Job 23.1-9; Mark 10.17-31
“The patience of Job” - a common expression … where it comes from, I have no idea.
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| Job with his "friends" ... |
Job isn’t patient … neither is his wife.
His wealth is gone, his family wiped out, his health is compromised …
Job’s frustrated, angry, broken … he’d love to tell God a thing or two.
Job’s friends tell him, You’ve done something wrong job … face it; this is all your fault … tell God how sorry you are, and God may forgive you.
Job says to his pious friends, Nonsense!
I’ve done nothing to deserve this calamity … I’ve been faithful to God, I’ve done what was needed, and even more …
I’m not going to pretend I’m perfect,
but I’ve done nothing to deserve this kind of sorrow …
if God is doing this, I’ve a complaint to file - God is wrong!
In the end, God comes to Job.
This is a huge universe, says God … forces at play far and beyond your meager abilities … there is light and darkness, warmth and beauty, there is loss and sorrow …
“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.
“Have you commanded the morning since your days began, and caused the dawn to know its place,
“Is it by your wisdom that the hawk soars, and spreads its wings toward the south? Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up and makes its nest on high?
Job relents: I have uttered what I did not understand … things too wonderful for me, which I did not know …
In some of the strongest language of the Bible: Job says: I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.
In the end, Job’s fortunes are restored …
God asks Job to pray for his friends, who didn’t speak right about God … they were quick to shake a finger in Job’s face, and ever so slow to show compassion.
God tells the friends to apologize to Job for their religious blabber, their pious nonsense … Job will pray for you, says God, and I will accept Job’s prayer, in spite of your grievous errors.
The friends go to Job and apologize; Job prays for them … and the LORD accepts Job’s prayer.
What a story! With one huge question: why do good people suffer? There’s no final answer here … like the high mountains of the earth, reality is shrouded in clouds … like the deepest seas, life is a dark mystery.
But from the Book of Job, several things come to my attention:
First of all, Goodness and decency are their own reward … they’re never a waste of time or purpose.
I hold it true, whate’er befall,
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
‘Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.
What we do, and how we live is finally a matter of integrity - is it right? is it good, to love, to pray, to be kind and compassionate? … to seek justice for others … to ease the suffering of pain of our world?
And why would we live this way? Financial gain? Prestige and popularity? Walk the Red Carpet, drive a fast car?
We follow Christ, neither for gain nor power, but for the love of God:
He prayeth best, who loveth best
All things both great and small;
For the dear God who loveth us,
He made and loveth all.
The second point: The material nature of life is fragile … all of us in this room are mortal … we don’t think much about it, or we try not to, but we all know the final outcome.
The last time I checked, the mortality rate was still 100 percent. In knowing the “way of all flesh,” we learn some of the greatest lessons of life: humility, honesty, and hope.
We learn to appreciate what we have, when we have it … and perhaps like Paul, we learn to live with less … Paul writes: I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
A third dimension, that of Friendship: When a friend is suffering, don’t offer pious nonsense, a wagging finger, self-assured truisms … when a friend is in need, stand with them, sit with them, weep with them, and learn to keep our tongue. They need our presence, our touch, but they don’t need our preachments. And neither does God!
One last element: the spirit of complaint …
We have to get things off our chest now and again … words spoken can be a great relief to the troubled soul, but words spoken in complaint can also loop back to amplify the complaint …
The prophets complain and so does Jesus … John Calvin, our Presbyterian forebear, complains …they all see what could be … they push to reach for it … their complaints are driven by justice and love.
The great social prophets of our world - Dorothy Day … the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. … James Baldwin … John Steinbeck … Maya Angelou - all complain, and do something about it.
Complaint is a powerful tool in the hands of faith … but all by itself, complaint can become the spirit of complaint …
No longer driven by ideals, but driven by smaller instincts … petty gripes, selfish instincts - me first, above all else.
Once the dark road of complaint is taken, it’s tough to turn around …
At the heart of Job’s story, wealth, health, comfort, and possessions …
Was Jesus getting at this with the man who asked … What must I do to inherit eternal life?
Jesus says, I’m sure you know the commandments …
Yes, I know them, the man replies, and I’ve kept them since my youth.
Jesus looks at him, and the Bible says, Jesus loved him.
With love, Jesus says to him: You lack one thing; go, sell what you have, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come and follow me.
What was taken from Job in a heartbeat, Jesus tells the man to give up voluntarily …
The man is shocked … he goes away grieving, for he had many possessions, says the Bible.
The Bible doesn’t finish the story … it’s up to us …
To manage our aspirations and dreams … keep our balance … weep with those who weep … pay attention to good people … give thanks for those who love us … seek the forgiveness of those we’ve harmed … laugh at ourselves a lot … pray honestly … and always remember:
To God I belong for as long as it takes.
Neither trial nor tribulation
Can undo what God makes.
In life and in death.
For now and forever …
In the darkest valley, or on the raging sea,
To God I belong …
For God leadeth me.
Amen and Amen!
