Amalgamblog

It seems like just yesterday that my two little boys were big Atlanta Braves fans.  And if you remove the word “little” it was just yesterday. (Good seasoning opening game, Braves.)

Back in their little big Atlanta Braves fan days, I vividly remember a Palm Sunday at church when all the little kids got palm branches (or at least a reasonable faxsimile thereof).  Braves fans are probably already way ahead of me at this point.

I’ve never forgotten the sight and sound of Christopher and Taylor coming down the hall toward the sanctuary “waving” their palm branches in classic tomahawk chop fashion and singing/humming the Braves rally chant. I’ve seen other children reprimanded for such “disrespectful” behavior, but I freely admit that I found it quite amusing and enjoyable. I think it was a very appropriate child-like understanding of what was taking place as Jesus entered into Jerusalem.

Baseball fans are known for being rather fickle. Some are worse than others. But it’s not unusual for “fans” to jump on the bandwagon and become almost rabid in cheering for the team when things are going well, only to turn into ostrich-sized boo-birds as soon as anything goes against their liking.

That’s a pretty good analogy of the crowd that greeted Jesus. As long as he was feeding the multitudes and healing the hurting, they were happy to be his cheerleaders. When the game changed, it didn’t take long for many to trade their “hosannas” to “crucify hims.” Probably many more just stopped cheering and quietly went away without going to that other extreme.

It’s easy for us to sit here in derision of such shallow fickleness.  But how often do we follow that crowd a couple of thousand years later?  It’s easy to be a hosanna hollering Christian within certain crowds and situations.  That’s OK.  It’s not OK for the attitude and action to change when the crowd and situation changes.

I believe that God’s perspective on us transcends time in ways that we can’t fully understand. He knows when our palm chopping is little more than fickle fan fun. I don’t much think he enjoys that parade.

So what does please God?  Instead of a long attempt to anwer that very important question, let’s keep it short and simple. How about consistency?  Consistently loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and body; and consistently loving our neighbors as we love ourselves.

No matter what the score, the record, or the inclination of the crowd.

Tags: Atlanta Braves, boys, Jesus, Palm Sunday

This entry was posted on Monday, April 6th, 2009 at 3:33 pm and is filed under Culture, Faith, Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.