Holy and glorious is your Name!
Reverence for You, O Holy One, is the
beginning of wisdom;
a good understanding have all
who practice it.
Your Spirit endures for ever!
(Psalms for Praying by Nan Merrill)
Our reading of today's Psalm (111) reads “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”
The idea of fearing God, even being afraid of God, is certainly not how the psalmist would have us approach this God of Love. Rather, the word ‘fear’ means to encourage us to revere, honor, adore, respect God. To bring praise to God in all that life brings our way.
To sing out “Holy and glorious is your Name!”
I usually don’t like to deal with the battle scenes we find in the Hebrew Scriptures, they are rather unsettling, but I would like to talk about one today. We find it in 2 Chronicles chapter 20.
The king of Judah, Jehoshaphat, has been warned “A great multitude is coming against you from Edom, from beyond the sea.” And so, very concerned, ( it actually says frightened) the King calls the people together to prayer. And they are told that they are to go down to the battle without fear for God has their backs! And so, scripture reads:
“20 Early the next morning the army of Judah went out into the wilderness of Tekoa. On the way Jehoshaphat stopped and said, “Listen to me, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem! Believe in the Lord your God, and you will be able to stand firm. Believe in his prophets, and you will succeed.”
21 After consulting the people, the king appointed singers to walk ahead of the army, singing to the Lord and praising him for his holy splendor. This is what they sang:
“Give thanks to the Lord;
his faithful love endures forever!”
22 At the very moment they began to sing and give praise, the Lord caused the armies of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir to start fighting among themselves. 23 The armies of Moab and Ammon turned against their allies from Mount Seir and killed every one of them. After they had destroyed the army of Seir, they began attacking each other. 24 So when the army of Judah arrived at the lookout point in the wilderness, all they saw were dead bodies lying on the ground.”
Judah’s army were called to go out in faith to face their enemies, face their fears. But it was not their own strength that led the way but rather their praise in what God promised. Even before God had done it!
This is a great lesson for us. How should we face our battles in life?
So looking at today’s gospel, all ten lepers knew where to begin. “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” This is a great prayer. Perhaps you have heard of the Jesus prayer. “Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” Or simply ‘Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy.’ I have been known to pray this almost continuously during some difficult times.
Notice, Jesus does not immediately heal the lepers. Instead, he tells them to go in faith and show their healing to the priests. This was a requirement for being declared clean. As they moved out in faith they were healed.
But only one comes back to give praise and thanks. Only one reveres, respects, honors Jesus. Our translation does not do Jesus’ response justice. If we go back and look at the Greek, Jesus tells the leper, your faith has made you whole. Not just cured him from Leprosy, but made him whole. This is actually the same word we usually translate as saved. Salvation is about being made whole here and now, not just fire protection for the here after. The leper’s worship brings him salvation, wholeness.
It is in praise of God, in giving thanks that we win the victory, that we are made whole.
What are the battles we face today? There are so many. Everything from finances, addictions, depression, disease to others that are best named in your own words or thoughts.
These battles are not won through violence, physical or verbal. They are only made worse through these means. You will never find your own worth or the worth of another by calling them names and being angry and puffing up your own persona. You will never become a peacemaker through rhetoric.
Rather, battles are won, people are made whole, by stepping out in faith and singing praises for all God will do. It is in singing God’s praises that we find strength to step out and believe. It is in singing God’s praise that our eyes are opened to the beauty, the miracles, and the victory. It is in singing God’s praise that we find the wisdom to be God’s love in the moment. By the way, not praise for what you want God to do, but rather just for who God is. God’s faithful love endures forever! However it may look.
If there is a lesson for us to hear in the midst of all the anger and violence and rancor of our day, it is this one. Kneel at the feet of Christ and give thanks. It is there, in praise and honor of God that you will find the wisdom to guide you. It is there that we will be made whole, not only as an individual, but as the body of Christ.
If you remember, I quoted Tozer a couple of weeks ago as saying that we are never more united than when we, together, turn our faces in worship of God. We are never more wholly the body of Christ we are called to be than when we revere God for being God. This is what won the victory.
Today, whatever battle you go out to face, place before you the praises of the Lord your God, just as Jehosaphat did, and God will make you, us, whole. We will find the wisdom we so desperately need for this day.
Holy and glorious is your Name!
Reverence for You, O Holy One, is the
beginning of wisdom;
a good understanding have all
who practice it.
Your Spirit endures for ever!
Amen
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