Practicing Our Faith Can Be Dangerous!
Posted on Apr 13, 2014 by David Whetter
Grace and peace to you from God our Creator, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, who abides in which of us.Amen
What a confusing day this is! As we began our time of worship, we remembered the jubilation and joy that Jerusalem experienced that day over 2000 years ago when Jesus, the great healer, the one so many believed was the Messiah that had come to set them free, arrived in town. Everything seemed to be happening just as it should. Jesus rode into town on a donkey, just like the prophets had foretold. Surely this was a sign. Surely this really was the messiah. “Hosanna to the son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!” These are the shouts of those faithful followers.
But no sooner do we hear this story, sing the praises of Jesus’ triumphant entry as the Messiah into Jerusalem, than we quickly change to reading of his horrific death. What is the point? Why can we not just celebrate this beautiful day and not rush to kill the joy? (pun intended).
Well, to answer this, I would like us to back up five weeks to the beginning of the Lenten season. If you remember we began this season by talking about practicing our faith and the changes we ought to make in our lives, so that we can practice our fatih. For the past five and a half weeks, we have been talking about the various ways we Christians can go about practicing our faith so that we might better live into the lives God has created us to live. After all, to do anything well, we must practice. Practice makes perfect, as the saying goes.
So, we began by saying to practice our faith, one thing we ought to practice regularly is to study God’s word. As we saw in the story of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness, it was knowledge of God’s word and promises that allowed Jesus deny Satan’s tempting offers. Then we read the story of Nicodemus and we learned that like Nicodemus, we are called to ask questions about our faith and to seek the answers. Heck even Jesus asked questions of God, “My God, my God, why…”
Then we learned how important it is to practice telling our stories. Like the Samaritan woman at the well, each of us has a story and although we, too, often believe we are not good enough, or that our stories are meaningless, Jesus assures us that in the telling of our stories we will come to know that we, too, are loved by a God who has never ceased loving us. And then in the story of Zacchaeus, our children reminded us that we ought to practice listening more, for when we listen, we, too, will hear God calling each of us, just as he called Zacchaeus into a new life.
And finally, last week we spoke about dying, yes, dying. For as ugly and hard as dying is, Jesus promises when we let ourselves die, through him, new life, and more importantly, eternal life, is ours. None of us like to practice dying, because to be honest, its easier to keep things the way they are than to face the unknown.
Jesus practiced all of these spiritual practices daily. Jesus knew that practicing his faith, even when it was hard, led to a better life. He knew that practicing his faith, that is living his faith, meant he would experience the joy that God has always promised his people.
When God first gave his people what we call the Ten Commandments, or what I prefer to call God’s words of life, God told them that if they would follow his ways, they would live, that things would go well for them and they would live long in the promised land (Deuteronomy 5:33). It’s that simple! Live God’s way and things will go well.
But, just like we talked about this past Wednesday evening, God’s ways and our ways are not always the same. Jesus knew that to follow his Father’s ways meant he would be lead to the cross. Practicing his faith meant, he would die to this world and he willing did it.
What I have not said, yet, this Lenten Season is that practicing our faith is dangerous. Jesus practiced his faith and for a while he was praised. He was even given a king’s welcome when he entered Jerusalem, but as soon as they figured that God’s ways did not include their version of freedom, or power, the very ones who praised Jesus, shouted, Crucify him! Practicing our faith can be very dangerous.
When we really practice our faith, often times we, too, are crucified, at least figuratively. When the church stands up for the poor in harsh economic times like today, we are often scolded and told to stay out of politics. When we stand up for those who are oppressed, such as the poor, the gay and lesbian community, or …, we are often told we are not being faithful and we don’t know what we are talking about. Funny, that is what the religious leaders of Jesus’ day told him, too. Practicing our faith is dangerous.
Even when we practice our faith in the church, we can get crucified. Often times in our own denomination, we crucify those who are trying to practice their faith. In fact, pastors, often experience this. In the ELCA, it is a fact that most pastors, to use current political terms, are for more liberal, than their parishioners and often times, they are kicked out, because they attempt to practice the very faith they were called to preach and teach. Practicing our faith can be very dangerous!
Just like in that first Holy Week, we, too, know that we Christians live dangerous lives. In a world that is filled with sin and brokenness, when we practice our faith, the world can quickly turn on us. When we practice our faith we can quickly become the victim, the one who suffers.
But, God’s promise still holds true. When we follow in his ways, we will live long in the promise land. As we will see this Holy Week, God knows our pain. God knows the struggles we face and he promises to be in these hard times with us. So, yes, on this Palm Sunday, we do jump quickly from the joy of his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, to the agony of his death, but we know the whole story and now that we have reminded ourselves it is time. Time to once again remind our selves what a Christian life is all about. Join me this Holy Week as we journey these final days to the cross for it is through the cross that long life is received.
This is a difficult journey we are on, but the one who has already made this journey for us, is here to make this journey with us. So may we all continue to shout, even in the face of death, “Hosanna to the son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!” Amen.