22 August 2010
Psalm 146, 147; Job 4:1-6,12-21; Rev. 4:1-11; Mark 6:1-6a

Eliphaz speaks first and upbraids Job for his words. He is certainly right in what he says but wrong in both intent and in friendship. Job cannot maintain his own righteousness in front of God, no one is truly righteous as God is righteous. It is wrong for Job to have prayed as he did, but he spoke in honesty of heart and he complained to God and not to his friends about God. He didn’t murmur, he went straight to God with his complaint, his friends just happened to be there. In the truth that Eliphaz stresses, the righteousness of God, he pushes too far and too hard on transcendence, that God is so far removed from all else that we don’t matter to God (vv 18-21). Job’s prayer clearly is addressed to a God who cares, not a God who is unmoved and uncaring. Eliphaz speaks of a God who only cares about righteousness, not His creation.

The people see Jesus do amazing things and then they remember, “Wait, we know this guy, we know his whole family, he can’t be all that.” The familiarity of what they know overcomes the reality of what they see, Jesus doing things no one has ever done. The logical conclusion becomes too much to imagine so they fall back to the default of judging by his background. The claims Jesus made, that he and the Father were one, were too much for them. How could God come among them and how could this man, so human, be one with God? No one could imagine the presence of God among them so they rejected that possibility in favor of a safer conclusion, one that put Jesus back in His place as the son of Joseph and Mary and brother of the ones they name.

John sees the worship of heaven, God seated on His throne and all of heaven participating in ascribing the glory and honor due to Him. What a sight this must have been in the flesh for John! Do we even begin to understand the worthiness of God? Do we understand that our worship is not simply for the transcendent holiness of God, not simply for His awe inspiring qualities and deeds like speaking the world into being, but also for His coming among us and dwelling among His creation in the person of Jesus? Here, John sees one seated on the throne, not light inescapable but one among His created order and their spontaneous reaction to His presence is to worship in praise and song. Is that our reaction to the presence of God as promised in our gathering?

Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord, O my soul!
I will praise the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praises to my God all my life long.