We Are Picked to Elevate Him

Amen. Take your Bible, if you will, and open to the Book of Mark. Mark, chapter 11. Today, as I said a moment ago, is Palm Sunday. It's the beginning of Passion Week.

Some of you say, what? What does that mean? What is Passion Week? Passion Week is called, what it is because of the passion with which Jesus went to the cross and suffered for us so that we could be forgiven of our sins, the passion that we see in Jesus and his willingness to suffer for us. And likewise, we should be ready and willing to suffer for the cause of Christ, to lay down our lives for the cause of Christ, and to passionately worship him and to show gratitude to him for what he's done for us.

Mark, chapter 11. Would you stand to honor the word of God as we read these first 10 verses of this chapter again? The notes are available on the Refuge app. If you've not downloaded the app, you might go to hell.

Just leave it right there. I'm just.

Here we go. Mark, chapter 11. Beginning in verse one. As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage in Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, which you will stand on if you go with us in November to Israel, Jesus sent two of his disciples saying to them, go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you'll find a colt tied there which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here.

And if anybody asks you, why are you doing this? Say the Lord needs it and we'll send it back here shortly. They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied it a doorway, and as they untied it, some people standing there asked, what are you doing untying that colt? And they answered as Jesus had told them to. And the people let them go.

When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it, and many people spread their cloaks on the road, and we're going to talk about this in a moment. While others spread branches that they had cut in the fields. Palm branches. We'll talk about that as well. And those who went ahead and those who followed shouted, hosanna.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the coming kingdom of our Father David. Hosanna, which means, lord, save. Hosanna in the highest heaven. Let's make some declarations together.

Everybody out loud. Those of you watching online, you ready? Go. I will hide this word in my heart that I might not sin against God. This word is life to my body and health to my bones.

And not a hearer only. And I am confident of this, that he who has begun a good work in me will complete it. In Jesus name, Amen. You can be seated. Would you do me a big, big favor?

We have men and women who are incarcerated all across America that are watching our services via the Pando app. Would you do me a big favor and just give it up for all of those who are watching this morning? Amen. Bless you. We love you.

We're praying for you. Glad that you could join us today. Listen. In my relatively short lifespan, I've noticed two things that seem to have gained prominence in our culture and they're somewhat connected. One is the right that so many people feel to broadcast their opinions about everything to everybody.

Now, maybe it's the rise of social media, maybe it's the popularity of talk radio that has now morphed into podcasts and into YouTube channels. Maybe it's the ability nowadays to self publish a book. Where used to it it was hard to get a book published, now anybody can do it because you can self publish and print on demand. But whatever the reason, whatever the reason, it seems like in our culture that everybody feels like they can share their opinions about everything with anybody and everybody. Now, I'm a firm believer everybody is entitled to their own opinion.

I believe that. I just don't feel like we have the right to blast our opinions about everything to everybody. I think there's a time and a place maybe, but I think for the most part we need to learn to keep our opinions to ourselves. That's just my opinion.

That was perfect setup. I couldn't resist that. The other thing that I believe exacerbates what I just described is the number of decisions that people are making that's on public display that invites opinion. So what do you mean by that? Well, I mean things like.

Let me give you a couple examples. There's a show on hgtv and you know you're getting old when you sit down and the first thing you turn on is HGTV at night. Like that happens with me sometimes. I do it just for my wife. It's just for my wife.

And there's a show called House Hunters and they're looking for houses and they narrow it down to three. And then they're trying to decide what three, and they pick the house and we go, what an idiot. Like, why in the world would you choose House one? Everybody can see House three is the better choice, right? So they're making their decisions publicly, inviting the opinions of others.

Let me give you another example. All Football player. Football fans know in a couple of weeks, the NFL draft will happen. Well, nowadays the NFL draft is televised, and a lot of people gather and watch the NFL Draft. And we're screaming at the television because of the picks that different teams are making or the picks that, you know, our team is making that we don't agree with.

So we feel like we can just express our opinion about that. And we go on X and, you know, Instagram, whatever, and we broadcast our opinions. Another example would be the shows like American Idol and the Voice, where they actually invite you, like, text and vote. And we feel like we determine, we decide who's gonna win. And in a way, we do.

I don't know about you, but I'm really thankful that God did not ask us to vote on who he's going to use. Like, we don't get. We don't get to decide that. We don't get an opinion on that. Man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.

And I believe that if it were up to us, a lot of the people that God is using would not be used if we were to decide.

Are you tracking with me so far?

Now, I want to talk to you about the fact that you're God's first choice. You're his first choice. Now, the story that we just read, the beginning of Passion Week being today, Palm Sunday, was a monumental event in two ways. When Jesus rode that donkey into Jerusalem, there were two things that were happening. Number one, Jesus was declaring, again, I am the Messiah.

And number two, the people were affirming such. They were saying, we recognize you as the Messiah. But I gotta be honest with you, when I read the story, I would not have scripted it the way that we read it. Let me tell you why. If it were up to me, I would not have had Jesus riding on a donkey.

I would have had a gigantic Clydesdale, or I would have picked the most brilliant white stallion in all of Jerusalem to have the King of Kings sitting on to ride into Jerusalem. But God didn't ask me for my opinion about that. And there's a reason that God chose to have his son, Jesus, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, sitting on a donkey when he came into Jerusalem at the beginning of Passion Week, declaring, I am the Messiah. And the people saying, yes, you are the Messiah. There's a reason that he did that, because God wanted to send a message about being used by him.

That, number one, his choice is not based on prestige, but on humility.

The reason God picks to use People like us is not based on our prestige. It's based on our humility. Number two, that his choice is not based on talent or experience, but it's based on availability.

It's just simple people, common, ordinary people that say in the Hebrew the word, here am I. Like, I'm not the most talented, I'm not the most gifted, I'm not the best looking, but here am I. I make myself available to you. So as Jesus rides into Jerusalem, a massive crowd is there waiting on him. And they have their coats and their palm branches. Some of you may have grown up in a church where on Palm Sunday they handed out palm branches symbolic of when Jesus rode in.

They laid their coats on the road and they waved those palm branches. They laid down palm branches. There's a reason for that. You ever wondered about that? You ever wondered about those two things, the coats and the palm branches?

Well, the coats represent two things. I think it's important for you to understand. Why did they do that? Why did they lay their coats down on the road? Because they represent two things.

Number one, they represent identity. In the Old Testament, we go back to Genesis 12, we find the first time covenant is made between God and mankind. And it set a pattern so that from then on covenants were made. Families would make covenants with one another, and they would do that because they figured out that they were better together than they were separated. So one family who may be strong in agriculture would find another family that was strong in warfare.

And they would say, hey, you know what, we're good in agriculture, but we sink when it comes to warfare. So why don't we make covenant? Because you're really good in warfare, but you're horrible when it comes to growing stuff. So let's make covenant with each other and we'll be better together than we are separated. That was the concept of covenant.

And that process of making covenant involves several things where they would walk a trail of blood. They would exchange weapons saying, your enemies are now my enemies. My enemies are your enemies. It's where we get our whole pattern from wedding ceremonies. But one of the things that they would do in that process is they would exchange coats and they would say, my identity has now become your identity.

Your identity has. Has now become my identity. In other words, our identities are absorbed in each other. And so we form a new identity. The two now become one.

We're forming a whole new identity. It's like what the Bible says in 2nd Corinthians 5:17. If any man is in Christ, he's A new creature. Old things are passed away. All things are made new.

It's a new identity. How many of you are thankful for that? When we came into relationship with Jesus and he gave us a new identity, it's where we get the practice of the woman taking the man's name in the wedding ceremony. The two become one and they form a new identity. We read the story over in Mark, chapter 10, one chapter back.

If you go there in your Bible of a guy by the name of blind Bartimaeus. Blind. A blind man who was the son of Timaeus. And he's there in Jericho, and he hears about Jesus, and he's yelling, making a scene, yelling for Jesus. Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me.

And everybody's trying to get him to be quiet. And Jesus calls for him. And notice in verse 50 of Mark, chapter 10, it says this. Throwing his coat aside. Throwing his coat aside.

Why? Because he knew his identity was about to change. He wore this beggar's coat that identified him as someone who was poor and needy, someone who couldn't do anything for himself because of his blindness. But as soon as Jesus called his name, he throws his coat aside. Why?

Because he's like today. Everything changes. For me, my identity is about to change. When Pharaoh sent for Joseph in the prison. Joseph has been in prison now for several years, and Pharaoh sent for him.

And the Bible says there that Joseph shaved and he changed his clothes. He took off his prison clothes because he knew that that day everything was going to change for him. And all of a sudden, he's appointed as the prime minister of all of Egypt. So the coats. As the people are laying their coats on the road, as Jesus comes in on that donkey, they're putting their coats down and they're saying, my identity now is gonna be absorbed by you.

Like, my identity is gonna flow out of who you are. Isn't that powerful?

The second thing that coates represent is honor. It's an acknowledgment. It's a declaration that Jesus was the king of Kings, the promised Messiah. So Jewish people would wear a coat that was called a tallit, a prayer shawl. It was a seamless garment with four corners and attached to each corner.

Many of you know this were tassels that would remind the Jewish people of the laws of God, of the commandments of God. Nowadays, if you see an Orthodox Jewish person, you'll notice tassels hanging out from underneath their shirt or underneath their coat. And you'll see them. If you watch them, they'll touch Those tassels, five knots on those tassels that represent the first five books of the Bible. And they'll remind themselves of the commandments of God.

And so these Jewish people, as Jesus is coming into Jerusalem, are throwing their tolits, throwing their prayer shawls down. Another thing that's interesting about the toled is on the collar, in Hebrew letters, were the words Lord of Lords and King of Kings on the collar. And so what the people were saying there as they throw their toled down, they were acknowledging Jesus as the promised Messiah. They were declaring that Jesus was the one worthy to be called the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings. Do you realize every time that you worship, whether it be in your car on the way to work, whether it be in your house, standing at your kitchen sink preparing dinner or doing dishes, or whether it be when you come in here on a Sunday, every time that you worship, you are honoring the Lord as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Like, it's not just something we do to check the box. It's not just some religious activity that we do, because that's what we do when we come to church. No, it's an opportunity for you to do what the people were doing that day of laying their coats down and of saying, my identity is in you, and I align myself with you again, and I honor you today as the King of Kings and as the Lord of Lords.

Not only were they laying their coats down, but they were waving palm branches. And the palm branches represent two things as well. Number one, it was the celebration of victory back in King David's time, and palm branches were used to honor royalty. Isn't that beautiful? So they're waving these palm branches as Jesus comes in, and they're saying, you are the King.

You're the King of Kings. You're the Lord of Lords. See, listen, for some of you, you might think it's a stylistic thing when we lift our hands in worship, when we wave our hands to the Lord in worship. I think it goes way beyond that. I don't think it's a stylistic thing.

I don't think it's just a Pentecostal thing or a charismatic thing. I think it's a thing of honor to the Lord, of saying, God, we acknowledge there's nobody like you.

We worship you today. We honor you today.

Here's the second thing that the palm branches represented. It was representative of Jesus being worthy as the high priest. This is beautiful. I never knew this until I was studying for this message, but a palm tree takes 30 years to bear fruit.

And a man could not become a priest until he was 30 years old. Jesus started his public ministry at the age of 30. And so as the people are waving their palm branches, they're saying, you are our high priest. We acknowledge that you're the one. You're the sacrificial lamb.

Now, they had things a little mixed up. They're shouting, hosanna, Lord, save. But it wasn't in terms of, we need a savior to free us from the bondage of sin. No, what they were saying is we need somebody to free us from Roman oppression. And we believe you're the one who's going to do it.

You're writing in, and we acknowledge that there's nobody like you. And we're believing, we're hoping that you're the one who's going to free us from the oppression of the Romans. Either way, it was a monumental processional that would mark history. So let's go back to the donkey. Why was the donkey God's first choice?

Why would God choose to have his son Jesus ride in on a donkey? Here's a better question. Why in the world would God use somebody like me? Why would God use people like us? Why would he do that?

I want you to notice that nobody in the story that we read in Mark 11, nobody is focused on the donkey. There's no reporters who are trying to get an interview with the donkey. There's no paparazzi that are snapping photos of the donkey. Nobody's posting the donkey on Instagram. Nobody's making a big deal about the donkey.

And they're certainly not laying down their coats and waving palm branches for that animal. Yet he was God's pick. He was the first rounder. He was the first overall, and he fulfilled his purpose. I would say that all of us and those watching us today, either on the Pando app or watching online, I think all of us could compile a list of good reasons why God should not use us, why God should not pick us, why we don't qualify to be used for by God.

We don't qualify to carry Jesus, yet he still does. He still picks us. And as a matter of fact, this is kind of mind blowing to me, but he has need of us. He has need of us. Verse 3, we read.

He told the disciples, if anybody asks you what you're doing, just tell them the Master has need of it. Let me tell you, the Master has need of you. Has need of you and he picks you. That ought to make somebody just shout a little bit that ought to make you happy, that ought to make you glad that the King of kings picks you, that he needs you, that he uses us. The Lord has need of people today who understand their purpose.

Well, what does God pick us to do? Two things. Number one, he picks us. Elevate Jesus.

In our make a name for yourself culture, we're called to lift up his name. The donkey lifted Jesus up so that all of the crowd could see their king. Don't miss this. We're called to do the same thing. John, chapter 12, verse 32.

And when I am lifted up from the earth, Jesus says, will draw all people to myself.

Oh, for a generation that would be more consumed with making Jesus known than we are making a name for ourselves on TikTok or YouTube or can we get to the place that we promote Jesus without caring if anybody knows our name?

Can we just get to that place? And the Bible says his name is a strong tower. The Bible says demons tremble at the mention of his name. The Bible says in Philippians 2, at his name, at the mention of his name, every knee will bow and every tongue confess that he is Lord. Paul said, there's no other name in heaven or on earth by which men will be saved.

So why in the world are we so consumed with making a name for ourselves? Why are we so consumed with people knowing our name? Can we save anybody? Can we deliver anybody? Can we heal anybody?

Can we set captives free?

No. We're called to lift him up, to lift his name up. Yet in our culture, people are consumed with making a name for themselves. Oh, can we just be content to be a nameless donkey, that every day is consumed with the purpose of lifting Jesus up so that people will see him, that they'll make a big deal about him, like, won't even notice us? Can we just get to the point that we don't care if anybody notices us, that what thrills us more than anything is if through our life that we display Jesus in such a way that people go, I want to know Him.

I want to know your Savior. That should be our goal. That should be our driving passion. We should be completely consumed by that. Psalm 34, verse 3.

O magnify the Lord with me. Let us exalt his name together. Y' all still with me this morning?

Here's the second thing that we're called to do. And then we're going to pray. First, we're called to elevate Jesus. Lift him up so that in this world of chaos, in this world of division, in this world Full of opinions that people will just see Jesus, they'll see Jesus. Here's the second thing we're called to Move his Cause Forward.

Move his cause forward. Have you ever had anybody that approached you about helping you to accomplish something, but you somehow knew that they had an ulterior motive? Things have calmed down somewhat through my short lifespan, but I can remember a day that multi level marketing was much bigger than it is now. And some of you know what I'm talking about. And I was approached many, many times by people who wanted to help all of my dreams to come true.

Anybody know what I'm talking about? Or they wanted me to be a healthier version of myself and drink this, take these pills, whatever, and you're going to be so much healthier. And I knew maybe there was a part of them that really wanted all of my dreams to come true. Maybe there was a part of them that really wanted me to be a healthier version of myself. But I knew ultimately they wanted to build their downline.

Like they had an ulterior motive. And it's really they wanted all of their dreams to come true and they wanted me to help them achieve their dreams. There's a kingdom cause. There's a cause of Christ that we're called to advance in the earth. But we have a lot of deal makers today who want to help advance the cause of Christ.

But the true motive is that they want to become famous in the process.

It's like God, I really do want people to be saved. I really do want to advance your kingdom. But really a stronger drive on the inside of me is that somehow I'll become famous. I'll be the next Bryce Crawford. I'll be the next Forrest Frank or Jenny Allen.

And so I'm going to do this God, but we're making a deal. And if I do these things, then you owe me God, you owe me followers, and you owe me a platform. Oh, what a vile way for us to think when it comes to advancing the cause of Christ. The apostle Paul went to prison for the cause of Christ. He says in Philippians 1:13.

My imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole praetorium. Guard. And to everybody else. The donkey's job was to carry Jesus towards the cross, towards the fulfillment of his destiny. That was his purpose.

Just advance Jesus towards the cross. Advance him towards his destiny. Listen to me today. Our ambitions, our causes should always be overshadowed by his name and by his cause. We don't make deals with God.

We don't say God, I want to be used by you, Lord, I'll help advance your cause if. No, no, we just say God. This should be our prayer. God, today I just want to be a donkey. I want to be a donkey.

I want to be the nameless donkey that nobody's oohing and ah over, but that's just lifting you up and advancing your cause. That's it. That's who God's looking for. God's first choice is those people who will do those two things, who are just perfectly okay, perfectly content with just being about the father's business. And they don't care if anybody knows it.

They don't care if they get recognition for it. I'm sure many of you have heard the name Charles Finney, who was a great revivalist. And God used him powerfully in the late 1700s, early 1800s, he would go into cities and preach, and literally thousands of people would get saved. And a lot of people know the name Charles Finney. And a lot of people back then knew the name Charles Finney, but very few people back then, and it's different now because we've studied history, but very few people back then knew the name Daniel Nash.

Daniel Nash was the guy who would go in a week or two ahead of Charles Finney, and he would find a room. Sometimes he would rent a room at his own expense. He would lock himself in that room. And for a week or two, he would travail before the Lord in prayer for the upcoming crusade of Charles Finney. He would intercede for that city.

He would cry out for people to be set free and for people to. To meet Jesus. He was a nameless donkey. People didn't know about Daniel Nash. Nobody was bringing him up on the platform and recognizing Daniel Nash.

In fact, while the crusade was going on, Daniel Nash would be locked in that room interceding and praying. And then when the crusade was over, he was on to the next city without any accolades, without any affirmation.

I just Wonder now, in 2025, are there any Daniel Nash's left? Are there any people left who will say, God, I just want to serve you. I don't care if anybody knows about it.

You're God's first choice.

The Lord has need of you here at the beginning of this Passion Week. I wonder how many of us are willing to lay our coats down for Jesus and say, our identity flows out of who you are. I lose my identity with you. How many are willing to wave their palm branches and say, you really are my high priest. You really deserving of honor as royalty.

Would you bow your heads and close your eyes? Father, thank you today for this Palm Sunday. And thank you, God, for how you're moving as we begin Passion Week. As we approach such significant events with Good Friday, with the Resurrection Sunday one week away, God, on this day, on this Palm Sunday, I'm asking you to just arrest our hearts and help us to come face to face with the reality of maybe who we are, maybe who we're becoming. I pray that there would be a humility.

I pray that we would make ourselves available to you to say, God, it doesn't matter. Doesn't matter about our social media platform. It doesn't matter about somebody here at the church recognizing what we do. We just want to advance your cause. We just want to elevate you.

We want to make you known, want to make you famous. Lord, I pray today that that would be our heart's cry. There would be a people, God, here at the refuge that are just known for their humility, known for their willingness to lay their lives down for the cause of Christ.

People that are willing to just be nameless donkeys for you. Move on our hearts today. I pray in the mighty name of Jesus.