We Lift Our Voices Series

September 29, 2024

Rev. Mary Erickson

Hope Lutheran Church

Deut. 5:12-15; Psalm 84; Luke 11:1-13

We Lift Our Voices

Friends, may grace and peace be yours in abundance in the knowledge of God and Christ Jesus our Lord.

The theme for our fall stewardship emphasis comes from the hymn “We Are an Offering.” Today’s theme comes from the hymn’s first line, “We lift our voices.”

Our voice is an offering. What does the hymnwriter mean by that? I’d like to focus today on one very fundamental element of how we use our voices: the stewardship of our prayer and praise, the stewardship of our worship.

A pastor once told me, “Stewardship is everything we do after we say, ‘I believe.’” How true that is! So often we pigeonhole our understanding of stewardship into time and talents and what we’re going to donate to the church. But it’s really about the whole of our lives. It’s about making our lives an offering.

Among this all-inclusive stewardship response, regular worship of God is the most fundamental faith action we can have. This is the heart and center of all that follows. There is nothing closer to the core of our life of faith than prayer and worship. To me, this is what the hymn means when it begins, “We lift our voices.” We offer to God our worship and prayer.

Our Bible readings today all revolve around this theme. In the reading from Deuteronomy, Israel is poised to enter the Promised Land. Before they do, Moses reads to them the law God gave them at Mount Sinai. The passage we hear revolves around the third commandment. Israel is called to observe the sabbath day. They pause from their regular weekly activities to set this one day aside. It’s a day much different from the rest of the week, fraught with all its frenzied pace and distracting activities and concerns. On the sabbath we rest from all that and we focus our hearts and minds on God. We stop thinking about all that WE do to reflect on what GOD has done.

In the psalm, the writer is on his way to worship God at the temple in Jerusalem. And when he arrives, he marvels at the beauty of the building. “How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord!”

I have to admit, I feel like that quite often when I arrive here at Hope! I love the way our distinctive steeple stands out against the blue sky. I have to tell you, when we had the bishop’s installation here last Sunday, several visitors commented on how beautiful our worship space is, specifically how open it feels and how beautifully it’s decorated.

We do have a beautiful sanctuary! But you don’t need a stunning worship space to bring your prayer and praise to God.

Several years ago, I came across the story of a soldier who gathered for worship in a very remote location. There was no grand cathedral, not even a small chapel. But the worship experience was more moving than anything the soldier had previously experienced. He wrote home to his mother:

"I went to church this morning. Church out here is a privilege so rare I shall never forget it. There were only about 35 present, but it wasn’t the numbers. Our altar was a stand over which draped a cloth deep red... The platform was covered with a white cloth... We had a small organ about three feet high, a small hymnal and a service pamphlet which I am sending you in this letter. Behind the altar a canvass screen was set up. We were seated on the sand with no overhead shelter. I felt the presence of Almighty God like I never have before. I think partially because I felt so much in need of an assuring hand. I could not keep the tears from my eyes … If I can only stand by faith as He has by me, I shall never be afraid. You and Dad will never know what blessings you brought on us by bringing us up in the House of the Lord." *

I’ve spoken with several veterans who have voiced similar feelings. Far from home and surrounded by people from varying denominational expressions, they find a unity of spirit that’s beyond compare. It stays with them for life.

This soldier spoke of his immense gratitude that his parents provided him with the experience of attending regular worship. I feel that same gratitude for my parents. This is one of the most important gifts parents can give to their children. By experiencing a worshiping community as a child, by singing and praying together within a congregation, volunteering within the service, children learn to value this experience. And a parent’s personal prayer and devotion highlights to children their own relationship with the Lord.