Sermon for March 31st, 2019

Job 31:16-23

16 “If I have withheld anything that the poor desired,
    or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,
17 or have eaten my morsel alone,
    and the orphan has not eaten from it—
18 for from my youth I reared the orphan like a father,
    and from my mother’s womb I guided the widow—
19 if I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing,
    or a poor person without covering,
20 whose loins have not blessed me,
    and who was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;
21 if I have raised my hand against the orphan,
    because I saw I had supporters at the gate;
22 then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder,
    and let my arm be broken from its socket.
23 For I was in terror of calamity from God,
    and I could not have faced his majesty.

Two Preachers and a Trucker: Humanity

NEAL: The story of Job, as we've seen, is a hard one. But this week I wanted to take a break from the main story, and focus on an aspect of Job that often gets overlooked: Long before tragedy struck, and long afterward, Job was a generous man. Not just to his family or friends, either. In today's scripture passage as well as several other places in the Book of Job, we learn that he made it a principle in his life to care for widows and orphans, to feed and clothe the poor, and to champion the cause of strangers in his land. So if it's alright with the two of you, I'd like to talk about that today--about what it means to be generous, what generosity looks like, and why it's important.

JOB: Well, for starters, it's not somethin' you talk about. It's somethin' you just do.

NEAL: You make it sound easy, but that hasn't been my experience. In my very first week as a pastor, I got scammed by a couple who came to the church asking for money and help. I listened to their story; I gave them money, only to find out later they were lying about it all. What I hate the most about that experience was that it made me skeptical of everyone else who came to the church asking for help.

CALVIN: (chuckling) You should give thanks to God for this lesson! It is good that we should be prudent and look carefully to whom we give--for if we gave without wisdom and discretion, eventually would have nothing, and then even the poor among us would be left helpless. But this wisdom does not come without experience, without making mistakes. Still, it would be a much bigger mistake to NOT take any risk at all, to NOT learn from our experiences, or...to disguise our greed and lack of compassion as prudence.

Is not your wickedness great?

   There is no end to your iniquities.

6 For you have exacted pledges from your family for no reason,

   and stripped the naked of their clothing.

7 You have given no water to the weary to drink,

   and you have withheld bread from the hungry.

8 The powerful possess the land,

   and the favored live in it.

9 You have sent widows away empty-handed,

   and the arms of the orphans you have crushed.

10 Therefore snares are around you,

   and sudden terror overwhelms you,

11 or darkness so that you cannot see;

   a flood of water covers you.