Luke 19:28-40 page 1

Palm Sunday - the day when some intrepid churches parade around the streets and maybe inside the sanctuary with a donkey. I can never bring myself to want to do that, because I cannot get out of my mind a certain infamous episode of [the British children's TV series] Blue Peter when Lulu the elephant caused mayhem and left her mark on the studio. [Click here for a video clip.] Yes, I was a child at the time and was watching that day.

Or as a preacher you sometimes have a more serious and maybe cynical attitude to preaching on Palm Sunday. You know full well that there will be people in most congregations who are happy to turn out for the celebratory theme of Palm Sunday and a week later for the joy of Easter Day, but who will not come near worship on Good Friday, with its theme of the suffering Christ, even if they're not at work. Some people in our churches want the praise without the pain. So a preacher may want to downplay the brightness of Palm Sunday in favour of the shadow of the Cross.

All that is quite legitimate, and is often the right thing to do. However if that meant we never paid attention to the joy, the praise, and the celebration of Palm Sunday, then we would also miss out on something important.

So this year I want to think about Palm Sunday in terms of what it tells us about praise and worship. To do this, I am going to take three phases of the story as Luke tells it - the donkey, the crowd, and the stones.

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Copyright © David D Faulkner, 2006 except where other sources are attributed or noted as inspiration.