Palm Sunday

Why were they so happy?

What do we want in a king?

What do we want in a leader?

•    Is Hillary too shrill?

•    Is Barack too green (inexperienced)?

•    Is Rudy too unfaithful?

•    Is McCain too wounded (by this war)?

•    Is Mitt too Mormon?

•    Is Al too fat?

We want a strong leader

•    Hillary in combat boots?

•    Barack in a tank?

•    Rudy in the rubble? (think 9/11)

•    McCain as POW?

•    Mitt with hair that will last all day?

Samuel was the last of the judges

•    The book of Judges represents a disastrous time for Israel

•    One central pattern

–   Israel would forget God and serve the local pagan deities and God would let them go

–   Other ethnic groups would oppress them and they would cry out

–   God would send a deliverer to free them

The “judges” were strong men (one woman) but most often foolish

•    Gideon was a coward

•    Jephthah was rash

•    Samson was VERY strong but not too bright

What was the attraction to the Baals?

When you sought Baal you sought

•    Power over your enemies

•    Prosperity through fertility

•    What is the nature of the relationship? How does it work?

Politicians

•    We want leaders of courage and integrity who will have the backbone to do the right thing even if it isn’t popular.

•    We want leaders who will listen to us and do what we say.

•    Anyone see a problem with this?

Why do we like Baal again?

We don’t want a person on the other end, we want a predictable transaction

The LORD hasn’t “panned out”

•     Human leadership has been uneven

–   The Judges

–   Eli’s corrupt sons

–   Samuel’s corrupt sons

•     The people have been plagued by trouble

–   Men are killed, wives and children stolen, crops stolen, cities destroyed…

•     Ever feel like this?

What you have is a relational conflict

•     God says Israel hasn’t been faithful

•     Israel says God hasn’t been faithful

–   They are hedging their relationship: “we need God AND a king…”

–   We need the right church, the right prayers, the right songs, the right method…

–   We’ll keep the Baals handy just in case…

•     Who is right? Don’t answer too quickly…

We have been restlessly doing this for all of human history

•    “Religion”: Spiritual power transactions

•    Politics: People power transactions

•    Nothing has worked

Why can’t the world stay fixed!

What is the problem is not around us, but inside of us…

•    No arrangement (political or spiritual) of stuff or people or circumstance throughout all of human history has resolved out troubles

•    Could we even really see it?

Ben at lunch

Mission Statements

•    Helpful tools to keep people and organizations focused

•    Church mission statements

–   Difficult and varied

What if Moe were to write a mission statement for my relationship with her?

We are not Guinea Pigs and God has bigger plans for us

God gives into them

Huh?

•    God gives them what they ask for

–   even though it comes at His own expense in the relationship.

–   Even though it won’t work out well for them at all (Saul)

–   He does inform them of the cost too

–   He will take their foolishness and turn it for their good

Another story

Jesus comes into Jerusalem as a king because he is the true king, the original king, the only king!

They embrace him as they would and idol

•    This Jesus will give us what we want

–   Freedom from the Romans

–   Prosperity

–   Power

–   Glory

–   Good politics

What Jesus says is that you’ve turned God’s temple into a political and religious idol and so God is going to destroy it

Jesus will not

•    Give us a political “fix”

•    Usher in a “religion” that really “works”

–   IE: predictable transaction

•    Play the “good people”/ “bad people” game with us

•    Give us more options for lunch because we’re bored with what’s on the table

What does a Guinea Pig know of what it really needs?

Jesus is coming to save us from ourselves, and we can’t even understand it

We are cute but clueless

We don’t even know our problem

Our efforts amount to nothing

 God out of nothing but love, free from any obligation sees and fully understands our lost estate and has acted on our behalf. This is the good news. God, at infinite cost to himself has acted on our behalf and has already set into motion the process by which our rebellion and the subsequent calamity is being undone and will be fully restored.

How can I know? : Lord's Supper