Stopping the praise of Jesus
by Pastor Jim Strelan
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‘I tell you’, he replied, ‘if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out’ (Luke 19:40).
There’s a song being sung. It has been sung since the dawn of time, and it continues to this day. It’s the song of praise to God. Sometimes it’s loud and easy to hear. Sometimes it seems like only a quiet hum, and you have to strain your hearing to take it in. But nothing can stop it or ever will.
Are you singing that song? When life is good, and when everything is going your way, are you singing the song? When you are really struggling, when it seems like everything is falling apart, can you still sing the song? In this COVID-19 world, which creates so much uncertainty and apprehension, and our movement is restricted, can you hear the song?
Jesus had just entered Jerusalem, and a whole crowd of disciples (Luke 19:38) welcomed him with their song of praise. This implies not just the 12 disciples, the chosen ones, but a whole lot of others called as disciples. Men, women, maybe even children – disciples all singing the song. Some of the Pharisees asked Jesus to make them stop, and Jesus replied that even if they did, you can’t stop the song – even the stones will cry out.
Sometimes our desire to sing the song and our ability to sing is strangled by what is around us so that all that comes out is a choking sound. If you are ever in that place, be still and listen. Hear that humming sound in words from God you remember. Hear it as you reach out your hand to take the bread and the wine. Hear it as you see those around you living the song. Hear it in the rustle of the wind in the trees and the breaking of the waves on the shore. The eternal song remains, and soon you will sing it again.
Lord Jesus, loosen that which wants to strangle me so that I can sing the song of praise again. Amen.
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