A Date With Destiny!

Sermon Notes

Palm Sunday

March 28, 2010

Jim O’Neal, Senior Pastor

Sun Lakes United Methodist Church

9248 E. Riggs Road, Sun Lakes, AZ 85248

(480) 895-8766

 

Matthew 21:1-11 NRSV

1When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2saying to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me.  3If anyone says anything to you, just say this, ‘The Lord needs them.’  And he will send them immediately.”  

4This took place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet, saying, 5“Tell the daughter of Zion, Look, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

6The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; 7they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them.  8A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.  9The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David!  Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!  Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

10When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, “Who is this?”  11The crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.”

 

A.  Introduction

    1.  Hamilton Whaley

        a.  Hamilton Whaley was a prosperous Florida lawyer.  He was happily married and they had five great “kids”.  He lived in a big house, was active in a good Church and was making more money than he ever dreamed he’d make.  Then he was in a minor traffic accident.  He was in the hospital a brief while and then came home.  Then the calls began to come in.  People were calling to express their sympathy, because they had read Hamilton’s obituary in the newspaper.  They thought Hamilton was dead.  This caused Hamilton and his wife Betty to reexamine their lives.  Hamilton wondered, “What if I had died?  What have I done to make a difference in the world?”

        b.  Eventually this led them to a new adventure in life.  Hamilton and Betty went to work for the Bethesda Home for Boys in Georgia.  They became house parents for twenty boys from 5 to 17 years of age.  Bethesda Home for Boys is the nation’s oldest orphanage in the country and like most American orphanages today it deals primarily with “abandoned” children.  That is children whose parents or family members are unable or unwilling to take care of their children, because of such things as emotional problems, drug dependency, or incarceration in a correctional institution.  Hamilton Whaley says, “Now I’m where God wants me to be, in a life that began instead of ending with my obituary.”  Hamilton Whaley found his purpose for being.  Have you discovered yours?

    2.  Today’s Scripture, John 3:16 and Matthew 22:37-39

        a.  Jesus knew His purpose.  Today is Palm Sunday.  We remember the triumphant entry into Jerusalem.  The crowds cheered him on!  They waved palm branches and laid their coats in the road.  They shouted, “Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”  They did not know that the one they welcomed would soon be dead.  However, Jesus knew what lay ahead.  He knew He had a date with destiny.  He understood that He must die to bring God’s forgiveness to humankind.  He tried to inform the disciples of this, but they like the crowd failed to understand.  Jesus did this for us, because of God’s love.  That was His motive.  “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”  John 3:16 RSV

        b.  Indeed Jesus told us that God-like love was to be our motive.  He said this is the Great Commandment:  “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.  This is the greatest and first commandment.  And a second is like it:  You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  Matthew 22:37-39 NRSV  We need God’s love as our purpose for living because it motivates us to be our best, because of the needs of the world, and because we are disciples of Jesus Christ!

 

B.  We need God’s love as our purpose for living, because it motivates us to be our best!

    1.  Bear Bryant

        a.  Most of us remember Bear Bryant the legendary football coach at the University of Alabama.  In one football game his Crimson Tide team was ahead by six points.  Coach Bryant told his quarterback to play it safe.  “We got the ball, keep it on the ground and run out the clock.”  This young quarterback decided he had a better idea.  “The coach says play it safe, but that’s what the other team is expecting.  Let’s give them a surprise!”  So he called a pass play and you can guess what happened!  The ball was intercepted and of course by a cornerback who was a national sprint champion!  This cornerback out ran everybody except the slow-footed Crimson Tide quarterback who some how caught the man and tackled him at the five yard line.  The ‘Bama defense would then hold and thus preserved the victory.

        b.  After the game the opposing coach said this to Bear Bryant: “What’s all this business about your quarterback not being a runner?  He ran down my speedster from behind.”  Bryant responded, “Your man was running for six points, my man was running for his life!”  Motivation makes a difference!

    2.  Radio Advertisement

        a.  A few years back there was a radio advertisement for the Peace Corps.  It contained four “scenes” which depicted four events in the life of a man named Stanley.  First was his birth and a proud father announced his name and that he would be President some day.  The second scene was of Stanley’s marriage.  His father in law speaks and tells Stanley to forget medical school and join him as a vice president in the Purse Manufacturing Business.  Scene three is of retirement.  Stanley has made a lot of money and is going on an expensive vacation.  The fourth scene is a funeral.  The pastor eulogizes Stanley as much loved by his fellow residents of the Shady Nook Rest Home.  “We all remember him as the best Gin Rummy player in the home, but a few of us also knew that he had the lowest cholesterol count of anyone in the home.”

        b.  Then an announcer comes on and says, “Isn’t it sad to live your whole life and never make a ripple and never rock the boat?  Join the Peace Corps.”  We need God’s love to motivate us beyond mediocrity.  Only the perfect love of God, as shown to us in Jesus Christ, can motivate us to greatness!

 

C.  We need God’s love as our purpose for living, because of the needs of the world.

    1.  Lucy Stone

        a.  Lucy Stone was a champion of the movement to get women the right to vote in this nation.  She was the editor of Woman’s Journal for more than twenty years and she served for a time as Chair of the American Woman Suffrage Association.  In 1893 Lucy Stone died.  She called her only child, Alice Stone Blackwell, to her side just before she passed away.  These were her parting words:  “Make the world better.” 

        b.  Jesus Christ might say the same thing to His disciples.  “Make the world better.”  If God’s love is our motive, then we love others.

    2.  Rev. Joe Craig and Hanna

        a. The year was 1782 and the place was the American frontier in what we know of today as the State of Kentucky.  It had been a terrible year for the settlers.  Hostilities had broken out between the Whites and the Native Americans.  In one community one fifth of the settlers had been killed off.  Things were extremely tough.  There were never enough hands to do even the simplest of tasks.  Each and every adult was invaluable to the survival of the community and sadly small children were a burden.  The Rev. Joe Craig was called to hear the last words of a dying woman.  Rev. Craig was never noted for his diplomacy and this is what he said:   “Hannah, if you die and leave all these helpless children for some other woman to care for with things as they are now, it will be the meanest thing you ever did in your life!”  Eyewitnesses said Hannah got so angry that she turned red, sat up in her bed, fever and all, and read the pastor right out of the Church!  However, she got well and survived to do her share of work for the community, to raise her own children, as well as a couple of orphaned children.  In his frankness the preacher had restored her will to live.

        b.  We need to be reminded that there are those who depend on us.  This includes those in our family, but also people in our community and world.  We have been blessed greatly.  Are you and I willing to share God’s goodness with those who are hungry, or lonely, or who don’t know the Lord?

 

D.  We need God’s love as our purpose for living, because we are disciples of Jesus Christ!

    1.  Sister Patience

        a.  Carol a phone operator for a mail order catalog company was having a busy day.  The switchboard was jammed with calls and she had to put people on hold most of the day.  When she took one lady off hold she heard her muttering angrily and saying a mild curse into the phone.  Carol laughed and said, “What may I help you with today?”  The woman replied, “I’m sorry.  I want to order two dozen of those Bible verse tea towels that you had on sale.”  “Very well,” Carol replied, “Could I please have your name?”  The woman replied sheepishly, “Oh dear, how embarrassing.  My name is Sister Patience.”

        b.  It certainly is not always easy, but disciples of Jesus reflect His love not only at Church, but each and every day.

    2.  Paganini

        a.  Famed violinist Paganini once told how he came to be the owner of a Stradivarius violin.  A wealthy patron of the arts bought four famous Stradivarius violins.  This patron of the arts then gave the violins to four of the world’s greatest violinists.  The previous owner had kept them under lock and key in a special temperature controlled vault. 

        b.  This new owner brought them out and gave them away because in his own words, “A silent instrument, no matter how well made, is not fulfilling its maker’s intentions.”  And that is the crux of the matter.  Are you fulfilling God’s intentions for your life?  God is love.  Do you reflect that love as Jesus’ disciple?

 

E.  Conclusion

    1.  Date with destiny:  Jesus knew that God’s love was His purpose for living.  That’s why He rode into Jerusalem and gave His life for us on the cross.

    2.  Recap:  We too need God’s love as our purpose for living, because it motivates us to be our best, because of the needs of the world, and because we are disciples of Jesus Christ!

A Date With Destiny!

 

We need God’s love as our purpose for living, because…

 

1.  It motivates us to be our best!

 

2.  Of the needs of the world.

 

3.  We are disciples of Jesus Christ!

 

Matthew 21:1-11 NRSV

1When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2saying to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me.  3If anyone says anything to you, just say this, ‘The Lord needs them.’  And he will send them immediately.”  

4This took place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet, saying, 5“Tell the daughter of Zion, Look, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

6The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; 7they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them.  8A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.  9The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David!  Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!  Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

10When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, “Who is this?”  11The crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.”