Sermon: Glorify God

“Glorify God”

June 2, 2013

Our theme this morning is “Glorify God”.

I’d like to share with you this morning from Psalm 96:

Psalm 96

1 Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. 2 Sing to the Lord, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day. 3 Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples.

4 For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise;

he is to be feared above all gods. 5 For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord made the heavens.

6 Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and glory are in his sanctuary.

7 Ascribe to the Lord, all you families of nations, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.

8 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering and come into his courts.

9 Worship the Lord in the splendor of his[a] holiness; tremble before him, all the earth.

10 Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns.”

he will judge the peoples with equity.

11 Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it.

12 Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them; let all the trees of the forest sing for joy.

13 Let all creation rejoice before the Lord, for he comes, he comes to judge the earth.

He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his faithfulness.

I would say that is some way of glorifying God! And the remarkable thing about it is, it was written while the Hebrew people were in captivity and in a strange land. They found themselves in very challenging circumstances. They were learning to recognize God’s goodness and sovereignty in the midst of their struggles to forge a new life and a new identity as God’s people in a strange land. They must have had to look on their situation as a new adventure and live it just one day at a time. When adversity strikes, that’s something we all need to learn to do.

They also proclaimed in this psalm that God was different from the idols of their captors. Their proclamation called all people to recognize that this God of theirs was different from the idols of this people. The psalmist’s vision was more expansive than restoration for the Hebrew people alone. It included all people. The coming judgment would bring justice for all people. For perhaps the first time, the Hebrew nation acknowledged that all people were God’s creation.

Today, if we really think about it, there are many “God’s of the people” in our world. People seek a following in what for many is a strange world. Greed, power, instant gratification and self interest lure people who are uncertain of the future into a false security grounded in the accumulation of “things”. To some extent, we are all guilty of it.

A couple of weeks ago, I saw a program on TV about a billionaire who is attempting to change the world starting in his own community. Paul Tudor Jones, a former hedge fund manager, created a charity called the Robin Hood Foundation. He said “ I see people in pain, people in need, people at times without hope, looking for something that will give them some compelling future. I see too many people in homeless shelters, on food stamps. I think a lot of us don't like to focus on it, but it's a significant part of this country that needs to be addressed.” When asked what inspired him to try to change the world in his community, he said, “There was probably a hole in my soul. And I didn't really know it at the time. And all of a sudden, here was this man, Gene Long, who showed the joy of giving. So the lesson that I learned was that there was a whole new journey in my life that was ahead of me that I had not yet even realized was there.”

He encourages other millionaires and billionaires to join his Robin Hood Foundation. He throws an annual fundraiser that is more like a rock concert. He raises money..big money…. and this year he raised $56,000,000 to help the poor in his community realize their goals….starting with the very young. But his only stipulation was, they had to have a plan and they had to have a goal. He was inspired by that Gene Lang, who paid for the college education of an entire school of kids who were at risk. Lang’s only stipulation was … they had to stay in school.

We’re not millionaires and we’re certainly not billionaires but every one of us can do something about a mission. ..God’s mission. Our church is not really a church at all…it’s a community. The goal of the church is built right into it’s name. “Community” of Christ.

As a people of faith, we can see and bear witness to God’s goodness all around us even in the worst of times and in challenging circumstances. We join with God in mission with full assurance that God’s future is breaking in to heal and restore all people and God’s creation to wholeness.

We should recall the message imbedded in the 25th chapter of Matthew.

Embedded in the lesson about separating his followers into sheep and goats (which I really don’t think Jesus would have done), there is this message.

34 "The King will say to those disciples on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

37 "Then the disciples will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

40 "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

41 "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

44 "They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?' 45 "He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these you did not do for me.' That’s the embedded message I find in that scripture message.

It would be easy for us to say “we’re too small…we can’t make a difference”. But in examining this scripture, we find that all Jesus really expected of his disciples was, when they were hungry, to give others something to eat, ….to give the thirsty something to drink, …to invite in a lonely one …and to clothe someone who needed clothing. …to look after someone sick…and visit those who are imprisoned….and there are all kinds of imprisonment. These are small things that any of us could do. These are things that minister to the soul. We can offer our friendship and fellowship.

We can make huge changes in our individual worlds if we take small enough bites in change. We cannot all be Gene Langs or a Paul Tudor Jones but we don’t need to be. We can make a vast difference in many little ways if we are not afraid to try to change our personal world….even to express our opinion and stand up for others when we see injustice.

I particularly like the words to the song:

Brothers and sisters of mine are the hungry, who sigh in their sorrow and weep in their pain.

Sisters and brothers of mine are the homeless, who wait without shelter from wind and from rain.

2. Strangers and neighbors, they claim my attention.

They sleep by my doorstep, they sit by my bed.

Neighbors and strangers, their anguish concerns me, and I must not feast till the hungry are fed.

3. People are they, men and women and children, and each has a heart keeping time with my own.

People are they, persons made in God's image, so what shall I offer them, bread or a stone?

4. Lord of all living, we make our confession: Too long we have wasted the wealth of our lands.

Lord of all loving, renew our compassion, and open our hearts while we reach out our hands.

So how do we bring glory to God? We do it by not just proclaiming but also by living our faith. Our song is one like the psalmist…. one of hope that sees our world not as it is but as it could be…..with our help…....and under the reign of God.