Palm Sunday: Faith That Receives, Responds, Remains

And the greatest palm reading we need is being reminded of the truths that we have in you, that the power of our faith, God, is not dependent upon us. It's dependent upon you. And so we choose to have faith in you. We choose holy spirit to allow you to fill us with faith because faith is the one that always chooses what we need over what we want. Fill us with faith so we can respond and obey every bit of your word, even the parts we don't like, god. Fill us with faith to make room for you in our life, to allow you into every space. Fill us with faith, god, so we can stay close even when it's hard. [01:10:14] (59 seconds)  #FillMeWithFaith

And they go. They don't question. They don't want I'm sure they're wondering, like, what the heck? You want me to go steal a donkey for you, Jesus? Yeah. I do, actually. But they don't question it. They don't even they they just he speaks, they respond. Yeah. And faith responds immediately to the voice of god. They heard his word, they obeyed his word, and they watched his word prove true in their life. Faith is not some mystical, dramatic, over complicated way. Faith is actually really simple. God speaks. We obey. God moves. Period. End of discussion. [00:50:32] (52 seconds)  #ObeyHisVoice

Faith receives the king you need, not just the king you want. The people shouted, Hosanna, which means save now. And they were not wrong to cry out. They were desperate. They were oppressed. They were longing for rescue, for the king to come and save them. They wanted Jesus to save them from Rome, but Jesus came to save them and us from sin. They wanted political freedom, but Jesus came to bring them and us an eternal freedom. They wanted this immediate relief, but Jesus came to bring ultimate redemption. And sometimes, we do the exact same thing. [00:46:30] (52 seconds)  #ReceiveTheKing

So faith's not pretending you have doubts. It's bringing our doubts to Jesus and staying close anyway. It's not this fake positivity. It's not pretending everything's fine. It's not just stuffing down the grief and just calling it trust. Faith is not even ignoring pain. Faith brings everything to god and then chooses to stay close no matter what. See, Palm Sunday is not just a story about palm branches and crowds and a donkey. It's the story about a king beginning the journey that leads us to the cross and ultimately an empty tomb. [01:05:34] (41 seconds)  #HonestFaith

And I'm afraid that in our day and time, we have sometimes this emotional excitement on a Sunday or when things are going good, and it's easy to have faith. But I wonder if we would choose to have enduring faith. That's much harder. Anybody can wave a palm and shout hosanna when it looks exciting and that Jesus is going to do exactly what we think. But what about when it gets dark? What about when the prayer isn't answered? Because real faith is not loud all the time. Real faith is not always confident. Real faith is sometimes desperate, honest, even struggling. [01:00:52] (55 seconds)  #EnduringFaith

Because, see, it's possible for us to admire Jesus and still keep him at a distance. It's possible to sing about Jesus, to sing about the king of kings and the lord of lords that will praise you anywhere, that will we know that the battle's already won, that you are the victor, that you are the one who's wearing the crown. It's possible to sing about Jesus but still not be surrendered to Jesus. But real faith opens the door wide, not because it's this magical thing. It's not that it manipulates god. It just says, god, I trust you enough to let you in to every space of my life and my heart. [00:58:05] (50 seconds)  #SurrenderEverything

I'm not asking you to question your salvation because the bible is very clear that when we believe in our heart and we confess it with our mouth that Jesus is lord and savior of our life, we are saved. That is secure. But there should be evidence in our life where the Holy Spirit is at work, where we are obeying and wanting to obey the ways of God in our life. Faith is obedience. Faith responds to the voice of God. The bible says, if you love me, you will obey me. Not when we agree not just when we agree with it, not just when we want to, not just when it feels good, we are to obey even when it hurts. [00:54:51] (39 seconds)  #FaithEqualsObedience

Faith makes room for Jesus and stays really close even after the excitement. And that's the tension of the Palm Sunday experience and our life as believers. Because, see, Palm Sunday was exciting. It was the parade of all parades. They thought Jesus was there to take over the government and save them in the moment. And once they realized that he wasn't gonna do what they thought, they turned on him. And so Palm Sunday is exciting, but Good Friday is not. A lot of people loved Jesus in the parade, but not very many stayed close in the pain and the darkness that followed the next few days. [00:59:52] (60 seconds)  #StayCloseAfterTheParade