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Have you ever had a bad day? I don’t mean an off day. A bad hair day. I mean a really bad day? Have you ever felt that the world was plotting against you? That you were somehow the victim of some sadist’s idea of a good time? Job had a bad day. And the day we heard about in the scripture wasn’t his first bad day. Let’s look to chapter one, verses 13-19, to hear about his first really bad day. READ VERSES Job lost all his possessions—and they were considerable: 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 donkeys, and very many servants. He lost his children: seven sons and three daughters. You can only imagine how much he loved them and the love they had for each other was evident—they were always throwing parties and inviting one another over to celebrate the festivals. Job loved them so much that at the end of each festival he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings on their behalf because, he said, "It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts." And to think this was all caused by a conversation between God and Satan. Let’s just stop right here. I’m so glad that I am not a Biblical literalist because if I believed that this story was literally true, that would just about do it for me with God. I believe this story is much like the parables of Jesus, which are not literally true, but rather stories told to teach a lesson. A Truth with a capital T. And what might that lesson be? It is to address that age-old question, "Why do the innocent or righteous suffer?" This story is more a play or drama with several acts. The first act sets the stage—telling us about Job, his life and what kind of man he is. Listen to what God says about Job: "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil." The second act moves to a conversation among the heavenly beings, including Satan. Now at this point in Hebrew theology, Satan isn’t the devil, like we might think. Satan is more an adversary against good. You may know Satan. There’s one in every group. This is the person who just loves finding out the dirt on people. These people can’t stand for someone to be truly righteous—there’s just got to be something bad and if there isn’t they go about creating it. These are the people that political parties hire to dig up dirt on opposing candidates. Satan’s job was to turn a righteous man—Job in this case—to an unrighteous man who would curse God. Listen to verses 9-12 in chapter 1. READ VERSES I’m not thinking God is looking very good in this story so far. My theology doesn’t include a God who would intentionally allow this kind of evil to visit anyone—just to prove a point! But the writer of the book of Job—and it is no surprise that it is grouped in with the wisdom literature—is looking far beyond this particular story. He is merely using this story so that the big questions of life can be posed and ultimately to help us understand that perhaps there are no tidy answers to some of life’s hard questions. Later in the story—after Job’s friends have been of little or no help, Job finally has his audience with God and God essentially says to him, "who are you to be questioning me." I commend to your reading, chapters 38-41 of Job. As I was preparing to teach the Disciple class tonight, I read this: But the point of Job for us here is -that the wonder of God’s creation are beyond the grasp of our minds; -that human understanding and divine understanding are vastly different -that our power and God’s power cannot be compared; -that human values and God’s values are worlds apart’ -and above all else, that this Creator cares, that is, loves the creation. We ask questions but probably wouldn’t be able to understand the answers if they were given. Last week in David’s sermon, he spoke about how it is possible that our concept of God is too limited. I believe that at the point we begin to think we understand God and God’s actions, it is time to push further. God is bigger than our minds. And there is a certain arrogance in demanding an explanation from God. In Clay Walker’s song "A Few Questions" which is on the country stations now, he raises questions that puzzle us all about children suffering from disease and war, about unwanted children and untimely death, but he humbly concludes: But I wasn’t there the day you filled up the ocean I didn’t get to see you hang the stars in the sky So I don’t mean to second guess you Or criticize what I don’t understand These are just a few questions I have. There is some wisdom in country western music. We all have questions about why? Seeking an answer to why things happen may not be what is important. What is important is seeking a relationship with God. And that relationship is available to us through Jesus Christ. Who was righteous, who died through no fault of his own, who was faithful, and who calls us into relationship as we receive the sacrament of Holy Communion. |
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10.05.03 - God’s In Charge (Job 1:1; 2:1-10)
