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Date: 3/25/18
Theme: Palm Sunday Title: “The Center of Our World” Text: Psalm 118:1, 2, 19-29 (S727) ========================================== [Read text] The Easter season is here once again. Christmas is all about the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Easter is all about the death and resurrection of our Savior. Those are the most important events in the history of our world. Nothing else comes close. -------------------------------------------------- There is an island located in the southeastern Pacific Ocean called Easter Island. You could say it is off the beaten track. It is probably more off the beaten track than any other place on our planet. Easter Island is 2,100 miles west of Chile, South America. Two thousand one hundred miles – that’s the distance between Chicago and San Francisco. If you left Chicago on Monday morning and drove 10 hours a day at an average speed of 70 mph, it would take you 3 days to get to San Francisco. That gives you an idea of the number of miles of ocean between Chili and Easter Island. Easter Island is 63 square miles in size. It’s a tiny dot in a very large ocean. It’s often described as the most remote inhabited island in the world. ------------------------------------------------------ Paul Theroux is a traveler and writer who visited Easter Island. While he was there he was surprised when one of the Easter Islanders told him that the location of the island was Te Pito te Henua. Te Pito te Henua means the “Navel of the World” or the “Belly Button of the World”. The title “Navel of the World” may have been derived from the birth of a child to a woman who had just arrived in the first canoe to land on the island about 1500 years ago. The woman was in the colonizing party guided by Hotu-Matua, the discoverer of Easter Island. The ritual of cutting the baby’s umbilical cord may have been the first ceremony conducted on the island. The navel of the body is thought of as the “center” of the body. Apparently, Hatu-Matua named the island “The Navel of the World”. Whatever the facts, the idea of a location being the Navel of the World could mean two things:
At this location, according to the thinking of the ancient world, interaction between higher and lower realms could take place. Communication from residents of the lower realms could ascend to those in the higher realms. And blessings from higher realms could descend to those in the lower realms and from there be disseminated to all. ------------------------------------------------------ Easter Island is not the only location that claims to be the “navel of the world.” There is a rock in Greece that is considered the omphalos or the “navel of the world.” This is just the beginning of the list. China, Arizona, Peru, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Columbia, Thailand, India and Russia all have places named or nicknamed “The Navel of the World” or something similar. Northeast Ohio has a small community consisting of a couple gas stations and a highway crossing. This small community in the state of Ohio is named “Center of the World.” Apparently the name of this community has some appeal. The official highway sign that says “Center of the World” has been stolen numerous times. I can understand that. As a teenager, wouldn’t it be great to have a sign hanging up in your room that says “Center of the World.” --------------------------------------------------------- It seems like everyone wants their city or their country to be the navel of the world, the center of the world. What about Israel in the Old Testament? What was the center of their world? I. The Temple: Center of the World for Israel For ancient Israel, Jerusalem, and even more specifically, the temple on Mount Zion within Jerusalem’s walls, was the center of the world. This is where God was – in the Temple. Psalm 11:4 = The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord is on his heavenly throne. He observes the sons of men; his eyes examine them. Psalm 118:19 calls for the opening of the temple gates, the gates of righteousness: Open for me the gates of righteousness; I will enter and give thanks to the Lord. It was through these gates that people could draw close to God. Psalm 118 reinforces the idea of the temple as the “navel of the world.” The Temple was the location where people could connect with God. In Psalm 118 verse 22 = The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone. In that particular context, that was a way of saying that the people of Israel, despised by the Gentile world, had under God become not only an honorable people, but the nation that would draw other nations to God. The prophet Micah developed even further the concept of the temple as the center of the world. Micah 4:2 = Many nations will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. -------------------------------------------------------------- The New Testament writers saw something else in this rejected stone becoming the chief cornerstone. For them, it was a metaphor for Christ. II. Jesus Christ: Center of the World for New Testament Believers In the New Testament, Jesus replaced the Temple as the center of the world. In Acts chapter 4, Peter, filled with the HS, declared: “He (Jesus) is ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone.’ Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:11, 12 Though they didn’t use the term, for them, the navel of the world was not a place, but a person. ------------------------------------------------------------ On that first Palm Sunday, the crowd seemed to sense that Jesus was the connecting point between Heaven and Earth. So as we observe Palm Sunday, we are declaring that Jesus is the center of the world. We are eager to say, in the words of the psalmist in today’s text: Open for me the gates of righteousness; I will enter and give thanks to the Lord. Psalm 118:19 ----------------------------------------------------------- The challenge for us is to make Jesus the center of our personal world. As human beings, we are complex individuals made up of several facets. Human beings are emotional beings, Social beings, Physical beings, Mental beings, Spiritual beings. Also we have a free will. That means we have the freedom to make choices. We are not robots. Normally, we relate to the world around us through one or more of these facets. In this diagram (Figure 1), the circle represents our whole being with each slice of the pie referring to a single facet of ourselves. The arrows show that each facet has a separate focus and sometimes one focus will be in conflict with another focus. For example, our spiritual side may value “telling the truth” but circumstances in our relationships with others (the social facet) may make lying more convenient. So we have this conflict between the social and the spiritual. Or we may decide in our minds and in our will to control our temper, but then an irritating situation comes along and our emotional response overrides our earlier decision to control our temper and we lash out at someone. However, suppose we make a conscious decision to follow Christ. We decide to become Christians. Since decisions are made in the will, the diagram would now look like Figure 2. Here the will has a new focus, but the other aspects may still have their old focus. For example, the people we socialize with may not be the right kind of company for a new Christian. Because we are hanging out with the wrong crowd, the values of our spiritual dimension may be too low. Our mind may dwell on ungodly things. The addiction to sin may still be present. Yet, we have made a commitment to Christ and we now have a saving relationship with him. We have been saved but this is not the end of the Christian journey. III. Making Jesus the Center of Our World The goal of spiritual growth after conversion is to bring each area of our lives under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Bringing ourselves under the Lordship of Jesus Christ means placing him at the center of our lives. When Christ is the Lord of our lives, our inner spiritual strength will be stronger than the attraction of sin. The goal of Christian growth can be pictured in this way. [Figure 3] In this image, Christ is invited into the center of our lives and there he becomes the unifying focus for all our parts. Note the direction of the individual arrows now. The large arrow indicates that our relationship with everything and everyone in the world around us is now mediated through our commitment to Christ. This is where we want to be as believers. Yes, it’s true that we are not always there. We are often moving in that direction wanting Jesus to be the Lord of our lives. But there are some areas in which we may resist His Lordship. The aim is to let go of those areas that we sometimes hold on to with clenched fists. There is a saying that has been around for a long time: “If Jesus is not Lord of all, He is not Lord at all.” It sounds spiritual but I wonder if it is theologically correct. Obviously, the goal is to have Jesus be Lord of all. But I think it is possible for a Christ-follower to be surrendered in several areas and yet struggle in one particular area. I think this is a legitimate prayer: “Lord Jesus, come in and take control of every part of my being: mind, body and spirit.” ------------------------------------------- When Jesus is Lord of all, it relieves a tremendous amount of stress. It is very stressful to live your life your own way, having to depend on your own strength and your own wisdom. One reason it is stressful to live your life your own way is that you know deep down in your heart that earthly wisdom and strength have limitations. When Jesus is Lord of our lives, we have resources beyond our own. When Jesus is Lord of our lives, life becomes an adventure because Jesus is orchestrating and superintending our daily activities. He guides us, He anoints us, He uses us, He blesses us and He blesses other people through us. What God wants is a total acceptance of the Lordship of Christ so that He is indeed the center of our lives. Christ is in all Christians, even those who are just beginners in the faith. Christ is even present in those who are weak Christians. The difference is, where within us is He? Does our lazy approach to our faith commitment keep Christ hovering on the edge of our lives? Or does our serious commitment to His call to follow Him open an invitation for Him to move into the center of our lives? --------------------------------------------------------- On that first Palm Sunday long ago, the crowds shouted: “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” is found in Psalm 118:26. This verse is quoted in all four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Followers of Jesus find Psalm 118 echoed by Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. Jesus Himself quoted Psalm 118:22, 23 when He said: “The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes.” --------------------------------------------------------------- Many of the people on Palm Sunday claimed Jesus as a political Savior or an earthly Savior. They were looking for someone who would bring freedom from the tyranny of the Roman Empire. They probably welcomed Jesus on Palm Sunday like sports fans today sometimes cheer for their heroes: JE-SUS! JE-SUS! JE-SUS! ------------------------------------------------ But on the Monday after that first Palm Sunday, their cheers fell flatter than a pancake. They were not ready to embrace Jesus as the center of their lives. They were not ready to follow His teachings. They were not willing to turn the other cheek. They were not willing to go and sin no more. They didn’t understand that the one who would be the greatest must be the least. They didn’t get it that the first will be last and the last will be first. They were not ready to serve others. Most of us struggle with our faith from time to time. Circumstances in life sometimes make us doubt God’s goodness. Sin continues to harass us. Bad habits keep us ashamed. Depressing failures haunt us. We suffer through days when the claims of Christ seem more of a burden than a blessing. But when we practice the spiritual disciplines of prayer and reading of Scripture and meditating on Scripture and open to Christ the gate of the center of our lives, the center of our heart, the center of our inner being, our faith will not be a burden. Our faith will be a delight. That gives us a reason to shout: “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” ------------------------------------- Fast food restaurants tell us that we can have it our way. The crowd on that first Palm Sunday wanted to do Palm Sunday their way. But at the heart of the Christian faith is a willingness to surrender our will and say: “Not my will but Thy will be done.
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