Wednesday, April 6, 2022
Scripture: Psalm 118.1, 22-24, 26-28
O give thanks to the Lord, for God is good;
God’s steadfast love endures forever!
The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.
This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.
This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.
We bless you from the house of the Lord.
The Lord is God, and God has given us light.
Bind the festal procession with branches, up to the horns of the altar.
You are my God, and I will give thanks to you;
You are my God, and I will extol you.
O give thanks to the Lord, for God is good;
God’s steadfast love endures forever!
The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.
This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.
This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.
We bless you from the house of the Lord.
The Lord is God, and God has given us light.
Bind the festal procession with branches, up to the horns of the altar.
You are my God, and I will give thanks to you;
You are my God, and I will extol you.
Devotion:
This coming Sunday is Palm Sunday, which means that we as Christians find ourselves on the eve of the holiest week of our year. We are about to journey with Jesus to the cross yet again this year, remembering the betrayal, the agony, the passion, and the sacrificial love of God. But before all of that, we take a moment for Palm Sunday. Among other things, it is a precious day for us to give thanks to God for all that we have. A lot of times, when we give thanks for what we have, we compare what we have to what others don’t have. Thank you, God, that I don’t have to be hungry…like other people do. Thank you, God, that I have an education…unlike other people. Thank you, God, that Jesus died for me…and I guess also other people but mostly me. But giving thanks like we find in Psalm 118 is just about the very depth of our being appreciating who God has been for us, and who God is for others.
“Thank you” is where we are called to begin our Holy Week journey, giving thanks for God’s blessings, and inviting God to triumphantly enter our lives. It reminds us both of the joy of thanks and the difficulty of thanks, thank you when we receive a gift in joy, like on our birthdays, and thank you when we receive comforting words, like after the death of a loved one. I’ve attached a song called “Hosanna in the Highest” performed by Hillsong United. I want to add the caveat that recently Hillsong as a church has been exposed as having some really problematic practices, and as I put this song forward, I don’t condone the bad behaviors and prejudices that they have been complicit in. But the line, “Break my heart for what breaks yours; everything I am for your kingdom’s cause,” is perhaps one of the most accurate depictions of the praise and thanks we give on Palm Sunday: a thanks that is full of joy but also tinged with sorrow at the days we face ahead. A thank you that also includes a challenge to love God’s people just a little bit better.
This coming Sunday is Palm Sunday, which means that we as Christians find ourselves on the eve of the holiest week of our year. We are about to journey with Jesus to the cross yet again this year, remembering the betrayal, the agony, the passion, and the sacrificial love of God. But before all of that, we take a moment for Palm Sunday. Among other things, it is a precious day for us to give thanks to God for all that we have. A lot of times, when we give thanks for what we have, we compare what we have to what others don’t have. Thank you, God, that I don’t have to be hungry…like other people do. Thank you, God, that I have an education…unlike other people. Thank you, God, that Jesus died for me…and I guess also other people but mostly me. But giving thanks like we find in Psalm 118 is just about the very depth of our being appreciating who God has been for us, and who God is for others.
“Thank you” is where we are called to begin our Holy Week journey, giving thanks for God’s blessings, and inviting God to triumphantly enter our lives. It reminds us both of the joy of thanks and the difficulty of thanks, thank you when we receive a gift in joy, like on our birthdays, and thank you when we receive comforting words, like after the death of a loved one. I’ve attached a song called “Hosanna in the Highest” performed by Hillsong United. I want to add the caveat that recently Hillsong as a church has been exposed as having some really problematic practices, and as I put this song forward, I don’t condone the bad behaviors and prejudices that they have been complicit in. But the line, “Break my heart for what breaks yours; everything I am for your kingdom’s cause,” is perhaps one of the most accurate depictions of the praise and thanks we give on Palm Sunday: a thanks that is full of joy but also tinged with sorrow at the days we face ahead. A thank you that also includes a challenge to love God’s people just a little bit better.