Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire.”
Hebrews 12:28-29 (NIV)
Thankful While the Ground Moves
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire.” Somebody’s being asked for gratitude, and the reason for it is the character of the God he’s thanking.
The people who first read that letter had been warned about refusing him who speaks. God had shaken the earth once and had promised to shake it again, the heavens along with it. The shaking takes away what can be shaken, meaning created things, so that what cannot be shaken remains. They’re asked for thanks in the middle of that, people who had just heard a warning about turning away from the one who warns from heaven.
Reverence and awe come attached to the thanks, and they’re doing real work. Whatever survives the shaking survives because nothing can shake it, and the kingdom in this letter arrives on those terms. The consuming fire is a different picture. God takes that name inside a warning, and the name says who they are dealing with.
Most mornings a man gets to the bus stop early enough to watch a bus that isn’t his go past, because he doesn’t trust himself with a tighter margin. He’s bad at the work he’s heading to and knows it better than his supervisor does. A year in, a woman ten years younger walks him through the same two tasks, and she’s kind about it, which somehow makes it worse. His job is a poor excuse for a kingdom. Losing it would take the floor out from under his week, and he knows that too.
The people in that letter were receiving a kingdom the shaking couldn’t reach, and they had to say thank you while the shaking was still going on. Reverence and awe were the terms. They’d just heard their God named a consuming fire, and the letter asked them to be thankful anyway.
A Prayer to Remember
Take what won’t last, God, and take it early rather than late, before I build another year on top of it. I’ve never learned how to be grateful and afraid of you at the same time, and this week I’m going to need both. When the fear comes, keep me from walking off.
In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
