Love Under Pressure: The Way of Peace

But here's where the story deepens for us because we know something that the crowd doesn't fully understand yet. This moment of celebration is happening on the road to the cross. Jesus is now entering Jerusalem, and he's not entering Jerusalem in order to take up a throne. He's entering Jerusalem to give away his life, and Jesus knows this. He knows that the cheers will not last. He knows that the energy is going to shift. He knows those cheers will soon turn to jeers. [00:52:42] (47 seconds)  #RoadToTheCross

And Jesus, Jesus chooses something entirely different. Jesus chooses a donkey. Now in our world, that might not seem like that big of a statement, but in the ancient world, in the biblical world, it meant everything because a king riding on a war horse meant conquest. A king riding on a donkey meant peace. Zechariah nine nine says, see, your king comes to you gently gently riding on a donkey, and this is Zechariah nine nine being lived out right in front of them. [00:46:30] (42 seconds)  #KingOfPeace

Jesus knows that the pressure is about to increase on the disciples in ways that they cannot even imagine. And still, even still, Jesus keeps going. He does not turn away. He does not choose a different path. He stays on the road, and this is the way of peace. He knows all of this, and he still goes. This is the way of peace. You see, the peace of Christ is steady and grounded. The peace of Christ is rooted in trust. It is the kind of peace that walks straight into the hardest of moments with love and compassion. That love is for you and for me. [00:53:29] (53 seconds)  #SteadyPeace

No one ever promised we would have a bed of roses when we decided that we would follow Jesus. And so we praise because we are anchored. We are anchored by the grace that God has given us through his son, Jesus Christ, even when we're walking towards something that we fully don't understand. And so as we enter Holy Week, as we move from this moment of celebration into this sacred week, into the upper room, into the cross, into the silence of the tomb, the invitation is to not rush ahead. It's so tempting to go straight from Palm Sunday to Easter morning and skip all the hard stuff, but let's not skip it. [00:56:32] (51 seconds)  #AnchorInGrace

When choosing the way of Jesus might stand out in a way that we do not plan to stand out, And that's why Palm Sunday is personal because the question underneath all of it or as we would say, the hard question of the day is, what do we do with our faith when our faith feels risky, when we have to put it all on the line? Or what do we do with our praise, Our praises when life is filled with pressure. Anybody here ever have pressure in your life? Yeah. I'm not the only one, and we choose to praise god in the midst of the storm, in the midst of the pressure. [00:50:54] (58 seconds)  #PraiseInTheStorm

Now let's pause right there because that could feel like that's like small details. We know that part of the story we just do, but actually, it's big. It's huge. Jesus is being intentional. He's not just entering Jerusalem. He's choosing how he will enter Jerusalem, but it's because he knows what people are expecting. They are expecting a king, but they're expecting a certain kind of king, a king who comes in strength, a king who comes in to overthrow, a king who comes with power and looks like dominance. [00:45:48] (42 seconds)  #NotTheExpectedKing

The way of peace says that we can trust that god is always present. In fact, god is right here, right now with all of us in Mooresville, Indiana in your life and mine. And maybe that's where the praise comes back into the story because praise at its core is not about everything going right. I mean, it is easy to praise God when everything is going right. Praising God also is about us anchoring ourselves in God's goodness, in God's presence and God's faithfulness because every day is not going to feel perfect. [00:55:51] (41 seconds)  #PraiseAnchorsUs

But Luke, as he so often does, he invites us to slow down just enough to see what's really happening underneath the surface because this is not just a parade. This is a turning point. And more than that, this is love under pressure choosing the way of peace. So let's just step into that moment, that first Palm Sunday. Jesus is approaching Jerusalem. Before he enters the city, he sends two disciples ahead with some very specific instruction. He tells them to go into the village, and they do, and they find a colt that's never been ridden, and he tells them to untie it and bring it to him. [00:45:03] (44 seconds)  #SlowDownAndSee