Luke 19:28-40<\/p>\n\n\n\n
March 28, 2010<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sermon preached by Rev. Donald Ng at the First Chinese Baptist Church in San Francisco.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On my first trip to the Holy Land during my sabbatical in 2008, I was immediately aware of the variety of rocks and stones that defined the significance of wherever I visited. Some of you have seen my powerpoint presentation that showed Roman road stones that were there when Jesus walked on this earth, the rocks that made up the southern gate that Jesus most likely entered into the holy city, the rocks on the Western Wall that have become known as the \u201cwailing wall,\u201d mosaic stones that depicted the 5 loaves and 2 fish, stones that were used as Roman toilets, the stone in front of the tomb where Jesus was laid, and even the concrete stone walls that separate the Palestinians from Israelis today. If these stones were able to cry out, they would have told me all about the events that took place there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most of Jesus\u2019 ministry has been out in the countryside, out in Galilee. Now he enters the stone-walled capital city. Bouncing on the back of a colt or donkey, his followers and admirers clip palm branches from the trees, waving them as he comes before them. This waving of palm branches is a sign of welcome and hospitality. Many in the crowd worked themselves into a frenzy. Their exuberance is evident as they shout, \u201cBlessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!\u201d They are saying, \u201cHosanna! Hosanna! Hosanna to the king!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The crowds have turned a procession with a Galilean rabbi bouncing on the back of a donkey into a royal victory parade. It is more than the religious leaders can take. Jesus\u2019 critics are obviously unnerved by this political demonstration. \u201cThe people are calling him king!\u201d they mumbled among themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTell your fanatical followers to shut up!\u201d they say, or words to that effect. Jesus responds, \u201cI tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jesus\u2019 critics have worked out an arrangement between the faithful of Israel and the power of Imperial Rome. They do not want the common political fanatics to disrupt the alliance that they have constructed. They want Jesus to tame the outbursts, to tone down the uproar. During Jesus\u2019 earthly life, it is estimated by scholars that there were at least 60 armed rebellions against the Roman occupation forces. People waving palm branches and shouting was a threatening sign, particularly when they were shouting that there was a new king in town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Jesus heard the Pharisees in the crowd say to him, \u201cTeacher, order your disciples to stop,\u201d Jesus answered, \u201cI tell you, if these people were silent, the stones would shout out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is something about Jesus that can make even rocks want to shout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nature Sing<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Jesus had gotten this sort of thinking from the Hebrew Scriptures where the trees clap their hands for joy, the hills skip into a dance, the waves cry out and the mountains shout. Remember it was only three months ago when we sang: \u201cJoy to the world! The Lord is come; let earth rejoice her King; let every heart prepare him room, and heaven and nature sing, and heaven and nature sing, and heaven, and heaven and nature sing.\u201d The Bible teaches that nature can sing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Every time I have camped out in the woods, I am impressed by how loud nature is. I have never understood those folk who go out into the wilderness seeking \u201csome peace and quiet.\u201d Nature is alive with sound. I can still remember one summer night when I was counseling a group of inner-city kids on an overnight campout outside of Boston. With our sleeping bags and stuff for s\u2019mores, we walked into the forest and were surrounded by the cackling and honking of a flock of Canadian geese. We couldn\u2019t see them. They must have landed for the night. It was so noisy all night that we couldn\u2019t sleep that night. By morning, they were all gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Creatures in the woods begin calling to one another. Throughout the night, there are various cries, rustling and scuffling. One of our great hymns sings, \u201cThe heavens are telling the glory of God.\u201d God makes even the material universe to sing, to speak up, to testify.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those who want to keep a lid on things, those who have a stake in the status quo and the present order, always try to keep things quiet. They don\u2019t like noise and commotion. When Jesus entered into Jerusalem, he was entering the town as a king, a new ruler, an adversary who threatened the throne. Children, the least and the lowest, the powerless in society, began to praise and shout hosanna, something that really threatened the powers that be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBe quiet!\u201d said the authorities. And Jesus said, \u201cIf you silenced them, even the stones would shout.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Noisy Church<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I like it when we have children in worship. They can\u2019t sit still and they can\u2019t stop talking. Parents would say, \u201cHush, now. Quiet down. Now is the time for church.\u201d We tell kids to use their \u201cinside voices\u201d and not all that shouting and screaming when they play out in the playground. I am sure that the children think of \u201cinside voices\u201d as low, soft-sounding voices, but here Jesus defends his followers with their raucous outbursts. Jesus is telling our children it\u2019s okay to be noisy inside the church. Here Jesus says that if his followers were silent, even the stones would shout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I have always said that \u201cIf you want a loud and successful party or fellowship, invite Marian Hom to come.\u201d She\u2019s loud! Jesus is saying that \u201cinside voices\u201d won\u2019t do. You need a voice like Marian Hom\u2019s\u2014loud, noisy, raucous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the strengths of our church is that we are usually loud. We are noisy and busy chatting before worship begins. And after sitting quietly for one hour, you burst out those double doors and onto the sidewalk and talk so loudly that you wake up the whole street.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Does Jesus not say, \u201cWhoever is ashamed of me and my words, shall make me ashamed of him?\u201d Does Jesus not say that they would drag us before princes and in the courts and we would not know what to say, but the Holy Spirit would tell us what to say and give us words to shout?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Have you ever visited an African American church for worship? One time I was preaching at Rev. Earl Lawson\u2019s church in Malden, Massachusetts. I was quite young in those days, still a seminarian trying desperately to sharpen my homiletic skills. Not all black churches are like this but Malden was. The music was loud and the floor was throbbing, at times with thundering music during the service. After I tried my best in preaching and sat down. I asked Rev. Lawson, \u201cWhy is your worship so loud?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rev. Lawson said, \u201cWe\u2019ve got people here who have spent their whole lives keeping quiet. They are expected silently to wait on tables, to make up rich people\u2019s bedrooms and clean their houses for low pay without complaint. They are never asked what they think about anything. They\u2019re never invited to come to the microphone and render a verdict on what\u2019s going on in the world. They are voiceless. Silent.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSo we get them down here in the church, and we give them a microphone. We tell them that here, this is free-space, God-created space, and if they want to strut, and they want to shout, they can because Jesus has made them royalty.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n When we meet Jesus, a fairly typical response to Jesus is\u2014shouting. When Jesus comes into town, people\u2014especially the voiceless\u2014speak up. They shout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Giving Testimony<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Last Sunday, we heard the testimonies from 6 individuals who came forth to testify their faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Did you know that when we expect anyone who wants to join our church whether through believer\u2019s baptism or transfer of membership or Christian experience to stand up behind this pulpit and share their Christian story that this practice is highly unusual and extremely rare? Most churches don\u2019t expect their new members to give a verbal testimony. They are voiceless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is the nature of God to always have a witness especially when the dead is raised. God always has somebody to testify and tell the story. There are people in our congregation who think they are not good at public speaking. There are people right here who are shy, reserved, and self-conscious. Look at me. And yet, the Holy Spirit has given you some good words to say, and by the power of God, despite your resistance, you have stood up and testified. You have been a witness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m not calling you a \u201cstone, a rolling stone, or stoned.\u201d But I am saying that your testimony is in itself proof of the power of God to have God\u2019s word spoken to a disbelieving world. Jesus said that he could make even the stones to shout if the shouting people around him were kept silent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s a story about prisoners held in a war camp during World War II. The military prisoners were huddled in dozens of bamboo huts. They had experienced terrible deprivation under the iron fist of the camp commander. But it was Christmas. They had been told that there would be no religious celebration in the camp. But about midnight, someone in one of the little huts began singing, \u201cSilent Night.\u201d And everyone in that hut was singing, and in the next hut, and the next, until the whole camp was singing, \u201cSilent Night.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before their prison guards could react or stop the commotion, the song ended. Some of the prisoners testified after their release that that was the best Christmas they had ever celebrated. On the holiest night of Jesus\u2019 birth when the world was supposed to be silent, Christians sang and testified and shouted even under imprisonment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Two Parades<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n On that first Palm Sunday, there were actually two parades that happened in Jerusalem. From the east came the procession of one lonely man, Jesus in plain robes with cloaks over and under, riding a young colt with no weapons, no army, or display of power. But from the west came Pilate with the mighty Roman army, draped in gaudy glory of imperial power\u2014horses, chariots, and gleaming armor. They were a show of force to keep the city under control before the festival of Passover begins. There was no noise when Pilate and his Roman columns marched in. There was no spontaneous shouting of \u201cBlessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!\u201d or \u201cHosannas, hosannas, hosannas, to the king!\u201d Pilate couldn\u2019t even pay the people who lived in fear to shout or make any noise for him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Today is also called, \u201cPassion Sunday,\u201d the beginning of Holy Week when we invite you to pray, meditate, read, and experience the dramatic story of Jesus\u2019 passion\u2014the betrayal, the arrest, the trial, the Last Supper, and the crucifixion of Jesus. When you come to Maundy Thursday Tenebrae and the Last Supper, you will hear how Jesus commanded his disciples to love one another. Come on Good Friday and experience once again the sacrifice God made on the cross in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins. And if you really want to experience the power of the resurrection, come early on Easter Sunday morning to the Sunrise Service to feel the warmth of the sun on your face just as the women and the disciples must have felt when they discovered that the tomb was empty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It would have been a beautiful ending if we were able to watch a triumphant parade with palms waving and people singing and shouting. But there was another parade that started from the western part of Jerusalem. When the two parades clash is when the world finally has a new king. Today is one of the most \u201cpolitical\u201d Sundays of the year. On this day there is a question before the church: \u201cWho is in charge? Who rules?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The people of the church shout, \u201cJesus Christ is Lord!\u201d This means that other claimants to the throne are not lords. Christians are those who proclaim Jesus as Lord, who shout to the world that a new King has come and a new reign has been inaugurated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Shouting Stones<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n What would a stone say when it shouts? If we were kept silent, maybe prevented from giving our public testimony because we have been arrested for our beliefs, what might we hear the stones saying?<\/p>\n\n\n\n On this day, as the new king intrudes among us and challenges our status quo, our worked out arrangements with the established authorities, here\u2019s what I hear the stones saying: \u201cFollow him! Join the parade of those who through the ages have looked at this carpenter\u2019s son bouncing on the back of a donkey and seen him as their Lord and Savior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tiffany Lessler is joining the parade. The other 5 people in the 11:30 service are joining the parade. Jesus Christ is Lord! Let\u2019s go after him. Let\u2019s walk behind him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jesus said, \u201cI tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let us pray.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Our hands are open, outstretched, and raised to you, Jesus Christ, Messiah. Our voices are lifted up in song and praise. We are so conditioned to think that as Christians we are to remain motionless and silent. Forgive us for what we have failed to do, for what we have failed to say. As we hail you with loud voices, inspire us to go forward as shouting stones in your name. Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Luke 19:28-40 March 28, 2010 Sermon preached by Rev. Donald Ng at the First Chinese Baptist Church in San Francisco. On my first trip to the Holy Land during my