#2626: Activating Spiritual Immunity Boosters!

[Music] [Music] All right, so good to share this time with all of you. You know, our summer series is "Coldivate." And when we think "Coldivate," many of us immediately get the imagery, don't we? I mean, of course, think of a garden or a crop in the field, something we want to grow, something that needs to be tended to nourished, cared for. And certainly, "Coldivate" can also be thought of as a reminder to contend and work the spiritual soil of our soul. And how we are to engage in rhythms of rest and renewal and reproduction. So both nature and the scriptures remind us that summer can be a time for recreation and refreshment, a time to extend a different kind of effort. So I'm thinking about "Coldivate." I'm thinking about the summertime and I'm thinking about doing the work to tend the soil of our soul. And I was reminded of the counsel we are given in Proverbs 6, where we are told in verses 6, 8, "Go to the ant, O sluggard, O lazy one." In fact, the NLT actually renders it "lazy bones," right? So go to the ant, O sluggard. Those of you who lack inspiration consider her ways and be wise. Who without having any chief, any officer, or ruler, there's no manager to hold them accountable, she, the ant, prepares her bread in summer. There's a connection and gathers her food in harvest. This idea of cultivating in the summer. And I can't help but think that this is something that we can apply directly to ourselves and our own walk with God. It's certainly true for our church as we head into the coming year, the end of this one and into the next one. But I'm thinking about what is it that the Lord is wanting us to cultivate in our own heart? A couple of questions here. What are the things the Lord is asking us to pursue? Has we make our way into the heart of summer? What are we to tend to to water and nourish? Knowing that what we water and nourish will grow. Another question. How can we make use of the longer days, which is what summer is, to deepen our soul? And then another. What spiritual rhythms and practices can we implement this summer that can boost our spiritual immunity? I'm going to really talk about that. I want to talk about some spiritual immunity boosters. But even now, Lord, we ask for grace as we embark on our summer journey. So we embark into cultivate. We're going to be hearing from a lot of teachers and listening for words that you have for us. Yes, those words within the words where we ask that you would speak them to us. In your name, we pray. So with that in mind, I want us to look at one of the great Psalms of Scripture, Psalm 92. And I want to use it as a starting point for a Coltivate series. A starting point for this teaching. We're told is a song, a song for the Sabbath. Verse 1, "It is good to give thanks to the Lord to sing praises to your name. Oh, most high." First off, I want us to note that this was a song. And what is a song, a poem that was set to music? It's used with a stringed instrument. Sometimes we forget that the songs were songs sung. In that regard, the songs have not only been the prayer book of the people of God for generations, but also the song book. I mean, if you think about it, the church continues with that tradition today. As so much of our worship, even the worship we just shared, is song based. But we are told at the outset that this was not just a Psalm, it was a Psalm for the Sabbath. And the Sabbath, many of us are aware of, not everyone would be, but it was the day that God had His people Israel set aside as a day for rest, for worship, and for recreation. Or what we might call healthy recreation, which is something connected to that word, in contrast to health, unhealthy recreation, so recreation. So let me suggest that in our modern context, healthy Sabbath practice should ideally involve two things. And again, that's what this song was connected to, Sabbath, a Sabbath song. One, consistent gathering as a part of worshiping community. Specifically, on Sundays, the day that Christians have historically set aside as the Lord's Day for what we call church. So when we think of Sabbath, we think of the Lord's Day, in honoring Him on our Sunday, the one in seven. And then two, another thought, recreation should involve that minimum activity that does not pull us away from the Lord or to plead us in unhealthy ways. That's important. But instead, refreshes us and ideally, revitalizes us spiritually, mentally, and emotionally. So there's something life giving if we're doing this right. So combining what we've been sitting with thus far, what I'm suggesting is that the summer months, listen, present us with a unique kind of Sabbath opportunity, an opportunity to rest our lands, so to speak, and to replant ourselves, to cultivate, as we rest, and to be creative in healthy ways, to learn, to experience, and to think long thoughts even as the days are longer. But also to learn from the ant. Yeah, and take advantage of the opportunity to prepare our soul and cultivate the garden so to speak in ways that are meaningful and profound. This can involve a few other things. I want to point them out as well. Making good reading choices, for example. Reading books that are life-giving, joy inducing, not damaging, or spiritually depleting. So think about what we're reading. But also things like journaling, writing things down, paying attention to the words that the Lord would send our way. If I can say it slightly more poetically, the words that are whispering in the wind and usually only come to those who are slowing down to listen for them. Lord, slow us down. Help us both to cultivate in healthy ways, but also to slow down. Right? Okay, with that in mind, let's go back to the first verse of Psalm 92. And look at two more things we can cultivate as we head into the summer. It's really important for us. These things will help us. Again, we were reminded at the opening of Psalm 92 that it is good to give thanks to the Lord to sing praises to your name almost high. Oh, it's good to sing praises to your name almost high. And so two things stand out right at the beginning, right at the outset. One, thanksgiving and two singing songs of praise. Indeed, it is good to give thanks to the Lord. Most of us understand that a grateful heart is a full heart and a full heart usually is filled with joy. So expressing our gratitude to the Lord is good. Why? Well, at least one reason is because the Lord deserves it. But the other reason is it's actually really good for us. What's more, a grateful heart under the Lord protects us from so many harmful things. Do we see it? It's like a spiritual immunity booster. There it is. Something that fills us with antibodies and attacks unhealthy invaders. I was actually doing a bit of reading on antibodies and how they defend us against infection by binding to viruses and microbial toxins. And then they inactivate them and then it hit me. That's what giving thanks to the Lord and then adding a layer of song and praise does for us at a comprehensive level. First and foremost, spiritually, but also mentally and emotionally, which in turn, I think we understand this, affects us physically. The spiritual connects to the mental and the emotional, which connects to the physical. They're all interconnected. So giving thanks and singing praise to the Lord is a potent spiritual elixir. It's not magic, but it's close. A true tonic for the body, mind and soul, right? A huge, an antibody that just beats away infection. Even more worshiping the Lord with the heart of things, giving can literally break us out of things. Depression, despair, deep discouragement. It can lift us from defeat and defeatism. That is thinking in a way that expects defeat. As we magnify the Lord with a grateful heart, our problems are reduced. And how can I say it? Our positivity is released. Praise and thanksgiving are powerful. And it's way for us to turn the tables on the evil one and to get free of those anxious thoughts that would bind us. I was reminded of something I read from a blogger named, his name is "Pappy Flynn." And he wrote this thankfulness isn't just polite, it's powerful. It shifts your eyes from the problem to the provider, from fear to faith. When you start counting blessings instead of burdens, let's do that. Peace follows. Think about it. "Hasn't God brought you through before? Didn't He wake you up today? Give you breath, give you strength?" "Worry shrinks when gratitude grows." So when anxiety starts rising, stop and give thanks. Thank him for what he's done, for what he's doing, and even for what he's about to do. And what's more cultivating a thankful heart under the Lord and expressing it in words and song can push out other spiritual toxins, for example, that immunity boosted, and that just attacks those toxins. It's almost impossible for a thankful heart to be bound up in bitterness. It's almost impossible for a thankful heart to be bound up in regret or sadness or negativity. It's almost like oil and water the two cannot mix. Light chases out the darkness. It always does. It was Rick Warren who wrote in a very Rick Warren kind of way, "In happy moments, praise God, in difficult moments, seek God, inquire moments, worship God, in painful moments, trust God, every moment." Thank God. That's pretty good. Every moment, thank God. Okay, back to Psalm 92. Let's just read through the first four verses. How about that? It is good to give thanks to the Lord to sing praises to your name, almost high, to declare your steadfast love in the morning and your faithfulness by night, to the music of the loot and the heart, to the melody of the lure, for you, O Lord, have made me glad by your work. At the works of your hands, I sing for joy. You know, in a few weeks, I'm going to spend more time unpacking the city with these special verses. But what I want to zero in on as we make our way towards the finish line is the connection between worshiping the Lord and having a healthy self-love and perspective of ourselves. Some of us suffer from what Max Lucato called "pour eyesight," not "pour eyesight as in, you know, literal vision," but "pour eye me eyesight," as in a distorted perspective of ourselves. Now, we may say, I'm going to be saying this to me, to be right, oh, well, okay, that's great, but what does all that have to do with Psalm 92 and worship? And the idea of cultivating and, you know, welcoming the Lord with thanksgiving and singing and praying and praising God. I mean, what's the connection there? Well, I'm going to suggest that it has everything to do with it because, hear me out, when we worship with thanksgiving and song and praise, it's both humbling and affirming all at once. When we worship God, the way the songs instruct us to do with reverence and thanksgiving in our hearts and with joyful songs of praise on our lips, when we acknowledge him, when we acknowledge God's greatness, his holiness, and his essential purity, as well as his loving kindness and extravagant mercy, we can strike the perfect note. We can. Why? Because we are at least in part declaring that we are not God. We're not in control. We do not endure forever. Our best is a vapor gone in a moment like grass in a field or as a tale that is told, so is our life. Listen, God is great. We are not. God is great. We are not. So in worship, we learn humility, but we we listen, you know, and we learn about love. For we are loved by God, our creator, and made above all creation and know him. We have value and worth. If we open up our hearts to God and by extension to his only son, Jesus, we become with no merit of our own part of his joyful story. Listen, a valued part of his story, a beloved son, a beloved daughter. So we honor him as holy God, but also as one who loves us. And as Jesus taught us, what we declare to be true in worship is that we are loved, known, invited as participants into his brilliant eternal kingdom and that there is a seat with our name on it at his table. That's why so much of our praise is a reminder of who we are to the Lord and what he has done for us. Now, good he is. So worship is good for us. As we said earlier, it's also what God deserves. So let us close with a short reflection from Max Locado, from his book of common, the cure for the common life. You know, my mind sums up everything we've been declaring and sharing and sitting with. Check out what Locado writes and how it just blends it all together. He says, God has never taken his eyes off you, not for a millisecond. He's always near. He lives to hear your heartbeat. He loves to hear your prayers. He'd die for your sin. So he did. What do you do with such a savior? Don't you sing to him? Don't you celebrate him in baptism? Elevate him in communion. Don't you bow in the lower head, hammer a nail, feed the poor, lift your gift. There it is in worship. Of course you do. Worship God, applaud him, loud and often for your sake. You need it. And for heaven's sake, he deserves it. We need to praise him. We need to declare his goodness. And he loves to receive it because it's an affirmation of who he is by part of his creation that was born and created to love him. And remember, love can never be forced. So God receives our praise and his heart, if I can say it this way in some way, leaps. And I want to make his heart beat. So as we think about what we can do this summer, as we think about what it means to cultivate, as we think about what it means to take advantage of this season, let's tend to our soul. Let's pay attention to our pace. Let's take time to be silent and to recreate while we are recreating. Let's take time to listen for his words. Let's take time to praise him. Let's take time to worship him. Let's take time to write things down and think long thoughts. Let's cultivate the soil of our heart and allow those spiritual antibodies, those spiritual immunity boosters to just help us stay healthy and alive and vibrant in love with God. Yeah, that's our prayer, Lord, even now. So with that in mind, let's take some time to worship and sing and remember and exalt the one who's so much greater than we are and yet loves us so much. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] Oh, Christ be magnified, let His praise arise, Christ be magnified, let He, oh Christ be magnified, let He be all to the world, my life, Christ be magnified, let He be magnified. ♪ ♪ Every creature finds its inn most melody ♪ ♪ Every human heart, its native cry ♪ ♪ Oh, then it won't you right, your head ♪ ♪ The rings will sing cries be magnified ♪ ♪ Be magnified ♪ ♪ ♪ Oh, cries be magnified ♪ ♪ That is praise arise ♪ ♪ Crying be magnified in me ♪ ♪ Oh, cries be magnified ♪ ♪ From the altar of my life ♪ ♪ Crying be magnified in me ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ I want battle idols ♪ ♪ I stand strong in worship you ♪ ♪ If it puts me in the fire ♪ ♪ I rejoice 'cause you're there too ♪ ♪ I won't be formed by feelings ♪ ♪ I hope as to what is true ♪ ♪ If the cross brings transformation ♪ ♪ Then I'll be crucified with you ♪ ♪ 'Cause death is just a door ♪ ♪ And to resurrection light ♪ ♪ If I join you in your suffering ♪ ♪ And I'll join you in your eyes ♪ ♪ And we will return in glory ♪ ♪ With all the angels and the saints ♪ ♪ My heart will still be singing ♪ ♪ My song will be the same ♪ ♪ Oh, cries be magnified ♪ ♪ That is praise arise ♪ ♪ Crying be magnified in me ♪ ♪ Oh, cries be magnified ♪ ♪ From the altar of my life ♪ ♪ Crying be magnified in me ♪ [BLANK_AUDIO]