Dear HBIC Family,

I often joke that I’m more of a baker than a home chef. By this, I mean that I like recipes. I like following them to a tee. Every few months, I cook for our Wednesday night meal, and I almost always make the same thing – baked ziti. I can probably recite the simple recipe off the top of my head; I’ve been making this for years now. But each Wednesday I’m in the kitchen, I have my recipe printed out, my groceries all lined up, and I cook by following the same order of steps.

Now, home chefs…they’re a different breed. Recipes give them an idea of where they might go. Then when they get to the kitchen, they go in several different directions. Forget printing out a recipe! How they’re cooking this meal now will be different from how they have cooked it before, or will cook it again. Order of steps? I prefer to think of it as methods to the madness that only they can understand. Measuring? Eyeball it, smell it, and taste it to know when you’ve got it!

I have learned over the years, though, that depending on the situation (or meal that we’re cooking), we can be both bakers and home chefs. Sometimes we need to follow an order of steps to the tee. Other times, we must eyeball, smell, and taste it to know we’re on the right track. But in both cases, we must do the work ahead of time. We must be prepared. The key, then, is not simply the approach or the situation, but preparation. 

As we turn to the final days of Lent, I have been reminded about the need for preparation for Jesus’ coming to save us. We have been faithful in waiting and expectation and in repentance and seeking reconciliation. We have been dependent on God’s Spirit to lead, guide, and transform us, and on God’s grace to find us, meet us, and carry us through. We must prepare now for Palm Sunday, not simply as bakers following a recipe or chefs trusting the whims of our own creating, but by taking concrete steps that allow us today, to welcome Jesus as the king who came to save us. 

As you prepare for our worships service this week, I invite you to read and meditate on Luke 19:28-40. As you reflect, I would like to ask you to focus on the following questions:

• What do you learn about Jesus in his preparation to enter Jerusalem this time?
• What is the role of our obedience in the plans of God for our lives? For our world?
• What is God asking you to take off or put aside to anoint Jesus as King today?
• How is your life singing the praises of Jesus to your world?

Palm Sunday marks our celebration together, the world over, of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. We commence a week of joy, blessing, and worship of Christ our King. We remember our Jesus, the Lamb of God, sent because God so loved the world. We bless the Lord our Messiah, who was empowered by the Holy Spirit to choose God’s will and laid down his life so that we might be saved, set free, redeemed, and reconciled to God.

My dear sisters and brothers, may we live now in a way that welcomes Jesus as King. May our lives be preparation for heaven to come. May our faithful obedience give witness to God’s mercy and grace. May our surrender to the Spirit bring fruit that saves us and brings many home to salvation in Jesus’ name. 

God bless you all and take care. 

Love in Christ,

Pastor Hank (Luke 19:37-38)