sure that they memorized 00:09:08.340 --> 00:09:11.740 every single fact without realizing it's not 00:09:11.740 --> 00:09:14.980 about what's in here as much as what is changing 00:09:14.980 --> 00:09:19.690 inside of here. Because this... is about a life 00:09:19.690 --> 00:09:24.669 shaped by listening and learning. Morning by 00:09:24.669 --> 00:09:28.029 morning, step by step, I did not turn back. I 00:09:28.029 --> 00:09:33.090 gave my back to those who strike. Because this 00:09:33.090 --> 00:09:37.029 is not the king acting triumphant because of 00:09:37.029 --> 00:09:41.029 something to proclaim in some gaudy way upon 00:09:41.029 --> 00:09:45.210 an overt throne. This is someone who stays faithful 00:09:45.210 --> 00:09:49.240 when it costs everything. Because this servant 00:09:49.240 --> 00:09:51.460 is doing what Israel was supposed to do, but 00:09:51.460 --> 00:09:57.240 could not. Listening. Trusting. Obeying. Enduring. 00:09:58.919 --> 00:10:02.779 Perfectly. And if we want to understand what's 00:10:02.779 --> 00:10:05.759 happening inside of this servant, because we 00:10:05.759 --> 00:10:09.100 clearly don't understand it from our own experience, 00:10:09.340 --> 00:10:12.759 we get a window into it from Philippians 2. Have 00:10:12.759 --> 00:10:15.379 this mind among yourselves, which is yours in 00:10:15.379 --> 00:10:18.710 Christ Jesus. Who though he was in very nature 00:10:18.710 --> 00:10:22.590 God did not consider equality with God something 00:10:22.590 --> 00:10:27.970 to be grasped But empty himself Taking the form 00:10:27.970 --> 00:10:30.730 of a servant becoming obedient to the point of 00:10:30.730 --> 00:10:36.549 death even death on a cross Not the form of a 00:10:36.549 --> 00:10:39.830 servant as if he's just acting like one the form 00:10:39.830 --> 00:10:44.009 of a servant because he is one and He doesn't 00:10:44.009 --> 00:10:49.120 grasp This is not a king trying to cling to a 00:10:49.120 --> 00:10:51.379 stone that he thinks will give him authority. 00:10:52.299 --> 00:10:55.940 Or an adventurer clinging to a ring that he thinks 00:10:55.940 --> 00:11:00.440 will help him to hide. This isn't about seizing 00:11:00.440 --> 00:11:03.379 what someone thinks will give them power. This 00:11:03.379 --> 00:11:06.460 is about letting go. This is the exact opposite 00:11:06.460 --> 00:11:12.019 though of what we do. We grasp for control of 00:11:12.019 --> 00:11:15.899 things. We cling to what we think is going to 00:11:15.899 --> 00:11:19.580 secure us and everything that we wanted We reach 00:11:19.580 --> 00:11:21.840 for the treasures that are right in front of 00:11:21.840 --> 00:11:24.940 us that glitter the things that either we can 00:11:24.940 --> 00:11:29.139 touch and hold Maybe the ideas that we think 00:11:29.139 --> 00:11:34.399 will somehow protect us Maybe the people that 00:11:34.399 --> 00:11:39.240 we think will never fail us, but Jesus releases 00:11:39.240 --> 00:11:43.200 everything He humbles Himself. He becomes a servant. 00:11:43.259 --> 00:11:46.440 He walks the path of obedience all the way down. 00:11:47.600 --> 00:11:51.679 Because it is only then that God lifts Him up. 00:11:52.899 --> 00:11:56.740 This is the pattern of the Kingdom. Not grasping, 00:11:56.879 --> 00:12:00.539 but surrender. Not climbing, but humbling. Not 00:12:00.539 --> 00:12:05.100 seizing, but trusting. And that is the King who 00:12:05.100 --> 00:12:10.019 rides into Jerusalem. because the crowd is shouting, 00:12:10.100 --> 00:12:12.960 Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name 00:12:12.960 --> 00:12:15.700 of the Lord, because they think that the system 00:12:15.700 --> 00:12:19.440 is about to be restored. Their kingdom is coming 00:12:19.440 --> 00:12:23.179 back. The power that they had is returning. Everything 00:12:23.179 --> 00:12:25.539 that they thought that Judas Maccabeus had done 00:12:25.539 --> 00:12:29.179 for them that he had failed to do, oh no, this 00:12:29.179 --> 00:12:32.980 is finally going to fix everything. But Jesus 00:12:32.980 --> 00:12:36.759 is not coming to restore what they expect. He 00:12:36.759 --> 00:12:40.120 doesn't seize the power. He doesn't secure the 00:12:40.120 --> 00:12:42.720 control and frankly. He doesn't even bother to 00:12:42.720 --> 00:12:47.940 protect himself He rides in knowing exactly where 00:12:47.940 --> 00:12:52.740 this is going to lead to suffering rejection 00:12:52.740 --> 00:12:58.159 across And within days the same voices are shouting 00:12:58.159 --> 00:13:03.340 hosanna Will then shout crucify him? Not just 00:13:03.340 --> 00:13:07.679 completely different people Very difficult to 00:13:07.679 --> 00:13:12.539 believe none of them are the same. But why? Because 00:13:12.539 --> 00:13:14.700 He is not giving them the treasure that they 00:13:14.700 --> 00:13:19.100 wanted. He's giving them something deeper. Because 00:13:19.100 --> 00:13:22.360 that's what's striking is that Jesus does not 00:13:22.360 --> 00:13:26.000 fix the systems that we cling to. He re -centers 00:13:26.000 --> 00:13:30.460 everything around Himself. It's not come back 00:13:30.460 --> 00:13:32.659 to the structure that you felt comfortable with. 00:13:32.759 --> 00:13:37.690 It's follow me. Go. Trust. walk with me." The 00:13:37.690 --> 00:13:41.929 temple? Fulfilled in Him. The law? Fulfilled 00:13:41.929 --> 00:13:46.490 in Him. The identity of all God's people, including 00:13:46.490 --> 00:13:52.129 ourselves, centered on Jesus. And after Him? 00:13:53.370 --> 00:13:57.490 The early church was not rebuilding one central 00:13:57.490 --> 00:14:03.090 system. It spread. It traveled throughout. Homes, 00:14:03.250 --> 00:14:07.860 relationships, communities. Faith being relational, 00:14:08.399 --> 00:14:13.519 spirit -led, portable. But this is where it also 00:14:13.519 --> 00:14:17.039 comes close to home for us. Because let's be 00:14:17.039 --> 00:14:20.259 honest about history ever since the early Church. 00:14:21.299 --> 00:14:23.980 Because we start to see an old pattern happening 00:14:23.980 --> 00:14:28.240 again. The Roman Empire fell even as the Church 00:14:28.240 --> 00:14:32.000 took its position of power. The church strengthened 00:14:32.000 --> 00:14:35.860 its authority as the main place of learning and 00:14:35.860 --> 00:14:39.220 knowledge. The Reformation let us know that there 00:14:39.220 --> 00:14:41.500 were flaws within the church as people began 00:14:41.500 --> 00:14:45.940 to question its authority. And even now, postmodernism 00:14:45.940 --> 00:14:48.200 shows that people are not willing to believe 00:14:48.200 --> 00:14:51.340 any authority, only the things that they give 00:14:51.340 --> 00:14:55.779 meaning to themselves. Things get built. People 00:14:55.779 --> 00:14:59.679 trust them. They begin to replace God. and eventually 00:14:59.679 --> 00:15:03.700 everything falls apart. And if we're honest, 00:15:04.840 --> 00:15:06.820 it does feel like things are kind of shaking 00:15:06.820 --> 00:15:10.700 all around us today. The institutions that we 00:15:10.700 --> 00:15:13.620 have feel less stable. There are certainties 00:15:13.620 --> 00:15:16.980 that feel a little less certain. Things that 00:15:16.980 --> 00:15:20.299 people used to rely on, people that people used 00:15:20.299 --> 00:15:23.759 to rely on, they don't feel quite so solid anymore. 00:15:24.299 --> 00:15:26.820 And that can be unsettling as we keep looking 00:15:26.820 --> 00:15:31.559 for more and more as the major shift is happening 00:15:31.559 --> 00:15:35.399 in our world around us. But scripture gives us 00:15:35.399 --> 00:15:39.580 a lens. Maybe all of these things that we're 00:15:39.580 --> 00:15:42.480 dealing with, maybe they're not the end of faith. 00:15:43.720 --> 00:15:47.580 Maybe this is actually meant to be a moment where 00:15:47.580 --> 00:15:52.850 Christ is re -centering us back on himself. back 00:15:52.850 --> 00:15:56.269 to the one who holds us. Because let's be honest, 00:15:57.370 --> 00:16:00.330 everything that the servant does in Isaiah 50, 00:16:01.350 --> 00:16:05.190 we have failed to do it. We're supposed to. We 00:16:05.190 --> 00:16:08.889 don't. We don't always listen. We turn back when 00:16:08.889 --> 00:16:12.190 it's hard. We try our best to avoid suffering. 00:16:12.409 --> 00:16:16.090 We complain whenever we can't. And then we grasp 00:16:16.090 --> 00:16:20.750 for what we can control. But Jesus didn't. He 00:16:20.750 --> 00:16:24.090 listened perfectly. He obeyed completely. He 00:16:24.090 --> 00:16:27.549 did not turn back. And he endured the suffering 00:16:27.549 --> 00:16:31.409 that took him all the way to the cross, where 00:16:31.409 --> 00:16:35.690 he carried everything that we could not. And 00:16:35.690 --> 00:16:39.450 he became the servant that we were meant to be. 00:16:39.710 --> 00:16:44.470 And he became it for us. This is not just to 00:16:44.470 --> 00:16:47.779 be an example for us. This is the salvation we 00:16:47.779 --> 00:16:50.500 need because you are not saved by how well you 00:16:50.500 --> 00:16:54.080 are following. If you were, that would be the 00:16:54.080 --> 00:16:59.139 end. You are saved because He followed perfectly. 00:16:59.899 --> 00:17:02.639 And because of that, when all these other things 00:17:02.639 --> 00:17:08.059 keep shaking all around us, He is not someone 00:17:08.059 --> 00:17:12.880 who gets shaken. He is the only one who can hold 00:17:12.880 --> 00:17:19.549 us. And now, Because of Him, we are invited back 00:17:19.549 --> 00:17:27.170 into that life. Not perfectly, but truly. To 00:17:27.170 --> 00:17:31.150 listen, to trust, to follow morning by morning. 00:17:32.690 --> 00:17:37.089 Something that I wonder, are we willing to carry 00:17:37.089 --> 00:17:40.750 that out this week? Are we willing, morning by 00:17:40.750 --> 00:17:43.170 morning, this week and beyond, to start the day 00:17:43.170 --> 00:17:47.029 saying, Where have I been leaning on something 00:17:47.029 --> 00:17:51.450 that is not God? And what or whom have I been 00:17:51.450 --> 00:17:55.430 holding onto that I keep thinking will fix everything 00:17:55.430 --> 00:18:00.910 instead of turning to God? And maybe we could 00:18:00.910 --> 00:18:05.950 take one step, just one, to listen, to trust, 00:18:06.750 --> 00:18:10.369 to follow. Because even when our grip is weak, 00:18:10.789 --> 00:18:14.599 His will never fail. Because here's the truth 00:18:14.599 --> 00:18:16.720 is that we're not that different from those people 00:18:16.720 --> 00:18:21.160 in Jerusalem Where one moment? We're crying hosanna 00:18:21.160 --> 00:18:26.920 and the next Please get rid of him We still look 00:18:26.920 --> 00:18:29.259 for things that we think will fix everything 00:18:29.259 --> 00:18:32.180 We still reach for treasure that we think should 00:18:32.180 --> 00:18:35.099 be ours and sometimes even when we think we've 00:18:35.099 --> 00:18:38.740 won There's still something underneath that mountain 00:18:38.740 --> 00:18:42.480 The thing we still keep clinging to is precious 00:18:43.669 --> 00:18:47.630 something that could eventually undo us. But 00:18:47.630 --> 00:18:52.470 Jesus, He's the one to lead us out. Not by giving 00:18:52.470 --> 00:18:55.829 us what we expect, but by giving us what we truly 00:18:55.829 --> 00:19:02.309 need, Himself. So this week, may we each be willing 00:19:02.309 --> 00:19:07.069 to notice what we've been holding, to lay it 00:19:07.069 --> 00:19:11.230 down, and to follow the servant, morning by morning, 00:19:11.890 --> 00:19:15.839 because that, is where the real treasure is. 00:19:16.420 --> 00:19:17.079 Thanks be to God.