How to stand up for the King
Scripture Reading: Luke 19: 35 - 40 (NIV)
They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road. When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”
“I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”
Message: How to stand up for the King
To stand up for what you believe in
What does it look like when you stand up for your faith today?
Palm Sunday is about the day when Jesus’ followers proclaimed that they honour their Rabbi as the King
They sacrificed to honour Jesus (cloaks)
There was joy that was expressed publically
They remembered the Scriptures and what was said about Jesus
But in today’s secular world, it is a different story to stand up for what you believe in publically
It is an art to state what you believe without “offending” anyone around you
Where do we find the right balance between aggressively forcing our beliefs on the one hand and avoiding any sharing because of a lack of confidence
Sadly, the church has a history of being over-aggressive in enforcing its beliefs - think residential schools…
And being called out for this aggression, the church tended to swing to the other side of the pendulum - putting its head in the sand
On this Palm Sunday, we are called to reflect on how we share our faith in this world
I trust this will be a process of reflection for you…
How do I share my faith with my closest family so that they can benefit from it?
How do I share what I believe with my friends and colleagues without offending them?
How do I bear the label of being a Christian in this world in way that will benefit the kingdom of our Lord and not harm it?
We can take some clues from what happened on Palm Sunday to help us with this
We can stand up for the King today by:
Giving sacrifices
Palm Sunday is known for the palms being laid down in front of the Lord, but they also laid down their cloaks on the colt and before it
They did not mind the cost of the opportunity to honour their King
What am I willing to sacrifice for my Lord today?
I saw a video of a church that is running a drive this year to give a sacrifice for Palm Sunday - they are bringing something of value, something that is a real sacrifice to donate for the benefit of someone in need
We don’t have a drive like that today, but that does not prevent us from sacrificing something of value to honour our King with
Take the time today - with the picture of cloaks on a colt in your mind - to reflect on what you are willing to sacrifice for your Lord
Be joyful
Reading the story of Palm Sunday in the gospels gives a sense of the joy they had that day
There was no pretence of reservation, they were just joyful to celebrate their King
I sometimes wonder what happened to the joy of Christians today…
Why do we need to be so serious?
Why does the youth see Christians as angry? (Think of all the protests of how Christians tell the world how wrong they are)
Do we really need to see everything we disagree with as an existential threat?
Why are we so easily offended by things we don’t agree with?
Why do we get so upset when we don’t get our way?
It is possible to have strong opinions and still be joyful!
Palm Sunday is an opportunity for us to stop taking ourselves too seriously and be joyful again…
Do not hold back
To make such a public statement of celebrating your Rabbi as the King coming into Jerusalem was pretty daring
No room for holding back
No caution for what might happen (this parade was probably the last straw that led to the execution of Jesus)
We tend to be so cautious in expressing our faith
We don’t want to offend or show disrespect
I sometimes wonder if it is not more a case of low confidence in expressing our faith
Reading the story of Palm Sunday, I am inspired by the boldness of the people in expressing their joy and their faith
I can certainly grow in being more bold in expressing my faith
Know the Bible
The people were shouting on Palm Sunday: “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”
It is a quote from Psalm 118: 26
Now it might be debatable if they really understood exactly what kind of a King Jesus was, but they made the connection that their Rabbi was their King
In a sense, their faith was about the connections they made with the Scriptures
They listened to a Rabbi laying out the Scriptures for them
And here they were, shouting out a quote from the Scriptures
I know we can grow in our knowledge of the Scriptures
I know we can learn more about God’s Word
I know we can make more connections between the Bible and the world we live in today - even if the connections we make are not perfect
Commit to reading the Word of God more… Read a book… Listen to a podcast… Get the Bible app…
Share the Word
Those people share the Word of God for everyone to hear on Palm Sunday
It was as if the news was too good not to be shared
The word “Gospel” literally means “good news”
Good news is meant to be shared
We can grow in the way we share the good news
We can learn to share our experiences of our faith more
We can learn to tell stories of faith more
Share your faith
On this Palm Sunday, may we stand up for the King in a way that serves his kingdom!
May we realize today how to give of ourselves for our Lord
May we serve our Lord with joy
May we grow in being more bold expressing our faith
May we grow in our knowledge of God’s Word and the connections we make with God’s Word
And may we find the confidence to share God’s Word
In the Spirit of Palm Sunday, may we stand up for our King!
Comments
Add your comment