Difference between revisions of "Sermon for March 11th, 2018"
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I find this interpretation a bit harsh, especially given what we, as readers know from reading the first two chapters: That all of Job's suffering, the loss of his children, his property, his health, were all instigated, approved, and carried out under God's supervision and authority, in order to settle a cosmic bet with Satan about whether or not Job would "curse God" if he lost these things. | I find this interpretation a bit harsh, especially given what we, as readers know from reading the first two chapters: That all of Job's suffering, the loss of his children, his property, his health, were all instigated, approved, and carried out under God's supervision and authority, in order to settle a cosmic bet with Satan about whether or not Job would "curse God" if he lost these things. | ||
| − | Incidentally, for what it's worth, God lost | + | Incidentally, and for what it's worth, God lost that bet a long time ago, probably somewhere around chapter 7, and several times thereafter, when Job's famous patience ran out. But I don't think God was ever really that interested in winning the bet. No, I think that from the beginning, God's interest was simply in Job, for better or for worse, in his wealth or in his poverty, in his happiness or his despair. |
| + | Regardless of the source of any of these things, God knows Job. God loves Job. And so God knows that Job's loss and his pain are real, and his angry, impatient, heartbroken words flow from that experience. | ||
| − | + | Given all of these things, I think it's possible to read God's words in a different light, with a different tone. God may be putting Job in his place, but if so I think he does it gently, not in anger, condecension or judgment. | |
| + | It's easy to read God's words to Job, "Where were *you* when I laid the foundation of the earth?" with the implied answer: "Nowhere because you aren't God. | ||
| + | |||
| + | But elsewhere in the Bible, in Ephesians 1:4, we read that God "chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love." Holy and blameless. That's what God calls Job in chapter 1. Read in this light, there is a different implied answer to God's question: | ||
| + | |||
| + | "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? You were with me, already, all the way back then, because I chose you and knew you and called you by name all those aeons ago. You may have forgotten, but I haven't. Let me show you..." | ||
| + | |||
| + | And then, I believe, God takes Job on an amazying mystical journey--kind of like in Charles Dickens' Christmas Carol, when the ghosts of Christmases past, present and future take Ebeneezer Scrooge on a journey outside of himself to see things that his limited sight would not otherwise allow him to see and understand. | ||
| + | |||
| + | God | ||
When I read this text, I see God calling Job's attention to some pretty beautiful things, cosmic things, and simple things, gently drawing him out of his inward focus and back into the larger world that we are all connected to as God's children, as part of God's creation. Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? I don't think it's a sarcastic question. It's a question with an implied answer: You were with me, Job. You were there. You were part of me, though you didn't know it yet. Your children were, are, and always will be part of me, too. Let me show them to you. When God speaks of the morning stars singing together, and all the heavenly beings shouting for joy--I imagine he is showing Job more than just a word-picture. | When I read this text, I see God calling Job's attention to some pretty beautiful things, cosmic things, and simple things, gently drawing him out of his inward focus and back into the larger world that we are all connected to as God's children, as part of God's creation. Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? I don't think it's a sarcastic question. It's a question with an implied answer: You were with me, Job. You were there. You were part of me, though you didn't know it yet. Your children were, are, and always will be part of me, too. Let me show them to you. When God speaks of the morning stars singing together, and all the heavenly beings shouting for joy--I imagine he is showing Job more than just a word-picture. | ||
Revision as of 19:41, 9 March 2018
Job 38:1-7, 34-41
1 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind:
2 ‘Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
3 Gird up your loins like a man,
I will question you, and you shall declare to me.
4 ‘Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell me, if you have understanding.
5 Who determined its measurements—surely you know!
Or who stretched the line upon it?
6 On what were its bases sunk,
or who laid its cornerstone
7 when the morning stars sang together
and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy?
34 ‘Can you lift up your voice to the clouds,
so that a flood of waters may cover you?
35 Can you send forth lightnings, so that they may go
and say to you, “Here we are”?
36 Who has put wisdom in the inward parts,
or given understanding to the mind?
37 Who has the wisdom to number the clouds?
Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens,
38 when the dust runs into a mass
and the clods cling together?
39 ‘Can you hunt the prey for the lion,
or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
40 when they crouch in their dens,
or lie in wait in their covert?
41 Who provides for the raven its prey,
when its young ones cry to God,
and wander about for lack of food?
Where Were You?
For thirty-five out of forty-two chapters in the book of Job, God is either the subject of conversation or its target. During those thirty-five chapters, God listens silently while Job questions, complains, and attacks God, trying to make sense of his suffering. Finally, in today's text, God responds. Compared to the words of Job (24 of those 35 chapters), God's response is mercifully short (just 2 chapters). And so, in my sermon today, I am going to attempt to follow God's example. Mercifully short.
Let's jump right in. "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?"
Many people interpret this as God putting Job in his place: "Who are you to question me? Can you do all the things I can do? Sit down and shut up, you puny mortal!"
I find this interpretation a bit harsh, especially given what we, as readers know from reading the first two chapters: That all of Job's suffering, the loss of his children, his property, his health, were all instigated, approved, and carried out under God's supervision and authority, in order to settle a cosmic bet with Satan about whether or not Job would "curse God" if he lost these things.
Incidentally, and for what it's worth, God lost that bet a long time ago, probably somewhere around chapter 7, and several times thereafter, when Job's famous patience ran out. But I don't think God was ever really that interested in winning the bet. No, I think that from the beginning, God's interest was simply in Job, for better or for worse, in his wealth or in his poverty, in his happiness or his despair.
Regardless of the source of any of these things, God knows Job. God loves Job. And so God knows that Job's loss and his pain are real, and his angry, impatient, heartbroken words flow from that experience.
Given all of these things, I think it's possible to read God's words in a different light, with a different tone. God may be putting Job in his place, but if so I think he does it gently, not in anger, condecension or judgment.
It's easy to read God's words to Job, "Where were *you* when I laid the foundation of the earth?" with the implied answer: "Nowhere because you aren't God.
But elsewhere in the Bible, in Ephesians 1:4, we read that God "chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love." Holy and blameless. That's what God calls Job in chapter 1. Read in this light, there is a different implied answer to God's question:
"Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? You were with me, already, all the way back then, because I chose you and knew you and called you by name all those aeons ago. You may have forgotten, but I haven't. Let me show you..."
And then, I believe, God takes Job on an amazying mystical journey--kind of like in Charles Dickens' Christmas Carol, when the ghosts of Christmases past, present and future take Ebeneezer Scrooge on a journey outside of himself to see things that his limited sight would not otherwise allow him to see and understand.
God When I read this text, I see God calling Job's attention to some pretty beautiful things, cosmic things, and simple things, gently drawing him out of his inward focus and back into the larger world that we are all connected to as God's children, as part of God's creation. Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? I don't think it's a sarcastic question. It's a question with an implied answer: You were with me, Job. You were there. You were part of me, though you didn't know it yet. Your children were, are, and always will be part of me, too. Let me show them to you. When God speaks of the morning stars singing together, and all the heavenly beings shouting for joy--I imagine he is showing Job more than just a word-picture.
Our commitment to SERVICE
Last week, Job reminded God of all the things he had done for others--(insert job's quote here). Basically, Job is saying, "look at all the things I did for other people." In today's passage, God returns the favor, essentially saying, "Look, *everything* I have done is for you and for everyone."
