One Year Ago…
Today is Palm Sunday. On this fine day I’m (Clayton) reflecting back to last year’s observation. One year ago I had the honor of sharing a message at our local church in Bozeman Montana. Yes, it was Palm Sunday. Yes, it was my first time “preaching” at a Sunday service. But that day carried even more significance in my heart as it came right in the midst of our family processing and preparing for our move to Norway. Looking back it is amazing to see how the Lord was equipping us to step into this incredible season of obedience, faith, training, apprenticeship, growth, maturing, service and more.
Below is the message I shared. May it provide some insight and context on where we were and where we are now. May it be an encouragement and a challenge to us all and we examine what Jesus did for all of us this Easter season.
Do you trust Him?
I’m originally from Western WA…Near Seattle. I’m the 3rd of 3 brothers with a younger sister 4 years younger than me. As a child, in kindergarten, I distinctly remember responding to a gospel message, presented on a flannel graph, YES…a flannel graph. Do you remember those? At a young age a was persuaded by Jesus’ message of salvation. I was too young to know all details. How could I, at the age of 5, know that I was also signing up to participate in the greatest story every written. A story, a grand adventure, that can only be experienced by allowing the king of kings to be the author of your steps. To have the greatest play write weave together the best, most exciting script one can imagine. So what does the bible have to say about all of this? Am I just making this up to feel good about my decision of faith. Or is there more to the story.
Palm Sunday
Today is Palm Sunday. If you go way back into your memory, you may have visions of flannel graphs filled with Jesus on a donkey, surrounded by palm fronds laying on the roadside. If you recall, Palm Sunday marks the day when Jesus Christ enters Jerusalem one week prior to his unjust trial, conviction, public humiliation, torture and eventually his crucifixion.
Did Jesus know what was about to come? Was he aware of his fate? If so, why would He willingly walk into a situation with such a horrible outcome? Spoiler alert…HE knew the outcome!!!
Jesus Anointed
Let’s jump back in the timeline just a bit… We read in John 12 vs 1…
1 Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. 3 Then Mary took about a pint[a] of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
4 But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, 5 “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.[b]” 6 He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.
7 “Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. 8 You will always have the poor among you,[c] but you will not always have me.”
What do we see?…We see Jesus aware of what was to come. He knew that he was going to die. We also see Jesus rebuking Judas for his misguided and selfish motive. Judas is corrected for the offense he has in his heart towards Mary’s act of pure service to her Messiah. Did Mary truly understand that her actions where prophetic? Perhaps not. Does it matter? Not really. What does matter is that she was moved, in the spirit of worship, to anoint Him with this priceless oil and in doing so played a significant role in the most dramatic story to ever unfold in history! Because of her willingness to participate, to say YES, to the move of the spirit of worship, Mary actions helped to prepare Jesus for His eventual death, burial, and subsequent resurrection.
Jesus Predicts His Death
And…to thicken the plot a bit more, we see Jesus’s awareness of his fate well before Mary anoints Him. Jesus knew that death was imminent. He also knew that resurrection was the ultimate outcome!
Mark 8 - Jesus Predicts His Death
31 He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again.
Mark 9 - Jesus Predicts His Death a Second Time
He said to them (His Disciples), “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise.” 32 But they did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it.
Mark 10 - Jesus Predicts His Death a Third Time
33 “We are going up to Jerusalem,” he (Jesus) said, “and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, 34 who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise.”
Why?
Okay…so here we are. Jesus predicting his death. Jesus being anointed for his “burial” by Mary. And then he willingly enters Jerusalem knowing that the armies of all things evil are marching his direction. But why? What circumstances are in play to create this situation. What were these forces? How where they expressed in their culture? And by whom?
Well…at the risk of being extremely simplistic I’d say it all comes down to RELIGIOUS POWER. I know that there is a myriad of other factors at play here. But for the sake of time and my intellectual limitations, we can, I believe reduce this down to RELIGIOUS POWER. The need to have it. The need to keep it. The need to wield it. This desire was so great that it propelled the religious leaders to falsely accuse, torture, publicly shame and crucify and innocent man. Our Messiah.
These scriptures proved even more insight to the heart condition and motive of those religious leaders in power during this time.
Luke 12
17 Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. 18 Many people, because they had heard that he had performed this sign, went out to meet him. 19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!”
Matt. 21
14 The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant.
Luke 19
47 Every day he was teaching at the temple. But the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the leaders among the people were trying to kill him. 48 Yet they could not find any way to do it, because all the people hung on his words.
On and on we can go with verses describing the vile hatred the top religious leaders had toward Jesus. When doing a survey of these verses one can easily conclude that Religious Power, and their need for it, was a huge driving force behind their actions leading up to Christ’s crucifixion.
Back to Palm Sunday…
So, the king of kings, fulfilling many Old Testament prophesies, rides on a donkey. A DONKEY to enter Jerusalem. Not the majestic stallion one would expect for the king of kings.
Matthew 21
As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”
4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:
5 “Say to Daughter Zion,
‘See, your king comes to you,
gentle and riding on a donkey,
and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”[a]
6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. 8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,
“Hosanna[b] to the Son of David!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”[c]
“Hosanna[d] in the highest heaven!”
10 When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”
11 The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”
Jesus entered Jerusalem knowing that he was to be crucified a week later. Yet He willingly yields to the father’s plan. Trusting that trough unspeakable torture and injustice that His Kingdom would prevail. That the plans of the Father would triumph. That death would die. That his sacrifice would tear the veil in the temple, breaking the separation between the divine and humanity. Nothing else could have compelled him to pray “not my will, but yours be done.” Just hours before his arrest on the Mount of Olives.
So we now come this question. Do You Trust Him? Do you trust the Father? Do you trust his plan for your life? And…How do we practically live a life according to his plan?
Again, at the risk of over simplifying such important questions I think the answer is quite simple. If you say yes…I do trust Him then we must trust his plan. To live out that plan requires something from us. It’s required for us to open our hands and say “Yes”. Say yes, every day if necessary, to Jesus’ teachings. Say yes to His invitations. Say yes to walking through His open doors and grab hold of the gifts that are being presented to you.
Years of Saying Yes
I share this from a place of experience. At first it was a place of white knuckled control. In my confident arrogance I thought my yes was to Him…but in retrospect it was obviously a weak yes laced with fear. Not the type of abandoned surrendered we see in the example of Christ. Then, slowly but surely, the grip loosened and blood was beginning to flow into those knuckles. Then, with practice, I was willing, and able to say yes to some small invitations. But, really, my fear and control was still in place. To the point where I stupidly chased promises of promotions and bonuses only to, literally, get injured in pursuit of these earthly promises. However, over time I learned my lesson…The hard way…Right Jenny?!? I learned to trust. I learned to surrender and I learned that his plan truly is the best! If we had time to sit and talk, we could share for hours the stories of God’s faithfulness and extravagant love he has shown us. However, I’ll just share one recent story…
Norway
o Many of you know that we love hosting, sharing our hope with family, friends and friends of friends.
o Some of you know we deeply desire to own land for the purposes of using our gifts of hospitality to impact hearts and minds for Jesus.
o In October of 2023 we learned that we needed to move out of our place no later than the May 1, 2024.
o About a year ago we were looking to buy. And, as you know, the housing market in this area is challenging, to say the least. We found a house that we thought would be a work for us. But When seeking wise council literally all parties involved said “Don’t buy the house.”
o At that same time our friends “in Macedonia” connected us their missionary friends in “Kosovo” regarding a possible rental situation.
o During the initial contact the owners said that had long term renters who wouldn’t be leaving anytime soon.
o About 24hrs later, the owners, you know those missionaries in Kosovo, got a message from their renters that they want to move out early, by mid April of 2024!!!
o Long story short, we had an opportunity to move into this amazing place, knowing with would be for just over a year as the owners would be back for a sabbatical in late summer of 2025.
o Then owners of the house we were renting tell us that they plan to come back indefinitely. We have peace in our hearts. We know that the Lord had a plan for our next place to live.
o About a week or so later some friends from Norway contact us, out of the blue, to see if we would be open to live on their farm for the next 12 months…or longer.
o In many ways, a dream come true as this invitation opens the doors for us to learn, to volunteer, to minister and to grow and to gain the tools we will need to step into the desires that the Lord has planted deep in our hearts.
o We are now in the process of stepping into a season that will equip us for the next chapter. One step closer to dreams fulfilled.
None of this could have been orchestrated by Jenny or myself. Yet, we chose, early on in our lives, and in our marriage, to say yes to God’s grand adventure. We decided to TRUST Him. And we have learned that a life yielded to or Lord was never a promise of safety or comfort. It was never a promise of “knowing all of the details of the adventure ahead of time”. It was never a promise of life free from difficulty or uncertainty.
However. A life yielded to the Lord is a promise of a grand adventure. Grounded on faith. Fueled by His love. A life, though challenging at times, that is most satisfying. The most fulfilling. The most peaceful and victorious.
If you haven’t already, consider entering into God’s great adventure. Say yes to his plans and watch how it impacts you, your family, your friends and your community. By putting your faith into action in this way you will have a kingdom impact deeper and wider than you will ever know. Yield to Him. Say yes to the call for adventure. For we too know the outcome…HE WINS! Allow Him to win in and through you. Trust him to guide you into the plans he has for you.