Happiness
Are you happy today? Not just OK and not simply surviving and not only above average, but are
you truly happy? Are you thrilled to be
alive? Are you filled with joy to be who
you are? Are you excited to see what the
Lord has in store for you? Are you
ecstatic to be doing what you are doing?
I would imagine that your answer to
those questions would depend on the day, wouldn’t it? Because some days you might actually be happy,
but on other days you aren’t. Sometimes
you are filled with joy and excitement, but many times you are far from it. On occasion you might describe yourself as thrilled
and ecstatic, but usually you’d probably describe yourself as just “alright”
because as far as you’re concerned things could be a whole lot better in
different areas of your life. True, pure
happiness seems to be difficult for us to grasp sometimes. Because things happen to us in this life that
aren’t so good and they end up tainting our entire attitude and mindset. And so we might end up being angry one day or
depressed or upset or miserable or empty.
Which means that we definitely aren’t happy or excited or ecstatic at
those moments - and it sometimes takes a while to turn things around.
But what about now? Are you at least happy right now as you sit
in church on a Sunday morning celebrating the festival of Palm Sunday? When I was asking some of you as you walked
in the doors earlier today how you were, I heard a lot of people say “fine,” “
“alright,” “I’m here,” I heard one “pretty
good…” And I know that those are just automatic
responses to an almost generic question, but then again I didn’t hear anyone
say, “Great!” Wonderful!” “Amazing!”
“Couldn’t be better!” either. And
I didn’t see too many people with an extra sparkle in their eyes this morning
or a flush in their cheeks or a skip in their step. It was pretty much like any normal Sunday
morning that I can remember: some tired eyes, some sleepy looks, some
nonchalant expressions... But this is Palm Sunday! The Sunday of Jesus’ ride into
Jerusalem! The palm branches! The robes!
The singing! The
celebration! This isn’t just any normal
day! This isn’t even any normal
Sunday! This is Palm Sunday! Why shouldn’t we be happy on a day like today! Maybe this will help: “Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion!
Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and
riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. I will take away the chariots from Ephraim
and the war-horses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken. He will
proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from
the River to the ends of the earth.”
How was that? Did that help a
little bit? Are you at least a little
happier than you were before? Because I’m
sure it thrilled those Old Testament Israelites during the time of Zechariah
who heard these words for the first time.
Rejoicing over
the King
Zechariah
lived some 500 years before Jesus came to this earth. He served the people as they came back from
exile, having spent 70 years in a foreign land because of their sins. Persia was ruling at the time and although
the Israelites were given a little bit of freedom once again by King Cyrus/Darius,
they were still not an independent nation.
And so they didn’t have a king.
They had leaders and high priests selected from their own people, but
the title of “king” hadn’t been given out to one of their own for the last
seven decades. They were a conquered
nation, a group of people who owed taxes and tribute to another kingdom, a
small part of the massive Persian Empire subject to the whims and wishes of an emperor
who could do to them whatever he wanted whenever he wanted for whatever reason.
It is in
this fragile and unstable political environment that the prophet Zechariah lived. And the Lord through this prophet encouraged
an attitude for his people completely different than what they were probably
feeling at the time: “Rejoice greatly, O
Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of
Jerusalem! See, your King comes to you!” Their King was supposedly coming - their King
with a capital “K”. A King who would be
righteous - unlike many of the kings they had been troubled with in the
past. A King who would be delivered from
his enemies - unlike the last few kings who had lost the throne of Judah to the
Babylonians. A King who was humble; a
King who would ride on a donkey. This
King would be unlike any king they had ever seen before. And of course the Lord is going to encourage
them, “Rejoice greatly! Don’t worry
about what is happening around you! Shout! Pay no attention to who is ruling over
you! See, your King comes to you!” And I hope they did rejoice and shout and
celebrate. Because to have the
prediction of a King coming to them at that time in that situation would have
been something special! With that
prophecy planted in their hearts they could go about their lives in peace and
safety, knowing that this King was coming, that the chariots and war-horses
would be taken away, and that he would proclaim peace not only to them but to
every nation on earth. I would hope that
they took this prophecy to heart because with it in mind they would never have
a reason to be scared or nervous or unhappy again.
We aren't Always Happy
Do we
have any reason to be unhappy? And I’m
serious about that. Do you have any
reason to be unhappy in this life?
Because we have this same prophecy from Zechariah that those Old
Testament Israelites received. Along
with dozens and dozens of other prophecies about Christ throughout the Old
Testament. And not only that, we have
the fulfillment of those prophecies in the pages of the New Testament. Our King is not only coming, he has already
come! We have seen how Jesus carried out
these very words! He was the King who
sat on the donkey as his disciples threw down palm branches and the children
sang and the crowds shouted at the top of their lungs, “Hosanna to the Son of
David! Blessed is he who comes in the
name of the Lord!” This prophecy in
Zechariah is not just a vague future prediction for us. This is a fact that has already
happened. The King has come! The King has conquered! And he has proclaimed peace to the nations! And it’s easy to see that this morning with the
palm branches up front and the bulletins in your hands and the Palm Sunday
hymns ringing in your ears. But why do
we seem to forget all of this when we go out there?
And maybe
it’s not so much that we actually forget
what Jesus did on Palm Sunday, it’s probably more that it just doesn’t always
affect us like it should. Because when
we have to deal with a situation at work or when we have some problems at home
or when we are struggling with things out of our control, Jesus riding on a
donkey into Jerusalem is the farthest thing from our minds, isn’t it? And everything looks bad and everything seems
sour and nothing seems to be turning out right.
And we’re not happy, we’re not
in a good mood, we’re not excited. We’re
wound up and flustered and bitter.
But are
God’s promises really that fickle? Does
the promise of your King only apply to your life when you are feeling
good? Is the promise of the King only
worth thinking about when you have no problems in your life at all? Is the promise of a King only for you on Palm
Sunday? Of course not. God’s promises never change. His prophecies never vary. He is always the King! He is always righteous! He is always proclaiming peace to the
nations! There is no reason why you
shouldn’t always apply that to every moment of your life! Because you not only know that your King came
to you on Palm Sunday, you know what your King came to do.
How Could We
Not Be Happy?
You are
fully aware of what happens after this story, aren’t you? You know that Jesus would spend a few days in
and around Jerusalem, but then on Thursday evening he would go into an upstairs
room with his disciples to give them the very first Lord’s Supper. You know he would then walk out to the Garden
of Gethsemane to pray before meeting Judas and the mob. You know that he would be taken before the
high priest and then in front of Pilate.
You know that he would be physically abused and sentenced to an
execution. You know that he would hang
on a cross for hours before bleeding to death.
You know his body would be taken down and wrapped up and buried. You know that he would lay there while
everyone else stayed at home for the Sabbath.
You know that one week from today a few women would go to the tomb with
a handful of spices only to find out that he was no longer there. You know what your King came to do. You know what your King came to
accomplish. You know the rest of the
story. Jesus isn’t just a King riding on
a donkey into Jerusalem today; he is your Savior riding into the city of his
death.
It’s
Palm Sunday this morning. It’s Palm Sunday! “Rejoice
greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout,
Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your King
comes to you!” He comes to die. He comes to rise. He comes to reign. This is the start of the greatest week of the
entire year! From Palm Sunday to Easter
Sunday - it does not get any better than this!
How could we not be happy right now?
How could we not be excited and thrilled and ecstatic? How could we not be happy for the rest of our
lives? Because, honestly, what trouble in
this life can possibly dampen the thrill that this week brings? What problem in this life can possibly
overwhelm the joy we will experience these next seven days? What setback in this life can possibly be big
enough to snuff out the pure happiness we have in our Palm Sunday King, our
crucified King, our risen King? “Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your King comes to you!” And he comes to save. How could we not be happy about that?
Amen.
“Now to the King
eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and
ever. Amen.” - 1 Tim. 1:17
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment