Winning by Lack of Intimidation- the Cross”   Matthew 21:1-11  Palm Sunday Fruit of Spirit is Gentleness

            Do you like the Labor Day Parade in Chapin?  The Romans liked their parades.  They liked their victory parades.  They were the originators of the ticker-tape, drum-beating, band playing parade.  They created arcs for parades to walk through, and as reminders that the parade had been there.  In Rome, Titus’ arc is a concrete reminder of the victory parade over the conquest of the Jews.  The Romans proudly intimidated their enemies by their parades.  They had their legion symbols, they had animals in cages drawn behind chariots.  They had prisoners bound and gagged and humiliated.  A Roman parade was a show of Roman might, triumph and force.  Th e triumphant general would have people spreading flower pedals before him, and trumpets would blow, and then the general would ride through on a beautiful white stallion.  It was a thing of beauty and awe.

            In contrast to this was Jesus’ parade on Palm Sunday.  It was not subservient slaves going before him, but rag-tag children.  There were no trumpets, only some palm branches.  It was no general’s horse he was on, but a young donkey.  Jesus purposefully chose a donkey.  It was not a king’s entry, but a servant’s entry.  Jesus was not the ultimate earthly king, but the ultimate servant. 

            Jesus was not trying to force people to follow him out of fear.  He was not even trying to argue or educate them into following him.  Rather, Jesus was drawing them to himself by his lack of intimidation.  It was the great Judo move.  We came at Jesus full force, and he used our force to flip us over on our backs.  He did not have to force back. 
            The fruit of the Spirit, Paul says is gentleness.  The word here in the King James is “meekness.”  It is an attitude of compassion.  It is not that we are so week that we have to be meek.  It is not that we have no choice.  But we have God’s power at our disposal, yet we choose to be meek rather than intimidating.  Jesus could have had the greatest parade ever.  He could have had a parade of huge, powerful, war-like angels.   But instead had a parade of children. 

            Jesus was not entering Jerusalem in triumph despite the message of “Hosanna to the King of Israel- the Son of David.”  Jesus saw the writing on the wall, and perceived himself as the suffering servant-come-to-die.  He was the one who said, “Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am meek and lowly in heart and you will find rest to your souls.” (Mt. 11:28,29).  Jesus showed us how gentleness could be powerful.  A gentleman was not necessarily a weak man.  The king was considered “first a gentleman” though the king was very powerful and firm.  But a gentleman knows how to treat the lowly, the poor with respect, and all people with grace. 

            One of my daughter’s favorite stories is “Beauty and the Beast.”  The beast was full of anger and rage and power in his castle.  Time was running out for him to change.  He was changed by love into a gentleman, a meek man- though not without his strength.  The rose of time is dropping its pedals for all of us.  God’s love offers to transform us from a beast into a gentleman.  But we must accept that love.

            The Bible says, “Say to the Daughter of Zion, “See your king comes to you, gentle and riding  on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”  The word “gentle” is meek.  Jesus was the royal servant.  Self-denial not self-assertion was his way. He had nothing to prove, no one to impress- but God Himself.  In the end it is the same with us.  People are easily impressed and also easily unimpressed.  Popularity comes and goes- as is shown on this holy week where one minute he was proclaimed king in triumph, and the next proclaim the king on the cross.  Jesus was not excited by the crowd into grandiose statements with sweeping gestures, like you saw last year at the political conventions when their candidate spoke.   Jesus was less concerned with his own preservation as he was with the preservation and salvation of us all.  That is the ultimate definition of meekness. 
            Some people need to toot their horns, bang their drums, wave their credentials, recount their exploits, polish their egos.  That is a sign of weakness.  But the person who has great exploits, achieved successes, been granted honors, but finds no need to brag about these things to others- that is meekness.  (Brisco p. 125).   A few years ago, Robert Ringer wrote a best-seller called, “Looking out for Number One.”  It didn’t say anything that most people didn’t already know, and it tickled a lot of itching ears.   That is he said what selfish people wanted to hear- take care of yourself for no one else will.  He wrote another book called, “Winning Through Intimidation.”  This was also widely practiced.  Meanwhile the church was still saying, “the meek will inherit the earth.”  Many people were nodding to Jesus words, but believing Ringer’s words about intimidation and looking out for number one.  But most people today don’t know who Robert Ringer was.  Most people today do know who Jesus was. 
            In the ancient world, Aristotle taught that the key is moderation and balance.  He said on one hand there was apathy, and the other hand rage.  In the middle between apathy and rage was the quality we should aim for-meekness.  When Socrates was offered his poison he could have gone into a fit of anger, or he could have accepted it like it didn’t matter- but instead accepted it with humility and grace while his companions were in distress.   Jesus accepted the cross with meekness.  He could have ordered the angels to come down- there was no weakness there.  There was humility and trust in God (something that Socrates didn’t quite grasp).

            Look I have heard the world’s ways.  They say in a relationship, that the men should be macho men who never apologize, and the women should be assertive and always make sure they win.  But meekness in relationships leads to love and long-lasting relationships, but selfishness tears us apart.  The world would tell us to glorify ourselves and win at any cost- very Machiavellian.  God tells us we are created to glorify and enjoy Him.  Who do you live to impress?  Who do you live to build up?  Your name?  Your family’s name?  The name of your children? Your company’s name?  Or God’s name? 

            Let me tell you a story that you may have already heard that illustrates meekness.   There have been many layoffs lately as you all know.  The Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities was laying off people too.  There were two jobs in the IT realm that were being replaced with one job.   The two IT employees liked each other.  One had more seniority, Ralph Hanahan- he had been there for 21 years and was tenured.  The other, Mike Camp, was not.  Mike had four kids, and one was autistic and required a lot of special care and therapy.  Ralph and his wife, Jenny prayed and talked about it and decided to do what the y called the right thing, and he offered his resignation in place of his co-worker.  This means he is losing his medical insurance as well as his well-paying position.  Out of all this came a tremendous witness on account of both people.  WIS TV broadcast it everywhere.  Camp said that “God has taught me so much through this whole experience about loving your fellow man and how important it is.”  Ralph who gave up his job for peace of mind, said, “God will take care of us, Jenny and I believe this deeply.”   In our dog-eat-dog world, someone has stepped up and shown what the power of God can do to conquer fear and greed- and to show the power of meekness.  Jesus said, “Greater love has no one that this- that he lay down his life for his friend.”  Jesus is the ultimate example of sacrifice- the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.