Palm Sunday & Church Planting
Approach. See. Weep.
This past Sunday was “Palm Sunday”. In the Christian tradition, it’s the first day of “Holy Week” recognizing the final week of Jesus’ pre-resurrection life. On Palm Sunday, Jesus rides into the city of Jerusalem knowing that just a few days later He would willingly lay His life down for the sins of humanity.
Whenever this passage is preached on, many focus on the chants of the crowd, the donkey, the fulfilled prophecy, etc. but in this church planting season God has opened my eyes and burdened my heart for another part of that passage.
“As he approached and saw the city, he wept for it…” —Luke 19:41
This passage and the example of Jesus towards His holy city has really gone on to define our heart, posture, and approach to this pre-launch season.
He approached the city. // A call to proximity.
Before we can get to work in our city, we have to get close to it. There is temptation to rush the process, throw on the cape, and try to “save” the community before ever really getting to know it or love it. We’ve had a lot of people ask us questions like: “When are you going to have a building? When are you going to start having services? When are you going to start marketing?” I think these questions all come from a good place, but ultimately reveal a misunderstanding of city-focused mission.
Before we focus on getting the city to know us, we need to know our city. That begins with getting close to it; engraining our lives into the rhythms of it and making it our home. It means learning the story of our city, the good and hard parts of our past and the way it’s impacted the culture and identity of today. It means understanding the heart and vision of our leadership and the direction of the future.
Practically, this has looked like meeting with city leadership to hear their heart and learn about their needs. It’s looked like getting a membership at a local co-working space within our target neighborhood and working from there every day. It’s looked like driving past the most convenient grocery stores to shop at the one within our target context. It’s looked like eating at their restaurants, attending every local event, and sitting across the table from anyone willing to take the time. We’re just trying to get close and be a consistent face and presence within our city. Lord willing, we will gradually earn the right to be a voice worth listening to and a community worth being a part of.
He saw the city. // A call to community exegesis.
You can be in the city without really knowing it. You can be close to the city without really seeing it. We don’t want to just be in our city. We want to be experts of our city. This requires exegesis (a fancy pastor-word meaning to interpret or take apart to get to the core meaning). We want to get into the nuts and bolts of our context.
Spiritually // What are the “idols of the land”? What is the influence of the “unseen world”? Where is the darkness present and at work that we need to oppose and push back? Where is God present and at work that we need to join in on? What issues do we need to be ready and equipped to speak into? What paths of formation do we need to be prepared to provide?
Economically // Where is our city investing the most resources and why? Who are the people benefitting from it? What areas of our city are under-resourced and why? Who are the people falling through the cracks? How can we fill in the gaps of greatest need in our city? Where are the areas where we may need to work and call for justice because of economic unrighteousness?
Socially // Where are the invisible “railroad tracks” that separate certain people groups? Where are the dividing lines and are they economic, ethnic, or something else? Who has God most equipped us to reach? Who will we struggle to reach and what work do we need to partner with or raise up to ensure those people are reached?
There are several other categories but you get the idea. There’s a difference between reading and studying. Reading is like raking. You get the stuff on the surface. Studying is like digging. You get the stuff beneath the surface that no one else sees at first or second glance. We want to know our city. Why? So we can strategically reach it for the sake of seeing the redemptive rule and reign of Jesus come to bear on the areas that are not as He would have them to be.
He wept over the city. // A call to compassion.
Lastly, we need to feel the way Jesus feels towards things that are broken. Grief and sadness are often resisted and viewed as “negative” or “bad” emotions. In reality, grief and sadness are proper responses to things that are broken. In our day and age, we are so inundated with the brokenness and pain of the whole world that we’ve grown calloused to it all—even in our own neighborhoods and communities. We desperately need God to break our hearts afresh; to align our hearts with His until we feel the way He feels about the state of our communities.
We don’t want to rush to strategy when the proper and holy response would be to weep first and cry out for God to have mercy on our neighborhoods and cities. Weeping first helps us realize our helplessness in trying to bring revival and renewal in our own strength and power. We can’t do it. We need God to move. We need God to breathe on what we’re doing. We need God to open blind eyes and soften hard hearts that they might “recognize the day of their visitation” and turn to Jesus for salvation and healing.
We are called to partner with God and pursue His mission and vision (not the other way around). This may require for us to go slower than we want and start the same way Jesus did—not with action, but with tears.
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After this moment, Jesus goes into the city. He ministers to people over the course of that week. At the end of it, He lays His life down and He’s calling us to do the same for our city—to lay our lives down. We can do this with confidence because Jesus didn’t stay dead, but was raised and is alive today at the right hand of the Father. He has unleashed His Spirit into the world through His people. He is redeeming. He is saving. He is healing. He is restoring. He is one day returning. Anything and everything we do for Him, His glory, His Kingdom is our eternal inheritance secured for us in Heaven. We believe, by faith, that a work yet to be seen in our city will be there. A reviving and renewing move of God is coming in the days ahead. We just pray that we get to be a part of it. We believe we will. Will you?
Coming Up…
Sunday, April 7th // KCC Gathering & Interest Meeting
Every first Sunday, we host a KCC Gathering & Interest Meeting in our home (for now) and would love to invite you or anyone you know who might be interested in being a part of the Kingdom City Church community. If you’d like more information on that, please email me here!
If you would like to support Kingdom City Church as we pursue the mission of Jesus in our city, please click here. Select the “Kingdom City Church” fund and make a one-time or recurring donation. We need your support and are thankful for it!