I grew up in Chicago and when I was a child, my parents sent me to a church school: Nazareth Lutheran Church and School on the city’s South side.
From kindergarten through 8th grade, the classrooms beside the church at the corner of 60th and Spaulding were my home away from home. And it was in the third or fourth grade I found and fell in love with Psalm 150.
Our verse this month is from Psalm 150, specifically, verse 6. But let me share another translation of this same chapter from a different translation of the bible. From The Message:
Hallelujah!
Praise God in his holy house of worship,
praise him under the open skies;
Praise him for his acts of power,
praise him for his magnificent greatness;
Praise with a blast on the trumpet,
praise by strumming soft strings;
Praise him with castanets and dance,
praise him with banjo and flute;
Praise him with cymbals and a big bass drum,
praise him with fiddles and mandolin.
Let every living, breathing creature praise God!
Hallelujah!
Sit back and take this chapter all in. It is as if the writer wants us to be in praise of God for everything we have every minute of our lives. And the writer is correct. Everything we have from the very breaths we take and every beat of our hearts is a gift from God and we should celebrate.
I’m not saying that we need to go out and buy God a cake, but what I am saying is that we should be throwing God a party … and we do, every Sunday when we come to worship. We throw God a party every time we take a moment to stop and take in the wonder of everything around us. We throw God a party every time we do His will by showing mercy and grace even when the situation doesn’t warrant it.
Some years ago, I was appointed to a church deep in the country. Right next door was a family with a severely autistic child. I got to talking to them and asked if they had a church. Their response floored me when they said they did but didn’t go there anymore because their child could not sit still and remain silent during the service. They had been asked to leave the child at home with someone “better equipped to handle” him. I told the family that they were more than welcome ANY Sunday to come with their child. They said that they would think about it and we would see.
Several weeks passed when one morning the family and child showed up and right on cue, their special son began stirring things up. Mom and dad got up to leave in embarrassment until another one of the members there got up and moved over to sit with them to tell them it was all right.
Look at the chapter from Psalms again and read it. There is nothing there that says we have to be somber when we worship. There is nothing but music and dance and noise going on in celebration of the greatness we have in our God.
The child that morning did nothing but ‘make a joyful noise unto the Lord (Psalm 100)’ throughout the service. And once the rest of the congregation got on board, we had one of the most spirit- filled worship services ever. The family soon became members and could always be found near the door but always in the same pew. As for the child, he sat there with his family praising God and creating a ‘holy commotion’ every time he visited.
Take time right now, today, to Give God thanks for every gift you have been given. And don’t worry, it’s okay to do a little dance as well, or whoop it up when you do, because God is right there whooping it up and dancing with you.
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