“The Shadow in Our Praise”Main point: Today we praise God with our whole hearts in spite of what may beset us.INTRODUCTIONI take for my text this morning The prophet Zechariah in the 9th chapter:Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!    Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!See, your king comes to you,    righteous and victorious,lowly and riding on a donkey,    on a colt, the foal of a donkey.This is a week when we are led by the story. The drama unfolds in our hearing. We walk along with Jesus and we are formed, bit by bit, in the deepest parts of ourselves as our inner nature is renewed day by dayAs we begin the most holy week of the year, we start with the joyous, lively, and raucous story of Jesus’ triumphant ride into the city of Jerusalem. The people see him coming in the manner that was foretold - meek and lowly, riding on a young donkey. Not presumptuous. Not demanding respect. Not at all like the triumphant procession of a Roman king on the back of a might stallion. This was a new kind of king that preached about transforming the world by transforming your heart to be more closely in tune with the one who made it. This was a new kind of king who gave preferential treatment to those who were broken, downtrodden, and cast out. This was a new kind of reign by a king whose kingdom did not derive it's authority from this world’s power systems. He came as the eternally begotten of God who preceded and overruled every power system the world has ever known.Shout, O Jerusalem! And rejoice!See, your king comes to you,    righteous and victorious,Without violence.  Lowly. Riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.But as we join the crowd in praise and celebration - as our hearts are lifted - those of us who know what will come in the next few days recognize a shadow linked to the underbelly in their praise. Today the crowds show “Hosannah!” I'm a few days the crowds will shout, “Crucify him!” (Pregnant pause) The presence of this shadowy underbelly gives us an opportunity to reflect on the reasons there may be a shadow in our own praise this morning.Some of us are mourning a significant loss. Perhaps a loved one, a home, possessions, or significant relationships.There is a shadow in our praise.Some of us may be only partially compliant to God - who rightfully deserves all of us but to whom we only give half-awake acknowledgements and platitudes. We may go along with the words of our liturgy, but our hearts aren't in it. We say the words, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” but internally we're doubtful if our words really matter.There is a shadow in our praise.

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