Donkey Riding

Mark 11:1-11

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Sometimes we get so used to hearing a particular story that we miss certain details for thinking them insignificant to the story as we know it.  Looking here at Jesus donkey riding into Jerusalem, well, we are so accustomed to hearing Matthew’s and John’s version of the story that we automatically just assume that Jesus is riding into Jerusalem on a docile, old, peaceful donkey.  Matthew and John quote some Old Testament at us which make us think their versions are the seemingly “official” versions.  Zechariah 9:9 speaks of Zion’s king coming to her “righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”  Also, historians tell us that donkey riding was the appropriate way that ancient Israelite kings came to town after a victory. (If you’re a Maritimer, you realize the pun here. Donkey riding is what you do in a little boat outrigged with a little steam engine that will get you nowhere in no hurry at all.)  And so, we just wave our Palm branches and welcome King Jesus.

But if you notice what Mark says here (Luke too), there are a couple of small details we miss about this particular donkey.  It is a colt and it is unridden.  If you are familiar with equestrian terminology, a colt is an uncastrated male younger than four years.  In donkey terms an uncastrated donkey is called a Jack, hence the term “Jack Ass”.  There should be a lot of vim and vigour to this young steed Jesus is riding.  Also, this Jack had never been ridden which would entail that it hadn’t been trained to be ridden.  So, this young Jack full of vim and vigour likely ain’t going to do what you ask it to do.  In the very least if he even lets you on his back, he’s just going to do what he wants to do while you hang on.  This unridden colt is going to have a bit more cantanker and stubborn than you would really want to deal with.  

Many a donkey lover will advise against even trying to ride an untrained “Jack Ass.”  But somehow, “Way, hey, and away we go.  Donkey riding. Donkey Riding”, this young, untrained, unridden, uncastrated donkey seems to just joyfully lift up and carry Lord Jesus the King into Jerusalem without incident; no stopping, no starting, no sitting down, no bucking, no running off.  If only people could be that easy to work with.  If we ever needed proof that Jesus was God become human, then this Jack donkey carrying him would be just that.  Nature serving its Lord.  Maybe that’s why Jesus told his disciples to tell the person who donated it “The Lord needs it,” meaning God needs your donkey.  Even this unridden donkey colt can show proof that Jesus is God.

Well, I could end this sermon now and just say no matter how big of a jack ass we think we may be, Jesus can still tame our wild hearts.  But that would be too quick for a donkey ride.  We’ll need to be slow and deliberate on this hack. So, let’s look at some other details.

Imagine the crowd there.  This is a ragtag group of Jesus followers from all walks of life.  Rich and poor, old and young.  Luke says there’s even Pharisees, the archenemies, in the crowd following Jesus and they are a bit worried about how seditious this all looks.  Well, of course it was seditious, but couldn’t the Pharisees see how their daily and very public “dot your i’s and cross your t’s” legalism was also seditious.  Faithfulness to God, no matter its form, will always be, or should I say should always be, seditious.  If you ever have a religious group supporting a nation or government or political leader without question, there is something hugely wrong.  

We may want to ask why the crowds are welcoming Jesus as their King.  It was because of all the deeds of power Jesus had done…power, but not political power or authoritarian power as one would expect.  Jesus had power to cast out evil spirits; most notably a legion (Roman military word) of evil spirits from a man into a herd of pigs.  He healed so many people, even people with birth defects.  Raised a young girl and a young man from the dead.  Forgave sins.  Touched lepers and cleansed them.  A few of his followers had even seen him calm a wind storm and walk on water.  His most famous act was probably the two miraculous feedings of massive crowds out in the wilderness using just a couple loaves of bread and a few of fish.  Jesus had done and said things that only God could do and say.  He wasn’t just coming in the name of the Lord.  He was the LORD, the God of Israel riding into town on an untrained unridden Jack donkey to be their king.  No wonder that if the crowd wasn’t shouting out praise, the very stones would…no wonder he rode that unridden Jack with no consequence.

There’s one last little detail that would get missed unless you were there at the time or were a good student of biblical history.  Jesus wouldn’t have been the only person riding into Jerusalem round about then.  Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor would have also been riding into town.  Pilate lived in the coastal city of Caesarea and only bothered himself with coming to Jerusalem during the big festivals of the Jewish faith so as to impress upon the Jews the strength of Rome and discourage any revolts.

Here it was the few day days before the Passover festival.  Jewish pilgrims were flocking to Jerusalem entailing a need for more of a Roman military presence.  Pilate was known for riding into Jerusalem mounted, not on a donkey, but on one of those massive, well-trained warhorses that the Roman military paraded about. Surrounding him would have been at least a legion, a thousand or more Roman soldiers, decked out in their battle regalia and a good many of them also mounted on warhorses.  Take a moment to ponder the difference in the symbolism portrayed by the Romans riding in on well-trained warhorses verses Jesus riding in on an unridden Jack donkey. 

Moreover, let us note that Jesus rode into Jerusalem from the east to enter at the gate that would take him immediately to the Temple.  Pilate would have come in from the west and gone immediately to the imperial quarters; thus, each to his own house.  Jesus had to stop to weep over Jerusalem for it could not recognize that it was at the moment being visited by God.  Compare this to his followers too.  They are worshipping like hands in the air charismatics while God is weeping over the state of his people.  Pilate would have entered town demanding to be shown the proper respect and probably would have flogged a few people along the way; and, he would have likely just been annoyed for having to leave cushy Caesarea to come babysit gnarly Jerusalem.  

Upon entering Jerusalem Jesus went straight to the temple, his Father’s House, to cleanse it of the big business, for-profit religion going on there and then he “occupied” it by simply sitting in a portico teaching about the Kingdom of God while the religious experts unsuccessfully questioned his authority.  Pilate would have just gone to the imperial quarters and exercised his authority looking after administrative and judicial stuff which included ordering the crucifixion of rebels and such.  Please notice how Jesus conducts the reign of God through the simple practice of teaching his Way at a house of prayer and how Pilate enforces the reign of Rome from imperial offices through threat of capital punishment.

Well, anyway, what does all this have to do with us.  We who live in a day when yet another Caesar/Pilate-type has invaded a neighbouring country and the atrocities of war are relentlessly upon our hearts and minds and television sets; a day when the church seems to have no credible voice left because the loudest voices among us don’t seem to be the most Christ-like and rather through the eyes of the media make us followers of Jesus all seem to be nothing more than supporters of autocrats and mindless followers of celebrity ministers who love big business, for-profit religion; a day when all information seems “fake” and “expertise” is determined by personal feelings and “likes” on social media.  

In the midst of all this “Jack ass-ery”, there’s little ole ragtag us.  We’ve all suffered the trauma of living in a pandemic and the resulting isolation.  We’ve all got personal concerns, financial concerns, health concerns, we’re grieving, have family members seriously ill.  The feelings we feel the most are likely sadness, loneliness, anxiety, and being on the verge of crisis.  We’ve all grown up remembering better times and thought days like these wouldn’t ever happen to us.  We’re not exactly shouting “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” Although, “Hosanna”, which actually means “save us” is a strongly felt desire.

Where is Jesus?  Where is God?  First, of all let’s just remember Jesus can ride an untrained Jack donkey and he’s riding it.  Everything will work out.  And, we know donkeys aren’t known for getting anyone anywhere fast, but he is coming.  He’s stopping to weep as he did in Luke’s Gospel because humanity just can’t seem to realize that he is here with us in our midst and yet we can’t seem to grasp that which will bring us peace.  There’s a lot of hurt and he’s grieving too.  So, if we don’t feel like waiving our hands in the air in joy, well, just maybe God doesn’t either.  With every public scandal of a celebrity minister, he’s clearing his Father’s house of big business, for-profit religion.  

Most of all, he still occupies a porch among his body, the Church.  He is present in small gatherings such as ours of those who yet still continue to gather in his name when so many just seem to be “done” with the public practice of faith.  He is present by the Holy Spirit who is with us.  We gather to learn his way of unconditional love and humility, to pray, to share a meal, and support one another.  Never underestimate the power to change and heal the world that Jesus has conferred unto us as we simply publicly gather in houses of prayer to learn his Way.  Gathered around his table is the way of peace.  It will come.  He will visit us.  Amen.

 

Our Calling

 Mark 11:1-11

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As I read this text from Mark the thing that stuck out to me was the question, “Why are you doing this?”  That just happens to be the second most important question we as Jesus’ disciples must be able to answer.  The most important question we have to ask with respect to Jesus which comes out of Matthew’s version of the Triumphal Entry is “Who is this?”  Matthew has all of Jerusalem asking that question after Jesus finished his ride into town.   But with Mark, the question that we have to deal with as Jesus’ disciples and that pertains to us as we go about our lives is “why are you doing this?”  “Why are we doing what we do?”  Can we answer with beaming confidence, “the Lord has sent us to do this” as those two disciples did?  Or, are we just floating through life doing what we do and hoping the Lord will bless it?  

“Why do I do what I do?” is a question that arises throughout life particularly when it comes to the work life.  It’s really great when what we do for a living is fulfilling to us.  If you’ve ever had to work a job in which you could not find any reason at all for being there other than the paycheck that barely maybe pays the bills, that’s hard.  It’s soul destroying.  But, you know, to be quite honest, fulfilling work is a luxury that most people don’t have.  

Well, let’s complicate this even more.  Let’s throw into the mix the idea that God has a purpose in what we do with the lives he’s given us.  In the church we call this our “calling” – what is it that Jesus is summonsing me to do with this life that he’s given me.  It is easy to talk about calling if calling is simply about involvement in the ministry of a church.  Is God calling you to be a minister, or an elder, or to serve on the Board of Managers, or to teach, or to visit, or to start a foodbank in the church.  Calling is easy to figure out when you separate “Church life” from “Real life”.  It kind of goes you’re asked by the minister or one of those saint-like untouchables called an elder to do something at the church.  You give it little prayer, a little discernment by that we seem to mean a little assessment of how much time you have and how guilty you will feel if you say “No”, and then if you say “Yes” it happens that the job is yours until death does you part.  Oh, the institution of the church; how we have gotten it so wrong over the years. 

But things are changing. I think it was back in the 80’s that the focus of talk about calling shifted from what one does for the institution of the church to what God is calling you to do with your life.  People started to say I feel God is calling me to be not only a minister or missionary, but maybe a banker, a lawyer, and groundskeeper, a mother.  Suddenly, any profession became a choice for a calling.  You just had to discern what you were good at and go for it and if it’s fulfilling, then it must have been of God.  A calling took on the whole scope of one’s life.  

This line of thinking came to a head in the late 90’s to early 2,000’ s when the Christian writer and Presbyterian minister Frederick Buechner coined the idea that “Your calling is where your deepest passion meets the world’s deepest need.”  If you like to cycle, start a ministry involving cycling.  If you like to work on cars, start a ministry working on cars.  There’s actually a ministry out there called Grease Monkey’s for Jesus.  

Well, just as the first way I talked about calling was little off because it seemed to limit calling to the institution of the Church, so also this way of thinking about calling is a little off in the other direction.  A calling is not simply anything you enjoy doing turned into an altruistic service.  This way talking about calling is highly individualistic and it requires a certain level of affluence and elitism to follow your own pursuits.  In the end, for a society to function we can’t all just go do what makes us feel happy that appears to meet a need in the world.  There are still those filters at the sewage treatment plant that need to be changed and I don’t think there’s anybody who can say that doing that is their greatest passion.  

In my work history which has involved retail, restaurants, and even mucking out barns, the biggest discovery I have made about calling is that it’s not so much the work that we do, but rather the people we work with that makes the work meaningful.  Whether it be the co-workers or the people we serve and if we’re management, the people we lead, it’s the relationships that matter.

It's the relationships that matter.  So, when we talk about a calling from God, about our calling – for we’re all called – we are primarily talking about who we are and how we are among the people we are with.  We are talking about how we can be the ambassadors, the emissaries, the representatives of the Lord Jesus Christ and his reign of love to the people with whom we go through our daily lives.  Calling is about how we, the one’s in and among whom Jesus lives and reigns by the presence of the Holy Spirit, how we are the voice, the hands, the pokes, the prods, whom God works through to let others know that the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost haven’t taken the last train for the coast, but are down here at ground zero with open arms.

As Jesus’ disciples he calls us to love others as he has loved us.  He also calls us to make disciples, which means to teach others to live the Jesus Way, first and foremost by modelling it, and inviting others to follow along in this Way as they struggle with the question that we also struggle with, the “Who are you, Jesus?” question.  So, Yes, we are called and gifted for work in and through the work of this organization we call the Church.  And, Yes, we are also called and gifted for certain types of work out in the world.  But, the calling pertains to whether we look and act like Jesus among the people we do this work with.

When I did retail and restaurants, I was gifted for the customer service side of things.  This was particularly so after I felt the calling to the ministry.  In fact, it prepared me for the people side of pastoral ministry.  In the hardware store that I worked in between university and seminary, I was the one who would be summonsed to deal with the grumpy old lady whose feet hurt so bad she couldn’t stand but for a moment and she was rude about it, but I looked past all that and she would leave happier than we she came in.  Calling is about relationship and who and how we are in relationship with others – are we Christ-like or just opinionated rumps?

  There’s another thing about calling to bring up.  There will be times when we will find ourselves being the right person at the right time to do something very personal and necessary in the life of another and we will know God has orchestrated it all and it’s awesome.  It’s like that old TV show “Touched by an Angel” when God sends an angel in human form to do his work, but in our case it’s like we’re the angels.   We may get the sense that God wants me to do this right now.  Just like Jesus told those two men to go steal – sorry, borrow some man’s donkey, we will get promptings, inclinations to go do and do something specific for a reason we don’t know other than we sense God wants us to do it.

Lastly, there’s another rule of thumb.  In the restaurant, we had the expectation that if you saw something that needed doing, do it.  Even if it’s somebody else’s job responsibility, just do it.  So it is that if we see someone in need of help, help them.  That just makes the world a better place and we never know when we might be making the “Jesus Difference” in somebody’s life where we find ourselves standing at somebody’s ground zero in the image of Christ with arms open. 

Oh, one other thing. Pray.  Always be praying.  As you go about your day, look around and pray for the people you see, “Lord, bless him.”  “Lord, heal her.”  “Lord, provide for them.”  That just changes the way you see things, how you see people, how you feel about life.  You just might start seeing the world as Jesus does, and that there’s the heart of “the call”.  Amen.