The Lord Has Need of It

     Luke 19: 28-34

 

 

          I remember a couple years ago, we discovered a plumbing leak right after the church service. It was a lucky find. Someone went to look for something in the storage room and the ceiling was leaking. There was also some wet ground where it was thought that an underground valve existed. Sure enough, a little exploratory digging unearthed a broken valve. Now, it was Sunday after church. No stores close by were open. Not a problem for this church! The men who gathered around the valve just laughed. One of them had a key to the hardware store! This was not an accident. He had a key for situations such as this. They went over, found a replacement valve and left a note on the counter. The owner would bill us when he saw the note.

          Those of you who have lived here all your lives won’t find that story very interesting. You are used to that sort of thing. Those of you who work or live in bigger communities will recognize it for how special it is to be trusted that way, to be given the keys to a retail hardware store even though you neither work there nor have someone in your family who does. The only connection is trust. More about that later.

          Today is Palm Sunday. Children have started us out this morning by spreading palm branches from the front of the building all the way to the Communion table. We remember and celebrate what the gospels call the triumphal entry. Jesus comes in to Jerusalem amid much fanfare and jubilation. It is the week of the Passover feast and this man, this miracle worker, this doer of mighty acts and deeds has come to town.    

          He has been there many times before. Luke’s gospel tells us that Jesus came to Jerusalem as a baby to be dedicated in the Temple (2:25), came again when he was twelve years old and stayed behind to talk with the elders (2: 41-52) and further, with his parents every year for Passover (2: 41). Chances are he has been more than just once a year. But always before, he had come to celebrate Passover. This particular year, Jesus came to change the course of history. He came, not as the son of Joseph and Mary, but as the Son of God.

          It’s a very familiar story. Jesus comes to town riding on a previously unridden donkey amidst both the cheering of the crowd who hope he will unseat the Roman government and the jeering of the Pharisees who are afraid that this could be seen as an act of treason and affect their status.

          Look at the procurement story. Jesus needs a donkey, a special kind of donkey. He needs it to fulfill the scriptures of Zechariah and Isaiah prophesying the coming of the Messiah in such a way. While the triumphal entry is recorded in all four gospels, I am using the passage in Luke’s gospel in this message.

          In this little procurement story, we find a message within the message. As the passage begins, Jesus is outside Jerusalem and Luke tells us that “he went on ahead.” Is this where Jesus made some advance arrangements regarding the donkey? It’s certainly possible, though Luke and the other gospel writers are silent on this point. We can speculate that when Jesus went ahead, he went in to a village, found the donkey he wanted, made a deal with its owner and said nothing to his followers. We will never know the real facts.

          Luke goes on to tell us that when Jesus was close to Bethpage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, a couple miles outside Jerusalem, he sent two of the disciples to a nearby village. Theologians speculate that since the disciples are not named, most probably Jesus sent two of his many disciples, as opposed to two of the twelve disciples. He tells them that they will find a colt tied, to untie it and bring it back to him. Further, Jesus warns them that someone may ask why they are untying the animal, as in a small village, its ownership will be commonly known. In response to such a question, they are to say: “The Lord has need of it.”

          The two disciples do as they are requested. They go to the village, find a colt just as Jesus had said, untie the colt and are questioned. They utter the exact same words to those who question. “The Lord has need of it.” The Greek words translated “the Lord” are ︡︠ο  κύριος, which can mean either “the Lord” or “Master.” So the meaning is ambiguous. Is it the real owner who wants it, or is it “the Lord” who wants it?  While the people asking the question might have taken it one way, when you think about it, there is no difference. The Lord is the real owner, isn’t he?

          Think about what these disciples are being asked to do. They are to go into a village as strangers, find the donkey, untie it and lead it away. It would be roughly equivalent to someone who is a total stranger coming into town, seeing Ernie Catoe’s pickup, his pride and joy, with the keys in it, and getting into his truck to drive it away. When someone local asks what his is doing, he can just say: The Lord has need of it. How do you think that would go over? No ID. No security deposit or contract. Just the statement: The Lord has need of it. That’s pretty much what Jesus asked these two disciples to do. And they did it. No questions asked. That’s the first lesson of this message, that when we are called to do something by the Master, we need to act.

                    In this story, God has need of an animal. Sometimes, God may need a tractor. Other times, he may need a man or a woman or a child or a teenager. In each case, we should be flattered. It is God’s love for us that causes him to continue to involve us in his actions. God can do all things without any help from donkeys or tractors or people. But God doesn’t work that way. He wants us to be involved with him. That’s the second lesson of this message. We don’t have to have some special skill or gift for God to use us. If God has need of us, he will provide us with whatever it is that we need to do the work. That little donkey had no clue of what was needed from him, but look at how famous he became because he allowed himself to be used by Jesus. If Jesus needs a donkey, how much more might he need us?

          In many ways, this story parallels the call of others throughout scripture, from Abraham, who was called upon to leave his home to start out to an unannounced place, to Moses, who was called into service as a senior citizen, to the people of the Exodus, who were called upon to trust God with their lives in the desert, to Peter, who stepped out of a boat into a stormy sea because Jesus beckoned him to come. The Bible is full of such examples of men and women who stepped up for God because he had need of them.

          And that is the third lesson. You can’t help God; he can’t use you, unless you trust him. God tells us over and over that he has need of us, but unless we trust him, unless we are willing to do something that might seem trivial or meaningless, we will not be of use to him.

          Does God have need of you? Of course he does. Are you willing to act? Are you willing to do whatever is asked? Are you willing to trust God? If you can answer those questions affirmatively, then The Lord has need of you. There are no age or health questions.  Don’t worry about your qualifications. They aren’t good enough. You have to trust God to fill out your resume. Just show up and do what you do in his name, for his sake. The Lord has need of you.