Devotional - 5/27/02
“Celebrative Praise”
Psalm 100 (NIV):
Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the Lord is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his ;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.
Once there was a woman who planned a party to honor her beloved husband, inviting every person that she felt he would want to see. She fixed up the banquet hall and took care of all the arrangements. She spared no expense. And when all the people were gathered and everything was in place, she invited her cherished groom into the hall.
But then, when the guest of honor arrived, he wasn't greeted with applause or hoorahs. Instead, everyone calmly and quietly welcomed the man, if they even bothered to talk to him at all. There were no grand speeches of praise, no toasts of honor, no stories filled with laughter and passion. The whole party was just, well, flat. And when it was over, everyone went home like it was just another day.
How would it make you feel if you were the one planning that party? Or how about if you were the guest of honor?
In this parable, the one who planned the party is the worship planner or leader, the ones who accepted the invitation are the worshippers, and the guest of honor is God. And sometimes I wonder just how God feels when people come to worship and make no public showing of their passion and love for Him.
I hear people say, "My faith is a private matter. I show my passion for God in my heart; I don't have to project it publicly." Hogwash. If that were true, there would be no need for public worship at all. Piety and personal devotion can be accomplished alot better one-on-one, just you and the Lord. But the worship service is the party, the big shebang, thrown just for the Creator, who is the ultimate Guest of Honor. And if you can't show with your face and your voice and your hands that you love him with all your heart, you can't expect Him to respond to you.
That, I feel, is one of the meanings behind Jesus' words, "I tell you, whoever acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God." When you're in worship, you're in public, "before men," so to speak, and acknowledging him so that others can see what's in your heart is what public worship is all about.
Some people say that they just don't get passionate about things. I'll believe that when I see them at their kid's basketball game sitting through the entire event, keeping their mouth shut, never clapping or cheering. "That's different," you say. Is it? Only in that your love for the Lord should be even stronger than your love for your child. And on Easter morning Jesus sunk the ultimate three-point shot with no seconds on the clock, which is what we celebrate every time we come to worship Him.
Granted, there are many other valid ways to praise God. But I believe God is pleased with desire to praise Him with celebration. So put on your party hats, grab your noisemaker, and get ready to shout "Hoorah!" to the Guest of Honor. He certainly deserves the loudest shout we can muster.
- Dale Haas