2518AFC050225 – A Deeper Kind of Praise. 😀 ← PODCAST LINK
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Acts 5:32 – 32 And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.
Psalm 30:4 –
4 Sing praises to the Lord, O you his faithful ones,
and give thanks to his holy name.
Revelation 5:13 – (GNT) [1] 13 And I heard every creature in heaven, on earth, in the world below, and in the sea — all living beings in the universe — and they were singing:
“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb,
be praise and honor, glory and might,
forever and ever!”
John 21:17-19 – 17 He said to him the third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” And he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. 18 Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.” 19 (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, “Follow me.”
May Peace always be with you and may God bless you, Belovéd! If you’ve been with us a while, you know that when you see that pile of keys there is going to be a lot of Scripture here. Indeed, that is the point – to get the Word into our hands for the Glory of God. Last week we focused on God’s Mercy (part of tht recurring theme of Perfect Integrity, Endless Mercy, Everlasting Love, And Eternal Salvation). Today we will look at praising God for his Mercy, and at least one method is not what we’d usually expect. In addition, we’ll take a look at a short, bot important and fascinating, passage that is not included in the Sunday readings this weekend. Now, let us begin to Praise the Lord! (↔ Music Link)
In the first reading from Acts of the Apostles, the Apostles declare that they are witnesses to the events of Jesus’ ministry, Passion, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension. Their declaration of faith infuriates the Sanhedrin because they are jealous of their own power yet do not know what to do with these seemingly ordinary men who are doing such extraordinary things. Moreover, these Apostles claim that there is another Greater witness – the Holy Spirit. They are now more than the fishermen and tax collectors that started out with Jesus’ first command, “Repent and believe the Gospel!” They are filled with, anointed with, empowered with the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him. Let us always pray that we, too, may be obedient to God by Loving his Only Begotten Son with that same Power in the Holy Spirit! We also can then Praise the Lord with thanksgiving and Joy. This is the praise we hear from the Psalmist.
Sing praises to the Lord, O you his faithful ones,
and give thanks to his holy name. How do we become formed into Disciples of the Lord, Messengers of his Gospel? It is by being faithful to what “God in Three Persons” has told us to do: “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ And also, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” (See Matthew 22:37–39) This is the best way to Praise God (↔ Music Link)– but it requires a few things as a foundation for it to work properly. Alas, far too many of us believe we can do that on our own, believe that we are already Holy and righteous enough and our obedience to these two commandments is impeccable. But what about the other 8? Or, do we make the appropriate sacrifices necessary to obey these commands? What sacrifices could possibly be necessary to honor God by loving him and loving our neighbor?
One of God’s most enduring Prophets said it this way:
16 For you have no delight in sacrifice;
if I were to give a burnt offering, you would not be pleased.
17 The sacrifice acceptable to Godis a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. (See Psalm 51:16-17)
Our ability to Love God and neighbor as commanded is dependent on our ability to recognize our brokenness, to humble ourselves, and to give up all claims to being smart enough or good enough or whole enough to do it by ourselves. (↔ Learning Link) It is astonishing how many people are wandering around in the World saying “I’m looking for myself.” Well, as the old saying goes, “wherever you go, there you are.” Why would you look for yourself? You are where you are. Besides Someone else is looking for you: Ezekiel 34:11-12 – 11 “‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. 12 As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness.’” WE do not “rescue” ourselves; only God can do that, and humbly and contritely allowing him to do that is Holy Praise indeed.
God is Holy, and our Praise to him is also Holy – Holy, but not always wholly Holy. How can there be more to do to Praise God than to obey his commands? To help us look further into that question I want to give you some verses omitted from the Gospel reading for the Third Sunday of Easter which shed a bit more light on the Power of wholly Holy Praise:
Acts 5:34-41 – 34 But a Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, respected by all the people, stood up and ordered the men to be put outside for a short time. 35 Then he said to them, “Fellow Israelites, consider carefully what you propose to do to these men. 36 For some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him; but he was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and disappeared. 37 After him Judas the Galilean rose up at the time of the census and got people to follow him; he also perished, and all who followed him were scattered. 38 So in the present case, I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone; because if this plan or this undertaking is of human origin, it will fail; 39 but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them—in that case you may even be found fighting against God!”
They were convinced by him, 40 and when they had called in the apostles, they had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. 41 As they left the council, they rejoiced that they were considered worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name.
The Sanhedrin and the whole Senate of the Israelites listened to Gamaliel and agreed with his advice. I have often wondered if Gamaliel – whose name means “God is my reward” – might have been among the Priests who sat in the Temple with the boy, Jesus, and listened to Jesus’ questions and answers. Scripture gives us no hint of that, but I am certain that the Holy Spirit moved his heart to speak as he did. And he was right, as one would expect given his Inspiration, and so became part of the prophecies given after the martyrdom of the Prophet St. John the Baptizer. We see at the end of this passage that the Apostles were flogged. That is a very painful way to Praise God! And yet we read, they rejoiced that they were considered worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name. “Worthy to suffer?” OH,WOW! Would I, could I, could you, could WE be willing to praise God in that manner? And as they say on TV, “But wait! There’s more!”
Jesus showed us the ultimate model of Praise. He was lifted up in the manger to be seen by the shepherds. He was lifted up on the Cross to be seen by his Mother and an Apostle. He was lifted up from the Tomb. He was lifted up into Glory. He was lifted up to The Throne to sit at the Right Hand of God the Father as the Wholly Holy Lord God of Hosts. But before all of that –
6 who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
7 but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
8 he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death—
even death on a cross. (See Philippians 2:6-8)
The ultimate form of Praise is the Ultimate Obedience of Christ. It is this Deeper Kind of Praise to which we, like The Apostle Peter and all the other Apostles of Jesus are called. This deeper, bolder, richer Praise sounds impossible, but we know, “For mortals it is impossible, but for God all things are possible.” (See Matthew 19:26) In 2515AFC04112 (↔ Click Link) I wrote “It is logical to me that if we are not ready to die today, it is unlikely we will be ready by tomorrow; therefore, every day for me is a chance to go see God face-to-face, and so I spend it praying, and singing hymns. Regrettably, I manage to fit in enough time to sin as well, and so that makes me look forward to tomorrow with constantly-renewing conversion AND the intent and the Power to do right things better and better things right.”
Must we endure a tortuous death to prove our love, our obedience, our wholly Holy Praise to God? Each of us must answer if we can give him that deeper Praise The Apostle Paul advocated in Romans 12:1-3 – 1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.
3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. It’s hard, I know, and that is one reason I advocate for making a consistent offering of one’s self – and a daily offering (↔ Click Link)of some sort is a good beginning. I am reminded of C. S. Lewis’ statement by Aslan: “Further up and further in.” If we desire to be lifted up to that JOY of Eternal Transformation, then might it not also be necessary for us to be lifted up by God who is already waiting and searching for us?
Jesus told The Apostle Peter . “But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.” 19 (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, “Follow me.” Let’s not wait until we are old. Let’s just follow Jesus who is our Lord and our God. The Apostles, and later many other martyrs, testified of their Love and Obedience to God by giving up their lives. If we, too, offer or lives to God daily, he will make us ready for whichever Depth of Praise he knows is Right for us.
Our God is SO good! (↔ Music Link) He will let his Holy Spirit guide us to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned, and then to choose to accept that Gift of newer and deeper praise. Some might be called to just say a prayer at waking or before falling asleep. Hopefully everyone offers The Common Grace (”Bless us O Lord, …). Some may be moved to use part of all of the breviary, a book containing the complete Divine Office or Liturgy of the Hours. (← Check it out!) A few might become evangelists, lay missionaries, consecrated Brothers or Nuns, Deacons, or Priests. ALL must become martyrs by giving Praise as Deep and Wide and High as God allows. As we often say here, “Why would you want anything less?” YOLO-F! Whatever we are doing and have been doing up until that moment when we step into The River, that’s where we will be standing as The Resurrected Disciples on the Day of Reward. THEN we will really know a Deeper Kind of Praise!!
Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!
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Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Biblical languages inserts from Bible Hub (Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages) Visit at http://biblehub.com
Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License
[1] Passages marked (GNT): Good News Translation (GNT) are from the Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition)© 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
