Lent Devotions from Church Street UMC
Sunday, March 24, 2024
By Rev. Tim Best, Senior Associate Pastor
Look Around
Read: Mark 11:1-11
“The king shall come when morning dawns and light triumphant breaks,
When beauty gilds the eastern hills and life to joy awakes.
And let the endless bliss begin by weary saints foretold,
When right shall triumph over wrong and truth shall be extolled.”
“Morning Song,” a hymn by John Brownlie, 1907
My first memory of attending a parade was the annual “Jubilee” in mid July in my hometown. I remember the convertibles and the fire trucks filled with smiling people throwing candy. It was a celebration!
That’s what parades are supposed to be all about. Palm Sunday begins with a celebratory parade. Once Jesus arrives in the heart of the city he goes to the temple. While there, Mark tells us he “looked around.” Every Palm Sunday we focus upon the grand entrance into Jerusalem. We dress our children up and give them palm branches, and sometimes tambourines, and have them march around the church. We shout “Hosanna” and “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”
Do we look around? As we begin this Holy Week let us take time. Let us look around. We look at the story of each day of this week. We look at the ways Christ’s Lordship seeks to transform and renew our lives. When Christ looks around your life, what does he see? When you look around our church, what, and who, do you see? Keep your eyes open this week. Look around and see where it is that God is leading.
Prayer
Gracious and loving Lord, as you journeyed to the temple, journey with us this week. Open our eyes and our hearts that we can see and hear where you are speaking and leading in our lives. Give us the courage to follow you through this week and show us how to live with the same love, humility, and compassion that you displayed in your trial and passion. Amen.
