“Preparing For a Life in Christ”

Scripture: Matthew 10:26-42

Today is Palm Sunday – the day when we celebrate Jesus’ grand entry into Jerusalem. The crowds heralded him as a savior, and yet, they still didn’t understand that it was his saving grace that would bless them, and not his physical and mental prowess. They wanted to see the Lord as a warrior, as a conqueror, as one who would free them from worldly oppression. And as the one who was seen as a powerful and disruptive figure within this world, he would also have many detractors.
He was called the Satan (the “Accuser”), a sinner, a demon of the worse kind, a blasphemer, a traitor, and those who would follow after him would suffer from the same lies. And the fear of these threats would deter many from publicly proclaiming Christ.

John Cobb wrote:
If we trust Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we have no reason to fear that truth from any source will undercut our faith. Indeed, we have every reason to believe that all truth, wisdom and reality cohere [come together] in him.
--John Cobb, “Being a Transformationist in a Pluralist World”, Christian Century, 10-1, August 1994, 749.

Read Matthew 10:26-33

“Don’t be afraid of them, because it will all work out in the end, and all will be made right.” The last days aren’t the problem for most Christians – it’s the enduring all of those miserable days until that day arrives! And in our fear for today, we hesitate to speak out loudly and clearly as witnesses for Jesus Christ. Now understand that this isn’t about those who are reluctant or hesitant to make a first time commitment to Christ. It isn’t about those who never make the decision to come to him. This is about those who are already his followers, those who have put their eternal hope in the Lord, but who choose to do it silently.
Our discipleship can never be one of timidity. Jesus’ disciples cannot be shy. Jesus’ disciples are not to be bashful. We are to be bold in our faith! Will others ignore us? Of course they will. Will some criticize us? Certainly! Will some of us even experience physical and emotional persecution in some form or another? Yes! But we can’t let that deter us in our faith. Jesus tells us that the one who we should fear is the one who can destroy not only our human life, but also our soul. Not the ones who express their disdain for Christians, not the ones who make our faith tremble, but the one who is behind their efforts to destroy our faith. And that is the real Accuser – the real Satan.

So what are we to do? Remember the people in Jerusalem on that first Palm Sunday. They shouted Hosannas at the top of their lungs, regardless of who might be lingering in the shadows, no matter how many were listening and taking names. They waved their palm branches and covered the ground with their clothing, without any fear of who might be watching them. They were proclaiming Jesus as savior, even as he rode into Jerusalem to face humiliation and death at the hands of the very ones he had come to save. And yet, he assures those who proclaim him of their great worth in God’s eyes and heart, and as for those who refuse to acknowledge him, he lets them know that he will be unable to acknowledge them on the Judgment Day.

Who are we to fear? God? Jesus? No! It would seem that we are to fear our own ignorance and indecision!

Read Matthew 10:34-39

Where is the Christian’s loyalty supposed to lie? We hear a lot about that in our life. We’re told that we are to exhibit a high degree of loyalty in our jobs. We are to be loyal to our family and friends. We are to be loyal to the government that is in place. And in a worldly sense, our loyalty to these is to outweigh everything else, including our faith.
But Jesus would have us follow a better and far more narrow way. He tells us in this passage that even our loyalty to those we are closest to must take a back seat to our love of him. Have you ever had a dear friend or family member tells you that if you truly want to show them your love, then you have to be accepting of who they are and what they do? And if you don’t, then you can’t possibly love them?
Jesus would respond to this attack with two messages – first, that we are to love the Lord our God with all our heart and mind and soul and strength, and second, that we are to love our neighbor as our self. Love the Lord without question or hesitation - not because of the things that he does for us, but simply because he is God. Love other people – all of them - without question or hesitation - not because of who they are or because of the things that they do, but simply because we must. And if someone who you show Christian love to turns away from you because you don’t love the things they do, then that is their fault and everyone’s loss. Always remember our call to love the Lord above all else, and through him, to love others. We have to keep the right perspective.

Read Matthew 10:40-42

Preparing to live a life in Christ is never easy. It means that we have to put everything that we have ever learned in this life aside, and learn an entirely new way. Is it any wonder that people throughout the past 2 millennium have struggled with what it really means to be a Christian? It seems that if we are ever to truly be a disciple of Jesus Christ, that others must begin to see him in everything that we do. We are to be his reflection, we are to be his image, we are to speak his words, we are to love as he loves, and above all else, we are to be faithful and loyal to him – and when we are, he can show the ultimate loyalty and faithfulness to us.
It’s a choice – its either Jesus and all that he is, or the world and all that it isn’t. There is no other way. In Revelation 3:15-16, the Lord is speaking of the church in Laodicea, and he tells them “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth”. Trying to straddle the fence of faith does us no good whatsoever. And actually, we see that it is almost worse than completely turning away from Christ! If we take a look at Jesus, consider his way versus our other options, and make a decision to take a different way, at least there is the possibility of a change of heart. But until we make the effort to at least consider his way, how can there be any hope at all?

On that first Palm Sunday, the people were proclaiming Jesus, and even though they would fail in faith before the week was over, they had still made a choice. The disciples had spent years with Jesus and knew him intimately, and even they, too, would fail the Lord – one would betray him, one would deny him, the rest would desert him, and later, they would even refuse to believe that he was alive! They all had made decisions in faith – some good and some bad - and Jesus will never give up on those who continue to seek a relationship with him, even if they fail him over and over. Maybe that’s part of our preparation – our experiences involved with failing and falling and betraying and denying and deserting and disbelieving. We have to come to an understanding of our faults and failures before we can come to that glorious saving knowledge in Christ, and then and only then can we reject those other choices and options, and claim, instead, Jesus.
I think that it’s all part of our preparation – a lifetime of Lenten seeking. For the past several weeks, we have been considering just what a life in faith is all about. And to tell you the truth, these 6 weeks are in no way sufficient in our examination of what it means to live a life in faith. A life in faith is a lifetime effort. Lent is nearly over, and this coming week will be a test of faith – for the disciples, for the people of Jerusalem, and for the church of 2012. The term “Holy Week” has nothing to do with us and our faith – it is solely about the holiness of God, the glory of his great sacrifice on our part, and the precious gift of redemption and salvation that would soon be offered to all who will believe.
In these next seven days, may each of us suffer a test in faith, and may each of us survive that test. Pray for strength. Pray for faith. Pray for perseverance. And pray for this hurting and lost world. Continue to pray our prayer of Elijah that we began 2 weeks ago –

“O Lord God, let it be known today that you are God in and of this world, and that all good things are of you. Answer my prayer, O Lord, so that others will know that you, and you alone, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again. Amen.”

And perhaps we should even include ourselves in this prayer for renewed faith.

May your Holy Week reveal a faith in you that goes beyond all reason, and a love that reaches far out to our world in the name of Jesus Christ.