Pot Stirrer

We jokingly call others in my household pot stirrers when they bring up points of contention, throw out new ideas, or decide to address the elephant in the room. They are bringing to the forefront something which had settled to the bottom of the pot or tossing a new ingredient.
Think of a rich stew. Ingredients are held throughout, but if I just gaze at the pot from the top, I only see a few things. I don’t see what is actually all throughout the stew unless I grab my stirring spoon and stir away.
Remember, Jesus entered the city and it was stirred. The hearts of the people were rejoicing and yet, there was also stirring occurring – stirring of the elephant in the room, stirring in the new ingredients.
One of these new ingredients was in the temple. The temple, intended to be the house of God! Imagine if you were going to design and keep a house for God. How exquisite would you want it to be? How clean? How perfect? Yet, the stew pot had set there long enough that some of that newness, the excitement that carried the devotion had drifted to the bottom. While there, some of the ingredients got a bit burned.
“Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. ‘It is written,’ he said to them. ‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it at ‘den or robbers,’” (Matthew 21:12-23).
The house of prayer and the den of robbers – both have their roots in different verses. Jesus was calling back the words of Isaiah, “these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations,” (Isaiah 56:7). A house of prayer, what a wonderful title for a house! To pray, to communicate, to talk with God – to be in the very presence of God, a vastly amazing and precious thing was being subverted into the market place. He goes on to pull from Jeremiah, “Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching! declares the Lord,” (Jeremiah 7:11). What a transition from a house of prayer to a den of robbers.
Jesus acted as a pot stirrer that day. Not only did he see an issue, he acted. Sometimes the elephant in the room is overwhelming, a very difficult thing to address. Sometimes adding a new element to the stew is also very hard, what if it doesn’t take? Perhaps there are some burned bits at the bottom. Before the whole pot is ruined, can they be stirred up to the top and removed?
I feel as if I’m kind of in a pot stirring place right now. It’s not always terribly comfortable; some burned bits are sticking to the bottom; some new ingredients are resisting blending into the flavor. Yet, when I start thinking about me being the pot stirrer I realize that my focus is off. It is Jesus that is stirring the pot, mixing, removing the burned pieces, adding in refreshed parts. If you were stirred, what would come to the top?

The Stirring of the City

The donkey and the colt were brought to Jesus.  The disciples brought their cloaks and spread them out over them.  I wonder what the cloaks looked like.  I would imagine the donkey looked and smelled like a donkey.  But the cloaks, I wonder how many cloaks were put over that animal’s back.  The cloaks provided perhaps some sort of cushion for Jesus during the ride. 

A crowd gathered, the city was being stirred.  Think of the excitement, the stirring of the heart of the city as Jesus approaches.  “A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.  The crowds that went ahead of him…,”(Matthew 21:8-9).  Imagine, the excitement as people ran and cut the branches off.  The road itself must have been a fragrant green sward of leaves.  Clopping along, the donkey’s ears swiveling in rhythm to the sound of the crowd, I wonder how often Jesus reached up to scratch that fuzzy creature on the neck.  The colt, tending to stick close to it’s mothers side, might have nuzzled his leg as they walked along. 

The cheer went up among those that were following –

“‘Hosanna to the Son of David!

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!

Hosanna in the highest!’”

Matthew 21:9

The city was stirred, the hearts were stirred, it was a moment of jubilation.  It was a time of great celebration, of excitement that was contagious and the people asked, ‘Who is this?’

The answer came from the crowd, ‘This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”

What great excitement!  I think of my own heart and how God stirs it.  Sometimes, I am so amazed and blessed by God that my heart is stirred to the point of being ready to fling right out of the bowl.  Those times are precious.  Yet, there are other times when the stirring is not so pleasant, it may be a stirring to quiet or to listen, to turn from something chaining me, or to turn away from something taking my focus off of God.  The stirring, it brings things up from the bottom and presents it at the top.  If things are going to be stirred, what will come up?  The city was being stirred, what was going to come up? 

Obey in Trust and Respect

In high school, I remember a missionary speaker that came to church.  He spoke about a family on the mission field, in a tropic part of the world with giant poisonous snakes.  The son was playing in the house, the father came to the door and saw a deadly snake above his son’s head in the rafters. “Son, drop to your knees and crawl to me.”  The son did and it saved his life. 

I was struck with the obedience of the son, but also the trust building that the father had done prior to that point.  If the son did not trust or respect the authority of his father, he would not have most likely behaved as asked.  Instead, he may have questioned and in those moments, the snake could have struck and bit, injecting poison.

The disciples followed Jesus and grew in their respect and trust of him.  However, I wonder how hard it was for them to obey when they did not fully understand what was going on.  The instructions were given, go and get the donkey and the colt.  This wasn’t heading to an auction or market where these animals would be bought.  Instead it was to go and get them, they belong to God.  Can’t you just imagine the authority and assurance in the voice of Jesus at that phrase?

Still, these men had to make a decision.  They could question or obey, argue or obey, disregard or obey, ignore or obey.  Boiling down to the distilled version – they could disobey or obey.  What did they do?

“The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them,” (Matthew 21:6). 

Obedience, built from trust and respect for that authority.  Okay – but what about obedience when we don’t understand God?  How well do I obey when I don’t get it, when I don’t understand why or how or when?  Do I go and do as instructed or do I question, argue, disregard, ignore, and disobey? 

While I wish I could say that I am always obedient, it is something that I keep striving for. 

Fulfilled

A donkey and a colt, prophesied by Zechariah came true.

“Rejoice greatly, o Daughter of Zion!

Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem

See, your king comes to you,

righteous and having salvation,

gentle and riding on a donkey,

on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

Zechariah 9:9

All planned in advance, far in advance, every detail was set to fall in place.  This wasn’t some guy down the street noticing that the disciples of Jesus were picking up a donkey and colt for use.  This was long before any of those people were even born! God’s details are so well planned that they are set up long before the guests are even invited. 

Jesus was preparing to enter Jerusalem.  But, even how he was about to enter was a detail in a very carefully planned moment.

“‘Say to the Daughter of Zion,

See, your king comes to you,

gentle and riding on a donkey

on a colt, the goal of a donkey.’”

The king is coming!  All of long planned parts were falling into place.

Preparation

Have you ever prepared for a party?  It takes a lot of planning, especially the larger it gets.  Numbers, resources, invitations, all the parts must fall into place at just the right moment.  With experience, forethought, and attention to detail it can appear to those in attendance that everything is effortless. 

Coordination, attention to detail, every little part fitting in – sounds like a great job for the ultimate planner!  God, who planned the very creation of everything had a plan with every detail.  One was a donkey and a colt.

“As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, ‘Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her.  Untie them and bring them to me.  If anyone says anything to you, tell him that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away,’” (Matthew 21:1-3).

Details are starting to show themselves for the upcoming events – in this case, involving a donkey and a colt.  It’s rather a comfort knowing that God is in such minute details, with such confidence.  I can’t say that I always approach every detail of my life with that kind of confidence.  Instead, it is too often that I try to rely on myself and end up missing important details.  What a wonderful thing it is that God’s details are perfectly planned, perfectly timed, and with every piece in place.