The Stone Will Shout… So Pay Attention!
Sermon written and delivered by Jay Horton as part of Emory University’s Beloved Community Palm Sunday Worship on March 24, 2024. Photo of members of Beloved Community taken by Jay Horton.
Luke 19:28-42
28 After he [Jesus] had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.
29 When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, 30 saying, “Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it.’ ” 32 So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them. 33 As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34 They said, “The Lord needs it.” 35 Then they brought it to Jesus, and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. 36 As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. 37 Now 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.” 40 He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”
41 As he came near and saw the city, he wept over it, 42 saying, “If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.
It is a blessing to be with you all in worship on this holy day, the start of Holy Week, Palm Sunday. To many the Gospel passage today is probably a familiar one.
You know the story of Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem—of him asking two disciples to fetch a colt and then him riding that colt down from the Mount of Olives into the city. People start rejoicing, praising God, shouting “Hosanna! Glory to God in the Highest.”
Our text today says people were spreading their cloaks on the road. The other synoptic, or similar Gospels, Matthew and Mark, mention people cutting branches from trees to spread as well. I don’t know where the tradition of waving palms came from but, if you’re anything like me you picture a parade—throngs of people, lots of movement, and noise.
The sound must have been boisterous, because when the religious leaders saw what the people were doing they started to act as crowd control, urging Jesus to tell his disciples to control themselves—to practice more decorum.
But Jesus is not persuaded in the slightest. He says, “I tell you, if they were silent, even the stones would shout.” The stones would make an equal or bigger noise. Things are in motion that you, oh you, religious leaders can’t even begin to comprehend.
He gets teary-eyed, saying “If only… IF ONLY you knew… on this of all days… the things that lead to peace. But they are hidden from your eyes.”
Stones shouting out… It makes me think of living in the twenty-first century. We know a thing or two about stones shouting, about the earth trembling, crying out, do we not?
Last year alone, the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), the nation's scorekeeper on climate-related disasters, things like hurricanes, floods, extreme heat, cold, tornados, and wildfires, recorded 28 of what they catagorize as severe events just last year. Across the country events like Hurricane Idalia, the wildfires in Hawaii, droughts in the midwest, and flooding in the northeast killed a combined 492 people and resulted in 93.1 billion dollars in damage—people’s homes, jobs, and livelihoods lost!
We know these types of events are only increasing. This year we had one of the warmest winters on record in the US and in 2023 Georgia’s January through March temperatures were 6.4 degrees above the norm. Warmer temperatures mean plants are coming out and blooming earlier and then staying around longer. This is causing prolonged pollen seasons affecting people’s allergies and health. Are you feeling it, because I know I am?
As much as some want to convince us differently, the scientific community agrees that this abnormal and extreme weather is caused by greenhouse emissions, carbon being released into the atmosphere by us humans. Fossil fuels and other industry that we live off presently are negatively changing our climate. They’re hurting animals, planets, and other people—our neightbors, whole ecosystems and communities. And in response the earth, the stone beneath our feet, is most literally crying out, in a thunderous roar, “HELP!”
And you have to wonder: Is it because our praise of God—our load hosannas for God’s Be-Loved—has gotten too quiet for the earth’s comfort? We no longer see the colt of Christ riding in our midst and we are not responding with the proper adoration?
“If only… IF ONLY we knew… on this of all days… the things that lead to peace. But they are hidden from your eyes.”
After graduating from Emory’s Candler School of Theology in 2022, I went to work for an organization called Georgia Interfaith Power and Light (GIPL)—where I work today. We’re a nonprofit based in Decatur that works to inspire and equip communities of faith to organize, implement practical climate solutions, things like solar, and advocate across Georgia on issues of climate change, environmental justice, and community resilience. One of the ways we do this is by inviting people and congregations into international spaces to learn about God and God’s creation in community.
Early on at my time at GIPL, I got to go on one of our experiential learning excursions to the Shoal Creek Sanctuary in Athens, Georgia. John Pickering, a retired University of Georgia professor of ecology, has created a massive wildlife refuge on his property and now uses it for educational purposes, restoring landscapes and creating habit for native wildlife.
We toured the property with him and he talked about different aspects of the sanctuary that were unique: one being the birds. He mentioned that the health of an ecosystem is directly linked the presence of the winged creatures, particularly in Georgia, the woodpeckers. Yes, the birds that go tap, tap, tap on all trees.
There are apparently eight species of woodpeckers that live in Georgia and seven native to North Georgia. He said the number of different types of woodpeckers present in an area is a great idicater of the health of the ecosystem because it tells you about the presence of the chemicals, for example, affecting insects, the birds food supply, and about the health of trees and the habitat in which they flourish. After years of work, he said he was proud to have six of the seven back in the sanctuary today.
After he said this, I couldn’t stop thinking and wondering how many woodpeckers were present where I live. All the way home I wondered do I even have any woodpeckers. When I got back to Atlanta, I immediately downloaded an app called Merlin Bird ID—which is designed to help identify birds.
Every morning instead of just letting the dog outside to go potty by herself, I’d wander out into the yard with her. I’d open the app and stand there in silence and listen to the birds. I also began running and going on more walks around the neighborhood, just over here behind Emory, but without my headphones on. This was key! I wanted to know if I could hear the birds too, like Pick. Were there any woodpeckers present?
At first the Cardinals were easy to identify with their loud, repetative whistle tones and those deep, scarlett feathers. There were also a lot of Carolina Wrens with there chirps that fluctuate from high to low as they flit about. There were Robins too with that inconsistent, pulsating sound almost like they’re struggling to breath. And of course the black birds with their deep caws and feathers the color of obsidian. But alas, no woodpeckers!
I went to visit my grandfather in Kansas and he gave me an old set of his binoculars to help with the work as well. Maybe the woodpeckers were there but just too quiet to hear?
It took a month or two until I finally heard and then spotted a Northern Flicker. Their call is a unique sound—a shrill, rolling churr—and they’re just beautiful with the red on the top of their heads and spots along their bellies. I was so excited, but it had taken me months to see this one species of woodpecker. Maybe my yard was not as healthy as I had originally thought.
I began to become more aware of the things I could do to foster a more bird friendly habitat. I stopped using as many pesticides, and started encouraging more native plants to grow. I left more of the underbrush and leaves and encouraged my neighbors to do the same. There were things I couldn’t totally control like the warming weather and the climate, changing migratory patterns and insect populations, but I did what I could and I’m doing what I can now. I kept learning and listening to the birds.
And just last month… you would not believe it, I heard and saw another woodpecker species! A red-bellied woodpecker with their zebra-like feathers and bright red comb—they have a short, speedy, vibrating chirp. I was so excited! I sent a text to the whole office… I was like you can’t believe what I saw!
Persistent observation was pivotal. While I still have a long way to go before I see as many species as Pick in my yard (I don’t even know if that’s possible in the city), I believe time and intentionality can make more homes for birds and all wildlife. And this is not just something you have to be a homeowner to do either! We all live in communities and can work to make parks into urban forests and build gardens that support nature, places of refuge and peace for all living things. What could you all do here at Emory, perhaps? Around Canon Chapel or the Interfaith Center?
In a recent article from Grist, author Joseph Winters writes about how climate change and environmental degradation are changing the sounds of nature. He says if we’re not careful “we risk losing something unrecoverable — not only the melodies of nature and the symphony they create as a composite, but something that speaks to our awareness of the natural world around us.”
We must pay attention!
“If only… IF ONLY you knew… on this of all days… the things that lead to peace. May they not be hidden from your eyes.”
More than half of the work of caring for God’s Creation is about noticing the world and the presence of Christ passing by all around us as a person on a colt, as a birds flitting about, as the very air we breathe. Listening, seeing, smelling, and learning from the natural world. Taking out those ear buds more often, walking instead of driving, and taking our time outdoors all helps.
Nature tells us both what is well and what is not, in both the noise and the silence, things be said, and through this God gives us the knowledge to speak to peace.
In the Gospel today, there is evidence of both people—the disciples—noticing God’s presence around them and there are also others who fail to see it—the pharisees. There are those who are working for good in the world, laying down cloaks and branches, to make a path for the holy and there are those who would rather squash the symphony, the rejoicing, and the praise in God’s Creation. Who are you in this story?
Let us pay attention and speak for peace. Because even if we’re silent, as Jesus said, the rocks, the stones, the earth under our very feet, will still be there shouting. Let us bend the knee. Let us lay down our clocks, our material possessions—dare I say our materialism—and listen to the cry of the earth and our neighbors. They need us. They are hurting. This is the Palm Sunday Gospel message: Pay attention! Be Observant!
Salvation is on the horizon, Yes! Just a week away, but oh it will be a long week. This journey will not be short or easy. A week of tables needing to be turned. Things needing to be learned. Much suffering. Much pain. But a promise… we have a promise of a resurrection, we know. Yes, we know.
It does not have to be this way. Things can be different.
“Things lead to peace. They need not be hidden from our eyes.”
We can mitigate the climate crisis. We can protect our communities. We can see a world where all people would live safely in a healthy environment, a stable climate, and resilient communities.
We are all connected: me to you, us to the earth, this community and all Creation to the divine.
In silence, the stones will shout! In rejoicing, Jesus will find a way. In all things, God will speak, justice will prevail, and salvation will come!
In the name of the Creator, Christ, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
