Welcome!
Date: Friday, June 04, 2010
Today: When the stones start crying out!
Passage: Luke 19:39-40 NIV
39Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”
40“I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”
Jesus likes response from the people
When Jesus sent disciples to untie a colt, somebody asked, “why are you doing this?”
They said, “the Lord needs it”
End of story. No further questions
Jesus had told them exactly what answer to give and they gave that exact answer
If they had added anything to it, it would have been a problem
God’s wish is that we knew exactly how to conduct ourselves in this world
A donkey, used only to bear burdens, got the opportunity to carry the King of Kings upon it
That was a symbol of what Jesus always did: associate with the weak and the humble, the outcasts, the needy and the poor
From that point onwards, a “tension” might have been building up among the Pharisees and the like, because Jesus was doing “strange” things, very different from others
Jesus just wanted to be himself. He did not intentionally do something different, in order to be different
Now, as the disciples started shouting, what was mounting up in the hearts of the Pharisees came out as their response: “can you please ask these people to stop shouting?”
That is the question the world is asking us today
“You shout about Darwin or Britney or any other person”; no problem!
Shout about any other religion or leaders of religion, teach about them in schools, no problem!
But the moment you start shouting JESUS, there is a problem!!
You know why?
There is power in that name-
Power to heal, power to save, power to loosen the captives, power to open the eyes of the blind……..
That is why they are asking us, “In this 21st century, can you please keep quiet about Jesus?”
Our response to that question could be similar to that of Jesus: “If we keep quiet, these stones will shout; that will be ten times worse”
We know what happens when stones (nature) starts to speak!
Stones are speaking; the sea is speaking; the holes we dug under the ocean is speaking
90% of the TV evangelists market themselves in the name of Christ, I feel
God is expecting you and I to be shouting for Him (Isaiah 61)
To be watchful in prayer, be His witnesses and be His worshippers
We are in times like that of Esther-”such a time as this”
If Esther had kept quiet, God would have brought salvation for the Jews from elsewhere, but Esther and her family would have perished! (Esther 4:14)
We cannot just keep quiet, when God wants us to speak up
God bless us
Surrender our lives to watch and pray, to witness and to worship Him
BG
Prayer: Lord, make me an instrument of yours-a person who will watch and pray, witness and worship you. Amen