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Zechariah 9:9

“Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion!

   Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem!

Lo, your king comes to you;

   triumphant and victorious is he,

humble and riding on a donkey,

   on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

That opening verse from Zachariah sounds very familiar to our ears as it echoes the readings we hear on Palm Sunday. Zachariah is predicting the coming of the promised Messiah centuries before Jesus rode into Jerusalem on that donkey. Zechariah also refers to the Messiah as ‘King’ - perhaps suggesting that the anointed one when he comes would be powerful and noticeably so. 

Reading Zechariah’s words this morning I can see why many doubted who Jesus said he was. If you have grown up knowing Zechariah’s prophesy then Jesus was certainly not the type of messiah you might have been expecting. A Kingly Messiah sounds grand and imposing and one who would be able to sweep all things aside that stood in his way. Jesus didn’t conform to this expectation as God’s interpretation of what a Messiah is, is very different to what we humans might think they should be. 

Jesus our Messiah is the ‘Servant King’ not a domineering dictator. Jesus came to serve and save us not to dominate and suppress our enemies. God’s ways are always far more subtle than humanity’s approach to things. 

Zechariah predicted that the King, the Messiah would ride into Jerusalem as a victorious champion on a donkey. Riding on a donkey, a humble beast of burden seems a strange steed for the promised one to appear in Jerusalem on. However, in formal processions it was always the King who rode the donkey at the back of the procession in the place of honour. The most important person in the parade on the least important mount. In doing so attention was drawn to that person as being ‘man enough’ to ride the donkey in spite of that beast's humble origins. Only a powerful man could seemingly debase himself without fear of being overthrown himself. 

Jesus appeared in Jerusalem on a donkey echoing that kingly position but he rode the donkey as an act of humility not dominance. He rode the donkey alone and not in a mighty procession. A humble man on a humble beast. A servant entering the city to save his people from themselves if they could truly recognise who he was. 

We all know how the story pans out from here on in, with Jesus dying on the cross as the ultimate sacrifice for us, his friends and loved ones. He didn’t need any mighty fanfare or parade to win Jerusalem’s loyalty, it would be his life and his blood that would be gifted to us as an act of humble service in order to save us from ourselves. 

The Gospel reading from Matthew this morning ends with the words:

“28 ‘Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. ²⁹Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.                                                      ³⁰For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’ ’’

in a way they tie today’s readings up very well. burdens are carried and rest promised in the love of Jesus. 

Jesus, in riding the beast of burden becomes the bearer of our burdens; the one who saves and helps us. His kingly yoke is freely offered and if accepted it will be found easy to bear because Jesus will always be there helping us to carry our woes and sins, our suffering and our joys. 

That’s the Messiah, the king I wish to follow and like St.Paul suggests, I will do it despite myself and my own failings because Jesus will help me. Just as he will help you too.

Sometimes, what we hear read to us on a Sunday morning from our Scriptures can be rather hard to hear. Today’s Gospel reading is one such difficult to hear passage and most especially: 

34 ‘Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. ³⁵ For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; ³⁶ and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household. ³⁷Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; ³⁸and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. ³⁹Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.

These are hard words and portray Christ as some sort of disruptive influence bent on causing strife amongst those who follow him and those who do not. And, further to that between those we do follow him but interpret what he says in different ways. 

Yet, if one carefully reads what is written in our Christian texts one can often find, almost in the same passage or paragraph something that takes the hard edge off the hard sayings. And, that applies to today’s Gospel. In the midst of that difficult Gospel reading there are a couple of redeeming sentences that put it all into context:

“²⁹Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground unperceived by your Father. ³⁰And even the hairs of your head are all counted. ³¹So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.”

Despite everything we are reminded God loves us so much that even the hairs on our head. That’s how much we are cared for by our Creator. Even though millions of us human beings have lived and will live we are all unique and equally special to God. Just as our loved ones may love every inch of us so does God and God will never forget us even when we have left this mortal coil and gone to glory. 

Knowing that one is loved so much by God, I hope, gives you much joy. You are not anonymous or unimportant to God, in fact the reverse is true. YOU ARE so important to God that nothing about you will ever separate you from his love, even if you chose to reject it. God will always love us and even in the midst of any strife that some of the sayings of Jesus cause us we must not forget the ultimate heart of the Good News; that we are loved, acceptable and wanted by God, even when others might try to tell us otherwise. 

I wonder how you or I might feel if our Lord suddenly appeared to us and commanded us to go out into the World and to proclaim the Good News, without taking anything but ourselves? No luggage, no money no nothing! I think I might feel overwhelmed and under prepared for the task in hand. Yet that is what Jesus commanded his disciples to do and by all accounts they did it. We are told that some places welcomed them and others not but on the whole it seems to have been all right for the disciples. They didn’t need any excess baggage but relied on the kindness of strangers who in response to what the proclaimed fed and water them and gave them a bed. 

To our modern ears this may seem rather amazing but it was actually the culture of the time for strangers to be given a welcome and hospitality without the expectation of payment. There was a sort of ‘Clan’ mentality amongst the chosen people of God, where members were recognised and cared for. Much of this familial bond has gone today and we are more suspicious of each other and each other’s motives. I suspect the disciples would get short shrift in today’s society. This sense of being in a clan is residually remembered today but I think little practiced in reality. Perhaps, today’s Gospel is calling us to remember our origins and to care for each other be they friend or stranger. 

“For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God, rather than burnt offering.”    Hosea 6:6

“I desire mercy, not sacrifice. For I have  come to call not the righteous but sinners.”   Matthew 9:13

Two very similar phrases from two different books of the Bible, written by very different characters in very different situations and times. What they both tell us, though,  is that we have a God who is all forgiving and who desires us to come to him with open hearts. And, that it is to be open to changing our ways rather than physical sacrifice that God wants. A change of heart and ways is a better gift to God than any physical sacrifice made by any of us could ever be. 

What these reading this morning also do is to call us to mission. They call us to reach out to God’s people and to tell them about the love God has for them, regardless of who they are or what they have to offer physically. All God wants is to love them and encourage them to love others in return. God’s love is not dependent on how much money or material goods you have or how much you have to spend on buying favour. God just wants you to love him as he loves you. 

This is the message we have to proclaim through out Scotland and the world. We are called by God to be his missionaries of Christ. For in Jesus the ultimate sacrifice was made on the Cross, once and for all time. God needs, nor wants any similar sacrifice. What God wants is his people, us, to become more like him. All loving and all accepting, following the ways of Jesus in welcoming friend and stranger.

How can we do this today? How can we be good missionaries?

For me, mission is not about knocking on doors, or by leaflet dropping or accosting people on the street ‘Bible bashing’. It is about being ‘Me’ in God’s world and by being ‘Me’ in ways that will encourage others as I try to accept them as they are. To truly, see another person, to give them time, to listen and to truly hear what they have to say and to reassure them that they are loved by God and are beyond value to him. 

None of us are perfect. We Christians are just as much sinners as the next person. What we have though, is the knowledge that God loves us. To know that we are truly lovable and acceptable to God is, when you really think about it, mind blowing! As such this should encourage us and fill us with joy - knowing even when we screw up that we are still fully loved  by our Creator, really is amazing. For how many of us can actually say that we have never given up on someone when they have hurt or disappointed us?

As followers of Christ, as Christians we have a Baptismal call to mission and ministry. Through our Baptisms we are empowered to discern and explore the vocation we have been given and to spend our lives working that vocation out. Some of us may be called to specific types of ministry or mission but on the whole most of us are called to be the best version of ourselves that we can possibly be. To be ourselves in our every day lives is a very powerful and effective tool for God’s mission. 

There is a well known adage that; ‘You are not taught the faith, you catch it.’ What this means in practice is that the example we set for others in our daily lives is far more powerful that we might acknowledge or accept. 

Think of the people who have been important to you in your journey of faith. How did you learn from them? What did they do or say? Ask yourselves why you admire them or their ‘faith’. Everyone here this morning, I suspect, is an example to someone else, although you may never know so. We are all in effect ambassadors for Christ, for God; and as such we are called to carry the ways of the Divine into the world we inhabit. 

The Early Christians just got on with mission and ministry and gave it no fancy titles. They lived their lives in ways that gave glory to God and support and love to those around them. They were in the most part unremarkable in themselves but they were inspired by Christ and his ways to come closer to God and his love. 

Like those Early Christians we are not righteous, or remarkable and nor are any of us perfect. We live our lives in the light of the Gospel and in the knowledge that we are loved by God. We are, therefore. called to let others know that they too are as equally loved by God and that the ways of Jesus can change their lives beyond measure and that it is all free. No sacrifice needed just an open heart and a willingness to change. 

As missioners and ministers of Christ take heart in the knowledge that just by being ‘You’ - you will already be making a change in someone else’s life, just as someone else will be changing your life too. Just be brave and be ‘you’ out there in God’s world and you will change that world just a bit. And, if we can all change a little bit then just imagine how big that change could be when we add it together.

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God almighty!

Early in the morning our song shall rise to thee;                                  

Holy, holy, holy! Merciful and mighty!

God in three persons, blessed Trinity!

Trinity, a season in which we celebrate the three persons manifested by God. Three ways of being the one and only God. When one says it or writes it, it seems quite simple but to many when we talk of the three persons in the God-head they may assume we are talking about three gods and not One God. 

On the face of it the Trinity seems to be perfectly straightforward; God is one God manifested as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Each being in God is a separate, whole being and each being is God at the same time. One God but three beings - simple! Or Not! The more I have thought about the Trinity over the years of study, prayer and experience I have come to understand it by thinking about it in very simple terms. Here’s an example: Each of us is unique. There has never been another human being exactly like you or me and there will never be another you or me in quite the same way as we are. Yet each of us fit perfectly into the human race and into God’s creation. We form part of that creation and help complete the unity which God has designed. That unity would not exist without us and that unity will keep expanding to contain all of God’s creation until the end of time. Creation contains more beings than the Trinity but like the Trinity we are all needed in it to make it whole.

If we can think of the Trinity as a whole with different aspects to it; perhaps it becomes easier to understand. God is the Creator, the Spirit and the Christ. These three beings hold together because they show us different faces of the one God and they hold together because of love.