His Cross Our HopeSample

The crowds cheered. They spread their cloaks on the road. They cut palm branches and placed them in His path as Jesus entered Jerusalem, riding on a donkey. Even today, many churches celebrate Palm Sunday by distributing palm branches to commemorate this special day.

When I lived in New York, the church I attended observed many significant dates in the liturgical calendar, including Palm Sunday. I looked forward to receiving my strip of palm leaf as a tangible reminder of Easter’s approach each year.

Then we moved to Florida. The contemporary church I attended did not celebrate Palm Sunday with the traditional distribution of palm strips. My disappointment was greater than I expected that first Easter season. Friends at church chuckled at the importance I attributed to tree branches. After all, if I wanted a palm frond, it was easy enough to go into my backyard and cut one myself!

Was the lack of palm branches in church that important? The absence of the fronds didn’t change what Jesus had done for me two thousand years ago. I considered other traditional activities I’ve long associated with the church. When the absence of traditional religious activities impacts my worship, what does that say about my focus?

Traditional activities provide visual reminders of what we believe. They help connect us to the heritage of the Church, providing unchanging anchors in a changing world.

But I’m also glad my dependence on traditional rituals has been shaken up a bit. I’m prompted to remember that I don’t worship the ritual. When the activity becomes more important than the object of my worship, I’ve lost my focus … and my way.

Palm Sunday without palm branches? No problem, because Easter Sunday is coming—when we celebrate a tomb without a body!

What place does tradition have in your worship?

~Ava Pennington

Writer, speaker, and co-host of the Faith Over Fear podcast