Sermon:  “Get Through the Gates”

Prayer:   “May the words of my mouth, and the meditations of our hearts and minds here together be acceptable to you, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer.  Amen.”

 

"Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

Staying on the “straight and narrow” usually means making some hard choices.  That’s a great life lesson, and is why, when I was a minister out West, I always liked to take my youth on a good long hike at least once during Confirmation.  I wanted to get a nice steep, hard climb – Mount Diablo, Wildcat Peak, Yosemite Falls.  I wanted to stretch them a little – to have them go farther than they thought they could and see how, by sharing the journey with their friends, they could find unexpected strength and courage.

Jesus made a hard choice on Palm Sunday, when he mounted a donkey and her colt to ride up Mount Zion into Jerusalem.  He showed real courage and unexpected strength when he and his friends managed to get themselves through the gates of a city where everyone knew they were “wanted” men.  You know, technically, since in Matthew no one ever officially asks to borrow that donkey and her colt –since no one actually says that line Jesus suggested, “The Lord needs them” – that means Jesus came in to town driving one stolen vehicle while towing another!  This story is an epic adventure. 

Think about it.  As Palm Sunday was unfolding, he had only four more days to live as a free man.  By Thursday night, he would be betrayed and arrested, bound and beaten.  Only five days more to Good Friday, when he would be tortured to death as a political prisoner, executed as a potential terrorist, an enemy of the Empire.  We can’t fully appreciate what a heroic entrance he made through the gates of Jerusalem that Palm Sunday unless we remember how that week ended – with Jesus, the Jewish “Redeemer King,” nailed onto a Roman cross, strung up and left to die in the blistering noonday sun. 

We Protestants don’t usually do so well with the blood and gore of Good Friday.  But it’s important to remember the very real R-rated evil Jesus was up against when he rode into Jerusalem. Just this past week I was watching “No Country for Old Men,” this year’s Oscar nominated film by the Coen brothers.  The hero tries to outrun a cold-blooded killer whose series of swift and silent murders turn him into an almost legendary and invincible “angel of death.”  Watching the relentless pace of slaughter on screen, I was reminded of the impossible odds that Jesus was pitted against that last week of his life.  And yet Jesus “set his face toward Jerusalem,” as the Bible says, and attempted the impossible anyway – taking up the cause of love and life against the forces of hatred and death.  But he didn’t do it alone, like most action heroes in the movies.  He does it with thousands of followers cheering him on.  It was a desperate “David vs. Goliath” attempt.  No wonder the crowds were shouting in Hebrew “YASHA NA!” or "Save us now!"  When we get to the point in our lives when we shout, “YASHA NA!  Save us now!" do we remember that God is faithful?  Do we remember we can count on God to save us?

In some ways, that’s what the practice of religion is all about – getting together in worship with a group of people who can help us remember God’s faithfulness.  We do that every Sunday.  In the words that begin and end our familiar Psalm 118, "O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.”  We need to remember that Good News most when things are not going well for us, when we are tempted to turn back from the way Jesus would have us walk with him, when we are tempted to take a short cut and get off the path, when we would be tempted to turn aside to the wide and easy way instead of getting through the gates of righteousness.  That’s when we most need other faithful people with whom we can “share the journey.” 

My favorite memory of all those Confirmation hikes was one year when we went camping at the Pinnacles National Monument in California.  There’s one hike that goes up a long rocky climb to a beautiful, clear mountain lake through a long cave that’s mostly formed by boulders wedged in a canyon.  I say that because it means hikers do need a flashlight but the path kind of weaves in and out of daylight.  You aren’t going down into the dark depths of the earth but upwards instead, so you get the frequent experience of seeing the “light at the end of the tunnel” and then finding the sky again.  It’s a great lesson for people of faith.  And my teenagers usually did great with that hike.

But this one year, as we were about halfway up the cave trail, someone said – “Look!  There’s a tarantula!”  Now for most of us, big spiders are scary, but this one girl in the group, had a major case of arachnophobia.  She froze up in her tracks and refused to go on.  We tried to joke with her a little – you know, cheer her up and distract her.  But she was crying and shaking and would not move a single step.  Another girl had an arm around her and was trying to soothe her with sympathy.  Still, nothing was calming her down.  Finally, I said, “You know, we have to go somewhere sometime.  You can choose when and where.  We are about half-way, I think.  You can go back to camp or keep going up to the lake.”  All she said was “I want out – NOW!”  “YASHA NA!  Save me now!" “OK,” I said. “I’ll go on ahead and then come right back and tell you how much farther it is, and you can decide.”  “All but two from our group of about 10 hikers decided to stay there with her – give her moral support while we scouted on ahead. 

Fortunately we could quickly return to report that there was just one long, steep staircase between us and daylight – and the sparkling, gorgeous lake where we were to have our worship together.  The couple of teenagers who had hiked up to the top with me were the best encouragement ever – they were like evangelists sharing the Good News. “Come and see!” they said.  “Come and see!  It’s beautiful.”  And so, somehow, with her friends by her side, she managed to put one foot in front of the other until she reached the top.

You see, that’s exactly what Jewish people did back in the time of Jesus, when they traveled by caravan to Jerusalem for the Passover.  They sang and they supported each other all the way up that steep and rocky road from Jericho up and over the Mount of Olives to the Temple Mount.  Back then, they had to share the journey with other pilgrims, just to survive – to be kept safe from robbers like the ones who beat up the traveler on the Jericho road, the one who was saved by the famous “good Samaritan.”  Jewish travelers shared water and pack animals, but they also shared stories and songs.  The Psalms we call “songs of ascent” were just for this purpose – to give courage and strength to weary pilgrims headed over the rocky trail down from the Mount of Olives, through the Kidron Valley (“the valley of the shadow of death,” as King David called it) and up again the steep side of Mount Zion to the Temple.

Long before teenagers could load up their iTunes or MP3 players with favorite songs before starting out on a trip, they would memorize the Psalms.  The Psalms were the only songbook Jesus and his disciples had.  So listen to a little more of Psalm 118, and imagine the crowd of people on the road there with Jesus singing it together – drawing from their singing the inspiration of memory and faith.  With the call and response, it almost sounds like a religious pep rally, with the cantor as head cheerleader:  

“O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his steadfast love endures forever! Let Israel say, “His steadfast love endures forever.” Let the house of Aaron say, “His steadfast love endures forever.” Let those who fear the Lord say, “His steadfast love endures forever....  With the Lord on my side I do not fear. ...I was pushed hard, so that I was falling, but the Lord helped me. The Lord is my strength and my might; he has become my salvation.... Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord.”

There’s a great old gospel hymn that I love, “I Don’t Believe He Brought Me This Far (Just to Leave Me).”  If Jesus had known that song, he might have sung it too as he hiked up and over Mount Olivet.  With faith in God and the help of those who share our journey, we find the courage to get through the gates of righteousness.  “O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his steadfast love endures forever!”

Thanks be to God for this Good News.  Amen.

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Psalm 118

¹O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his steadfast love endures forever!

²Let Israel say, “His steadfast love endures forever.”

³Let the house of Aaron say, “His steadfast love endures forever.”

⁴Let those who fear the Lord say, “His steadfast love endures forever.”

⁵Out of my distress I called on the Lord;
the Lord answered me and set me in a broad place.

⁶With the Lord on my side I do not fear. What can mortals do to me?

⁷The Lord is on my side to help me; I shall look in triumph on those who hate me.

⁸It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to put confidence in mortals.

⁹It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to put confidence in princes.

¹⁰All nations surrounded me; in the name of the Lord I cut them off!

¹¹They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side;
in the name of the Lord I cut them off!

¹²They surrounded me like bees; they blazed like a fire of thorns;
in the name of the Lord I cut them off!

¹³I was pushed hard, so that I was falling, but the Lord helped me.

¹⁴The Lord is my strength and my might; he has become my salvation.

¹⁵There are glad songs of victory in the tents of the righteous:
“The right hand of the Lord does valiantly;

¹⁶the right hand of the Lord is exalted; the right hand of the Lord does valiantly.”

¹⁷I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the Lord.

¹⁸The Lord has punished me severely, but he did not give me over to death.

¹⁹Open to me the gates of righteousness,
that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord.

²⁰This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it.

²¹I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation.

²²The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.

²³This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.

²⁴This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

²⁵Save us, we beseech you, O Lord! O Lord, we beseech you, give us success!

²⁶Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.
We bless you from the house of the Lord.

²⁷The Lord is God, and he has given us light.
Bind the festal procession with branches, up to the horns of the altar.

²⁸You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God, I will extol you.

²⁹O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.

 

Matthew 7:12-14

¹²“In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets. ¹³“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. ¹⁴For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

Matthew 21:1-17

21When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage (BETH-fa-gee), at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, ²saying to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me. ³If anyone says anything to you, just say this, ‘The Lord needs them.’ And he will send them immediately.” ⁴This took place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet, saying, ⁵“Tell the daughter of Zion, Look, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” ⁶The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; ⁷they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them. ⁸A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. ⁹The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!” ¹⁰When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, “Who is this?” ¹¹The crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee."

¹²Then Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who were selling and buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. ¹³He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer’; but you are making it a den of robbers.” ¹⁴The blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he cured them. ¹⁵But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the amazing things that he did, and heard the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they became angry ¹⁶and said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read, ‘Out of the mouths of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise for yourself’?” ¹⁷He left them, went out of the city to Bethany, and spent the night there.