There WILL Be Triumph

That literally has nothing to do with anything, but it makes me laugh.

But yes, we are talking about rocks. Because, in learning about rocks, we ironically discover a lot about ourselves. Not that I'm saying anyone is only as bright as a rock… out loud.

Blessed King

There are three things which I find urgent to speak upon today. In aligning our focus with these rocks, we might learn the following:

• Christ is the worthy king

• He will be glorified

• God will triumph

I concede these truths aren't self-evident. You might observe rocks and rightly say, "Yup, that's a rock. What's that got to do with those three points?" But, if you permit me to lead you down this rabbit hole, I swear I'm going somewhere. Well, three points, the first being that our God and our king is worthy of glory.

Pro-tip: You can effortlessly ameliorate much of your frustration within faith through minor shifts in mentality. And I don't mean to imply that it's easy to be a faithful Christian, but rather testify of how easy it is for us to get in the way of Christianity transforming our hearts. Our faith is relatively straightforward if we align our minds correctly.

Of course, the hard part is aligning our minds correctly, for we are frustratingly content being hard-headed and stiff-necked. What may help is addressing a root cause of our obstinate nature; our misalignment stems from a misunderstanding of our roles in the universe.

I don't think it's overtly presumptive to claim that one can fix so much bad theology and incorrect notions concerning God by re-affirming our role in the pecking order. The grand story of everything is not about mankind and their hunger to conquer the universe. No, the story is about the God who created the universe, and mankind (by his grace) gets to participate in this creation. We aren't the main character; He is.

"Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created."

-Revelation 4:11 (ESV)

"For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him."

-Colossians 1:16 (ESV)

Everything in creation knows its end is to glorify. Everything functionally was created to worship. If God created everything (John 1:3), then he created rocks. And rocks, therefore, are designed to revere their creator.

The point is, even rocks, the dullest of all creations (although most kids would disagree), know they were created to glorify their creator. But humans get it twisted. We put ourselves at the dead center of the narrative. I certainly hope no one literally thinks, "I'm worthy of worship," but this issue manifests in a plethora of other ways.

Think about how many times, just this week even, you likely placed yourself at the center of the universe without a second thought. How often have you considered your hardships more consequential than anyone else around you? How many times have you regarded your feelings and emotions above the needs of God's desires? How many times have you promoted yourself to leading character status in the narrative? In your prayers, do you plead, "God, your kingdom come, and your will be done; what do you need from your servant?"

We get the relationship wrong. And in getting the relationship wrong, we become frustrated. The followers of Christ certainly became exasperated with him; not a week after this display of worship, they'd call for his blood, furious that he wasn't who they expected.

But the keyword there is "expectation." Much, if not all, of our irritation with the Lord likely comes from fallacious expectations. While never uttered aloud, the modern Christian carries an erroneous perception that the Lord exists to cater to our wills. And what kind of God would that be? Certainly not one worthy of our worship.

I challenge you today; regain your perspective. By what right does creation demand its creator bend to their will? Instead, he who reigns is forever at the center of it all. He is the king, and he is worthy of glory. If these people didn't glorify Christ, the rocks would've cried out.

Rock & Roll Praise

Shifting gears, if we realign ourselves to the reality that Christ is the worthy king, he merits the highest glory. The intimation may lead us to the knowledge that we are to glorify God. But, lest we're tempted to forget our place in the narrative, we realize another stark implication in today's text:

Christ will be glorified, whether you're on board or not.

The figurative ship is leaving the dock with or without you on board. And consider, before you exasperatedly cross your arms and huff ("well then I'm just gonna stay on the dock!"), consider the wretched implications of remaining off the ship. And, considerations aside, also ponder just how ridiculous such attitudes are!

The arrogance of our sinful hearts! When we say such things as, "I don't feel like glorifying the Lord today," we commit two appalling acts: Putting ourselves at the center of the narrative and insinuating that God needs our praise.

"The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else."

-Acts 17:24–25 (NIV)

I want you to really try and wrap your head and heart around this idea. God doesn't need you. To be sure, he wants you, and his desire is for you. He desires a relationship with you and sends his only son to die on a cross so he can walk in communion with you. But he does not need you.

Would he be the all-powerful, all-sufficient God if he "needed" your worship? The very fact that God doesn't need our worship should reframe our motivation for worship. Consider, it is no mere legalistic obligation to a God who demands our adoration to slate his enormous ego. No, it's much more beautiful! He is all-glorious, and we're captivated. When we grasp his glory, even if just a passing glimpse, we can't help but give glory!

Such was likely the stirring in people's hearts on that day. They glimpsed a king of glory and couldn't help but revere his majesty. "Hosanna!" they cried, their adoration unconstrained. And when the religious leaders implored Christ to call his followers to show restraint, Jesus replied that, if he did so, the rocks would sing "Hosanna" instead.

I think there's an implication in interpretation here when Christ responds. The Pharisees hear these people proclaiming Jesus as Messiah, so they tell Jesus to rebuke them posthaste. If Jesus weren't the Messiah, he would have been a good teacher by rebuking his followers. But he was the Messiah; the promise of Israel's future finally come to take the throne. So instead of rebuking these people's praises, he affirms them;

"If they keep quiet these rocks will cry out."

There are a lot of ways to analyze this verse. Many commentators assert that it's an ambiguous phrase, but I believe its meaning is straightforward. Some people interpret this verse as if the Messiah knows that it is impossible for his followers to keep quiet about this wondrous moment, almost as impossible as rocks crying out in their stead. Personally, that interpretation requires a little bit of stretching.

There's also an interpretation that implies the stones "crying out" is actually a cry of judgment upon those who do evil. We see a parallel here:

"For the stone will cry out from the wall, and the beam from the woodwork respond. Woe to him who builds a town with blood and founds a city on iniquity!"

-Habakkuk 2:11–12 (ESV)

In this interpretation, the stones are crying out, condemning those withholding praise or those who wish to silence the praisers. In a sense, there's a poetic justice upon cities that do not glorify Immanuel. I'm not fond of this darker interpretation, but it's important to note it exists.

I much prefer this third interpretation of Christ's words due to its absurdity and aesthetic quality. Additionally, it's short and straightforward; gotta love that. Here goes: Jesus is worthy of praise. Period. Therefore, if we do not give him glory, God will find some other means, even making stones cry out.

Whatever your objections to glorifying God or whatever your reservations about falling down in worship and letting him take command of every aspect of your life, even if you loathe it, all fail in the face of this knowledge. If you don't worship, the rocks will. And rock & roll is the best style of worship, hands down.

Jokes aside, the underlying question posed to the believers today asks, "Are we going to be out-worshiped by rocks? Are we going to let rocks praise our God in a more spectacular, honoring way than we do?"

There Will Be Triumph

This leads me to my third point: We've established that Christ is king and worthy of glory, and he will be glorified no matter what we do. Then, in the grand narrative, I feel comfortable asserting that our God will triumph, no matter what comes.

We examined the context of Palm Sunday rather robustly last year when we talked about the contrast between customary military processions and what Christ did on Palm Sunday. Conquering kings come into cities with massive entourages, fanfare, soldiers, etc. The entire event is a flaunting of dominion. And Jesus is also seen flaunting his power, but it's of an entirely different nature.

If Jesus was a conquering king like the kings of this world, he wasn't doing his procession right. His entry wasn't very triumphant compared to the ostentatious displays of the kings of his day. But it was indeed a triumph in its own right. His kingdom is not of this world. He's going to establish his kingdom, but he's not going to do so with the designs of man's depravity.

He's not going to use the weapons of violence but weapons of grace. He's not going to leverage the resources of blood, but he will leverage the righteousness of God demonstrated in one climactic act of mercy on the cross. There would be great blood and violence, but it would only visit upon one man.

On that cross yet to come, there will be triumph. See, we know that's coming. These Judeans crying "Hosanna" haven't got a clue, but we do today. There will be great sadness and terrible wrath visited upon Christ at Golgotha. But, much like the triumphal entry, appearances deceive. What looks like defeat is a glorious victory.

Christ knows this as he chastises the Pharisees. Nothing and no one can thwart God's plan. Whether in his plan for you or his plan for the world, God will triumph. And in the knowledge of that triumph, there must be rejoicing!

Here's the lesson for us today; Do we believe that our God has triumphed and that he will continue to do so in perpetuity? Or do we look at past victories and then say, "Yeah, that was good then, but what about now?" Perhaps we take stock of our small individualistic worlds, and because they look a little grayer, we imagine God is less triumphant than he was in the past or that Christ is less victorious now than he was in his day.

Of course, no one thinks this explicitly (I hope). And yet, even though Christ is the triumphant king reigning right now, we have many Christians ambling around defeated. Almost as if they were on the losing side. Why is this so?

Do you know what's ironic about the people's praise of Jesus on Palm Sunday? On Good Friday, those praises would turn to jeers and mockery and then to blood-thirsty cries of "crucify him!" This man they once gloried as Messiah will be condemned by the same voices that once cried out in worship.

While this is a distinct picture of fickle and sinful humanity, I'm trying to draw you into a bigger reality. Despite a lack of humanity glorifying him as he died, he still was the king worthy of all glory and still triumphed. He still triumphed!

And consider, once again, the rocks crying out. Christ's statement came to pass!

Think about it; In Matthew, when the temple's veil is torn from top to bottom, the earth shakes, the rocks split, and the graves open. Is that not stones crying out? Consider the stunning moment of Easter, where the earth quakes and a great stone rolls away from a tomb. Is the rock not glorifying God?

No opposition will stop God from triumphing. Even if we do not acknowledge him as the king of glory, even if we don't glorify him, he will be glorified and triumph.

If we do not bow our hearts to the significance of this reality, God will find some rocks that will. "There will be triumph," shouldn't be a rare statement in church. It shouldn't be a rare statement in our lives. I don't care what it looks like in the world or your own life; There will be triumph. That triumph might not be what you'd prefer, but God will be glorified.

And so, are you going to glorify him, or you going to be out-worshiped by some rocks? Will your praises be out-shouted, and your worship be outdone by stones? Do rocks believe in the ultimate triumph of God more than you?

"Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!"

-Psalm 150:6 (ESV)

In Christ's Triumph,

-RJ