In Jesus final week, he was riding into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey and the Bible says:  the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: ³⁸ “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”  (Luke 19:37-38)

This outburst of joy caused the religious leaders to say to Jesus,“Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”(v.39). To which Jesus replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” (v.40)

You know the story, we call it Palm Sunday. Before you say, “wrong holiday, this is thanksgiving week.” Hear me out: What if the disciples had listened to the hushing Pharisees and quieted down, so that the stones were forced to vocally take their place? I never had a pet rock (back when that was a thing). I’ve skipped stones, but never talked to one. I’ve listen to the Rolling Stones from time to time, but I get no satisfaction (pun intended) from their songs. I don’t think that Jesus was referring to Mick Jagger and the boys anyway. So, in spite of those disclaimers, here is my best guess as to what the stones might have cried out:

Grateful Granite: Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. (Psalm 95:1)

Singing Sandstone: The Lord lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be God my Savior! (Psalm 18:46)

Shouting Slate: “There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God.” (1 Samuel 2:2)

Faithful Flint: The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone!(Psalm 118:22)

Crying out Quartz:  Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal. (Isaiah 26:4)

Rocks quoting scripture? Why not? Jesus said it, “If we don’t, they will!”  This Thanksgiving week, don’t let sedimentary, metamorphic, or igneous rocks (that’s your geology lesson for the day) take our job. Instead, let’s continuously offer our rock rattling, stones quieting praise and thanks to the Lord, our Salvation and Solid Rock!

Have a great thanksgiving!