Sermon for March 5th, 2017

From Neal's Wiki
Revision as of 17:01, 4 March 2017 by Iraneal (Talk | contribs)

Jump to: navigation, search

Job 1:1-5

1 There was once a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. That man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil. 2 There were born to him seven sons and three daughters. 3 He had seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred donkeys, and very many servants; so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the east. 4 His sons used to go and hold feasts in one another’s houses in turn; and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5 And when the feast days had run their course, Job would send and sanctify them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all; for Job said, “It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts.” This is what Job always did.

Job's Daily Prayer

For the past five years it has been my custom during the season of Lent to preach from the Book of Job. While I personally enjoy this tradition (Job is my favorite book of the Bible), I realize there are some who are not so thrilled , and keep waiting for me to run out of things to say or move on to something else.

I'm reminded of the story about the new preacher who arrived at his new church to preach his very first sermon. It went over quite well, and the congregation was pleased. But the following Sunday when he got up to preach, he preached the exact same sermon, word for word, that he had preached the previous Sunday. This went on for several weeks, and the congregation began to get worried. Maybe this preacher was a one-hit wonder? Maybe he really didn't have anything else to say?

A group of them went to the Executive Presbyter to complain. The Executive Presbyter, a wise, old man of God, listened patiently to their complaint, to their fears that their pastor was somehow deficient; that they might have to listen to the same sermon for the rest of their lives! After they finished their complain, the Executive Presbyter leaned back in his chair a moment, closing his eyes to think. After awhile, eyes still closed, he asked the congregation members, "What exactly was the point of his sermon? What was the message?"

They paused awkwardly, looking back and forth at each other for help, but it was apparent that no one could quite remember; no one could answer his question. When they finally gave up, the Executive Presbyter just leaned back in his chair again and said, "Let him preach it one more time."

For at least one more time, then, let us delve once again into the book of Job; this ancient story of perseverance, suffering, faith lost, and faith restored.