Alhamdulillah means Praise be to God or Thank God and it’s sprinkled through the conversations of Arabic speakers, but it’s not just used when good things happen. For a long time I thought Alhamdulillah was sort of an all-purpose word in Arabic. It could mean whatever you wanted it to mean. But after spending several summers in Egypt and trying to decipher it’s meaning and use, I asked one of my students to explain Alhamdulillah.

The student explained: God is the source of everything and so we praise God in all things – the good and the bad.

A paraphrase of Psalm 146 (sung in worship on Sunday) says it this way: I will praise the Lord all my days, make music to my God while I live.

Psalms of praise, like Psalm 146, functioned in ancient Israel as hymns and liturgies for communal worship. In this particular psalm, the community was giving a witness for themselves and the world around them about who they trusted and who was the source of their praise.

Do not put your trust in princes, in mortals, in whom there is not help. When their breath departs, they return to the earth; on that very day their plans perish (verses 3-4).

Rulers, whether we vote for them or not, are not the source of our praise. They are not the ones we rely on for help. Instead: Happy are those whose help is in the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God . . . who keeps faith forever (verses 5-6).

Psalm 146 goes on to remind us why our happiness and hope lies in God. God is the one who executes justice, who gives food, who sets free, who opens eyes, who lifts us, who loves, who watches over, who upholds. God is the source of everything and so we praise God in all things. Alhamudulillah! 

This year at Bethlehem, our Extended Advent takes as it’s theme Words for the Beginning, words intended to bless us as we face new beginnings (which inevitably signal other endings). In these moments we join our ancestors in faith in grounding ourselves in worship and praise in order to remind us of who God is . . . and who we are in light of God’s saving love.

God is the one who is faithful and just, whose steadfast love endures forever. God is the one who loved us with such a great love that he gave us Jesus to dwell with us, to be our light in the midst of darkness, to reveal the abundance that is intended for us, and to save us from the power of sin and death. This is the God whom we worship and praise in all times and in all places! Alhamdulillah!

And . . . we start with worship and praise to remind us of who we are in light of God’s saving love. We are God’s children, siblings of Christ, inheritors of God’s eternal mystery, called to love God with all our heart, and soul, and mind, and strength; and love our neighbors as ourselves. Called to see and extend care to the widows, orphans and strangers among us. Called to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with the God we praise, like our ancient ancestors before us.

This is the work before us. This has always been the work before us. This will always be the work before us. Alhamdulillah!