Pastor Desirée Reflects on the Palm Sunday March for Justice and Love

Palm Sunday always sends us somewhere. We gather, we hear the Word, we share the meal and then Jesus says, Go. This year, that sending was especially meaningful as more than 100 people from Mount Olivet Lutheran Church of Plymouth climbed onto school busses and made our way to the Capitol, joining 10,000 other Christians for the March and Rally for Justice and Love.

We are living in a time when truth is distorted, fear is amplified and power is too often used to harm the very people Jesus centers. We see policies and systems that neglect the hungry, abandon the sick and turn away the stranger. We see Christianity used as a cover for domination rather than a call to love. This is not the Way of Jesus.

And so, we went.

We went because following Jesus is not passive. It is embodied. It is public. It calls us to live what Jesus names so clearly in Matthew 25: feed the hungry, care for the sick and welcome the stranger. Love of neighbor is not a private belief. It is a lived witness.

Palm Sunday was never meant to be safe. The cries of Hosanna mean save us. Save now! It is a protest prayer rising from people who refuse to accept injustice as the final word. Jesus rides straight into the heart of empire, and he still does. And he invites us to go with him.

What mattered most was not just the size of the crowd, though 10,000 voices carry power. It was the clarity of our witness. Mount Olivet showed up with courage, with joy, and with a deep commitment to the kind of world God is bringing into being. You can view photographs of our time at the Capitol HERE. You can view photographs of our Palm Sunday worship HERE.

This is what the church is called to be. Not silent. Not neutral. But a people who follow Jesus into the world, trusting that love, justice, and mercy will have the final word.

With love and deep gratitude ~ Pastor Desirée