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Job 9:1-35

1 Then Job answered:

2 “Indeed I know that this is so;
    but how can a mortal be just before God?
3 If one wished to contend with him,
    one could not answer him once in a thousand.
4 He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength
—who has resisted him, and succeeded?—
5 he who removes mountains, and they do not know it,
    when he overturns them in his anger;
6 who shakes the earth out of its place,
    and its pillars tremble;
7 who commands the sun, and it does not rise;
    who seals up the stars;
8 who alone stretched out the heavens
    and trampled the waves of the Sea;
9 who made the Bear and Orion,
    the Pleiades and the chambers of the south;
10 who does great things beyond understanding,
    and marvelous things without number.
11 Look, he passes by me, and I do not see him;
    he moves on, but I do not perceive him.
12 He snatches away; who can stop him?
    Who will say to him, ‘What are you doing?’

13 “God will not turn back his anger;
    the helpers of Rahab bowed beneath him.
14 How then can I answer him,
    choosing my words with him?
15 Though I am innocent, I cannot answer him;
    I must appeal for mercy to my accuser.
16 If I summoned him and he answered me,
    I do not believe that he would listen to my voice.
17 For he crushes me with a tempest,
    and multiplies my wounds without cause;
18 he will not let me get my breath,
    but fills me with bitterness.
19 If it is a contest of strength, he is the strong one!
    If it is a matter of justice, who can summon him?
20 Though I am innocent, my own mouth would condemn me;
    though I am blameless, he would prove me perverse.
21 I am blameless; I do not know myself;
    I loathe my life.
22 It is all one; therefore I say,
    he destroys both the blameless and the wicked.
23 When disaster brings sudden death,
    he mocks at the calamity of the innocent.
24 The earth is given into the hand of the wicked;
    he covers the eyes of its judges—
    if it is not he, who then is it?

25 “My days are swifter than a runner;
    they flee away, they see no good.
26 They go by like skiffs of reed,
    like an eagle swooping on the prey.
27 If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint;
    I will put off my sad countenance and be of good cheer,’
28 I become afraid of all my suffering,
    for I know you will not hold me innocent.
29 I shall be condemned;
    why then do I labor in vain?
30 If I wash myself with soap
    and cleanse my hands with lye,
31 yet you will plunge me into filth,
    and my own clothes will abhor me.
32 For he is not a mortal, as I am, that I might answer him,
    that we should come to trial together.
33 There is no umpire between us,
    who might lay his hand on us both.
34 If he would take his rod away from me,
    and not let dread of him terrify me,
35 then I would speak without fear of him,
   for I know I am not what I am thought to be.

The Book of Job: Innocent, Part II)

Many years ago in the state of Texas (back in the days when every small town was the complete arbitrer of its own justice... Three college students, from three different Texas colleges, went out partying one night in a small Texas town. They got drunk, and sure enough, they woke up the next morning in the county jail. The sheriff informed them that for all the crimes they committed the previous night, they are scheduled to be executed... only none of them can remember exactly what they have done.

The first student is strapped into the electric chair and asked if he has any last words. He says, "I am from the Baylor School of Divinity and I believe in the almighty power of God to intervene on behalf of the innocent." The warden throws the switch and nothing happens, so the authorities figure God must want this guy to live, and they let him go.

The second student is strapped into the chair and gives his last words: "I am from the University of Texas School of Law and I believe in the eternal power of Justice to intervene on the part of the innocent." The switch is thrown and again nothing happens. The authorities figure that the law is on this guy's side, so they let him go.

The last student is strapped in, and he says, "Well, I'm from the Texas A & M School of Electrical Engineering--gig 'em Aggies!--and I can tell you right now you'll never electrocute anybody if you don't re-connect those two wires right over there!"

During this season of Lent, we are exploring the Book of Job, and the questions it raises--particularly why the innocent are sometimes punished, while the guilty go free? Last week, we jumped right into the middle of the book, where we found our hero (Job) in the depths of despair, but still maintaining his innocence. We're going to return to that part of the book next week, but today I want to rewind the story a bit, taking us all the way back to chapter nine, when Job is just getting started in his argument with his three friends. I want to take us back to this part of the story, because this is where Job first declares his innocence--to his friends and to God. In fact, Job uses that word, "innocent," four different times in the NRSV translation of this chapter.

But Job is not actually the first person to use that word in the book that bears his name. Just a few chapters earlier, his friend Eliphaz asks Job the question, "Think now, who that was innocent ever perished?" What Eliphaz means (probably) is that if you're innocent, if you haven't done anything wrong, then don't worry--God's not going to let you perish. If you're innocent, God could not possibly be the source of all your misfortunes!

And this argument is what Job is responding to at the beginning of chapter 9, where the text reads, "Then Job answered." At the outset, Job agrees with Eliphaz. Verse 2: "Indeed, I know that this is so." BUT (he continues) hypothetically... just for the sake of argument... IF one wished to contend with him... IF someone (asking for a friend here) wanted to take issue with God... to accuse God of being, well, less than "innocent" himself... is that even possible?

Yes, yes, I know God is wise, God is mighty and all that. God moves the mountains and calls the stars into existence (in verses 4-10 Job is affirming all that he and his friends "know" about God) BUT... skip down to verse 11:

"Look, he passes by me, and I do not see him; he moves on, but I do not perceive him. He snatches away; who can stop him? Who will say to him, ‘What are you doing?"

In other words, who holds God accountable? Who judges the highest ranking judge?

And then, in verse 15, Job officially enters his plea of "not guilty." He says, "Though I am innocent, I cannot answer him; I must appeal for mercy to my accuser." Then in verses 19 and 20, "If it is a contest of strength, he is the strong one! If it is a matter of justice, who can summon him? 20 Though I am innocent, my own mouth would condemn me; though I am blameless, he would prove me perverse.

In case you haven't already picked up on it, this chapter (more than any other chapter in the entire Bible), uses the language of the courtroom--of prosecution and defense, of summons and appeals. But this is not just any ordinary courtroom: It's a rigged courtroom (at least in Job's opinion). He's effectively saying, If I wanted to prosecute God he would be both the defendant and the judge. Or if I'm the defendant, God is both the prosecutor and the judge. Either way, there is no possibility of a fair trail. And that stinks!

Those of you who know me pretty well know that, when it comes to driving, I have a little bit of a lead foot. In the 32 years since I obtained my driver's license, I have become very well acquainted with the defensive driving course. 99 percent of my tickets have been entirely deserved. So on the one occasion, about nineteen years ago, when I received a ticket for running a stop-sign after I had very clearly stopped, I decided to fight the ticket. After all, I was completely and totally innocent this time!

I made diagrams of the scene; I requisitioned the video footage from the police officer's dash camera; I took pictures of the large shrubbery that obviously had prevented the officer from seeing my vehicle come to a full and complete stop. I showed up to court over-prepared, and I passionately argued my case. The judge was quite impressed, and told me that I would have made an excellent lawyer. And then he paused, and said "but I see no reason to doubt the testimony of the police officer. I find the defendant guilty as charged."

I was crushed. That one incident called into question my faith in the entire American judicial system. I mean, I get it--the judge and the police officer were on a first name basis, and probably had to work with each other every day. I, on the other hand, was no one--just one case on a docket full of people waiting to get on with their defensive driving courses. But I had always been taught that justice is blind, justice is impartial. We even have a famous image of Lady Justice, holding the scales aloft with a blindfold over her eyes.

For me, it was just a traffic ticket. I got over it (mostly...maybe). But I realize that for many people, that gap between the "ideal" of justice and how it actually plays out, is more than frustrating--it is often devastating and catastrophic. How much more so, if we perceive that the injustice comes from none other than our heavenly creator? This is what leads Job, in verse 22, do declare "It is all one; therefore I say, he destroys both the blameless and the wicked alike." In some English translations of the Bible, the word blameless is translated as "innocent," making a fifth appearance of this word: God destroys the innocent and the wicked alike.

For Job, it is precisely when justice IS blind that (verse 24) "The earth is given into the hand of the wicked; he covers the eyes of its judges--if it is not he, who then is it?" In other words, for Job, true justice should NOT be blind--true justice is when you are seen and heard fully by the judge, not passed over, not ignored or dismissed out of hand.

The final section of chapter 9 sees Job descend into self-doubt and self-loathing. If "I shall be condemned," he says in verse 29, then "why do I labor in vain?" Why bother? And here, for the first time, he shows his hand. Up to this point, he has been speaking of God in the third person (he does this, he does that, still hypothetically) but now he addresses God directly. Verse 28: "I become afraid of all my suffering, for I know YOU will not hold me innocent." And verse 30 and 31: "If I wash myself with soap . . . yet YOU will plunge me into filth." In other words, God, I'm afraid that you won't acknowledge my innocence, even when I really am innocent.

So what do we take from all this, and from chapter 9 in particular? Are we meant to be the jury, the ones who decide at the end of the story whether we think Job is guilty and God is innocent, or whether we think God is guilty and Job is innocent? Or are we like Job's friends, trying to give legal advice we are not qualified to give in a trial that is not our own? Or are we simply meant to identify with Job, questioning the hand we have been dealt in life and wishing that God would be more fair, that God's idea of justice would somehow correspond exactly to our own idea of what justice should look like?

No answer for you today on that front--or at least not a direct answer. Instead, I want to tell you a parable. It's an old Buddhist parable, but I think it fits with today's message--or rather with today's questions.

A devout man sat on a rock for twelve years, meditating and seeking enlightenment. One day, the Buddha appeared before him and said, you have shown great devotion, great patience, and great endurance, sitting on this rock for twelve years day in and day out. And for this, I will grant you one reward--whatever you wish, just ask and it will be yours. The devout man, sitting on the rock, said "Justice. I simply want justice in my life." The Buddha said, "Look, Buddy--you can have anything you want: love, family, fame, fortune, riches, immortality...anything. But I don't recommend asking for justice." Still, the devout man sitting on his rock was resolute. "I want justice," he said a second time. The Buddha shook his head and said, "I'm going to give you one last chance--and I implore you NOT to ask for justice--please, just be very careful what you ask for, okay?" The man steadfastly replied, "I've been sitting on this rock for twelve years, and I've had a lot of time to think about it. I don't want riches. I don't want immortality. With all due respect, my answer remains the same: I just want justice in my life." The Buddha shrugged and said, "Okay." And then the rock sat on the man's head for twelve years.

People of First Presbyterian Church, I leave you with this thought: God's idea of justice and our idea of justice may not always look the same. For that matter, God's conception of innocence, guilt, suffering, and prosperity, may be vastly different from ours. May we always seek for greater understanding about these things, but may we do so with humility and with grace--even (perhaps especially) when we KNOW that we are NOT what we are THOUGHT to be.