A Hero

I don't think a reenactment of this Bible passage would go over so well today:


Luke 19:28-34  After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going to Jerusalem.  As he approached Bathphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, "Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden.  Untie it and bring it here.  If anyone asks you, 'Why are you untying it?' tell him, 'The Lord needs it.'"


Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them.  As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, "Why are you untying the colt?"


They replied, "The Lord needs it."


If you are anything like me, when this bible verse comes through the yearly lectionary, you skip over the absurdity of it.  Yeah, yeah, I've heard this before - the people start pulling down their palm trees, soil their coats and start screaming at Jesus on a donkey, begging him to save them.  My familiarity with the story breeds not contempt, but contentedness in the 'niceness' of the story.  Jesus gets the disciples to head on ahead and prepare the way by securing some transportation which will allow him to head down the mountain to Jerusalem in style.


But that's nothing like the story - nothing at all.


Somehow, somewhere, Jesus knows about a colt (or donkey, depending on the gospel) and tells two of his disciples to go untie it and bring it to him and if anyone protests, tell him 'The Lord needs it.'  Riiiiiight....


I tried to picture in my head if I asked my daughters to head into the next town, say, Laidley and find a nice, new Ford sitting in someone's driveway - probably someone that I knew - and I told the girls to say, "My father needs this.  He needs to get to Brisbane posthaste (that sounds more biblical)."  I'm sure the owners of said vehicle would simply enter the house, grab the keys to the brand new Mustang and plop them in Elsa's hand with just a short question of purpose. 


Talk about a simple act of heroism - or even an incredible act of faith.


In the book of Luke, the owner of the colt (unnamed) is not even given words of justification - it is simply left as an assumption, or an implication, that the one who comes in the name of the Lord, or even uses the Lord's name, is given rights over that object.  In this incredible act of faith by the colt's owner, we are left to ponder how God's name could have that kind of power over the materialism in the world.  The owner isn't even promised that the colt will be brought back - only that the Lord needs it.


What would you think if someone showed up at your doorstep today and said, "We need to take your (Fill in the blank with a prized possession) the Lord needs it."  How many of us would be willing to part with it, or even harder for many people - part with a portion of their income?  How many would willingly, without a word, drop the keys, the guitar case, the checkbook (do we remember what those look like) or the calendar of our time into the hands of those who come in the name of the Lord?


Anyone?  Beuller?  Anyone?


The colt owner, in my opinion has proven his faith and his heroism by sacrificial, non-reserved-no-strings-attached giving. 


That's truly sacrificial heroism.


Maybe tomorrow we'll write a little about the abuses of the Lord's name and the damage that it has caused; how it has not only stifled sacrificial heroism, but has caused people not to call out to the Lord.  The abuse of God's name has caused them to curse him.