 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| SERMON 23rd Sunday of Pentecost November 8, 2009 The Rev. Charles W. Messer |
| 667 Mount Road, Aston, PA 19014 610-459-2013 |
| Small Parish - Big Heart The little church you've been looking for! All are welcome! |
| Our Mission: To worship the Lord To serve the community To grow the church |
Ruth 3:1-5; 4:13-17 Psalm 127 or 1 Kings 17:8-16 Psalm 146 Hebrews 9:24-28 Mark 12:38-44 |
To contact us: Calvary Episcopal Church 667 Mount Road Aston, PA 19014 610-459-2013 OFFICE The Rev. Charles Messer, Rector Fr. Chuck: frmesser@calvaryepiscopalrockdale.org Website: mail@calvaryepiscopalrockdale.org Office: calvaryoffice1@verizon.net |
Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, O my soul! I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I
will sing praises to my God all my life long.
This morning’s psalm is an imperative call to give God praise; to praise God from
whom all blessings flow; to praise God in good times; to praise God in times of
difficulty and suffering. In every circumstance, not because we want to or feel like
it, the command is that we give God praise.
As the book of Psalms comes to a close, the worship leader who prepared it for us
recognizes, after all of the sometimes heady and horrible expressions of human
emotion, that when all is said and done, we must always come back to praise. We
must always, regardless of the circumstance, come back to gratitude. Interestingly
enough, the word ‘gratitude’ rarely appears in scripture.
In the Scriptures that concept is most often talked about with the word "thanks" or
with the word "praise." “Thanks” is what we feel toward God for finding our keys
when we’re in a hurry, or the time God when God provided at a time of our greatest
need. Praise is gratitude in action. It is not an emotion so much as a way of life lived
in response to who God is not just what God does. Praise is offering our entire self
in gratitude no matter the circumstances or how we feel.
Praise is the central organizing principal of the Bible, the tangible purpose to life
itself. I don't know about you, but praise is not often the central organizing
principle of my life. Now I don't mean it never happens. When things are going OK I
may give a convenient shout out of “Thank you, God.”
We may thank God for giving us an idea, or the stamina to do what had to be done,
but that is not praise. Praise is not thanking God for something. Praise is a choice
that requires discipline, not an emotion that waits for recognition.
Now, while we may not be terrific at praising when things go well, most of us have
an even harder time when things aren’t so good; when life hurts, when wonder
how we’re ever going to get through, and whether God is there at all, then praise is
even harder.
In the difficult times, when we are just going through the motions with nothing
concrete to hold on to or to hold us together, gratitude seems impossible if not
offensive. Yet our psalm tells us that praise is not an option. It is not one option
among many. It is an imperative.
Then there are things like what happened at Ft. Hood on Thursday. As 13 people
lay dead and 17 others wounded, how does God expect those families to give God
praise after something senseless as that? Even there, in the midst of tragedy, God
calls us to praise. As families gather in funeral homes and aimlessly roam the halls
in hospitals, there is praise. There is praise as mothers and wives submit to the
pain they can’t control and somehow find the strength to hold themselves together,
if with nothing else but habit and skin. There is praise as fathers and husbands
struggle in the maddening helplessness of a horrific situation that they have no
control over.
We are called to praise who we trust God to be, not the circumstances in which we
find ourselves. We praise that love is, that whether we feel it or not, whether it
makes any difference in the outcomes we desire or not, God is with us in the pain
of life, of setting captives free, of binding up the brokenhearted, opening blind
eyes, lifting up those who are shattered by life and death and love and loss.
Sometimes I think there are really only two ways we can do that—praise in the
darkness, I mean. First, we can do it through the love and faith of others who will
carry us through on the wings of their own confidence in God's character, love,
and power when we cannot lift ourselves to that truth.
And second, we can praise God with our tears. Sometimes, we praise God with our
tears. Tears, you see, are rooted in hope, even if it seems to be a dashed hope.
Tears are rooted in the belief that somehow things could or should be different and
the belief, even if underground and unconscious, that things can again someday
be different, not by our will or efforts but only by the actions and love of God.
Tears are sometimes praise because they are the ultimate submission. They come
when we cannot do anymore. They come when we cannot fix our lives. They come
when all we have and are is not enough. They come, when our only hope is God.
Hallelujah! Praise the Lord, O my soul. I will praise the Lord my whole life long.
will sing praises to my God all my life long.
This morning’s psalm is an imperative call to give God praise; to praise God from
whom all blessings flow; to praise God in good times; to praise God in times of
difficulty and suffering. In every circumstance, not because we want to or feel like
it, the command is that we give God praise.
As the book of Psalms comes to a close, the worship leader who prepared it for us
recognizes, after all of the sometimes heady and horrible expressions of human
emotion, that when all is said and done, we must always come back to praise. We
must always, regardless of the circumstance, come back to gratitude. Interestingly
enough, the word ‘gratitude’ rarely appears in scripture.
In the Scriptures that concept is most often talked about with the word "thanks" or
with the word "praise." “Thanks” is what we feel toward God for finding our keys
when we’re in a hurry, or the time God when God provided at a time of our greatest
need. Praise is gratitude in action. It is not an emotion so much as a way of life lived
in response to who God is not just what God does. Praise is offering our entire self
in gratitude no matter the circumstances or how we feel.
Praise is the central organizing principal of the Bible, the tangible purpose to life
itself. I don't know about you, but praise is not often the central organizing
principle of my life. Now I don't mean it never happens. When things are going OK I
may give a convenient shout out of “Thank you, God.”
We may thank God for giving us an idea, or the stamina to do what had to be done,
but that is not praise. Praise is not thanking God for something. Praise is a choice
that requires discipline, not an emotion that waits for recognition.
Now, while we may not be terrific at praising when things go well, most of us have
an even harder time when things aren’t so good; when life hurts, when wonder
how we’re ever going to get through, and whether God is there at all, then praise is
even harder.
In the difficult times, when we are just going through the motions with nothing
concrete to hold on to or to hold us together, gratitude seems impossible if not
offensive. Yet our psalm tells us that praise is not an option. It is not one option
among many. It is an imperative.
Then there are things like what happened at Ft. Hood on Thursday. As 13 people
lay dead and 17 others wounded, how does God expect those families to give God
praise after something senseless as that? Even there, in the midst of tragedy, God
calls us to praise. As families gather in funeral homes and aimlessly roam the halls
in hospitals, there is praise. There is praise as mothers and wives submit to the
pain they can’t control and somehow find the strength to hold themselves together,
if with nothing else but habit and skin. There is praise as fathers and husbands
struggle in the maddening helplessness of a horrific situation that they have no
control over.
We are called to praise who we trust God to be, not the circumstances in which we
find ourselves. We praise that love is, that whether we feel it or not, whether it
makes any difference in the outcomes we desire or not, God is with us in the pain
of life, of setting captives free, of binding up the brokenhearted, opening blind
eyes, lifting up those who are shattered by life and death and love and loss.
Sometimes I think there are really only two ways we can do that—praise in the
darkness, I mean. First, we can do it through the love and faith of others who will
carry us through on the wings of their own confidence in God's character, love,
and power when we cannot lift ourselves to that truth.
And second, we can praise God with our tears. Sometimes, we praise God with our
tears. Tears, you see, are rooted in hope, even if it seems to be a dashed hope.
Tears are rooted in the belief that somehow things could or should be different and
the belief, even if underground and unconscious, that things can again someday
be different, not by our will or efforts but only by the actions and love of God.
Tears are sometimes praise because they are the ultimate submission. They come
when we cannot do anymore. They come when we cannot fix our lives. They come
when all we have and are is not enough. They come, when our only hope is God.
Hallelujah! Praise the Lord, O my soul. I will praise the Lord my whole life long.
