Today is Palm Sunday — Spring Church

Today is Palm Sunday, the day when we remember how God’s people were so focused on what they WANTED God to do for them, that it kept them from seeing what God was ACTUALLY DOING with them.

So as we prepare for Easter this week, let’s enter into this story by using one of my favorite analogies (With gratitude to James K.A. Smith, You Are What You Love, pp 1-25):

Imagine a compass. Now imagine asking a Boy Scout the basic question, “What does a compass do?” Just about any Boy Scout knows the answer, and you probably do to: “A compass points us in the direction of magnetic north.”

Our hearts act in a way that is very similar to a compass: Just as a compass points us towards magnetic north, our hearts point us towards whatever we love the most. Our lives will be oriented towards whatever we love the most, and we will walk in the direction of whatever we’ve chosen as North. Unlike a compass, we get to choose what we place as our magnetic north! We have the ability to decide what it is we will orient our lives towards. As a Christian, I want my magnetic north to be Jesus, and I want my life to be oriented towards walking in the direction I see Jesus walking in.

Are you with me so far? Because here’s where the analogy starts to illustrate the importance of Palm Sunday: What happens when we put a magnet next to the compass?

The compass starts to point in the direction of the magnet, and not magnetic north. I remember when I was a Boy Scout, holding a compass in one hand, and circling the compass with a magnet I held in the other hand, and watching the needle spin round and round.

Does the compass know if it’s pointing towards magnetic north or a magnet? Any Boy Scout knows the answer: The compass can’t tell the difference, it’s going to point towards whatever pulls on it the hardest.

How do we know if our hearts are pointing towards the magnetic north we have chosen (in my case, Jesus) or a magnet? Any Boy Scout knows the answer to this, too: Our hearts can’t tell the difference, we’re going to point our lives toward whatever pulls on our hearts the hardest.

On Palm Sunday we remember that the Israelites wanted Jesus to defeat the Romans and give them their land back, and they wanted that SO BADLY that it blinded them from seeing what Jesus was actually doing. That’s why Lent is a season of checking in with our hearts and inspecting for magnets, and why Palm Sunday is such an important day for preparing for Easter!

Our emotional response to the current pandemic is real, important, and worth paying attention to. Fear is normal and anxiety is normal. While it’s easy for us Pastor-type people to say, “Do not fear,” I’ve found that telling people who are prone to anxiety “You don’t need to fear” is kinda like telling someone on a long car ride who needs to use the bathroom “You don’t need to go to the bathroom.”

Since Spring Church is a community of practice, would you like some practice/support/training in learning how to do some of the things on this list?

Consider joining our Heading North Small Group, where we’ll practice a variety of ways that people can ‘shield' their compasses from the pull of the magnet! There will be active practices (like cooking and art and walking) and quiet practices (like prayer and reading and silence), practices specifically for families with kids and practices best done alone. This will be as hands-on and active as everything else Spring Church does, and we’d love for you to join us!