Travesty

Can you have a private faith?

Pastor Matt spoke on Sunday night at church and, it being Palm Sunday, the topic was Jesus entry into Jerusalem (taken from Matthew 21:1-11). For Christians, this is it. This is the week that our faith really relies on. Jesus has come to do what he came to do: die for our sins. He is entering Jerusalem with this purpose in mind.

Pastor Matt drew our attention to the fact that at this point, the disciples who have been following Jesus around, could have entered the city with him in silence. Rather than shouting: "Praise God, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna!", they could have made the decision to keep their faith out of the public sphere. They could have decided that even though they knew Jesus was sent from God, that it was wrong to impose their beliefs or faith so blatantly on others.

What a travesty it would have been if they had done this. How Jesus would have wept even more at his silent disciples. And how can we be silent? Coming into Easter, we are faced with the same choice the disciples had: to declare Jesus to be the savior sent from God, that the world might hear and be saved, or to keep our faith to ourselves.

Can we have a private faith that does not infringe on the everyday? Is it possible to remain silent when we have such news? As the disciples were convicted, I pray that we are all convicted this Easter that that would not only be a travesty, but also an impossibility. It is not an option to remain silent when Jesus is coming as the savior king.