St. Timothy's Church

Advent 3

December 12, 2010

The Rev. W. Terry Sweeney

Be joyful in the Lord, all you lands; serve the Lord with gladness and come before His presence with a song.  Know this: The Lord Himself is God; he himself has made us, and we are his; we are his people and the sheep of His pasture.  Enter His gates with thanksgiving; go into His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and call upon His Name.  For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting; and His faithfulness endures from age to age.  Psalm 100

In the Name of God: + Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Today is what is called Gaudete Sunday – the Sunday in Advent when the pink candle is lit.  It should be a clue that something is going on.  The name Gaudete comes from the first word of Philippians 4.4, Gaudete in Domino Semper,  “Rejoice in the Lord always, again I will say rejoice.”  The third Sunday in Advent is where we can rejoice in knowing our Lord’s Second Coming will one day occur. So in the spirit of rejoicing we’re going to look a bit at the place of praise in a believer’s life.

What is Praise?

When many of us think about offering God praise, we think of Praise Music.  A genre of music that sings to God about His wonders, Love and so forth.  We think of high energy worship with clapping and raised hands, spontaneous shouts of “Praise God” or “Thank You, Jesus”.  In some church circles, Praise is a lumped in with charismatic’s.  All of this may be true: praise may be super-charged, offered in song, tambourines, loud music, clapping hands, raising hands, shouts of praise and more may be present BUT that’s just one form of praise.  There are others.  And they all are part of the normal, everyday, usual life of a Christian.

I think the simplest definition of “praise” is offering complimentary, flattering words about God to God’s ears and possibly within earshot of anyone listening; Praise expresses approval  and admiration. 

I’d go as far to say that praise to God is its own type of love language. The language of praise is intimate, the words flow from deep emotions, they speak to truth and experience. Praise may come from an ah-ha moment of revelation, the Holy Spirit may bring us to praise God, praise may come from relief of fear or anxiety, or extreme joy; praise may come from hearing good news or from contemplation of our life or the life of someone else. Praise emphasizes and expresses the positive even when the negative may have occurred.

Praise is the product of “seeing all that God had told us”.

Praise is the product of confidence in Christ.         

Praise is the work of the Spirit.

Praise is a type of love language.

Praise is rooted in love, trust, and faith. Praise is a by-product of recognizing that God, who is spirit and truth, has acted in the natural world.

Psalm 96:4, “For great is the Lord and greatly to be praised . . . . . “

Who is like you O God in all the heavens?  O Lord our Governor, how exalted is Your Name in all the world (Ps. 8:1) 

I love you, O Lord my strength, O Lord my stronghold. . . (Ps. 18:1) 

Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good; sing praises to His name, for it is lovely (Ps. 135:3) 

I will give thanks to you, O Lord, with my whole heart . . . I will sing your praise (Ps. 138:1) 

I will exalt you, O God my King, and bless your Name for ever and ever.  Every day will I bless you, and praise your Name for ever and ever.  Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised; there is no end to His greatness (Ps. 145:1-3).

Praise as an Exercise of Faith

 20 years ago Olivia and I attended a ministry conference in North Carolina, at the Episcopal retreat center in Kanuga.  One of the speakers spoke about offering praise to God.  Actually he challenged us to offer continuous praise to God for three minutes.  On his count the entire assembly of 200 or more people was to shout out words of praise to God – non-stop, continuous words of praise, until someone said the time was up.

At first I thought three minutes was pretty short – 180 seconds – that was going to be easy.  But in fact it wasn’t.  Most offerings of praise are short bursts of praise.  A sentence or two.  Maybe one phrase that’s repeated. To offer sustained praise takes practice; a discipline of the spirit that needed some work.

I’ve never seen offering praise listed as a spiritual discipline as fasting, prayer, journal writing or doing good works.  Praise is however found in components of prayer.

Adoration is perhaps where praise is found most because we acknowledge our dependence upon God in all things and as we do so acknowledge the greatness of God . . . . .from this comes praise.  The Gloria is a form of Adoration.

Prayers of love, and Thanksgiving are often laced with praise.

So how can we develop the discipline of offering praise? Intentionally offer God praise often.

I once had a priest friend who decided that he would set his watch to beep every 12 minutes as a reminder that he was to praise and thank God many times a day. 

Journal – stop for prayer several times a day – speak more in public using praise language.

Develop an attitude of praise – strive to be a person of praise.

Remembering God – seeing Him involved in the daily aspects of even the smallest of things – is a must if we’re going to develop the proper attitude needed to thank Him and praise Him. The conscious remembering of God present and with us is the place to start.

 Praise: After a difficult time.

The other day my phone rang and it was one of our sons.  He had been worried that he had done poorly on a paper.  I won’t go into the details but it REALLY bothered him and he was very concerned.  He called to say he had received his paper back . . . . . and there was a long pause.  I held my breath and tried to exhibit patience and calm . . . . . finally he said, “I received an A” In an instant I said, “Yes!  W a y  t o  g o!!”  I didn’t have to think about it – I didn’t care who saw or heard me – I was thrilled for my son and I was unashamed to show it in public!

His anxiety – his effort – his hopes – as his dad I took those onto myself and carried him in prayer and counsel and encouragement.  Internally I had to be ready to react to whatever the outcome turned out to be which included consolation if his fears came true.

My emotions just opened up instantaneously – like an involuntary eruption of relief and gratitude – not the least pride in my son’s ability and hard work.

I think there is something that resonates with each of us when we or someone we know and love has been through a personal time of trial, or are under strain and stress and then we receive word the trial is over and all is well.

I’m thinking of the young girl who was kidnapped in Virginia and found yesterday in San Francisco – her family had to have felt a huge relief . . . . . I wonder if they offered thanks and praise to God that she was found safe and sound.

But praise doesn’t always come from what we might call good things.  Praise can come from the end of a long battle that ends in death.

Praise: When death occurs.

Elizabeth Edwards died this week after a gallant but losing battle with cancer.

Her oldest daughter speaking of her mother said, “She has been a light house to all of us. She has always been that source of light to us. Every lesson she has taught has become part of our ethic.”

I just have to believe that many of the 1,700 people attending this service did so out of respect for her life and gratitude to God. To offer praise when death occurs is increasingly difficult as the death is closer to the one offering praise.

I attended the death of a 13 yr old adopted girl and as she died her parents wept openly.  One at each side speaking words of encouragement in her ear – telling her not to be afraid – to go to Jesus – that they would miss her and love her forever.

Several weeks later I saw the mom in the hospital standing near an elevator.  I approached her – she recognized me and smiled a pale, tired smile.  She said the pain is almost unbearable but I praise God for the time we had with her.  She is always on my mind.  God was good to us.  He gave us a wonderful present.

The elevator opened and she got in – I never saw her again.

When death and tragedy strikes home, the waves of grief and pain can easily cover our thanks and praise. . . . to have the presence of mind and the spiritual will to thank God and offer Him praise must come from a deep faith and the Holy Spirit speaking through us.

I think as a parent we must commend our children to God every day and trust in His eternal care for them either on this side of life or the one to come.

Twenty-five years ago I had the honor of being with an elderly lady named Helen, who was living with pancreatic cancer.  The day she died I passed by her door and noticed that her bed was perfectly fitted – no wrinkles in the blanket, the pillow fluffy and the room seemed to be lit with a special glow.  The woman lay there – patiently waiting to pass on.  Very weak, in and out of consciousness – not fighting or struggling to hold on to life.  Frail, hardly 80 pounds.  She died.

I found myself offering praise to God:  We praise you Lord for Helen and the life you gave her on this earth and the hope she had in living with you eternally.  We pray gracious and loving God that her soul is with you this very minute where pain and sorrow cannot live but instead where tears are turned to joy and disease is replaced by eternal life.  Thank you Lord that she ran her race with dignity and courage with her hoped placed in you. 

Helen had been at Mitchell Hospital for some time and had touched more than one life through her faith.  As word of her death spread nurses and doctors stopped by and stayed for awhile – some shed tears – some spoke in hushed whispers.  More prayers were offered thanking God for Helen’s e life and praying for the eternal repose of her soul with Christ her Lord.

This form of praise is solemn. It’s a reflection in words of thanksgiving and praise after coming to the end of a hard road and believing that God was at the end as He was at the beginning and in the middle. This praise does not necessarily take on the form of clapping hands with up tempo music as much as it recognizes the cosmic truth of the moment.

Over several weeks I had soaked up visit after visit, conversations, stories, prayers, hopes and certain hard realities which had to be faced.  When Helen died I was able to offer words of thanks and praise partially because I had some sense of what she went thru.

Praise: a bible example.

An attitude of thanks is the incubator for praise.  Without thanks rising up within us, praise has no possibility of being present. Thanks which includes gratitude comes first then words and acts of praise come out.

Luke offers us two memorable examples.

The Holy Spirit kept Zechariah mute for 9 months or more.  Once their child was born and named God opened Zechariah’s mouth again and the first words from his mouth were praise in the form of a prophetic word from God:

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed His people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us . . . . .  Luke 1.68

Mary upon her visit to Elizabeth was moved by praise to offer these words:

 My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my savior . . . . for he who is mighty has done great things for me and holy is His name . . . 1:47, 49

Praise: What God Has Done

Across the pages of scripture we can find words of praise offered because of who God is and what He has done.  Praise is offered because of His truthfulness, His power, His steadfastness and reliability.

Whether it’s the birth of a child, releasing people from slavery, protecting them from an enemy, giving them a second chance, providing food and water, healing their diseases or offering them forgiveness the scripture records time and time again the acts of offering praise to God.

Turn with me to Luke 2.8 . . . . . the story of the angel(s) coming to announce the birth of Christ to a group of shepherds.

Shepherds often stayed with their flocks and watched over them at night.  Large flocks required several shepherds which took turns throughout the night watching the flock.  This night in particular an angel suddenly appeared.  Of course they were ‘filled with fear’.

The angel told them not to be afraid – good news – news of great joy that will be for all the people.

God is consistent here – he’s chosen to bring his instrument of salvation into the world through a young, common folk family.  He’s decided to announce the savior’s birth to shepherds and not to Herod or anyone in his court; God has chosen a famous city of a famous king but has chosen to birth the child in a cave on an obscure night with little fanfare.

So the shepherds follow God’s pattern – obscure – some say not well thought of people – others say shepherds were necessary and well thought of because they assured enough animals for the necessary temple sacrifices, etc.

Well thought of or not the fact remains that out in a field somewhere near Bethlehem at some time in the middle of the night an angel appeared to a startled group of shepherds without any theological training or academic degrees to announce the “Good News”.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a savior who is Christ the Lord.

The angel went on to tell them how they could tell the child in question:  he will be wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

The one angel is joined by a host of angels who were praising God in song.

NOTE the angels never told the shepherds to go see the baby but on their own they decided to go to Bethlehem – and found Mary, Joseph and the baby.  They told the new parents all the angel had told them concerning their child. 

Evidently other people had come into the cave because Luke tells us: and all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.

V. 20 says “and the shepherds returned (to their fields) glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

THEY WERE FIRST THANKFUL that God would be so gracious as to come to them of all people.

Knowing that they were in need of a savior and believing that Messiah would one day come to free them, they responded by going to see what God had done for them.

The sight that drove them to praise was that of a child lying in a feeding trough, wrapped in swaddling clothes with his young parents standing close by.

The hope of the world had come with little fanfare yet heaven sang and angels came down to bring yet more common if not poor people to be the very first to be in the presence of their Lord and Savior.

Praise in the life of a believer?

Praise is the product of confidence in Christ; it’s the work of the Spirit; a type of love language.

Praise springs out of seeing that God has done what He said He would/could do.

 

                                                         

 

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