For quite some time, Jesus had been talking to his disciples about going to Jerusalem. Now they were about to arrive!
They were already close enough to see its walls, with the still-under-construction temple rising toward the sky, gleaming like alabaster; all this, even though a low hill called the Mount of Olives was partially obscuring their view.
They knew that something big was going to happen. Jesus had been talking about Jerusalem almost from the time he first began his ministry… The disciples knew that something big was going to happen; they weren’t sure exactly what, although each of them did have their own ideas about what was going to take place.
So, with their eyes wide open, they stuck close to Jesus’s side, not wanting to miss a thing.
At the base of the Mount of Olives, at Bethphage and Bethany, Jesus sent two of his disciples to find a colt. I imagine that this led to some dismay among those chosen. It has been my experience that something exciting is about to happen, people don’t want to be sent off to do some trivial task.
One’s first instinct is to protest. “A colt? What do you need a colt for? We’ve walked all this way, and now you want a colt?” Besides, if Jesus is the leader of the new kingdom, shouldn’t something more impressive be used? A golden chariot, perhaps?
And why wasn’t this thought of ahead of time?
But of course, protests like these never work. So, on to plan B: Try to get someone else to do this thankless task.
“Who can we get to go fetch the colt? Not Peter, James, or John; they’re Jesus’s favorites. And not Andrew, because he’s Peter’s brother…. I know, let’s send Thaddeus. Yeah, Thaddeus! What kind of a name is Thaddeus, anyway? People won’t even remember that he was one of the twelve. Yeah, what a loser…
“Oh, Thaaadeeeuuus!”
No one wants to do the trivial, thankless tasks, and being someone’s gopher is about as thankless as it gets. It’s menial and depressing. No one signed up to be a disciple because they wanted to fetch the master’s colt, the master’s donkey, or – as the older translations put it, the master’s– well, you get the idea.
But then again, maybe the problem here isn’t the task to which they’ve been assigned. Maybe the problem is the attitude they’ve brought to the task.
In a book that I’ve been reading – Diana Butler Bass’ Christianity After Religion – the author tells the story of the time she was asked to join her church’s altar guild.
The author asked why she should join the altar guild, and the answer she received was:
“Because I’ve been doing this for 35 years, and I’m really tired. It’s time for someone else to do it!”
Diana Butler Bass turned down the offer. But she wonders what would have happened if she received a different answer to her “why” question. What if the answer had been this:
You know, I’ve been serving on the altar guild for 35 years. Every Sunday I wake before dawn and come down here to the church. It is so quiet.
I come into the building and unlock the sacristy. I open the drawers and take out the altar cloths and laces, so beautifully embroidered with all the colors of the seasons. I unfold them, iron them, and drape them on the altar. Then I go to the closet and take out the silver, making sure it is cleaned and polished. I pour water and wine.
While I set the table for the Lord’s Supper, I’ve often wondered what it would have been like to set the table for Jesus and his friends. I’ve meditated on what it must have been like to be there with him. I’ve considered what it will be like when we eat with him in heaven. And I’ve learned a thing or two about service and beauty and community … I’d like to share that with you.
Diana Butler Bass writes that if that was the answer she got, she would have said, “sign me up.”
In 17th century France, there lived a man who became known as Brother Lawrence. When he joined a Carmelite monastery, he was assigned to the tedious chores of cooking and cleaning in the kitchen. Not exactly one of the more glamorous jobs of the monastery. In fact, serving on the altar guild, preparing the sanctuary for worship, sounds more exciting than cooking and cleaning.
Over the years, however, his work in the kitchen became for him anything but tedious. He found great joy in his work, great meaning and purpose. He realized that it wasn’t the importance of one’s task, but the attitude and the motivation one brought to the task.
“It is not needful that we should have great things to do,” he wrote. “We can do little things for God; I turn the cake that is frying on the pan for love of [God], and that done, if there is nothing else to call me, I prostrate myself in worship before [God], who has given me grace to work; afterwards I rise happier than a king. It is enough for me to pick up but a straw from the ground for the love of God.”
Another story from long ago, during the time when the great cathedrals of Europe were under construction. Just like the temple in Jerusalem, it took many decades for these magnificent buildings to be completed. Many who worked on the cathedrals would not live to see them completed. What they were building was for future generations; what they were building was for God, who transcends the generations.
At one site, workers, artists, and sculptors worked high on the building, chiseling away at the statues and ornamentations that perched upon the roof and the flying buttresses. As they worked, rubble and dust fell to the ground below.
Two people worked to sweep up this rubble. One, when asked what he was doing, replied, “What does it look like I’m doing? I’m sweeping up the rubble and the dust!”
The other, when asked what he was doing, said: “I’m helping to build this magnificent cathedral for the glory of God!”
Same task; different attitudes.
I don’t really know the attitude of the disciples who were sent to fetch the colt. Scripture doesn’t say.
I do know, however, that the disciples were learners. That’s what the word disciple means. They followed Jesus so that they could learn from him.
Jesus did not require his followers to agree to certain opinions about him, or to affirm certain doctrine. They didn’t have to sign a statement of faith before joining up. Articulating their beliefs would come later. For now, they were learning how to act, how to behave, how to live.
A big part of learning how to live the way Jesus taught involved attitude. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus said: “You have heard it said: ‘You shall not murder.’ But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment.”
And how often did Jesus talk about forgiveness? Quite a lot. Forgiveness is about changing one’s attitude, letting go of grudges, granting freedom to the one who receives that forgiveness, as well as freedom to you – freedom from the resentment and bitterness that makes you miserable.
Maybe there was no resentment when those two disciples were sent to fetch the colt. Maybe they felt honored and humbled to be given this opportunity to do the Lord’s work. Maybe their hearts were filled with joy in knowing that their lives were in some way useful to Christ. Maybe, by this point in the story, they had learned how to have the right attitude.
In almost anything that we do, the right attitude can make a world of difference. So many of you do so many tasks on behalf of this church. You set the table for communion. You count the offering. You rehearse for choir, handbells, or praise band. You host fellowship time. You pick up trash. You attend meetings. You pray. You give hugs.
Last week, after worship, I saw something that made my heart sing for joy. One of our youth was playing around with some of the pretzels that were out after worship – and making a mess of them on the floor. (That’s what youth do.) One of our older members came up to this young person, to chew him out – or so I thought. But instead, she looked at him, and saw the guilt already in his eyes. So she simply leaned over and gave him a hug.
Now that’s having the right attitude. And I know that, in that moment, God was glorified.
What attitude do you bring to your daily tasks? Using Brother Lawrence as an example, can you glorify God in the performing of your daily chores? Can you find joy in doing the laundry, paying the bills, or even filing your taxes?
Can you recognize the glory it brings to God when you do your homework or practice your instrument? Or when you help a child do homework or practice an instrument?
After Jesus entered Jerusalem, it became increasingly clear that things were not going to end well. Indeed, a week later, he was crucified for crimes committed against the Roman Empire, the ultimate disgrace reserved for the worst of criminals.
But his attitude on the cross – and the attitude of his followers in the days and weeks that followed – made all the difference.
And God was glorified.
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