Just Because...

While teaching my 4th Grade Sunday School Class yesterday, we talked a bit about things you've heard your parents say. Aside from the usual "clean your room" we had the seasonal "you'll shoot your eye out!" and the common easy explanation for all parental commands "because I said so."

I used that opportunity (okay, it was an engineered opportunity) to share a passage of scripture with the children and to talk about what it meant. The verse we discussed is;

Luke 1:68 (NIV)

⁶⁸ “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,

because he has come and has redeemed his people.

^[1] The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984

This verse opens by stating that praise is to be directed towards the Lord. A simple thing really unless you really consider what praise might be. As discussed with my children, praise may be the singing of songs, the raising of hands, the speaking of exaltations and prayers of thankfulness. I think for fourth graders, that was a pretty good list. But for us, for those who have grown fat on the milk of scripture and crave the meat of righteousness, praise comes down our worship through sacrifice.

In our compartmentalized society, it might be relatively easy to write a check for more than your tithe. It might be easy to spend and extra $70 on a bag of groceries at Christmastime. It feels good to purchase a toy or a coat to put under somebody else's tree. Though those are sacrifices or varying degrees, not everyone is able to meet those standards. Thus we cannot say that these are the sacrifices that most worship God for it is my contention that everyone can make the sacrifice that praises God. I speak of course of a Romans 12:1 sacrifice. Consider;

Romans 12:1 (NIV)

12 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual^a act of worship.

^a Or reasonable

^[1] The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984

Herein is a sacrifice that is worthy of offering to the Lord, the God of Israel, the God of all Creation.

And as is indicated in the opening of Romans 12:1 "in view of God's mercy" there is a reason that we are to praise, worship and sacrifice to our God. Returning to our original verse (Luke 1:68) it is stated "because he has come and has redeemed his people."

"BECAUSE he has come!" Past tense, already completed, over and done with. He has come. That is reason enough to rejoice and to praise. But as if that isn't enough...

"BECAUSE he has redeemed his people." He has bought with a price, exchanged one thing for another, released from bondage. To explain this to the children I turned to Chuckie Cheese and the concept of the little tickets they accumulate there while playing games. Those tickets are then redeemed for various prizes based on the number of tickets (value). In this scenario, we are the prizes and our value is determined by the value of the ticket which redeemed us. That ticket is the Son of God. From that I can only conclude that we are of immense value to God. In God's economy, he used a diamond to pay for a broken jar.

Praise be the Lord, the God of Israel indeed!

Peace,
Carl