"What Do You Expect?" - Sermon for Palm Sunday

What Do You Expect?
Palm Sunday – Narrative Lectionary 4
April 13, 2014
Grace, Mankato, MN
John 19.16b-22

I’ve been reminded again of Edwin Friedman’s observation about explorers in general and Columbus in particular, that it took them years to realize that what they found was far more important than what they were looking for. So often our expectations about our life are not only not fulfilled, but life gives us the unexpected. That’s certainly true for me. I expected to find and marry someone with long, brown hair, but I found someone with short, blond hair who has been a far better life-partner than I deserve. Instead of the expected career in first medicine, then business, I found my calling as a pastor and wouldn’t have it any other way.

There is a similar dynamic happening in John’s gospel regarding peoples’ expectations of Jesus. He enters Jerusalem with those who had witnessed the raising of Lazarus from the lead leading the cheers. Palm branches were typically used to welcome a warrior king who had been victorious in battle. The shout of “Hosanna,” literally “come save us,” reinforced their expectations of Jesus. In their minds, they were getting what they were looking for, the warrior-king Messiah. And this Messiah was going to bestow a what-for whipping on the Roman occupying forces.

Yet, when we shift to chapter 19 we see a much different procession as Jesus walks to Golgotha. Instead of being on the back of a donkey Jesus has on his back the instrument of his death. No shouts of victory here; instead we have the religious leaders and Pilate still haggling in their little power-play games. It would take three more days plus many decades for Jesus’ followers to realize that what they found in Jesus was far more important than what they were looking for, even though expectations at the moment were crushed.

Many Jewish people expected a warrior king to restore their country to freedom and prominence. What they found was someone who would conquer sin, death, and evil powers through his own death. By sitting on a donkey rather than a war horse, Jesus signals he is a different king of Messiah. And rather than being raised up on the Davidic throne, Jesus is governs from the cross. Rather than wielding death from a sword to accomplish victory, Jesus will wield self-giving love.

These two texts hold up a mirror to our expectations about what kind of king and savior Jesus is. Some of us expect him to be an angry, vengeful ruler who punishes us when fall short. Instead, we get what we need, a God who takes on human flesh and in so doing, our own brokenness. Some expect a “cosmic muffin” grandfatherly type, but we find a God who invites into a life lived outside ourselves for the sake of others. Some expect a hands-off king who created the world, but since then leaves us to our own devices. Instead, we found a God who has emptied himself and come to live among us. Finally, some expect a puppet-master who scripts every moment of our lives, but instead have found One present to every moment of our lives.

I think we often expect too much from our leaders and elected officials, let alone our God, or perhaps we expect the wrong things. That’s another sermon for another day. Meanwhile, as you continue on your journey with Jesus through the cross to the empty tomb and beyond, take some time think about what you expect of Jesus and how what you find may be more important than what you expect. Personally, I have found a God who helps me to make meaning out of my life and those of others. And I have found a God that gives me far more than what I expect and more so what I need. God bless you on your journey of discovery. Amen.