Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
How can you summarize the book of Job? Theodicy is the word most scholars use, that means a writing about why people suffer. As one Jewish scholar put it, “When bad things happen to good people.”
You can really see it in the book of Job. Job is a righteous man, and yet he suffers the loss of everything he has; his children, his livestock, his home, everything. And if this isn’t enough, his wife and friends pile it on. They all insist that Job has obviously done something sinful and that is the reason God is punishing him. The text of his friend’s speeches goes on and on, page after page. They are summed up by Job’s wife when she says, “you are guilty, just give up.”
Then his wife said to [Job], “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die.” (Job 2:9, ESV)With people like that in your life, who needs enemies?
But Job maintains his innocence. And the author agrees. The book leaves no doubt about it. It starts with,
There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.” (Job 1:1, ESV)It isn’t a treatise on Original Sin. Job was certainly a sinful person. The point of the book is not about that issue, but to set up Job as a faithful man of God. It sets up the question,
“Why is this happening to Job?”
The book tells us exactly why. It has to do with conversations between God and Satan. God says,
And the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?” (Job 1:8, ESV)And Satan responds, “Well, that’s because you are protecting him. If you wouldn’t do that and allow some trouble in his life he’d curse you, just like other people.”
So, God allows Satan to do all the bad things that happen to Job that we read in the book, with the noted exception that Job himself is not to die.
Over and over Job pleads with God to tell him why all this is happening, and God is silent. It is never revealed to him why he is suffering. Through it all Job maintains his innocence. He pleads for a mediator. “If I could just put my case to God in person, he’d relent.”
And finally, God does answer. But it isn’t the answer Job is expecting. It starts with our text for today.
Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said: “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me. “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements—surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy? “Or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb, when I made clouds its garment and thick darkness its swaddling band, and prescribed limits for it and set bars and doors, and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stayed’?” (Job 38:1–11, ESV)This is only the tip of the iceberg. It goes on for two chapters. God points out his creation to show his power and control of the universe. He asks Job particularly if he was there when God set up the bounds of creation. Job realizes how little he understands about God, himself, and the vast difference between divine and human knowledge. You could sum it up with this saying,
There are two fundamental principles of human enlightenment.
1. There is a god.
2. You are not him.
Job is often touted for his patience. But really, he should be commended for his humility.
Then Job answered the LORD and said: “Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth. I have spoken once, and I will not answer; twice, but I will proceed no further.” (Job 40:3–5, ESV)
So, what is the point of suffering? Why do bad things happen to good people? Why do bad things happen to Christians?
The Apostle Paul talks about this.
"Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." Romans 5:3-5 (ESV)Suffering builds endurance, character and hope. There is the saying, “No pain, no gain.” In a sense it is quite true. But there is more to what Paul says than first meets the eye. He ends with hope. For Christians hope linked to faith isn’t a misty vague future that we wish for. It is a certainty. Christian hope is founded in the promises of God in Jesus Christ. The promise that suffering will end and what comes after is even greater than we can imagine.
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” (Romans 8:18, ESV)
Suffering then builds reliance on God, and him only.
"Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure." Philippians 2:12-13 (ESV)Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling… What he means is that there is no reason for boasting when you consider that it is God, and only God, who works in you to saves you. That is, humility to accept God’s actions for what they are, beyond our understanding. It is indeed God alone who works salvation in you, through faith in Christ Jesus.
As innocent as Job was (not counting for original sin), Jesus was even more so, in fact perfectly so. Jesus was sinless. A perfect person. And yet, Jesus suffered even more than Job. His ultimate suffering was on the cross. The cross was an inhuman form of torture. It didn’t just kill, it caused great pain for hours or even days. It played the innate desire to live against certain suffocation. Death only came after exhaustion proved greater than instinct. Added to it was humiliation on public display. The naked body of the victim hung next to the main thoroughfare of town.
But Jesus suffering was so much more than the physical suffering of the cross. His was the punishment of everyone. The punishment of hell for all people. From the hymn “My Song is Love Unknown”
Here might I stay and sing–
no story so divine!
Never was love, dear King,
never was grief like Thine.
This is my Friend, in whose sweet praise
I all my days could gladly spend. (LSB 430)
And through faith in this unknowable suffering of Jesus for us, we have the forgiveness of sin, eternal salvation.
Let’s face it. We all suffer. From a paper cut to an incurable disease; from a lover’s tiff to divorce; from a lecture from the boss to getting fired. Suffering is the common denominator of human existence. And, even worse is the fact that we most often suffer because of our own fault, our own sin. I think this is one of the reasons why God chose to save the world through the suffering of Jesus. We can relate. Even though Jesus’ suffering was far greater, we know what suffering is, because we bear it. We know, in part, what our sins cost Jesus in suffering.
The appearance of God in the whirlwind is the turning point of the book of Job. God appears and Job reacts in humility and faith. “Thy will be done.” In other words, “you are God, I am not.”
Suffering doesn’t always lead us to the end of our rope. But every suffering is a pointer to Jesus, a reminder that he suffered for us.
We think, like Job, that if we just knew the reason for our suffering, we could deal with it. We search every crevasse of our lives for an answer. When we can’t find one, we may fall into despair, that too is like Job. Sometimes, there is simply no earthly answer. Sin is the answer. It is so pervasive that no one can avoid its reach. Sin so thoroughly invades everything in our lives. No part is untouched. And so, we suffer. St. Paul calls it groaning.
For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. (Romans 8:22–23, ESV)And there it is, hope. The effect of our suffering. Paul says, “we wait eagerly”. That’s hope. Every suffering we endure pushes us toward hope, “and hope does not put us to shame.” Paul explains a few chapters earlier. Hope and faith go hand in hand. Faith makes hope sure and certain. Faith in the work of Jesus to forgive our sins, produces a certain hope in our “adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.” In other words, an end to all suffering.
Paul has one more thing to say about suffering. In 2 Corinthians he talks about his own. He had a thorn in the flesh that he begged Jesus to remove from him. We have no idea what it was, scholars have debated it for centuries. I personally think it was a speech impediment. Jesus didn’t remove it.
But [Jesus] said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:9–10, ESV)The weakness that Paul suffered with, whatever it was, made it perfectly clear that Christ was in his work. Because of the thorn, Jesus shown thru as the reason behind Paul’s words. When Paul was weak, Christ was revealed as the power behind him. Paul reacted, “I am content”; “Thy will be done.”; “you are God, I am not.”
Our suffering, even the self-inflicted kind, is temporal. That means there will be a time when it is not. It makes us even more eagerly anticipate the resurrection. It shows Jesus at work in us. When we appear weak, Jesus is strong. When suffering is strong, Jesus is stronger.
we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope Hope has its foundation in faith in Jesus Christ, and his redeeming work on the cross. His forgiveness that makes hope sure and certain. Amen.
The peace of God, that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment