304 S. Elam Ave.
Greensboro, NC

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Greensboro, NC

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April 1 , 2007: Palm Sunday

Luke 19:28-40
"Wrong Expectations

For weeks now we have been journeying with Jesus towards Jerusalem , and today he reaches his destination. The road from the Mount of Olives into Jerusalem ends at what is now a tourist attraction on the eastern side of the temple mount wall, the Golden Gate . It's called the Golden Gate because that is its color when the morning sun shines on it as the sun crests the Mount of Olives . Jewish tradition is the long awaited Messiah will enter through this gate, thereby appearing in both the city and the temple simultaneously. So well known was this expectation that hundreds of years later, when Jerusalem fell into Muslim hands, one of the first orders of the conquering Sultan was to have the Golden Gate filled in with stone, so no one might enter the city through it. It was the Sultan's way of keeping the Messiah out of Jerusalem , or so he thought.

But here in today's text is Jesus coming down what ever after will be called "The Hosanna Road," entering Jerusalem and the temple through the Golden Gate . It is a moment of great expectation and excitement. His disciples break into song. Like most Jewish pilgrims entering Jerusalem for a religious festival, the disciples are singing a traditional processional psalm, like Psalm 118 we read in unison today. But on that day, the disciples made a subtle but most important change in verse 26. No longer is it "Blessed is THE ONE who comes in the name of the Lord." The disciples proclaim: "Blessed is THE KING who comes in the name of the Lord." And where the next line of the psalm replies: "We bless you from the house of the Lord." the disciples instead sing "Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven." They are announcing Jesus as the long awaited coming one, the Messiah. The liberator, the king who comes in the name of the Lord to bring peace and glory in the highest heaven.

Where have we heard those words before? Peace in heaven and glory in the highest heaven? Yes, the whole of verse 38 recalls the opening of Luke's gospel with the annunciation to Mary concerning the kingship of her son, and also the heavenly chorus in the foothills of Bethlehem singing to shepherds. The angels spoke not only of God's glory in heaven but peace to God's people on earth. The peace and good will announced that Christmas Eve night by the angels is now expectantly voiced on the lips of the disciples, as they lead this king of peace into the city named "God's Peace."

The overwhelming message Luke gives us in this account is that Jesus is a King.

Jesus is a king, but not an ordinary one—Luke's gospel shows us Jesus as the king of fishermen, tax collectors, half breed Samaritans, harlots, demoniacs, and lepers. Within the pages of Luke's gospel account of the journey to Jerusalem, the group of disciples now include women who leap with joy and provide for others out of their means, a Samaritan leper with a heart full of gratitude, a crippled woman who had been unable to stand straight for 18 years, a blind man who had followed Jesus all the way from Jericho, and the tax collector, Zacchaeus, who has just given half of what he had to the poor, and repaid 4 times anyone he defrauded. I would imagine that the cloaks thrown on the road that day were not expensive garments but tattered shawls and dusty sweat stained rags. Jesus was king of the downtrodden, the oppressed, the suffering and the rejected. Jesus was one of them. We sing about Jesus being despised and rejected. A man of sorrows acquainted with grief. He shared their hardships, relieved their suffering, and accepted them when others deemed them unacceptable. But most of all Jesus gave them hope, and embodied God's love for them. Now they were here marching with him into the holy city of Jerusalem to celebrate the most solemn of all Jewish holy days, Passover.

Jesus entry into Jerusalem was filled with fragile possibility that day two thousand years ago. Oh, what might have been! If only the people of Jerusalem had responded as they should have, as Jesus longed for them to do. If only God had fulfilled the dreams of those who were following Jesus hoping for an earthly king. A king would do what they thought needed to be done, who would fulfilled their agenda.

Hopes dashed, great expectations unfulfilled. Not getting the kind of leader you thought you were getting. Sort of sounds like what happens in church life when the honeymoon is over between pastors and congregations. We, like the people of Jesus day, also create wrong expectations for our leaders. We expect one kind of pastor, and often get someone who like Jesus' doesn't measure up to expectations. So this morning I'm going to talk about what might be some wrong expectations you have for a new pastor, because these wrong expectations have a way of becoming the wrong standards by which the next pastor will be measured and found lacking.

Remember that last Palm Sunday I preached on the need to foster a more supportive environment here at First Moravian to help you and the pastor weather and get through the inevitable rough patches of ministry you will encounter together. An environment that focuses more on who and what we appreciate in one another, and less on criticism and what is wrong. I am pleased at the progress we've made together. There is much to celebrate about our year together in interim ministry. We both have worked hard to address problems while still building one another up for the ministry God has called us too. I sense a very positive spirit present in the congregation, full of anticipation and excitement for the future of this congregation. Full of hope that the successful partnership you and I have forged together can be continued when the new pastor is identified and comes. I believe you and your next pastor can increase the likelihood of a successful long term partnership in ministry if you are aware of some of the wrong expectations you may have for the next pastor, so that you can recognize them when they begin to rear their ugly heads, and remember what they are.

The first wrong expectation you may have of the new pastor—a person I am calling, “Pastor Pat” to keep him or her nice and generic. The first wrong expectation you may have is that Pastor Pat will cause offerings to the church to increase. That the years of juggling between paying our full provincial fair share and all our other bills will be over. You are counting on the pastor to increase giving. Well, what are Pat's options for increasing giving? Does not the control of the wealth of this congregation reside in your wallet? Your checkbook? Your stock & bond portfolios? Do you need to wait for a math whiz of a preacher to help you figure how much money to give to this church's ministries? No, you won't directly lay that burden on Pat's back but it's a hope that someone else will miraculously show up and start giving generously so you won't have to! Giving away, saying ‘I have enough' is your spiritual discipline, not your pastor's.

A second wrong expectation is that Pastor Pat will grow church membership. But you are also the ones who control the number of new people who walk through these doors every day. For decades the research has held steadily that 85 % of new visitors to a church have come because of a personal invitation. Not because of catchy church signs, great web pages or ads in the paper. They come because you have said “I know where the bread of life can be found. Come, eat and be filled, drink deeply from these waters of life.” This is certainly true of the folks who have joined First Moravian while I have been here. Everyone of them joined because of you. None joined because of me the pastor. They all know I'll be leaving.

You want more people in this place? You bring them. If they are not just welcomed but remembered, reached out to and included in your circle of love and care, they will come again. Shepherds do not produce more sheep, sheep produce sheep; the shepherd feeds and guides in safe places.

A third wrong expectation is to think excellent ministry takes a very gifted and talented person with a strong resume. But excellent ministry is less about how and what an individual pastor does, and much more about how a community recognizes and depends upon each member's contributions and bears one another's burdens. Excellent ministry embodies the reality that we are all members of the one Body of Jesus Christ. And not only to we have Paul's metaphor to describe how we should be together, God has given us clues about the need for communal ministry in animal life. One horse can pull approximately one ton. But two horses can pull up to 23 tons. That difference is called "synergy," the increased capacity of power when a task is shared. This is what also happens when geese fly in their “v” formation/ the lead goose takes the brunt of the wind resistance and makes it easier on the others. They take turns flying up front. The other geese honk to encourage the lead goose as they fly along.

Excellent ministry is less about exceptionally gifted pastors—dream candidates who have every characteristic we want in spades. Rather excellent ministry occurs when the congregation involves many people. It is shaped by love and is focused on building up and strengthening the whole body, not naysayers busy being Monday morning quarterbacks and backseat drivers. But you all know this. Think of what you all accomplish through Candle Tea and what you will accomplish at the end of this month through Operation In as Much? What comes first to mind are the big projects you all do together, where large tasks are broken into smaller ones with everyone needed and valued for their contributions, large and small.

The last wrong expectation I'm naming his morning is that the life and the future of this congregation depends on your next pastor. I'm here to tell you the life and future of this church today and always is dependent upon the power of God. And how much each of you individually, and all of you collectively, open yourselves to the work of God's spirit will dictate the freedom God's power has to work in this place. But when we have an agenda, a to do list for God, we risk missing, not seeing what God is doing. On that Palm Sunday long ago, God was about to do something powerful and wonderful that forever changes cosmic history, but Jesus' followers were looking for a different kind of king. Their imaginations were far more limited than the grand agenda of God, salvation through Jesus Christ. What wonderful things does God have in store for you working with your next pastor? If you and your next pastor do not have personal agendas, but actively seek to discern God's agenda together, then God's agenda will have a chance.

As I have stated more than once in my preaching, the single most important real and true expectation you can have for Pastor Pat is that he or she is a red hot lover: a red hot lover of God, a red hot lover of the church, a red hot lover of humanity, and a red hot lover of the Word of God. The reason I find love to be a value above good preaching skills, above administrative and motivational skills, above all else is because I know what love does to our relationships, how it fuels our ability to do excellent ministry together. My hope is through our interim time together you all have experienced what I am talking about.

But New loves begin in climates of openness and trust. If Pat comes to you as one who trusts others and finds in this place a real openness to his or her ministry and gifts, free of your wrong expectations and your personal agendas, then an environment is in place for your mutual love to prosper and grow.

You will be blessed by if you freely offer your love and good will to your new pastor and you allow that pastor to show you the ways he or she also expresses affection.

In this morning's psalm we prayed “This is the Lord's doing: it is marvelous in our eyes.” My final hope and expectation is that you and Pastor Pat will be transformed by the spirit and power of God. That you will so allow God to direct your decision and actions that together you will follow Our Chief Elder, and journey together into God's great love.