Great And Glorious Is Our God

Good morning! The clouds and humidity have returned, no doubt pushed from behind by the approaching storm. How does Sidney do this? Rain dances? A virgin sacrifice? Failure to pay the weather bill? Days of mild weather with clear skies gives way just hours before the start of Oktoberfest to clouds, cold, rain, possibly snow, and wind. According to the tall-talers, last year's parade took place in hip-deep snow, but they soldiered on through to the beer tent. I guess everyone has their motivation. We don't even talk about the famous Oktoberfest of '49 when the entire parade was frozen and didn't thaw out until May Day the next spring.

Anyway, enough of the historyfest, on with the teaching for this morning. We take the title statement and use it for our comfort and to worship God, but what does it mean? Great is an adjective denoting someone or something that is exceptional, above the average; with ability or eminence that is prominent. For those who believe, the word definition seems to fall short, as though over the years it has been dumbed down perhaps. Glorious is having or deserving glory, fame, or honor. Oops, what is glory then? An interesting definition is: worshipful praise, honor, and thanksgiving. Or, another is: great beauty and splendor. Good words for our God, but because of the overuse in our media, we feel a little cheated. However, the original is not diminished by later usage. Here is a good one: something that is a source of great pride.

Are we not proud of our God? Is that not why we say things like 'great and glorious is our God'? If I don't feel proud of my God, if I cannot look up to God worshipping someone greater than myself, then something is wrong. For the terrible sin of idolatry is that the person worships something less than himself, usually a poor model of one of God's creatures or an imaginary being modeled out of God's materials, and turns away from his or her Creator. I am glad that my God is God, the perfect Creator.

Sorry about the tardiness of this today. The weather arriving this morning has brought about a barely tolerable sinus headache in me. God bless and keep you today,

Bucky