One week from today is Palm Sunday. Our shelter in place order will keep us from gathering next Sunday as we normally would. Sometimes it feels like everything is out of our hands, out of our control. We may begin to wish we had never seen such times.

This is how the character Frodo Baggins feels in The Lord of the Rings series. Frodo and his companions are on a quest that is just beginning. Thus far it has not gone well. They are stuck in a massive, ancient mine that is overrun with enemies when Frodo expresses his dismay saying, “I wish none of this had happened.”

One week from today is Palm Sunday. Our shelter in place order will keep us from gathering next Sunday as we normally would. Sometimes it feels like everything is out of our hands, out of our control. We may begin to wish we had never seen such times.

This is how the character Frodo Baggins feels in The Lord of the Rings series. Frodo and his companions are on a quest that is just beginning. Thus far it has not gone well. They are stuck in a massive, ancient mine that is overrun with enemies when Frodo expresses his dismay saying, “I wish none of this had happened.”

Here is the schedule of worship services and other events during Holy Week.

Sunday, April 14

Palm Sunday Worship at 9:30 AM

Easter Egg Hunt Preparations at 11:00 AM (no Adult Bible Study)

Thursday, April 18

Maundy Thursday Worship at 7:00 PM at Faith Lutheran in Pleasant Hill(No service at First Lutheran)

Friday, April 19

Good Friday Worship at 7:00 PM (at First Lutheran)

Saturday, April 20

Community Easter Egg Hunt at 4:00 PM

Sunday, April 21

Easter Sunday Worship at 9:30 AM

Easter Brunch served by the Elders at 11:00 AM (no Adult Bible Study)

Palm Sunday is one of the few Sundays during the year where there isn’t a sermon. In part this is so that we take the time to listen to the entire narrative of Thursday and Friday of Holy Week, so that we reflect upon Jesus’ anguish in Gethsemane, His arrest, His trial, His suffering, His time on the cross, and His death.

This is certainly important, but it’s at the expense of not spending much time focused on the events of Palm Sunday itself. There are very few events recorded by all four Gospel writers (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). Mark doesn’t cover Christmas. John doesn’t cover Jesus’ temptation, Jesus’ Transfiguration, or the Last Supper. Only one miracle is covered by all four (the feeding of the 5,000). Jesus’ suffering and death are recorded by all four, but even Jesus’ resurrection is only pronounced by Mark. Jesus doesn’t actually appear risen from the dead in Mark’s Gospel.

But each writer covers Palm Sunday and Jesus procession into Jerusalem as He rides on a donkey. Each author tells the story a little bit differently, but we see a crowd gathered that shouts “Hosanna!” which means “save us now.”

What the people shouting “Hosanna!” wanted was an earthly salvation, a deliverance from a political occupation that left the Jewish nation as second-class citizens in their own land. Jesus did not deliver what they expected or wanted. Jesus delivered what they needed: salvation from sin and death.

This is often true in our lives. We shout “Hosanna!” to Jesus hoping to be saved from one thing or another. And Jesus always delivers. He always saves us, but sometimes we don’t realize exactly what we need to be saved from. Sometimes we don’t realize that God is constantly working to save us from all sorts of evils.

It is at this point that the Lord’s Prayer becomes so important, as we pray both “Thy will be done,” and “Deliver us from evil.”

As we enter Holy Week, we pray Thy will be done, Lord. Thy will be done to save us from the evils that we don’t even realize are at our doorstep. Hosanna! Save us now.

God’s blessings on your week.

Pastor Andy