This is the text of the sermon from this morning. The sermon came from Psalm 105:1-11, 45b. Supporting scripture included Psalm 100, Romans 8:26-39, and Luke 1:46-55.
"An Invitation to Praise"
I have not heard a lot of sermons preached on the Psalms. I wanted to preach from one to learn more about the Book of Psalms. For many people Psalms is a favorite book of the Bible. Every child learns the 23rd Psalm and can easily recite it. People have favorite Psalms:
Psalm 24:9 "Lift up your heads, O gates! and be lifted up, O ancient doors! that the King of glory may come in."
Psalm 100:1 "Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth."
Psalm 121:1-2 "I lift up my eyes to the hills— from where will my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth."
Those are a few of my favorites.
A few things you may already know about the psalms. Many of them are psalms of David. This was David’s way of praising God.
Psalms were sung, and we have hymns today based on the psalms.
Various psalms were written before, during, or after the time of Exile in Babylon.
So some psalms give thanks and praise,
other psalms recount a story, usually an event of importance,
some psalms were used as part of liturgy as we use a psalm for our call to worship,
and some were psalms of lament and asking for God’s mercy.
Let’s look at Psalm 105. This is a historical psalm, it is retelling Israel’s story. It is a hymn used to educate. This is a wonderful way of passing along the knowledge of what has come before, a way of defining who the people of Israel have been, who they are, and who they will be. It tells of God’s faithfulness to Israel.
Psalm 105 is a song of praise. The first verses are an invitation to praise and the following verses give the reasons God should be praised. So the first 6 verses of this psalm are the invitation to praise.
In the scripture from Luke, Mary is in celebration and using a psalm-like song of praise. She is expressing her joy and praising God. If we look at Mary's magnificat, the first 2 verses can be seen as an invitation to praise, and then in the following verses she is giving her reasons for praise. She recalls the same covenant that God made with Abraham.
"... the promise He made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever."
And Jesus is the new covenant who is not only for Israel, but for all people. God is faithful!
In verse 10 of Psalm 105 it refers to the covenant as an everlasting covenant. God is faithful!
Those first 6 verses in Psalm 105 as I mentioned were the invitation to praise. And our call to worship is our way of entering into a holy time. A time not to be worried about the concerns of life. Worship is a time to give thanks for what God has done for us, what He is doing through us, and knowing in our faith what God will continue to do in his loving mercy.
Think for a moment on how you and I give our thanks and praise to God. (pause)
Praising God can be done through so many different ways:
-in our everyday lives
as we drive down the road in our cars and have conversations with God
or through meditations and spiritual practices
-in worship
as we sing and read scriptures.
-when we are in prayer
whether alone or praying together with one voice.
-when we are in fellowship with others
whether in a church or somewhere together doing
God's work.
All of this can be done no matter where we are.
The 3 things I brought up in the children’s sermon:
sharing your happiness
knowing God
1) being in God’s creation
-enjoying life
-letting go of worry
-noticing the little things and knowing God will take care of the big things
2) sharing your happiness / sharing your faith with others
-reaching out to your neighbor
-reaching out to those in need
-being a volunteer or involved in mission
3) knowing God
-studying scripture
-devotionals and prayer
-being part of a community of fellowship
In Shirley Guthrie's book Christian Doctrine there is a quote which relates to this community of fellowship. And it has stuck with me from the first time I read it a few years ago.
'The Bible was written for a community of people -Israel in the Old Testament and the church in the New Testament. You cannot be a Christian by yourself, you can only be a Christian together with other Christians who serve God in the world.'
Think about what this community of fellowship can mean. What is together?
Things done when churches come together through organizations like Essex Churches Together.
And things that are discussed in an individual congregation as it discerns how to reach out to the un-churched of the local community?
The people of Israel were given an invitation to praise God. In some translations of Psalm 105 verse 4 says "to seek His face"; the NRSV has "seek His presence continually". I like them both but the wording of 'seek his face' seems to me a more personal relationship to God.
The commentaries say this means a way to approach God in worship. And to seek God is to trust one's existence to God. It's faith.
The invitation to praise God is the opportunity being given to join in as public witness of God's deeds. There is a song by a friend of mine, Anne Trufant. The song is called 'We Will Stand' and the lyrics I want to share with you are:
We will pray and do whatever we are called to do,
And we will stand for what is right and hold to what is true.
We will set our face like flint to do His will.
We will move when Jesus moves us,
or we will praise him standing still.
So I am going to end with an invitation to praise. An invitation of opportunity. Give glory to God and praise Him by doing anything that brings more
happiness,
celebration,
abundance,
grace,
self-esteem,
courage,
spontaneity,
beauty, and peace to others.
Amen.
audio: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/108288011/Leah_Sermon_7_27_2014.mp3
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