Rev. Zach

Job 42:1-6, 10-17      Hebrews 7:23-28      Mark 10:46-52 So far, if you’ve been keeping score over the past few weeks, God has allowed Satan to tempt Job by taking away everything and leaving him in physical agony, and Job’s friends have all blamed him for it. Job has shaken his fist at God for the unfairness of it all, and God has asked who Job thinks he is to question the one that spoke creation into being.  Today we read that Job becomes humble, repents, and even prays for his friends. God hears his prayers and Job’s fortunes are restored. Isn’t that nice? Somehow that last part seems to be all that we really want to know about. Somehow, when I hear it, I can’t help but hear it as a part of what many calls the “prosperity gospel”. That’s the idea that if you are generous to God, God will be even more generous to you. That doesn’t sound so bad on the surface, but when we extend that idea it simply becomes “giving to get”. It’s als...

Job 42:1-6, 10-17     1 Corinthians 3:1-10     Mark 10:46-52 Words are important. That may sound like a silly thing to say, but words matter. Words help us understand and interpret our world in ways that no other creature can interpret. When words are foreign or unfamiliar they trip our tongues and leave us feeling embarrassed or unsure if we have even communicated what we intended. This happens in restaurants across the land every day. I ’ ll never forget the night when I learned what steak tar-tar was, right in front of my date for prom. Sometimes we even remake words to fit our own objectives. Although there are plenty of examples of public gaffs in the news, my favorite is a personal experience. Several years ago my father (pronounced in southernese as “ fah-thah ” ) was writing down my itinerary for an international flight. I told him we would be flying into Accra. He asked me how to spell it. I told him. He repeated, “ You ’ ll be flyin...