Sermon for March 23rd, 2014 - Revision history

Iraneal at 20:18, 22 March 2014

2014-03-22T20:18:37Z

Iraneal at 18:02, 22 March 2014

2014-03-22T18:02:09Z

Iraneal at 17:34, 22 March 2014

2014-03-22T17:34:55Z

Iraneal at 16:58, 22 March 2014

2014-03-22T16:58:58Z

Iraneal at 16:06, 22 March 2014

2014-03-22T16:06:12Z

Iraneal at 15:58, 22 March 2014

2014-03-22T15:58:47Z

Iraneal at 01:26, 22 March 2014

2014-03-22T01:26:00Z

Iraneal at 01:23, 22 March 2014

2014-03-22T01:23:58Z

Iraneal at 00:09, 22 March 2014

2014-03-22T00:09:14Z

Iraneal at 23:59, 21 March 2014

2014-03-21T23:59:21Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:18, 22 March 2014
Line 44:		Line 44:

	As a side note, for some reason, when people find out I'm a pastor, they often feel a need to tell me things like "Well, Pastor, I don't go to church, but I worship God out there in creation all by myself...on the Golf course, or with a walk in the park." That's nice, and Bildad would certainly affirm that you can learn a thing or two from God's creation, but what you are likely missing out on...is community. People who love each other and gather together on a regular basis to encourage each other, teach each other, and take care of each other when the need arises. This is precisely what Job's friends are trying to do for him, and precisely why a walk in the park on Sunday morning doesn't cut it--unless you bring all of us along with you (and someday we might just do that!).		As a side note, for some reason, when people find out I'm a pastor, they often feel a need to tell me things like "Well, Pastor, I don't go to church, but I worship God out there in creation all by myself...on the Golf course, or with a walk in the park." That's nice, and Bildad would certainly affirm that you can learn a thing or two from God's creation, but what you are likely missing out on...is community. People who love each other and gather together on a regular basis to encourage each other, teach each other, and take care of each other when the need arises. This is precisely what Job's friends are trying to do for him, and precisely why a walk in the park on Sunday morning doesn't cut it--unless you bring all of us along with you (and someday we might just do that!).
		+
		+	One more thing to note in verse 18: No plant, not even the happy, well-watered plant, is safe from occasionally being stepped on. Tragedies will happen, whether you are in a community or on your own. True joy comes not from avoiding tragedy, but from the gardening itself, from the cycle of growth, and from the knowledge that other plants will eventually spring up, even from the trampled dirt.

	==Job 8:20-22==		==Job 8:20-22==

@@ Line 40: / Line 40: @@
 ==Job 8:11-19
 Do reeds grow lofty where there is no marsh? Do rushes thrive without water? 12While yet in their shoot and not picked, They would wither—before any grass. 13So are the paths of all who forget God; Yea, lost is the hope of the miscreant 14Whose confidence is flimsy, Whose trust is a spider's “house.” 15He relies on his “house,” but it will not stand; He grabs it, but it will not hold. 16As for a well-watered (plant), it is before the sun. Its shoot grows out beyond its garden. 17Over a heap its roots are entangled; It (even) looks within stones. 18If one should destroy it from its place But disclaims it—“I did not see you!”— 19Behold, that is the joy of his way; From the dirt others will sprout.''
 ==Job 8:20-22==
 ''20Behold, God does not despise the blameless, He does not take the hand of evil-doers. 21Yet will he fill your mouth with laughter, Your lips with a triumphal shout. 22Your enemies will be clothed with shame; The tent of the wicked will be no more.''
-Eliphaz reminds Job that God is supreme, God is in control.
+American Folk Singer Cat Stevens once put it this way, and I can almost hear Bildad nodding his approval: "I am confident that, in the end, common sense and justice will prevail. I'm an optimist, brought up on the belief that if you wait to the end of the story, you get to see the good people live happily ever after."
-Bildad reminds Job that God is good.  Bildad believes in happy endings.
-−
-I am confident that, in the end, common sense and justice will prevail. I'm an optimist, brought up on the belief that if you wait to the end of the story, you get to see the good people live happily ever after.  -Cat Stevens
+[https://archive.org/download/BildadWeAreOfYesterday/Bildad2.mp3 Song - Bildad: We Are of Yesterday]
 *All scripture translations from C.L. Seow's commentary on Job (Eerdman's 2013).

@@ Line 23: / Line 23: @@
 As a parent, I am responsible for my children.  I'm responsible for their health, their well-being, their education, their happiness, pretty much every aspect of their lives.  I take that responsibility seriously.  And that sense of responsibility probably won't go away when they become adults and move out on their own.  The problem is, sometimes we can take that sense of responsibility too far.  When unthinkable tragedy strikes, at the loss of a child, the first person that a parent will blame is himself or herself.  I was responsible, and I failed.  What could I have done differently?  How could I have prevented this?  Most often, the answer is, "you couldn't have." But the cycle of guilt and second-guessing sprials out of control, ultimately consuming the life of the parent as well as the child.
-We are told in the very beginning of the story that Job is "blameless and upright."  But that doesn't necessarily carry over to his children.  In fact, the text hints at just the opposite.  We read in Chapter One that "his sons used to go and host banquets at home, each one on his day, and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them.  When they had completed the banquet days, Job sent for and sanctified them.  He arose early in the morning and offered up burnt offerings according to the number of them all, for he said, 'Perhaps my children have sinned and 'blessed' (or cursed) God in their hearts.'  Thus Job would do all the time."
+We are told in the very beginning of the story that Job is "blameless and upright."  But we don't know whether or not his adult children followed in his footsteps. In fact, the text hints at just the opposite.  We're told that Job offered sacrifices every day on behalf of his children just in case they had "sinned and 'blessed' (cursed) God in their hearts."
-We are not told what all happened at these wild banquet parties, and thus we have no place to judge Job's children.  But I suspect Job knew, and I suspect that his friend Bildad knew as well (although, it's worth noting that he doesn't say, "your children sinned."  He says, "IF your children sinned"). What's apparent from this passage is that even when his children were alive, Job felt responsible not just for their actions, but even their very thoughts!
+I think what Bildad is trying to communicate to Job in verse 4 of today's passage is that, ultimately, we can only be held responsible for the consequences of our own actions, our own thoughts before God.  No matter how hard you work, no matter how hard you try, you cannot "save" other people from their own choices, their own lifestyle.  But you can be a positive example. You can, in the words of Bildad, "look to God, make supplication to Shaddai" and work to be "pure and upright" in your own life.  So Bildad's first move in his encouragement of his friend is to say, "Whatever happened to your children is between them and God. You loved them.  You did everything you could possibly have done for them.  You are not to blame."  His next move goes to the very heart of the wisdom tradition in the Bible, and forms the core of his approach, the heart of his comfort.
-−
 I think what Bildad is trying to communicate to Job in verse 4 of today's passage is that, ultimately, we can only be held responsible for the consequences of our own actions, our own thoughts before God.  No matter how hard you work, no matter how hard you try, you cannot "save" other people from their own choices, their own lifestyle.  But you can be a positive example. You can, in the words of Bildad, "look to God, make supplication to Shaddai" and work to be "pure and upright" in your own life.
 ==Job 8:8-10==
 ''8Indeed, inquire of the previous generation; Make a determination about the search of their predecessors. 9For we are yesterday and ignorant; For our days on earth are but a shadow. 10Surely they will teach you, speak to you, And bring forth words from their heart.
 ==Job 8:11-19

@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 I was devastated.  I was angry.  What kind of unsupportive friend says something like that?  What kind of friend abandons you in a strange place among strange people?  Well, as it turns out, a pretty good one.  It didn't take me long to learn fluent French after that, and when I did, I made plenty of friends--many of whom I'm still in touch with today.  But at the time, Mari's words were far from comforting, and I judged them pretty harshly.
 As I noted last week, we tend to do the same with Job's friends. This week we come to friend number two, Bildad.
 ==Bildad: We Are of Yesterday==
@@ Line 19: / Line 19: @@
 ''1Then Bildad the Shuhite responded and said: 2How long will you speak these things, And will the utterances of your mouth be a mighty wind? 3Does God pervert justice, Or does Shaddai pervert what is right? 4If your children sinned against him, Then he has dispatched them because of their transgression. 5If you look to God, And make supplication to Shaddai, 6If you are pure and upright, Surely then he will watch over you, And restore your rightful habitation. 7Though your beginning be small, Your end will be very great.''
-At first glance, Bildad's reference to the death of Job's children may seem harsh.  It seems like he's saying "Your children got what was coming to them."
+At first glance, Bildad's reference to the death of Job's children may seem harsh.  It seems like he's saying "Your children got what was coming to them."  But before we judge, let's read more closely, and let's remember that we don't know Job nearly as well as Bildad does.
-==Job 8:8-19==
+As a parent, I am responsible for my children.  I'm responsible for their health, their well-being, their education, their happiness, pretty much every aspect of their lives.  I take that responsibility seriously.  And that sense of responsibility probably won't go away when they become adults and move out on their own.  The problem is, sometimes we can take that sense of responsibility too far.  When unthinkable tragedy strikes, at the loss of a child, the first person that a parent will blame is himself or herself.  I was responsible, and I failed.  What could I have done differently?  How could I have prevented this?  Most often, the answer is, "you couldn't have." But the cycle of guilt and second-guessing sprials out of control, ultimately consuming the life of the parent as well as the child.
 ''8Indeed, inquire of the previous generation; Make a determination about the search of their predecessors. 9For we are yesterday and ignorant; For our days on earth are but a shadow. 10Surely they will teach you, speak to you, And bring forth words from their heart. 11Do reeds grow lofty where there is no marsh? Do rushes thrive without water? 12While yet in their shoot and not picked, They would wither—before any grass. 13So are the paths of all who forget God; Yea, lost is the hope of the miscreant 14Whose confidence is flimsy, Whose trust is a spider's “house.” 15He relies on his “house,” but it will not stand; He grabs it, but it will not hold. 16As for a well-watered (plant), it is before the sun. Its shoot grows out beyond its garden. 17Over a heap its roots are entangled; It (even) looks within stones. 18If one should destroy it from its place But disclaims it—“I did not see you!”— 19Behold, that is the joy of his way; From the dirt others will sprout.''
 ==Job 8:20-22==

@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 I was devastated.  I was angry.  What kind of unsupportive friend says something like that?  What kind of friend abandons you in a strange place among strange people?  Well, as it turns out, a pretty good one.  It didn't take me long to learn fluent French after that, and when I did, I made plenty of friends--many of whom I'm still in touch with today.  But at the time, Mari's words were far from comforting, and I judged them pretty harshly.
-As I noted last week, we tend to do the same with Job's friends, and I want to talk a little more about that today, before we get to Friend #2 (Bildad) in particular.  Now, I generally hear Job's friends criticized for one of two different reasons.  One view is slightly more charitable than the other, but both still paint the friends in a pretty negative light.
+As I noted last week, we tend to do the same with Job's friends. This week we come to friend number two, Bildad.
-−
-The first (and worst) judgment is that WHAT the friends say is to Job is wrong: Their theology is just bad, flawed, not in line with scripture, wisdom, or good teaching of any sort. The second (slightly better) judgment is that WHAT the friends say is ok, but HOW they say it is wrong.  They had good intent, put poor execution.  They weren't sensitive enough to Job's situation.  They had poor bedside manner.  I think both of those arguments disappear when we actually read what the friends have to say, and how they say it.
-−
-The first, that WHAT they say is wrong, is based on God's words at the end of the book, where he tells the friends, "You have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has." But that whole understanding hinges on one little preposition: OF (or in some translations, ABOUT).  Prepositions in most languages are pretty ambiguous. This preposition, in Hebrew, is אל.  Brown, Driver Briggs Hebrew dictionary defines it as "to, toward, unto, into, in, among, toward, against, in addition to, concerning, in regard to, in reference to, on account of, according to, at, by, in between, and within."  I hope you realize by now that Biblical translation isn't an exact science.  In any case, I prefer to use the very first definition given here.  Not "of" but rather "to."  You have not spoken TO me what is right.  You spoke to Job what was right, but you ignored me.  Job, on the other hand, spoke directly to me, and even though what he said about me (his theology) was completely messed up and wrong (that's why I gave him a four-chapter-long lecture) at least he was addressing me to my face.
-−
-Now, this may seem to actually support the idea it wasn't WHAT Job's friends said, but HOW they said it that was the problem.  But remember that God's point is how the friends speak (or do not speak) to God, not Job. We've already seen how Job's friends sat with him in silence and sympathy for seven days and seven nights.  We saw last week how Eliphaz, the first of the friends, speaks with gentle, thoughtful concern for his friend, balanced with appropriate reverence for God.  And now this week, we'll hear from Friend number two--Bildad.
 ==Bildad: We Are of Yesterday==
-If Eliphaz reminds Job that God is in control, that God is supreme, then Bildad reminds Job that God is good.  Bildad is an optimist, a believer in happy endings.  First, Two Pictures:
+First, Two Pictures:
 *[http://mrlocke.net/Job/eeyore-tigger.jpg Eeyore and Tigger]. An unlikely friendship!
 *[http://mrlocke.net/Job/Bildad.jpg Job and Bildad]. Drawing by Caitlin Foehse of an Illustration found in a 12th Century Greek Bible.
@@ Line 32: / Line 26: @@
 ==Job 8:20-22==
 ''20Behold, God does not despise the blameless, He does not take the hand of evil-doers. 21Yet will he fill your mouth with laughter, Your lips with a triumphal shout. 22Your enemies will be clothed with shame; The tent of the wicked will be no more.''

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:26, 22 March 2014
Line 14:		Line 14:
	The first, that WHAT they say is wrong, is based on God's words at the end of the book, where he tells the friends, "You have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has." But that whole understanding hinges on one little preposition: OF (or in some translations, ABOUT). Prepositions in most languages are pretty ambiguous. This preposition, in Hebrew, is אל. Brown, Driver Briggs Hebrew dictionary defines it as "to, toward, unto, into, in, among, toward, against, in addition to, concerning, in regard to, in reference to, on account of, according to, at, by, in between, and within." I hope you realize by now that Biblical translation isn't an exact science. In any case, I prefer to use the very first definition given here. Not "of" but rather "to." You have not spoken TO me what is right. You spoke to Job what was right, but you ignored me. Job, on the other hand, spoke directly to me, and even though what he said about me (his theology) was completely messed up and wrong (that's why I gave him a four-chapter-long lecture) at least he was addressing me to my face.		The first, that WHAT they say is wrong, is based on God's words at the end of the book, where he tells the friends, "You have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has." But that whole understanding hinges on one little preposition: OF (or in some translations, ABOUT). Prepositions in most languages are pretty ambiguous. This preposition, in Hebrew, is אל. Brown, Driver Briggs Hebrew dictionary defines it as "to, toward, unto, into, in, among, toward, against, in addition to, concerning, in regard to, in reference to, on account of, according to, at, by, in between, and within." I hope you realize by now that Biblical translation isn't an exact science. In any case, I prefer to use the very first definition given here. Not "of" but rather "to." You have not spoken TO me what is right. You spoke to Job what was right, but you ignored me. Job, on the other hand, spoke directly to me, and even though what he said about me (his theology) was completely messed up and wrong (that's why I gave him a four-chapter-long lecture) at least he was addressing me to my face.

−	As far as the second criticism, that HOW they spoke their words was the problem, remember	+	As far as the second criticism, that HOW they spoke their words was the problem, remember first that they sat in silence and sympathy with their friend for seven days and seven nights.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-==Job 2:11-13; 8:1-22*==
+==Job 2:11-13*==
 ''11When the three friends of Job heard of all this misfortune that had come upon him, they came each one from his own place: Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, Zophar the Naamathite. They agreed to come together to console him and to comfort him. 12When they lifted up their eyes from afar but could not recognize him, they lifted up their voices and wept. They rent, each one his cloak, and sprinkled dust over their heads towards the heaven. 13They sat down with him on the ground, seven days and seven nights, but no one said a word to him, for they saw that the suffering was very great.''
-''1Then Bildad the Shuhite responded and said: 2How long will you speak these things, And will the utterances of your mouth be a mighty wind? 3Does God pervert justice, Or does Shaddai pervert what is right? 4If your children sinned against him, Then he has dispatched them because of their transgression. 5If you look to God, And make supplication to Shaddai, 6If you are pure and upright, Surely then he will watch over you, And restore your rightful habitation. 7Though your beginning be small, Your end will be very great.''
+This month we're in the Book of Job, and we're giving Job's friends a closer look, listening to their words, and giving them the benefit of the doubt as true friends and comforters.  Since we're also talking about friendship, I have a story to share.
 ==Bildad: We Are of Yesterday==
-Two Pictures:
+First, Two Pictures:
 *[http://mrlocke.net/Job/eeyore-tigger.jpg Eeyore and Tigger]. An unlikely friendship!
 *[http://mrlocke.net/Job/Bildad.jpg Job and Bildad]. Drawing by Caitlin Foehse of an Illustration found in a 12th Century Greek Bible.
-**[http://mrlocke.net/Job/Bildad2.jpg Job and Bildad]. Same picture, but with color added for emphasis. Note Bildad pointing out to Job the plants growing from the dung heap.  Clearly, Bildad is an optimist!
+*[http://mrlocke.net/Job/Bildad2.jpg Same picture], but with color added for emphasis. Note Bildad pointing out to Job the plants growing from the dung heap.  Clearly, Bildad is an optimist!