Maundy Good Palm Day
An odd worship experience this morning. Today is Palm Sunday, the day we celebrate Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Palm Sunday is a tense day of the church year. It is filled with hollow celebration because of an undercurrent of knowing something is about to go terribly wrong for Jesus.
We’re Easter people. We know how the story ends and why it has to happen this way. Yet every year part of us roots for Jesus to live. We know Jesus is unjustly crucified and want it to end like a movie: God sweeps down from the sky saving Jesus and establishing Him as an earthly ruler. Palm Sunday is as close to that happy dream ending as we come.
Even though we know what will happen later this week, even though we know how it all turns out, we need to celebrate Palm Sunday. It is an important part of the Lenten journey. But apparently many people aren’t taking the time to observe Lent. Well, at least not in my church.
Today we celebrated a mixture of Palm Sunday + Maunday Thursday + Good Friday. The only reason I can figure our traditionalist Pastor chose to do this is that the body of the congregation isn’t observing the Maunday Thursday and Good Friday portions of the Easter story. They are going from the celebration of Palm Sunday to the celebration of Easter without the reflective, sad, painful stops in between.
People have to know what happens on Thursday and Friday, otherwise Easter means nothing! So it is good that the church makes sure they get a taste of the whole week on the one day they come, Palm Sunday. And our usual service was unusually packed today. People come to church for Easter and Christmas, but at least they’re coming! And as a church it is important to help everyone understand the immensity of Easter, especially those who don’t come regularly.
Lord Jesus, make me let go of my old ways so that I do not stand in the way of your Word. I know I like Holy Week the “old way” best, but the old way is gone. Help me get over the format of worship and just worship! Amen
