Barbara Moyer Lehman: Humble Courage

April 5, 2009
Palm Sunday
Philippians 2:5-11; Psalm 118:1-2,19-29; Mark 11:1-11; Isaiah 50:4-9a

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The Road Not Taken
by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I–
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

A well known poem by a much beloved American poet of the 20th century, Robert Frost, is a simple story yet it has significant meaning. The poet came to a fork in the road. A decision needed to be made. Which way to go? What path to follow? Both choices looked pretty good. He gazes at length down one path, then takes the other because it was grassy and wanted wear. He knew he could always return another day and try the first path, but most likely wouldn’t.

The path he chose was the one less traveled and it made all the difference!

Following Jesus isn’t always a popular choice or easy path to follow. The road he leads us on may be full of potholes, rough gravel and uneven places. The sharp curves haven’t been removed. Surprises may be lurking around the next bend. It’s far easier and usually safer to choose the 4 lane interstate, the super highway, where the sharpest curves are eliminated, surfaces are usually kept smooth, the steepest mountains are reduced. All you need to do is put on your cruise control, sit back in your air conditioned car and follow the crowds. Many enter the lanes of traffic, one lane....two lanes...three lanes! Wide is the gate, broad is the road, many find their way to this super highway. Where does it lead? Matthew’s gospel tells us in chapter 7 that it leads to destruction. “But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Matt. 7:13-14

It’s the road less traveled, but it is the only one that leads to life!

The road Jesus traveled into Jerusalem is not wide, is not straight, is not flat. It probably was not smooth. Ten years ago when I walked part of that road, I remembered thinking, this is not what I expected. It impacted my understanding of what Palm Sunday might have been like and transformed my mental picture.

The gospel account of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem from Mark 11 has its own flavor. Mark puts his own ‘spin’ or interpretation on the event. We can learn something from each of the gospel accounts. When we read Mark, the description is low-key, ‘muted’. Information is sparse. Most of the 11 verses in today’s lectionary reading have to do with Jesus’ words to two of his disciples, with direct instructions about how to secure an animal for him to ride on. When that was accomplished and Jesus made his way down the narrow winding road, across the Kidron Valley and toward the city of Jerusalem, there were people along the way. It was Passover. There were lots of people in the city at that time. Some spread their cloaks along the way, as he rode by. Others spread leafy branches, not palms, as indicated in John’s account, but branches cut from nearby fields. And people shouted their Hosanna’s. It was what they did every year. It was part of their celebration....words chanted from Psalm 118.....”Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming Kingdom of our ancestor David!” Mark’s account alludes to the messianic identity of Jesus, but it isn’t clear whether the people along the way actually knew and understood that this very man riding by them was indeed King Jesus! Did they have any idea that the coming of the Kingdom that they were shouting about would be connected with the horrible and unjust death on a cross of this man that was riding by? Probably not.

When we read the other gospel accounts, it is pretty clear that the people had come to meet him, to see him, to praise him for the miracles they had seen him do. The crowds gathered around him and along the way as he made his way to the city of Jerusalem.

In Mark, Jesus makes his way to the city in silence. He has no interaction with the crowd, as far as we can tell. He gives no response to the words they chant. He rides on a lowly colt, as one of many pilgrims, yet as much more than a pilgrim! Did the people even stay with him? By the time he enters the city and arrives at the temple, it is late. He glances around at everything and leaves. It feels like a ‘non-event’, anti-climatic. Nothing that would draw much media attention, if it were to take place today.

Many of our Bibles begin this section with the heading of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, but Mark’s interpretation of this event makes it feel less “triumphal” and more like the beginning of a funeral procession! Some of the newer translations of the Bible have renamed this section, “Jesus comes to Jerusalem as King” and taken out ‘triumphal entry’. It is not a phrase used in any of the accounts.

Yet as low key and muted as Mark’s version appears, there is something that is conveyed to the readers at a deeper level. In his ride on a lowly animal, on a beast of burden, not a beast of war, he models something different about leadership and kingship. Jesus will be enthroned as King, but how he leads and rules will look different from anything that they have ever seen. Jesus’ idea of kingship wasn’t one of conquest, coercion and showing strength through military power. Jesus modeled humility, gentleness, sacrificial love, self-emptying, serving others, being obedient.

Jesus came to be their salvation. He will save them, as they cried out “Hosanna” (which means save us),but it will require the sacrifice of his very life. His Kingdom will come in power, but not as they anticipate or expect it to come. His ride in silence is a powerful statement. It portrays one with humble courage. It models a new and different paradigm of leadership. It requires humility and courage.

Jesus’ ride into Jerusalem that day did not lead to the palace. He made a brief visit to the temple, only to return another day. But eventually the road he chose led to a terrible place outside the city walls where he would lay down his life for his friends. “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15-13)

Jesus chose to take the road less traveled, the road of sacrifice rather than the road of conquest and domination, the road of love for us rather than security for himself.

We began our service with Hosanna’s, but that is not where we end. Maybe we should have ‘toned down’ our opening this year, because according to Mark’s account, Jesus’ journey into Jerusalem is more about the beginning of the end, more about his entry into the suffering and death, rather than a time of celebration and triumph.

In our world and in our time, few leaders model ‘humble courage’. We can reflect on political leaders, successful athletes, gifted musicians and artists, educators, church leaders, professionals in about every field of service, and we know that what we see is often a skewed version of what Jesus models. Our culture and society pressures us to see and emulate leadership that is a far cry from what God calls us to do and be.

In Paul’s letter to the Philippians, chapter 2, we read that the one who emptied himself, who humbled himself, who obeyed to the point of death..even the most horrendous, horrible kind of death..death on a cross, was the one who was exalted!!! We might say that Jesus of Nazareth helps us redefine, transform our understanding of ‘triumph’. It really is about quiet strength, humble courage, losing oneself, the last will be first, choosing the narrow gate, and taking the road less traveled.

What roads are you traveling?
What paths are you choosing?
Who are your models?
What are you modeling, as you lead?

Daniel Clendenin writes:

Identifying with Jesus and patterning our lives after him results in endless subversions-----divestment of wealth rather than accumulation, renunciation rather than gratification, self-sacrifice rather than self-satisfaction, humility rather than exaltation, and peace for all rather than security for a few.”

As we choose a road less traveled, may God give us the courage to live humbly and gently upon this earth, to serve others, and to be obedient...even unto death. For as Paul reminds us:

Let the same mind be in you
that was in Christ Jesus,
who, though he was in the form of God
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death–
even death on a cross.

Therefore God also highly exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father. (Phil.2:5-11)

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