Some years ago, Presbyterian pastor William Leety told this story:

                   Somewhere a child asks, “And, Daddy, what did you do with Jesus that day of the

            parade in Jerusalem?”

                        They had not, it was obvious even that day, been sent ahead to the village for

            special duty associated with leadership or responsibility.  Ten would stay with him …

            Two were sent to untie a colt.  At the time there had been laughter that it would take two

            of them to manage to untie a colt.

                        Father answers, “I went to get the colt.”  It sounded better to hi than “I was a

            gofer.”  Though he still remembers the disappointment, even resentment, at being so

            designated by Jesus.  The colt’s owner had not raise objections to their untying the

            animal.  The two had raised more objections with Jesus at being sent ahead.

                        But, Father adds, “Jesus worried that the owner might object, so he sent two of us. 

            and we worried, too.  But it went smoothly.”

                        Some would call it “triumphal entry.”  Father winces as he remembers those

            words alongside the chore of untying a colt.

                        On Palm Sunday, celebrate the ministry of untying colts, of setting tables where

            others will eat, of cleaning up and doing dishes and wiping the coffee stains from the

            table.  Let it be a day set aside to honor the send-aheads and the stay-behinds, the gofers

            sent for lunch, the advance men and women who disappear when the cameras run and

            who reappear with brooms to sweep up the confetti; the ones in the family who wash the

            uniform but don’t play in the games, who work hard but without paychecks or pensions.

 

“… the ministry of untying colts.”

          Tom Long, my preaching professor, in a column in the Christian Century,

                   called it “donkey detail.”

 

The two were given a simple task,

          one with a clear, measurable objective,

                   which might have been risky but turned out not to be.

 

They had to do it to fulfill Zechariah’s prophecy

          concerning the way the Messiah would come –

                   but Jesus didn’t tell them that, and they didn’t ask.

 

Any anxiety or annoyance at being “gofers” paled in significance

          once that “parade” began, but the truth is that those two

                   contributed to the FULFILLMENT OF THE SCRIPTURES

                             by that simple, all-but-forgotten act.

 

Mark does, after all, spend about half of his account

          of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem on that “donkey detail!”

 

Maybe untying colts as ministry is a new thought.

          But there are countless simple acts around the church

                   without which our ministry wouldn’t get done:

                             like setting up tables for church meals

                                      and cleaning up afterwards,

                             like folding and putting together bulletins and inserts,

                                      editing and folding and preparing the newsletter

                                                for mailing

                             like changing the candles, banners, and other accoutrements

                                      of worship,

                                      providing and arranging flowers,

                                      ordering palms, lilies, and poinsettias,

                                      providing music for worship,

                                      taking out the garbage,

                                      changing light bulbs,

                                      teaching Sunday School,

                                      planning worship and special events,

                                      paying the bills

                                      shoveling walks and applying ice melt,

                                      planting flowers and weeding,

                                      sending cards and visiting the sick

                                      preparing communion elements

                                      greeting visitors and “regulars” alike …

 

One phrase in Mr. Leety’s meditation stands out to me:

          “the ones in the family … who work hard

                   but without paychecks or pensions.”

                             And in this church family, that’s YOU!  All of you!

 

Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem was indeed triumphant and celebrative.

          His disciples – a multitude of them, not just the Twelve –

                   recognized that he was the Messiah, the Christ,

                             and they shouted it with joy.

 

The crowds apparently joined in, caught up in the disciples’ joy.

          It’s hard for us to imagine what it must have been like that day.

                    We know the next chapters of the story.

                             We’re not surprised by the Palm Sunday story at all,

                                       but I think the Twelve must have been astounded!

 

The entry into the city which they’d dreaded, the city which seemed, by all logic,

          to be the most dangerous place for Jesus to be, turned into triumph!

 

For one brief, shining moment all his disciples recognized Jesus:

          “Blessed is the One who came in the name of the Lord!”

 

For one brief, shining moment their eyes were opened

          and they recognized Jesus as the one sent from God to save.

And then … Jesus entered the temple, and drove out the money-changers,

          and continued to preach and teach the Gospel – truths

                   that didn’t sit very well with the religious leaders of the day.

 

Things moved very quickly after that one brief, shining moment

          of the entry into Jerusalem.

 

Jesus calls us to ministries of proclamation and compassion;

          he calls us to ministries of untying colts …

                   and he cares about us profoundly –

                             enough to go beyond that one, brief, shining moment

                                      all the way to the Cross.

 

One of my colleagues has suggested that Palm Sunday is about courage.

          About going forward and doing what needs to be done,

                   regardless of consequences.

 

For Jesus, Palm Sunday was indeed “about courage.”

          He knew what was ahead of him,

                   thought his disciples did not.

 

As for us, we’d like to skip over from the Palm Sunday triumphal parade

          to the tremendous joy of Easter dawn,

                   But it’s a long, long way from Palm Sunday to Easter dawn –

                             and even longer, perhaps, from now

                                      until Jesus comes again in glory.

                   In between-time, we need to keep on

                             with the ministry of untying colts …

 

Tom Long says

         On the one hand, we are called to prepared the way for Jesus’ ministry, and it is his

            ministry, not ours, that ultimately counts.  We are but donkey fetchers.  On the other

            hand, because we are – in ways often hidden from our eyes – “preparing the way of the

            Lord,” the routine, often exhausting, seemingly mundane donkey-fetching details of our

            service are gathered into the great arc of Jesus’ redemptive work in the world.     

 

That service, that ministry, is in the name of –

                                            because of –

                                            in response to –

                                            in service of –

                                                our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ.

 

Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord!  Amen.