Sermon at
First Presbyterian Church Lockhart
by James Greene
In
our modern world, we sometimes don’t see or don’t seem have the ability or the time to praise God in the midst of our lives, in the midst of our daily struggles, or in the
midst of our chaos. With all of the clutter and distractions, we seldom
see God, working in our lives. This
happens in spite of our
exposure to the Biblical texts.
It
seems we are more focused
on re-arranging the deck chairs on
the Titanic, than on praising
God for the life we
have, and for the gift of the time we have, to
be a part of His plan. We need to praise God in our trials, in His Power, in our work, and in our healing.
Praising God in loss: a tornado had taken the family house, and there was nothing left except the ravaged fields around
the farm. The man came out of the storm shelter and viewed the debris that was their home and their farm. The first thing that came to his
mind, and to his voice was the Doxology. He praised God, in the midst of his loss.
The title of today’s sermon is “In Everything - Praise God”
I Praising God, in Exile – Jeremiah
In Jeremiah, we see him writing and prophesying to those who have been taken off into
exile (into
Jeremiah reminds them
that they are to continue, praising
God, in all things, even in their
exile. They are instructed to pray for the
city of
They are to seek the peace and prosperity
of the city. They are called to pray for
the city, that it may prosper, and they (in turn) may
prosper. They are to become good
citizens in their exile. They are not to rebel against the
authority of the city. In
this way their behavior will praise God. As the people of God they are to “be at home’ as they live out their witness as God’s people in
that age. Jeremiah calls them to reconsider their
place in
God’s economy – they are to be a
witness to the nations, and
their submission to the work of God in that
age.
It is their
portion, and they are to wait upon and praise The Lord in their exile.
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We are
called to trust in God. We
are to trust
Him even in the midst of our
isolation and our enslavement.
Even in the times when it seems that we have been cast off. But, like Jeremiah’s call to us
across the centuries, we are
to remember God, live our lives in praise,
and wait upon The Lord. We are
to wait
quietly for the salvation of
the Lord. Realizing that it may not come in our generation.
II Praising God, in Power - Psalm
In Psalm 66, like
Jeremiah we see the call to praise God in His Power. It is a Psalm of praise and joy to God. It is the response of the creation, to praise
the Creator. The
works of God, praise God. The
highest honor of the created is to praise
the Creator.
Our greatest glory is
to sing praises
to God and to honor
God’s name.
Like the poem:
O' Lord, Because of you, Life is.… The grass whispers your name.
The trees lift their leaves,
in praise of Your Creation.
The Psalmist calls to
“all people” to praise God.
Think
of nature, and
how it demonstrates the praise of God. We
need to see God’s works through
the lens of scripture, and really see His power, His wisdom,
and His faithfulness in them. We are called to praise God in His power.
Close your eyes and think of God’s silent
power in a sunset, in the power of a thunderstorm, in the silent power of light,
and the physical power of water – in the rain, in the flood, in
the tsunami. Is there any doubt that we should
not praise
God in and because
of His Creation?
We are to praise God with our heart, with all of
our might, and with all that is within us. It is because
our God is a personal God. He is the one who saves us, through fire and water. It is because
of Him that we are not consumed in
the fire. It is through God’s
power and direction of our trials,
that we are refined, like silver in its purifying.
It is our praise of God that
shines through this process that strengthens us and refines
us as God’s people.
III
Praising God in Our Work and Integrity - II Timothy
In
our Epistle letter, we see Paul explaining
to Timothy, how in his handling the Word of Truth,
as a workman, he is approved by God. We are truly praising God in our works and in the integrity of our
vocation, and our witness.
Even when we are
faithless, God is still faithful,
to His people. This is the reason to praise God, not only because of his faithfulness, but also because He saves us because we endure.
We are to present ourselves to
God, as one approved, because
our work speaks of our praise of God.
Paul also warns about quarreling over words. It only ruins those who listen,
and carries no value. It reminds me of the phrase “Jive Talk” from
the late 60’s that described useless, and unproductive talking. It
was a flood of words was used to confuse and distract people in
a meaningless message.
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IV
Praising God in Our Healing - Luke
In
Luke we see Jesus healing as
he is on the way to
Jesus healed
all 10 lepers, because they asked. He wasn’t seeking their praise,
but he was doing the work of
the Father who had sent him: to redeem all people. He was, faithful
in his work, praising God.
He remained faithful to the Father.
The other 9 lepers didn’t praise God
in their healing. Yet, they
were healed.
The
Samaritan was healed by his
faith. His faith is what allowed him to praise God in the healing.
So it is, with us (our faith is
what allows us)
to praise God in our healing. Just like ancient
Just like Timothy, and
Jesus we are to praise God in our work and our integrity.
We are to be faithful, (like the Samaritan) and praise God, who is the One we serve. Who is the One who heals us. We are to remember who is
the One who remembers us in and through the pain and
hardship. We are to praise God with
all of our being, in all things. It is in praising
the One who saves us…
We acknowledge
the One, worthy of praise, - our creator.
We praise Him even in our afflictions,
exile, our work,
our healing and in His Power ….
Because it is
In everything that we
should Praise God …
In
the Name of … the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Spirit. Amen
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