Noisy Praise

Noisy Praise

If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.

Luke 19:40

IN WORD Our mission toward global worship is going to happen, whether or not we participate in it. If we don’t cry out in praise of the Savior, God will get the rocks to do it. All creation will point to Him in one way or another, and we’re usually the last ones to get in on the plan. At the centerpiece of this universe is a Savior with a Cross, and yet segments of humanity reject that centerpiece while other segments don’t even know it exists. That’s what our mission is about.

But it’s going to happen. That’s a promise. Philippians says that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord (2:10-11). We can gather from other verses that this is far from a universal salvation; it’s only a universal acknowledgment of ultimate reality. In the end, everyone will see Jesus for who He is. And in the end, no one will be able to rationalize Him away.

But if universal worship is going to happen anyway, why should we worry about it? Why should we get bent out of shape about getting the gospel to the ends of the earth, if the ends of the earth are eventually going to worship Him regardless of what we do? First and foremost, because Jesus told us to. The mission is every Christian’s mandate.

But there’s another reason. We should be zealous for the glory of God’s name because we can’t swim against history’s tide. If the direction of the universe—even its rocks—points to Christ, it would be shameful if His most precious creatures, specifically made in the image of God, do not. It would also be active rebellion against the sovereign God who made us agents of His mission. The ultimate authority has told us: Love Him, worship Him, tell of His goodness, and sing His praises. The noisy disciples irked the Pharisees, but God had ordained their noise.

IN DEED Do you have it in you to irk a Pharisee? Exuberance is ordained. Noisy praise is part of the plan. Declaring His goodness is the mission to which we’re called.

Men in general praise God in such a manner that He scarcely obtains the tenth part of His due.

—JOHN CALVIN