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.”
Luke 19:39-41
I’m not sure I’d ever noticed these verses from Luke before, and I certainly didn’t know what they meant exactly. Our church Music Director was a wonderfully talented musician and composer, and a committed man of God. Our choir sang a beautiful composition of his, “If You Keep Silent.” It began with “if you keep silent, these very stones will cry out, will cry out!” Now I have a clue.
Over the past weeks I’ve noticed something peculiar. Starting with athletes from the NFL to the Olympics more and more are publicly honoring God. Media interviews after an event seem to more frequently begin with an attribution of Glory to the creator. A post from the Renewal Journal https://renewaljournal.com/2024/07/29/honouring-god-at-the-olympics/ highlights over 30 athletes who shared their faith in the press and on the field/pitch/court/course.
Fijian Olympians sang and worshiped God daily, open to any that would hear. Well-knowns such as Novak Djokovic and Scottie Sheffler, CoCo Gauff, Katie Ledecky, and lesser knowns, such as Julien Alfred a runner from Saint Lucia, who said, “I am a strong woman of God…”, and Geronay Whitebooi, the judo athlete from South Africa who said, “My heart desired the gold medal, but it was not the plan God had for me today. God is my strength and power.”
But another thing that was notable: interviewers had no idea how to handle such faith. Frequently they acted as if nothing had been said at all, ignoring the comments. But Jesus had the perfect response over 2000 years ago. Allow me to offer some context to the verses from the Gospel of Luke quoted above. As Jesus began His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, riding on the colt of a donkey,
…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!”
The Pharisees were afraid of Jesus’ popularity and called upon the Lord to rebuke His disciples. But Jesus answered back:
“I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”
That’s the very message. We who are believers are called upon to share our faith and the gospel of Christ Jesus at every opportunity – and with a loud voice!
As believers we cannot keep silent. Glory to God in the highest!!
I admit I am too often silent. Thank you for this reminder