“Night and day, day and night, Let incense arise”. (David Brymer)

This morning I didn’t really want to go to church. It’s snowing again, a wet, sleety March snow which chills my winter weary bones. Additionally, it is Daylight Saving Time, meaning the clocks move an hour ahead and my sleep lost an hour. A second cup of strong coffee helped , but only slightly. Still, I put on wool sweater and tall boots and headed to McCall if not cheerfully, at least obediently. Sundays we corporately worship the Lord and I’m called to be there.

Praise and Worship music was loud, lively and … loud. Truthfully, my septuagenarian ears aren’t always happy with the decibels. My friend sat next to me with orange earplugs sticking out of her ears like spongy mini carrots but I didn’t have any. So, I settled in, waited and allowed God’s Spirit to adjust the volume for me. I sang the words and the words sang back to me until  “deep called to deep .“  Jesus prayed:

Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

In the heavenly realms, in God’s eternal kingdom, His people sing songs of praise to glorify Jesus forever and ever. There are  cosmic orchestras. Majestic choirs. Hosts of angels and individual saints like you and me in magnificent, perfect harmonies. No matter how froglike we croak on earth – or how sweetly like songbirds we warble- it is a sound like nothing else on this planet. It is the sound of worshiping the Lord Our God, the only One who is worthy of praises.

As it is in heaven… so on earth.

Since  God is worshiped in heaven, His Word says it is also for us on earth. His will is always for both heaven and earth and as Jesus proclaimed the kingdom of God in His ministry He brought both together. We emulate Him as He worshiped and prayed and the kingdom of God opens all around us. Therein nothing is impossible.Nothing.

However, Psalm 141 says one thing is required.

May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice. Psalm 141:2

Our prayers are likened to the burning of incense in the Old Testament when fragrant spices were burned in braziers as offerings. As the incense smoke rises upward, so do prayers. It is an act of worship. However, there can’t be incense without fire. It require sacrifice; something has to be consumed before it can “rise up. “ We do not sacrifice bulls and goats any longer and often we burn with zeal and passion for God. That is a powerful fire, but the Bible repeatedly teaches  what’s required is to sacrifice our hearts . Day and night, offer up pride in the consuming fire  of the Holy Spirit in the kingdom of God.

That definitely includes   this writer’s Sunday attitudes!