PALM SUNDAY

Sunday, April 09, 2006

It was Saturday morning and as usual, I was at the church building going over my sermon for Sunday. Also as usual, before leaving for home, I went upstairs to the sanctuary and looked around. Don’t ask me why, it was just something I always did.

On the way out, I walked through the foyer. I noticed a large stack of palm branches piled high on an old pew left over from the old, downtown, first church. “Ah yes, tomorrow is Palm Sunday. The children will be marching through the sanctuary waving those palm branches.” I smiled as I closed the door and locked it.

Sunday morning I went into the sanctuary to look around. Don’t ask me why, it was just something I always did. I was met by the choir director. She ask me, “Clif, do you know where the palm branches are?” I responded with a smile, “Yea, they’re on the old pew in the foyer.” “No, I just looked there and they have been moved.”

We looked high and low. We looked upstairs, downstairs and in every room. They were not in the library. They were not in the choir room. Everybody we asked just shrugged their shoulders and gave us a blank look.

PALM SUNDAY, BUT NO PALM BRANCHES TO WAVE!

The time passed quickly and I found myself sitting on a front pew worshipping. The parents and grandparents were sitting up front on this Sunday. I was sad for them when I looked at my worship bulletin and saw it was time for the children to come in. Just at the right time, the doors at the back of the sanctuary opened and in marched the children---WAVING PALM BRANCHES!

Later, talking to the choir director, I asked, “Where did they get those branches?” “You’ll never believe this, she said. We looked everywhere and finally decided they couldn’t be found. Somebody went out to the garbage dumpster for some reason and there they were.”

The janitors had come in early to clean and thinking the branches had been piled in one place for them to pick up, they took them to the dumpster.

“They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, “Hosanna!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Blessed is the King of Israel!” (John 12:13)

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