By Pastor Paul Hauschild
Chatfield and Root Prairie
Lutheran Churches
I want to share an article from a pastor friend of mine who grew up in Chatfield, Pastor Chris Brekke:
Minnesota Steve bought a horse. It was a strong and healthy steed that had been owned by a Baptist preacher. The oddity about the horse was that to get him to go you had to say “Praise the Lord” instead of “giddy up,” and to get him to stop you had to say “amen” instead of “whoa.” So, Steve is out on a test-ride and gets to galloping along. Approaching a cliff, he can’t remember the “amen” stop command. Just at the last moment it comes to him, and he shouts “Amen!” The horse stops just in time! And then grateful Steve utters “Praise the Lord.”
Uh oh. That was a “praise the Lord” at the wrong time, eh. In horsemanship, it’d be better to stay with “giddy up” and “whoa.” Steve saying the wrong command at the wrong time perhaps caused a disaster. In churchmanship, our “praise the Lords” and “amens” should be properly placed. And our words should be careful and timely. What you say and when you say it does matter. It takes good wisdom to speak up at the right time and to keep silent at the right time. Are you self-aware enough to know whether you are the type of person who talks too much, or too little? Do ask the Lord to help you with that. Words matter.
Regarding our expressions of praise, there may be a few folks who overuse their faith comments. Some over-zealous souls can be an annoyance with their Christianese verbosity. Yet, I’d say most believers hold back. Most are either too shy or too embarrassed to give God the glory He deserves. You may not agree with me on this, and prefer that faith be solely a private matter, kept to oneself. I’ve grown to think that we who belong to Jesus should name His name and give Him credit. A stealthy faith can be genuine, but it does not help others to develop their faith. We are not in the Secret Service; we are in the Lord’s service. Lutherans, not just Baptists, should be able to honor God with our words as well as our actions. We are to exalt and extol the Name of the Lord. “O Lord, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things” (Isaiah 25:1). Jesus said this about it: “If anyone is ashamed of me and of my words, of that one the Son of Man will be ashamed when he comes in his glory” (Luke 9:26). Hike up your courage and put in a good word for your King. Christians should not be incognito. After all…
Who gives you air to breathe and sunsets to admire and food to eat? Praise the Lord! Who gave his life to save you from sin, death and the grave? Praise the Lord! Who stirs your conscience and inspires your ideals and comforts your heartaches and guides your journey? Praise the Lord! Glory be to God, our source of life, health and salvation.
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