"Then all the people..." 

O give thanks to the LORD, call on his name, make known his deeds among the peoples.                                                                   
(1Chronicles 16:8 and Psalm 105:1 ) 

In the chronicled history of Israel, soon after David had been established king and he, in turn, established worship around the ark of God in Jerusalem, these "how-to" instructions are given:  "...give thanks...call on...make known..."  Think for a moment what these words might mean in the context of YOUR Sunday morning ritual ablutions:  "Thank God it's not Monday!  O Lord, my hair's a wreck!  Would anyone notice if I slept in?"  We quite congratulate ourselves at making it to church each Sunday morning, we ingratiate ourselves to our neighbors for enduring the same mediocre religiosity week after week, and relish the fine way we keep the Sabbath by indulging our private avocations.  Now re-imagine "Give thanks...call on...make known..."  Words of authentic, spiritual worship.  Can I hear an "Amen!"?

             There are, of course, six more days of the week, all of them established by God to be our context for living out a thankful/invoking/evangelizing faith-except that with Sunday mornings having become such a bore/chore, what prayer do we have for honoring the rest?  Paul the Apostle to the Gentiles, acquainted with the idolatries of conceit, complacency and convenience, urged with the fervency of prayer, "I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship."  (Romans 12:1 )  Because our Open Bible Study (2^nd Monday's at 1pm) has taken up the book of Romans for the next several months, we will discover what "spiritual worship" truly means in embodying thanksgiving for, prayer in, and witness to God's love every hour of every day-and learning, by God, to love it!  What will be YOUR discipline for exiting mediocrity and pursuing authentic, spiritual worship?

            Once David had appointed his worship leaders "to invoke, to thank, and to praise the Lord, the God of Israel...Then all the people said "Amen!" and praised the Lord." (16:4b, 36b)  Through our baptism into Christ, we "unthankful, complaining ingrates" are made worship leaders of a new covenant, appointed to live out the gospel of God's love.  May God help us say "Amen!"  "Thank you, God, for this new day of opportunity!  O Lord, you have numbered the hairs of my head!  Help me proclaim your steadfast love and faithfulness to all the earth!"  "Then all the people said "Amen!" and praised the Lord."  How will YOU say "Amen!" and praise the Lord?

Peace+