"When The Cheering Stops"

"When did we stop Cheering" 

March 20, 2016  Readings  Philippians 2: 5-11  Psalm 118  Luke 23: 13-25

Some years ago a book was written with the title "When The Cheering Stopped." It was the story of President Woodrow Wilson and the events leading up to and following WWI. When that war was over Wilson became an international hero. There was a great spirit of optimism abroad, and people actually believed that this would be the war to end all wars and the world would be made safe for democracy.   On his first visit to Paris after the war Wilson was greeted by cheering mobs.   He was actually more popular than their own heroes.  To the Christian this story may begin to sound familiar.    The same thing was true in England and Italy.    They said that President Wilson was coming and they knew that everything would be all right,   the signs of a saving messiah. Societies are always looking for a messiah but, what do we do when we find one? 
The cheering lasted about a year. Then it gradually began to stop. It didn’t take long for people to become more concerned with their own agendas than they were about a lasting peace.   At home, Woodrow Wilson ran into opposition he was not re-elected and the President's health began to fail.  Once heralded as the new world Messiah, he ended his days with a broken confused spirit.
It's a sad story, but one that is not altogether unfamiliar to us.   It seems to be the ultimate reward for someone who tries to bring a message of hope and unity to a people who have been living in kayos, pain and suffering as their way of existing.  I’m not kidding folks there are people who identify, and get meaning from the amount of kayos, pain or suffering in their daily lives. I’m not just talking about physical pain and suffering but also mental, caused by the way we think.    Ernie Larson coined the mind that is addicted to self-destruction as, stinking thinking.  Try and take that pain away and they get hostile, because it is part of who they are, part of their identity.   The concepts of loving without conditions, unity, peace of mind, everything for the good of all, why these ideals becomes the enemy!!   It’s not as if people in general don’t long for these concepts, for we all do, but they will uproot and expose why we are in pain, suffering and kayos in such a way that people will resist the changes these concepts can bring about, preventing them from hearing the saving words of The Christ.  We need not look any further than ourselves, our broken  families, or our unhappy divided church communities.  

 It happened that way to Jesus.  When he emerged on the public scene he was an overnight sensation.   The masses lined the streets as he came into town.   On Palm Sunday leafy palm branches were spread before him and there were shouts of Hosanna.   In shouting Hosanna they were in effect saying "Save us now" Jesus, Save us from our adversaries and our oppressors, your the one who can bring to us a new life, a new way of living.   Great crowds came to hear him preach.  They began to build expectation of a changed world.   But the cheering, even for him, did not last for long.   There came a point when the tide began to turn against him too.  It was so settle at first, not many noticed.    People still came to see him, but the old excitement was missing, and the crowds were not as large as they had been.  His critics now began to publicly attack him, even the closes of his 12 began to turn away and question his motives.   They became afraid to speak out, for fear of the masses, as they began to perceive that the fickle public was turning on him.  Soon the opposition began to snowball.  When they discovered that they could not discredit his moral character, they began to take more desperate measures.  Before it was all over a tidal wave welled up that brought Jesus to his knees under the weight of a cross. Folks at some point in our lives we all have to deal with difficult circumstances and we all experience the weight of personal burden. Here we must trust in what Jesus has accomplished for the sake of all.   

In order to guard ourselves against the folly of allowing our pain and suffering to dominate our thinking, our behavior or allow it to become a major part of our identity or our way of life, our attitude must become more like Christ's.  

Jesus was humble willing to give up his personal human rights for the sake of all.   We must take on the attitude of a servant, serving out of love for God and others, not out of quilt, fear, or obligation as many are now doing.   Remembering  that we can choose our attitude, we can approach life expecting that we be should be served while all the time looking for the respect we deserve for our efforts, or we can look for opportunities to serve others, and in so gaining there respect in the right way, from a humble heart.  Folks, our human nature with its legal rights and worldly ways, wants us to want for the best in life, even if it is at the cost of others.  On the other hand Jesus wants to give us the best there is in this life.  It is and always will be within our choices. 

                                  " Why do we stop cheering"