Grace and peace be multiplied to you through the knowledge of God, our Father, and Jesus Christ. Welcome to my blog! I hope the thoughts you find here will encourage you and inspire you to diligently seek God’s Kingdom. Today, I would like to encourage you from this text that speaks to our duty to be engaged in our community and seek to be a positive agent of change in our community.
Luke 19:30 Saying, Go ye into the village over against you; in the which at your entering ye shall find a colt tied, whereon yet never man sat: loose him, and bring him hither. KJV
This is the most holy season for the Christian believer. This Sunday, we celebrate Palm Sunday. It is the Sunday before Resurrection Sunday, what many people refer to as Easter Sunday.
It means we are coming to the close of Lent and celebrating on Palm Sunday the Triumphant Entry, and on the Friday after that, Good Friday, and ultimately, next Sunday, Resurrection Sunday, we celebrate the fact that Jesus rose from the dead, never to die again, in a unique victory of the sin that has until then ruled our very existence.
It is in that vain that I look at this text, as we celebrate the doings of our God. In this text, we read this fascinating text that precedes Jesus’s entry into Jerusalem. This text teaches us so much, even about our contemporary context. It is an opportunity to examine so much, but today I am fascinated by what Jesus says to his disciples. Before he achieves the purpose for which he came, he passes through two towns. In the Lukan corpus, the writer tells us in Luke 19:29 that he passes between Bethphage and Bethany. The meaning of that is very telling, but for brevity, I dare go down that road. Jesus in the text tells two of his disciples to go into a village and lose a donkey and its colt. The donkey and what the donkey gave birth to, its colt.
Jesus tells them to bring a specific donkey. I would imagine that there are many donkeys in a given town as they were useful animals. Donkeys were primarily used to carry heavy loads from one place to another. In this text, Jesus made a point of saying to his disciples find the donkey that no one has ever sat on. One that has never been used in the capacity that it was born for. Get the donkey that has never achieved any meaningful achievements in its life. Find the one that has been prevented from success. The one that has been summarily oppressed, suppressed, prevented from doing what it was born to do, and bring that donkey to me.
The first question I have when reading this text is: as future ministers of the Gospel, were they expected to recognize oppression? Are those who are disciples of Christ somehow meant to recognize the cruelty of men and sent to do something about it? Is it common for a disciple of Jesus to be confronted with this status quo, and it be expected of the believer to not only recognize, but to engage that oppressed person by doing his or her level best to free one from oppression, without the approbation of the “owner” of the donkey? They have no authority from those committing the oppression, but they do have a directive from the God who created even the oppressor. Loose him and bring him.
I do not, as a disciple, need to function within the confines of oppressive paradigms, but I am called to recognize oppression and confront it, loose and bring that oppressed person to Jesus. Knowing that doing so will cause consternation in the community of those who are comfortable with that oppression. I cannot get my clue from those who are comfortable tying up those for their convenience. I am committed to loosing those tied up by society. As a disciple, I am countercultural, not compliant with the notion that certain people should be tied to what makes me comfortable. I am called to loose them and bring them to Jesus. Do you confront oppression as a disciple? Do you engage in your community to ensure that opportunity is afforded to everyone, no matter who they are? I would say to you, we should loose them and bring them to Jesus.
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Remember to invite someone to church with you this Sunday. I would like to extend a special invitation to join us at In His Presence Family Worship Center, this Sunday. This Sunday the title of my sermon, The Prophetic Utterance of the Donkey. Join me at IHP. W meet at 2418 Church Avenue in Brooklyn NY. We meet at the Goshen Seventh Day Adventist Church. Join us at 10 AM. I look forward to seeing you there. Seek God’s Kingdom first.
Yours Because I am His,
Leo Colon, D.Min., M.Div.,
In His Presence Family Worship Center
http://www.ihpfwc.org