Rev. Alan J. Meenan
What do you think of a central over-arching theme that binds the Bible together? If you think there is one, what might you suggest it could be? For those of you who attend our Wednesday Bible Study The Word is Out, I anticipate that you would jump to your feet. You would say that the over-arching theme of scripture is the concept of the Kingdom of God because you might remember that when Jesus appeared on the scene he said, “Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand!”
No one asked him, “What on earth are you talking about?” Everyone seemed to understand the idea.
Peter Craigie has pointed out that the concept of “Kingship” or “Kingdom of God” is rooted in creation and elaborated in historical experience. It becomes the basis of worship and praise for the people of God. The Psalm that we will look at today, Psalm 24, emphasizes Kingship.
Some have suggested that Psalm 22, which is of course the incredible description of the crucifixion - 1,000 years before it occurred, is the “Psalm of the Cross”. That Psalm 23 is the “Psalm of the Crook” and that Psalm 24 is the “Psalm of the Crown”. But most agree that Psalm 24 has to do with Kingship.
It may very well have been written at the time when David decided to bring the Ark of the Covenant into the capital city of Jerusalem. You might remember that story of how the Ark had languished in many ways for many years in Kiriath-Jearim, but in the providence and grace of God, David decided to bring the Ark back to the temple. It may be that Psalm 24 was written in response to the journey of the Ark from Kiriath-Jearim to Jerusalem. But no matter when it was written or how it was written, it certainly depicts a God who is ruling over the world that he has created. It is a great song of celebration. It is one of the more popular and better-known Psalms. Its stirring challenge brings before us the towering stature of the unseen King. I believe it has an incredible impact for our meditation on Palm Sunday.
Psalm 24 very neatly divides into three major points. Verses 1 and 2: “I call a picture of the all powerful King”, verse 3, 4, 5 and 6: “the all holy King”, verse 7, 8, 9 and 10: “the all victorious King”.
I’m going to cheat today. I do have yet another one. I am breaking all Presbyterian traditions by having a 4th point! I am reserving that 4th consideration or thought for you until we near the end of the message.
The first two verses announce the “all powerful King.” You see that right away. It begins with an affirmation of the Lord’s dominion over the created world. “The earth is the Lord’s and everything that is in it and everyone who lives in it.” It all belongs to God says the Psalmist.
I became friends this past week with an African pastor by the name of Dr. Obed. He told me the story of how they were having a great celebration in his church in Lagos, Nigeria. They were inviting all kinds of dignitaries, but the so-called king of kings of the Oroba tribe, was not invited because Dr. Obed thought that he was beyond appeal. One of his elders kept pushing him to send an invitation, which he finally did. This man of dubious character attended this great celebration. When he entered the church, the very Spirit of the risen Christ was so real for him. That instead of the normal sitting position which dignitaries would adopt, he sank to his knees. One of the titles of this King of the Oroba tribe was “owner of the universe”. Publicly before all the other kings and all the other principals, this gentleman confessed that would no longer be his title. He was giving it back to the only one who truly deserved it. In that confession, he became a follower of Jesus Christ.
That’s the story of the Psalmist here, who understands right from the beginning that the earth really belongs to God. Everything that is in it and everyone who lives upon it, all its wealth and all its fertility is not for human consumption, but for the glory and satisfaction of God Himself. The Psalmist claims the world for God.
We as Christians ought to do the same again today. The Apostle Paul writes that when we are in Christ Jesus there is neither Jew nor Gentile, there is neither male nor female, there is neither bondsman nor free man, but all are one in Christ Jesus.
I was in London yesterday. You may not know that inscribed on London’s Royal Exchange are these words: “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness of it, everything that dwells therein.” It is a reminder that it is God’s world at the last. It is not our world to exploit; it is not Satan’s world to distort. It is God’s world. It would behoove us to remember this in difficult moments of life.
In verse 2, the Psalmist tells us why: The reason why the earth is the Lord’s and everything that is in it is because he has founded it upon the seas, he has established it upon the waters. From generation to generation it is God and God alone who has preserved the earth and upheld its people. So with this glorious vision that the Psalmist uses to burst into our consciousness, we might very well feel like the ancient prophet Isaiah when he said, “In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple…and said I, Woe is me! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips, but mine eyes have seen the King!”
Once we recognize who God is and the splendor, majesty and all-powerful nature of God, the most natural thing in the world is to realize how inconsequential we are. “Woe is me!” cries the prophet.
He essentially says the same thing in Verse 3: “Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in His holy place?” Who would dare enter the presence of this all holy King who is also an all-powerful King?
Then we move into the next major segment of the Psalm. We are told in the next verse, “Those who have clean hands and pure hearts, who do not lift up their souls to what is false and do not swear deceitfully.” God expects purity of heart for those who will follow him. That’s God’s expectation as we enter His presence, purity of heart, and clean hands!
In addition to loyalty and heart and life, the Psalmist tells us that God also expects singleness of devotion. So, as we move into the second major segment of the Psalm, we begin to see and appreciate that this Psalm is a call to holy living. Notice what the Psalmist does not say as well as what he does say: “Who shall ascend into the hill?” Who shall approach God? Who shall approach this Almighty God? Who shall stand in his presence? He doesn’t ask, “Have you kept the law?” Or “Have you performed the required sacrifices?” Or “Has your behavior been to such a standard?” He asks none of those questions. He speaks instead for moral integrity from the follower of God.
If we would enter and stand in the presence of God, we must develop moral integrity in a perverse generation. Those who stand as courtiers in the palace of the living God will not be distinguished by nationality, race or color, but by character! They will be people who love holiness and abhor sin, those folk who will not swear by what is false because God disassociates himself from everything that is fake and false.
Now I understand how difficult this all is. “Who shall ascend unto the hill of the Lord? Who shall stand in the presence of the King?” We begin to look at ourselves as Isaiah did of old and say, “I don’t know that I can. As I listen to you speak Preacher, you are knocking me out of the ball-park, because my hands are not clean and my heart is not pure.”
Indeed, there is only one whose hands were never stained with sin. The hands of Jesus are clean. The heart of Jesus is pure. The soul of Jesus was never proud. No guile ever fell from his lovely lips. He qualifies. Bear that in mind, we will come back to it in a moment. “Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? Who shall enter the presence of God?” Jesus! Jesus.
Third major section of the Psalm in verses 7-10, depicts the all-victorious King. Remember this may very well be a picture of David restoring the Ark to Jerusalem, claiming the Kingship of God. But you might remember the story of the Ark of the Covenant when the people of Israel went to war they carried the Ark of the Covenant with them. It symbolized the very presence of God. Before this particular Ark, other armies quaked and ran away. So now that the Ark is returning to Jerusalem, you have a picture of the return of the victorious warrior God.
There is no question that these last few verses in the Psalm strike a military tone. “Who is the King of glory?” reads verse 8. The Lord is strong and mighty. The Lord is mighty in battle. He is the divine warrior depicted here in these verses. This is the kind of language set to music that will stir an army to war.
King George VI asked that verses 7 and 8 be sung at the opening of the Glasgow exhibition in 1938, but it was almost 100 years before that the song was song at the great exhibition in London. The language is laudable. As the procession nears the ancient gates, we have here two choirs singing, one over against the other. The first choir takes up the strain addressing the gates telling them to open up and let the King of Glory in. The second choir retorts, “Who is the King of glory that we should open up the gates? Why should we open up the gates?” Then the first choir rejoins once more, “The King of Glory” who they define is the “God who is forever at war with all the powers of evil” and now loudly commands in verse 9 that those gates be opened up!
The all-victorious King comes as the great conqueror renowned. This is the King of glory. If “the earth is his” - verses 1 and 2; if “he is holy” - verses 3-6; then the challenge to the ancient doors become the battle cry for the Church! If, in fact, the earth is the Lord’s and everything that is in it, then all things and all people ultimately and finally belong to him because he created them at the last. If he is altogether holy, then it is the duty and responsibility of the church to cry to the ancient gates, “open up the gates and let the King of glory come in!”
Now I entreat you that having looked at those three major sections that you bear with me for one more thought: that is, to find an echo of the Psalm on Palm Sunday itself, celebrate Jesus Christ on Palm Sunday riding into Jerusalem. But consider for a moment, as Jesus rides into Jerusalem, could it be that he rides in as the King of Psalm 24? He rides in as one who is all-powerful, one who is all-holy, and one who is all-victorious. Do you see that in the text? If you don’t or if you hesitate, let me suggest further that it was certainly the case on the day when he rode into Jerusalem on that first Palm Sunday. The crowd recognized him to be such.
When it came time for the Apostle John to sit and write down the events of that first Palm Sunday, he was very careful to tell us precisely what the people cry to Jesus as he entered into the Holy City. Those words are found in the 12th chapter of John verse 13 (John 12:13). For this is what they said, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” Listen, “Blessed is the King of Israel.” The crowd obviously recognized that Jesus coming into Jerusalem was not merely another prophet, but he was the all-powerful, holy, all-victorious God who had come to bring deliverance.
How is it that a victorious conqueror would come on a donkey? A chariot perhaps, or a great Arabian steed, or a good Irish horse, but who would expect an all-victorious King to come without pomp and circumstance, but on a donkey? Yet in coming on a donkey, he conveys one thing incredibly glorious: for long before the prophet Zechariah (quoted by John himself in his Gospel) declared, “One day Israel, your King will come to you. But he will come humbly riding on a donkey.”
He could have come in so many glorious ways. But on Palm Sunday, the wonder, glory and the splendor of Palm Sunday is that he came on a donkey, awaiting his greatest victory: the victory that he would accomplish for the salvation of untold millions of men and women when he hung upon an old rugged Cross on a hill far away that will be forever known, forever cherished, at Golgotha.
He did that in order to ensure that those of us who have unclean hands and hearts that are not pure might enter the presence of God. So if you felt yourself disqualified in the second segment of the Psalm and you were saying, “I’m getting lost here. I don’t have clean hands or a pure heart. I know myself all too well. My hands are unclean, my heart impure. How can I ever enter the presence of God?” Through the victory of Jesus Christ on the Cross—He has opened up the way for people like you and me to enter the presence of Almighty God Himself.
So here is my fourth designation. We have seen Him in this Psalm as the all-powerful King. We have seen Him as the All-Holy King. We have seen Him as the All-Victorious King. He is all those things. I do not want to minimize them even for a second. But I want to suggest to you that greater than all of those is the picture painted on Palm Sunday of the Servant King. In that picture, you and I begin to define our own real identity as followers of Jesus Christ.
I have had the amazing and great privilege of spending the past few days with a group of dedicated world mission leaders in Malta. It was a very humbling thing to be with people who are so intent, so purpose-driven, so determined to declare His glory among all the peoples, to say among all the nations the Lord God is King, to dedicate their entire lives to that end. As we rose in our final act of celebration, in a service of commitment, we sang a hymn that I had never heard before.
The chorus goes like this:
“This is our God, the Servant King, who calls us now to follow Him,
To bring our lives as a daily offering of worship to the servant King.
This is our God, the servant King, who calls us now to follow Him.”
As again and again, we sang that lovely refrain, I got it. I got it. I pray that you will also. I stood with these folk, shoulder to shoulder, who had sacrificed so much, potentially lucrative careers. Many of them did not own a piece of property that they could call home. These are people who had turned their backs on all the things that we tend to value here in the United States, bent on declaring, among the nations, that the Lord is King, recognizing that ultimately that was the only important thing. As they sang those words, “this is our God, the Servant King who calls us now to follow him,” I understood all the servant hearts in that room, following the servant King.
Christ’s entry into Jerusalem is a call to worship an all-powerful King. It is a call for you and I to become single-minded in our devotion to the all-holy King, to allow Christ’s all-victorious triumph over sin to become our victory over sin. But most of all, it is a call to emulate his servant heart.
As a result of the efforts of this group of people, and many others like them around the world, all the different colors and all different language groups: Africans, Asians, Europeans and Americans, God is doing amazing things. As I heard story after story of what God is doing, I recognized the only way to achieve that goal is through servant-hood. Therefore, I challenge you this day. On this Palm Sunday, as Kim told us the 4th day of the 4th month of the 4th year, I challenge you, if you have not already done so, to enlist under the banner of the King, to whole-hearted devotion in following him, to give up your petty dreams to become an emissary or missionary of Jesus Christ, the servant King, and to join together with Christ in the greatest adventure of life. It is a call to battle. It is a call to ultimate victory. For it is a call to follow the servant King, to conquer the world with love!
What do you think of a central over-arching theme that binds the Bible together? If you think there is one, what might you suggest it could be? For those of you who attend our Wednesday Bible Study The Word is Out, I anticipate that you would jump to your feet. You would say that the over-arching theme of scripture is the concept of the Kingdom of God because you might remember that when Jesus appeared on the scene he said, “Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand!”
No one asked him, “What on earth are you talking about?” Everyone seemed to understand the idea.
Peter Craigie has pointed out that the concept of “Kingship” or “Kingdom of God” is rooted in creation and elaborated in historical experience. It becomes the basis of worship and praise for the people of God. The Psalm that we will look at today, Psalm 24, emphasizes Kingship.
Some have suggested that Psalm 22, which is of course the incredible description of the crucifixion - 1,000 years before it occurred, is the “Psalm of the Cross”. That Psalm 23 is the “Psalm of the Crook” and that Psalm 24 is the “Psalm of the Crown”. But most agree that Psalm 24 has to do with Kingship.
It may very well have been written at the time when David decided to bring the Ark of the Covenant into the capital city of Jerusalem. You might remember that story of how the Ark had languished in many ways for many years in Kiriath-Jearim, but in the providence and grace of God, David decided to bring the Ark back to the temple. It may be that Psalm 24 was written in response to the journey of the Ark from Kiriath-Jearim to Jerusalem. But no matter when it was written or how it was written, it certainly depicts a God who is ruling over the world that he has created. It is a great song of celebration. It is one of the more popular and better-known Psalms. Its stirring challenge brings before us the towering stature of the unseen King. I believe it has an incredible impact for our meditation on Palm Sunday.
Psalm 24 very neatly divides into three major points. Verses 1 and 2: “I call a picture of the all powerful King”, verse 3, 4, 5 and 6: “the all holy King”, verse 7, 8, 9 and 10: “the all victorious King”.
I’m going to cheat today. I do have yet another one. I am breaking all Presbyterian traditions by having a 4th point! I am reserving that 4th consideration or thought for you until we near the end of the message.
The first two verses announce the “all powerful King.” You see that right away. It begins with an affirmation of the Lord’s dominion over the created world. “The earth is the Lord’s and everything that is in it and everyone who lives in it.” It all belongs to God says the Psalmist.
I became friends this past week with an African pastor by the name of Dr. Obed. He told me the story of how they were having a great celebration in his church in Lagos, Nigeria. They were inviting all kinds of dignitaries, but the so-called king of kings of the Oroba tribe, was not invited because Dr. Obed thought that he was beyond appeal. One of his elders kept pushing him to send an invitation, which he finally did. This man of dubious character attended this great celebration. When he entered the church, the very Spirit of the risen Christ was so real for him. That instead of the normal sitting position which dignitaries would adopt, he sank to his knees. One of the titles of this King of the Oroba tribe was “owner of the universe”. Publicly before all the other kings and all the other principals, this gentleman confessed that would no longer be his title. He was giving it back to the only one who truly deserved it. In that confession, he became a follower of Jesus Christ.
That’s the story of the Psalmist here, who understands right from the beginning that the earth really belongs to God. Everything that is in it and everyone who lives upon it, all its wealth and all its fertility is not for human consumption, but for the glory and satisfaction of God Himself. The Psalmist claims the world for God.
We as Christians ought to do the same again today. The Apostle Paul writes that when we are in Christ Jesus there is neither Jew nor Gentile, there is neither male nor female, there is neither bondsman nor free man, but all are one in Christ Jesus.
I was in London yesterday. You may not know that inscribed on London’s Royal Exchange are these words: “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness of it, everything that dwells therein.” It is a reminder that it is God’s world at the last. It is not our world to exploit; it is not Satan’s world to distort. It is God’s world. It would behoove us to remember this in difficult moments of life.
In verse 2, the Psalmist tells us why: The reason why the earth is the Lord’s and everything that is in it is because he has founded it upon the seas, he has established it upon the waters. From generation to generation it is God and God alone who has preserved the earth and upheld its people. So with this glorious vision that the Psalmist uses to burst into our consciousness, we might very well feel like the ancient prophet Isaiah when he said, “In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple…and said I, Woe is me! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips, but mine eyes have seen the King!”
Once we recognize who God is and the splendor, majesty and all-powerful nature of God, the most natural thing in the world is to realize how inconsequential we are. “Woe is me!” cries the prophet.
He essentially says the same thing in Verse 3: “Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in His holy place?” Who would dare enter the presence of this all holy King who is also an all-powerful King?
Then we move into the next major segment of the Psalm. We are told in the next verse, “Those who have clean hands and pure hearts, who do not lift up their souls to what is false and do not swear deceitfully.” God expects purity of heart for those who will follow him. That’s God’s expectation as we enter His presence, purity of heart, and clean hands!
In addition to loyalty and heart and life, the Psalmist tells us that God also expects singleness of devotion. So, as we move into the second major segment of the Psalm, we begin to see and appreciate that this Psalm is a call to holy living. Notice what the Psalmist does not say as well as what he does say: “Who shall ascend into the hill?” Who shall approach God? Who shall approach this Almighty God? Who shall stand in his presence? He doesn’t ask, “Have you kept the law?” Or “Have you performed the required sacrifices?” Or “Has your behavior been to such a standard?” He asks none of those questions. He speaks instead for moral integrity from the follower of God.
If we would enter and stand in the presence of God, we must develop moral integrity in a perverse generation. Those who stand as courtiers in the palace of the living God will not be distinguished by nationality, race or color, but by character! They will be people who love holiness and abhor sin, those folk who will not swear by what is false because God disassociates himself from everything that is fake and false.
Now I understand how difficult this all is. “Who shall ascend unto the hill of the Lord? Who shall stand in the presence of the King?” We begin to look at ourselves as Isaiah did of old and say, “I don’t know that I can. As I listen to you speak Preacher, you are knocking me out of the ball-park, because my hands are not clean and my heart is not pure.”
Indeed, there is only one whose hands were never stained with sin. The hands of Jesus are clean. The heart of Jesus is pure. The soul of Jesus was never proud. No guile ever fell from his lovely lips. He qualifies. Bear that in mind, we will come back to it in a moment. “Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? Who shall enter the presence of God?” Jesus! Jesus.
Third major section of the Psalm in verses 7-10, depicts the all-victorious King. Remember this may very well be a picture of David restoring the Ark to Jerusalem, claiming the Kingship of God. But you might remember the story of the Ark of the Covenant when the people of Israel went to war they carried the Ark of the Covenant with them. It symbolized the very presence of God. Before this particular Ark, other armies quaked and ran away. So now that the Ark is returning to Jerusalem, you have a picture of the return of the victorious warrior God.
There is no question that these last few verses in the Psalm strike a military tone. “Who is the King of glory?” reads verse 8. The Lord is strong and mighty. The Lord is mighty in battle. He is the divine warrior depicted here in these verses. This is the kind of language set to music that will stir an army to war.
King George VI asked that verses 7 and 8 be sung at the opening of the Glasgow exhibition in 1938, but it was almost 100 years before that the song was song at the great exhibition in London. The language is laudable. As the procession nears the ancient gates, we have here two choirs singing, one over against the other. The first choir takes up the strain addressing the gates telling them to open up and let the King of Glory in. The second choir retorts, “Who is the King of glory that we should open up the gates? Why should we open up the gates?” Then the first choir rejoins once more, “The King of Glory” who they define is the “God who is forever at war with all the powers of evil” and now loudly commands in verse 9 that those gates be opened up!
The all-victorious King comes as the great conqueror renowned. This is the King of glory. If “the earth is his” - verses 1 and 2; if “he is holy” - verses 3-6; then the challenge to the ancient doors become the battle cry for the Church! If, in fact, the earth is the Lord’s and everything that is in it, then all things and all people ultimately and finally belong to him because he created them at the last. If he is altogether holy, then it is the duty and responsibility of the church to cry to the ancient gates, “open up the gates and let the King of glory come in!”
Now I entreat you that having looked at those three major sections that you bear with me for one more thought: that is, to find an echo of the Psalm on Palm Sunday itself, celebrate Jesus Christ on Palm Sunday riding into Jerusalem. But consider for a moment, as Jesus rides into Jerusalem, could it be that he rides in as the King of Psalm 24? He rides in as one who is all-powerful, one who is all-holy, and one who is all-victorious. Do you see that in the text? If you don’t or if you hesitate, let me suggest further that it was certainly the case on the day when he rode into Jerusalem on that first Palm Sunday. The crowd recognized him to be such.
When it came time for the Apostle John to sit and write down the events of that first Palm Sunday, he was very careful to tell us precisely what the people cry to Jesus as he entered into the Holy City. Those words are found in the 12th chapter of John verse 13 (John 12:13). For this is what they said, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” Listen, “Blessed is the King of Israel.” The crowd obviously recognized that Jesus coming into Jerusalem was not merely another prophet, but he was the all-powerful, holy, all-victorious God who had come to bring deliverance.
How is it that a victorious conqueror would come on a donkey? A chariot perhaps, or a great Arabian steed, or a good Irish horse, but who would expect an all-victorious King to come without pomp and circumstance, but on a donkey? Yet in coming on a donkey, he conveys one thing incredibly glorious: for long before the prophet Zechariah (quoted by John himself in his Gospel) declared, “One day Israel, your King will come to you. But he will come humbly riding on a donkey.”
He could have come in so many glorious ways. But on Palm Sunday, the wonder, glory and the splendor of Palm Sunday is that he came on a donkey, awaiting his greatest victory: the victory that he would accomplish for the salvation of untold millions of men and women when he hung upon an old rugged Cross on a hill far away that will be forever known, forever cherished, at Golgotha.
He did that in order to ensure that those of us who have unclean hands and hearts that are not pure might enter the presence of God. So if you felt yourself disqualified in the second segment of the Psalm and you were saying, “I’m getting lost here. I don’t have clean hands or a pure heart. I know myself all too well. My hands are unclean, my heart impure. How can I ever enter the presence of God?” Through the victory of Jesus Christ on the Cross—He has opened up the way for people like you and me to enter the presence of Almighty God Himself.
So here is my fourth designation. We have seen Him in this Psalm as the all-powerful King. We have seen Him as the All-Holy King. We have seen Him as the All-Victorious King. He is all those things. I do not want to minimize them even for a second. But I want to suggest to you that greater than all of those is the picture painted on Palm Sunday of the Servant King. In that picture, you and I begin to define our own real identity as followers of Jesus Christ.
I have had the amazing and great privilege of spending the past few days with a group of dedicated world mission leaders in Malta. It was a very humbling thing to be with people who are so intent, so purpose-driven, so determined to declare His glory among all the peoples, to say among all the nations the Lord God is King, to dedicate their entire lives to that end. As we rose in our final act of celebration, in a service of commitment, we sang a hymn that I had never heard before.
The chorus goes like this:
“This is our God, the Servant King, who calls us now to follow Him,
To bring our lives as a daily offering of worship to the servant King.
This is our God, the servant King, who calls us now to follow Him.”
As again and again, we sang that lovely refrain, I got it. I got it. I pray that you will also. I stood with these folk, shoulder to shoulder, who had sacrificed so much, potentially lucrative careers. Many of them did not own a piece of property that they could call home. These are people who had turned their backs on all the things that we tend to value here in the United States, bent on declaring, among the nations, that the Lord is King, recognizing that ultimately that was the only important thing. As they sang those words, “this is our God, the Servant King who calls us now to follow him,” I understood all the servant hearts in that room, following the servant King.
Christ’s entry into Jerusalem is a call to worship an all-powerful King. It is a call for you and I to become single-minded in our devotion to the all-holy King, to allow Christ’s all-victorious triumph over sin to become our victory over sin. But most of all, it is a call to emulate his servant heart.
As a result of the efforts of this group of people, and many others like them around the world, all the different colors and all different language groups: Africans, Asians, Europeans and Americans, God is doing amazing things. As I heard story after story of what God is doing, I recognized the only way to achieve that goal is through servant-hood. Therefore, I challenge you this day. On this Palm Sunday, as Kim told us the 4th day of the 4th month of the 4th year, I challenge you, if you have not already done so, to enlist under the banner of the King, to whole-hearted devotion in following him, to give up your petty dreams to become an emissary or missionary of Jesus Christ, the servant King, and to join together with Christ in the greatest adventure of life. It is a call to battle. It is a call to ultimate victory. For it is a call to follow the servant King, to conquer the world with love!
