Advent
Our Gospel reading for today is a familiar lesson that you often hear on Palm Sunday. But perhaps surprisingly, we find it as our lesson for the first Sunday in Advent, the day when we are having our stewardship Sunday.
Jesus Has told His disciples what lies ahead and they know He is going up to Jerusalem to die. Jesus has made it plain to all who would listen that He is the Messiah. The prophet Zechariah foretold this event as a way to identify the coming Messiah. The Man of God does not come into Jerusalem however, as a conquering ruler; He comes humbly as a King of Peace. An earthly warrior would ride a horse; the heavenly prince of peace will ride on the foal of a donkey.
So Jesus enters into the small towns of Bethany and Bethpage to procure a humble donkey. Jesus does not choose a full-grown donkey however, but He chooses to ride on her colt. Bethany was the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus and the town was bustling with the news that Lazarus had died and brought back from the dead by Jesus. Perhaps the owners of the donkey and its colt were there when Jesus called Lazarus from the tomb.
Whether they were there or not is not really important. What is important is that they had heard of Jesus and they believed He was the Lord, the Messiah who would save them. Since they believed that He was the Lord, they would gladly give Him anything He required. For the owners of the Donkeys, loaning them to Jesus was an act of worship and love. Otherwise, why would someone give someone from out of town their means of transportation?
Think about that for a moment. If you saw someone trying to start your car up to drive it away and they told you the Lord has need of it, would you let them take it with no further questions?
Obviously the owners of the donkey had faith in the Lord. Donkeys were valuable in the time of Christ. But the Lord had need of it, so when Jesus asked, they gave what He needed.
The Lord does not always ask for such expensive or large things. Remember the widow who gave two mites and the young boy who gave his lunch of five small loaves of bread and two small fish. Still they all showed their appreciation for their Lord by what they gave. God will not ask us to give what we don’t have. We may not feel we have anything significant to give, but God takes simple things and uses them to accomplish great things.
Those who truly believe in God know that He is the giver of all good things. Everything we have has been given to us as a gift from the Lord. Everything we have; our time, our talents, our wealth and possessions have been entrusted to us so that we might use them for Him.
The most valuable thing that Jesus has given us is something that many do not even consider to have any worth at all. The owners of the colt believed that Jesus was the one who would untie them from the bondage of sin. They saw Jesus as the One would lead them into the heavenly Jerusalem. They may not have completely understood that He would die upon a cross to pay for their sins at that point, but from the miracles that they saw and from the words that He had spoken, they believed Him to be the One; the Lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world.
The owners considered their salvation to be very valuable. So they gladly gave Jesus their animals to carry Him into the Holy City. That is what stewardship is all about--gladly giving whatever will help to carry the Lord’s work to its completion.
So you see that stewardship is not just about giving money, it is about managing what He has given as well so that our whole lives become useful to the Lord. But we all can be as stubborn as a donkey. That stubbornness comes because we are still tied up. We are tied to sin by our selfishness and we are tied to the world by its greed.
Just as a young colt does not want to leave its mom’s side, we do not want to let go of the sinful things we enjoy. And just as a mare does not want her colt to stray too far away, the world wants all of our time and resources.
However, you and I each have something special, which, if given back to God, could move Jesus and His work further down the road. Maybe you can serve on a board or committee. Perhaps you can greet, usher, sing or help a young mother with her children during worship. Perhaps you can visit someone who is ill or lonely or… well the list goes on and you know better than anyone what you can do. Whatever it is, the Lord has need of it. And He has sent His Holy Spirit on you to believe in His work and to be made Holy. Through faith in Christ, you are untied from sin and the world, and set apart for God’s use.
Listen to what Saint Paul tells you in his letter to the Ephesians, (2:1-11) “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.”
“And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
We belong to God and He has created us for His use. God has given us many things as a gift: talents, time, children, money, jobs even our health.
They are ours to use but He can ask for them back at any time because He is the true owner . . . we are but trustees, stewards of all that the Lord has given us. The True Believer, like the boy with a few loaves and fish, knows that the value of what we have is multiplied when it is placed in the Lord’s hands.
Yes the owners gave their donkeys even though they were a costly gift. But look
at how much more valuable it became when given to Jesus to use. Whatever you
have is never more valuable nor of greater worth than when you place it in the
miraculous hands of Jesus. Those who have faith in Christ have placed their very
souls in the nail-scarred hands of Jesus. They trust Him as Lord and as Savior.
They consider nothing they have on earth as valuable as their souls. What He
commands they will do. Where He sends, they will go. What He asks for, they will
give. And Jesus gives them eternal life, the most valuable gift of all. In
Jesus Name, Amen.