Ride On, King Jesus!

Scripture

^{Luke 19:37-19
37} As [Jesus]  was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, ³⁸ saying,

“Blessed is the king
    who comes in the name of the Lord!
Peace in heaven,
    and glory in the highest heaven!”

³⁹ Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.” ⁴⁰ He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”   (NRSV)

Devotion

This time last week, I was mentally preparing myself for the grief preaching to a camera on Palm Sunday morning.  There would be no procession of palms.  No shouts of "Hosanna" to greet me.  No children getting chastised for annoying each other with their branches.  This grief compelled me to join other pastors who were calling folks to take pictures of them waving whatever branch they could find.  I wasn't sure what the response would be, but I figured that it was at least something to try.

I have been amazed by the number of responses that our friends at First United Methodist and we received.  Some people sent pictures of the branches hanging on their doors.  Others provided images of themselves or their children waving ferns or flowers.  A few fun souls typed emojis into the comments box as Rev. Kalish and I streamed our worship service.   Our choir members shouted their "Hosannas" by singing parts of our Palm Sunday cantata in their homes.  These acts are just what people in our congegations did.  Last night, I watched pastors around the world joyfully post images and videos of Christians waving their palms in all sorts of ways.  As I scrolled through posts, my heart swelled with the knowledge that despite all the ways that COVID-19 has managed to disrupt our lives, Christians are still finding ways to welcome King Jesus among us.  
 

All these pictures remind me of Jesus's conversation with the Pharisees on that first Palm Sunday.  As the disciples paraded through the city streets, they shouted about Jesus's great deeds of power and yelled, "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the LORD."  This kind of declaration was an act of protest...possibly even outright sedition.The Pharisees were scared, because the Roman appointed King Herod and his soldiers was also in town.  If Herod got wind of what was happening, this joyful parade would turn into a bloodbath.   The Pharisees tell Jesus to make his people stop.  Don't they know that lives that are at stake?

What the Pharisees don't realize is that not even the power of Herod can stop Jesus and his followers.  The time has come to shout Christ's message in the streets and from the rooftops.  Even if the  disciples were to quit yelling, others would take up the chorus.  The stones themselves were ready to share the good news about King Jesus.  King Herod and his cronies would just have to get used to the noise.

In this time of uncertainty, it is good to know that Jesus's words to the Pharisees remain true.  The coronavirus may have silenced our pews and sanctuaries, but our doors and text messages and Facebook pages are still shouting the Good News to anyone who will listen.  Our lives testify to it.  Indeed, some of us are sharing our faith in ways that we wouldn't have even considered a few weeks ago.  As we do so, King Jesus keeps riding on towards glory.
Nothing the world can throw at him--no man, no virus, no stay-at-home order--can hinder his journey.

This Holy Week, let's do our best to keep shouting about the good and mighty deeds of King Jesus.  Our message may not always be popular, but it must be shared.  We can trust that when we join this strange and courageous parade, will will reach our final goal.   

 

Prayer

Thank you, Jesus, for riding into our lives and sharing the goodness of God.  Help us keep finding creative ways of shouting your praises in the days ahead.  Amen.