Daily Office Readings for Saturday of Proper 16: Year 2
Morning, Psalms 20 and 21:1-7(8-14), Evening, Psalms 110, 116, and 117;
Job 9:1, and 10:1 to 9 and16 to 22; Acts 11:1to18; and John 8:12 to 20:
“Do you have eyes of flesh? Do you see as humans see?” (Job 10: 4)
There is something that I pondered about in each of our Biblical readings for today. There is Peter’s pondering on “The Spirit told me to go with them and not to make a distinction between them and us” (Acts 11:12). This again is about the inclusiveness of God. And then there is Jesus telling the Pharisees in the Gospel according to John, “Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). This light that our Lord Jesus speaks of is not the simple illumination as through the sun, but rather, through the light of the Son. It is the moral light of righteousness.
But what I want to share with you today are the words from the fable of Job where Job ponders, “Do you have eyes of flesh? Do you see as humans see?” (Job 10: 4)
This brought me back to a time when I visited the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Cape Fear Medical Center in Fayetteville , North Carolina, some years ago. There was the baby of a parishioner whose name is Chloe. She, at the time, was a premature infant. I visited with this infant at least twice a week. And I would pray, “Lord God, please see this baby through my eyes and behold her innocence and beauty. I pray you strengthen the health of this baby that she will live and be healthy. Please God.”
When I prayed these words I could look in the incubator and see Chloe shiver and jerk as I prayed for her. Later, when mom brought her to church she might have been a little unsettled at first but when I preached, she calmed down. I think my voice was something that resonated with her. I love it when mom brings her to church.
So this line from Job brings back for me the prayer I prayed for infant Chloe. I wanted our distant and universal God to focus on this tiny, premature, infant by seeing her through my eyes as I gazed upon her while standing next to her incubator. God heard my compassionate prayer and Chloe is doing fine. Perhaps this is just another reason why God came to us in Christ Jesus. In our Lord Jesus, God Almighty can, and does, see us through human eyes. So now we can answer Job’s question. Yes, God can see as humans see. Moreover, I believe when any of us look upon another with love and compassion God is looking also through our eyes of flesh.
Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine and Russia, Israel and Palestine, and our schools. And, as we listen to what the Spirit of God is saying to us, let us live to love and serve, and to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John
Let us pray: (The Collect for Saturdays BCP p. 99)
Almighty God, who after the creation of the world rested from all your works and sanctified a day of rest for all your creatures: Grant that we, putting away all earthly anxieties, may be duly prepared for the service of your sanctuary, and that our rest here upon earth may be a preparation for the eternal rest promised to your people in heaven; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
onewhoponders 