Oh Praise Him for He is good.
Oh Praise Him for He is good.
Since we sang that in the opening song of our service last Sunday morning that phrase has been on repeat in my head. I think probably part earworm and part God inviting me to allow that phrase to soak into my spirit as I was preparing for this morning.
And then, yesterday I was at a conference and as part of the worship we sang the song that we began today’s service with, and another phrase joined it:
Praise the Lord, oh my soul.
Praise the Lord, oh my soul.
Another musical hook, crafted to be an earworm, but also an encouragement to my deepest being to choose a life, an attitude, a posture of praise to God.
So, this morning, as we explore together the spiritual discipline of joyful celebration I invite you to allow the music of these phrases to echo in the background, carrying the words into your heart.
Life was hard. Life had always been hard. As long as I can remember. As a youngster I’d watched the other children running and playing. I couldn’t join them in their games. At home I felt useless, a burden. My brothers and sisters all had chores and tasks to do around the home. I couldn’t fetch water or sweep up or make the beds. I could sit and grind meal, but I knew I wasn’t pulling my weight. As they got older they went off to work, bringing wages into the household, paying for the food they were eating. I couldn’t work.
So, I persuaded my parents to let me start begging. It was shameful and embarrassing for them and for me, but what option did we have? A couple of my brothers would haul me to my begging spot for the day on the way to work and pick me up on the way home. Until they got married and left home. One by one all my brothers and sisters went and started their own families. And then my parents died. It was just me, alone. Not quite totally, I had friends and neighbours who out of their kindness kept taking me to the temple, putting me in my place, and leaving me for the day to beg. Dependent on the kindness of others for the everything.
Until that day. The day that I met Peter and John. I didn’t know them before that. I’d heard about Jesus of Nazareth, you couldn’t spend every day at the temple around that time and not hear about Jesus, but I hadn’t really connected. Until that day. Just a normal day, I was just arriving for the day, and I saw them, and asked them for money, my normal patter. They stopped, looked at me – nobody ever looked at me – they either dropped my money in my pot and hurried on or just put their heads down and hurried on.
They stopped and looked at me. I thought they were going to give me something. They did. Just not what I was expecting. They prayed for me in the name of Jesus and told me to walk. It was the weirdest sensation – like ants under my skin – feeling and strength coming to my legs – legs that had never worked. I jumped up, I couldn’t help myself. I started dancing and prancing and singing like a loon. I couldn’t help myself. I couldn’t help myself. Oh Praise him, for he is good. Praise the Lord, Oh my soul.
Life is still hard. I’d never worked a day in my life. I didn’t have the skills most people my age have, I’d never been apprenticed, never learned a trade. It’s hard to be competing with fourteen year olds for jobs. And now I’m not lame I can’t beg any more. Sometimes I wonder if that day was really a blessing. But. Since that day I have spent time with Peter and John and their friends. I’ve learned more about Jesus. I’ve decided to follow him. I trust him. That day was a blessing, not the obvious one, but the one it led to. Life is still hard at times and yet – Praise the Lord, Oh my soul. Oh Praise him for he is good.
Life was hard. Life had always been hard. My husband and I live in a small village just inland from Capernaum. He’s a day labourer, depending on the local landowners and farmers for work. At some points in the year there’s plenty of work to go round – harvest time for instance. At other times not so much. We don’t have savings, it’s pretty hand to mouth. I make the best of what we have, look for bargains in the market, buy food at the end of the day when it’s cheaper because it’s not as fresh. I keep our home clean and tidy.
When we got married my Father gave me my dowry. Ten silver coins. To be honest, not worth that much – about a week and a half’s wages – my family wasn’t that well off either. But at least I’d bought something to the marriage, something tangible. And, if we did ever need it, it was there – a fallback, a safety net.
Life was hard – but then one morning it got harder. I was sorting through some of my things when I realised that one of the ten coins was missing – there were only nine. My heart stopped, I panicked – where could it be? I started searching. It’s pretty dark in our house – we can’t afford windows – so I lit a lamp and started looking, straining my eyes for the glimmer of the coin. I got my broom and started reaching into the corners, under the furniture, sweeping, listening, straining my ears for the tinkle of the coin. My house isn’t that big, so it probably didn’t take very long, but it felt like forever – until that moment. The moment that I found it. I jumped up, and I couldn’t help myself. I started dancing and prancing and singing like a loon. I couldn’t help myself. I couldn’t help myself. Oh Praise him, for he is good. Praise the Lord, Oh my soul.
Life is still hard. We’re still poor, we still have to work hard and watch every penny. But on the days when it feels endless, when it feels particularly dark, I remember that glimmer, that chime, and I remember that joy. Life is still hard at times and yet – Praise the Lord, Oh my soul. Oh Praise him for he is good.
Hold on minute, you might be thinking. Tim, you’ve taking some liberties with the Scripture there. In the first story you’ve suggested a bit of a back story for the lame man, and I can go with that, but you’ve also suggested that he came to faith in Jesus – and there’s no evidence for that in the account. We just don’t know that. And then, in the second story, the parable, again you’ve given a possible back story, but you’ve missed Jesus’ punchline. This isn’t about a woman’s economic security – this one is about salvation, about the rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents and is found.
These are both fair points. In answer all I can say is that I can’t believe that Peter and John just left him there. The next section has them preaching about Jesus to the crowd who gathered in amazement at the healing, he must have been there, must have heard.
I don’t know if he acted on what he heard, but I reckon it’s likely.
And yes, the punchline to the parable is the joy of heaven over the finding of one lost one. It helps, I think, to see this woman’s situation clearly, to get a feeling for the depth of her joy to help us to hear the exuberant joy of heaven over just one sinner who repents and is found.
This parable is the middle one of a set of three. The first and last of this set are probably better known, are told more often. The first one is the story of the lost sheep – one of ninety-nine – who is found and there is a party which everybody joins – there is joyful celebration in heaven. This second one is the story of the lost coin – one of ten – which is found and there is a party which everybody joins – there is joyful celebration in heaven. The third on is the story of a lost son – one of two – who is found and there is a party. But here, at the climax of the series, there is a difference. Not everybody joins. The elder brother resists, angry and bitter. His Father pleads with him to join the celebration, and the story is left hanging. Will he go in or not. Will he join the joyful celebration of earth and heaven? Will we?
Life can be hard. Following Jesus doesn’t always change every aspect of that. And yet, my experience, the experience of those we’ve read about this morning, the experience of followers of Jesus through the ages, in this church and around the world is that knowing him does change things. It can change our perspective, it can give us something to hold onto when things are hard, and it can help us to see the glimmer of hope and hear the chime of heaven. And so.
Praise the Lord, Oh my soul.
Oh Praise him, for he is good.
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