SAINT GEORGE’S CATHEDRAL

Perth, Western Australia

Sermon preached by The Precentor,

Canon Nigel B. Mitchell

24 October, 1999

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Isn’t it Conceited of God, to want us to Praise him so much? Some of you may remember an old English movie called “Bedazzled”. In that movie the comedy duo Peter Cook and Dudley Moore respectively play Lucifer (better known as the devil), and a rather stupid young man who literally sells his soul to the Devil in order to win the girl of his dreams. I won’t bore you with the whole plot, but there is one part of that film which has always stayed in my mind, and which has particular relevance to the subject of my address this evening. At one point Dudley Moore’s character asks Lucifer how it was that he fell from grace. What was it that caused him to fall from being the brightest and best of the Archangels of God to being the prince of darkness and lord of evil? To illustrate what happened, Peter Cook’s Lucifer jumps up on one of those splendid English pillar boxes, and says “OK, I’ll be God and you be me. Now dance around me, and praise me as much as you can”. Dudley Moore starts to dance around the pillar box, saying “You’re wonderful, you’re marvellous, there is no-one to compare with you, everything about you is the greatest, you’re fantastic, you’re most beautiful, hooray, hooray, Holy, Holy, Holy, Hosanna in the Highest, Hooray for God, you’re the champ, zippedee doo dah, hooray hooray, You’re the best, You’re number one, and so on. Peter Cook, playing Lucifer pretending to be God, just sits on top of the pillar box lapping this all up, waving his hands and encouraging Dudley Moore to keep going. After a long period, Dudley Moore collapses in exhaustion and says “I’m getting sick of doing all this praising whilst you just sit there. Can’t we swap places”. And of course Peter Cook as Lucifer comes straight back with “That’s exactly what I said”. It is easy to trivialise the idea of praising God. The prospect that we will all spend the rest of eternity singing our way through the Psalms and the New English Hymnal is far from comforting. The possibility that in heaven they might be liturgically up to the minute, and use the newest version of the Australian Hymn Book, or 110 snappy choruses for today, or just sing “Shine Jesus Shine” over and over and over again, is enough to make us wonder if there isn’t something to be said for Buddhism, or atheism, or reincarnation after all. But of course, these images are a caricature of the Christian hope, and whatever heaven is like I am sure that the music will be wonderful, whatever we consider ‘wonderful’ to be. Our praise of God is a matter for this world, not the next. And more importantly, our Praise of God is a matter of our Conceit, not God’s. Although we may dress it up in pious phrases, the fact of the matter is that we praise God for us, not for God. God does not need our praises, and nothing we can do will add anything or take anything away from God. Part of our religious tradition makes us uncomfortable with the idea that we should do anything for ourselves. Quite rightly, we speak of the need for self- sacrifice, of putting others before ourselves, of doing God’s will ahead of our own. But when we come to Church, to praise God, to pray, to sing whether in the choir or in the congregation, to ring out the bells, to serve at the altar, to contribute in whatever way we can, we do that for us. Before anyone gets shirty and storms out, please note the plural pronouns in what I have been saying. I am not suggesting that any bellringer rings only for him- or her-self, nor that the members of the choir sing only for their own singular purposes. My point is that the Praise of God is a collective activity, it is one which really cannot be done properly when alone. By coming to Church, and making the individual contributions we all make, we enable others to worship. My worship would be less effective, and less fulfilling, if the bellringers were not there ringing out the praises of God in their way, and the choir were not here singing the praises of God in theirs. When congregations are small or sparse, it is hard as a member of the congregation to really be swept up in saying the corporate prayers and singing the hymns. We need others around us, both those with particular skills, and ordinary members of the congregation, to make our praise really happen. It is perhaps interesting that the word “Praise” occurs over 270 times in the Hebrew Scriptures, (the books we know as the Old Testament), but only 22 times in the New Testament. I do not know if this is a function, or a cause, of the fact that some Christian traditions tend to rather forget the corporate understanding and experience of God, and place all their emphasis on individual salvation. If Christianity is just about ‘my personal salvation’ and ‘my relationship with the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ’, as it were, then there is no need for praise at all, except maybe out of gratitude. On the other hand, if Christianity stands in continuity with the ancient Jewish religion, in understanding God’s will to be the salvation of his holy people, and through them all the world, then our praise, as a corporate and shared activity, becomes vitally important. On this particular Sunday each year, we celebrate with our Cathedral Bellringers Association the wonderful ministry they have in ringing out the praise and worship of God from our bell tower. For 97 years the bells of Saint George’s Cathedral have called people of the city to worship. The bells have marked great events in the life of our city, state and nation, and celebrated weddings, ordinations and the milestones of life in our church and community. The bells ring out to the Glory of God, and the bells ring out for us. At the Eucharist this morning, many of us heard the Gospel account where Jesus gave the summary of the Law “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” (Matt 22:34-40); These two commandments give us the essential vertical and horizontal orientation of our faith. Just having one is not enough. We cannot pretend that our Christianity is expressed in our praise and love of God, if we behave badly towards our neighbours; and we cannot pretend that humanitarianism is synonymous with Christianity, when it is expressed without reference or worship towards God. Let us return to the question posed as the title for this address; Isn’t it conceited of God, to want us to praise him so much? Conceited? No. That term trivialises our faith, as though God were an entirely selfish being who only wants our obedience, and does not really care what is best for us. Many people in the world, even some Christians, miss this point. God is not a capricious despot who must be appeased. God is not the fool sitting on the pillar box whilst we dance around him. God is a gracious creator who only asks that we love him, and that we love each other, as he has loved us Our praise of God is something we share. It is what happens when we collectively, as a community and as a church, orient ourselves towards God. Every one of us has a part to play, and when even one of us is missing, the rest of us are poorer for the lack. So let us not imagine that God is conceited, in asking for our praise. Praise is not an imposition, but a gift. The opportunity is God’s gift to us, and the participation of each one of us is our gift to each other. As the Psalmist wrote in the 84th Psalm which we heard sung by the choir earlier in this service, How amiable are thy dwellings: thou Lord of hosts!

My soul hath a desire and longing to enter into the courts of the Lord: my heart and my flesh rejoice in the living God.

Yea, the sparrow hath found her an house, and the swallow a nest where she may lay her young: even thy altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.

Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they will be always praising thee.

(Psalm 84:1-4, BCP)