Palm Sunday 2021 - Fomo: Fear Of Missing Out

Palm Sunday 2021

FOMO: Fear of Missing Out

Scripture: Mark 11:1-10; Mark 15:7-15

Welcome back New Light – it’s a blessing to be able to worship in this place together once again! Today is Palm Sunday, the day we remember Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem before His crucifixion and death. It is the Sunday before Easter Sunday when we celebrate His resurrection from the dead. The title of my message this morning “FOMO: The Fear of Missing Out.” The title of this message was given to me during a conversation I was having with a friend of mine and, when he mentioned it to me, it struck a chord. I want to read two selections of Scripture to you from the book of Mark and I want you to pay close attention to what the crowd was doing in each of these references as we will be focusing on them throughout this message. Let’s begin with Mark 11:1-10.

“And when they came near to Jerusalem, unto Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, He sent forth two of His disciples. 2And said unto them, ‘Go your way into the village opposite you: and as soon as you are entered into it, you shall find a colt tied, on which never man sat; loose him, and bring him. 3And if any man say unto you, ‘Why do you this?’ say that the Lord has need of him; and immediately he will send him here.’ 4And they went their way, and found the colt tied by the door outside in a place where two ways met; and they loosed him. 5And certain of them that stood there said unto them, ‘What are you doing, loosing the colt?’ 6And they said unto them even as Jesus had commanded: and they let them go. 7And they brought the colt to Jesus, and cast their garments on him; and He sat upon him. 8And many spread their garments in the way: and others cut down branches off the trees, and spread them in the way. 9And they that went before, and they that followed, cried, saying, ‘Hosanna; Blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord. 10Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that came in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest.’” (Mark 11:1-10)

Now turn to Mark chapter fifteen and we will begin reading at verse seven. This reference pertains to when Pilate sought to release Jesus and the crowd called for Him to be crucified. “And there was one named Barabbas, who lay bound with them that had made insurrection with him, who had committed murder in the insurrection. 8And the multitude crying aloud began to desire him to do as he had always done unto them. 9But Pilate answered them, saying, ‘Will you that I release unto you the King of the Jews?’ 10For he knew that the chief priests had delivered Him out of envy. 11But the chief priests stirred up the people, that he should rather release Barabbas unto them. 12And Pilate answered and said again unto them, ‘What will you then that I shall do unto Him whom you call the King of the Jews?’ 13And they cried out again, ‘Crucify him.’ 14Then Pilate said unto them, ‘Why, what evil has He done?’ And they cried out the more exceedingly, ‘Crucify him.’ 15And so Pilate, willing to satisfy the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged Him, to be crucified.” (Mark 15:7-15)

On January 6, 2021, we witnessed something in the United States that no one could have possibly ever thought they would see in this country – the attack on the United States Capitol by American citizens. This attack on the U.S. Capitol stemmed from our former President and a group of his supporters believing that the election had been stolen from him and they were going to the Capitol to “Stop the Steal” which was their rallying cry. The crowd had a mixture of people – some were peaceful while others were prepared for the violence which later erupted. Some, who attended the “Save America” rally where the former President spoke before the attack on the Capitol, stated that they got “fired up” at that rally. What I want you to see is how the state of mind shifted in the crowd that even though some went there to peacefully protest, they ended up doing something they had not planned to do because they participated with the crowd. In other words, they joined the crowd because they did not want to miss out on what they believed would be a historical moment/event.

Crowd psychology, also known as mob psychology, is a branch of social psychology. Social psychologists have developed several theories for explaining the ways in which the psychology of a crowd differs from and interacts with that of the individuals within it. This field relates to the behaviors and thought processes of both the individual crowd members and the crowd as an entity. Crowd behavior is heavily influenced by the loss of responsibility of the individual and the impression of universality of behavior (behavior is understood and agreed with by everyone), both of which increase with crowd size. Now following the attack on the U.S. Capitol, the New York Times published an article titled, “Making Sense of ‘Mob’ Mentality.” The article included the following: “Crowds do not act with one irrational mind,” James Jasper, a sociologist at the City University of New York and author of “The Emotions of Protest,” said, “There are many groups, doing different things, for different reasons. That is crucial to understanding how they ultimately behave.”