Pageantry

I was talking with my cousin earlier this week and we were reminiscing about our childhood memories of the traditional services held in the Catholic church on Palm Sunday and during the ensuing Holy Week between Palm Sunday and Easter.  I mentioned how I miss the pageantry that really helped to not only draw me into the service but also give me a deeper sense of the significance to what Jesus went through.  We also had a good laugh as we recalled a service, that apparently both of our family’s attended, when our great uncle Frank seemed to get carried away with his vocal and emotional participation in the group readings of the passion of Christ when Jesus was brought before Pilate.

My cousin recollected the palm leaves that were given to each member of the congregation as they entered the service and how she would place it in a prominent place in her bedroom to remind her of the service throughout the next year.  I recalled the procession of the choir in their flowing blue robes as they marched in, carrying majestic palm branches and singing their way down the long middle aisle of the theater like setting in the Baptist church where Piper and I were married. 

But I have to admit, that after we left that church at the end of 1982 and joined the ranks of different charismatic and/or Pentecostal fellowships, I never saw any of the pageantry on Palm Sunday or during Holy Week again… at least in the churches we attended.

I thought about Palm Sunday again this morning as Fiver and I were out for our morning walk.  I had been thinking previously about all the changes that Piper and I, and really just about all of us, have had to adapt to over the years.  Things like changes in jobs, or churches, or neighborhoods or even working or living conditions, or in the attitudes or respect or favor that we have with others… and that’s what I zeroed in on in my thoughts about Palm Sunday today.

On Palm Sunday Jesus entered Jerusalem as a celebrity to the people.  In most of their minds He was the conquering hero, the One who was going to re-establish the Jewish Kingdom and rule of the earth.  They crowded on the sides of the street as He came through, waving palm branches and laying some down on the street for Him to walk on and “cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.” (John 12:13 KJV)

Everything was going great, everyone was behind Jesus and everyone carried about a sense of hopefulness of what they thought was going to happen in their very near future…  but then, less than a week later… everything changed!  Jesus suddenly went from being everyone’s hero, to everyone’s condemned convict.  One moment Jesus’ popularity was at the top of the charts and the next, He was standing in the King’s court being unjustly condemned to death.

Have you every had times like that in your life?  When everything looks wonderful and all of a sudden, the floor seemed to drop out from under you?  I’ve definitely been there over the last few years!  I think that we all have had, to varying degrees, changes that were unexpectedly thrown upon us that we were forced to deal with.

In reflecting upon all the changes that Piper and I went through over the years, including her untimely promotion to heaven following a long battle with Alzheimer’s, I could plainly see that our first defense and how we handled just about every change… big or little… was always, without a doubt, based on our attitude or more distinctly said… on what we were EXPECTING to happen!

Since her passing, I’ve discovered that I hear Piper’s voice speaking to me through the underlined and circled portions of her favorite scriptures in her various Bibles.  And as I think about dealing with changes, I go in my mind’s eye to page 982 in her King James Rhema Study Bible (of which I have an identical copy with a black leather cover in difference to her burgundy), where the prophet Jeremiah speaks the Lord’s encouraging words to us saying, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” 

I vividly recall her speaking this scripture on many occasions throughout the years of our relationship.  I’m pretty sure that all four of our kids not only have this verse memorized, but highlighted in their Bibles as well!  If you knew her, then you automatically had the sense of how she would handle just about any change that was incurred.   

One immediately understood that she was going to EXPECT what she knew to be the truth of God’s Word to have the final say in our circumstances.  She’d slip over to Philippians 4:13 and confess, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” And before you could catch your next breath she would continue with a confident and peace-filled tone of voice and declare, “for I know that my God shall supply all our need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (both KJV)

And once she firmly established what she was EXPECTING and from Whom she was EXPECTING the answer, she’d say, “Let’s pray!”  Her child-like faith was most definitely a force to be reckoned with!  But you know?  We just learned to live that way and not allow ourselves to be blown away when sudden changes appeared before us.  As I read the story of Jesus’ triumphant procession on Palm Sunday and then witness how the atmosphere in the city totally did a 180 degree change… I can’t help but smile to see that Jesus’ demeanor, his patience and His trust in His Father never wavered… even though the emotions of those around him seemed to be completely out of control.

You see… Jesus knew the outcome from the beginning!  His EXPECTATIONS were totally secure in His understanding of the truth of God’s Word… and THE GOOD NEWS is that WE TOO can know the answers even before the changes pop up.  Like those favorites of Piper’s in the book of Philippians chapter four, His ability, His promises and His answers are ours for the taking!  But it all begins with our EXPECTING His best for us.  With that EXPECTATION under our belts, as we go into any difficult situation, we can face it without fear and confusion, keep a level head and pray for and then follow His directions… all without freaking out!

So yeah… I miss the pageantry of Palm Sunday services.  All the drama, the pizazz and all the wonder it brings to me makes me to remember the BIGNESS of the ability of my God available to me in my life! 

Wouldn’t you agree?

Do me a favor and ponder all of this as we come to the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus on this Easter Sunday!  I’m always AWESTRUCK by what He did for us! 

How about you?