The King is Here...Are We Awake? - Palm Sunday - Pastor Eric Skelton

The crowds were cheering for Jesus on Palm Sunday, but they completely missed who He really was. They wanted a king who would stay on the donkey and keep moving - not one who would get off and walk into their lives to turn on the lights. Are you a fan of Jesus or a true follower? The King is here, but are we awake enough to see Him? This Holy Week, don't let the parade pass by without being changed.

At The Neighborhood Church, we believe faith is lived out in everyday rhythms of love, grace, and purpose. Learn more and connect with us at https://theneighborhoodchurch.com/

Transcript

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But it's Palm Sunday. The title of this morning is we're gonna say the king is here. Are we awake? You know, watching the little video about the triumphal entry, and we hear the stories of people waving the palm branches and laying them down and throwing their cloaks down on the on the ground as Jesus is coming in. As a kid, I just imagine what this may have looked like or what it would have sounded like. And we think about, oh, what a great parade. Anybody anybody gone to a parade before? Maybe you've been in a parade or witnessed a parade. Everybody's focused on what's coming down the street, right? Until the horses, and then it's like, ooh. I would hate to be the guys behind the horses. That was yeah. Anyway, um, everybody's focused, and the parade's fun. It's exciting. But I have to imagine, I have to think that as all of these folks are waving, there were probably some in the crowd going, hmm, hmm. I'm not sure this is all like are we in the right, is this the right thing happening? I'm not so sure. It's kind of like going to the big game, and you're watching, you're participating, you got your jersey on, you're excited, the big game's happening, and you step out to go buy your$12 hot dog, and you miss like the big play. You miss the big shot, right? I think there were folks in the crowd who were there for the big game, for the big show, but they missed the big shot. In other words, the king was right there, they were in his presence, but they didn't see it. Does that make sense? You're at the stadium, you've got the jersey on, but you've missed the moment. I think that happens, unfortunately, a lot. The hosannas are loud, the palm branches are waving, but the scary truth is that most people, many people, miss Jesus when he's standing right in front of them. Let's uh let's kind of help set the scene a little bit. Uh, I'm gonna use the the living Bible translation. I think it fit it fit well for this morning. But in Matthew chapter 21, verse nine, it says this the crowds were shouting. The crowds were shouting, God bless him, help him, Lord, God bless the king of Israel. Hail to God's chosen one. It's loud, it's it's festive, it's the parade, it's the pep rally, people are going nuts. It's awesome. But if you look at some of those faces in the crowd, I think we might see people who didn't see Jesus as savior, who didn't see Jesus as Messiah. Instead, what they were looking for, they were looking for a conquering king on a white horse, or what I like to call them, they were looking for a genie in a bottle. They were looking for a genie in a bottle. They wanted someone to be able to rub the lamp and make the Romans disappear. We don't treat Jesus that way, do we? We don't pray and ask him to do things like that, do we? They were shouting, save us. They were shouting, save us, literally, save us. But I think what they meant was fix our economy, save our political status, and save our comfort. Does that sound similar to where we are today in our culture? I think it's important that we look back a few years before this. Let's travel back in time, 600 years before that day in Jerusalem. Uh, there's a guy by the name of Zephaniah. He was a prophet. The Old Testament prophet Zephaniah. And I think he has a hidden key that helps us understand why Palm Sunday turned into Good Friday so fast. Zephaniah chapter 1, verse 12 says this I will search with lanterns in Jerusalem's darkest corners to find and punish those who sit contented in their sins, indifferent to God, thinking the Lord will do nothing to us, either good or bad. Look at that phrase. Indifferent to God. See, the prophet Zephaniah came, he was gonna, he was warning people that aren't necessarily bad people. They're not necessarily the villains of the story. They're just bored. They're just content in their ways. They've grown thick and stagnant. Kind of like when you're cleaning out your car and you find that kid's sippy cup that fell under the seat. You know that bottom junk? It's a good picture of what he's talking about. They think God is a do-nothing God. They haven't seen him move, they haven't seen him do anything. Why? Here's a connection, though, I think. On Palm Sunday, that lantern that Zephaniah promised finally arrived. It finally arrived, and Jesus didn't just ride in on a donkey. The light of the world stepped into the darkest corners of Jerusalem. Literally. See, the people were waving their branches in the light, but in their hearts there was still darkness. It was still dark. They were content in their sins. Because they weren't thinking of Jesus as savior of life. They were thinking of Jesus as savior to my own ideology, my political agenda, my bank account, who set the laws and who ruled. They liked the idea of a king, but they didn't want the scrutiny that a lantern would show. Does that make sense to you? Now, as a as a father of six, my wife's not here, so I can say if you I had a little more freedom. I've got a little just a little bit more. She's visiting her parents and her grandmother, and so that we're gonna cut that out of the, we'll edit that part out. So as a dad of six, I've had to use this uh flashlight of truth many times. Fathers, parents, mothers, parents, would you agree? And sometimes when we shine that flashlight under the uh under the car seat or under the couch, you find some, well, I was gonna say little treasures, but they're not treasures. You find things like half-eaten chicken nuggets from 2024. You find fries that are harder than a diamond. Uh you find socks that are growing their own ecosystem. You find dust bunnies that are actually have a heartbeat and are alive. Um spiritually, we'd kind of do the same thing, though. We show up to church, we wave our palm branches, we come in our Sunday best, we put on our smile, but in the dark corners of our heart, we've grown indifferent. And it's not it's not a cold because you're not cold. You're kind, you're loving, we're nice. It's not cold, it's indifferent, it's complacent. We think God's not really gonna do anything. I'll just kind of keep my little habits, I'll kind of keep my hidden grudges and my comfortable life. See, the crowd wanted a on that Palm Sunday, they wanted a king who would stay on the donkey and just keep moving. But instead, what they got was a king who got off the donkey and would walk into their house and turn on the lights. That's exactly what we needed. Would you agree? It's exactly what we need today. It's hard. It's hard to get down on your knees and clean out under the couch. It takes work, it takes effort. I have to psych myself up for it because I never know what I'm gonna find. Hard to get into that van and crawl under the seats and look and pull things out, and what is that? But here's the truth. That's we laugh at that, and that's funny, but we have those things hidden inside of us today. We walked in the door with it. And listen, I I don't want you to be like, wow, Pastor, that's uh you're super encouraging today. Thanks so much, appreciate you. Um But folks, if we don't come to a church, to a worship service and feel a little bit challenged, are we really doing what God has asked us to do? And I promise you, I'm not preaching at you. So preaching with you. I'm talking to myself as well. Okay. If we aren't careful, we become that uh that Debbie Downer of Holy Week. Sorry if there are any Debbie's in the room. I don't think there are any Debbie's. I love you, but you know what I'm talking about, right? Wow, wow. See, we become that person that because what we have hidden inside of us, because we put on that fake smile of our Sunday best, we wave the branches when everybody else waves, we still have that thing inside of us. And when we walk in, we walk in with that complacency, with that lazy, laxadaisical attitude, we dampen what's around us. When it should be full of excitement, full of joy, full of hope. I really think the Jewish community understands this better than we do. Because sin is not just hidden sin personal inside of us that nobody else sees. Sin is communal. It affects what's going on around. We might not think, oh, what I do in private, nobody knows. It's okay. I can look at that website, I can do that thing, I can talk to that person, I can drink this, I can do whatever. But nobody else is gonna know. But folks, sin is communal. It affects and infects everything around you. Even though that chicken nugget might look okay on one end, the other end has stuff growing. It's not gonna be good, right, Nathan? He ate one one time. It didn't turn out well. He was younger. A few weeks ago. Folks, sin is communal, it affected affects and infects those around you, whether you think it will or not. So, really, what we have hidden is not hidden because the light of the world has already stepped in. So don't be that Debbie Downer of Holy Week. Don't be that Debbie Downer in your circles. Don't water down what God wants to do and set a blaze around us. Zephaniah says, the day of the Lord is near. He says it's the day of bitter tears. Why? Because when the king finally shows up, when he finally steps in, when Jesus finally returns, their people are going to realize they've spent their whole entire life preparing for a parade they didn't even understand. What if? What if the greatest tragedy of your life isn't that you missed heaven? Not that. But that you lived your whole life next to Jesus and were never actually changed by him. What if? See, we can be a fan of Jesus without being a follower. Right? We can be a fan without being a follower. We can cheer for our favorite team without ever stepping on the court or the field. But listen to me. We cannot enter Holy Week as a spectator. We can't. We cannot enter Holy Week as a spectator. So what do we do? What do we do with that? How do we fix that? How do we solve that issue? I got a couple things for you. The Bible says that these people thought God would do nothing. We know that's not true. Because we're living in this time, we have hindsight to see. Maybe that little uncomfortableness you might be feeling, that frustration with your pastor that you might be feeling. That, did he really have to say that? Yes, he did. Because if I don't obey, then I'm just as much in trouble, right? So what do we do? We have to move from celebration, the palm branches, to surrender. Just a few weeks ago we talked about that by waving the white flag. This week I want you to prove that whole, oh, God doesn't do anything. I want you to prove that wrong in your life. I want you to prove that wrong in your. And this is this is a personal thing. We're not doing it for each other. We're doing it for ourselves. Okay? So here's what we're gonna do. Number one, we're gonna invite the lantern in. Kind of how we get out the flashlight. We look under the couch, under the car seats, in those dark places to see what messes need to be cleaned up. What if we did that in our own lives and our own hearts as we start Holy Week? Because we know the story. We know what's gonna take place. Next Sunday when we gather, it's gonna be a grand and big celebration. And we're gonna come in our Sunday best, and there's gonna be a photo wall, and there's gonna be an egg hunt for the kids, and we're gonna take pictures, and we're gonna be happy, and we're gonna eat lots of breakfast and have probably four cups of coffee because it's Easter. Or for some Diet Coke. There you go. But inside, there's still gonna be death and decay. There's still gonna be rotten chicken nuggets. There's still gonna be dirt and gross. But we're gonna do a good job of covering it up, aren't we? Because that's just what we do. We've grown complacent. Folks, the tr the world does not need to see a complacent church. The world needs to see a church that is full of hope and life and is different, is set apart. This week, as we talk about inviting the lantern in, don't just say, bless me or or pray or search. Don't just do that. I want you to actually dig in like David did in Psalm 139 and search me. Look at my inmost. Ask God to look into those corners where you've become comfortable. Ask God to look into those areas of your life where we've grown complacent. Not just the dark secrets. Those are easy to think about because they're always up here. Because they have to be up here, in other words, in order in order to hide them better, right? Those are the easy things to God. Here it is. What about those things that we just have grown comfortable with? So invite the lantern in. Ask God to look in those corners, those areas where we've grown complacent. The number two, check your expectations. Check your expectations. What do you mean? Are you mad at God because He didn't answer a prayer the way you wanted it to be answered? Are we treating God like a genie in a bottle? Are you frustrated with with maybe his lack of voice? Maybe it's the fact the word is not hearing clearly. So check your expectations. He might be trying to do something better than what you're praying for. He might be trying to do something more in your life that you didn't expect. And then number three, you see on the screen, die to the parade. It's kind of a funny phrase, isn't it? Die to the parade. See, it's easy to be a Christian when everybody is cheering. Think about that. As Jesus entered in Jerusalem on that first Palm Sunday, there were shouts and cheers. Hosanna, praise him, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, he's here, he's come. But just a few days later, those shouts changed into kill him. We want nothing to do with him. Die to the parade. Don't get caught up in all the excitement. It's easy to cheer for your team when they're winning. So this week, decide to continue following Jesus even when the Hosanna's stop. Even when life gets hard. Even when you have to have those difficult conversations, even when you have to have those moments that you have to get down the dirt and clean out what's underneath. Because that's life. The beautiful thing is, he's going to be with us all the way through, right? Don't get caught up in the excitement and miss out that the king is standing right next to us. Church, I want you to know that I love you. And that I appreciate you. And that I'm really proud of you. One of the joys of going to district functions like we did this weekend is getting to rub elbows with other pastors and see other leaders. I love this church. I love this church, but my fear is that we become too comfortable and too complacent because things are good. As I filled out my annual pastor's report, they were all good things. We've experienced growth in attendance, we've experienced growth in participation, in baptisms, in salvations, in giving, in outreach ministries. Things are good. But when things are good, it's easy to become complacent and comfortable, which leads to a little bit of laziness. Remember, I'm talking to myself as well. So as we enter this holy week, let's use it to refocus the mission that God has for each and every one of us. Let's clear out those dust bunnies and those half eaten chicken nuggets. Let's not get caught up in all the excitement. Instead, keep focused on what God wants to do. Amen?