The Doxology

Every Sunday it was the same.  The offering plates were passed, the ushers gathered the collection at the back, walked in step to the front and placed the plates on the communion table as the congregation rose in unison and sang out The Doxology...

 

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;

Praise Him, all creatures here below;

Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

What a wonderful hymn!  I miss singing it each week in church.

The words actually date back to 1674, when Bishop Thomas Ken published “A Manual of Prayers for the Use of the Scholars of Winchester College.”  His goal was to motivate the students in their devotions by writing a series of hymn prayers, one to be sung when rising in the morning, one to be sung at night, and then one to be sung at midnight, if still awake.  The doxology we know today was the last stanza of each prayer.  What a wonderful way to begin and end each day.

According to Merriam-Webster the word “doxology” comes from the Greek word doxa meaning “glory” and logia referring to “oral or written expression.”  The Doxology we sing is our expression of glory and praise to God for who He is and for what He has done in our lives.

This Thanksgiving season, no doubt your holiday will be filled with food, family, football, and Black Friday shopping.  But don’t let the day pass without your expressing praise to God for who He is and for the blessings He has bestowed on you and your family.

In fact, what a great idea Thomas Ken had to wake up every morning and lay down each night singing your God’s praise.  What an impact that would have on our lives as we bookended our day with praise to God.  Don’t let your thanksgiving just be on Thanksgiving, but make it a daily practice.  Acknowledge that all good things come from God in heaven [James 1:17] and that He is worthy of all our praise [Psalm 8].

Towards the end of his life, Thomas Ken was imprisoned by King James II because of his religious beliefs.  Upon his release from prison, he quietly went to live out his years with friends, but it didn’t stop him from praising his Lord.  He died on March 11, 1711, being buried at sunrise as the people gathered round to sing The Doxology. 

The Curse is Lifted!

The Curse is Lifted!

 

The scene is the 1945 World Series.   The Cubs are down two games to one to the Detroit Tigers.  William Sianis, owner of Billy Goat Tavern, brings his pet goat to the game and buys it a ticket.  The goat, being a goat, begins to annoy the fans sitting around it.  Eventually Sianis is told that the goat has to go.  As Sianis takes his goat out of Wrigley Field he mutters, “Them Cubs, they ain’t gonna win no more.”  And the rest is history.  They end up losing the World Series to Detroit in seven games. 

So began the “curse” of the Chicago Cubs, which continued until last night when they defeated the Cleveland Indians 8-7 in ten innings.  At times, it looked like the curse would remain intact, as the Cubs did everything they could to lose that game.  Regardless, the Cubs ended an 108 year long drought of winning the World Series and ended the 71 year old “Curse of the Goat.”

According to Merriam-Webster, a curse can be defined as “evil or misfortune that comes as if in response to something said in anger or as retribution.”  You might not think about this often, but we all live under a curse and it’s been going on for longer than 71 years.  This curse is more like 6000 years.  It’s the curse put in place due to the disobedience of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.

Genesis 3:17 tells us, “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.”  Romans 8:22 informs us that this “whole creation has been groaning, as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.”  There is absolutely no chance that this curse will be lifted anytime soon.  For now, we persevere in a world where we must labor and toil, where we get sick and eventually die.

Another result of Adam and Eve’s disobedience is that we are all placed under sin’s curse which is judgment and spiritual death, eternal separation from God.  As Paul said in 1 Corinthians 16:22, “If anyone does not love the Lord –a curse be on him.”

Here’s the good news.  While we can’t do anything about creation’s curse, God did what we couldn’t do in relation to the curse of sin and death.  Galatians 3:13 reads, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.’   His dying on the cross for our sins made it possible for the curse to be lifted!  All we must do is receive His gift of love and salvation.  My curse was lifted when I was four and a half years old.  For some it may take longer.  If you still live under sin’s curse, I encourage you to not be like the Cubs and wait 71 years.  Do it today!

And now about the Cleveland Indians.  They will have to wait for next season to attempt to end their curse, the curse of Rocky Colavito, which now stands at 56 years and counting.