Do you listen to the music in stores?
Many years ago I was in a Jewel supermarket – the Chicago version of Safeway –and I heard some piano music that was familiar.
I’m pretty good at recognizing songs from the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, and not being able to name the song or artist was bothering me a little. It seemed to be the song with the vocals removed – kind of a karaoke version of… something.
But then the backing vocals came in:
“Whoo-hoo. Whoo-hoo.”
It was then I realized I was no longer young.
The grocery store was playing “Sympathy for the Devil” by the Rolling Stones.
Let’s go to God in prayer.
God of wisdom, may the words that I speak, and the ways they are received by each of our hearts and minds, to help us to continue to grow into the people, and the church, that you have dreamed us to be.
Amen.
Incidentally, the Rolling Stones – as a band – are older than me. By 12 days. But our scriptures do not refer to Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, et alii. They clearly have not been around since the first century.
Seriously, I fact checked this. They were born in the twentieth century.
So in this sermon title – “Listening to the Stones” – what Stones am I referring to In our Gospel reading from the nineteenth chapter of Luke, starting at the 37th verse:
as he was approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives,
the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice
for all the deeds of power 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 heaven!”
39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.”
– Luke 19:37-39 NRSVue
The Pharisees, who have control over the temple, recognize they don’t have control over these people. And it’s probably worrying them. Already a foreign power has political power over Judea and specifically Jerusalem. Now someone – from Nazareth, of all places – is undermining their spiritual power.
So they tell Jesus, who likely studied with the Pharisees and with Hillel the Elder in particular, to tell his disciples to stop.
40 He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”
- Luke 37:40, NRSVue
I don’t think this is meant literally. If actual rocks suddenly had mouths and started shouting, that would just be terrifying.
But can we hear the stones?
I think the point Jesus is making is that sometimes an idea, a truth, is so important that it cannot be suppressed.
We live in a time when speech is being suppressed.
People are being deported because they have been at protests. People are being turned away at the border because of what they have posted on social media. Executive orders are being signed against media companies for what they report, and against law firms for who they represent.
Those in power are… concerned… about opposition to their powers and actions.
So what if everyone were silenced? Even in places where people can be jailed for being critical of the government, ideas about freedom and justice survive. It turns out we don’t always need words to recognize what is being communicated.
Anyone who has ever tried to block out light to sleep in the afternoon knows how difficult it is to shut out all the light.
Even in nature we can find examples of how God provides for all things that live.
Even in nature we can find animals caring for their young.
Even in nature we can find life recovering from things like wildfire.
We can find hope.
But it’s not only in nature. We can see it in the small graces between people in everyday interaction:
A kind word to someone on the street.
A pleasant interaction with someone at the supermarket checkout.
A generous tip to a server at a restaurant.
Even a piano piece can tell me what Rolling Stones song is being played.
The Pharisees did not fear Jesus.
They feared what he represented: a challenge to their power.
But silencing the disciples would not have ended that challenge.
Even crucifying Jesus did not end that challenge.
So my challenge this Holy Week, especially for those who are in need of some hope, is to seek out those shouting rocks in our lives.
Look for the examples of peace, freedom, justice, compassion, and dare I say love in everyday life.
Watch people.
Watch birds.
Visit a park or forest.
Find your stones, and listen to them.
And if you’re safe, be among those who shout the message of grace and compassion that Jesus taught.
Hosanna in the highest.
Amen.
* Scripture quotations marked NRSVue are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. https://www.friendshippress.org/pages/about-the-nrsvue
* Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the King James version of the Bible.
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