Praise the Lord You Creatures
Christmas 1 – December 29, 2924
1 Samuel 2:18-20, 26
Psalm 148
Colossians 3:12-17
Luke 2:41-52
Our psalm for today is one of the last five in the psalter. They are called the “hallelujah” psalms because they begin and end with “hallelujah,” The word also appears several times within the psalm and means “praise the LORD.” Psalm 148 calls all of creation to praise the LORD from the heavens to the creatures in the sea. We don’t often think about praising God outside of worship but these psalms tell us not only to praise the LORD in worship but at all times. We are called to continual praise of the LORD. We, I believe, also have a distorted view of praise. Many people that I talk to believe that praise should uplift, that it’s an emotional response to Worshiping God. But that is not necessarily true. For Samuel and his parents it meant seeing each other just once a year when Samuel’s parents offered a sacrifice – giving up something for the Lord. In between those times Samuel ministered before the Lord. Jesus reflects that as well. Giving praise as a young man (twelve years of age was one year before being recognized as an adult) meant sitting at the feet of a Rabi and learning about God. Paul tells us that praising the Lord is about putting on the clothes of compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Which, in this day and age, can be extremely difficult. You may even be called naive or a simpleton if you do. All these examples (and many more in the Bible) tell us that we are to praise the LORD in all that we do.
It is difficult to praise God always. We are constantly being distracted by the world. We constantly hear messages that we need to have certain things, act in certain ways, and expect others to treat us in a certain way. In fact the world these days often promotes the opposite of Paul’s list. You need to be aggressive, mean-hearted (especially to those different from you), and you certainly should not have to wait for anything. All these negative traits are promoted by our society. We hear this message from television advertisements and politicians. We are constantly being told that we will not get ahead in life if we don’t act in this way. But Jesus reminds us that the point is not to get ahead in life but to be concerned about others – to imitate him. Paul reminds us of Jesus’ model that we are to follow in his letter to the Philippians (2:5-11). There he reminds us that Jesus emptied himself and took the form of a slave, that being found in human form humbled himself and he became obedient even to death on the cross for others. Now Jesus calls us to follow him. That is how we truly praise God by following Jesus and becoming obedient to his command to love others as he loves us.
I am not telling you anything that you do not know. That we are to praise God with everything we say and do. That certainly is not an easy task. Although, there are several things that can make that task easier. Begin with prayer. Spend time reading the Bible. There are many ways to do this. Although, as I have said before, starting from the beginning and reading to the end probably should not be your choice if it’s your first time reading the Bible. Begin with the Gospels and Paul’s letters. Then go to the Old Testament. Praise also happens here as we gather in this place, share our lives, support each other, receive God’s forgiveness, and are strengthened by this meal – the body and blood – of our Lord. From these gifts clothe yourself in compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience and praise God with your whole life.