Ever since
time began,
there have been people so desperate for help, that they have
gone begging from door to door.
Sometimes they get the help that they are seeking,and at other
times they do not.
One
day in the year 878 AD,
a middle aged man, weary with traveling, and weak from lack of
food,
stopped at a hut in a wood, and begged for food and shelter.
The couple, who were very poor, took him in and shared with him,
their meager provisions.
A few days went by, and the beggar helped clean the house,
looked after the pigs, and did
whatever else he could to help.
One day the woman of the house asked him to watch some cakes on
the griddle, whilst she
attended to other chores outside the house.
The beggar, busy with his thoughts, forgot all about the cakes,
and they burned!
When the housewife realized what had happened, her temper
exploded and she told the
beggar that he was a lazy good for nothing oaf.
The following day, some soldiers stopped by the cottage, and as
they entered they recognized
the
beggar, and knelt before him.
He was Alfred the Great, King of England, and he had been hiding
from his enemies.
After this, he dressed himself as a Bard, took up a harp (which
he could play with great skill),
and
began to sing psalms of praise to God, psalms which he himself
had recently
translated into English.
And so this royal beggar, lifted up his heart and voice
in praise to the King of Kings and Lord of
Lords!
Now there
are a number of Beggars mentioned in the Bible.
The first
is Gehazi,
and he is
definitely a fraud, for he begs, not out of need, but out of
greed.
Naaman has been cured of Leprosy, and offers a gift to Elisha,
which Elisha refuses.
So
Gehazi, a servant of Elisha, decides to get something for
himself.
He
runs after Naaman and begs for money, saying that he needs it to
help others.
The
money is given, but Gehazi’s deception is discovered, and as
punishment for his greed,
he himself becomes a leper.
Centuries
later,
Jesus
is on His way to Jerusalem,
when he is
approached by ten lepers begging for help.
They get more than they expected!
Not just help, but healing!
They make their way to the Temple, to show themselves to the
Priests,
and to get their certificates of health.
One of them, and only one, turns back, thanks Jesus, and begins
to praise God…
The rest, having got what they want, go on their own thankless
way.
On
another occasion,
when
passing through Jericho, a blind man approaches Jesus begging to
be healed.
His sight is restored, and he follows Jesus, thanking and
praising God…
And
of course we cannot forget the dying thief,
who
begged his way into heaven as he cried out,
“Lord, remember me, when you come into your
Kingdom.”
Some
months later,
after the
death and resurrection of Jesus, Peter and John were going into
the Temple.
A man lame from birth, begs for alms.
Peter and John do not have any money but speaking in the name
of Jesus,
they give to him new life.
Strength comes into his wizened legs, he rises up and begins to
walk.
But!
It is not only his physical posture that changes, but his
spiritual one as well.
He is no longer begging!
He is
praising!
Where
are we in our spiritual life?
Are we begging?
Or
are we praising ?
There
is a sense of course, in which we are all beggars.
We all stand in need of the mercy of God.
Like the tax collector who would not lift his eyes to heaven,
but prayed, “God be merciful to
me
a sinner.”
And like the dying thief, we also beg for mercy, for all have
sinned and fallen short of the glory
of
God.
But when our religion consists solely of begging, when it is a
continual quest for favours;
born out of a desire to satisfy our selfish appetites;
then it is nothing more than selfish greed, and not fit to be
called Christian.
An
essential component to meaningful faith, is the inclination to
praise.
It is this attitude, that makes all the difference, between a
weak or vital faith.
Over
the centuries there have been many religious awakenings,
and all have been accompanied by the note of praise.
When
Martin Luther was journeying to Worms,
where he
was to make his stand for truth and righteousness, he suddenly
caught sight
of the bell towers of the city in the distance.
Like one inspired, he began to sing the song whose words and
music he had composed
only two days before.
A
mighty fortress is our God,
A
bulwark never failing;
Our
helper he amid the flood
Of
mortal ills prevailing.
Nowadays,
few read Luther’s writings, but we all sing his hymn.
When
the Methodist movement begn,
John
Wesley preached and published many sermons, and many religious
tracts.
But today few read his sermons, but we all sing the hymns of his
brother Charles,
glorious inspirational hymns such as:
O for a
thousand tongues to sing,
My
great Redeemers Praise.
The
glories of my God and King,
The
triumphs of His grace.
What a
difference the note of praise can make to our lives!
No matter what happens to us, God is with us.
No matter where we are, God is there.
No
matter what the circumstances, God’s grace is sufficient.
And with such a God, what can we do but praise?
St.
Francis of Assisi,
was once
suffering intense pain.
He
asked a brother Friar, to get him a guitar.
The
friar was shocked.
A guitar was hardly the instrument for a saint.
But God took pity on St. Francis.
The following night, God sent an Angel, to give him a concert,
unlike any heard on earth
before.
And as Francis lifted up his voice in praise, the pain was gone.
Another
man who was very much aware of the power of praise, was the poet
Robert
Browning.
His poem “Pippa Passes,”
is about a
little girl, who labors from morn till night in a silk mill, and
only has a single holiday
during
the whole year.
On that day she gets up with the sun, in order to enjoy it to
the fullest.
She walks through the town, past the houses of those whom she
believes to be happy, and
sings
her joyful song.
But
in actuality,
they are
not happy people, they are all struggling with great problems,
and as Pippa passes
they hear her song:
The
year’s at the spring,
And the
day’s at the morn;
Morning’s at seven;
The
hill-side’s dew-pearled;
The
lark’s on the wing;
The
snail’s on the thorn;
God’s
in His heaven—
All’s
right with the world!
Sebold,
who has murdered a woman’s husband, in order that he might marry
her himself, is
conscience
stricken and wishes he could put things right.
Jules,
is worried about those who are plotting against him,
Luigi,
is
struggling with the problem of his duty to his country.
In another house,
a Bishop was being tempted to forget his vows as a churchman,
and to do wrong for the sake of gain.
But
Pippa’s happy song,
helped
them all to do what was right, and when the day was over and
evening came,
she knew not that her song of praise had blessed the lives of
others.
This is
one of the wonderful things about praise.
It blesses
not only ourselves,
but all
with whom we come into contact.
For praise that is offered to God, is also therapeutic for the
souls of men and women.
It increases joy, and alleviates sorrow.
It
is a remedy for depression, and lifts up our spirits.
For praise brings with it, its own healing balm.
Praise
is essential
to the
purity of religion.
We may be zealous for the faith, even fanatical in our devotion,
but without praise, there is no
radiance or joy.
As
he lay dying,
John
Wesley roused himself up,
and
with a weak but confident voice burst into song, and sang a hymn
of Isaac Watts.
I’ll
praise my Maker while I’ve breath;
And
when my voice is lost in death,
Praise
shall employ my nobler powers:
My days
of praise shall ne’er be past,
While
life, and thought, and being last,
Or
immortality endures.
Therefore,
let
us make a joyful noise unto the Lord!
For as another hymn reminds us:
Hell’s
foundations quiver
At the
shout of praise;
Friends
lift up your voices,
loud
your anthems raise.
(UMH
575:2b)
Therefore!
Let us lift up our hearts in song to the God of our salvation,
and praise with joy the God of
Grace.
Praise Him
for His grace and favor
To all
people in distress;
Praise
God, still the same as ever,
Slow to
chide, and swift to bless.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Glorious now God’s faithfulness.
Amen