Sermon on Job

By Kathryn Aubry-McAvoy, Lay Preacher
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Good morning, my name is Kathryn. I am one of several lay members of the congregation who study and reflect on scripture together, and then we come and share our thoughts with you. Today is my turn.
 
No one was more surprised than I was, to feel drawn to thinking about our old testament reading for today, from the story of Job. Sometimes the Holy Spirit gives you a nudge and I’ve found it’s a good idea to respond; so here goes.
 
The Hebrew testament “book” called Job is an epic poem, 40 plus chapters in length, which deals with the difficult questions of suffering, justice and God’s role in our lives on earth.
 
The passage we read today is near the end, in the 38th chapter, when God answers Job out of a whirlwind.
 
 We are first introduced (by an unknown author) to a man called Job. This man does not have a history, unlike Abraham, Samuel, and David, for example, Job seems to pop up out of nowhere. He lives in a land called Uz. (This sounds a lot like Oz to me). All we are told of Uz (and bible scholars might correct me!), is that it is far, far away from Israel, and in the east. (still sounds like OZ, we are definitely not in Kansas anymore) So, Once upon a time there was man called Job who lived far far away…….I think the author is setting this up, somewhat like science fiction or fable to ask us to suspend our usual way of thinking.
 
I’m not a huge scifi fan, I’m sure there are many in the congregation, but I do like fable and myth, and I think that authors of this genre ask us to set aside our usual way of thinking of things; put aside our learned and practiced habits and have kind of and blank slate on the subjects. A couple of weeks ago Heather referred to God as the ultimate open-minded thinker. We need to try to model ourselves after this.
 
So, Job is an upright and blameless man, who has all the accoutrements of a successful life. He has a loving and friendly family, much property, livestock, and the story tells us, he blesses his family, and offers burnt offerings. This was the sign of devotion in that time. Job feared God and turned away from evil.
 
In the very next stanza, God is visited by the “heavenly beings” (this might be translated as Sons of God or angels), including one angel called “the accuser”, (this Hebrew word might be translated as the evil one or satan). God confronts the accuser, asking “where have you come from?” I seem to remember that the evil one was cast away by God to hell, …. but there’s plenty of evidence that in spite of that, evil still patrols the earth. I am not surprised that evil showed up! God holds up Job as an example of goodness to the accuser, and the accuser answers back. “Sure, he’s a good person, look at all the blessings you’ve given him; take those away and he will curse you.”
 
This is followed by terrible misfortune in Job’s life. He systematically loses everything; his wealth, his property, his children, everything, and yet he does not curse God or charge God with wrongdoing. The accuser again meets God and says “touch his bone and flesh” and then he will curse you, God says, Go ahead, afflict him, but spare his life and we will see. Job is covered with sores from head to toe, and even after his wife says enough already, curse God and die, you’d be better off, Job says “no, it is right that we receive both good and evil in life”, and he does not curse God.
 
The second part of the poem contains conversations between Job and his four pious friends. Eliphaz, friend #1 says “You must have sinned. That’s why this has happened to you.” (God has a few things to say about this, I love this expression: “humans are born to trouble, just as sparks fly upward”.)  Job responds to God and his friends as any of us might, “my complaint is just, this is not fair.” Friend #2, Bildad, says Job should repent, make supplication to God and God will restore you to your rightful place. Job responds as we might when faced with suffering, “what’s the point of my faith, why do I labor in vain?” 
 
And then Job hits bottom, “I loathe my life” And friend #3 Zophar says, “well, you must be guilty, and you deserve punishment. (Who needs enemies with friends like these, right?) Friend #4 is Elihu who at least, proclaims God’s goodness and says God does not despise us or take his eyes from us.
 
These debates go back and forth with Job reaffirming his innocence (and maintaining therefore that God has no reason to punish him) and bitterly praying for relief.  Job finally has had it with his friends and takes up his case directly with God. Then comes the beautiful passage we read today.
Read
So, what do we make of all this? Well, the question of whether God is or isn’t just is never answered, and we just don’t know, sometimes why bad things happen, but I think, like the author of a good scifi novel, God is asking Job and us to set aside our ideas of God as the one who brings worldly success, or war, or famine or death or miracle cures.
The universe is a vast, beautiful and amazing place, but God tells us, by example of 2 monster mythical characters Behemoth and Leviathan, that the universe is not always safe and it is not always designed to prevent suffering. (chaos happened, even in the Garden of Eden) I really don’t know why bad things happen, but I know there’s a great deal of chance in this world, and sometimes things happen because a million elements of a person’s life (most of them unknown) line up in a certain way.
 
I have learned a lot from people who have suffered. I have seen God give them the strength and wisdom to know, like Job, that God is with them, even in their deepest despair. I know also that God doesn’t send miracles, or rain down hardship. Miracles are not God’s purpose. God’s purpose is love. I think God sends people; peacemakers, counselors, skilled surgeons, teachers, healers and artists who do God’s work in the world. We are the miracle makers, in big ways, changing systems of oppression and violence in the world and in small, but mighty ways, like accompanying a friend in their grief and loss, or by adding one more beautiful painting or song to this amazing world.
 
In the end, we are reminded that, like Job, we should always bring our suffering to God. But our ideas of God’s purpose and action in the world may need a different narrative. If God’s purpose on earth is Love, and God is in us, we have the power to make miracles happen.
 
Amen

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