April 30, 2023 - Giving Glory to God
Acts 13:1-3, 14:8-18
Deborah Laforet
Giving Glory to God
Let us pray. May the words from my lips and the meditations of my heart be guided by your Spirit and be words of wisdom for this day. Amen.
On Sunday, after our Lunch and Learn with our guests from Wesley, and after everyone had gone, I realized that I needed to be in the sanctuary to retrieve a recording from that Sunday’s service. As many of you know, there is another community that worships in this space in the afternoon. By this time, they were all set up and were singing. I usually would wait, maybe try the next morning, but I really needed this recording, so I snuck in the back and sat in the booth.
One person saw me and greeted me. I think she was surprised when I introduced myself as the minister, thinking I was the tech person. I settled in, knowing that these Sunday worship recordings take a long time to download, so I sat in the booth for about half an hour. I was seen and no one seemed bothered. In fact, they welcomed me.
We’re always talking about the loud music that comes from this sanctuary on Sunday afternoons and for the first time I was able to experience this music in worship. They sang only two songs while I was there, and they sang them for almost twenty minutes. repeating the short, simple lyrics, over and over again. The first one was “We thank you, Lord,” and the second one was, “We glorify you, God.” People were standing and really getting into the singing as the drums pounded, the piano pelted out the melody, and the bass gave the song its groove. It was almost hypnotic. When I was finished downloading, I waved goodbye to one of the leaders who had waved at me as he came in, and I quietly left.
This is a challenge for us in the United Church and one thing the Pentecostal church does really well. We have a difficult time getting out of our heads and into our bodies. When we sing, when we are in a space with drums and guitars, many of us have a difficult time letting go and just being one with the music and with the Spirit in the space. In the few pentecostal churches I’ve visited, they aren’t just listening to the music, they are feeling it, they are lost in it. Their eyes are closed, their arms are open, and they are one with Spirit, body and soul, giving praise to God. Last Sunday, I truly felt that this pentecostal congregation was glorifying the holy, grateful for all God has given and all God is doing.
In our story Lindsey read for us today, the Holy Spirit is on the move, but the Gentile people, those with no knowledge of the traditions of Judaism, aren’t quite sure what to make of it. In the days of Roman deities, people learned that their gods would take human shape and mingle with humans, sometimes in direct relationship with them, sometimes changing the course of events based on these interactions. We hear about gods creating wars, choosing favourites, and even having human lovers. When these Gentiles see Paul heal someone who had been lame from birth, they believe that Paul and Barnabas are gods. We read that, “Barnabas they called Zeus,” the god of sky and thunder, “and Paul they called Hermes,” the god of communication," because he was the chief speaker.”
Now Paul and Barnabas were coming from communities that consisted of both Jews and Gentiles and many of these communities weren’t receptive to their teachings, even driving them out of town and threatening to stone them. They get to this town, and after healing this man, Paul and Barnabas are suddenly being worshipped! Imagine the scene. We read that, “The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates; he and the crowds wanted to offer sacrifice.” Now some people might be grateful for all this attention. After all, Paul and Barnabas had been unappreciated in previous towns and mistreated in some. Now, they're getting all this wonderful attention and being praised for their works. People adore them, give them gifts, and even want to offer a sacrifice in their honour.
Paul and Barnabas though are mortified. They tear their clothes, which is what was done when in grief or greatly distressed. They rush into the crowd and shout, “People, why are you doing this? We’re mortals, just like you, and we bring you good news.” They try and explain about their God, and they try to do it in ways these Gentiles might understand. They talk about God as creator of the earth and sea, and all that is in them, rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling us with food and bringing us joy. They try and attribute all they do, the miracles then can perform, to this abundant, generous, and merciful God. Unfortunately, the people are not convinced and are “scarcely restrained” from offering sacrifice to them. I don’t know whether Paul and Barnabas would have run faster from those wanting to stone them or from those wanting to bow down to them.
Nowadays we are skeptical. We see ourselves as rational and scientific. For all events in our lives, we look for a reason, an explanation. Sometimes we seek someone to blame, someone to be held accountable, someone responsible. Often, we either avoid responsibility or we want accolades. Our society is success driven and the more praise and accolades we receive, the more successful we become. Narcissism in our culture is strong.
What does it mean for us to surrender all of this to God? I want to be clear. I don’t think we want to revert to blaming God for all that goes wrong or praising God for our individual privileges. We don’t want to start telling people that God doesn’t give us more than we can handle or that God must have wanted what happened or caused what happened, or that you are so successful or that you survived an accident because God favoured you and intervened. These words can be harmful for people who are suffering and can create unfair expectations for others. They can leave us wondering why God causes suffering or why God saves some and ignores others.
I’m talking about praising God for the earth and its abundance, thanking God for the connections and relationships and the love that we share, glorifying God for the air we breathe into our lungs, being thankful for the Spirit who guides us and offers wisdom. When we gather for worship, it’s about bringing praise to God. Praise and worship bands are not meant as forms of entertainment (although sometimes it makes you wonder); they’re meant to help us let go of our stress, our anxiety, our everyday challenges and to let go and surrender, and to just be.
When we gather to worship, we come before God and offer our praise. Now sometimes, this might look like lament. We might come before God and offer our questions, our grief, our anger, but we do this knowing God is listening and thankful that God is always present.
In my own learning, I am becoming more and more aware of my body. The mind is not a separate piece of us, that manages all we do. The mind is a part of a system, a part of the body, that we have learned to ignore or to numb. Giving praise to God means giving of ourselves, all of ourselves, not just our words, our thoughts, our prayers, but our whole body and soul, our tears, our breath, our pain, our strength, our hands and feet, all our senses, giving it all to God. and what safer space to do that but among community, among family, among those who love and support each other.
May you feel gratitude. may you glorify God in whatever way is best for you. May you come before God with your whole self, body, mind, heart, soul, spirit and breath, and give glory and praise. Thanks be to God. Amen.