A Creative Palm Sunday Service

This contemporary Palm Sunday service is appropriate for Protestant congregations who desire a more informal worship. Adapt the order below to local usage and style.

Order of Worship Worship Space. You might want to hang Palm Sunday banners, and together with these, or if banners are not available, set an abundance of palm plants on the platform at obvious places along the aisles and at the entrance to the sanctuary. You might even want to supplement these special effects by hanging palm branches from the church walls. The altar or table should be prepared for Eucharist, with a prominently placed, lighted Christ candle. Call to Worship Leader: In recollection of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem, every generation of believers, once yearly, welcomes Christ anew on this day which we call Palm Sunday. Today marks the beginning of Holy Week, the week prior to Christ's crucifixion, the most holy season of the Christian year. As we prepare to walk this week with our Lord, let us begin by standing together, honoring, and receiving him in our opening worship hymns. Opening Hymn: "All Glory, Laud and Honor" Opening Prayer All: Our loving God, as we offer ourselves to you this morning, we humbly ask that our worship may join that of your angel hosts as they praise our Redeemer King on high. We want to know you more truly, and pray that your Holy Spirit would enlighten our minds and guide us into all truth. We seek to respond to your truth with an increased measure of love, and pray that your faithful and merciful hand would enlarge our hearts and teach us how to live our love. With confidence in the grace that you have abundantly bestowed on your people throughout the ages, we ask these things in the name of your son, Jesus Christ. Amen. Leader: This morning, we want to accompany both the Israelites, as they anticipated their Messiah, and Jesus' devoted followers who welcomed him on that first Triumphal Entry. Let us walk with these people of God by receiving them in the Scriptures. 1st Reader: Our first reading is from 2 Kings 9:1–7, 11–13. (Concludes with) This is the word of the Lord. People: Thanks be to God. 2nd Reader: This reading is from the Old Testament prophet Zechariah 9:9–17. (Concludes with) This is the word of the Lord. People: Thanks be to God. 3rd Reader: Our response is from Psalm 118:1–9, 19–29. (Concludes with) This is the word of the Lord. People: "The Steadfast Love of the Lord Never Ceases" or "Gloria, Gloria" (Taizé) (sung response) 4th Reader: Let us stand for the reading of the gospel. Commentary: Prior to the worship service, the leader can select a "crowd," composed of all age groups, including both infants and seniors. This crowd can be seated in the back seats of the church, and then gather in the foyer as the congregation stands for the reading from Matthew's gospel. (reads Matthew 21:1–10) (Reader emphasizes v. 10: "Who is this?") Commentary: After a few moments' pause, the crowd will begin to sing and will enter the worship center in mid-song. Some in the crowd will be carrying palm branches, which they will pass among the congregation as they enter the church. Many in this crowd will be waving palm branches as they proceed, others will be preparing the way by laying down garments along the pathway of the procession. Still others will accompany with tambourines and other instruments, and with dancing. The people join with the crowd in singing: "Make Way" (Kendrick). The members of the crowd joyously proceed to the front of the church, where they spread out and face the congregation, continuing to celebrate festively and freely, singing: "Hosanna, Hosanna," "I Will Enter His Gates," "Hosanna to the Son of David," and "Awake O Israel." The lights will slowly dim during the last song. The final song will be led to a slow, quiet finish, and at the close of the song the room will be dark. The Christ candle will be the sole light in the sanctuary. The crowd will quietly move to their seats at this time. Out of the darkness, 4th Reader reiterates Matthew 21:6–10 and the dispersed "crowd" responds, uttering "Who is this?" in such a fashion that the question becomes a muttered echo throughout the sanctuary. (silent pause) Voice 1: (shouts) He is a prophet! Never has one spoken as he has. Crowd: "Who is this? … Who is this? … Who is this?" Voice 2: (shouts) He is a prophet! Never has one worked the wonders that he has. Crowd: "Who is this? … Who is this? … Who is this?" Voice 3: He's a son of Satan! … He's leading the people astray. Crowd: "Who is this? … Who is this? … Who is this?" Voice 4: (shouts) He is the Christ! The King! Bring on his kingdom! (silent pause) (Lights slowly brighten.) Homily As the people were placing their garments before Jesus, perhaps they were remembering God's anointing of Jehu, and the spontaneous response of Jehu's guards, as they spread their cloaks before him, shouting "Jehu is king!" In like manner, the worshiping crowd spread their cloaks under Jesus of Nazareth, believing him to be their coming king. Little could they know, however, that their beloved teacher, healer, and prophet had come to Jerusalem not to be proclaimed King, but to become their Passover lamb; not to be crowned, but to be crucified. They wanted a king, they received a yielded lamb. They offered to this lord their garments, their only source of covering, of protection. Perhaps the palm branches, which we are more familiar with in connection with this day, were the gift of the poor, who did not have so much as a cloak to offer. What do we, with palm branch in hand, offer to Christ? Are we in company with the poor, or with those who may have had several cloaks, several layers with which to cover themselves? Our palm branches are different from those that Jesus' followers carried. Our palm branch comes to us so that we might form it into a cross. The cross, then, becomes our ultimate link with Jesus, and with his challenge for us on this twentieth-century Palm Sunday. We must ask ourselves, "What are our means of protection, our sources of security?" These people led a simple life; their greatest source of protection was obvious. In our more complex lives, are we aware of the people and situations from which our confidence comes? What comes between us and our experience of the cross? Whom would we trust enough that we would totally yield up these things to him or her? We know that we should be as free to abandon ourselves to Christ as these enraptured followers were … and more so, since we know the outcome of the Palm Sunday story. But of course, in our humanness, we limit our trust. And we limit our trust because, in the depths of our being, the source of our motivation, we do not yet really know or love the God who moves among us and beckons us in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. Nor are we alone in the struggle. "Who is this?", the people cried. The enraptured followers, in their loving, neither knew nor understood: their hymns longings and basic needs prevented them from seeing. The Jewish leaders, with their learning, were too afraid to know or understand: the cost to their security and status was too great. But what of us who are here today, with our own belief systems and tradition? How can we actively respond to the question, "Who is this Jesus, and what must I entrust to him?" What securities, what physical, spiritual, or psychological cloaks do we guard our personhood with? Let's consider these things, and silently place them before our Lord. (silent pause) Amen. Leader: We are encouraged to pray our personal prayers to God, but we also need to offer ourselves as a community. In the moments that follow we will allow time for those who would like to offer a prayer aloud. We will do so in the form of brief, bidding prayers. As you pray, try to express your prayer in a word or simple phrase, being as symbolic or as specific as you wish. After a person confesses prayer aloud, let us confess our unity with that one by joining in a response of, "Lord, hear our prayer." (Corporate prayer follows.) Leader: Will you please stand with me, and together let us receive God's word of absolution, taken from the epistle to the Colossians 1:13–14: "For God has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." We bless you, loving God, that you desire to strip us, layer by layer, in order that you may clothe us anew with Christ's faith, trust, and life. We submit ourselves to you with the prayer that you would indeed continue your work in us, and we offer our gratitude that as you undress us, you cover us with your forgiveness. Amen. Eucharist/Communion Leader: The worshiping crowd of innocents and children was so filled with the immediacy of their joy that they little realized the holy poignancy of their celebration. However, even in their ignorance, they were right to yield themselves to God in the person of Jesus. This morning we want to symbolize that same receptivity, but we want to do so with a more conscious sense of who Christ is and of why he came. As we come forward to receive Communion, Christ who has placed his Spirit within us comes forward as well. The religious leaders of Jesus' day were plotting Jesus' demise rather than welcoming him as the crowds did. In a conscious reversal of their denial of God's presence among them, we as the leadership of this church want to be the first to offer our cloaks to Christ on this Palm Sunday as he presents himself to us in all the diversity that you represent. We place our [vestments/jackets/coats/sweaters] beside the Commnion table [or along the altar rail] and ask that you kneel upon these as you come to receive. You may wish to bring your sweater, jacket, or coat as well, to kneel upon it as you receive the bread and wine; and then to leave it here for the duration of the service as a symbol of your desire to place yourself before Jesus as he comes in the form of this Christian community. Yes, they will all get creased and wrinkled, some will be soiled. Both of these inconveniences will become tangible reminders of that greater gift that was offered two thousand years ago, as people placed their garments before Jesus as he rode over them with his donkey. Let us allow ourselves to complement our earlier silent and verbal confessions with this simple, tangible gesture of humility. Institution and Invitation to Eucharist: Leader: (reads Matthew 26:26–29) Prayer All: We bless you, gracious Lord, that just as you intimately knew your disciples to whom you first offered yourself, in the bread and wine, that you know us. Thank you that you offer yourself to us on this day, receiving us as people you know to be as fickle or as ignorant as your first disciples and those early followers. We pray that you would consecrate this offering of bread and wine, that in our partaking, we would be able to follow you with a greater measure of faith, hope, and love. Amen. Eucharist/Communion: Commentary: Leaders come and place their garments around the table or along the altar and then the servers, prior to kneeling to receive the elements themselves, come forward and add their garment offering alongside. The congregation then joins. Leader: Who is this Jesus? Our answers to that question would vary. We worship one Lord, but a Lord who comes to us in a variety of face. Let us now receive him in one another, by exchanging the kiss or hand of the peace of Christ. Exchange of Peace Leader: Today we have walked alongside those first followers of Christ. In closing, let us sing again, now with an enriched faith: "All Glory, Laud, and Honor." Closing Hymn Benediction Leader: Now to him who is able to keep you from falling, and to make you stand without blemish in the presence of his glory with rejoicing, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. (Jude 24–25) Postlude: "Make Way" (Kendrick) Commentary Preamble. Congregations that are used to celebrating Palm Sunday often associate the day with children waving palm branches or with hymns about children singing their "hosannas." Children waving palm branches are cute, and children singing hosannas for the Lord are sweet. Palm Sunday, which is rooted with Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem is neither cute nor sweet. Jesus came triumphantly—on a donkey; the crowds received him joyously, but with the mistaken notion that he would become their king and free them from Roman dominion. Meanwhile, the religious leaders were plotting to put him to death because he was upsetting their system. The challenge of the Palm Sunday service is to encourage us to celebrate while at the same time calling to mind the fickleness of the crowd and the back-room intrigue that would lead to Jesus' crucifixion. Worship Space. Using palm plants and branches will immediately remind people that this is indeed Palm Sunday. This service will lead people beyond their familiar associations with the day, and so using traditional symbols will allow the service to begin on a comfortable note. The Christ candle, of course, enables us to draw our present understanding of Christ into this service which seeks to expand on what biblical history has to teach us. Entrance. In this early portion of the service you will want to choose a hymn that both acknowledges the triumphal entry and includes the broader perspective of salvation history. Word. The preliminary portion of many Palm Sunday services includes a procession of children waving palm branches. For a change, you might want to set the scene by moving quickly to the Service of the Word, which includes Old Testament and Gospel readings that make allusions to the triumphal entry. Such an order of service would help subordinate our traditions to the Service of the Word. At some point in the service you will want the congregation to participate in the dynamic of the Triumphal Entry, and not simply hear of it via the reading of the Word. After hearing the Word, the congregation should be ready to have the Triumphal Entry portrayed loudly and clearly before them. The songs you choose should be songs of a festive, welcoming nature. The latter category should include pieces with a beckoning note. This particular service lends itself very well to an incorporation of the arts in worship, particularly visual art, instrumental music, and dance. In place of the "crowd" motif, you could opt to have a liturgical dance to convey the mood and activity of Jesus' entry; such a dance could incorporate the procession and drama of the accompanying service by including both festivity and discord. A homily could help to tie together the loose ends and complexities of the event. In particular, the homily could help the congregation to prepare for a special Palm Sunday Eucharist, which, in turn, will prepare the congregation to receive Christ's strength for the spiritually challenging passage from Lent into Holy Week. Along with a brief time for reflection following the homily, your congregation might also appreciate having some time to call to mind and write down those things that keep them from abandoning themselves fully in trust to Christ. These items can be anonymously noted on small slips of paper, collected in an offering basket, and brought forward as a confession and prayer offering to the Lord. Eucharist/Communion. The depth of the sacrifice made by many in Jesus' crowd of followers needs to be acknowledged, as does the blindness and hypocrisy of the religious leaders. This Eucharist can be very powerful if it is planned in such a way as to offer the congregation a tangible means of identifying with that first community. The participants (and leadership in particular) need the opportunity to acknowledge our human pride and ignorance, and both of which are rooted in the certainty that Christ receives our praises and confessions, tainted though they are. The gesture of laying down "our garments" has the potential of providing a symbolic medium for expressing this acknowledgment. Depending on your church's specific social or ethnic culture, you may want to adapt this gesture accordingly. Dismissal. Having walked through the triumphal entry in company with the earliest followers, repeating the opening hymn could serve as a meaningful voice of confession for the participants, "Thou didst accept their praises, accept the prayers we bring."