Read John
12:12-19
If you have
been reading the first
chapter of John but not following my messages and updates this week, you
might be wondering, “How did he get to chapter 12?”
It’s Palm
Sunday, and next week you will get a message of Resurrection. Those were always headed your way, but this
year both will come from John’s gospel.
I just don’t
want some of you to think you missed
the boat in this alternate format.
As you might
have surmised, things
have been a little different lately.
I finally picked up my car from Altus.
Yes, this is the car that I hit a building with. It’s all fixed now.
While I was
in Altus, I went to pick up my medicine at the base pharmacy. I have crossed international borders and
entered secure classified facilities with less screening. One airman took my temperature with a
phaser. It must have been set to mild
stun because they let me pass.
They didn’t
require me to wear a mask. I had one in
my coat pocket just in case. I was going
to go to the commissary while I waited for the pharmacy to fill my scripts, but
it was closed to all but active duty personnel and those who lived on base or
worked on base.
So, it was
off to the Altus Walmart. At least I
would save a trip to Elk City sometime later.
Altus was more fun that the Walmart I’m used to. The parking lot was full. You could enter only
on the market side. Shopping carts had
been laid on their sides and connected with crime scene tape to make a channeled
and theoretically controlled entrance.
Next week
they might go Disney on us and put up signs that say, 1 hour from this point.
There were
still a bazillion people there, about a third of them masked. If anyone ever wanted to rob a train or a
bank, now would be the time. A couple
people were walking around with face shields.
The Walmart music was from the Dark Side of the Moon album.
Some of you
know that I like both Star Trek and Star Wars.
I didn’t feel obliged to have to choose between the two. You also might know, that I don’t collect any
paraphernalia from either, but I would have loved to have owned a Darth Vader
mask to wear in Walmart that day.
And there
were plenty of new employees, most of them guarding the entrance with Lysol and
hand sanitizer.
As I
entered, I reached to grab a shopping cart, and the Walmart employee at the
other end of about 45 carts yells, “Those haven’t been sanitized.” I can see the two jugs of Round Up set aside
to spray the carts and, on a shelf, up above them, a can of Lysol and some
wipes.
I sprayed
and wiped and said, I’m doing the self-service check-in. I don’t like the self-service check out, but
save 10 minutes checking in, that’s another matter. I think the guy was in shock, but he felt
obliged to warn me that you’re shopping at your own risk.
I was not up
for the conversation that would have begun with, “I’ve lived most of my life at
my own risk.” You should be proud of me though;
I still had the can of Lysol in my hand but did not do the underarm deodorant thing. It crossed my mind, but there were enough
stressed out people already.
Of course,
nothing in the Altus Walmart is in the same place as the Elk City Walmart, so
it was Game on! I think I hit 95%
of the items on my list. That’s not bad
considering sometimes you don’t know if you are looking in the wrong place or
if it used to be on that 20 yards of empty shelves.
The two
paper towel limit is strictly enforced. Be
warned.
So I get my
cart full of stuff and head to the checkout.
It’s a full cart. Realize that when
we go to Altus to shop at the commissary, we make a list for a month, so I had
a full cart.
Also realize
that Walmart must have had 50 extra employees working all over the store,
except the checkout registers. There are
three registers open. All of the self-service
ones are open and there’s a unsocially-distanced mob over there, but there are
only three regular registers open and lines at each one.
I had one of
those obscure thoughts that one way to spread out the people would be to open
more registers. Just when I thought I
was going from satire to cynicism as I viewed the Shakespearean tragedy play
out as a comedy all around me, an associate came up to me and said, would you
like to go to register 4. We will open
it as soon as we wipe down the belt.
What a
blessing. Let the surreal come to an
end!
The kid at
the register came and wiped the belt and then said, that’s all I can do, I have
come out too long. I guess there was
some sort of invisible shield around the register. So, I put my groceries on the wet, but clean
belt that would move them to the cashier.
After the belt had moved a couple feet the part of the belt that had
been underneath was now on top.
I don’t
think the cashier quite knew if I was serious or not when I asked if I should
wait for the clean part of the belt to come around again. I think he was wondering, why did hey send
this guy to me?
I got my
stuff and headed out to the car. It cost
much more than I expected but we had groceries in case everyone was truly
locked down, which is an impossibility if you want to continue to have electricity,
water, gas, gasoline, and even food, to include feeding hungry people who can’t
afford to go to Walmart.
But I am
thankful that Walmart and other places are open and doing their best with procedures
that we hope will reduce the effects of the contagion. I am thankful that our logistical systems are
functioning, and most shelves are replenished.
I am thankful that so many people are taking reasonable
precautions.
I love
proactive but won’t do panicked and one day we are all going to have some
stories to tell our grandkids. We can
tell them how the world we knew got turned upside down, at least for a while.
Jesus came
into a world that was upside down, wrong-side out, and pretty much living
contrary to the ways of God. Even the religious
hierarchy didn’t know which way was up.
As Jesus
went around the countryside, he amazed people with miracles, challenging
teachings, and the fact that he spoke
with authority.
Not everything
he said was easy to understand. Sometimes
he used figurative
language such as hyperbole, simile, and extended metaphors. The disciples often had to have the parables
explained. Their minds were still governed by the models
of the world in so many ways.
He used
concepts such as being born
again and even the teachers of Israel couldn’t grasp what he was
saying. When your world is upside-down,
the one living right-side-up seems to be out of place, out of sync, out of touch.
But for a
moment, surely less than an hour, the world or at least a piece of it, was turned
right-side up. Jesus rode into the
Jerusalem during Passover week. He had
been anointed
while in Bethany and was coming
into the city as foretold
by the prophet, on the colt of a donkey.
Only a short
time before, he had raised
Lazarus from the dead. People were
excited. Yes, some were plotting to kill
him as well, but this hour belonged to the people who saw and tasted and knew
hope for the moment. They cried
out:
Hosanna!
Blessed
is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
Blessed
is the King of Israel.
In that
moment, the blind spoke. What? The Pharisees who were surely oblivious to
who was coming into town, were talking about how this guy was a wrench in the
works. He was messing up their normal,
but they spoke truth as well. They did
not realize it, but they did.
Look how
the whole world has gone after him.
They did not
realize what they just said which essentially was:
Look,
for this time, the world has been righted.
For now, we are right-side up. In
the moment, things are right and harmonious and full of joy.
Hosanna!
Blessed
is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
Blessed
is the King of Israel.
In that
moment, the hearts of the people
sought after the Lord. We know there
is more to the story that unfolded over the next few and very full days.
We know that
cries of Hosanna will turn to Crucify
Him. We know that blood
must be shed for the forgiveness of sin. We know there is much
that Jesus has to teach his followers in these last days before his death
and resurrection.
Looking
forward from this point, he will really turn
their world upside down when he
washes their feet. There is so much more.
But for now,
the world is right. The people seek
Jesus. The whole world has come
after him.
That’s our
commission now, to bring the whole world to come
after him. This time, it’s more than
shouting Hosanna. It’s leading people to
the salvation
and
Lordship
of Christ Jesus and cries of Hallelujah as they realize their freedom from sin
and death.
Hosanna. Hosanna in the highest.
Hallelujah.
Amen.
