Let All the People Praise You

That is why Paul and Barnabas become almost frantic when the people of Lystra proclaim the two missionaries to be gods, and prepare to offer sacrifices to them.

“No, no, no, you've got it all wrong.

We are people, human like you,” Paul entreats them.

“The one to praise is not me, the messenger, but the one who sent the message, the Lord Jesus.”

One of the things that makes us uniquely human is our capacity to do that proper job, or to refuse to do it and to worship someone or something else.

Remember the Westminster Catechism's answer to the question about the purpose of mankind with these words: “the chief purpose of mankind is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.”

It is God's intention to overcome our resistance, to transform our attitudes, and to provide opportunities for us to join in the great hymn of praise, even right now, in the middle of things that go wrong.

Yes, even when we are angry with God, or angry with the kids or a neighbor, upset about work or worried about health.

God will, in his good time, change things.

--The laments of the Hebrews in slavery in Egypt in Exodus 1 are in Exodus 15 changed to shouts of praise for God's great victory.

--The barren lament of Hannah in I Samuel 1 is changed into the song of joy at the birth of Samuel.

--The lament of the prophet Isaiah over the situation of the Israelites in exile in Babylon is become the hymn of joyful anticipation when the trip home is projected.

--The laments of the women at the foot of the cross are changed into the shout “He is risen indeed.”

--Our laments of greater or lesser importance will likewise be heard, and God is not limited by our imaginations about what he can do.

God's answers to us may be:

-- Yes, of course,

--have patience

--Not the way we would expect,

--or maybe even...You've got to be kidding!

But in whichever way God decides to deal with our problems, we can be sure that his continuing intent is to lead us to the ongoing praise of the God who has made us.

We have a vision of the outcome of the whole world in the book of Revelation which we are hearing this Easter season.

That final community, the new Jerusalem, is a gift from God, sheer gift!

That community includes the immediacy of God's presence; there is no need of a temple.

--no need of sacrifice because Christ has taken care of that in his death.

--no stone in the Holy of Holies in the Temple to represent the point of contact between heaven and earth, because the whole Christian community is to be that point of contact.

--no need of sun for light because the glory of God is all the brightness that anyone could want or need.

When that is our vision, what can we do but join right now in the hymn of anticipation.

It is a hymn for every sort of occasion.

When we are in a mood of self-satisfied happiness, the vision reminds us that God's plans are certainly bigger than ours.

--When we are focusing on our own griefs, the hymn of anticipation pulls us beyond our short horizon and gives us the long view.

--When we get to thinking about ourselves only, the hymn reminds us that the Easter season news is for everyone else as well.

“Let all the people praise you,” we sang today with the Psalmist, and also with the John of Revelation, “Worthy is Christ the Lamb who was slain, whose blood set us free to be people of God.”

And we need to keep singing that vision.

The old football coach Vince Lombardi said, “Good football coaches always have in the back of their minds a picture of a perfectly executed play.

Although the coach has never seen a group of players run the perfectly executed play, still the coach has in his mind a vision of what it would look like if it were done correctly.

Because, only then can one coach toward that goal.

So, we will continue to sing the vision of what the church and the world shall be like and the wonders of the new Jerusalem.

We praise God because he will be praised.

And we complain to God and express every other feeling and emotion in the confidence that at length they will all be transformed into praise.

That is the time when the Psalmist's words become fully true: Let all the people praise you, O God, let all the people praise you...because Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. Amen.

Please note: The preceding sermon is provided as a resource for the thought, prayer, and meditation of the members and friends of St. Mark's. It is the residue of a verbal event, and thus it does not have academic footnotes and other details that would be expected in a written document. The writer gladly acknowledges the prior thought and work of many Christians before him.