Riding Humbly

The Rev. Dr. Skip Ferguson

Manassas Presbyterian Church

Manassas, Virginia

April 1, 2012

Palm Sunday

Riding Humbly

Mark 11:1-11

Liturgy of the Palms

The celebration of a military victory was a timeless ritual,

a ritual shared by cultures over the centuries:

the Romans, the Greeks, the Parthians,

and on back in time to King David.

The military leader wanted the entire community

to celebrate each great victory he and his troops won,

so he and his army would stop just outside of the city

and prepare themselves for their triumphal entry.

They’d polish their armor,

groom their horses,

bathe themselves,

and then let the city know they were ready,

ready for their grand entrance.

And what an entrance it was:

the mighty leader, the great warrior,

at the head of the parade,

astride a white steed,

his armor glistening in the sun,

his valiant, faithful men following him

with impressive precision.

The people would line the roads

and cheer the procession.

Waving palm branches was the traditional way

people would welcome the victorious warrior.

The procession was pageantry at its best,

pomp and pride mixed together

so that all,

the youngest to the oldest, all,

would feel that they had somehow

been part of a great triumph.

Jesus takes this ritual and turns it on its head

in his Palm Sunday entrance into Jerusalem.

He rides no mighty steed;

he wears no armor;

he has no phalanx of soldiers

marching in lockstep behind him.

Jesus rides the colt of a donkey,

sitting not on a saddle,

but on someone’s tunic,

his feet dragging along the road

as the small animal plodded along.

People cheered,

waving palm branches

and shouting out “Hosanna!”

But did they really understand

what it was they were cheering?

Who it was they were cheering?

Did they really understand,

or were they just caught up in a festive mood

because it was Passover,

a holiday,

Judea’s version of spring break?

Jesus knew exactly what he was doing

as he organized his procession.

He created a paradox of what people were used to.

His message was not one of the power of men,

or of the military,

or of might,

but of the power of humility,

even in the face of might.                 

Centuries before, the prophet Zechariah had said

that when the Messiah came,

he would come not as people might expect

but “…humble and riding on a donkey,

on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

(Zechariah 9:9)

This Messiah would come not to vanquish armies

on bloody battlefields,

but to command peace to the nations,

command not with the sword,

but with the Word of God,

through love.

The Messiah would be a man of humility

and he would teach humility.

The Messiah would live a humble life

and call his followers to humble lives.

And this is just what Jesus did teach,

right from the start.

When he said those words we know so well,

“blessed are the meek,

for they will inherit the earth,”

the word we translate as “meek”

might better be translated as “humble”:

“blessed are the humble,

for they are the ones who will prevail.”

But oh, how we stuggle with the very word “humble”.

Humility is not something we want to learn,

much less embrace.

We want to be number one,

we want to prevail boldly.

We want to win the basketball game,

or even just the office pool.

We want to win the realty show;

We don’t want to just dance with the stars,

we want to win the championship trophy.

There is money to be made in selling

those giant foam hands with the finger pointing up

that says “We’re Number One.”

How well do you suppose you’d do, though,

if you sold a similar foam hand that said,

“Live Humbly”?

“Exceptionalism” is the word we prefer;

“triumphalism” the foundation stone on which

we want to build our faith.

How quick we are to forget that the true foundation stone,

the keystone for our faith, our lives,

is the one who:

 “…though he was in the form of God,

he did not regard equality with God

as something to be exploited,

but emptied himself,

taking the form of a slave,

being born in human likeness.

And being found in human form,

he humbled himself

and become obedient to the point of death

–even death on a cross.”

(Philippians 3:5-8)

He humbled himself;

the very Son of God,

he humbled himself for you and me.

And as Paul tells us,

we are called to follow his example.

Humbleness is not obsequiousness,

it is not a fawning servility;

rather, the humble life is a life of selflessness;

where our concern is not on being number one,

but in seeing to the needs of others,

especially those who are struggling,

those Jesus always showed such a strong interest in:

the outcasts who have never known

what it was like to be number one,

even for second,

except perhaps for poverty,

hunger,

hopelessness.

Most of us of a certain age learned the Proverb,

“Pride goeth before a fall.”

The full proverb goes like this:

Pride goes before destruction,

and a haughty spirit before a fall.

(Proverbs 16.18)

Pride and arrogance lead the wrong way,

away from the life our Lord calls us to live.

Another proverb says it well:

When pride comes, then comes disgrace;

but wisdom is with the humble.

(Proverbs 11.2)

The humble life is a life of

more listening than talking;

more forgiveness than judgment;

more acceptance than self-righteousness;

more community than self-interest;

more compassion,

more civility,

more grace,

more love.

You and I have been called to follow our Lord Jesus Christ,

about whom the prophet Isaiah said,

“He had no form or majesty that we should look at him,

nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.

He was despised and rejected,

and we held him of no account.”

(Isaiah 53)

This humble man is our Savior,

our Redeemer,

our King.

This humble man is the Son of God

who rode along on the back of donkey’s colt,

his feet dragging in the dust,

saying to all those along the road,

and saying to you, saying to me:

“Follow me”.

AMEN