Praise is cheap nowadays, misdirected at what is trivial, superlatives squandered on the innocuous: celebrities, junk to buy, TV drivel, sophomoric diversions. So the first chord sounded in worship is counter-cultural: taking refuge from the racket of mindless fawning over what is ridiculous, from the glitz of what vaunts itself as delivering the good life, worshippers praise the Lord, the only One worthy of praise.
When we praise, we delight in Who God is, instead of on What's in it for me... the way a lover dotes on a photo of the beloved, admiring her beauty, musing on his qualities. Praise is our amazement at God, our recognition of the power, goodness and tenderness of the creator. Praise enjoys God's love. Praise is our best attempt to feel, say, or sing something appropriate to God. Yet in our busy lives, praise of God will require some retraining. Praise doesn't "work," it is not productive, it isn't even about me. Praise is being lost in adoration, awestruck by the divine beauty.
Teach us to praise! In worship, we sing hymns whose lyrics, melodies and harmonies lift us out of bondage to our selves and what pretends to be praiseworthy, the centrifugal force of the Spirit luring us out of me and my smallness, upward to the joys of celebrating God's character. Praise cures much of what is wrong inside us. "Adoration leaves no room for pride" (Fred Pratt Green). "Praise is the antidote to despair" (David Ford). Worship solves problems, since we were made to praise, since being "lost in wonder, love and praise" (Charles Wesley) is our true vocation.
Praise happens not just in the congregational hymn or the choral anthem. Praise happens when heads bow, when the stranger is warmly welcomed, when a listener nods (or hollers "Amen!") during the sermon. Praise is profound in the stammering silence, and in our departure from the sanctuary: for then we are determined to praise God by noticing God's stunning creation, striving for excellence at work, studying hard, expressing love for family, pausing now and then to sigh over God's wisdom, might and compassion.
To learn praise we need mentors. St. Francis, nearing death, racked with pain and hemorrhaging, his eyesight gone, wrote, "Most high, powerful, all-good Lord, All praise is yours, all glory, honor and blessing, through all you have made." He praised God for "my brother sun, who brings the day... Of you, Most High, he bears the likeness"; then for "sister moon and stars, brother wind, sister water, brother fire and sister earth." On his deathbed, John Wesley broke a long silence by singing a hymn: "I'll praise my Maker while I've breath, and when my soul is lost in death, praise shall employ my nobler powers. My days of praise shall ne'er be past..."
James
james@mpumc.org
Coming up:
eWorship11 - Giving Thanks
eWorship12 - The Offering
eWorship13 - Listening to Scripture
eWorship14 - The Creed
eWorship15 - The Work of the Sermon
The complete eWorship series may be found on our web site.
