A Life Full of Rejoicing
Service Link: https://youtu.be/HZITlNsulD0
Readings: Philippians 4:4-9, Psalm 145:1-8, 17-21, Luke 19:28-44
How much time do you spend in prayer and praise? Is it mostly a Sunday thing? Do you pray before dinner, when you go to bed? Do you thank God when anything good happens to you? Our passages today remind us that praise should always be on our lips. That we rejoice always and that we should keep our minds on praiseworthy things. At the same time, Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians also reminds us that we are meant to pray without ceasing. Both of our passages today also speak of peace and rejoicing. Paul and Jesus are trying to lead us towards a profound and powerful joy along with a stable and lasting peace through prayer and praise. As much as we want lasting joy and peace, we need to lean into prayer and praise of God.
What do we spend the most time praising? Is it your friends, your family, your work, a sports team, a movie, or a TV show? What do you spend the most time being thankful for? Is it your home, your community, your job, your skills, or the little things that work out in your favor? All of these are good things that sometimes bring joy, but they are not the lasting things. They are not the source of joy. It is like one day we find water in a bucket and so every day we go back to the same bucket looking for water. Every so often there might be water or joy in that thing, but if you would only go to the river, the source, you would always find water and joy.
God is the source of all joy. That is why Paul can say rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice because there is always joy to be had in our relationship with God, more than that there is joy in abundance. That is why the people rejoice when Jesus comes into Jerusalem. They may not completely understand it, but God is becoming present in a new way and so they cannot help but be filled with joy. In fact, the joy is so profound and powerful that Jesus recognizes that creation desires to join in as even the stones would cry out.
This is an important reminder of many other passages in Scripture like Psalm 96 when the trees sing for joy and the fields exult God, that all of creation was meant to glorify and praise God. Everything bears the fingerprint of God’s goodness and so when we should dwell on the praiseworthy things around us, we should focus that praise on the creator of that goodness. It is God that is worthy of all this praise because He is the one that made anything praiseworthy. Even more than that God, if everything only reflects a little bit of God’s goodness, if everything only shows the signature of God’s praiseworthiness, that means that the joy and goodness in God far exceed all the joy and goodness we can even comprehend from worldly things.
This brings me to something strange that is happening on Palm Sunday. We read that the people were praising Jesus because of his acts of power, we also hear at the end as Jesus mourns over Jerusalem that the people don’t yet understand what will bring them peace, they don’t understand who is coming into their city. Yet, at the same time, their words of praise are profound and beautiful: “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!” In this moment, their praise is recognizing that Jesus is God’s chosen king, the one who bears God’s name. They are recognizing that thanks to Jesus and this moment all of heaven is praising him and that peace is being brought to the spiritual realm. They don’t understand and yet their praise reaches beyond their understanding.
The same is true for us. The joy and wonder of God is beyond our comprehension and understanding. Our lives are chalked full of God’s Holy Spirit moving in powerful ways that we may never see or understand. The world is endlessly being shaped by his mighty arm. But when we praise God, we enter into the truth of reality in a way that is beyond us. We recognize God’s presence with us and we join with the angels in that endless chorus of “Holy, Holy, Holy”. Praise is a way in which we reach beyond our limited understanding and capacity and enter into the presence and knowledge of God. In that knowledge and presence, there is a profound joy and it will lead us to peace. No matter what is happening in our lives, no matter what we are struggling with there is always more joy to be had in God.
I am guessing that the majority of us do not spend enough time praising God. Even if we believe it, I would guess that we don’t often praise God for the things he has made praiseworthy. Thanking God is a good start, but I think it goes beyond that. I would encourage all of you over the next week to reflect on your life, on the moments, on the relationships on the failures and successes, and prayerfully watch for God’s hand. Our lives are full of the praiseworthy goodness of God.
Briefly on prayer. Prayer is our conversation with God. If you think about it like any other conversation it should help you to practice it. Prayer is meant to help us build a relationship with God, for us to give him part of ourselves and for God to give us part of Himself. If you don’t spend time with someone you won’t ever get close to them or be able to recognize their voice. If you spend the majority of the time talking, you won’t ever hear their words or get to know them. Can you imagine a relationship where someone just keeps asking for things, again and again, and never listening or responding or giving back? Why do we so often treat our relationship with God in that way through our prayer life?
Paul directs us to many of the central things our prayer life should be filled with - praise, trust, supplication, thanksgiving, and requests. We are meant to ask God for what we need, but these asks need to be tempered by trust. A trust that God will provide what we need, when we need it. A trust that God knows better than we do. And a trust that leads to a patient watchfulness, knowing that God will work, sometimes in ways and at times we don’t expect. Equally if not more important, we should be thankful to God for everything he gives, which is everything we have and are. So, in this, our lives could and should be endless thanks. We should also humble ourselves before God, relent in our ways, when we go wrong, and follow him. So prayer should be filled with praise, supplication, thankfulness, requests and silence to listen and watch in trust.
Each of these comes down to trust and faith. The beautiful thing is that the more we dwell on praising God, the more we dwell and realize all the ways that he has shown up and worked all the ways that God is praiseworthy, the more that trust and faith will grow and be grounded in the truth. Praise can lead to a stronger faith.
This is where the peace comes in. If we truly trust God with what we ask of him. If we trust God enough to give him our anger and our fears. If we trust him enough to give us what we need. What do we have to be worried about? A deadline becomes a human desire that may or may not be when God wants it done. A danger becomes a moment to trust in God’s saving grace. Loss or pain becomes a moment to recognize God’s gift, his presence, his healing, and his lasting love. There is profound peace in a growing relationship with God and by following Him, He will take us there.
Lastly, humanity was given a great gift when we were given the image of God at creation. That means that we were meant to, in a special way, reflect the goodness of God. Jesus as pure, both God and man, was the first one to really live into this image and so his very presence led many to praising God. Our relationship with God in prayer and our life of praise can do the same for those around us. Through a profound peace that we know through trust in God, people will see it and want it. Through a prayerful life we can invite others into our relationship with God. Through praise, we can direct others to the reality of God in their midst that they might have barely glimpsed up till now. So once again I say REJOICE. AMEN
