The Advent Pilgrimage - 3rd Week

Luke 3: 10-18

And the crowds asked him, ‘What then should we do?’ In reply he said to them, ‘Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.’ Even tax collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, ‘Teacher, what should we do?’ He said to them, ‘Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you.’ Soldiers also asked him, ‘And we, what should we do?’ He said to them, ‘Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation and be satisfied with your wages.’

As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, John answered all of them by saying, ‘I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing-fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing-floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.’ So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people.

So, you’re in the desert waiting. You know that waiting is prayer. You know that waiting simplifies and shapes you, that the Lord is the creator of all the inner transformations you are going through and that he is bringing you to a place of simply wanting his will to be yours. But, somehow, it feels like there’s more. There’s something within each one of us that urges us to respond to the good news that the Messiah is here.  We come to the river filled with expectation and our spirits yearn for our Messiah. How can we find him?

Give thanks. Rejoice.

This Sunday is Gaudete Sunday, (gaudete: rejoice), which is such a fitting theme for those who are on the Pilgrimage of Waiting because rejoicing in and giving thanks to God is a critical part of the desert journey. When we make praise and thanksgiving an integral part of our communication with God, we are not only giving him what is rightly his but we are also continually reminding our hearts, minds and spirits that he is God, the one who does all things well, the one who creates and renews, the one who gathers, blesses, protects, redeems, lifts up, fills up, forms and directs. Scripture is filled with exhortation to give praise to God and it’s not only because God is good; it’s also because the actions of praise and gratitude create change within us. They redirect our focus away from the self with all its negativity and make us focus on Goodness himself.

It isn’t always easy to give thanks. There are many times in our lives where we’re struggling with wounds and hard situations and giving praise to God seems extremely difficult to us. And we’re right. It is very difficult, more difficult, say, than giving up coffee or chocolate. It can be far more difficult than sharing our extra coat or food with someone or acting with justice or being satisfied with what we have. All these things can be real challenges but giving thanks in the middle of being swamped with resentment or right when we’re feeling overwhelmed by life’s demands or when we’ve lost someone or something and we are filled with tearing grief is almost like giving up part of ourselves that is too hard to let go of. Praising when everything is going well is easy. Giving thanks when it feels like there is absolutely nothing to be thankful for is…sacrifice.

St. Paul says it in Hebrews 13:15: Through him, then, let us continually offer a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name.

He also says in 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18: Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

I’m certain that you have often said to yourself and to others, “I just want to know God’s will for me.” In spite of all the uncertainties that surround you, you can rest assured that no matter what is happening you can always know his immediate will for you is that you stay in the moment and offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving and that you do so continually. Why would he want that? Because he is egotistical and just wants to hear you sing his praises even though you’re going through such a rough time? No. The reason is because God dwells within the praises of his people and he dwells in the present moment. He wants you to become more and more aware of his indwelling. When you give thanks you are turning to him and to everything he is.

Through the repetition of gratitude you slowly open yourself to the awareness of his presence. When you give thanks, you actively place yourself in his presence and you consciously turn away from things like fear, resentment, cynicism, complaining and living in the future or the past. You are repenting, which means turning away. The negative thoughts and emotions we have are like tempting pits and potholes in our desert highway, holes that we dig, jump into and then can’t get out of. When we’re in one of these pits it’s almost impossible to see good news of Jesus or to believe that he is the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). Did you get that? Jesus is the author of our Faith – and the finisher of it. But if we want to open ourselves to having him create and form our faith, we need to be looking at him in the present moment and professing his goodness in our lives. We need to be in praise mode.

Psalm 68:4 says:

Sing to God, sing praises to his name; lift up a song to him who rides upon the clouds.

An alternative translation for that second line is:

Cast up a highway for him who rides through the deserts.

When we give thanks, we are opening a highway between our hearts and God’s heart, smoothing the rough parts, leveling the mountains, filling the valleys and straightening out the crooked. “A highway shall be there and it shall be called a Holy Way.” (Isaiah 35:8)

We are not talking ‘magic key’ here. Praise is not an action that forces God to do what we want him to do; it is an action opens our inner eyes to God acting in our lives – something we often miss because of our set expectations. A friend of mine, who is a woman of thanksgiving and gratitude, traveled to Switzerland and when it was time for her to return, she discovered she had lost her passport. The next several days were very frightening for her as she went through the convoluted process of trying to get home, dealing with officials who often didn’t speak English and doing everything in a strange city with no one to guide her. Her praising spirit didn’t make it all easy – she still had to do what she had to do and struggle with confusion, fear, uncertainty and setbacks etc. But she kept recognizing the hand of God subtly helping her on her way. She recognized angels who helped her and minor miracles that graced her on her way. Long after she arrived home, she was still awed by the presence of God on that journey. What she saw as miracles and angels, other people might have judged as random coincidences. Through her spirit of thanksgiving, she was able to recognize the Lord caring for her and her faith was fed and shaped.

 There is a Latin tag that says: Gratitudo est lingua angelorum.  Gratitude is the language of angels. When we practice gratitude, praise and thanksgiving we are in great company. The angels themselves join us in great delight.  

For your prayer and contemplation time I gathered a few passages of scripture that speak of praise - a very few as there are over four hundred. For this meditation, I have not included the scripture references, which would break the flow. Read through slowly and meditatively and allow God’s word to penetrate your heart about the importance of praise and thanksgiving:

Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and pay your vows to the Most High…Those who bring thanksgiving as their sacrifice honor me…Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving…For this I will extol you, O Lord, among the nations, and sing praises to your name…Sing to him, sing praises to him…tell of all his wonderful works…I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High…Be exalted, O Lord, in your strength! ...We will sing and praise your power…Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel…I will tell of your name to my brothers and sisters; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you…Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous. Praise befits the upright…I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth…He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God…Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise…Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you…My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast, and my mouth praises you with joyful lips…rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving…Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving…Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen…

And, of course…

From the rising of the sun to its setting

the name of the Lord is to be praised!

Rejoice. The one who is more powerful than you is here.