Randall Caselman
Bella Vista Church of Christ
August 19, 2001 P.M.
Making Jesus Welcome In Our World
Reading - Luke 19.28-41
It was Passover week... Jesus was at the peak of His popularity.
Expectations ran high among His disciples that He was the Messiah.
The crowds had swollen in Jerusalem... Everybody was trying to get a glimpse of Jesus...
-Jesus the miracle worker...
-Jesus the teacher...
-Jesus the possible Messiah.
Instead of entering the city on a white stallion as did the conquering victorious Roman Generals... Jesus chooses to come riding a donkey. He tells His disciples... You go into Bethany and there you’ll find a colt tied... Bring it... And if the owner asked you what you’re doing... Just tell them... The master needs the colt.
As Jesus rides into the city from the Mount of Olives... People begin to sing... Matthew & Mark record the song...
Hosanna... Blessed is the He that comes in the Name of the Lord.
Blessed be the Kingdom of our Father David.
Hosanna in the Highest.
Not only did they sing... They took off their coats and robes... Laid them in the street for the colt to walk on. Even though Luke doesn’t record it... John tells us in his gospel that some cut Palm branches and laid them in the street.
Well... As could be expected... The Pharisees objected strenuously... STOP THEM... STOP THEM!!... they demanded of Jesus. Tell your disciples to stop this Messiah talk... Stop their singing about making you a King. Jesus said... Let them sing... If they were not singing... Then the rocks would cry out in praise.
You see... These disciples were ROLLING OUT THE RED CARPET for Jesus.
They were making Him welcome in their world. I want you to notice that I said... THEIR WORLD... Not the world... But THEIR WORLD.
Set this thought aside and let it soak as we work our way through the lesson tonight.
What must we do to make Jesus welcome in our world?
Let’s go back through the narrative and see what we can learn about making Jesus welcome.
First... We must be OBEDIENT to Him.
Jesus tells His disciples... You go into the Village... There you’ll find a colt... Bring him to Me.
Folk... There is no way we can welcome Jesus into our lives tonight without obedience.
Jesus said... If you love Me you will obey me... If you love Me you will keep My commandments.
Do we love Jesus?... Does your preacher love Jesus?... Do we really want Him in our world?...
Then we must become obedient to Him. We must obey Him initially in becoming a child of God... And we must obey Him daily in Kingdom living.
Now... We can’t say we love Jesus unless and until we are willing to submit to His will.
Folk... We must know tonight that accepting Jesus... Making Jesus welcome in our world begins with obedience... Responding to His commands... Accepting Him as our Savior and Lord.
Listen to Acts 2.41 closely... Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
The King James reads... Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.
Did you hear it... Peter said... A part of accepting Jesus... A part of accepting the message of Jesus as the Son of God... As the Messiah... Included repentance and baptism.
Accepting Jesus included obedience... It did then... and it still does for us tonight. If you are here and not a baptized... repentant believer... You have not accepted... received Jesus... and He is not a part of your world.
Now church... Faith... Repentance... and Baptism for the remission of sins is not the end of OBEDIENCE... There is more... Much... Much more. We must submit to Jesus daily... He must become the LORD & KING of our lives. Kingdom living demands daily obedience.
Paul says in Romans chapter twelve that we must become living sacrifices. He goes on to tell us that we do this... Become living sacrifices... By using our God given gifts and talents in His Kingdom.
Listen to verses six through eight of Romans twelve... We all have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is exhortation, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if your gift is in leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, then let him do it cheerfully.
You see... Obedience does not stop at baptism... Obedience is a life-long walk.
Paul says... OBEDIENCE is fighting the fight... Running the race... Finishing the course... Keeping the faith.
Question!!... Are we truly making Jesus welcome in our world?
Two things I want us to understand here about obedience
First... Obedience does not have to know WHY!!
Jesus said... Go get the colt... They did!!
The owner said... Why are you taking our colt... Jesus needs it... OK!!
Abraham had this kind of non-questing faith.
Abraham leave the farm... leave the family... leave your world... and come follow Me.
Have you ever wondered why he didn’t ask WHY?...
He didn’t ask where are we going?... How long will this take?... Abraham just obeyed.
Peter had this same kind of faith response at the Sea or Galilee in Luke chapter five. Remember, they had been fishing all night without catching a thing... And Jesus came walking along the beach saying... Put out into the deeper water and let down your net for a catch.
Now we almost know what Peter was thinking... Don’t we?
-You may be a good carpenter...
-A great teacher...
-Rabbi... and miracle worker...
-But you’re no fisherman.
Then in verse 5... BUT... The K.J. Says... NEVER-THE-LESS... Because you say it, because you ask, command it, we will do it.
We must know tonight that this kind of faith and obedience made Peter a great disciple and so will it us... And so will it us. Are we willing to live by this never-the-less type of faith and loyalty to Jesus?
It is interesting to note that history tells us that Hitler banished all professing Christians from his government... Do you know why?...
Because he said... Their faith and loyalty to... their obedience to the state was endangered by their loyalty and obedience to Christ. You see... Hitler knew quite well that making Jesus welcome in our world meant absolute obedience... A NEVER-THE-LESS kind of living.
Secondly... Obedience includes cheerful giving... These owners gave willingly.
This colt had worth to them... But they never counted the worth if Jesus needed it. They didn’t know if they were going to get their colt back or not. They just seemed happy to give what was needed by Jesus.
As I read this I found myself wondering... What precious things have I given up to make Jesus welcome in my life?... Money?... Time?... Talent?... Position?... Friends?... Weekends?
I recently agreed to be a Chaplain in the Heart Unit at Washington Regional. Several have asked... Why would you do that?... Why would you take on another task?
-Where will I get the time?... I don’t know.
-Where will I get the energy... I don’t have a clue.
But when the hospital came asking... I saw the request as another way I could serve the Jesus in others... That I could make Him welcome in my world and bring Him into the world of others I might not ever meet in any other way.
I asked myself... Has God someone He wants me to touch... And help?... Is He providentially providing a way for this to happen?
Folk... When God providentially calls us through invitations to serve others... Let us be like Abraham and Peter... I don’t know how... But never-the-less because you ask... I will do it
Can I challenge you tonight?
Give your life to Jesus... TOTALLY!!... Turn it over to Him... TOTALLY!!
Go wherever He calls... Do whatever He asks... And live the adventure!! Everyday!!
You see... These disciples were rolling out the red carpet for Jesus through their obedience... They just did it... Will We?
Secondly... We must see Jesus in the proper light.
We must see Jesus as He really is... God in the flesh. Not everybody saw Jesus in the proper light that day. The Jews missed Jesus as their Messiah... Deliverer and Savior... Because they expected Him to come riding a white stallion as did the conquering... victorious generals.
They expected the Messiah to deliver them from political bondage... But Jesus came to deliver them and us from sin’s bondage.
Church... Some of us fail to truly make Jesus welcome because we fail to see Him in some very common things.
I want to challenge each of us tonight... yo see Jesus in two ways...
In NATURE... And in ONE ANOTHER.
A Rabbi was once asked... Why did God speak to Moses from a thorn bush in the desert? Why didn’t he speak through a peal of thunder... A flash of lighting... etc.
The Rabbi said... To teach us that there is no place on earth where God’s glory and presence are not...
-God spoke to Moses from a burning bush in the Sinai.
-God spoke to Jonah from the belly of a fish.
-God spoke to Balam from his donkey.
-In our text God comes riding on a colt.
-Elizabeth Browning once wrote.... Earth is crammed with heaven. And every common bush a fire with God. But only those who see HIM... Take off their shoes.
-Walt Whitman wrote about leaves in the fall... I find them letters from God... Dropped in the streets. And each one of them is signed by Him.
-David wrote in our inspired scriptures... The heavens declare the glory of God... And the earth show His handiwork.
Church...
-Why do we not take the time to see Jesus in nature?
-Why are we too busy to smell the roses?...
-Why do we stay too busy to enjoy His creation?...
A creation made just for us?
God is in nature... Do we see Him?
Are we making Jesus welcome by seeing Him in the ordinary? When was the last time we took off our shoes and stood in awe and thanksgiving at what God has done for us in nature?
You talk about proper stewardship of our environment... We’ll start taking care of our world when we see God in it... RIGHT?
I challenge you again to see Jesus in another light... On the face of a brother.
John tells us... If we will welcome Jesus into our world... We must love one another.
Listen to some selected verses from First John... And this is His command... To believe in the name of His Son Jesus... And to love one another. This is how we know who the children of the devil are.... Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God... Neither is anyone who does not love His brother. If anyone says he loves God and hates his brother is not telling the truth... He is lying. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.
You see church... We cannot welcome Jesus into our world... With hate and hard feelings harbored in our hearts.
Jesus said... As often as you do it to the least of these... You’ve done it unto Me... As your treat others... You treat Me
A few weeks ago I spent over an hour or so with a man who was dying of lung cancer. He said... This dying is hard... It is as... or more difficult as coming into this world. He said... You know preacher... I can’t even pray any more.
I thought to myself... A man dying needs to pray... So we tried to find out what was inhibiting his prayers. Well... After some time in conversation... I found out that it was hate in his heart.
Hate... Unresolved... Unforgiven... Anger toward another individual.
Before I left... We prayed about forgiveness... We were both on our knees asking God’s divine mercy... forgiveness and pardon.
Folk... Jesus will not... Cannot... Live in a heart harboring Anger... Jealousy... and Hate.
Making Jesus welcome is clearing our hearts of all such feelings... And loving others.
In 1970 John Fischer wrote these words that say it so well.... Seeing Jesus in nature... Seeing Jesus on the face of our brother... Listen...
Have you ever stood at the ocean
With the white foam at your feet;
Felt the endless thundering motion,
Then I say you’ve seen Jesus my Lord.
Have you ever stood at the sunset...
With the sky mellowing red;
Seen the clouds suspended like feathers,
Then I say you’ve seen Jesus my Lord.
Have you ever stood at the cross...
With the man hanging in pain;
Seen the look of love in His eves,
Then I say you’ve seen Jesus my Lord.
Have you ever stood in the family...
With the Lord there in your midst
Seen the face of Christ in your brother,
Then I say you’ve seen Jesus my Lord.
Have you seen Jesus my Lord,
He’s here in plain view.
Take a look, open your eyes,
He’ll show it to you.
I challenge you tonight... To make Jesus welcome... By taking time and making the effort to see Jesus in Nature’s sweet song... And to see Him in others.
Thirdly... We make Jesus welcome by telling others about Him.
Those who rolled out the red carpet for Jesus were found singing His praises...
Hosanna... Blessed is He who comes in the name of God.
Hosanna... Blessed is the Kingdom of our Father David.
Hosanna in the highest.
But then on the other hand... There were the Pharisees... They said... Jesus, keep your disciples quite... PLEASE!!
Notice now... How Jesus answered these Pharisees... IF...IF I kept them quiet the rocks would cry out.
There are some in this church who are making Jesus welcome in our world...
-By singing His praises...
-By witnessing for Jesus in their everyday walk...
-By telling other about Him verbally.
While others of us are being outdone by the rocks!!
Question tonight... Do we have the spirit of a Pharisee... Or the spirit of a disciple?
Are we singing His praises... Telling others what we know about Jesus... Or are we saying Hush... Hush... Quiet??
Are we singing His praises... Or are we embarrassed by Jesus?
Sobering... Sobering questions... RIGHT?
Stephen Curtis Chapman wrote a song entitled... I will not go quietly.
Listen as I read the second verse....
These things I tell about - They are truer than the heart of he who speaks.
Even so this humble servant cannot help but talk about his King.
So... I will sing - Because I can’t hold back this song.
I shout and scream until God takes me home
Because I will not... No I will not go quietly.
I cannot keep silent.
And how can I not speak to tell about the Savior Who has set this prisoner free.
No I will not... No I will not... Go quietly.
Church... We must not go quietly either.
QUESTION... How much longer will we be outdone by the rocks?
Let me tell you a story and the lesson is yours...
William Sangster was a missionary to the British Isles after WW II. He was overtaken by a disease that slowly paralyzed his body... Finally taking away his ability to speak. He died on an Easter Sunday... Before he died he wrote...
How terrible it is to wake up this Easter morning and have no voice to shout... But far worse to have a voice and not want to shout.
Isn’t it time for each of us to roll out the red carpet for Jesus?
Isn’t it time to make Him welcome in our world by telling others about Him?
You see church... We are the only Bible some will ever read.
I challenge you tonight to welcome Jesus by telling others about Him.
Well... We must close.
The invitation is to make Jesus welcome in OUR world.
Did you catch it... OUR world?
Church the only world we are responsible for is OUR WORLD!!
Is Jesus welcome...
-In our marriages...
-In our homes...
-In our families...
-In our jobs...
-In our entertainment choices...
-In our quiet time...
-In our finances...
-Among our friends...
-In our religion...
He is... If we will...
-Obey Him...
-See him in all that is about us...
-And... If we will sing his praises to others.
If you are here tonight and need to make Jesus welcome by accepting Him in faith... Repentance... and New Testament baptism... We invite you to come.
If you need to make Jesus welcome by making some needed changes in your life... This invitation is for you also.
Come... Make Jesus welcome... As we stand and sing this invitation song together.
Will you come!!
