“Singing His Praises”

Scripture: Colossians 3:12-17

Today, we continue with another passage that reveals more reasons to give thanks to our Lord. Thanksgiving is the perfect time to take the direction that scripture lays out for us – we are told that our God is truly worthy of our thanks and praise! Hear these words from the Psalms:

Psalm 18:2-6
"The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I called to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and I have been saved from my enemies. The cords of death entangled me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me. The cords of the grave coiled around me; the snares of death confronted me.
In my distress I called to the LORD; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice"

For all that our God is, and all that he does, and all that he has given to us, he is so incredibly worthy that we can never praise him enough, but we still have to give him all the love and rejoicing that we possibly can.

Read Colossians 3:12-14

Paul offers a list of attributes that Christians are to exhibit, and it is significant that he opens this sentence with the words “as God’s chosen people”. These qualities are anything but typical of the people of earth! Leviticus 20:23-24 tells us that God’s people have been set aside – that we are not to live according to the ways and standards of the world. When we give our lives to the Lord, we surrender our allegiance and dependence on the ways we have always lived.

The second point that Paul is making is in the obvious nature of each of these attitudes. Each one is how we are to treat others – how we are to love them, and care for them, and show God’s love and grace to them. When we give our lives to Christ, we become those “holy and dearly loved” people, which is how we are even able to be the kind of person who the Lord needs us to be. And it is the Holy Spirit who will clothe us in the spirit of Christ – the life that prepares and conditions us to be that divine and loving messenger to the world.

We are to be “clothed” with compassion. The people of earth may have heard of the word “compassion”, but their understanding of what it is all about is quite a bit different than what God is actually intending us to be. It has nothing to do with how we demand that others acquiesce to our desires and ways. Rather, it is about what we can do and give to others. Remember Matthew 25:34-46? When we reach out to others in their need for food, or drink, or friendship, or care, it is as though we are reaching out to the Lord Himself.

When we are clothed in kindness, we see the goodness that we bring to others as something that is just as important to us as if it had become our own. In Luke 7:36-38, Jesus has his feet washed by the tears of a sinful woman, and dried with her hair. And in the love that she showed to Jesus, he forgave her sin. That is the kindness that we are also to show, the heart that comes from combining the goodness of earth with the compassion of Christ!

The next attribute – Humility – is how we are to show kindness. But what is humility? How does it change us? Think of it as how we will feel when we stand in the presence of God at the judgment – arrogance is gone, conceit has vanished, selfishness and self-centered ways are no more – all we have left to depend on is the Lord’s mercy. And that feeling is what we are to share with others.

Gentleness, our fourth Godly attribute, is marked by the person who is so God-controlled that we are able to strike the perfect balance between boldness in Christ and love for the sinner, between obeying God’s commands and truly loving those who don’t.

Patience, the next to the last, is very possibly the most difficult, as well as the most needed attitude for the human heart. Our District AA, Rosemary, has a poster on the wall of her office with a picture of a frustrated young woman on it, and a caption that reads “Lord, grant me patience, because if you give me strength, I’m going to need bail money too!” Have you ever had one of those days? Apparently Rosemary has! Patience is that quality that allows us to deal with the frustrations of this earthly life, while continuing to take each step of every day, regardless of where those steps take us, for the rest of our life.

Forgiveness may even beat out Patience for the title of Most Difficult. Retribution, not forgiveness, is the way of the world, but when we are clothed with Christ, forgiveness becomes the way we are to live. Jesus tells a parable in Matthew 18:23-35, about a servant who owed his master an extremely large amount of money. When he couldn’t pay, the master showed pity on him and cancelled the debt. But afterward, the servant demanded payment from another servant who owed him a much smaller amount, but he refused to cancel that debt. When the master heard this news, he retracted his forgiveness, and had the first servant thrown into debtors’ prison.
Matthew 6:14-15 – “If you forgive others when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”

And wrap it all up in the power of love that can only come through faith in Jesus Christ.

Read Colossians 3:15-17

If I may paraphrase the beginning few words of this passage, hear this - “Let the peace of Christ, and the word of Christ, become the Judge for all that you do.” That is how compassion and kindness, humility and gentleness, patience and forgiveness will work within us to unify and benefit the world around us. When the peace and word of Christ begins to work within us, to fill our lives and make this existence worthwhile, it is then that the joy and gratitude that comes from our discipleship brings even more blessings to our life.

And how do we let the Lord know of our joy? Through the singing – both the verbal as well as the heartfelt kinds - that flow from our very soul. And Thanksgiving is one of the best times to let that singing be heard by others! A thankful heart must never be contained! And a thankful spirit belongs to the Lord, and he never holds back either. So follow the Lord’s example, and begin showing your thankfulness!

The Church has always been a singing Church. Music is one way that humanity expresses their emotions, and the fact that Christians have always sung their joys is marvelous, considering the struggles that the Church has gone through over the centuries. There were the persecutions and outright hatred of the faithful, beginning in the days of Jesus Christ and continuing for two or three centuries. Conflict with Islam has existed for well over a thousand years. We have even been our own worst enemies during those less than stellar times in our history, times such as the Inquisition and the Reformation. And yet, through it all, we have sung praises to our God and King!

The proof of a fulfilling faith - whether in those times of doing or in those times of speaking, in times of struggle or in times of celebration - can we and do we proclaim the joy we have in the gift of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ?
So how will we celebrate our thankfulness, beginning today, and extending through the rest of our life, and specifically on November 28th as we gather around our Thanksgiving tables with family and friends? Do it with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and above all, with the love and joy for all that our Almighty God has brought into our lives!

Can life possibly get any better than that?