Liturgy: “Be afraid of our God, be very afraid”
God's ability to strip forest, grow the smallest seed to oak, froth up the sea, and still it by His words are His glory. Let's think about ways to acknowledge that regularly and celebrate it!
What is the King’s Liturgy? King’s Liturgy defines our experience together as a Christian community. It outlines the rhythms we celebrate with the Church at large: Scripture readings, Sabbath habits, and celebration of Holy Days and historical events.
This Week’s Lectionary Readings
Genesis 1:1-5
Acts 19:1-7
Mark 1:4-11
Psalm 29
This week’s liturgy is contributed by Dr. Dru Johnson, associate professor of biblical and theological studies:
My first time leaving the country, I went on a NATO deployment with my reserve unit. We took a ferry from Denmark to Norway, which also counted as my first time at sea. What a doozy!
The North Sea brooded. The mountainous waves heaved and broadsided us with the dark swells. The steel bones of the ship rattled from stern to bow with each punch from the sea. Looking out the porthole to an endless, icy, and angry sea, hours away from a shoreline, I was terrified.
Though not a Christian at the time, I still remember my irreligious and profound sense of awe at the sea’s power and majesty. It could do anything it wanted with us and no one would be the wiser. We could bob on its top or sink to its basement without the sea even taking notice. I was terrified.
God is terrifying too, and the poets of Israel celebrated His ability to induce terror. Just look at Psalm 29, where God’s power destroys forests and scares the calf out of a pregnant dear (per the ESV version)!
The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire.
The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness;
the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth
and strips the forests bare,
and in his temple all cry, “Glory!”
The Lord sits enthroned over the flood;
the Lord sits enthroned as king forever.
May the Lord give strength to his people!
May the Lord bless his people with peace!
The psalmist clearly took a different view of that same terrifying sea I endured at 19 years old. Its terror brought hope, joy even, something to sing about. If God created the world, its seas, and me, then it’s not merely a sea-eat-ship kind of world.
Yet, I find that most of us aren’t even scared of God, in the right or wrong ways. We think of God as our best friend, and restrain his powers to the gift of emotional healing or financial stability. But God’s power, His ability to create and de-construct, should rightly scare the calf out of us! It certainly did when Jesus exercised that power with his disciples (think storms at sea).
I assume God’s power doesn’t scare mainly because we don’t think we need His power. We live safely in a safe land, calling on God mostly about our career and social needs—and maybe a dodgy situation every now and then. Whether God’s provision of food or protection from enemies, Israelites couldn’t even afford to minimize God to a personal assistant. They actually needed a powerful God!
We might need His power too.
God’s ability to strip forest, grow the smallest seed to oak, froth up the sea, and still it by His words are His glory. Let’s think about ways to acknowledge that regularly and celebrate it!