Job Chapter 7

Click here for Audio

Lesson 7

Scripture: Job 38:1 – 42:6

Main Idea: The Lord speaks

To me this is the best section of the whole book of Job. Though it may not be to others, it is the response of God to the whole scenario that has played out so far. Let’s recap for a moment. After the introduction where we are presented with the test of Job, we follow along as Job goes through his difficulties. His wealth is taken from him and he loses all of his children. Then if that were not enough, God allows Satan to hurt him with painful sores all over his body. We have followed his lamenting about his loss and his continual arguing about his innocence. I like the word lamenting. Do you know what it means? Simply, it means to whine. Then we followed his three friends who felt they had all the answers and they let Job know that they were upset with him. It could only have been some great sin that Job committed or the sin of one of his ancestors that has caused this great tragedy. But through it all, Job still proclaims his innocence. And then we are presented with Elihu, a young man who claims to know even more than his three friends. And he had the audacity to speak for God. But through it all, Job’s primary question has been why? Why has this happened to me? Throughout our lives we encounter situations and crisis that happen to ourselves or others and almost always the why question occurs. And for most of us, we find it difficult to answer the question, just as his three friends and Elihu had trouble doing. They found answers by dealing with the problem in black and white terms. In other words, there must be an obvious answer to this problem. Someone obviously has done something wrong or else the situation would never have happened in the first place. Unfortunately, that is the answer that most people will respond with. Someone must have sinned. Someone must have done something to cause this. God had a plan and it is just part of the plan. Aren’t those the answers you are used to hearing? So what we expect from God is some sort of answer that tells us of justice, of sin or of punishment. But that is not what we hear. Rather, God begins to describe what God can do.

First God demands of Job to stand up like a man and listen to him. And then God wants Job to answer him when he asks each question. The first question concerns creation. I love the words, “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?” Then he almost taunts him, “surely you know”. And then were you when the seas opened their doors and spilled onto the earth. Could you have controlled such a thing? Could you control the morning and cause the earth to know dawn from dusk? And a deep question for all of us. Do we know the gates of death or is there any among us who have explored Hell itself, called here the great darkness. Do we have the ability to define where the earth stops and heaven and hell begin? These are not scientific questions per se, but have relevance as we explore the universe. And then he taunts again. Surely you were born when all of this was created, God says, and your age is old enough to remember, isn’t it?

God then asks, “Is it possible that we can understand the seasons? I looked up what the term “Mazzaroth” means and found a great many answers but an apparent lack of agreement on the meaning. That is to say, most seem to think that Mazzaroth refers to the entire Zodiac. Some even go so far as to suggest that God gave Adam the key to understanding the grand plan when everything would come full circle. Interestingly enough, astrologers of ancient times certainly seemed to have more understanding of world events as prophesized by zodiac activity than we do today. Some would suggest that as we leave the age of Pisces the fish and enter into Aquarius that the zodiac symbols suggest the beginning of the end, or the end of the beginning.

          God challenges Job and ultimately us with this speech. Do we have the power to control the weather, the stars, or the oceans? Do we in fact have the power to create the animals or the fish or birth itself? And the answer is a resounding no. Can we learn on limited basis to control wild animals? You might ask the two lion tamers, one who is permanently disfigured as a result of one those tame lions lashing out. Scientists have a great many theories about how species evolved and how many of our animals became to look like they do. But have they authoritative proof? And the answer depends on who you are speaking to. What do you say? In the 40^th chapter, God then turns to Job and asks him, do we have the understanding and the wisdom to understand God? Notice, that God does not say, “Do you have the right to ask why.” Rather, his whole argument is based on our ability to understand the power and glory and creation of the world by God. And Job astutely answers him with humbleness.

          God is not done. In chapter 40, verse 6 he begins again. Job, stand up like a man and I will question you and you will answer me. It almost seems at this point that God is answering the response of Job concerning God as an enemy. Or that God might have been unjust in Job’s misfortune. God uses two mythical creatures in this argument. The first is the Behemoth. Was this a real creature? Some say yes, a great ox, like that of an elephant or a hippopotamus or even a dinosaur. And legend has it that only God could kill it. And then God begins to discuss the Leviathan. IN ancient mythology the Behemoth and Leviathan were created at the same time, one male and one female, one land dwelling and one sea dwelling. And these ancient stories suggest that they will fight at the end of the world, both perishing in that battle. Others suggest something that I find quite interesting. IN the language of Job, Leviathan is described this way. It is a dangerous animal with teeth that cause terror, a mouth that spouts flame and a heart as hard as stone. When it raises itself the Gods are afraid, maybe in this describing an early understanding of angels. Is God describing Jesus arch enemy, Satan? Descriptions of Satan certainly fit this descriptiveness of Leviathan. And verse 10 has been translated by at least one commentator as the one who dared stand before me in heaven. Is this God reaching back to the original discussion before the test began? What do you think? Hear the last words, “It surveys everything that is lofty; it is king over all that are proud.” This certainly describes ego, humanity at its worst and possibly Satan.

          And then Job answers by repenting. What is it that Job is repenting for? Now that we have heard God speaking, what do we make of his speech? What is he saying to us?

Questions

Read Job chapter 38:1 – chapter 41:6

Answer the following questions in discussion group:

1.    What challenge does God give Job?

2.    What was Job’s original question?

3.    Does God answer that original question?

4.    What is God’s point in his speech to Job?

It is Better to Give

Sermon given at Sydenstricker UMC 12/17/17

Click here for audio

^NRS John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being ⁴ in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. ⁶ There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. ⁷ He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. ⁸ He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. ⁹ The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. ¹⁰ He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. ¹¹ He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. ¹² But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, ¹³ who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God. ¹⁴ And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth. ¹⁵ (John testified to him and cried out, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.'") ¹⁶ From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. ¹⁷ The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father's heart, who has made him known.

Welcome to the third weekend of Advent. Advent is a time when we anticipate the celebration of the birth of Christ. The world has worked to remove Christ from Christmas in many ways, focusing our efforts on giving and receiving of gifts, focusing on the commercialization of Christmas and even trying to remove Christ by putting an X in its place. Funny thing about all of that Christmas cannot be Christmas without Christ at the beginning of it. It would just be mas. What is a mas? Moreover, the X, the Greek letter that represents Christ is X so even removing the word Christ and replacing it with an X still leaves Christ in Christmas. So even Grinch could not remove the spirit of Christmas from the holiday, even if we call it Happy Holidays instead of Christmas. So here we are, celebrating the third week of the anticipation time of Christmas, Advent. We celebrate because we are Christians and because we know that Jesus was born, lived, preached and teaches, died on the cross and three days later was resurrected. Because of that, we know that we have received a gift greater than anything we can buy, work into or deserve. As Christians, we anticipate celebrating the birth, which begins a journey that continues to Easter, and then we anticipate the return of Jesus, which is in front of us.

So today, I want to talk to you about giving. Francis Assisi reminds us, “For it is in giving that we receive.” Dale Evans remarked, “Christmas, my child, is love in action. Every time we love, every time we give, it's Christmas.” Therefore, there is something there, which we capture every time we give. Moreover, this is a giving church. So far, this year we have shared our love with 255 patients at Western State, over 80 stockings for children, over 40 boxes of food and the list goes on. I am thankful for being part of a giving church. We truly are a blessing to the community we serve. I want to talk today about being blessed as much as being a blessing. Dr. Seuss reminds us that, “Maybe Christmas, the Grinch thought, doesn’t come from a store.” Imagine for a moment that we go down to the mall and begin to look for a specific present to purchase. We go to Macy’s and Target, we explore Sears and JC Penny’s and all of the smaller store but nowhere can we find a single purchase of salvation to be had. When we walk through the mall, we may feel love surround us.  I have yet to see it in a package that can be bought. We can purchase things that allow us to share love but we cannot buy it.

So today, I want to talk about true giving. It comes from the heart and we have great examples of it. The greatest example of love and the one we should hold especially dear in our hearts is the gift given to us by God. John 3: 16 says that God sent Jesus, God’s only son so that we will not perish but have everlasting life. On December 25^th each year, we remember and celebrate the birth of Jesus in that lowly setting. Jesus, the Son of God, himself God as John reminds us in his text, came to us in a small town called Bethlehem. There in the place where animals rested and were fed, Jesus came into the world. No doctors or mid-wives attending, a natural childbirth that we know is painful and emotional. Can you imagine being 14 or 15 years of age, having a child in a barn full of animals? We know that it might well have been a cave since caves were used to house animals in the first century. There the gift from God came into the world and they laid him in a manger, a feeding trough for animals. I cannot help but think that God, the great creator could have brought Jesus into the world anywhere and at any time. Instead of luxury and glory, Jesus came into the world in humbleness and love.

God loves us so much that God knowing that Adam had failed at returning love to God in the way God intended and through that act brought sin and death into the world. In spite of that, God’s love for us never wavered, not once in thousands of years, and so God bridged that great divide that sin creates. Sin separates us from God and from the paradise that God intended for us from creation. There is no way to buy it, no way to work hard enough to earn it and nothing we can do to deserve it. Yet God gives it to us freely anyway. I cannot help but think how much love God must have for us that God would give us all God has to give in Jesus. What a true gift. Adam Hamilton writes, “God seeks to influence humanity. This is at the heart of the Christmas story. It is the story of light coming into the darkness, of a Savior to show us the way, of light overcoming the darkness, of God's work to save the world.”

When we, the people of Jesus, believing in His teaching, His example and are willing to follow Him, we become a blessing to the world around us. Believing in Jesus is simply not enough, even the demons believe Jesus to be the Son of God. Following Jesus is what we are called to do. Following is harder than believing. I can believe that my country needs me and enlist or receive a commission to serve. However, serving, especially in wartime is a more difficult thing to do. In that moment, we realize that our lives are on the line, life changes. Life becomes more precious and our purpose can become clearer or more conflicted. However, one thing is sure, at that moment there is no doubt what the consequences of that earlier decision can lead to. I use this example because I believe in the setting I am currently in, you can relate better. Jesus is asking to us to enlist in a cause far more worthy than our country. Jesus is calling us to share God’s love with the world and right now not doing that has deadly consequences for those in the world around us. Without knowing that God has given us a great gift in Jesus, who was born, lived to teach and share by example how we are to love one another and then went to the cross that we may all share in eternal life. Following Jesus means that we take that gift like the sweater from Aunt Mildred and we wear it so that everyone can see it. We learn to love one another in ways that share that love even and especially to those who struggle to love. In following Jesus, we experience the hills and valleys of being human. In the valleys, we share the sorrows and the sadness of life with those around us, lifting them up. On hilltops, we share with joy and gladness the love of Jesus poured through us out into the world for others.

During this season, we are called to reach out to the marginalized, the poor, the helpless and the ill. We are called to share God’s love with them because most of the world will not. We are called to love one another unconditionally so that everyone may experience the love that came down at the birth of Jesus into the world. John reminds us that Jesus is the light, a beacon of love that permeates the darkness so that we may see truth. John reminds us that the through Jesus we have been given grace upon grace by God. When we share that grace with the world we receive an even greater blessing. So I challenge you this Christmas season to give. Give of your heart to those in the world around you. Give love to those who experience little or no love in the world throughout the year. Give because we are called to give but also because love needs you to share it.

God so loved the world, that God gave us Jesus. Whoever believes and follows His path shall not die, but live forever. Merry Christmas!

Job Chapter 6

Click here for audio

Lesson 6

Scripture: Job 32:1 – 37:24

Main Idea: Elihu Speaks

          Elihu’s speech is longer than that of Job and is the longest of all of the speeches including God’s response in the next session. Elihu is young and he argues that he has deferred giving his response because of his age. He does not like Job’s claim to innocence nor does he like the responses of Job’s three friends though we could argue that he is not far from their arguments in his response. And he feels that the three friends should not have stopped in their arguments even though Job is unwavering in his belief of his righteousness. We see in verse 9 that he believes that age itself is not the determination of wisdom. How might he be right and how might he be wrong? He is upset at Job on two counts, Job’s response of his innocence and Job believing that God has become his enemy. He suggests that God has many tools to deal with humanity in order to keep us from the pit. The pit was the ancient understanding of Hell, a place where people who failed to receive God’s grace went upon their death. He begins by demanding a right to speak. He believes Job’s suffering is redemptive, that is, as a result of some sin that Job has committed. He argues that Job is suffering as retribution for that sin and that Job needs to reflect deeply on his life and resolve whatever sin he is or has committed and then come to God with a repentive heart. His argument is that God is above sin and suffering and will not arbitrarily cause this to happen to humanity unless for retribution or discipline. Elihu argues that God did all these things to Job, took his land, his possessions and his family in order to improve Job’s character. He condemns Job as an unrepentive sinner. What is the difference between an unrepentive and a repentive sinner? I am curious what you think of Elihu based on verse 18 through 22 of the 32^nd chapter. Hear his words: ^NRS Job 32:18 For I am full of words; the spirit within me constrains me. ¹⁹ My heart is indeed like wine that has no vent; like new wineskins, it is ready to burst. ²⁰ I must speak, so that I may find relief; I must open my lips and answer. ²¹ I will not show partiality to any person or use flattery toward anyone. ²² For I do not know how to flatter-- or my Maker would soon put an end to me! How do you respond? How might his response be different if he had knowledge of the test?

          In chapter 36, the 4^th verse, Elihu proclaims that he is perfect in his understanding. He believes no one has the right to challenge God. In our modern era this would seem to be the basis for those who say we cannot question God. We will deal more with that in the next session. But Elihu is right about some things. He believes that God will resolve this matter and he anticipates that resolution. What we will come to see is that though he is right, he is wrong in how God will respond to Job and to everyone else. In the 34^th chapter, the 11^th verse, he condemns Job by suggesting he knows what God is doing and Job should know also. What do you think?

Finally in the 36^th chapter Elihu maybe goes too far. He begins his dialogue in verses 2-4: ^NRS Job 36:1 Elihu continued and said: ² "Bear with me a little, and I will show you, for I have yet something to say on God's behalf. ³ I will bring my knowledge from far away, and ascribe righteousness to my Maker. ⁴ For truly my words are not false; one who is perfect in knowledge is with you. Elihu would have us believe that he is perfect in his knowledge of what God does and why God does it. In fact, Elihu wants us to believe that his knowledge is vast and of great wisdom. He is presumptuous that he believes he alone can speak for God. That begs the question; can anyone truly speak for God? Under what circumstances might someone speak on behalf of God and it not be going too far?

          In the end, Elihu presents the same argument that the other three have already presented. They all believe that Job is guilty of something and that the sin he, Job, has committed is the reason for his suffering. Job meanwhile is clearly of the opinion that he has committed no sin and that the suffering is God’s decision to single him out. In fact, we know that this is true. That Job’s suffering is a result of God allowing Satan to test his faith, nothing more, nothing less. And Job feels righteous in arguing with God. Elihu is right in that God is going to respond to all of this. However, Elihu, nor Job, expects the response in the direction that it will come.

Questions

Answer the following questions in discussion group:

1.    What is it that Elihu is angry about?

2.    Why is Elihu speaking?

3.    What specifically is Elihu upset with Job about?

4.    What does Elihu believe God send us to allow us to hear what God wants us to know?

5.    What does Elihu suggest we do in order to be right with God?

6.    Where might Elihu have stepped over the line?

Be afraid

Sermon given at Sydenstricker UMC 12/3/17

Click here for audio

^NRS Matthew 2:1 In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, ² asking, "Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage." ³ When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; ⁴ and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. ⁵ They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: ⁶ 'And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.'" ⁷ Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. ⁸ Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage."…..¹⁶ When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men. ¹⁷ Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah: ¹⁸ "A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they are no more."

I love the Grinch stole Christmas. Today, similar to what Ellsworth Kalas would say, I feel a little like the Grinch and Scrooge wrapped together. As you came here today you probably are expecting a feel good Advent sermon and I hope not to entirely disappoint. But as with anything else in life, the easy button is missing and the cat bit into the electrical wires which burned down the tree. In case you are not familiar with the last it comes from a great Christmas movie. This scripture reminds us that Jesus is born into a very turbulent time. There is much that is not right with the world around Him at His birth. His world is a world of war, slavery, deceit, inhumanity and great taxation. Hmmm! Sounds a little like our world today.

We start with Herod. Now there are two Herod’s in the Bible and they are related. This is the Herod of the birth narrative. A charming fellow he is indeed. He has executed his wife, her mother, and three of his sons because he is an insecure, suspicious, paranoid and evil man. It is nothing to get on the wrong side of this guy and before you know it, your life is done. Herod rose to power with vindictiveness following the lead of the Romans who were a vicious foe to their enemies, often leaving no-one alive to tell the tale except the victor. Herod rules Israel with an iron hand, taxing the people beyond humanly possible and squelching any sign of rebellion or opposition to his rule. It is said in the years just before Jesus birth that he contracted gangrene and kidney failure leaving him in pain most of the time which only exasperated his already over the top evilness.

Into this world come the Magi. Now they are an interesting bunch of folk we have very little information about. But let us suffice it to say that they took prophecy, astrology and history to be very important. Imagine for a moment that you saw certain signs in the heavens which matched prophecy about a certain birth of a King and then spend the next several years in search of that King. That is the type of person we are talking about. They spend untold amounts of money on this venture giving up much to find Jesus. So they arrive in Jerusalem and reach a dead end. Sort of! They find themselves in the company of Herod, remember him, telling him they have come to see the King of the Jews who has been born. Imagine for a moment what fear and insecurity went through Herod’s mind. He would kill to know where this child is and then of course he would kill the child if he could. So his wisest of men tell him and the Magi of the prophecy that will lead them to Bethlehem. But he asks them to come back and tell him about this baby so that he may too go and, well, you can figure the next part out. So the Magi go to Bethlehem, see baby Jesus and then because of a dream go home a different way. We will talk more about their visit on another day. But the moment that Herod finds out that they went a different way, his insecurity reaches boiling point. He sends his soldiers into Bethlehem slaying every male child 2 and younger. This part fulfills part of the prophecy by the way of Jeremiah where there will be a wailing of despair among the mothers.

Kind of a sad and uncomfortable story about the birth of Christ don’t you think. But it gets more interesting from that point on. And I might add it gets more personable. You see the scripture tells us that all Jerusalem was frightened with Herod. Now why on earth would the whole of Jerusalem be frightened? I might ask, are you frightened about this news of the birth of Christ? Why not? I think maybe each and every one of us should be. I believe that they were all frightened for possibly one of two reasons. The first is they feared the reaction of Herod. What would he do? Aren’t we living in the fear of rulers today? What is the ruler of North Korea going to do? What about our own president? Whether you like him or not I suspect that you wish he would stop tweeting. When I did that as a kid my mother took away my whistle, problem solved. But don’t we all live in some kind of fear of what is going on the world and what the rulers of the world are doing? They don’t really care what you and I think.

But it is that second fear that I think we need to focus on. You see the prophecy said that Jesus is coming to rule the world. That Jesus is coming to judge. That Jesus is coming to shake things up. And He did and He still does. You see we might just fear Jesus birth because of what it is asking of us. Richard Rohr suggests that we as Christians are long for a way of following Jesus that has more to do with lifestyle than with belief. In other words, following Jesus means leaving your comfortable living behind for a challenge in the unknown. What it means is that to be a true follower of Jesus requires that we embrace His presence in our lives, allow ourselves to begin a transformation that leads to us becoming an imitation of Jesus in the world. Scary stuff! It means that to be a true Christian, one must become a disciple who desires to love one another regardless. It is more than just saying it; it is doing it day after day. I have to tell you that it is hard. I fail at it regularly but I know that Jesus lifts me up in my failures.

I believe the whole world is really scared of this birth because it means we have to stop being selfish, we have to stop focusing on our agenda and we have to set ourselves aside to focus on those who are marginalized, homeless and who are living lives without God in their hearts. It means that as John Wesley said to us, winning souls is our number one agenda, not gathering for a meal, not focusing on meetings without devotions and spiritual focus, but gathering with the intent of growing mature disciples. Nothing less is acceptable. I believe that concept scares the hearts of many of us day in and day out. So I have no doubt that when the word that Jesus had been born, it scared the world. Here was God incarnate come to judge whether or not we have love in our heart and most of the time we will be convicted. We all too often have our own ego’s, our own agendas, our own desires in front of what God wants. I see it every day in every place and the sad thing it is here in this church, right now, right here!

But here is the good news. Jesus birth reminds us that we have a second chance to be something greater than ourselves. We have a chance to learn how to love one another without regard to where we were born, what life we have led or how we got into this place today. When we embrace the birth of Jesus and invite Jesus into our hearts we can become one with Him, we can learn how to love like He did and we can become His imitation in the world.

Richard Rohr shared the teaching of the Zen Master and I want to share it with you. Imagine for a moment that you are sitting here preparing yourself to experience Holy Communion. But more than experiencing, you are preparing yourself to become Christ in the table. Please close your eyes and listen carefully to these words.

The Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh teaches this wisdom through the ceremony and meditation of tea:

You must be completely awake in the present to enjoy the tea.
Only in the awareness of the present, can your hands feel the pleasant warmth of the cup.
Only in the present, can you savor the aroma, taste the sweetness, appreciate the delicacy.
If you are ruminating about the past, or worrying about the future, you will completely miss the experience of enjoying the cup of tea.
You will look down at the cup, and the tea will be gone.
Life is like that.
If you are not fully present, you will look around and it will be gone.
You will have missed the feel, the aroma, the delicacy and beauty of life.
It will seem to be speeding past you. The past is finished.
Learn from it and let it go.
The future is not even here yet. Plan for it, but do not waste your time worrying about it.
Worrying is worthless.
When you stop ruminating about what has already happened, when you stop worrying about what might never happen, then you will be in the present moment.
Then you will begin to experience joy in life. 

Imagine Christ before you being absorbed into you. It is then and only then that you will truly experience the risen Lord, the divine savior and the true essence of God’s love.

And in that moment feel your heart grow three sizes larger.

Let us pray….