“UnClutter the Heart: Praise to God” Psalm 148

The Sunday after Christmas. The presents have been unwrapped. The candles have been lit and blown out. The hymns have been sung. What is left to be said?

So very much!

Because the brith of Jesus was the beginning of something, dear friends. Not the end. With the incarnation of Christ we see the Good News with flesh on it. The one who came to reconcile us to God. The one who continues to reconciles us to God. And I don’t know about you, but I think that is worthy of our praise!

One of the podcasts I listen to, Heart Strangely Warmed, describes psalms like the one we read today as “PTL” - “Praise the Lord”. Every time they say it, it reminds me that there is surely much to praise God for. Things that make us say “wow!” Where God absolutely amazes us. Where God takes our breath away. 

Author Anne Lamott states, “Wow, is often offered with a gasp, a sharp intake of breath, when we can’t think of another way to capture the sight of shocking beauty”. Wow are prayers of amazement.

“Wow” moments are connected to wonder and lead us to worship. Wow moments can come from reading a piece of poetry, seeing a beautiful sight, coming alongside a child who is learning new things. They can shine forth in nature or ring true in our hearts through music. Wow moments cause us to realize something new about God’s love for us or capture our heart anew with an old truth that we have too quickly forgotten. The Psalmists this morning reminds us that God has done glorious things and is worthy of our praise - do we live like this? 

The prophets, the Psalmists, the gospel writers, and the apostles all tell us the same thing about God - God alone is to be praised. God alone has done great and wondrous things. In the words of today’s prayer - God alone deserves our amazement - but do we live this way? Do we first think of God when we are cuddling with a cooing newborn, or hugging a beloved friend, or reading a passage in a book that stirs something in our spirits? Do these powerful life moments lead us to praise God? Or do we too quickly take them for grantit. 

If there is any time of the year, friends, where should be “wow-ed” by God - it should be right now. We are celebrating Emmanuel - God with us - God who went to the length of coming as a child in a manager over 2,000 years ago. God who meets us where we are at, even now today, in the midst of our struggles, and heartache and joy. God who is the absolute presence of love with us. Who loved us enough to go this far to get our attention and draw our hearts close to him. God who just wants us to be in relationship with him. 

Friends, when we praise God, like the Psalmist, we are reminded how small we are and how big God is. The problem comes when we reverse those things. When we make Jesus too small. Paul wrote the following to the Church in Colossias: He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation;  for in[a] him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him.  He himself is before all things, and in[b] him all things hold together. Christ is the All in All, we are not. Christ is the center, we are not. 

Some people who study language believe that “wow” is a contraction of “I vow”. I vow to remember. I vow to never forget. I vow to cherish this moment. Do we live like that? Do we proclaim prayers of amazement enough in our lives? Do we thank God for those moments that leave us almost speechless and transform something inside of us? Those moments that act like a mini-resurrection, bringing us closer to God and reminding us that God is ultimately in control? The sad truth is that sometimes we look past the great gifts that God is trying to offer us - those moments of amazement. We forget what Isaiah is trying to speak to the people about - that we are to exalt God, praising God’s name, because God is faithful in giving us more gifts than we can ever deserve. 

This sermon is shorter than usual because I want you to be part of it. You have heard the Psalmist and what he praised God for. But what do you praise God for this day. Let’s shout it out to God. Let us share it with this community of faith. Let us lift high our voices because our God is worthy of praise in all times and in all places. Let us join together in praise the Lord!