In a recent discussion, the question was asked, “How do our lives glorify God?” We were looking for specifics, not a vague nebulous. As we talked, I remembered a story from Bob Goff’s book Everybody Always: Becoming Love in a World Full of Setbacks and Difficult People. He wrote of being in line to return a rental car and of how slowly the line was moving. The other lines were hustling right along, but Mr. Goff’s line moved at the pace of an especially unhurried snail. He began to be irritated and then to fume.
And then he noticed the bucket that he was carrying with him. (That’s another story.) But as he looked at the bucket, he started praying for God to fill the bucket with patience. “Fill it up” became “fill me up.” Eventually, the line did move. It was Mr. Goff’s opportunity to turn in his car. The attendant asked, “How was your trip? Was the car ok?”
At that moment, Mr. Goff says, he had a perfect snarky response that would have matched his mood and his irritation that the line was so slow that he had missed his flight. But, the patience he had prayed for welled up in his soul and spilled from his lips: “It’s been an awesome trip, and the car was awesome and so are you!” And Mr. Goff found himself smiling and really meaning the words he said.
He was bewildered by how God was answering his prayers, but happy too. He was walking away to figure out a new flight home when he heard running steps behind him. “Mr. Goff, Mr. Goff!” It was the rental car attendant. Mr. Goff stopped and turned and the rental car attendant said, “I just wanted to thank you for the sermon this morning. It really meant a lot to me.”
“You were there?” Mr. Goff asked. “Yes, and I really thank you. Your message made a difference.”
Mr. Goff realized how easily he could have negated the whole message with a snappy, unkind complaint about the service at the rental car place. He spent the flight home praising God for having helped him say the right words and for changing his attitude.
I think our lives glorify God when we welcome God’s guidance in how we treat one another, when we let go of our own priorities and listen to God’s. Those are the moments when we are drawing closer to God, and God’s craftsmanship shows in our living.
Both Jude and today’s text from the epistle to the Ephesians conclude with a DOXOLOGY. For many of us, the vocabulary may seem unusual; when we think of doxology, we think of THE Doxology that we sing in traditional worship each Sunday as the offering is being brought forward. I have often wondered how many of us have a Pavlovian response to the opening chord of the OLD 100th, the name of the tune of the doxology we sing. As soon as the notes tickle our auditory receptors, our muscles contract for us to stand up!
So what is a doxology? Simply stated, it is a short statement of praise, glory and thanksgiving to God. It is frequently trinitarian, addressing God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It may be sung or read. Merriam-Webster explains the etymology of doxology as having “passed into English from Medieval Latin doxologia, which in turn comes from the Greek term doxa, meaning “opinion” or “glory,” and the suffix -logia, which refers to oral or written expression. It’s logical enough, therefore, that “doxology” has referred to an oral expression of praise and glorification since it first appeared in English around 1645.”
Wherever and whenever the word may come from, the praise comes from our hearts and our lives! May God open our eyes to every opportunity to praise,
Faithfully,
Pastor Scarlett