The Sacrifice of Praise

April 13, 2025 homily on Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29 and Luke 19:28-40 by Pastor Galen for Palm Sunday

“As [Jesus] rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road…[and] 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.” – Luke 19:36-37

How do you Like to Praise the Lord?

Usually, when we think of praising the Lord, we think of singing songs to God, like the choruses and hymns we sing in church. 

But singing is just one of the many ways we can praise the Lord. We can praise God by playing a musical instrument or tambourine, or by clapping, or dancing. We can praise God by making art or taking pictures for God’s glory. I believe we bring honor and glory to God when we show kindness to a stranger or care for God’s beautiful creation. Even our daily work — whether around the house or at the office or school — can be a form of praise if done for the glory of God. 

The Sacrifice of Praise

Of course, there are many times when we don’t feel like praising the Lord — like when we’re tired, or worn out, or busy, or weighed down with grief or care. Sometimes we might feel angry, or sad, or distant from God, and during these times praise does not come naturally. Other times, when we accomplish something great, we feel the temptation to keep the praise for ourselves, rather than pointing to the God who gave us our gifts and skills and abilities.

It is for this reason that the words “praise” and “sacrifice” often go together. Praising God always involves sacrifice — whether it be sacrificing our time to pray or to come to church to give thanks to God, sacrificing our pride to give God the glory rather than keeping the praise for ourselves, or whether it be giving our resources to help others.

In the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), praise and sacrifice truly went hand in hand, as animal sacrifices and grain offerings were an essential part of worship. This is why, in Psalm 118, the psalmist begins by extolling God’s goodness (Psalm 118:1), and then moves right into talking about “bind[ing] the festal procession with branches, up to the horns of the altar” (Psalm 118:27b) as the psalm draws to a close. 

In offering their sacrifices in worship, God’s people would bring their best—often the healthiest and most valuable animals from their flock—and sacrifice them to the Lord as a way of showing their gratitude and dependence on the Lord. Their giving was both costly and joyful, much like our tithes and offerings today express both our thanksgiving and our trust in God’s provision.

Pilgrimage to Jerusalem

For the many Jewish people who lived far away, their annual pilgrimages to the temple in Jerusalem during the Passover season were a rare opportunity to worship God and offer sacrifices. The temple in Jerusalem, which was the place where God was believed to dwell, was the only place where animal sacrifices could be offered. The synagogues scattered around in the various towns and cities throughout the diaspora were places for prayer and Scripture study, but animal sacrifices could only be offered at the temple in Jerusalem. And so each year at Passover they came, bringing the very best of their flocks to offer as sacrifices to the Lord.

Messianic expectations always ran high during the Passover season, as the Passover festival invited the Jewish people to remember how God had delivered the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. As they reflected on what God had done in the past, they also looked forward with joyful expectation to that day when God would send a Messiah, a Savior, who they hoped would free them from their current oppressors.

It was with this spirit of joyful expectation that the crowds of pilgrims sang the words of Psalm 118 every year as they made their way to Jerusalem during the Passover season. “O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his steadfast love endures forever!” (Psalm 119:1) they would sing as they walked along. “Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord” (Psalm 118:19), they would cry out in joy, as they neared the gates of Jerusalem.

Each year they came, pushing and pulling and prodding and pleading with the animals they had chosen to be sacrificed—hoping that by offering their sacrifices on the altar, God would hear and respond to the cries of their hearts.

Palm Sunday: A Day of Joyful Expectation

But this year, many of the people flocking to Jerusalem no doubt left in such a rush that they neglected to bring their sacrificial lambs, for they heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. Many had personally witnessed Jesus perform such miraculous deeds of power as raising the dead to life, and walking on water, and feeding 5,000 people with just a few loaves of bread and a few fish. Many wondered if he could be the One — the Messiah, who they believed would free them from Roman occupation and establish an everlasting kingdom of peace and prosperity.

And now they heard that Jesus was heading into Jerusalem, the capital city, the place where God was believed to dwell! And at Passover time, no less! They wondered if perhaps the day had come — the day they had been waiting for, when they would finally be free. And so they hurriedly left their homes and villages and streamed toward Jerusalem in joyful expectation for what God might do. And as they surrounded Jesus during the last leg of his journey into Jerusalem, they sang out these familiar words from Psalm 118: “Save us” (or hosanna) “we beseech you, O Lord! O Lord, we beseech you, give us success! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord” (Psalm 118:25-26a).

They Laid Down Their Cloaks

We’re told in other Gospel accounts that while they were singing, they waved palm branches. Here in Luke’s account, we see too that they laid their cloaks on the road — a form of rolling out the red carpet — for the donkey that Jesus was riding on to step on.

Cloaks would have been a valuable possession for many of the people of that day. They served not only as outerwear during the day but also as a blanket at night. Roads back then were dirty and dusty and filled with animal waste. But the people didn’t hesitate or hold back. They threw their precious cloaks down upon the dirty road with joyful abandon and praised God joyfully with loud voices “for all of the deeds of power they had seen” (Psalm 118:37b).

The Pharisees (religious leaders), feeling their power and influence slipping away, told Jesus to order his disciples to be silent, but Jesus responded by saying that “if these [disciples] were silent, the stones would shout out” (Psalm 118:39). Creation itself would rise in praise because God is always worthy—of worship, of sacrifice, and of celebration.

The Ultimate Sacrifice

If any of Jesus’ followers were concerned because they had failed to bring a sacrificial lamb to offer at the altar in the temple during Passover, they needn’t have worried, since Jesus himself would become the perfect sacrifice. 

Jesus was the ultimate sinless, spotless lamb who gave his life to atone for the sins of the world. Yes, he was the king who came in the name of the Lord – the Messiah, the One the people had been waiting for. But rather than leading a political revolt against Rome, he ushered in an eternal kingdom that is not of this world. And he did that by offering his life as a sacrificial atonement on the cross, to save us, and restore us to wholeness and peace with God. 

Never again would Jesus’ disciples need to offer sacrifices in the temple in an attempt to cover their sins or as an attempt to garner God’s favor, since through his death Jesus paid the ultimate penalty for sin. In giving himself as a sacrificial lamb he confronted all of the powers of this world – not just earthly or political, but all of the forces of evil and hatred and sin and death. And through Christ’s resurrection on Easter Sunday, he defeated sin and death and hell and the grave. 

And so the sacrifices that we offer to God — our praise and worship, our time and energy and talents, our resources, and yes, our very lives — are not given in order to earn God’s favor, since we have already been shown favor through Christ. Rather, we respond by freely and sacrificially giving our praise in response to what God has already given us through Christ.

And so like Jesus’ disciples who called out “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Luke 19:38), we too hail Jesus as our king, and we are invited to lay all that we have and all that we are at the feet of Jesus. We are invited to proclaim him as our Savior and our Lord, and to hold nothing back, giving all that we have and all that we are in response for all he has done for us. 

Offering Praise This Holy Week

And so as we enter into this Holy Week, what praise and sacrifice can we offer to Jesus in response to the sacrifice he has made for us? And what might it look like for us to hail Jesus as our Savior and our King, and to lay down our “cloaks” for Jesus?

1. We might set aside time each day for prayer or Scripture reading—even taking five minutes to offer thanks to God can be an act of praise. (We have some daily devotionals, such as Our Daily Bread and The Upper Room available to assist you in your daily devotions.)

2. Sing a song of worship, even if it’s just in your kitchen or your car, or even the shower, or make a piece of art, or care for God’s creation.

3. Do something kind for someone without expecting anything in return, or give generously to a neighbor in need or to a cause that you care deeply about. Remember that we give, not in order to earn God’s favor, but in response to what Jesus has already given to us.

4. Forgive someone who has hurt you, as Christ has forgiven you.

We were Made to Praise

Indeed, this is our calling. We were created to give God praise. And not just with our voices, but with our very lives. We don’t have to be fabulous singers, or dancers, or artists. We just have to be willing. Willing to lay down whatever it is that we have. Willing to raise our voices in praise. Willing to live each day as an offering to the One who gave everything for us.

We don’t have to be creative, or original. We can recite words that we’ve heard over and over again, we can even sing old familiar hymns, because it’s not the originality of the words or the quality of our artistry that matters when we give God praise. What matters is that we give God our all, and hold nothing back. 

So this Palm Sunday, let us join the crowd and offer up a sacrifice of praise—not only with our words, but with our whole selves. Let us proclaim:

“Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!”

May our lives shout his praise.

Amen!

Questions for Personal Reflection in Response to Today’s Sermon:

1. When have you experienced praise as a kind of sacrifice?
2. What “cloak” might God be inviting you to lay down in worship this week?
3. How can your daily work—whether at home, school, or job—become a form of praise?
4. How does Jesus’ sacrifice shape the way you view your own giving—of time, resources, or energy?
5. How might you intentionally set aside time each day during Holy Week to reflect or give thanks?