Sunday Sermon, 16 November 2025
Sermon given at a special Songs of Praise service.
A reading from the Book of Psalms
Alleluia!
O praise God in his holiness;
praise him in his mighty heavens.
Praise him for his acts of power;
praise him according to his excellent greatness.
Praise him with the blast of the trumpet;
praise him upon the harp and lyre.
Praise him with timbrel and dances;
praise him upon the strings and pipe.
Praise him with ringing cymbals;
praise him upon the clashing cymbals.
Let everything that has breath
praise the Lord.
Alleluia!
Psalm 150
In Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, Harry and his friends are searching for the mythical artefact which is said to transform base metals into gold, and can be used to create the elixir of life. Whoever has this stone will be fabulously rich and live for ever! If you have read the book (or watched the film) you will know although they eventually find the Philosophers Stone, they realise that it is too powerful for any one person to possess, and so destroy it.
The myth of the Philosophers Stone, which the Harry Potter book adapts, goes back to mediaeval times. For many centuries, alchemists really did try and discover this magical stone. It is a powerful legend, because it taps into the fundamental human desire for transformation. After all, who wouldn’t want to be able to take a cheap Casio watch and transform it into an 18 carat gold Rolex?
As humans, we seek to transform all that we touch. Through science and engineering we overcome obstacles and create new opportunities. Through politics and economics we try to change society for the better. And through the creative arts we take the raw materials of paint, or musical notes, or words, and turn them into sublime works of art. The human spirit yearns for transformation.
* * *
The Book of Psalms contains the secret of a truly transformative power. It may not be able to turn base metal into gold, but it can transform sorrow into joy, drudgery into delight, and tears into laughter. It promises to reshape our lives, our hearts, and our imaginations. It is the transformative power of praise.
“Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!” declares Psalm 150. As the final Psalm in the Book of Psalms, it sums up the message of the whole collection. All of creation is invited to join in with the noisy, exuberant praise of God, with trumpets, dancing, and loud clashing cymbals!
We all know instinctively what it means to praise someone. If you hear a virtuoso musician give an incredible performance, or witness someone showing bravery and courage in the face of adversity, it is natural to express admiration.
But to praise God is qualitatively different from any other kind of praise. It goes beyond simple admiration. It acknowledges that he is our maker, and we are his creation.
God is not just one more ‘good thing’ in our universe. He is goodness itself, the source of life. Every precious moment we have, every breath we take, is because of God’s love and generosity. Therefore, we are called to praise God in all things.
The seventeenth century poet George Herbert puts it beautifully in his poem, ‘The Elixir’:
Teach me, my God and King,
In all things Thee to see,
And what I do in anything
To do it as for Thee.
This is the famous stone
That turneth all to gold;
For that which God doth touch and own
Cannot for less be told.
Praising God is not simply singing hymns and worship songs in collective worship. Rather, it is recognising God’s gift to us in all of life, and responding with thanks, worship, and wonder.
You can praise God when you rise in the morning and give thanks for a new day. You can praise God when out on the football field or running track, giving thanks for the joy and excitement of sport. You can praise God when you see the beauty of the dales from the top of Winder. You can even praise God when doing chores like washing up and dealing with emails!
This is what the Psalmist means when he declares: “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord”. In all of life, we give thanks for what God has given us.
* * *
Praising God doesn’t always come naturally to us. We can feel self-conscious, and even embarrassed, to talk of God, let alone praise him. Yet our society today seems to be in particular need of rediscovering this experience of praise. Without it, we lack the spiritual depth and meaning that is essential for human flourishing.
Going back to Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, Dumbledore makes the following observation: “The Stone was not such a wonderful thing. As much money and life as you wanted, the two things most human beings would choose above all. The trouble is, humans do have a knack of choosing precisely those things that are worst for them.”
What we need today is not the ability to turn copper into gold, or to increase our levels of wealth or comfort. What we really need is to be transformed from within, so that we see the radiance of God in the ordinary things of life. Praise is the key that unlocks this transformation. This is because it takes us outside of ourselves, and connects us to something much bigger. It reconfigures the way we view the world and ourselves.
Praise connects us to one another. Humans have found that praising God happens most naturally when we gather together. That’s why we sing hymns on a Sunday morning. Together, we are acknowledging something greater than ourselves. Something worthy of praise and thanks.
Praise connects us with all creation. There are lovely images in the Psalms of the ‘trees clapping their hands’ and the ‘mountains jumping for joy’. In an age of intense individualism, many have lost touch with this shared joy of creation. Praise restores our sense of perspective and awakens us to the deep mystery of the natural world.
And most importantly, praise connects us to God. Because the object of praise is God himself, it brings us into contact with this God, and sets our hearts on fire with his love.
May we all be renewed in mind and spirit by the right praise of our creator God; and, in the words of Charles Wesley, find ourselves “lost in wonder, love and praise”.
Amen.