The Purpose of Our Praise

The Purpose of Praise

Intro

Matthew 21:1–11 ESV

Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’ ” The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”

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Pray

[pic of palm sunday] To the church celebrates thousands of years of prophecy, hundreds of years of distance from God, three years of miracles and ministry by God in flesh in and amongst the Jewish people; it all culminates in this moment when the Christ, the messiah, comes to the Holy city to fulfill it all and to be honored as the King that He is!

And even there, in that language, is an important part of this story, and a more important part of the faith to which He calls us all.

You see, the witness of scripture, especially scripture taken in light of history, is a witness that reminds us of just how varied and even mixed up the view of the nature of Jesus’ return was.

[Messiah] You see, the Jews were waiting for the Messiah. The one who would usher in an era of peace, restore the Judges, one who - most likely through force - would destroy all the weapons of all the Nations that opposed Israel, and that all nations would then bow to them and their God!

That’s who they were waiting on. That is the prophecy that they were waiting to be fulfilled.

Given that, it is pretty reasonable to assume that some who were there shouting were shouting less from a position of faith and more from a position of hope.

[hope] And that is a pretty familiar feeling for us isn’t it?

[we all feel hope…]

And for those who had been following Jesus, even those who didn’t yet have the faith that comes from hope, surely this was a pivotal and poignant moment.

And for us too, this is a pivotal moment. You see, we come to this moment just like the Jewish people. We come with our doubts. We come with our hopes. We come with our expectations. And like them, we shout our Hosanna’s just as much out of our hope as our faith!

Matthew 21:11 ESV

And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”

[he’s a prophet verse] But the question for us today is this - After our Hosanna’s, after our expectations are made apparent to us and to our God, who do we think He is?

But the question for us today is this - After our Hosanna’s, after our expectations are made apparent to us and to our God, who do we think He is?

Is He the King He came to be, or is He a prophet? Is He Salvation alone, or is He our Lord?

One of the difficulties of the modern Evangelical view of God is that we sometimes sell short the Lordship of Christ in us and focus instead on our personal relationship with our God. We do this so much, that we begin to assume that the ways in which God speaks to us, and the things that we feel Him calling to us, and the things that He leads us to, we begin to think that those things are the ONLY way to know Jesus!

It isn’t unlike those Jewish people watching Jesus enter into Jerusalem. They have their ideas of how things are supposed to be, so of course God would only do it that way!

And when their expectations had to be voiced, they voiced them by hedging their bets.

Oh, He’s a prophet. Can’t go wrong with that, right?

But church, before we judge too harshly, we need to understand that sometimes, that is us. We claim a Savior who has come to set us free, and bring us redemption and salvation, but when it comes to who is in control of our lives - who is it that is King of all we do - all too often that answer is us.

We don’t want to give up control. Sometimes we don’t want a King, we only want a friend and comforter. And while Jesus is in fact that as well, He is so much more!

Philippians 2:9–11 ESV

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

He alone is that name at which we bow! He alone is worthy of our praise and devotion! And praise that is so much more than words! In fact, if we could muster every Hosanna that has ever been or ever will be, they would never be enough!

[] He alone is that name at which we bow! He alone is worthy of our praise and devotion! And praise that is so much more than words! In fact, if we could muster every Hosanna that has ever been or ever will be, they would never be enough!

[] He alone is that name at which we bow! He alone is worthy of our praise and devotion! And praise that is so much more than words! In fact, if we could muster every Hosanna that has ever been or ever will be, they would never be enough!

And He didn’t earn that praise by being a prophet. He didn’t earn it by healing us of some earthly affliction. Those aren’t the key components that make up a messiah! They are parts, don’t get me wrong, but they aren’t the core truth!

The core truth is much, much, more humbling than they could ever be! Church, the absolute core truth of Christ is this: The God who created the heavens and the earth, all that is or ever will be, longed so much for us to be where He is that from the beginning of time until now, He has orchestrated the greatest demonstration of love possible. He gave up power. He gave up position. He gave himself and became man. And although still God, He didn’t consider that something to be exploited. He didn’t want to make force the way that Salvation came into this world! After all, how loyal are unwilling subjects? How loving are those who you force to love you? No! God wanted us to love Him like He loves us! So He didn’t come as a forceful, and conquering King! He didn’t come as one who would subjugate all creation! He came as a servant to all people! Humble, meek, and kind! The absolute fulfillment of all God’s word and expectations! Love made flesh, so that we - you and me and everyone ever - could not only see and understand His example, but so that we would be so in love with Him that we would offer not only our Hosanna’s - not only our praise - but the entirety of our lives!

Ephesians 2:17–18 ESV

And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.

From the words of our mouths, to the thoughts of our heart. Grace, the result of total devotion to the God who came to save all, must rule in our hearts above all!

From the words of our mouths, to the thoughts of our heart. Grace, the result of total devotion to the God who came to save all, must rule in our hearts above all!

In this day and age of soundbites and agendas and division, though, that can be hard to see.

Just this past week we have seen people in places of power and influence use their supposed faith as the tip of a sword with which they themselves seek to divide those who can be thought of as Christian and those who cannot.

But we do that too sometimes. We act as if our “personal” faith is somehow greater than Christ Himself! Like what we think about God and what we believe to be true must be the only way to ever see God!

So we sow division, we speak words of division and hate, worse yet, even if we don’t say them or even believe them, we silently allow them to be said out of a misguided sense of duty and allegiance. An allegiance - a worship even - of something other than our Messiah. The Prince of Peace.

The one who preached peace to those far off and near. The one who modeled a love for all that we forget when our Hosanna’s are based on what we get out of our faith.

[sign] [Seeing the sign] ...Our faith, our praise, isn’t for a cosmic vending machine, church. Our shouts of joy for the coming messiah must be understood as a pledge! A pledge of allegiance to the very Lamb of God above all! Above pain, above problems, above social condition - above everything! He alone is what we praise, because we are His followers!

[followers] And because of that, our praise must become our purpose. Not that praising is our purpose. But our shouts of joy for our Savior must turn into a purpose for living. A sweet offering of all that we are in this life, to the one who is in fact THE life!

We must turn our platitudes into passion, and passion into purpose - the only praise that God really wants!

Church, just imagine if we - the universal church filled with His Spirit - were to live out our praise in this world! Imagine if we let our Hosanna’s ring out of our lives through our love for the world - a love modeled by our Christ! Imagine if served like Christ served - everyone else mattering more to us than what we want or what we think we need! Just imagine what this world would have and be if we would turn our praise into purpose - our Hosanna’s into following!

2 Peter 1:16 ESV

For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

Because, in truth church, we don’t follow a man defined by phrases that we use to show others our faith. We don’t follow a prideful healer who dresses in nice clothes and says the things we want to hear! We don’t follow a trend that rises and falls with social pressures!

[] Because, in truth church, we don’t follow a man defined by phrases that we use to show others our faith. We don’t follow a prideful healer who dresses in nice clothes and says the things we want to hear! We don’t follow a trend that rises and falls with social pressures!

We follow the Son of God - the Son of Man! We follow the man who heals the world! Not just of afflictions, but of the sin that separates us from Him! We follow the man who walked on water, not to show His great power, but to call for us to come to Him in great faith! We follow the man who came into this world a King, but not a conquering King, but a humble King who came here to die for us all!

And to that person - to the one who would love us when we were beyond lovable. To the one who would give us the keys to eternity. To the one who has shown us the greatest love imaginable - to Him alone belongs our praise! Our hosanna’s! Our very lives!

1 Chronicles 16:23–25 ESV

Sing to the Lord, all the earth! Tell of his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples! For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and he is to be feared above all gods.

] That is our song! That is the very foundation of our lives! That is our new song! That is what sing’s from our hearts - from everything we think, say, and do - when we become a follower of Christ!

That is our song! That is the very foundation of our lives! That is our new song! That is what sing’s from our hearts - from everything we think, say, and do - when we become a follower of Christ!

] That is our song! That is the very foundation of our lives! That is our new song! That is what sing’s from our hearts - from everything we think, say, and do - when we become a follower of Christ!

So today, I want us all to sing that song again! To turn away from what we think Christ is, and instead to just offer Him all that WE are, and choose in this moment to follow Him.

Invitation