Devotional from Pastor Dave September 13, 2023

We started our new worship series on the different Christian denominations this past Sunday by exploring the Eastern Orthodox tradition. The Greek word doxa means “glory,” so I shared that the word “orthodox” literally means right teaching, right praise, or right glory. It’s similar to a word for we do every week in the sanctuary service: we sing the “doxology,” which means words or language of praise and glory. “Praise God, from whom all blessings flow…” 

That reminded me of one of my favorite stories.

When I was growing up, Orel Herschiser was one of the best pitchers in Major League Baseball. The dude was a pitching machine. He pitched a complete shutout for the Los Angeles Dodgers in August 1988, and then went a record 59 consecutive scoreless innings without allowing a single earned run. He pitched another shut out in the National League playoffs against the New York Mets, and then another one in the World Series against the Oakland Athletics. He won the Cy Young Award and two MVPs that year for both the playoffs and the World Series.

During one of the final games of the series, the TV cameras zoomed in inside the dugout and caught him singing softly to himself between innings. The commentators couldn’t tell what tune he was singing, but they agreed that his pitching certainly gave him something to sing about. A few days later, he was on the “Tonight Show” with Johnny Carson, who asked him what he was singing and if he would sing it for them right then and there. He was initially reluctant, but the audience egged him on. Finally, before a nationally televised audience, Orel Herschiser softly sang the song he had been singing:

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.

He’d been singing the Doxology.

There’s an inscription in the chapel at the McCallie School here in Chattanooga that reads: “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.” It’s also inscribed on some other buildings and entrances over there. Apparently it’s the school’s motto. It comes from the Westminster Catechism, from the Presbyterians (we’ll explore that denomination in a few weeks). It reminds us that we’re made to worship. We’re created to praise and to glorify God. Whether we’re on the pitcher’s mound or in the dugout, up here on the mountain or way down in the valley, our whole lives can be a doxology, a simple song of praise and glory to God.