Image from theversesproject.com
Hear the devotional read here: https://bit.ly/2UxPqn1
1 On your feet now - applaud God! 2 Bring a gift of laughter, sing yourselves into his presence. 3 Know this: God is God, and God, God. He made us; we didn't make him. We're his people, his well-tended sheep. 4 Enter with the password: "Thank you!" Make yourselves at home, talking praise. Thank him. Worship him. 5 For God is sheer beauty, all-generous in love, loyal always and ever. (The Message).
1 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. 2 Worship the Lord with gladness; come into his presence with singing. 3 Know that the Lord is God. It is he that made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him, bless his name. 5 For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations. (Psalm 100 NRSV)
A Blessed Thursday to you, dear Friend! May this be a day filled with opportunities to show gratitude towards God and towards those who seldom hear it. Pray for our world, our nation, our communities, and our homes. Pray for each other. Pray for ourselves.
The worst job I ever had in my life, yes even more than working with fiberglas, was the one with a Houston developer. I was going to be a telemarketer and when the instructor said, "If the person who answers sounds Black, hang up!" I walked out. Yet, after several phone calls to our landline, which obviously belonged to someone else, that instructor is still alive and well. I will name the two companies who called me today. Wyndham Resorts and Marriott Vacation Club. The thing that makes them hang up is hearing me pronounce my name perfectly, which means en Español. Click. The other trigger is to show too much enthusiasm for their call. "Have you been on a vacation or cruise in the last three years?" "WHY YES I HAVE!" Click.
I shared the psalm for this coming Sunday in two different versions, knowing the Message, a paraphrase translation by a man who knew the Bible, because as he always said, "The Bible reads me," will always give us a different insight into these marvelous and blessed ancient words. I love all versions of the Bible; I find the NRSV the most inclusive and closer tied to ancient texts, and the Message just bounces all over the place. The image of someone standing to applaud God gets me! I love hearing someone sing and doing such a great job that people will, without having been told, stand and either sway or applaud the singer. God has done better than any singer I know and God deserves our praise. And imagine taking with you to church (of all places!) "a gift of laughter." Oh my. Some don't like laughter in church, or giggles or wiggles or squirms. Given the stories my Mom told of me to me, I wouldn't be a believer in church had some called me on being a giggling, squirmy kid. But laughter mixed with a song that leads us into God's presence? Wow! Sign me up! I could misspell it and say, sing me up! And that works too! God is our God and we are God's people! God is such an awesome Shepherd, the psalmist says of us, "His well-tended sheep." Thank God, he didn't write well-minded, because you and I know that we fail. And get a load of the password that gets us in; Thank You! The old usage of the password was the word or phrase that would get a solider back inside the fort or the safe area where s/he belonged. No better password to use than in church, thank you! And, the idea of making ourselves at home in God's house; no better place! "For God is sheer beauty," writes the psalmist, and He is generous in love, and loyal to us always and for ever. For us to be made in God's image is to declare that you and me are "sheer beauty" as well, more for the love we show and the way we welcome others into God's house and ours. There is no room in the house of God or the beautiful children of God who show no love for others, especially those who are or look different from us. The person who struggles to be generous with their thanks you's and I love you's needs to come to that house where love reigns and love is freely shared with all.
The Rev. Dr. Maxie Dunnam once preached a complete sermon on this psalm. Only a man who knows the Shepherd can preach on psalms with love and conviction, as only Maxie can. He took every sentence and made it come alive and joyful before us, and by the time he had finished we knew we had been in that church that I described above. Look at the words: Joyful. Worship. Gladness. His presence. Singing. Knowledge, full and complete that God is God. We are His creation. Sheep. His pasture. Open gates. Thanksgiving. Praise. Giving. Thanksgiving (again!). Blessing His name. God is good. Steadfast love. Never-ending love. God's faithfulness to all generations. Amen.
PRAYER: Loving Shepherd, into Your fold we want to enter and stay. We want to be a part of this household of Heaven here on the earth. Shower and clean us with Your love and grace so that we may enter as those who know and love You. We confess that we are not perfect and have failed you many a time, but receive us again and bless us with all that this precious psalm shares. Grant us this and more so that we might invite all people in. All people. No exceptions. All people. In Jesus' mighty name, amen!
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Welcome someone by sharing the password, Thank You with as many people as you can today!
Receive my blessings of love and peace,
Pastor Eradio Valverde
