Palm Sunday and the Power of Liturgy
We All Have a Liturgy
Every church gathering has a liturgy. Some are more formal than others. Some are more intentional. But we all have one. Liturgy simply means “the work of the people.” For the more contemporary evangelical, it may be thought of as the “order of service”. For the contemporary worship leaders it’s that thing you edit in Planning Center every day! Our liturgy is our road map for worship, whether we like to use the word liturgy or not. Typically when one hears of liturgy, a more formal and traditional worship setting comes to mind. Though we all have a liturgy, this formal, traditional picture is what I’m referring to when I call a church or their style of worship “liturgical”. The contemporary evangelical may tend to dismiss this style of worship as sterile and lifeless, void of authenticity and feeling. However, a well formed liturgy can highlight the Gospel story in powerful ways. Holy Week features many great examples of this.
Palm Sunday
This past Sunday I got to experience my first Palm Sunday service in a liturgical setting. The parking lot was packed, which is why I was surprised to see hardly anyone in the sanctuary as I walked in. That is until an usher stopped me and informed me the service would be starting outside and pointed me just across the street from the sanctuary. My wife and I walked over and joined a large crowd. There was a table full of large palm branches as well as baskets of little crosses made out of palm leaves. The priest blessed them, we all took one and proclaimed “Hosanna!” and processed behind the choir into the sanctuary as joyful praises were sung. This was a fresh, engaging and jubilant way to start the service, already noticeably different from a typical Sunday.
Facing Our Role in the Passion
Once inside the service progressed as usual with prayers, hymns and scripture readings. Everything was pretty standard until we got to the Gospel reading. The entire passion narrative was read, with multiple readers covering the parts of the narrator and different characters in the story. Towards the end of the story, the congregation had a part to read as well. The congregation was given the role of the accusers. Suddenly what had started as a joyful service became something uncomfortable and somber. When Pilate asked who the people wanted released, we were asked to respond in one voice “Barabbas!” When Pilate asked what should be done to Jesus, we responded “Crucify Him!” Usually we gather to lift Jesus up, but that morning we were being asked to portray the role of those who wanted Jesus killed. As uncomfortable as this was, it highlighted our sin nature in an impactful way. In a short sermon, one of our priests shared about how quickly we can turn from “Hosanna” to “Crucify him!”, just like the crowds during Holy Week in the passion narrative. While I don’t doubt many of my contemporary evangelical friends had great services on Palm Sunday, it’s hard to imagine a service that would face me with my own sinful nature in such a visceral way as this liturgy did.
The Story Doesn’t End There
Frankly, if we had ended the service there, it would have been a pretty crumby liturgy. But praise God, the story doesn’t end there! From there we moved to Eucharist. The holy moment at the table where we receive the undeserved forgiveness of Christ through the gift of His body and blood. In light of all that came before, this moment at the table was even more meaningful than usual (even though I accidentally dropped my communion wafer on the floor).
Worship Leaders Are Story Tellers
The great news is you don’t have to be in a “liturgical” or traditional setting to plan services that have this kind of impact. You can just as effectively plan a moving service in an evangelical contemporary setting. If you are driven by Scripture and use creativity to walk your congregation through the whole Gospel story in fresh and engaging ways, then you are harnessing the power of liturgy. What a wonderful privilege! If you are a worship leader, strive to create these kinds of liturgies. If you are a worshipper, strive to fully engage when you get together with your local church. Experience the Gospel in all its fullness this Holy Week.
