Worshipping Quietly

Not often that I post on Sunday, but today is very much worth writing about...

Palm Sunday and this coming Passion Week is maybe overlooked by our exuberant worship because we, as Christ-followers, live on this side of the Cross.  However, pausing on the palm-waving could actually serve us well in remembering more deeply.  Why?  Pausing to worship quietly reflects how Christ might have viewed things at that very moment.  It is, in fact, the last week of His life here on earth.  There is no doubt much on His heart and mind.  He knows that His time is drawing near.  And, the "triumphant entry" as we term it, starts the clock for the most important week in the history of the world.

"Blessed is he who comes in the Name of the Lord..." is appropriate in light of who He is.  But how sincere was their gregarious worship?  For as the hours turned to days approaching the arrest and trial of Christ, those thick crowds of eager palm-wavers thinned to just a faithful few who stood vigil at the Cross.  

It appears that true, genuine worship might begin quietly.  How can we rightly celebrate an empty tomb without first reflecting deeply on what put Him there?!?  Richard Foster, in his book Sanctuary of the Soul, writes, "Worship can be fully valid when there are no thrills or flights of ecstasy."  Allow the true meditation on His suffering instead of the crescendo of the music to bring you into heartfelt worship.  For He alone is worthy!

What needs to be turned off or tuned out in order for true worship to come forth from your heart this week?