I just want to talk about for a moment for all of you who are going through a season of your life that looks like what are you doing Keep walking because the what ifs you have about your marriage the what ifs you have about your health the what ifs you have about your children the what ifs you have about your career the what ifs you have about your emotions the what ifs you have will only be answered when you walk

So keep walking That's all the disciples did They walked with him The disciples are walking Everybody say the disciples are walking And the disciples are walking with a Jesus that they do not fully understand even though they have been radically changed even though they have been wonderfully exposed

The disciples are living in it and there is a difference between living in it and looking at it Now you're like you already said that I'm going to say it again because it is so easy for you to look at somebody else's life and envy them and be jealous of them but you might be jealous of a life that you're only seeing the front side of If you ever saw the backside of their life you might not be bitter about yours because there is a chance that the cost that they are paying to be who they are is greater than the toll that you would want to pay So don't be jealous And also

don't judge because we are all walking We are like the disciples There are things that we don't understand and we will not until after I heard about a poem that Corrie ten Boom used to love I thought that she wrote it but I found out that she was quoting it from Grant Colfax Tuller who was a poet I want you to listen to this because she read it as a Holocaust survivor

She read it after forgiving people who tortured her family She read it after surviving something that most of us would have stumbled over She read this poem called The Weaver My life is but a weaving between my God and me I cannot choose the colors he weaveth steadily

Ofttimes he weaveth sorrow and I in foolish pride forget He sees the upper and I the underside Not till the loom is silent and the shuttles cease to fly will God unroll the canvas and reveal the reason why

The dark threads are as needful in the weaver's skillful hand as the threads of gold and silver in the pattern he has planned What she's saying is I don't see the picture from my perspective I don't see what his hands are doing while I am going through the hardships of my life

and it is the weaver that I worship I walk with him and I talk with him but I often wonder What are you doing I can tell I might need to break this down a little bit so let me show you something Holly and I have a great marriage I picked the right partner and I'm reaping the benefits ever since Praise the Lord

For our 20th anniversary a while back Shell made us this cross stitch Can you see it Kind of Right Like you can kind of tell what it is It kind of looks like she didn't do a good job

It kind of looks like she needs to go back to cross stitch class take a couple of remedial weeks But of course if you see the other side you can see she did pretty good You can see she made me look just like I did on that fateful day with no beard standing before my wife in my S K suit about three sizes too big for me

There we are like this on this side Every marriage does have an underside I just want you to remember when you look at everybody's Easter pictures on Instagram in about a week they're showing this

but they probably went through this in the car before they got the Sears to take the picture That's a callback reference from the 80s You see what I'm saying Zoom back in y all What are you doing This is what it looks like and this is how it's lived

I said This is what it looks like and this is how it's lived She got out of the car the other day and she asked me Does my hair look good messy or bad messy Now after 20 something years I can tell you that the answer to that automatically is good messy but I can also tell you there is a difference between good messy and bad messy

Good messy is when you are trusting God in your life to work out the details you can't control and you are trusting God's sovereignty in your life for situations that are too big for you Good messy is in a marriage where we fight for the marriage where we fight with each other instead of against each other and we fight for each other because every marriage has an underside Every marriage that looks like this looks like this somewhere Every marriage that looks like this where the couple has their debts paid off had conversations about Are you really bringing that coffee table into my house and did it really cost… I remember the first time she told me she wanted to spend 400 on a coffee table I said You'd better find

one that has some dings and dents in it You'd better find one that's busted out the top of it Four hundred dollars for a coffee table See because we are still weaving together our values for money She has a value for a coffee table I didn't even drink coffee at the time How am I supposed to pay 400 for something I don't even drink I'm not even going to use It looks like this Every marriage in terms of sexual relationships in terms of communication in terms of conflict management… It always looks like this So what I'm trying to say is don't confuse what it looks like with how it's lived Or you might give up on something great because of something gross and you might give up on something miraculous because of something messy When God is

bringing something together in your life remember you have to trust him with the underside That might be the whole word for somebody today Trust him with the underside I know it's ugly but trust him I know it's crazy but trust him I know it's confusing but trust him I know it's not coming together as fast as you want it but trust him I know you can't figure out what it is yet but trust him I know everybody around you is acting kind of judgmental but don't judge the underside because in God's hand the dark threads are just as important as the light threads and all things work together for the good of them who are called according to his purpose So

if he called me according to his purpose that means there will be an underside he oversees and I cannot judge what he's making by the moment I'm in or I will be like the disciples that saw the cross as a failure But this was not the failure This was the foundation

Isn't it amazing that the disciples walked with Jesus into the most confusing moments of their life but the most confusing moment was the one he used the most I can tell you looking back on 46 years of living that some of the times I was most confused were some of the times he most confused So don't give up on God just because you're on the underside It might be ugly on the underside It might be uncomfortable on the other side It may be inconvenient on the underside It may be embarrassing It may be humiliating You might have to ask some questions you may not understand until after when Jesus was

glorified They got it and then they went Oh is this The faith is to make it through the lows so you can get to the oh

Oh Meanwhile the disciples are walking and the crowds are waving and they are waving palm branches These palm branches are not random I remember a few years ago in church… Actually it must have been about 15 years ago because this was back when I used to copy everything my buddy Perry Noble did in church because I didn't know what I was doing He had people break these glow sticks one Sunday and on Palm Sunday they all raised them in the air and they were singing Shine your light and let the whole world see for the glory of the risen King Everybody broke the glow stick and… raised it up in the air on Palm Sunday and we were using it to represent all the people we wanted to see come to Christ We were raising the glow sticks I read this young girl on

Twitter She said My mom asked me if we had palm branches in church on Palm Sunday and I had to tell her No they had glow sticks I was like That's just elevation right Not a lot of tradition around here In fact this is the first time I've preached on the donkey on Palm Sunday in about 10 to 15 years But before I can even talk about the donkey I have to talk about the crowds

because we named this Sunday after what the crowds held in their hand and what they waved as a sign of victory The palm branch represented victory like when a conquering king would take new territory and come back into town on a war horse They would wave these palm branches and these myrtles and they would shout Hosanna

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord They'd do it three times Hosanna Blessed is he Because the victor was coming back and they would wave the branches talking about Hosanna Blessed is he This is a Scripture they were quoting from Psalm 118 verse 26

Hosanna Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord Now Jesus is headed to a cross and he's coming through Jerusalem and about 120 000 people are gathered to celebrate the Passover festival and it's crowded in the streets of Jerusalem and they're shouting out Save now That's what Hosanna means

Save now because don't we want God to get it out of us and get us out of it right now Don't we want God to do what he's going to do right now Since they just got word that Lazarus was in the ground but he got up… Maybe they figured that this prophet this priest this Messiah whatever he was could do for them what they had for the king to do and so they are shouting

Hosanna Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord They're shouting loud I believe that as they are shouting Hosanna which is a praise word Jesus can already hear the echoes of crucify him which the same crowds would be shouting on Friday Don't ever get too attached to people's praise

Because if you live by it you'll die when they take it away Even don't be too attached to when your kids think you're a good parent Sometimes you might have to take their phone and they might call you the Devil Now what are you going to do about it You're running a popularity contest or a household Don't be too attached to people's praise Don't even be too attached to your parents praise Sometimes your parents see you as their product and they can't even guide you as good as God can because they're trying to get you to something they didn't accomplish in their life and only God can show you what your next step is So don't be too attached to their praise If you live when they give it you'll die when they take it away Don't be too attached to people's praise Don't be too attached to the likes Don't be too

attached to the encouragement of your boss What are you going to do if your boss moves divisions What are you going to do if you get a boss who doesn't like you You're still going to work hard because you're God's child Jesus never moved by the approval of people Jesus never moved for the yeas of the crowds Jesus never moved for the high fives even of his own disciples

Jesus was not moved by the crowd He moved through the crowd I'm going somewhere The disciples are walking The crowds are waving and they are shouting Hosanna but they will not still be shouting when he is led like a lamb to the slaughter They will not still be shouting when Pilate puts him up turns him over and hangs him to die They will not still be shouting on Saturday when his body lays in a tomb What are you trying to say Don't confuse loud with loyal

Don't confuse loud with loyal The crowds are waving The crowds will wave That's fine but Jesus was not moved by the crowds I don't know who this point is for It's really just an incidental point to get me to the main point of this message

While the crowds are waving the donkey… Can we talk about the donkey I know we're all impressed by Palm Sunday but why can't we call it Donkey Sunday Because it doesn't have the same ring to it Because while the disciples are walking and the crowds are waving… Watch what the donkey is doing The donkey is waiting

So now the crowds are walking The crowds are waving Hosanna Hosanna and the donkey is waiting Now this is really fun Go back to John chapter 11 verse 4 You know John doesn't give a lot of details about the donkey In fact when he talks about the donkey he says something so simple you almost just read right over it It says Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it That's all the details we get from John

John like a true man just gives you the bottom line Yeah he found a donkey and he sat on it But you know what this tells me I'm speculating but I have good reason I studied John wasn't one of the disciples who got sent to get the donkey That's what it tells me It's like my kids fighting around the table They'll be trying to tell a story at dinner and they'll be like Shut up Let me tell it Or I'm sorry we're a church We're a pastor's family Please be quiet Please hearken unto my voice That's what they say at my table What about your table They say Shut up at your house What's wrong with you You're a donkey They say Shut up It's my story Let me tell it I almost felt when John said Jesus found a young

donkey and sat on it and then just went right on to Psalm 118 26 and the palm branches and all of the wonderful things… I almost felt Peter speak up and say Shut up John You weren't there Let me tell it So in Mark's gospel… Flip over to Mark real quick because this is the underside

This is the side of the story from the one who was there In Mark chapter 11 you get a little fuller account You get more than just Jesus found a donkey and sat on it and rode on into Jerusalem You get a little bit clearer picture and you get a little bit more detail I want to read it to you from Mark chapter 11 As they approached Jerusalem … Same disciples walking toward Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives Jesus sent two of his disciples We don't know which two I'm speculating that it was Peter based on the nature of the job You know you have some disciples you need to pray for you and then you have some disciples you need to do other stuff for that isn't quite as spiritual

Watch what Jesus told them to do Verse 2 …saying to them Go to the village ahead of you and just as you enter it you will find a colt … That's a baby donkey …tied there which no one has ever ridden Untie it and bring it here If anyone asks you Why are you doing this Say The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly Skinner I can't skip over this and talk about the donkey being borrowed because I'm thinking about the fact that Jesus borrowed two things around Easter One was a donkey and one was a tomb

But see it wasn't exactly borrowed the appropriate way This is not technically how you should borrow something That's why I think Jesus needed Peter to do something that was so dumb it would take a dumb disciple to do it Do I have any dumb disciples in the room today who aren't the smartest

who aren't exactly the sharpest tools in the drawer But Jesus if you need something to hit something I'll hit something for you That's Peter Peter is kind of dull but he'll do it Tell your neighbor I'm dull but I'll do it That's why I think the Lord called me to start the church when I was 25 when I was dumb enough to do stuff I didn't know how to run a profit and loss statement I didn't know how to check a ledger All I knew how to do was ask the Lord and if the Lord told me to give everybody glow sticks I gave them glow sticks I didn't care if Aunt Ethel liked it or not I was dumb enough to break a glow stick and tell them Happy Easter I was dumb enough to do some stuff The problem with some of us is

we've gotten smarter than a donkey but when Jesus was looking for something to come into town on he did not look for a scholar He did not… look for the head of the class He did not look for a valedictorian to be his vessel He said I need a donkey I wonder who I can trust enough to take my word without detail to take my word without explanation to take my word without the cross reference and do what I need you to

do