Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting
Pastor Bob Henry
March 28, 2021
John 12:12-20 (The Message)
12-15 The next day the huge crowd that had arrived for the Feast heard that Jesus was entering Jerusalem. They broke off palm branches and went out to meet him. And they cheered:
Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in God’s name! Yes! The King of Israel!
Jesus got a young donkey and rode it, just as the Scripture has it:
No fear, Daughter Zion:
See how your king comes,
riding a donkey’s colt.
16 The disciples didn’t notice the fulfillment of many Scriptures at the time, but after Jesus was glorified, they remembered that what was written about him matched what was done to him.
17-19 The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb, raising him from the dead, was there giving eyewitness accounts. It was because they had spread the word of this latest God-sign that the crowd swelled to a welcoming parade. The Pharisees took one look and threw up their hands: “It’s out of control. The world’s in a stampede after him.”
Good morning Friends, it is good to be with you again this morning. I pray this finds you safe and well.
This morning, even though it is traditionally Palm or Passion Sunday in the Christian Tradition and the beginning of what many churches consider Holy Week, we are going to continue to look at our Quaker Testimonies. The twist will be that I will utilize the story of Jesus entering Jerusalem to unpack briefly our Testimony of Community – again, all in relationship to our desire to bear one another’s burdens.
To start, I would like to give a quick overview of where we have been in the last 4 weeks. After the Sunday I introduced the topic of “Burden Bearing,” we began an exploration of our Testimonies or S.P.I.C.E.S. We have looked at Simplicity, Peace, and Integrity already and found the need to reflect both inwardly and outwardly on each of them.
● Simplicity helped us see the need to strip off the excesses so we could see our own and the burdens of others.
● Looking at the shadow side of peace, we explored how violence, whether small or large impedes our ability to care for one another.
● And last week we looked at the Testimony of Integrity and how it calls us to a personal wholeness and in turn draws us to help those around us find wholeness in their lives.
This week, we look at the Testimony of Community. Some may say that Community is the most essential Testimony to speak to the idea of bearing one another’s burdens.
Most Quakers would agree that Community is all about supporting one another in our faith journeys and in times of joy and sorrow; sharing with and caring for each other.
Yet to value Community, it also takes understanding what it is made up of. The text that Beth read of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem points out on several occasions the enormity and diversity of the crowd.
I would like to utilize this biblical story to highlight the different types of people found in all crowds and communities. Knowing who we are and why we come together, will help us better understand how we might be able to appreciate ourselves and those we are in community with.
Our text points out that there was a “huge crowd that arrived for the feast” of Passover. It also notes that the disciples were among the crowd but missing fully what all was going on. The author of the Gospel of John also points out that this crowd included those who had been with Jesus when he called Lazarus from the tomb as well as the Pharisees who considered the crowds, as they said, “out of control.”
Already, just in the text we have a quite diverse group of people gathering around Jesus. And if you read through the gospel accounts, you will find they have been gathering for almost his entire three years of public ministry. Some may go as far as to say that these people following Jesus represent the actual first church.
Over the years I have studied the patterns and personalities of many groups of people. Actually, as a pastor one of my most difficult objectives is to discern the needs of a diverse group of people, and to do that takes both time to get to know people and a dedication to work alongside them.
I am sure on occasion Jesus must have been overwhelmed with crowds of up to 10,000 people to speak to, meet needs of, and all while trying to convey a message of hope. It’s not that simple – especially when most crowds or gatherings are made of people with a variety of agendas, motives, and needs.
Today, we have what are professionally known as Crowd Psychologists who are hired for the sole purpose of studying crowds and crowd behavior.
Especially during the pandemic, Crowd Psychologists have been utilized right here in Indianapolis for March Madness and the Final Four. Not only are they used for sporting events, but they are also used for parades, public demonstrations, marathons, and concerts of all sorts.
And yes, I have even known mega churches who have hired Crowd Psychologists to help them navigate and help spot destructive patterns, agendas, and motives that could manifest within their own membership.
When you specifically study the work of Crowd Psychologists, you find that they indicate five types of people that are found in every crowd. Please note – almost all faith communities are considered crowds unless they are small enough to be categorized as a family unit (what we would call a small group or house group – even then larger house groups can have some of these same dynamics).
For our study today, we are going to look at the crowd that followed Jesus into Jerusalem. The Rev. Margaret Minnicks has utilized these five crowd types to help us explore the make-up of Jesus’ crowd in Jerusalem, and how it relates to and resembles our own faith communities. The five types which most experts indicate are present are as following:
1. The Curious
2. The Confused
3. The Pretenders
4. The Opposers
5. The Committed
The more you study these types, the more you begin to notice them in the crowds or communities you engage on a regular basis. You may even find yourself identifying with one of these types at First Friends.
If so, I ask you to ponder what that might mean for you and for how you engage those around you. If we at First Friends are seeking to build a faith community whose lives are integrated and seeking wholeness, we may find ourselves both challenged by the descriptions of these five types and where all we see them in and around us.
Let’s begin with The Curious:
In the text for today, the curious are the people that had seen Jesus preach, teach, heal, and even possibly perform miracles over a three-year period. These people had a curious mentality. They followed Jesus on his entry into Jerusalem because they wanted to know what he was going to do next. They were also curious about what was in it for them. Some went along with the crowd simply because they were hoping they would get a blessing being part of the crowd.
Often what draws a person to a crowd, or a community is pure curiosity. Some find the curiosity sustains them for quite some time, maybe Sunday to Sunday or program to program, especially if they feel they are getting what they want out of the crowd or community. Often when the curiosity runs out or blessings seem to cease, off they go to the next crowd or community.
The second type is The Confused:
The confused is illustrated in the Matthew 21:10-11 text of the Palm Sunday account,
"When Jesus came to Jerusalem, everyone in the city was excited and asked, “Who can this be? The crowd answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”
Of all the things Jesus did and claimed he was, this one-line description wa in s all they could say. Even though they were following Him, they were still confused about who Jesus was.
The confused type refers to those who live on cliches and soundbites, instead of spiritually investing themselves to go deeper within themselves or within their community. They often are quick to quote scriptures or other texts as well as argue their points without taking time to know the context or ramifications of their words.
The confused crowd followed Jesus while not really knowing what he truly was about or what he was asking of them. They were confused because Verse 9 says they even went ahead of Jesus. I know for myself getting ahead of God, or thinking I understand what the Divine is trying to convey can leave me very confused.
The third type is The Pretenders:
The Pretenders were in the crowd on Palm Sunday pretending to be committed to Jesus. They were pretending, but they were not completely sure they knew what was going on. Pretenders often are those who go through the motions, but have a hard time fully committing. They often pretend just to impress others and to get their approval.
Abraham Lincoln said it best when he said, “You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.”
I remember at a church I served in Michigan, one morning we were having fellowship hour after the service, and a former pastor began sharing stories of what he called “putting on my church face.” He shared how his family would fight all the way from their home to church each Sunday. As they pulled in the church parking lot and he turned off the car, he would declare, “All right the fighting must end, it’s time to put on your church face and worship the Lord.” Everyone in the car would pull it together and enter as if nothing happened that morning. Immediately after sharing, other people began to truthfully open up about their experiences of pretending or as one person labeled it, “Faking Ok.”
The next type is The Opposers:
The fourth type includes the opposers like the Pharisees and the Sadducees. For three years they had done everything they could to oppose what Jesus was doing. They rebuked Him for healing on the Sabbath and for taking an ox out the ditch. They dismissed him because His disciples ate food without washing their hands.
Our text said there were Pharisees and (other texts say there were Sadducees, as well) in the crowds on Palm Sunday, and folks there are Pharisees and Sadducees within the body of Christ, still today. These are the people who work to trip others up and are always looking for things to debate, argue, and point a finger at. There were always some people in the crowds who opposed Jesus and this day was no different. There are always people who never see the good in a situation; only the bad.
Most of the time these opposers promote their own interests and their own agendas. They tear down God’s people instead of lifting them up or bearing their burdens just like the Pharisees and Sadducees of Jesus’ day.
The next type is The Committed:
The Committed is the last group and the one most people say they are in. However, this is usually the smallest group.
The Barna Group shows that the Committed in most communities are statistically less than 20% of the overall community. If you have been in the church for any amount of time, you have probably heard someone throw out what they call the “80/20 Rule” – that 80% of the work is done by 20% of the people. Sadly, there is a truth to this. Maybe you have heard it or said it this way, “Why do the same few volunteers seem to be doing all the work?”
Let’s be honest, as this “holy week” plays out in the scriptures, not even the disciples are found to be part of the committed crowd.
I too, wish I could say I was 100% part of the committed crowd every single day, but that is just not true. I find myself often part of the Curious, sometimes wrongly promoting the Confused, Pretending, acting, and “faking ok,” and yes, even pointing fingers with the Opposers.
The reality is that all five types of people can be found in me and probably in you, too. The important thing to remember is each of these types are present within our community at First Friends. Thus, it should be our desire at First Friends…
…to promote the engagement of the curious.
…to provide clarity and education to the confused.
…to expose the pretending and embrace authenticity.
…to transform the opposers and seek unity.
…and to commit to the work of Christ and to the integration of our lives for the benefit of one another.
This is what Jesus lived out for us. This is what Jesus would later this week be crucified for by people in this same crowd.
Because when we begin to work on being more committed and seek to transform the crowds and communities in which we live, not everyone will agree, not everyone will join in, some will even work against us. But if we commit to moving forward and finding ways to bear one another’s burdens, then just like Jesus, we will actually bring resurrection – NEW LIFE – into our world – both our life and the lives of those around us. Just as Christ has done for us.
Won’t you join me in committing this week to work on bringing that Resurrection – that New Life – into our world through our community at First Friends?
As we enter waiting worship, today, please take a moment to ponder the following queries:
● What “crowd type” would I most identify with, currently? (Curious, Confused, Pretender, Opposer, or Committed)
● How will I commit
…to promote the engagement of the curious.
…to provide clarity and education to the confused.
…to expose the pretending and embrace authenticity.
…to transform the opposers and seek unity.
…and to commit to the work of Christ and to the integration of our lives for the benefit of one another?