Order, Words, & Voices
04.02.23, Cleaning Up, Matthew 25:31-46
Order
Pre Worship Music
Opening Song Lord, I Lift Your Name on High Billy
Hosanna Hosanna
Call to Worship Response/Lord’s Prayer Rick
Reading Matthew 21:1-17 (Rick will introduce) Online – Abbie
Songs Show Me Your Ways Billy
I Will Never Be the Same Again
Message Cleaning Up Rick
Music I Will Never Be the Same Again Billy
Community/Peace Rick
Benediction Rick
Post Worship Music
Music (slides)
Lord I Lift Your Name On High
Verse
Lord I lift Your name on high
Lord I love to sing Your praises
I’m so glad You’re in my life
I’m so glad You came to save us
Chorus
You came from heaven to earth
To show the way
From the earth to the cross
My debt to pay
From the cross to the grave
From the grave to the sky
Lord I lift Your name on high
Hosanna Hosanna
Chorus
Hosanna Hosanna
Prepare ye the way of the Lord
(Repeat)
Prepare ye the way of the Lord (2X)
Hosanna Hosanna Hosanna
Prepare ye the way
Call to Worship (Slides)
Leader: Jesus said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind.”
Response: Jesus said, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Leader: Jesus said, “Whatever you did to one of the least of these, you did it to me.’
Response: God asks us, “What are we doing for the least of these?”
Leader: Doing for the least of these calls for sacrifice.
Response: Love calls for sacrifice.
Leader: Nine year olds Evelyn, Hallie, and William, along with adults Katherine, Mike, and Cynthia, were murdered this week because they went to school.
Response: What will we do for the least of these?
Leader: While her mother was at the hospital delivering her new brother, 2 year old Aubrey, along with almost 25 others in Mississippians, died in the wake of a tornado last week.
Response: What will we do for the least of these?
Leader: 29 year old Paola, a mother of two, mourned outside of the deportation center in Ciudad where she had just survived the fire which took the lives of 39 of her friends.
Response: What will we do for the least of these?
Leader: Jesus said, “Whatever you did to one of the least of these, you did it to me.’
Response: God asks me, “What are you doing for the least of these?”
Lord’s Prayer (Slides) ‘Join me in the prayer of Jesus’
Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, On Earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our trespasses, while we forgive those who trespass against us.
And, lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.
Reading (No Slides) Matthew 25:31-46
Reader – Abbie in Nashville, just miles away from Abbie’s school. Face to pain.
When Jesus and the disciples came near Jerusalem and had reached Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying 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. If anyone says anything to you, just say this, ‘The Lord needs them.’ And the owner will send them immediately.” This took place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet: “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.” The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; they brought the donkey and the colt and put their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!” When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, “Who is this?” The crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.” Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who were selling and buying in the temple – overturning the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. Jesus said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it a den of robbers.” The blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he cured them. But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the amazing things that Jesus did and heard the children crying out, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they became became angry and said to Jesus, “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’?” Jesus returned to the city to Bethany, and spent the night there.
Matthew 21:1-17
Music (Slides)
Show Me Your Ways
Verse
Show me Your ways
That I may walk with You
Show me Your ways
I put my hope in You
Chorus
The cry of my heart
Is to love You more
To live with the touch
Of Your hand
Stronger each day
Show me Your ways
I Will Never Be
Verse 1
I will never be the same again
I can never return
I’ve closed the door
I will walk the path
I will run the race
And I will never be the same again
Chorus
Fall like fire soak like rain
Flow like mighty waters
Again and again
Sweep away the darkness
Burn away the chaff
And let a flame burn
To glorify Your name
Verse 2
There are higher heights
There are deeper seas
Whatever You need to do
Lord do it in me
And the glory of God fills my life
And I will never be the same again (3X)
Message – Cleaning Up, Rick
In the mid 80s, I attended a 3 day youth ministers conference. Upon check in I was given a conference schedule along with a guide to all the small sessions that would be offered. One thing that particularly caught my eye was a preview of a new movie made by a popular Christian artist. The reason that this caught my attention was that I was not really a fan of this artist. It wasn’t anything personal but it was that I just didn’t understand his art-especially his music. I was in my mid twenties, still considered myself rather hip and with it, but this guy’s music was just too loud, and too weird. The style of music was weird, the lyrics were weird, and most of all, he just seemed kind of weird. But mostly, I didn’t like the fact that during the conference large group sessions, he would attend the large group sessions along with his huge group of fan boys, and fan girls, who would flock to him the minute he entered a room – and, more reason to dislike him, it seemed that everyone at the conference was a fan boy or girl, and that all of them understood this guy’s art and his music. Everyone but me. I would hear them talking about the real meaning behind his bizarre lyrics – and… part of me really wanted to be a part of the fan club.
The night of his movie premier, I decided to give it all a chance, but I went late after the lights were off so I could slip in late so I could sit in the back with an exit nearby. Shortly after I had sat down, and after the movie had played for maybe 20 minutes, a guy came in the back entrance and sat right by me – empty seats all around and he sat by me. We didn’t look at each other because I was annoyed but then I realized that this must be the one other person who shared my opinions of the artist and also wanted to be able to make a quick exit. A few minutes later, he leaned over and whispered, “What do you think?” I answered with a less than enthusiastic, “It’s okay.” To this, the unknown man softly laughed. As the movie ended and the lights came on, I looked over at him thinking we could share a special judgemental moment, that is when I realized that this was the guy, the artist, the one that I just critiqued his movie by lukewarmly declaring is ‘Okay.” As the audience clapped enthusiastically, the host called my new ‘friend’ up to the stage to talk about the movie and answer questions. As he stood up, he patted me on the knee as he stood, smiled at me, and headed up to his fans. I still didn’t understand. The worst thing was that now the lights were up and he knew where I was sitting and could see me if I left the room – So here I sat, still on the other side of the fanboy/fangirl wall, but now I couldn’t sneak out unnoticed.
As Jesus approached the city of Jerusalem he was facing a wall. A physical wall and a metaphoric wall. On one side of the wall, the side Jesus was on as he approached the city, marched the fanboys and fangirls of Jesus. They knew Jesus from a first hand perspective, many had been there when Jesus first declared that they, a bunch of outcasts and undesirables, were blessed. There were those who had met Jesus during the course of his ministry on the road, and many who had been present when Jesus called for Lazarus out from the tomb. Their lives had been changed by the words of Jesus but mainly from the life Jesus lived out in front of them. Now, they could not help but rejoice and praise Jesus. Even when the officials asked that they silence there voice they couldn’t. This was their natural response to their own life transforming experiences with Jesus.
On the other side of the wall were those who did not know Jesus, they could not understand the excitement of those outside of the gates into Jerusalem. They did not have the joy of a personal encounter with Jesus, they had not watched him live out peace and freedom. This was the same wall that had been crushed by the Babylonians over 500 years earlier, the same wall that Hezekiah rebuilt following the release of the captives. They were walls built to protect, to defend, to sustain, but also to silence, to control, and even to keep a people ignorant and divided.
Most recently these walls had been used to keep those inside from fully learning and experiencing Jesus. Jesus’ visits were usually spent inside the temple, a well controlled atmosphere where the officials could monitor and restrict what Jesus did and taught. To the people inside the walls, this Jesus was just another rabbi taking up space in a corner of the temple. They heard little of the miracles, the teachings, and virtually none of the mercy and compassion that flowed from Jesus. The ignorance of the people was an intentional effort of the religious officials and the Roman government. Jesus was a radical, an outlier, a threat to the religious and the political systems. Those in control worked to control the voices that spoke of Jesus, or at least to control what those voices said. Rabbis, teachers, Pharisees, and all in authority knew the consequences to stepping out of line. The officials had established a “Don’t Say Jesus” policy in order to keep the people ignorant and to limit the followers and the growth of this movement led by Jesus.
This is why it would be so easy for the crowd to scream for Jesus’ death later in the week. All they knew about Jesus was the conspiracies told about Jesus – moving them to hostility and brutality against Jesus was easy for the political and religious leaders.
As Jesus entered the gates of Jerusalem, most of those cheering remained on their side of the wall. That was their place, Jesus was now on the other side, advocating for them even to death.
Jesus’ manner of entry into Jerusalem was totally intentional. Riding a donkey instead of a war horse, surrounded by the outcasts who had been the theme of his ministry since the beginning, the message of peace conveyed in his presence none of this was a surprise – this was Jesus. The response of the crowds outside the gates, however, was organic, it could not have been planned, it was natural, authentic, and real. It could not be silenced, the words had to be shouted, the praise had to be sung.
In many ways, Jesus’ approach to the gates of Jerusalem, was a parody of the entry of Roman battle heroes and feared oppressors and political figures. They came as powerful warriors and Kings who received praise and exaltation because of brutality, marching through a fearful crowd, and repeating a constant threat of war.
Jesus’ entry not on the backs of suffering people, his entry underscored a peace that came out of justice, kindness, mercy, compassion, and love. Jesus did not enter as a royal but as a liberator, a radical riding in on a humble donkey submitting himself to the cross that stood ahead.
Once inside, Jesus remained Jesus. Standing up for the outcast and calling out the oppressors. Acting according to the call of God to be just, kind, and humble, entering in obedience to the commandment of God to love others as yourself. Jesus went straight from the entry gates into the temple, confronting the abuse of the religious leaders and a religious system that abused those who traveled to Jerusalem to satisfy their religious obligations.
The vendor system in the temple was set up to target the most vulnerable. Those, especially those who traveled a distance, came needing to purchase their required sacrifice were not only victims of those selling the sacrificial animals but also of those who would break their money down into amounts that allowed them to pay for those overpriced sacrifices. Both types of vendors charged inflated amounts as they were aware they held a monopoly.
After Jesus confronted the corrupt religious system, he then went to the downtrodden inside the gates of Jerusalem. Healing the blind and the lame – giving hope and spreading kindness.
Jesus was Jesus in the freedom and praise of his entrance, Jesus was Jesus as he walked the oppressive and threatening paths in Jerusalem, the other side of the wall. This is why, until his arrest, he would leave the city for the night.
For us to fully understand this moment, we go back to the moment just before Jesus passed from one side of the walls of Jerusalem to the other. After hearing the praises from those who praised God as Jesus walked to the gates, Jesus paused and Jesus wept. Much like when Jesus identified with the pain of the loss of Lazarus, Jesus now wept as he entered a city in pain, the children of God who had been unwilling, or unable, to hear, and to encounter, Jesus in a personally impacting way.
‘As Jesus came near and saw Jerusalem, he wept over the city, saying, “If you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now those things are hidden from your eyes. Indeed, the days will come upon you when your enemies will set up ramparts around you and surround you and hem you in on every side. They will crush you to the ground, you and your children even those within you, and they will not leave one stone upon another within the city, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.”
Luke 19:41-44
Jesus has the compassion to transcend any walls that we are locked behind, walls they are built around us or which we build to hide us. His love opens the gates freeing us with his sacrificial love, inviting us to enter into true peace of his presence.
Music (Slides)
I Will Never Be
Verse 1
I will never be the same again
I can never return
I’ve closed the door
I will walk the path
I will run the race
And I will never be the same again
Chorus
Fall like fire soak like rain
Flow like mighty waters
Again and again
Sweep away the darkness
Burn away the chaff
And let a flame burn
To glorify Your name
Verse 2
There are higher heights
There are deeper seas
Whatever You need to do
Lord do it in me
And the glory of God fills my life
And I will never be the same again (3x)
Community (Slides)
- Next Sunday, March 9, Matthew 28:1-10, Unexpected…the Sequel (Easter)
- Wednesdays Noon Bible Study, continues this Wednesday @ noon, Matthew 26:6-25 , 27:1-10
Benediction (Blank Slide)
May we go with Jesus’ radical words ‘Happy are the poor in spirit, those who mourn, those who are gentle, those who hunger and thirst, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, and those who have been persecuted. May we go with the challenge to be salt and light, to be a light shining before others and in so doing, may we see with God’s eyes and glorify God in our lives.
Closing Peace
Leader: May the Peace of the Lord go with you.
Response: And also with you.
Order, Words, & Voices 