Twenty-Seventh Day of Lent

Twenty-Seventh Day of Lent

Friday, March 31, 2017

A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowd went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,
“Hosanna to the Son of David!
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest!”
Matthew 21:8-9

We really are “crowd” people, aren’t we? There is such safety in numbers, and even when the happenings are good, it is comforting to have others around us who are of like mind. We can imagine ourselves in this wonderful Palm Sunday parade, joining the other voices in praise of the Son of David.

Isn’t that somewhat like what we do on Sunday? We come into the sanctuary with the people we know, sitting in the seats we always sit in, looking like we always look, and we sing joyfully, “Here I am Lord,” or “Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee,” or “How Great Thou Art.” No threat. Everyone is on the same page of the hymn book and of the bulletin.

But would we as quickly join a parade on Palm Sunday and walk to Old Homosassa singing, “The King is Coming?” Would we even put ribbons on our cars and ride up Highway 19 to Crystal River on Easter, blowing our horns, with loud speakers blaring, “Christ the Lord is Risen Today?”

I am sad because I think we would not. People just don’t do things like that in Citrus County! A little later in this chapter, the text tells us that the authorities of the temple were indignant at the demonstrations of joy. Perhaps we think that our sheriff would also look askance at such demonstrations.

But I wonder what God would think.

Prayer: Father, free us from worrying about what people think when we want to praise you. Cause us to ask instead what you think. Amen.

And He Set His Face toward Jerusalem. . . .

A Lenten Devotional Guide
prepared for Homosassa United Methodist Church, Spring 2007,
by Patience Nave, Christian Education Coordinator