God's Humility & My Praise

Want to really benefit from the month of Kiahk? I put together a PDF of the Readings & Responses for the month of Kiahk. It's a beautiful way to go through the readings alone or with your family and features art by George Makary. I am always so blown away by his talent. Get the Readings & Responses of Kiahk PDF.

It was those early sensitive years (you know how middle school is) when I had just taken a bow after my amaaaazing karaoke performance only to hear one friend whisper to another about how bad I was at singing.

And that was it. I stopped singing in public. I wriggled out of future karaoke sessions--or lip synced instead.

I avoided trying out for choir in my freshman year of high school--even the audition piece "Mary Had a Little Lamb" would probably be too hard for me.

And I certainly didn't sing along in church. We ALL how annoying it is when people sing out of tune.

But I loved singing. My soul yearned to sing. I would use the mic feature on my broken boombox to record myself on the cassette and replay and replay and replay. They were right. I sounded terrible.

But I still couldn't help myself--I had to sing. So I would sing with my door closed in my room, sing in the shower where the sound echoed just right off the tiles, and whisper sing at school.

Not at church though. Not at church. I let everyone else sing, and I just stood there--spaced out--waiting for Liturgy to end. The job of the congregation in Liturgy is to chant along, but I already knew I couldn't do that. It had been verified by independent sources.

But the Hitenias are so catchy. I caught my foot tapping more than once. And the refrain was so easy and maybe if I just mouthed it, it would be ok.

You know that song "The Little Drummer Boy"? It's a beautiful song really. It's all about how the humble drummer boy had nothing to offer but his drumming. Except, y'all The Little Drummer Boy was GOOD at drumming. I was NOT good at singing.

And we all know those verses in the Bible about offering God less than perfect sacrifices... For all I knew my singing was God's equivalent of Cain's veggies.

Then it happened one liturgy that I stood behind a woman I admired very much, and she sang unabashedly. Her voice was lovely, but it wasn't Grammy-level.

And when her voice broke during a song, she didn't hesitate, didn't let it stop her. If she was pitchy, she didn't notice. She was too busy praising God.

I would be lying if I said that immediately gave me the courage to try. But I kept my eyes on her, one liturgy after another, until... I began to sing.

Softly at first. Then bolder and bolder (get it?). I learned the words (which helped). I practiced by singing every week. And after the Hitenias I started on the next hymn and the next.

I learned to drive and started to play David Ensemble in my car and belting out Alleluia Fai Pe Pi. The car was almost as good as the shower for singing.

Finally, it happened one Easter at our church that I stood in the back with a fussy baby and listened as the entire section of women broke out into Ya Kol Al Sefof wholeheartedly and got choked up joining along.

You just couldn't stop me after that.

Let me tell you something. When Christ decided to be born, He didn't pick the Ritz, know what I'm saying? 

And even though the Old Testament, from a young girl's perspective, seems to be all about perfection, the New Testament is all about brokenness. This one's too short, that one cried too much, this one wasted a bottle of perfume, that one denied Him and another demanded physical proof. One was too dumb and one was too proud and one was too rich and the other too poor. 

All of them were embraced by Christ, and He LOVED them.

So this Saturday is the first Saturday of Kiahk praises, and I'm NOT perfect at them. I'm probably less than mediocre.

But for Christ, that is adequate for now. And He will perfect me over time.

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.

And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Philippians 2:5-11

Christ took a humble form, submitted Himself to death to defeat it, and was exalted and glorified.

Let us also do the same. Let's take the humble gifts we've been given--a voice--not even a great one, and let's be that tongue that confesses His glory.

God doesn't care what you sound like.
God doesn't care what you look like.
God doesn't care how good your Coptic or Arabic or even English is.

He only cares about your heart--

A broken and contrite heart, God will not despise. (paraphrase Ps. 51:17)

And hey guess what? That's from the OLD TESTAMENT. Because even then, God loved the ones considered feeble by others. That runt David. Wiley and weak Jacob. Rahab the harlot.

Show up on Saturday night and sing. your. heart. out.

The Christ Child is coming.

O Lord, open my lips,
And my mouth shall show forth Your praise.
(Psalm 51:15)

Want to really benefit from the month of Kiahk? I put together a PDF of the Readings & Responses for the month of Kiahk. It's a beautiful way to go through the readings alone or with your family and features art by George Makary. I am always so blown away by his talent. Get the Readings & Responses of Kiahk PDF.

Photo by Gareth Harper on Unsplash