Day 6: Genesis 6, Matthew 6, Joshua 6, Romans 6, Isaiah 6, Hebrews 6, Job 6, Psalm 6

Growing up in an Anglican church (for the first 18 years of my life) , I had the joyful privilege of many of my early experiences of corporate worship being shaped by the language of the prayerbook, much of which was retained in the ASB (The Alternative Service Book) that was in use in my home church in the 1980's.
One of the more memorable phrases occurs at the beginning of the Eucharistic Prayer.

The Minister begins the prayer with the call (in light print)  and response (in bold)

The Lord be with you
and also with you.

Lift up your hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God
It is right to give him thanks and praise.

It is indeed right,
it is our duty and our joy,
at all times and in all places
to give you thanks and praise,
holy Father, heavenly King,
almighty and eternal God,
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord.

It's that phrase "It is our duty and our joy" that I find so memorable, and so helpful.
As a teenager I didn't tend to put 'duty' and 'joy' together, and therefore, saw obedience as dogged duty rather than joyful privilege.

Today's reading help us see obedience as Duty AND Joy.
In Genesis 6 Noah's obedience is striking, not only because of the longevity of it (did it take 120 years to build the ark v3?) but also because he was almost entirely alone in wanting to obey an extremely hostile world. Yet, he 'did everything just as God commanded him' (v22)
Such public obedience as building an ark in sight of all is only to be commended when the public nature of the obedience makes you Unpopular. When obedience brings public acclaim, better to be obdient in secret, because it is pleasing the Lord that is your duty and your joy, not pleasing people. Therefore don't publicise your giving on Facebook Matt 6:1-3, or your prayers 5-6, and hide it when you fast (16-17) because you want the reward of your Father, not your peers (19-21)
How does the necessity of such obedience fit theologically with the truths we've been learning in Romans that we are not justified by obedience, but by faith? Because obedience is the necessary result of faith. (Romans 6:1-14) Christian freedom is not freedom TO sin, but freedom to obey (15-23). Thus, if there is no persevering obedience, we must fear that there was no justifying faith (Hebrews 6:1-11)
It is worth noting that the Joyful duty of obedience includes remarkably difficult obedience. Many, like Isaiah put up our hands to say "Here am I, send me" (Isaiah 6:8) but some like Isaiah and Noah are given tasks of being faithful amongst people who almost to a man reject them (Isaiah 6:9-13). For others, obedience will be so costly that even other believers might assume that the Lord has rejected us. (Job 6)
But even those in seemingly endless anguish will know that, as Job would one day be vindicated, as the ark would one day deliver Noah, as Isaiah's preaching would one day be read and believed, that "The Lord has heard my weeping.
The Lord has heard my cry for mercy;
The Lord accepts my prayer." Psalm 6:8-9