“Worship: The stones will cry out”
Please read Psalm 148 and Luke 19: 28-40, and then pray; God of all creation, as we begin our journey through another Holy Week, may we be willing to ride out victoriously with Jesus, for the sake of truth, humility, and righteousness. For He alone is worthy of our worship. Amen. (Psalm 45:4)
The final week of Jesus’s life was a week packed with dramatic incidents and events which changed the world forever. Is it surprising that this most significant week began and ended with the worship of Jesus? The end goal was always the glory of God, Father, Son, and Spirit! There was the tension and suspense of Thursday evening at the last supper and in the garden, and the shocking horror and excruciating pain endured on Friday; but on Palm Sunday and Resurrection Day – Jesus was worshipped by disciples, a huge crowd on one day, and some outstandingly faithful women on the other.
When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: (Luke 19:37)
So, the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet, and worshipped him.” (Matthew 28:8-9)
I am delighted to be able to draw our thinking towards the subject of worship at the end of our short series of sermons on Creation and Creation Care. As we will see, the ultimate purpose of all creation is the harmonious worship of God – for the glory of God. All creation forms a glorious choir singing and exalting the praises of our Creator God. Psalm 148 is a great and triumphant call for the universal choir to enthusiastically stand up and praise God with all their power and might – all that is in the heavens and the heights, all the thousands upon thousands of angel hosts, the sun and the moon, the shining stars, the waters above the skies, the skies themselves, the seas and oceans and the great sea creatures, the lightning, hail and variety of clouds; the storms, the mountains and hills, fruit trees, every other kind of tree; the wild animals and all the cattle; small creatures and flying birds, and the whole human population including kings and rulers:
Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted; his splendour is above the earth and the heavens. (148: 13)
This means, as I said last week, that penguins praise their Creator. This means also that donkeys too praise God. They are part of the choir even with their distinct unpredictable “Eeyore noises.” How does a penguin or a young donkey like the one in our text today praise God? By being what God created them to be – by being penguins who waddle around, dive into the sea, skim through waves, care for their young; by being donkeys who carry their loads, bear the burdens of others, and then rest at night after drinking and feeding. By being what God intended them to be within his amazingly diverse and vast creation – penguins and donkeys glorify the Creator who thinks they are good. They bring God pleasure. They bring God glory by being and doing what God called them to be and do!
The colt played its part during that Palm Sunday worship parade. It held up Jesus, carried the Son of God, and walked gently in the way he directed it. It did what donkeys do very well. I am convinced Jesus would have patted it lovingly and thankfully at the end of his journey down the Mount of Olives. “Well done my friend, thank you.” I do not know about you, but I am very grateful for the existence of donkey sanctuaries. Wonderful places. Caring for these important animals in their retirement or after they have been badly abused is important for, and to the God who has compassion on all He has made. Donkeys rightly carry things, often heavy things throughout their working lives. They deserve love, care, tranquillity, and rest when they come to the end of the road. The colt Jesus was on was starting out in its working life. It had never been ridden before. Its first task was to carry its Creator. Wow! Do you not think that is amazing? There is no doubt that Jesus is the star of the Palm Sunday show, but the colt gets the Oscar for the best supporting actor! G.K. Chesterton was wise in writing a short but memorable poem about it. The donkey had its hour! It certainly did!
What do we glean about the nature of Christian worship from our Palm Sunday story? The first and the most important thing is that Christian worship primarily involves the lifting up of Jesus. The exaltation of Jesus and the intentional raising high of His Great and Holy Name! We are told in our text that after the disciples found the donkey and brought him to Jesus, “they put Jesus on it.” The disciples lifted Jesus up on to the donkey. He did not climb on to it himself. They raised him up triumphantly. “One, two, three – up you go Lord.” Worship aims to lift Jesus high – to exalt His beautiful name – the name that is above every other. When Christians gather in small numbers or large crowds, they gather to lift-up the name of their Saviour, , and Creator.
Lord, I lift your name on high. Lord, I love to sing your praises. I’m so glad You’re in my life. I’m so glad you came to save us… (Rick Founds)
Secondly, worship involves a laying down as well as a lifting up. Christian worship always includes the laying down of our lives in adoration, in sacrifice and service. The crowds of disciples not only lifted Jesus up onto the donkey and shouted out their unified praise, they laid down their cloaks before him. They surrendered their cloaks before his feet and the feet of his borrowed donkey. Worship includes offering – offering everything, our lives, our strength and energy, our service, time, talents, work, and leisure to Jesus. This is why the Offering in our acts of worship is very important. It is not just about giving money. It is about offering everything – body, mind, soul, and strength – to the Lordship of Jesus. As we sang today;
Jesus, we adore you. Lay or lives before you. How we love you!
Therefore, I urge you brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship. (Romans 12:1)
During this Holy Week and beyond, let us daily take up our crosses and offer our lives to the service of Jesus and to the glory, honour, and praise of God. On Good Friday, we will remember how the Son of Man was “lifted up” on the cross and later was “laid down in the tomb” so that we might have the hope and joy of eternal life. (John 3:14) Jesus was lifted upon a cross and laid down in a tomb, that we might lift-up our praises forever, and lay down our lives in worship and humble obedient service. But mine the tomb wherein he lay. (Samuel Crossman)
Thirdly, you will notice that the praise on Palm Sunday was filled with joy. Praise filled hearts and joyful faces were everywhere in the crowds – the adults and the children. Joy is the keynote of Christian worship because, quite simply, Jesus brings overflowing joy with peace. Jesus is joy. The fruit of His Spirit is joy and the fruit of our praise is joyful worship songs – and the joy of the Lord proves to be the Church’s spiritual strength. Friend’s, when we come before the Lord, we come before him with “joyful songs” (Psalm 100) because we know the Lord is good; we know that it is He who made us, and we are the sheep of His pasture. We always enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise. Other religions may choose not to sing. Christian worship on earth and in heaven resounds with joyful singing and acclamation! Joy to the world – the Lord is come!
Fourthly, tied in with the joy on Palm Sunday, was the volume. This is was not quiet “keep it to ourselves” worship. This was loud. The volume was high. The praises were declared with shouts! This was as noisy and as enthusiastic as any crowd gathered for a sporting event. And it was probably the volume of the crowd’s praises and not just the content of them which annoyed the Pharisees. Jesus was being praised at the top of their voices.
Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!
Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!
The Psalms call for “shouts of praise.” (Psalm 47:1, 66:1) There are times when the Church must shout and declare the praises of Jesus with volume and boldness. We are not embarrassed to sing with great fervour about our King! There is nothing greater than being in a gathered crowd at a Songs of Praise event! Being in the Big Tent/Hall for worship at Spring Harvest is to be in a place where one is lifted into the heavenlies through the loud singing and praises coming from God’s congregation. Worship is also often offered quietly, and prayer lifted to God in silence. The women worshipping Jesus on Resurrection Day were probably prostrate on the ground and lost for words. On Palm Sunday though – it was loud praise for the King of Kings and Lord of lords. The Church will have to start doing this again and in the open air exercising our right to freedom of religion and expression, and declaring the praises of the One who conquered the grave! Take it to the streets – as one Christian worship album put it!
Christian praise cannot be held back by opposing voices and those who hate Jesus. The Pharisees protested and tried to calm the crowds down. It was useless. Jesus told them so. They were wasting their time and breath. The praises of Jesus can never be silenced, no matter how strong the persecuting force. Christians will worship their King come what may! As the Psalmist keeps asserting; “I will praise the Lord as long as I live.” (Psalm 146: 1-2) No-one will shut the Church up! Trying to stop the praises of Jesus around this world would be a futile exercise. The wave of praise is too big. It is unending. As Christians in the west go to bed, Christians in the east arise and sing to their Lord and vice versa.
And the reason for the worship, for the noise of singing? They had seen Jesus’s amazing miracles, signs, and wonders. And we worship and lift high the name of Jesus because of the miracles we have known and seen. (Luke 19:37) And Lord we want to lift your name on high, and Lord we want to thank you for the works You’ve done in our lives. (Steve McEwan) The miracle of new birth in our hearts, our new creation in Christ is well worth endlessly celebrating in song and through prayer. I am a new creation -no more in condemnation – here in the grace of God I stand. (Dave Bilbrough) And the endless string of miracles we have experienced through answers to prayers we offered in the merciful name of Jesus! Signs of His great goodness. We will declare His praises and glory. We will make His praise glorious!
Such praise is part of this unending universal praise that I mentioned earlier – the praise of all creation, the praise of all creatures for God’s faithfulness and love. Jesus told the Pharisees that “if the crowds kept quiet – the stones would cry out.” The stones, rocks and mountains praise the Creator of all things – and Jesus is the One by whom and for whom all things were created. (Colossians 1:16) And God has reconciled all things to himself, “whether things on earth or in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.” (Colossians 1:20) When the Pharisees and others decided that they wanted Jesus crucified, little did they realise that God would use their evil for all creations good. The praise of Jesus was set to get louder after the cross and resurrection.
This is what we now have according the book of Revelation – an unstoppable choir of unending praise and worship – all aimed at God and the Lamb “who took away the sin of the world” and put into place the future liberation and restoration and redemption of all creation. (Romans 8:18 f) No wonder the trees clap their hands. No wonder the oceans roar at the sound of His name. No wonder the earth shook on the day of His crucifixion! The Creator was dying for His creation, for the whole cosmos, but He was going to return on the third day shaking the earth for a second time!
Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing:
“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honour and glory and power, for ever and ever!”
The four living creatures said “Amen” and the elders fell down and worshipped. (Revelation 5: 13-14)
We are part of this very great, vast and varied united choir that is all singing off the same hymn-sheet. Jesus is Lord! Join the choir again today! Join in the choir on Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday! Lift Jesus up with your praise and adoration; lay down your life in love and service.
Were the whole realm of nature mine – that were an offering far too small. Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all. (I Watts)
Amen.
(Revd Peter J Clarkson 13.4.25)