B, The Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany - Psalm 147:1, 11, 20c God Pleasing Praise"

Praise the Lord. How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him!  The Lord delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.  Praise the Lord. (Ps 147:1, 11, 20c)

When we praise God, we do it in either of two ways.  We praise him in prayer – thanksgiving prayer.  Or we praise him in song or hymnody.  But why do we praise God?  What is the purpose of praise?  What does singing songs or hymns of praise do?  Do we need to praise God?  And how do we praise God in prayer and song – is there a way of wisdom, a proper process for praising our Lord?

In the Psalms God gives us his words of praise and lament.  So, if God gives us praises and laments in his Word, then it is right to give him thanks and praise, and also to lament and express our grief before him too.  But why; what purpose does it serve?

In many of the praise Psalms the opening line reads “Praise the Lord”, or “Hallelujah”.  These openings are the same thing, one is in English, and the other is the original Hebrew.  It’s interesting to note that Hallelujah is a contraction of two words, Hallelu and Yah, short for Yahweh.  Hallelu means to shine or radiate, and even to boast or brag.  And so to Praise the Lord, hallelujah, we are called to shine or radiate God, to boast or brag of the Lord. But the question still remains, “Why; what purpose does it serve?”

One must also be specifically clear when discussing praise; that we are not just speaking about singing praises.  Praises are sung in song and hymnody, but, in the context of praise’s meaning “to shine”, praises can happen just as easily through being spoken.  In fact, the praise of God goes right back through the history of humanity’s response to God, but singing of praises became a regular response only in the days of King David.

Psalm 147 falls in amongst the last of the Psalms, of which are all praise Psalms.  The book of Psalms finishes with a crescendo of praise for God.  In Psalm 144 we hear God is praised for being King David’s rock in battle.  In Psalm 145 David goes on to lift up the name of the Lord in praise.  David praises God with the Word of God inspired within him by the Holy Spirit.  David receives the Word of God, the Son of God, yet to be born as “the Word made Flesh”.  David in the stead of Jesus Christ leads the congregation in this climax of praise.  In Psalm 146 the repetition of praise, hallelujahs, becomes common right to the end in Psalm 150.  

In verse one of Psalm 147 the psalmist begins, Praise the Lord. How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him!   Why is it good, and pleasant, and fitting to praise God?  It all depends on the source and content of the praise!

One of the most astounding things to occur in the bible is that in God’s calling us to response to his Word, he also gives us his Word as response.  The Psalms are a book of responses written by men, inspired by God the Son, for us to respond to our Father in heaven.  And even more amazing than the Psalms of praise are the Psalms of lament.  God gives humanity a vent to spew out our anger, grief, and even out hatred towards those who refuse to submit to his authority and the authority of his Word.

First, it’s fitting, pleasant, and good to praise God, because he gives us praises in his Word to do just that — praise him.  Jesus praises the Father, and likewise we too praise him, as we are carried along by the Holy Spirit.  We are caused to obey him and honour him, and his Word, when we praise him with his Word.

But then notice in many of the Psalms the community context of praise.  When King David introduced the use of Psalms in the temple worship, the Psalms functioned as responses to the reading of the Law.  So, it was David’s job as king to lead the congregation in response to the priest’s reading of the Torah – the Law.  This is why the 150 Psalms are broken into five books (Ps 1-41; 42-72; 73-89; 90-106; 107-150) so they parallel the five books of the Law (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, & Deuteronomy).  

God calls us to praise him in this community context for a very important reason.  When we praise God, we join with Jesus Christ, a greater king than David, to declare who God is and what he has done for us.  The praising of God with his Word not only radiates and shines glory back to God, but in the community, we radiate the Triune God’s glory upon each other.  And so, the second reason we sing praises in worship response is to teach each other about God’s work and mercy, and to admonish, or warn, each other with the Word of God.

This is best explained by Saint Paul in his letter to the Ephesians where he says…

[E]verything exposed by the light becomes visible, for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said: “Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”  Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.  Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.  Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.  Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” (Eph 5:13-21)

 So, when we sing praises, we submit to each other out of respect for Christ.  We allow ourselves to be vessels through whom God works to wake each other up.  Christ shines on those to whom we sing praises. 

Also, Paul tells us to be filled with the Holy Spirit rather than to get drunk on wine or other types of spirits.  Singing praises from God’s Word, especially in declaration of the gospel, promises sober, orderly, and wise worship and it makes the most of every opportunity for us to hold each other up before Christ. 

Praising God does not make us delirious to the realities around us.  It doesn’t encourage us to become debauched in the things of the world.  And nor is its function to build up God for God’s own sake.  God’s divinity does not depend on how much we build him up.  However, people’s salvation is dependent on them hearing God’s Word in all its truth and purity. 

Therefore, all of us must be careful not to stray from the truth of God’s Word to sing praises that only serve to make us feel good.  Who then is the praise for?  When praises are reduced to a feel-good mantra God is not glorified or taught, but rather the praise singer is glorified as they teach others about what they swear they will do for God. 

After all, the psalmist declares…

[God’s] pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor his delight in the legs of a man; the Lord delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love. (Ps 147:10-11) 

Paul also says to the Colossians…

Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.  (Col 3:9-10) 

Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. (Col 3:13) 

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Col 3:15-17)

In the church today, the saddest sight amongst the priesthood of believers is when people sing songs deemed as praise songs where they promise to God what they are going to do and then fail to do it once they return to the normality of life.  Whipped into a frenzy they hide their sin and swear oaths before God, but on Monday having realised they cannot keep their oaths they’re crushed by their unfaithfulness and unforgiven sin. 

However, praising God is meant to shine God’s light of mercy and forgiveness, to dismiss the darkness, rather than creating by-polar Christians, who are high one day and depressed the next.

Rather the praises Paul and all others in Scripture encourage us to sing builds up Jesus Christ in others, exposing the necessity of grace over sin, increasing faith, and giving a real sense of God’s peace. 

True Christ-centred praise unifies all of us as one in Christ enabling us to do God’s will on earth and forgive each other as the Lord has forgiven us. 

Praising God then is not only something we sing, say, or pray on Sunday, but it becomes deed as we reflect and shine the mercy of Almighty God on those we meet in the street.  Amen.

A, The Birth of our Lord, Christmas Day - Luke 2:13-14 "Gift Wrapped in Glory"

Luke 2:13-14 (ESV) And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,  “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” 

The shepherds sit around hoping for a quiet night.  They watch their sheep, they don’t want any trouble from predators or thieves, a quiet night is a good night.

But then in an instant the night is like day.  The shepherds are startled; their full attention has been gathered.  This brightness brings with it a weight they’ve never experienced.  It is heavy; but it’s heavenly!  They tremble in fear under the mass of light bearing down on them from heaven.  This is no predator; this is no thief!  Something is going down; but how to explain what is transpiring before their very eyes!

Then this heavy heavenly thing speaks out of the brightness and light, saying to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.  And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”  (Luke 2:10–12 ESV)

And if that is not enough for these simple shepherds to hear, then, “suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,  ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!’” 

When the angels went back into heaven, what did the shepherds do with this great burden of information left with them?  They left their sheep in the field saying, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”  (Luke 2:15b ESV)

The weight of the event left its mark on them.  This glory, the angel, and its heavenly entourage was so intense they could do nothing but go and see this Saviour lying in a manger.

As we have heard today, and have heard every Christmas, they found Mary and Joseph, they found Jesus in swaddling cloths lying in the manger, the sign revealed to them by the angel of God.

We are told of the shepherds, “And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child.  And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.” (Luke 2:17–18 ESV)

What does God’s glory do to you? 

“And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.”  (Luke 2:20 ESV)

How would you explain this event to those who had not seen it? 

We hear this gospel message every year, every Christmas?  But how do you explain all that the shepherds saw, and how can we repeat the proclamation today with the same enthusiasm and excitement as that of the shepherds.

For us to share in the excitement of the shepherds with a willingness to repeat their sounding joy, we need to allow God the Holy Spirit to open up the text of this Christmas gospel for us.  Then we can intimately share in the event of the first Christmas.  And therefore, repeat it to those who do not know what this—everyday earthly, but heavy heavenly—birth does for all of creation.

Three times in the reading today we hear of glory.  What is the glory of God?  How do we explain the glory of God shining around the shepherds, the heavenly choir singing “Glory to God in the highest”, and the shepherds glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen?

The glory of God has a huge impact on the shepherds.  They saw it shining around them, they heard it heralded by the heavenly hosts, then they continued in this glory after seeing Jesus.  What is this glory?

In the Old Testament Hebrew, glory, simply means “to be heavy”.  In a bad sense it can mean to be a burden or severe, but in a good sense can mean numerous, rich, or honourable.  It means to be weighty in either a good or bad way.

When God reveals his glory over Pharaoh through Moses it is both a burden to Pharaoh but also a joy to the Israelites.  When the glory of the Lord covered Mount Sinai and when it filled the tabernacle and later the temple, people did not take it lightly.  In fact, the people of God feared the intense weight of God in his glory when it appeared.  Even using God’s name was a hefty thing for fear of saying it in vain and discrediting the weight of its glory.

In the New Testament the Greek word for glory is doxa, from where we get doxology, or words about glory.  In fact, the angels or host of heaven praise God with what we would call a doxology. 

This glory is: to please, to think well of, to be of good reputation.  With the Old Testament meaning to be weighty, to glorify God is to give the greatest weight of pleasure to him, he is worthy of the best thoughts and reputation among us.

Doxologies appear quite often when we acknowledge God’s presence with us.  On the end of psalms, the end of the Lord’s Prayer, which comes from King David (Psalm 145:11-13, 1 Chronicles 29:10-13), and the Great Gloria and the Holy, Holy, Holy in the liturgy are combinations of doxological praises sung in the presence of God.

The shepherds heard, saw, and felt the full weight of God’s presence when the angel appeared.  In fact, when the angels left and went into heaven, the shepherds didn’t say, let’s go and see what the angel told us”, but rather said let’s see that “which the Lord has made known to us.”

Much is made of angels today.  Many angelic experiences are over personified and in doing so glory is taken away from God.  However, angels are messengers of God.  Even if they are named in Scripture, it is not they who we look to, but to God in whose name they speak.  This is why the shepherds say, the Lord, rather than an angel, had made Jesus’ birth known to them.

The doxology of the heavenly host or angelic choir also functions in the same way.  They announce God in all his glory.  In fact, this is the first time the Heavenly Choir is heard on earth.  We are accustomed to it these days as we sing in God’s presence the Great Gloria and the Holy, Holy, Holy in the liturgy.  We sing it because God is present, but when Jesus was born the heavenly choir was heard for the first time on earth. 

We do well to be in awe of God being with us today in all his weighty glory, just as much as he was then before the shepherds, as we join the heavenly choir each time we sing or say, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” Or any other doxology!

“Glory to God in the highest” is the great glorification of God.  It is the heaviest pleasure that can be bestowed upon God.  And now this glory shines around the shepherds and they pass it onto all whom they see.  All who heard the shepherds marvelled and wondered at the news.  These shepherds had continued the messenger work, God had shone on them through his angelic messengers.

This glory of God is the wrapping of God’s greatest gift to us — Jesus Christ in human flesh!

The angels sing, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

Not only is this glory given to God as the ultimate praise, but it is also given to the shepherds and us, those with whom God is pleased.  It is God’s pleasure in the highest to give you peace through Jesus Christ.

Such is the weight of this event that we receive the gift of love from God the Father, wrapped in glory and swaddling cloths.  With the Psalmist, we look not to our works or idols but look to the gift of God in the manger and say, “Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!”  (Psalm 115:1 ESV)

We see the steadfast love and faithfulness of Jesus in human flesh and trust his work and word that his flesh now speaks for our flesh fulfilling the will of God.  This is the will of God done in heaven and on earth bringing peace to us and pleasure to God.

This gift of God covers us in his glory with his victory over sin and death on the cross, covering you with the forgiveness of sins.  Let the Holy Spirit unwrap God’s glory in you, so having seen and heard the gift of God, like the shepherds you continue to glorify and praise God to all whom you meet in these days.  Amen. 

C, Post-Pentecost 12 Proper 17 - Psalm 112 "Blessed"

Psalm 112:1–10 (ESV) Praise the LORD!  Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in his commandments!  His offspring will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed.  Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever.  Light dawns in the darkness for the upright; he is gracious, merciful, and righteous.  It is well with the man who deals generously and lends; who conducts his affairs with justice.  For the righteous will never be moved; he will be remembered forever.  He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the LORD.  His heart is steady; he will not be afraid, until he looks in triumph on his adversaries.  He has distributed freely; he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever; his horn is exalted in honour.  The wicked man sees it and is angry; he gnashes his teeth and melts away; the desire of the wicked will perish!

The readings for this Sunday all dwell on the biblical theme of blessedness; that is, to be blessed as a state of being, to be blessed by someone, or to bless.  What does it mean to bless someone, to be blessed by someone, and the state of blessedness?

To be blessed in its simplest form is to be happy or fortunate.  But if a person seeks to bless themselves or deem themselves as blessed, it’s actually one of the quickest ways to become angry with everyone around them as well as themselves.  So, to be blessed and to bless is much more than being happy, being fortunate, being pleased or pleasing someone else.

At the end of the gospel reading today, when dining in the house of a Pharisee ruler, Jesus says, “when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,  and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. ” (Luke 14:13-14a)

Straight away in this text, we see being blessed when one gives a feast to those who cannot repay, is not about being happy.  One may be happy to do this but more is going on.

The biblical definition of “blessedness” has a much deeper function than just happiness and being fortunate.  In Psalm 112 we hear, “Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in his commandments!” (Psalm 112:1 ESV)

The person who is blessed here can be happy or pleased.  But the question one must ask, “Is why can they be pleased or happy?” 

The Hebrew word for blessed has at its root the meaning to be straight or level.  When one is on the straight and narrow, they move forward with confidence, with honesty, in the right way, on a level path.  Or, if one is “on the level” they are honest and are being truthful. 

When a person is level or blessed, they are balanced.   A good way of understanding blessed as balanced is like that of a level set of scales.  Neither leaning to the left nor the right, but evenly balanced.

The straightness of being blessed also means, straight up and down too.  That is to be upright.  It is no accident therefore, in Psalm 112 that after it says, “Blessed the man who fears the Lord”, it continues in verse two, “His offspring will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed.  Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever.  Light dawns in the darkness for the upright; he is gracious, merciful, and righteous.”  (Psalm 112:2–4 ESV)

Twice the Psalmist says “upright” in these verses.  So, one who is blessed, balanced, level or upright, can endure forever in righteousness.  This person can move forward on a level plain in the face of the ups and downs of trials and tribulations.

In these verses it says, “the generation of the upright will be blessed.”  The Hebrew literally says, “the blessed will be blessed”, when it says “the upright will be blessed.”  But these two Hebrew words have different meanings.

Whereas the first “blessed” we’ve looked at, means “upright or balanced”.  Here the second “blessed” means, “to kneel or bend oneself in adoration or to curse”.  This adoration or cursing is what one does in worship when they’re in awe of someone, or if they hate and curse them because they’re believed to be awful. 

Blessing here is about praise and its opposite; what one says about someone else.  So when it says, “The blessed will be blessed” it means, “the upright or the balanced will be bowed down to, praised and spoken well of”!

Notice these two forms of blessedness are pictures of body language.  One is straight up and down, or balanced and level, while the other is bent bowing, honouring, and saying good to others about them.  This is not surprising as the Hebrew language was originally a spoken language of oral tradition, an unwritten picture language, whereas the Greek of the New Testament is an academic written language.

In the New Testament, the most well-known verses on blessings are the Beatitudes where Jesus teaches the crowd and the disciples at the Sermon on the Mount.

The other word for bless in the New Testament is a Greek word familiar to us in English, eulogy, which means to speak good words about someone.

The readings today all deal with the theme of “blessedness”.  If one seeks to be blessed in one’s own sight and takes the seat of honour, the writer of Proverbs tells us, this can lead to being humiliated.

“Do not put yourself forward in the king’s presence or stand in the place of the great,  for it is better to be told, “Come up here,” than to be put lower in the presence of a noble.”   (Proverbs 25:6–7 ESV)

Jesus heals a man at the house of a Pharisee ruler.  His fellow diners could not answer Jesus’ logic for healing this fellow on the Sabbath.  Jesus then tells a parable about those who took the honoured positions at a wedding feast. 

Put yourselves in the place of the guest?  What happens when you take the positions of honour?  Will you bless the host, or expect to be blessed?  How level-headed or balanced are you if you take the honoured position, especially when someone of greater honour arrives?  Not only is blessedness about body language.   It’s also about one’s prominence, status, or social standing in society. 

Blessedness not only deals with body language but also reputation.  What is your reputation like with God?  Are you blessed by God?  What does that actually mean?  It means, when Jesus returns in his glory to separate the sheep from the goats, will you be one of the goats who have blessed oneself or one of the sheep blessed by God?  What type of reputation do you have with God?

Jesus says, “everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”  (Luke 14:11 ESV)

I cannot imagine a worse thought than the humiliation of being labelled by God “a goat” or a person of ill-repute on judgement day.   Do you want to be treated by the Eternal Host of heaven the same way you have hosted those God puts before you here on earth? 

What makes us good blokes, good sheilas, good people in God’s eyes?

Let Psalm 112 be the text that judges you.  It starts out with the command to “Praise the Lord!”  Do you praise God as Lord all the time or do you Lord it over others, or do you busy yourself, so others praise you?

Do you fear the Lord, do you delight in his commandments.  What makes your offspring mighty?  When others bless you does it turn people to God or away from God?  Does your wealth and riches fuel righteousness that endures… forever!  Are you gracious, merciful, and righteous?  By whose justice do you conduct your affairs?  Will you be remembered forever?  Is your heart firm in the face of death, or even as you hear these questions?  Are you considering the poor when you leave here today?  Or perhaps, this line of questioning irks you and makes you get angry?

We realise very quickly that our blessedness, when built on ourselves, makes us no better than a ruling Pharisee or his guests, angry because we’re not getting the honour, we believe we deserve.

Yet we praise the Lord!  How can that be, since God clearly shows us through Jesus’ parable, we present ourselves as honoured guests but are quickly humiliated by the Word of God? 

It’s here we’re called to see that God is the one who is inviting us to his banquet.   He invites us, his church, as the bride of the Bridegroom.  You and I are the poor, crippled, the lame, and the blind.  Now married to Jesus Christ the Head of the heavenly house, we can be compassionate to those who like us are poor, crippled, lame, and blind.  Like us who have been made friends in the wedding feast of the Lamb, we can befriend our enemies, just as Jesus has done with us.

So, praise the LORD, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Why? 

Because Jesus is the man who fears the LORD, and delights in his commandments.  We are his offspring, mighty in the land, we are the generation of the balanced, blessedly helpless forgiven sinners to whom God bows and blesses, because we confess our sin and forgive those who sin against us!  The light of God has dawned in the darkness of our hearts, showing us sin to confess. 

Why do we do this?  Because God deals generously with you.  He lends you his Son and the Holy Spirit.  He is justifying you with the justice of Jesus’ death and resurrection.  You won’t be moved while you allow the Holy Spirit to remain.  You are not afraid of bad news; you are firm, trusting in the Good News.  God has won the victory over your sinful self!  You can now distribute freely; Christ has exalted you and in him your righteousness endures forever.

Your old Adam will be angry!  But that is a good sign of your salvation too.  He is angry because he is dying, he might gnash his teeth, but he is melting away, he and all his desires are dying, leaving Jesus the Bridegroom of heaven to take you as his bride, the church.  He forgives and feeds you and me, in his eternal wedding feast! 

Praise the LORD!  Jesus has balanced your scales!  God blesses you; you are blessed!  Amen.