Echoes Of Praise!

Echoes of Praise!

I. INTRODUCTION:

Thinkers and philosophers have always speculated about what the world is made of. It has been the stuff of discussions since the Greeks postulated that all that we can see is made of earth, air, fire, and water, and even those things in the material world which seem to us imperfect may be copies of a higher reality somewhere hidden.

How does everything work together as a whole and how can anything be individual? With the advent of modern science has come the ever increasing ability to look into the microcosm and realize that everything is made of atoms, which are made of protons, neutrons, and electrons. The universe keeps getting smaller and infinitely more complex the further we look and speculate. There are quarks and neutrinos and on into the dizzying quantum world.

One of the latest and most controversial theories that physicists have espoused is what has been labeled "Super String Theory." It says basically that inside all of the empty space at the smallest particulate level of the world that we know are vibrating strings of energy. What holds everything together is vibration or sound. What gives everything its individuality is vibration or sound.

The writer of Genesis paints the portrait of the start of the universe as a massive bang of energy as God said, "Let there be light!" (Gen. 1:1-3). The Psalmists sings, "By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth" (Psalm 33:6 KJV). The writer of Hebrews said that Christ both created and upholds all things by the mighty Word of His Power (Heb. 1:1-3). The creative vibrations of God's Voice continue to work around us as the universe expands!

Sound is such a such powerful thing. Our voices produce sound. Our words have the power of life and death (Prov. 18:21).

Today we remember the sound of the praises of the crowd of Jesus' followers that ushered Him into Jerusalem on the first Palm Sunday.

Luke 19:28-40 (ESV)

28 And when he had said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29 When he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount that is called Olivet, he sent two of the disciples, 30 saying, “Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say this: ‘The Lord has need of it.’” 32 So those who were sent went away and found it just as he had told them. 33 And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34 And they said, “The Lord has need of it.” 35 And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. 36 And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road. 37 As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, 38 saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” 39 And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” 40 He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”

The events of the first Palm Sunday were so significant that Jesus said that if there was no human voice to draw attention to them that the very fabric of the universe would have begun to cry out as it vibrated in it's being.

Palm Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week. Throughout this week we will follow Jesus on His journey towards the cross, His death, burial, descent to the dead, and next Sunday we will celebrate His resurrection.

Holy Week begins and ends with bookends of celebration. We celebrate this morning remembering Jesus's triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. Next Sunday we will celebrate the resurrection of Jesus from the dead in hope of our own resurrection and transformation. This morning we can hear the echoes of His first century followers shouting His praises, and we join them in chorus. We go up with Jesus and His disciples to Jerusalem.

We are invited to participate, to echo the praises of our God, to allow ourselves to resonate with the purpose for which we were made.

II. PREACHING THE TEXT:

Luke 19:28 (ESV)

"And when he had said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem."

This is a turning point in the Gospel of Luke. Jesus is heading into the final week of His earthly ministry. Although He has been talking about it Luke since 9:31 (cf. 9:51; 13:31-35; 18:31-34) this text begins a focus on a single week of Jesus' life.