Get A Palm Sunday Attitude
As we follow Jesus to the cross during Holy Week, we want to concentrate on his attitude in order to reap the full benefit of the mystery, majesty, and mercy that unfold before our eyes. Reading from Philippians 2:5-11 we will learn how to Get A Palm Sunday Attitude. March 16, 2008.
A case can be made for the statement that attitude makes all the difference in the world. We sometimes describe people as having a bad attitude. What we mean is that the person has a demeanor or mood that turns people off, turns them away, or makes them feel small or unwanted. The boss says, “I don’t know what you’re upset about. You’re making a decent salary.” “That may be true, but you treat me like a dog.” A friend says, “Where were you? I came over to give you a ride, and you were gone.” “Well, it sounded like that was the last thing you wanted to do so I took the bus.” Mom says, “I told you to clean your room before you watch TV.” The teen snaps back, “I said I’d do it. Just leave me alone!” You get the picture, right? Attitude makes a big difference.
What’s your overall attitude, your outlook on life – positive? negative? cautious? cavalier? optimistic? pessimistic? In the portion of Scripture we are about to study, the apostle Paul talks about attitude. He writes, “Let your attitude be the same as that of Christ Jesus”, but he doesn’t intend to do group therapy by mail. What he wants to do is let us know that his attitude and behavior were dramatically and drastically changed by Jesus, and we can enjoy that, too.
Today we begin the most sacred week in the church year. As we follow Jesus to the cross, we want to concentrate on his attitude in order to reap the full benefit of the mystery, majesty, and mercy that unfold before our eyes. When we focus on our Savior, we will not only find ourselves breathless with gratitude, but we will also learn how to get a new attitude, a Palm Sunday attitude, which is exactly what the apostle encourages.
Walk in Jesus’ humility
In just a few phrases the apostle demonstrates Jesus’ attitude, not just on Palm Sunday but during his entire time on earth. He made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross! How many times do you think you have stated, “Jesus is God”? If you worship every Sunday for thirty years, just by confessing the creeds, you will have stated that more than one thousand five hundred times. We believe it. We know it’s a fact. But some have found it hard to comprehend. They think of Jesus as merely a human being – born in Bethlehem, growing up in Nazareth, dying on a cross. But Jesus is God – always has been, always will be. Yet, in order to save us from the eternal spanking we deserve because of our sins, he chose not to flaunt his divine power but for a time kept it under wraps in the cloak of human flesh. He humbled himself and became one of us, subject to all the emotions, all the temptations we face, even death itself.
Is there anything to which we can compare that? Would a general of a great army take the stars of his rank off his shoulder and the medals and ribbons off his chest in order to put on the fatigues of a foot soldier? Would he lie on his belly in the dirt and dust, feel the sweat and blood running down his face, and experience the pains and agonies of those who fight on the front lines? Would he take the place of a common soldier and die for that man? Common sense cries out, “No way! That’s crazy!”
Yet, Jesus did that and much more for us. Our Lord took on an embarrassingly painful and difficult life. He was rejected by his townspeople, his countrymen, and his friends. He had every reason to give up on the human race and return to the full use of his power. But he stayed the course. He became obedient to death, not just the death that we all must face naturally, but the worst kind of death, a slave’s death, a criminal’s death, death on a cross. Through it all his attitude never changed. He remained humble, obedient, loving, even forgiving. To be humble does not mean to demean or to degrade oneself. It means to stop focusing on self and striving for personal advantage. Jesus did not focus on himself. He focused on us. Jesus’ enemies couldn’t deter him. His friends couldn’t dissuade him. Even the devil couldn’t derail him. He humbled himself for us.
That kind of attitude is hard to come by since it’s natural for us to push ourselves upward in our own mind and in the eyes of others. When we seek honor for ourselves above honoring others, we need a new attitude. When pride gets in the way so that we can’t see past our own nose to help others but get caught up helping ourselves to whatever will make us happy no matter what the cost in cash or in connections, we need a new attitude. When we cover our own insecurities by putting others down, we need a new attitude. When we seek to bask in the limelight of praise rather than stoop down and lift up someone else, we need a new attitude. I need an attitude adjustment. You need an attitude adjustment. We need a new attitude, a Palm Sunday attitude.
But how are we going to get that? Our Palm Sunday King goes to work to change us from the inside out. He doesn’t do that by giving us an example, “Just watch me on Palm Sunday. You’ll eventually catch on.” No! Here’s what he does. He points the donkey he is riding in the direction of a hill on the other side of town at the other end of this week. There he removed the penalty we were supposed to pay for our selfish attitude by paying the penalty himself. He humbled himself and because obedient to death – even death on a cross. He did that so we can stand before God and everyone we meet with a new attitude, humbly grateful that we are precious and special to God himself. That’s what empowers us to be a precious and special blessing to others.
This Palm Sunday we ponder the humility of the Son of God who could have flown into Jerusalem on a comet but rode into town on a smelly beast of burden, and we witness his humble attitude. The key is to focus on why he made himself low – to raise us up. How about that? Jesus went low to raise us up so we can be low to raise others up. It takes a lot of internal fortitude to consider others more important than yourself. Jesus makes that happen by giving us a Palm Sunday attitude to walk in his humility. What happens, then, in our homes, in our congregation, in our workplaces? People around us get a little taste of heaven.
Share in Jesus’ glory
On the first Palm Sunday Jesus received the adoration of the people, but in a few short days he received their abuse. Therefore, God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Because Jesus carried out the will of his Father humbly and faithfully, he was exalted. His human nature has now taken on all the properties and characteristics of his divine nature. He is now at the highest place with the highest reputation.
What does all this mean for us? It means that while we gaze at the gore during this week, we keep one eye on the glory at the end of the week. We do that because Jesus wants to wrap us up in his glory and take us there. He wants us to be with him in glory.
I know there are days when it doesn’t seem like it, but by trusting in Jesus and all that he has done for us, we share in his glory right now. But that’s the challenge of Christian living. The apostle Paul wrote, “Now we see but a poor reflection; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am known” (1 Corinthians 13:12). The apostle John wrote, “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure” (1 John 3:2-3). He might just as well have written, “It might not seem like you are glorious right now, but you are, in spite of all the bad stuff around you.” That affects our attitude.
I’m sure that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego weren’t too fired up about being dropped into a furnace. They probably assumed that in seconds they would be a pile of ashes. But they knew, “Lord, you are our Savior God!” He saved them. I’m sure Daniel wasn’t too tickled to be tossed into a lion’s den. He probably assumed that he would be torn to bits and then taken by God to heaven. But he knew, “Lord, you are my Savior God!” God rescued him. The attitude of those people had been adjusted because of what God did for them and because of what God promised, a share in his glory. They had a Palm Sunday attitude centuries before Palm Sunday happened.
If you were losing money on an investment but knew that in the long run it would quadruple in value, what kind of attitude would you have about that investment? If you bought a home in an old, dying neighborhood but knew that in a few years it would be redeveloped and worth five times what you paid, what kind of attitude would you have about that home? If you were losing a battle but knew for a fact that you would win the war, what kind of attitude would you have about the battle? You would be able to endure the difficult days because you were absolutely sure of the glory days, the outcome. That’s what Jesus gives us, certainty that we will share in his glory now and will share in it fully forever. That’s a Palm Sunday attitude.
Life doesn’t always seem fair or easy. Sometimes it’s difficult to get along with others. Sometimes it seems difficult to survive. Yet our Palm Sunday King illustrates the path on which God takes us. He takes us from cross to crown and promises, “Be faithful even to the point of death, and I will give you a crown of life” (Revelation 2:10). If that doesn’t that affect your attitude, nothing will! Amen.
Preached at Grace Lutheran Church, Milwaukee, WI (http://www.gracedowntown.org/) on March 16, 2008
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