Job
13:1-15
My mom and dad never said so, but I believe they thought something
about my siblings and I. Actually,
there were times when they probably thought a lot of things about my siblings
and me, and not all of them positive!
But one of the things I imagine they thought about us was the
difference between our experiences as children and theirs. I did not suffer want as a child. I did not suffer loss. I did not suffer hardship to any great
degree, but my parents did. My dad
was a young boy when his father passed away and his father’s family tried to
take him and brother and sister away from their mother. My mom, as I’ve told you before, was
adopted as an infant by her aunt, who was a widow already struggling to raise
eight children on her own. My
parents faced a lot of struggle as they grew up. I did not.
I wonder what they thought about the differences in our early
years. I wonder if they thought we
weren’t as strong emotionally and spiritually. If they did, they were probably correct. I think their
experiences gave them a strength and depth of character, faith, and emotional
reserve that was deeper for them than me.
There are many studies about the differences in faith between those
of my parent’s generation and my generation and those that follow. One of the differences is the higher
likelihood that someone in my generation or younger will walk away from their
faith. There is much speculation
about why this is true, but I have my own suspicion – perhaps it’s because we
don’t possess the strengths of character and faith to the level of previous
generations. Maybe it’s the case
to say that when the going gets tough, we
walk away.
As we continue our series of messages from the book of Job, which we
will conclude next week, we’ve noted that Job’s story is greatly lacking in
cheerful content. The story of Job
is tough and difficult, but life is often tough and difficult, and we cannot be
in denial of that fact.
Job asked a lot of questions.
Job spent a good deal of time defending himself against the accusations
of his friends. Job had moments of
great despair. Job certainly must
have felt like giving up at some point even on life itself. But, interestingly, Job never
questioned his faith, or the idea of faith. No matter how painful the loss, no matter how deep his
grief, no matter how alone he felt, Job held to his faith. We need to come to an understanding not
just of the realities of life’s difficulties but of the resources that are
available to face those realities, and one of those resources, as we see in
Job, is that of faith.
So let’s read our Scripture passage for this morning, a passage
where we hear the pain and struggle of Job, a passage where he speaks to his
three friends out of his despair and the hurt of their accusations, but ends
with Job making an amazing declaration.
I’ll add that this may seem like a rather strange passage to read on
Mother’s Day. It’s kind of harsh
and reveals the brutal realities of Job’s experience. But, on the other hand, maybe it’s perfect for Mother’s Day,
because becoming a mother – becoming a parent – can reveal the brutal realities
of life as we worry about the world our children will inherit and we worry
about what life will bring to them.
I will also add that it is a temptation for churches to divorce
themselves from some of the harsher realities of life. It’s easy to come into church and
create an atmosphere that presumes everything is perfect in our lives, when, in
fact, our lives have a good deal of brokenness and struggle in them.
1 My
eyes have seen all this, my ears have heard and understood it.
2 What you know, I also know; I
am not inferior to you.
3 But I desire to speak to the Almighty and to argue my case with God.
4 You, however, smear me with lies; you are worthless physicians, all of you!
5 If only you would be altogether silent! For
you, that would be wisdom.
6 Hear now my argument; listen to the pleas of my
lips.
7 Will you speak wickedly on God’s behalf? Will you speak deceitfully for him?
8 Will you show him partiality? Will
you argue the case for God?
9 Would it turn out well if he examined you? Could
you deceive him as you might deceive a mortal?
10 He would surely call you to account if
you secretly showed partiality.
11 Would not his splendor terrify you? Would not the dread of him fall on you?
12 Your maxims are proverbs of ashes; your
defenses are defenses of clay.
13 “Keep silent and let me speak; then let come to me what may.
14 Why do I put myself in jeopardy and take my life
in my hands?
15 Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him. I
will surely defend my ways to his face.
Isn’t
that an amazing declaration Job makes at the end – Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him.
There are some people who truly earn the right to speak their mind,
and Job earned that right. Job, as
one who lost everything dear to him in life, had a right to speak his
mind. And he did. He speaks against his friends, he
asserts his desire to plead his case before God, and most impressively, Job
finishes this deeply emotional speech by affirming his faith in God, even to
say that though he slay me, yet will I hope in him.
How does one manage to get to the point of such a deep and abiding
faith? And are we able to follow
the example of Job and pass the test of faith when life is coming apart around
us?
I don’t know where I first heard the story, but a young lady came
home from school one day very upset.
She had done poorly on a test and had an argument with a friend. Across her test she had written the words
this is the worst day of my life and
slammed it down on the kitchen table.
Her mother picked up the paper and wrote underneath her daughter’s
words, I hope and pray this is the worst
day of your life.
If those kinds of disappointments are the biggest problems we face
in life, it would be a very blessed life.
I guess it would be a blessed life, but perhaps we are not blessed when
we escape suffering, because suffering is one of life’s greatest classrooms and
teach us some of life’s most important lessons and can teach us compassion and
builds within us a strength of faith that can come to us in no other way.
The question, then, is not whether or not we will face difficulty,
or how much difficulty we will face, but what will we do with that difficulty? How will we respond to that
difficulty? Will that difficulty
break us, or will it strengthen us?
Job doesn’t provide us with a list of answers as to how we should
respond to our sufferings in life.
In one way, the book of Job reminds me of a college classmate of mine
who actually wrote in his exam book one day I
know I haven’t written the answer to the question but you have to trust that I
do know the answer – I really do!
That didn’t work for him, but the book of Job gives that kind of answer.
It’s not a specific answer to
every difficult situation in life and there is no list offered of what you
should do when you face difficulty in life. But Job still gives an answer, and it’s an answer that
doesn’t, on the surface sound like an answer – though
he slay me, yet will I hope in him.
What
drives people to continue to have faith in the midst of profound and deep
suffering? And why do some walk
away from faith in the midst of their suffering? Biblical character after Biblical character demonstrates
their willingness to hold onto faith in spite of the sufferings they encounter;
in fact, they find that suffering deepens their faith.
Listen
to Paul in II Corinthians 11:23-28 – I
have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more
severely, and been exposed to death again and again. 24 Five times I received from the Jews the forty
lashes minus one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was
pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in
the open sea, 26 I have been constantly on the move. I have been
in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews,
in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in
danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. 27 I have labored and toiled and have often gone
without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food;
I have been cold and naked. 28 Besides everything else, I face daily the
pressure of my concern for all the churches.
What
would compel Paul to continue in the face of such incredibly difficult
circumstances? Faith. Some of the greatest beauty comes out of our suffering.
Christian
Wiman has written a fascinating book titled My
Bright Abyss: Meditation of A
Modern Believer. I like the
way he puts those two words together – Bright
Abyss. He was 39 years old,
married less than a year, when he received a diagnosis of incurable
cancer. One of the very
interesting comments he makes is that one speaks differently when standing on a cliff. His illness completely transformed his
life, and the major transformation was that it brought life to what he calls a long, dormant faith. Because of that gift – the resurrection
of faith in his life – would he wish he had not faced such a difficult
struggle?
Jim Carrey starred in the movie The
Truman Show. The movie has a
fascinating concept, where Jim Carrey plays the character of Truman, a man who
is the subject of a reality TV show, although he does not know that his entire
life has been the subject of the show or that the idyllic community in which he
lives is actually the set of a TV show.
He life is one of predictable routine and free from troubles. In spite of his good life and in spite
of living in such a beautiful community, Truman senses there is more to life
and to the world than what he knows.
He finally decides he needs to strike out into the larger world,
although the creator of the TV show knows this would be a disaster for the
program. As Truman boards a small
sailboat and sets off for the mainland, the creator of the show orders his
staff to create a storm, in the hopes it will cause Truman to turn back. Truman, however, keeps going, although
he almost drowns when his boat capsizes.
Eventually, Truman runs into the end of the set, and at that point the
show’s creator speaks to Truman from high up in the control room. He entreats Truman not to leave, saying
that in my world you have nothing to fear. And that is true. Truman could stay in his beautiful,
fear-free world, but he chooses to leave and enter into the real world, where
there is much sadness, heartache, and suffering. Why would anyone leave such a setting? Why not stay where life exists in a
protective bubble?
Job asks us a question, and it is the question of whether or not we
want to live in a protective bubble or in the real world. It would be wonderful, at least on the
surface, to live in an idyllic world like Truman’s, but wouldn’t we miss much
of the richness of life if we did?
The great irony of life is that without our struggles and difficulties
we would not know so much of the beauty of life. If we never suffer loss we would not know the beauty of a
friend who sits and mourns our loss with us. If we never know disappointment in life we never know the
joy of the sweet and good moments of life. And on and on we could go, in terms of other examples.
Yes, life is difficult, and there is much sadness and struggle that
we experience. But in the face of
all that comes our way, may we, like Job, pass the test of faith.
No comments:
Post a Comment