I LOVE MY CHURCH
SERVICE
PALM SUNDAY
DR. JIM DIXON
MATTHEW 20:20
MARCH 28, 2010
John Kennedy was the 35th president of the United States of America and at his inauguration on January 20, 1961, he was only 43 years of age. He served our country as president for 2 years and 10 months and he was shot down by an assassin’s bullet on November 22, 1963, in the city of Dallas. His life was all too short. My wife, Barb, has just read a book called The Kennedy Men. At the very last page of the book, it describes a couple of statements. It quotes a couple of statements from John Kennedy. John Kennedy was a complex man. His body was riddled with illness and disease, and few Americans knew that. He was, throughout his life, a chronic womanizer and very promiscuous, and really few Americans knew that. He had that modeled for him by his father Joe.
But from his mother, Rose, he had some faith in God and a desire to serve mankind. At his inauguration he made some wonderful statements. One statement is this: “Let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking God’s blessing and God’s help but knowing that here on earth God’s work must truly be our own.” Right prior to that statement, he made his most famous statement: “My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, but ask rather what you can do for your country.” The thought occurs to me that if this true of our country, it is even more true of our church. With regard to the church, we should ask not what the church can do for us, but we should ask rather what we can do for our church. Truly with regard for the church, God’s work must be our very own. He has called us to serve, and I love our church. I love the church of Jesus Christ. I love his church because this is the place where we find service: a place we come together to serve.
This morning I have two teachings and the first teaching concerns what is scripted and what is conscripted. And when you think about your service here and you think about serving this church, think about what is scripted and cons scripted. I’ll take a moment with this.
On July 31, 1854, a man died and was buried that day in Oakwood Cemetery in Troy, New York. This man was called Uncle Sam, strangely enough. His name was Uncle Sam. That was not his real name. He was Samuel Wilson, the brother of Ebenezer Wilson. They owned the Wilson Meat Packing Company. And they supplied all the meat to the United States troops in the War of 1812. And indeed, for a period of many, many years, the American troops were given meat and supplied meat by Uncle Sam. And the crates would arrive in wartime or in peacetime. The crates would arrive with meat, and they would all be stamped “US,” and the joke was, was the US stamp for “United States” or was it a stamp for “Uncle Sam”?
Of course, over a period of time, this was why the United States government began to be called Uncle Sam. And over time, Uncle Sam as the image of the United States government began to be characterized as having a goatee, long hair, a top hat, stars, and stripe suit. That’s a typical poster during World War I. During World War I, Uncle Sam’s image was everywhere saying, “I want you,” all over America as our government sought to recruit volunteers for military service in a time of war.
This was also true of World War II. In World War II, Uncle Sam’s posters, billboards, were everywhere as the United States government sought to recruit volunteers. Five million men in the United States volunteered for military service during World War II. The clear and present danger. 338,000 American women volunteered for military service in non-combat capacity because Uncle Sam said, “I want you.” And 5 million American women left their homes and went to work in factories that fueled the war machines. They did this voluntarily because Uncle Sam said, “I want you.”
Now, the reality is that most US soldiers during World War II did not volunteer. Most United States soldiers were conscripted. They were drafted. Ten million American men were conscripted into military service in World War II, ages 18 to 45. And the word conscription comes from a Latin word meaning, “to write,” and it means to guarantee or seal with writing. Conscription refers to compulsory enrollment, and our government has that power. Our government has the power to conscript, to compulsorily enroll. Our government has the power to draft into the military service.
The church does not have that power. We do not have the power of conscription into service. We do not have the power to draft. How many times I’ve wished we had the power to conscript, the power to draft into service, because the needs are so great and the cause is greater than any cause this country has ever seen. It is literally light against darkness, a battle for the souls of men and women the world over. We need you. We want you. We need you.
This is Palm Sunday and we had the children’s parade as we do most every Palm Sunday. And the kids had palm branches commemorating the Triumphal Entry of Jesus Christ into the holy city of Jerusalem that Palm Sunday before Easter. Have you ever wondered why that entrance into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday is called the Triumphal Entry? The phrase was borrowed from the Roman Caesars, and particularly from Julius Caesar, who made three triumphal entries into the city of Rome. They were all similar. Caesar would lead his processional down the Via Sacra towards the Roman Forum and he would have the Roman legions behind him, trumpeters and senators before him, the prisoners of war, spoils of war. He would be in a white chariot pulled by a team of white horses. The crowds would line the Via Sacra by the thousands and thousands and thousands. He had just returned triumphant from war, and they would shout, “Hail Caesar! Hail Caesar! Hail Caesar!” And of course, Caesar once said, “Veni, vidi vici.” I came. I saw. I conquered.
For many people this reminded them of the image of Christ coming into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. The crowds lining that great road that came down the Mount of Olives into the Kidron Valley and approached the walls in the holy city of Jerusalem, and the crowds shouting “Hosannah!” which literally means “save us!” And the crowds were shouting, “Blessed is the King!” The multitudes believing Jesus to be the promised Messiah. “Save us! Blessed be the King!” And of course, Jesus had won no victories and did not return from leading armies to victory in war. He was entering Jerusalem for a higher purpose, for a greater conquest. He was entering Jerusalem to conquer death. He was entering Jerusalem to conquer sin. And you cannot help but think of the church, his church, of which he said,” I will build my church and the powers of death will not prevail against it.” And he was entering Jerusalem to cleanse his people from sin and to give them victory over death. He said, “I’ll build my church, the powers of death will not prevail.” He came into Jerusalem that Palm Sunday to conquer the powers of death.
That week, Thursday night before the cross, he was gathered in the upper room with his disciples. That night he girded himself with a towel, got down on his knees and he, one by one, began to wash the mud and the dirt and the filth from the disciples’ feet. Simon Peter said, “No, Lord. Lord, no. Don’t. Don’t lower yourself. Don’t wash my feet.” Jesus said, “Peter, if I do not wash your feet, you have no part of me. You call me Lord and Master and you are right, for so I am. And if I, then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, how much more ought you wash one another’s feet? I’ve given you an example and you should follow in my steps.” The church of Jesus Christ: Feet washers. That’s what we’ve been called to do. That’s the example Christ has given us, that we would be servants, that we would wash one another’s feet, that we would be servant-hearted.
He calls us into service, and of course, we are not conscripted into service, but it is scripted that we serve. It’s not a matter of con-scripture, but it’s a matter of Scripture. We can’t mandate that you serve, but you know the will of God in Holy Scripture. You know what is written, you know what is scripted, you know the will of Christ, that he has called us to be servants and he’s called us to serve each other, to serve his church, and through the church to serve the world. This is the call of Christ that is upon us.
Now, in the Roman world, in the Latin-speaking world, there are two words; one was loved and another was hated. In the Latin Vulgate Bible, and for centuries the only Bible used in the nations of Europe was the Latin Vulgate Bible, and these two Roman words, the one loved and hated, are found all through the gospels. These are the Latin words “minister” and “magister.” These two Latin words are found in the Latin Vulgate Bible. The word minister comes from the Latin word minor and the word magister comes from the Latin word major. The word minister means servant. The word magister means master. The word minister was hated in the Roman world. Nobody wanted to be a servant. Nobody wanted to be a minor person. The word magister was loved in the Roman world. Everybody wanted to be a master. Everybody wanted to be a major person, and Jesus, you understand, turned the world on its head. All who follow him are to have an entirely different worldview.
In Christ it is more blessed to serve, that we should choose to be ministers, servants, minor, for the sake of others and for his kingdom’s sake. On this earth many who are last will one day be first. And so Jesus said, “You know the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them. Their great men exercised authority over them. It shall not be so amongst you. He who would be great amongst you, he must be your servant. He who would be first amongst you would be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but rather to serve and to give his life.”
In the Greek New Testament the word minister, this hated word in the Roman world, is rendered by many Greek words: “Huperete,” “doulos,” “diakonos.” But these words are all precious in the New Testament and words of honor because of Christ. So, we are to be unique on the earth, we who follow Jesus. We’re to be servant hearted. And are we? Is that true of me? Is that true of you? Are we the people Christ has called us to be? We cannot conscript you, cannot draft you, but it is scripted and it is Scripture that we serve and God wants you to choose service today. I love the church because we have so, so many wonderful opportunities to serve here.
Well, secondly, and finally, I want us to look at ability and availability with regard to our service. We’ve looked at scripted and conscripted. I want us to look at ability and availability. See, with regard to your service and mine, it’s not about ability. It’s about availability. Now, in the Saddleback Community Church in Southern California, where Rick Warren is the pastor, they have this ministry program called SHAPE. This program has spread across the nation and around the world and it’s an acronym. SHAPE is an acronym, and each letter has meaning. It’s designed to help you understand who you are and how God has crafted you. So, the S in SHAPE stands for spiritual gifts. What are your spiritual gifts? What are the spiritual gifts that God has given to you and what are the spiritual gifts that God has given to me? What is unique to you?
The H stands for heart. What is your passion? How has God crafted you? What are you passionate about? The A stands for abilities. These are not spiritual gifts that have been given to you as endowments in Christ. These are just natural abilities that you were born with. What are your abilities and talents? And then the P stands for your personality. What is unique about your personality? Are you extroverted or are you introverted? Our personalities are so diverse. How has God crafted you? And then the E stands for experience. What are your life experiences? And that goes together to comprise your SHAPE. And the idea is that as you volunteer for service, you should find things that fit your shape. That’s a wonderful idea and I’m not here this morning to knock that. In fact, I think it’s very important and very appropriate that we find our SHAPE and, where possible, volunteer in accordance with your SHAPE the way that God has crafted you.
But I want to give a couple of cautions. The need is so great. Sometimes the most important thing has nothing to do with your SHAPE. You see, there are a couple of problems. One is, time is short. I don’t mean simply that your time is short because of our finiteness, because of the fact that we are mortal. I mean that the time for this world as we know it is short. This age of the world is coming to a close. The consummation is approaching. I believe that with all my heart. I believe that we are approaching the final chapter of history. I believe that what the Bible calls the “last days,” the eschaton, is coming: The final stage of history.
There are many signs of this. Israel has been reborn in fulfillment of biblical prophecy. Nobody for centuries thought it could ever come true. But the Bible consistently prophesies that in the last days before the final consummation Israel will become a nation again and the Jews will return to their homeland, to the Promised Land that God once gave them and designs to be for them in perpetuity. And so, in 1948 Israel became a nation again and it was a miracle. In 1967 the Jews occupied the city of Jerusalem in the 7-Day War, and it was a miracle. And all of this is happening in our midst and the Bible prophesies that in the last days the nations of the earth will polarize themselves with regard to this re-born nation of Israel. And is that not happening? The nations of the earth are somehow focused on this little nation that is the size of a postage stamp and the nations are polarized. Radical Muslims live for the eradication of the Jewish people and the eradication of the newborn state of Israel. And this is all in fulfillment of biblical prophecy and it’s going to drive the world to the brink.
We are seeing what the Bible calls the great apostasy. The Bible says that before the last things in the final time of history, there will come the great apostasy, the Greek word “apostasia” in 2 Thessalonians 2, and within the churches the people will fall away. “They will no longer endure sound teaching. Having itching ears, they will accumulate teachers to suit their own liking. They’ll turn away from listening to biblical truth. They’ll wander into myth.” And we see today in all the mainline churches, amazingly, drifts into moral and theological apostasy, denying orthodoxy and orthopraxy. It’s happening in our time: The fulfillment of biblical prophecy. No, I think the time is short. I mean, man it would be great if you could only do things that fit your SHAPE. But the time is short.
The world is in darkness and we are called to be light. The world is diseased and corrupted and we’re called to be salt and the call is upon us. God called us to Highlands Ranch in 1991. We came in 1995. It was a tough call. I mean, a thousand people left us the moment we made the announcement that the elder board and the leadership of the church had felt led of God to move to Highlands Ranch, a ten-mile move. A thousand people said, “not for us.” Four years later when we were actually able to make the jump down here, another thousand people left us. The cost was great, but the call was huge. The call upon us is huge and God brought us down here for a purpose, many purposes, but at the heart of it is children. We came from an older community to a much younger community that is laden with a sea of children and God brought us here to serve what might be the last generation of kids. Or maybe it will be those kids’ kids, but he brought us here to bring them up in the nurture of God. We’re here, and what an obligation it is that we desperately need service, and we need servants. The time is short. And I hope you understand call trumps SHAPE. The call of God is upon us. Call trumps SHAPE.
You know, I’m something of a Calvinist. I mean, I’m a Presbyterian pastor. I believe in the sovereignty of God. I marvel at his call in election, and I know that our salvation is only by his incomprehensible mercy and grace. I believe that he calls us not only to salvation, but I believe he calls us to more mundane things in life. I think his call upon us in many times and many ways in our lifetime. I believe that he called me to do what I do. I believe that he has called me to be a minister and it didn’t fit my shape. If you look at my aptitudes, if you look at my college boards, my grad record exams, my aptitudes are highest in math. My dad was the same. My dad was a CPA, an accountant, and he worked for the State Board of Equalization State of California. My brothers also have aptitude in math. And what I’m called to doesn’t fit that shape. It’s highly relational. It’s very verbal. But it’s a call and call trumps shape and when God calls, woe unto you if you do not do what he calls you to do.
When he calls, he provides. So, I say to you, is he calling you to serve his church? I mean, our Sunday school… you saw the kids. It’s endless. We literally have thousands of kids. What a blessing, but what a responsibility. There are thousands of kids in our Sunday school programs and in our schools, all by the will of God. In our Junior High School on Sunday mornings, we have 300 middle school kids. We don’t have room for them. We don’t have enough workers. We need every year a thousand volunteers to run our diverse children’s program: A thousand of you. I don’t know whether you all are going to say, “I don’t know if it fits my shape.” I just know the time is short. And I know that call trumps shape and we need you.
So, as Steve said this morning, we have a booth out there. We need some of you to sign up there to help us. You know the story of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10. The story of that Jewish man on the Jericho Road that fell among robbers and thieves and they stripped him and they beat him and they robbed him and they left him half dead by the side of the road. People walked by; some did nothing. Maybe it didn’t fit their shape. Maybe they didn’t have the gift of mercy. Maybe they didn’t have the gift of helps, the gift of aid. Maybe they thought, I’m not able. I’m not strong enough to lift this man onto my beast. I’m busy. Sometimes it’s just the call. So, a Levite and a priest just walk on by, but a Samaritan, a man of another race, a man hated by the Jews, stopped, heard the call of God, and helped this Jewish man who was so wounded.
The call of God is upon us. People are broken in soul, lying on the side of the road. So, much is at stake. We need you. We need you for children and youth, we need you to help with programs for the poor and oppressed. We have so many ministries here. We need volunteers, both regionally here and also around the world. We need you to help with the addicted, for the lost, for the lonely, for the broken. We need you. You are the hands of Christ. You are the feet of Christ. at times the voice of Christ. We need you to be the people of Christ. What an amazing opportunity.
Rick Warren wrote that book The Purpose Driven Life and established that program 40 Days of Purpose. In his book The Purpose Driven Life, he tells the story of a woman in his congregation who was shopping at a Vons Grocery Store in Southern California. If you’ve been to Southern California, you’ve seen some of those Vons Grocery Stores. They’re just like King Soopers or Safeway. So, she’s in a Vons Grocery Store parking lot. She’s parking her car, and she notices this beat up car that’s right nearby and there’s a man sitting in it and he looks despondent and depressed and she decides to go and try to help him. And that’s a scary thing in this day and age. You never know what you’re going to find. But she felt called.
And so, she went to this man with the love of Jesus and she asked this guy if she could help and he said, “You know, I’m just at the end of my rope.” He said, “I’ve lost my job. I’m broke. My car is almost out of gas and I pulled into this parking lot. I think this car is going to go no more than 5 more miles and the tank will be empty. I feel like I’m starving. I’m so hungry and I have no money and I’m here before a grocery store, and there’s all that food, but I can’t buy anything.” She said, “Well, come into the grocery store with me and I’ll buy you groceries.” And so, they walked the aisles of the grocery store together and she bought him groceries so that he might eat and that he might live and they came back to the car in the parking lot. She said, “Get into your car and follow me in my car. We’ll just go down a couple of blocks and get you a full tank of gas.” She went up to Rick Warren at church the next Sunday and she said, “You know, Rick, we’ve got to help people like that. The church needs to help people like that.” And Rick said to her, “The church just did.”
And I hope you understand, you’re the church. You’re the church wherever you go. Whatever you do, you’re the church in action. We’ve been called to serve. We’ve been called to serve in the world and we’ve been called to serve each other. We’re told that the world will know we’re Christians because we love each other and the way we serve each other. So, this call is upon us and it’s just huge.
As we close, I want to do something kind of strange. There’s a website that shows the 10 most unique churches in the world. I want to take a moment and scroll through them, okay? Here’s a church in Tokyo, Japan. It’s the futuristic church and this church is very modern and it’s crafted with special acoustics so that every syllable spoken will echo for 2 seconds. Not too good for speaking, probably pretty good for singing. St. Basils Cathedral, one of the most famous churches in the world, in Moscow, Red Square, Russia. It looks like something maybe Walt Disney created, but it was actually crafted and designed by Ivan the Terrible. Did you know that? Ivan the Terrible who, before his wife died, was Ivan the Wonderful. His wife was a devout Christian. She loved Jesus and Ivan loved her and when he was married to her, he built churches all over Russia, and this was one. And only later, after his wife’s death, became Ivan the Terrible.
How about this church in Iceland? This church is the 4th tallest building in Iceland. It took 38 years to build this incredible church structure. It’s amazing. This is called the Rock Church in Helsinki. It’s carved out of rock and it’s all underground. That gives new meaning to the underground church. This church has a copper dome that covers it, and it honors the rock who is Christ. Now, here is a church, the Metropolitan Cathedral in the capitol of Brazil, and it is designed architecturally in such a way that everything is supposed to lift your eyes up towards heaven. And inside the cathedral are angels descending. It’s an incredible, incredible church, unique in all the earth.
There’s a church in Norway and this church, this Borgund church, was built in 1180 out of wood and is still standing. It’s truly a wonder, truly unique, truly special. Now, here is the Las Lajas Cathedral, meaning “the rocks,” one of the most beautiful churches in southern Columbia. It is built over the river. What a majestic, majestic church, and it’s built over a cave sight where there was an image of Jesus and of Mary. They thought it was a painting, but as they brought scientists in to examine it, they found no pigment, no paint, and they found that the image goes 2 feet deep into the rock. Maybe it is a miracle. Here’s the St. Joseph’s the Betrothed right here in America in the city of Chicago. It looks like bullets about to be shot off. There are actually 13 golden domes, representing the 12 apostles and our Lord Jesus Christ, and the highest golden dome represents Jesus himself.
Here’s a church in Serbia, and you think, well that doesn’t look very special. But you see, this church is built over a military fortress. Its built right on top of its walls, and within the church are all these chandeliers and they’re all made out of bullets, cannonballs, and swords: Weapons of war, now serving the Prince of Peace. It’s pretty unique. And then this church, St. Gilda’s, in Brittany, France. They’re praying there won’t be an earthquake. This church was built in 540 under this great overhanging rock, almost 1500 years ago, on a druidic holy sight and St. Gildas went there and preached Christ to them and they converted to Jesus and this church was built. Pretty amazing.
So, you have these 10 churches that are said to be special and unique in all the earth. Have you ever wondered how God looks down and what God thinks when he looks at churches? I hope you understand God’s not that much into buildings. He’s not anti-building. He called his people in the Old Testament to build the temple and they built it by his instructions, with majesty. By his will, the Jews built the synagogues all over the Jewish world and Christians have built churches throughout the Christian ages by the will of God. He’s not anti-building. And he appreciates architecture and it’s part of the imago Dei and the beauty of art.
But you understand, when God looks down, he sees the people. The church consists of the people. You are the church. It’s not buildings. It’s you. And I wonder, what does Christ thinks as he looks at us? Oh, I hope, I pray, that he thinks we’re pretty special. It would be so wonderful if he’d be pleased as he looks at Cherry Hills Community Church and us, his people, his congregation, his flock. But he looks at our heart. He doesn’t look at our buildings. He looks at our heart and he wants to know whether we long to serve him—whether we prefer the word minister or the word magister, whether we’re willing to be servants, whether we love his church.
I love my church. I love his church. I love the corporate worship, which is like the angels surrounding the throne of God, and I love the community, the friendships, the brothers and sisters, the relationships here. I love the fact that we gather here and we train and we go out into the world in service. I love the fact that we have opportunities here to serve each other at a critical time, when call even trumps shape. I hope, I pray, that you’d be willing to serve, for Christ’s sake. Let’s close with a word of prayer.