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Sunday, November 7, 2004

Rev. Dr. Harold E Kidd

Psalm 100, Galatians 5:22- 23   

WHEN WE GET EXCITED

"Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs." (NIV)

I begin this message asking the reflective question, when you take a walk down memory lane in your spiritual understanding, what moves you about the Lord? What invokes a tear, a sigh of appreciation, or moment of silent praise because the Holy Spirit is able to bring to your consciousness a season, an event, a time, a moment, an experience when the Lord revealed to you that he is good and his love endures forever, his faithfulness has continued to be your covering.

We get excited about many things. We get excited when our children graduate from an institution of higher learning, and we celebrate in festive graduation parties our joy of what they have accomplished. We get excited when there is a baptism in our family; we invite all the relatives and our friends to come to the baptism, cameras are busy, there is smile on every face.  My son, my daughter is getting baptized. My grandbaby is being presented to the Lord. We get excited when there is a wedding -- all the joy in a wedding brings, to witness a couple embark on that journey called holy matrimony. We get excited.

We get excited when the news comes to us that we've gotten that long deserved promotion, or we are surprised by family with an all expenses paid vacation to Hawaii. We get excited when we get our first car, buy our first home. We get excited. We get excited when the doctor gives us good news that puts our deepest fears to rest concerning our health. We get excited. We get excited when Tiger makes that Birdie that no one thought he would make, just to watch Tiger swing the club, brings a smile to our face. All eyes on the tube. We get excited. When get excited when our favorite team in our favorite sport wins in a game that has us sitting on the edge of our seat eyes and attention glued to the big screen.

Psalm 100 is a Psalm for giving thanks. It is one of the golden texts in scripture often memorized and read. It is a Psalm in which the psalmist gives reason for getting excited about the things of God. Amen. In vss. 1-4 the Psalmist encourages the people of God to be excited about the things of God, "Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord he is God, it is he that hath made us and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his holy name."

It becomes very clear, that whatever it was the Lord had done for him as he looked back over his life, it was reason for him to get excited. And through the Psalmist, it becomes clear to us, that our worship of God does not have to be without some measure of excitement. Our worship ought to have some spiritual energy in it. When you read this psalm, this worshipper of God came to the temple on fire. He didn't come, needing to be put in them mood tow worship the Lord, but he came ready, he came on fire, he came having something to give to the worship of God's people, He didn't come needing to be entertained but came with the intent, to "Worship the Lord with Gladness." 

You don't have to read very far in this psalm to understand that this worshipper was excited, about the things of God. He wasn't just going through the motions, he wasn't there thinking about being somewhere else. Something happened that week I suppose, that caused him to understand that he had been touched with a fresh touch of God's goodness and his love. So he came with his praise offering. He came with his spiritual joy bells already ringing. The evidence of true worship and service is joy.

Our sermon title comes from the root word excite which means to: "stir up, to call forth, to put in motion, to arouse." We can think of these descriptions in emotional terms, but it would be a disservice to think of the word excite or excited in only emotional terms. For the psalmist is telling us in our text, that God's goodness and love in his life, stirred up, called forth, aroused, and put in motion, a spiritual response.

He uses words like, I'm referencing  from the KJV "joy, gladness, thanksgiving, praise", to describe the spiritual response that was stirred up within him. All in response to God's goodness and love. Being excited is something more than emotionalism, emotion is a part of it, but emotion cannot fully describe that which is spiritual. Amen. What God does, invokes something from within.

We tend to link excitement with external stimulus, that which is on the outside that gives us excitement on the inside. So often you and I depend upon the external stimulus to make us happy. But nowhere in the Bible are we told to pursue Happiness. The thing about external stimulus is that when it goes, so does the happiness. Happiness is elusive. 

But joy goes much deeper. Joy is different than emotion. Our emotions can be sometimes up and sometimes down, the material things that bring us happiness are here today and may be gone tomorrow, but joy is deep and abiding despite the worst circumstances in life. Joy is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Joy is not based upon external stimulus, but Joy comes from the inside.  

Let me see if I can make it plain, we cannot expect things or other people to make us happy. You've got to start with yourself. Joy comes from the inside. Joy comes from Jesus. The psalmist is describing a joy, a praise if you will, that did not come form external stimulus, but from knowing God, and having been a recipient of the lord's goodness and mercy. You can lose your job, but if you're hooked up with Jesus, the Lord gives you a joy that external circumstances cannot erase.

Emotion may be a sign of joy but emotion cannot describe spiritual joy. Spiritual joy crowned Paul's final testimony as he wrote his last letter to Timothy while he was on death row. Despite the suffering he had endured, the hardships of prison, and that he would soon lose his life, Paul had joy that filled his soul with radiance. Paul's Joy was not controlled by his outward circumstances, but his Joy was regulated by his union with Christ.

Emotion can be like a thermometer which shows what's happening to us from the outside that's affecting us on the inside. But Joy, Hallelujah!.. is like the thermostat that keeps the house warm even while it may be  a cold or rainy day. The warmth of the house is not controlled by the rain or the cold but by the thermostat. 

When we get excited. This psalmist had some joy about worship. What about you and I. Like this psalmist how much do we get excited about the things of God. Does it touch the cord of our hearts when the word of God is read and preached. Does it move the spirit of thanksgiving within us when we see the Lord moving in someone else's life, healing, reconciling, restoring, adding to our community those whom he desires. 

Do we get excited about being able to come to church and fellowship in the midst of the community of the redeemed? I remember those days it would be Saturday evening and I could not wait for Sunday to come, so that I could go to church. The Lord has been to good to me to stay away. Sunday still is the anchor of my week. Do we get excited about giving our tithes ands offerings. In response to his goodness.

Do we get excited about the many opportunities to serve Christ, in serving others? How can we say that we love God whom we have never seen, if we fail to love our brothers and sisters whom we see everyday. Are we excited about the opportunity to share the love of Jesus with that woman in the grocery line. Excited about the opportunity to share the love of Jesus with that fellow who comes up and asks, "Brother can you spare a dime?" Excited about the opportunities the Lord gives us to share Him in our homes, on our jobs.  

Worship is like a community potluck thanksgiving dinner, where everyone is asked to bring a favorite dish. You're not asked to supply the whole meal, just bring your favorite dish or a requested dish. Worship is like that. The Lord does not ask us to individually bring the whole worship, just bring something to share in worship. Bring something to make the worship a full chorus meal. Bring something that you can share, to make worship a spiritually uplifting celebration. Amen.

Some will bring a praying spirit. Some will bring a ready smile and warm spirit of hospitality. Some will bring their listening ear and words of encouragement. Some will bring their contagious welcome and friendliness that nurtures first time worshippers into becoming our brothers and sisters within this community of faith.  Still others will bring their love for God's word. Some will bring a voice of praise. Some will bring their amens. Some will bring their tithes and some will bring their offerings. There are those who will bring the Spirit of meditation and quite reflection.

The psalmist reminds us in vss. 4-4 that worship that exalts God, worship that has spiritual life and energy is never about us, but its always in response to the goodness of the Lord. "Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his holy name." For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations."

When worship takes on the appearance of a community potluck, everyone comes with the intent of sharing something that the Lord has given to them. Amen. Everyone comes with the intent of sharing something of themselves, to make worship worthy of God's attention. Whatever the Lord gives you to bring, bring it with some joy, bring it with some gladness, bring with the intent to share it with the community, because of the goodness and love of the Lord that is continually touching your life!

And the beauty of worship becoming like a community potluck is that on that Sunday when we come without something to share, on that Sunday when you're here but you just don't have it; God will give you something in the worship, to get those joy bells ringing again,  because everyone else has brought something in the faith, that they can share with us in the Lord. Is that all right?

We need Psalm 100 especially in the days and times in which we live. We can take ourselves, and life so seriously until we lose the joy of our faith. Life becomes grim and then become grim. But even though one's life may have some grim moments to it, this Psalm reminds us that we belong to God, God is still in charge, his goodness is ever pouring us out a blessings, and his mercy is everlasting. We need Psalm 100 to keep us reminded we are living in the Lord's grace and not solely by our own efforts.

This Joy we have the world didn't give to us; but it was the Lord. It was the Lord.  The Joy of the Lord is our strength. Yes, we can enter into his presence with thanksgiving , because our spiritual joy bells were ringing long before we got here.

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