Worship. Genuine worship. For the Christ-follower, there is nothing like it. It is unique. It is incomparable. It is an unmatched experience that can, and does, occur in a multitude of settings. In churches and cathedrals, of course. But also, in the open, in nature, in parking lots, in homes, on a mountain top. Worship, genuine worship has no limits, in any sense of the word. However, too many have come to think of worship as the 20 or 30 minutes in church before the pastor gets up and preaches. You know, the band is on stage, vocals hitting all the right notes (most of the time), drums, keyboards, and of course guitars, because they are the most important instrument (can you tell I am a guitar player?). We really have done a remarkable job of exchanging the unlimited for the limited. Maybe our perspective could change with the help of a certain inanimate object.
As Christians, we mark the time of the events in Luke 19 as the beginning of Holy Week. For Jesus, in the days and hours before this moment, he spent time traveling the countryside, interacting with a whole host of individuals, knowing that the time for his prophetic death was near. He met a wide range of people that week. There was the rich, young ruler, who was hindered from following Jesus by one thing…his possessions. There were the ten lepers who were healed; nine go along their way, with only one coming back, falling on his knees in thankful adoration. There was a man who begs for his sight to be restored, and Jesus fulfills the man’s request. And then there was Zacchaeus. You might remember him from the song you sang in children’s church, “Zacchaeus was a wee little man, and a wee little man was he; he climbed up in a sycamore tree, the Savior for to see.” (You didn’t read that line, you sang it, didn’t you?) I’m sure Zacchaeus wouldn’t be thrilled to know he is remembered as a wee little man, but I guess that is his lot in life.
Then Sunday comes. Jesus makes his final entrance into Jerusalem. The people, remembering the blind man, the lepers, and all the other individuals who found hope in Jesus, cry out with a loud voice, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest.” The significance of this cannot be overstated. The crowd is proclaiming Jesus to be the prophesied Messiah, sent by God, and now ready to set up his kingdom. People were ecstatic, jubilant, fired up, and for good reason. The one who was referenced centuries earlier, is now here. The Savior is on scene.
Now, with every celebration, there are those who refuse to join in. The curmudgeons, the sourpusses, the Debbie Downers, the pessimists. And in this case, it is the ol’ Pharisees…yes, those same guys who have been hounding Jesus since the beginning. They just keep popping up in the most “convenient” times. And on this day, they hear the crowd’s roar and are just not having it. The celebration has to end. The outpouring of emotions must cease. Whether it is jealousy or anger, they called on Jesus to quell the gathered masses, to shut them down, to pull the plug on this celebration. Actually, they tell Jesus to rebuke them, forbid them to yell out. Today, we might compare it to the police showing up at a loud house party and reprimanding everyone by writing them a ticket for disturbing the peace and then, sending them home. That is what the Pharisees are demanding of Jesus. Stop this nonsense.
You might be inclined to think what Jesus says next to be metaphorical. After all, what he suggests isn’t physically possible. It defies all reality. “I tell you that if these (the people) should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.” Surely the Pharisees were like, “LOL”, maybe even a few of them were, “ROTFL”. And I have to admit, at first glance it does seem rather humorous. Ridiculous even. Rocks glorifying the Rock of Salvation? Stones praising the Chief Cornerstone? Yes.
I don’t if Jesus meant it in a literal sense, or if he indeed meant it metaphorical. Before you find yourself on one side or the other, let me offer some thoughts. Maybe you will find yourself joining the Pharisees with your own “LOL” or “ROTFL”, or maybe you might start to believe that stones really could cry out. First, there is no doubt that Jesus was referring specifically to stones, real stones. The land around Jerusalem would have been full of them. I can see Jesus pointing to specific stones as he answers his detractors. Second, consider other improbable, nay, impossible things that occurred in scripture. Peter defies science and walks on water. Jesus goes against death itself and raises up Lazarus. Waters part. Mouths of lion held shut. Three guys walk out of a raging fire without so much as a scent of smoke on them. The blind receive sight. The crippled walk. At a word, storms cease. Thousands are fed with a couple of fish and a few loaves of bread. More than once. I could go on and on, but hopefully you get the picture. We accept without any second thought these miraculous events. Third, this is just a strange phrase for Jesus to use. Why wouldn’t he just tell the Pharisees that the people were free to worship or not. Why bring stones…these innocent, silent, bystanders…into the discussion? There were a thousand other things Jesus could have said here. And finally, if stones really don’t praise him and are just a representative picture of God’s creation that speaks (silently) to his praiseworthiness, then would not the stones be accomplishing this already? In other words, silence on the part of humanity is not a requirement of stones to magnify him. Yet, this is exactly what Jesus says…if man is silent, stones will not be.
Let me add one last bit of clarification on this subject. I am not saying that stones will make audible human speech. I don’t know. But I do believe we would do well to remember the angelic proclamation to a virgin teenager when he tells her that she will give birth to the Savior of the world…“For with God, nothing will be impossible”.
Worship. Genuine worship. It will not be denied. It will occur. And stones may just have a bigger part than we could have ever imagined.
Faith, Leadership, and History 