Tag Archives: joy-filled

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Guard Your Hearts and Minds!

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“Guard Your Hearts and Minds!”

Philippians 4:4-9 – October 15, 2023

            Anxiety is commonplace, today. Practically everyone is anxious about something! Whether it’s work or unemployment, school or health (yours or someone else’s) – anxiety is prevalent in this world today. Just like an automatic setting on your washer or dryer, we can even call anxiety an automatic emotional setting for many, many people.

            Being anxious is very real, very automatic for a whole lot of people. When we consider things like climate change, or gun violence, or the changes in weather, or inflation, or the state of politics today, any one of those things is enough to make anyone worried, at least a little.

            Add to that widespread wildfires, droughts in large areas of continents, catastrophic floods, earthquakes and the devastation that follows, plus wars and conflicts and political instability over large portions of the world today. If we consider all of these problems and calamities, even on our own continent, much less other continents, what on earth are we to do? How are we to feel? Just about anyone would be really worried and anxious, especially if loved ones were in serious danger or in harm’s way.

            The apostle Paul was very much in harm’s way. He was in prison when he wrote this letter to the Philippian believers, in Rome, the capital city of the Roman empire. He was chained to a Roman soldier constantly. That means all the time. Paul was in serious danger of being found guilty of sedition against the emperor, which crime had a penalty of death.

            And yet, Paul writes this joy-filled letter to his friends from his former church in Philippi. Instead of being fearful, glum, or downright depressed, Paul tells his friends to rejoice!

            As Paul says from his prison cell, do not be anxious! Instead, rejoice! And again, Paul says, rejoice! A double dose of rejoicing, so to speak. Paul was not a fool, and not a Pollyanna, not thinking of pie in the sky and wearing rose-colored glasses. No, he was very much a realist in many ways. Paul faced facts, and talked straight. And – he told his friends to rejoice! Twice!

              If you and I consider our personal situations, or those of our friends, or members of our families, I am sure we would come up with quite a list of things to concern ourselves with. We do not call these requests “prayer concerns” for nothing, you know!  

            After Paul’s strong injunction (and it is almost a command!) to rejoice twice, he goes on to say “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

            Paul does not make light of our very real prayer concerns. In fact, he urges us to bring those concerns – those worries! – before God! “Paul is not saying that there is nothing to worry about or that the things we worry about are unimportant. Rather he places our anxieties, fears, and concerns in the context of our relationship to God. We are invited to make ourselves known to God, and to ourselves, at our points of greatest vulnerability.” [1]

            God does understand when we have concerns – for ourselves or friends or for loved ones. And, we are invited numerous times in the Bible to bring those concerns, those worries, those anxieties, before our God.  

            What a relief and what a help to us and to our loved ones to know we can always come before the throne of grace and bring our cares and troubles to God.

            And, that is not all! This short reading from Paul’s letter is jam-packed with positive, joy-filled, impactful statements from this man in prison. Amazing to me is how positive Paul can be in this letter. Not only does Paul encourage prayer and thanksgiving in the midst of negative situations, sometimes even dire, ominous circumstances, but there’s more! He also emphasizes peace. The reality of a peace beyond human understanding. God’s peace.

            Yes, we certainly can expect trouble in this world. Our faith will be tested. Some may even suffer as Paul suffered. But, Paul reminds us all about Jesus Christ. We are urged to “think like Jesus who stood in solidarity with the oppressed by taking on the form of a slave. Yes, Jesus died on a cross. Yes, the powers killed him… But a far greater power exalted him and bestowed upon him the name which is above every name. [That at the name of Jesus every knee will bow and every tongue confess Jesus Christ.] This God did not abandon Jesus and will not abandon [us].” [2] Do you hear? Do you believe?

            This peace is not simply calmness or the absence of anxiety. A more literal or direct translation of the word is “having power over” or “being superior to.” In other words, “peace has power over, excels, and surpasses reasoning. It is superior to human understanding because peace comes from God.” [3]  Peace from God is truly a guard against fear, worry and anxiety.      

            How awesome is that? Yes, the world is powerful, but God has overcome the world. We have God on our side. Not to be a quick fix, or a magic incantation, or a Santa Claus in the sky. Prayer is not magic, not mumbo jumbo. Instead, Paul talks about developing a relationship with this God. An ongoing, deepening, intimate relationship with this God of peace. [4]

            This can be a blessed reality! And if you wish to know more about how to be in a close relationship like this with God, ask me! I’ll introduce you to our wonderful God.

In difficult times, in times of trial, and in the good times – at all times – we can draw near to this marvelous God of peace. God of love, and joy, and grace, and mercy, too!

The result will be that God’s peace stands guard over our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Believe this blessed truth! Alleluia, amen.

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

[1] https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/third-sunday-of-advent-3/commentary-on-philippians-44-7-4

[2] https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/third-sunday-of-advent-3/commentary-on-philippians-44-7-5

[3] Ibid.

[4] https://bible.org/seriespage/lesson-24-answer-anxiety-philippians-46-7

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Give Praise! Give Thanks!

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“Give Praise! Give Thanks!”

Psa 100 thanksgiving, praise

Psalm 100 – November 21, 2018

Who likes to be bossed around? Does anyone?

Listen to these examples: Do this! Come here! Watch out! Stop that! Go to your room!

It is not too pleasant to be bossed around, especially by someone mean or overbearing. But, what if someone who loves you is the one doing the bossing? What if that person has your best interests at heart? Imagine you are in a kitchen and someone cries, “Watch out! That stove it hot!” Or, when you are standing by an outdoor pool, and someone yells, “Be careful! You’re right by the edge!” That changes things a whole lot, to many people.

What about Psalm 100, our scripture reading for this evening?

As is the problem with written communication, we don’t have nuances and vocal inflection. There isn’t a certain way for us to tell whether the author of Psalm 100 was grumpy, joyful, or somewhere in between. However, I would like to think of our Psalm writer being joy-filled and excited. Doesn’t this Psalm sound like it’s written by an excited person?

I want to let you know: there are some commands, some imperatives in Psalm 100. Not suggestions, not “oh, by the way, could you possibly do this?” No. No, indeed.

A number of these verbs, or action words, are clear commands. In the first three verses, “Raise a shout!” “Serve!” “Come!” and “Know!” Verse four has “Enter!” “Be thankful!” and “Bless!” All of these verbs—and they are many of the chief action words in this Psalm—would be instantly recognizable as a command to anyone who spoke Hebrew!

I don’t know about you, but when some people try to twist my arm and bark commands at me, I don’t really like it. I may begrudgingly comply with such commands, rolling my eyes, but for sure not willingly. Not with my whole heart. Not freely, in worship and praise and thankfulness and gratitude, I can tell you that!

But, what if our psalm writer did not feel grumpy or mean at all? What if his situation was 180 degrees reversed? One commentary I read said “Surely the psalmist was imagining what it might sound like when all the earth is praising the LORD at the same time. What a joyful sound, indeed, that would be!” [1]

Let me tell you a few things about this psalm, in general. Psalm 100 is the last in a small collection of special psalms of praise and worship. Do these verses get you in the mood of worship? Of praise? Could we see ourselves marching to our particular house of worship looking forward to meeting with God? To serve and praise and bless and be thankful to God? That is exactly what this Psalm is encouraging—no, even more strongly—is commanding us to do.

I love the exuberance of children. They can be so uninhibited! So filled with joy and happiness and excitement that it just boils over. Sometimes, children just overflow with joy like fountains, bubbling up all over the place. This exuberance also reminds me of the worship styles and especially the musical expressions I have seen in African-American church services. I think this psalmist was expressing an intense feeling of worship very much like that contemporary praise. “One can almost hear the outbreak of jubilation described in this summons to praise in Psalm 100. This psalm calls the entire community to lift praises to God.” [2]

I’d like to tell you something about me. I love music. I studied music theory and composition as my undergraduate major some years ago, I love finding out interesting and historical things about music, too.

Around the middle of the 1500’s, John Calvin the Protestant reformer said that any music performed in the church had to be sung. No instruments, and no glorious sounds other than voices. That meant a number of the Reformed churches could not play any of the marvelous organ, instrumental, or choral music of composers like the Lutheran Johann Sebastian Bach, who came a little later.

John Calvin said only singing psalms set in verses, was right and proper for church worship. After all, the Psalms were the song book of the Bible. Very early after Calvin made that declaration, a clergyman named John Kethe turned this Psalm, Psalm 100, into verse. It was set to a hymn tune known—of course—as “Old Hundredth.” Let me read Psalm 100, in rhyme:

All people that on earth do dwell,

Sing to the Lord with cheerful voice,

Him serve with mirth, His praise forthtell;

Come ye before Him and rejoice.

Stanza 2:

The Lord, ye know, is God indeed;

Without our aid He did us make.

We are His flock, He doth us feed,

And for His sheep He doth us take.

Stanza 3:

Oh, enter, then, His gates with praise,

Approach with joy His courts unto;

Praise, laud, and bless His name always.

For it is seemly so to do.

Stanza 4:

For why? The Lord, our God, is good;

His mercy is forever sure.

His truth at all times firmly stood

And shall from age to age endure.

.

This psalm text was written in the late 1500’s, and immediately was a big hit. Psalm 100 soon appeared in a hymn book, or psalter, and was regularly sung in church services. What I did not know before a few days ago was that this setting of Psalm 100 was in the hymn book brought across the Atlantic Ocean a few years later.

The church music professor Dr. Hawn said, “This is probably the oldest continuously sung congregational song in North America. When the first British explorers arrived in Jamestown Island on May 14, 1607, to establish the Virginia colony on the banks of the James River near Chesapeake Bay, they undoubtedly brought with them a Psalter, a collection of metrical psalms.” [3]

Just imagine: the earliest English colonists sang this hymn, using the words of clergyman William Kethe, the same words that congregations sing today, four and a half centuries later.

Dr. Hawn reminds us, “the important thing to remember is that William Kethe’s text ties us with the earliest settlers in the American colonies over 400 years ago. It was not long before a Psalter was published in the American colonies: The Bay Psalm Book (1640) was the first book published in North America.” [4]

What a marvelous chain of events, and connections. We can follow the verses of this Psalm across the ocean, into hymn books, and ultimately read it tonight in this service.

That’s all well and good, you might say. History is nice, but we need to dust off the cobwebs and come back into the modern age. Enough of these historical words like “doth,”  “unto,” “forthtell” and “seemly.” All right. I’ll ask some questions. Modern-day questions. These can be thought-questions, and you don’t need to answer them right away, or even out loud.

What is your attitude towards worship of God? Or, is that just for other people? Do you willingly and joyfully come into God’s presence? Or, is going to your house of worship more of a chore, where you are just reluctantly going through the motions? Penetrating thought-questions, for us all.

I pray that the Holy One might speak to hearts as needed.

How do I see this Psalm? I’m glad you asked! I come from the Christian faith tradition, and God has called to me from that understanding. What is more, the way my mind best understands God is through the lens of Reformers like Martin Luther and John Calvin. Calvin’s Reformed tradition especially treasures Psalm 100.

This Psalm’s essence might well be contained in the first question and answer of a respected historical teaching tool for young people, the Westminster Shorter Confession.

Question: What is the chief end of humankind?

Answer: The chief end of humankind is to glorify God and enjoy God forever. [5]

This is a way of abbreviating this Psalm, in a nutshell. But it does not matter how we abbreviate it, or turn it into verse, or read and meditate on it, or sing it from the rooftops. God wants to know our attitude towards worship, and is hoping our attitude is excited! Joyful! Praise-filled! May we all come into God’s presence with a joyful noise, giving thanks from the bottom of our hearts every day of the year, not only on Thanksgiving Day.

Alleluia, amen.

[1] http://www.theafricanamericanlectionary.org/PopupLectionaryReading.asp?LRID=98

Commentary, Psalm 100, Alfie Wines, The African American Lectionary, 2009.

[2] Ibid.

[3] https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-all-people-that-on-earth-do-dwell

http://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-all-people-that-on-earth-do-dwell

History of Hymns: “All People that on Earth Do Dwell”. by C. Michael Hawn

[4] Ibid.

[5] McCann, Jr., J. Clinton, The Book of Psalms, New Interpreters Bible Commentary, Vol. 4 (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1996), 1080.

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my regular blog for 2018: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and my other blog,  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!