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 "A NEW WORLD ORDER' Job 1:1, 2:1-10; Hebrews 1:1-4
When Paul and I were first married, we lived in Two VERY LONG years! And in that short time, we endured what we have come to call the seven plagues of southern fires, floods, riots, mudslides, earthquakes, freeways, and the O.J. Simpson trial. That's not even including the first year of marriage! More than once during that time we asked each other if that was how Job felt!
In today's Old Testament reading, Job is asking his wife one of the most intriguing questions in all of scripture. It may be the number one question we still wrestle with. He says to his wife, "Shall we receive the good at the hand of God, and not the bad?" Shall we, indeed. Job's wife asks him why, and he says "why not?" Shall we receive the good at the hand of God, and not the bad?
Why is it that bad things happen to good people? How many times have you asked your self "why" about something? Why do there have to be terrorists anywhere? What makes a man open fire on a roomful of Amish schoolgirls? Why are there birth defects, or so-called "natural" disasters? The questions that you and I ask ourselves are at least as old as the story of Job, and as recent as this morning's headlines. No matter how broad the scope of our tragedy or how personal, we still find ourselves asking the same question: why?
One of my seminary professors used to say that it's always right and appropriate to ask why. However, if someone tries to give you a "because" to go with it, he said, run away screaming!! We who operate on a plane of rationale and logic always want to know the "why" for everything. Yet even though we don't always get an answer to that question, we persist in asking it anyway. And the answers that we get, whether from others or ourselves, somehow always ring hollow. No, God did not plan out and certainly did not desire 9/11. No, the Amish schoolgirls did not deserve an ounce of what happened to them. So why, then?
It's normal and natural for us to ask "why. " But any kind of answer to that question outside of Job's "why not" will be at best unsatisfactory, and destructive at the worst. To paraphrase that bumper sticker, "Bad stuff happens." Bad things will indeed happen to good people. -------------------------------------------- But let me pose the question again. Think about this in another way. Shall we receive the good at the hand of God and not the bad? Shall we receive the good at the hand of God and not the bad? Ultimately, yes. Ultimately, we shall receive the good at the hand of God and not the bad. How do we know? Listen again to the opening of the book of Hebrews. "Long ago, God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets. But in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds."
Bad stuff may indeed happen, but more than that, grace happens. Now there's a bumper sticker for you! Grace happens.
God's love and God's grace are greater than any tragedy which may come our way. God rejoices when we rejoice, and weeps when we weep. God knows firsthand how it feels to lose a child unjustly. Yet God is able to take tragedy and evil and heartbreak, yours and mine and Job's and Jesus' and the world's, and overcome it all. Evil may happen, but it will never have the last word, because in these last days, we have been given a son.
This is a good time to talk about this notion that floats around about there being an "Old Testament God" and a "New Testament God." There probably aren't two better passages of scripture than these to set us straight about this. Friends, there is no such thing as two Gods in two testaments with two minds and two intentions for God's people. Our God is the same, yesterday, today and forever. God didn't somehow just discover a loving, forgiving side in the New Testament. The same God who gave us Jesus Christ also created us good, and stayed faithfully with the Hebrews in the Exodus, and gave us good commandments to order our lives, and called prophets to bring us back to God. In Jesus Christ, God has given us not a new God, but a new world order. God has come to us in human form to redefine the meaning of neighbor, to physically express God's good intentions for us, and to show us the sacrificial nature of love. Shall we receive the good at the hand of God and not the bad? Yes we shall. Indeed, we already have in the person of Jesus. This good gift which God has given us is no guarantee that nothing bad will ever happen to us, that injustice will cease and natural disasters will end and our lives will go perfectly. We won't be achieving that before Jesus comes again! But what we are guaranteed is that none of those things will ever have the last word. The price has been paid: a price of such great love and sacrifice that it covers the cost for you, and for me, and for everyone who gathers around font and table. -------------------------------------------------------- How in the world, then, can we acknowledge a gift like this? We can do so in the same way that we respond to God's good care: by living our lives in such a way that our beliefs are consistent with our actions.
One fairly obvious thing we can do, which may seem more simple than it is, is to keep our faith and belief in God constant, no matter what comes our way. Melody Beattie, who writes a lot in the self-help and recovery circles, suggests that we keep "an attitude of gratitude" going as often as possible. In every situation, she suggests, there is learning that can take place. The "learning" may be nothing more profound than learning how temporal life is. And the lesson may be no more revolutionary than learning how dependent we are upon God. Those are good lessons to learn. And it may be that we need to learn them again , and again, and again. Those people who move about in twelve-step circles, like the Alcoholics Anonymous groups, know that if you can't believe in God, or if you can't will to believe in God, it's possible to will to will to believe. Times will come for all of us, if they haven't already, where we will find it harder to believe in God than we do today. But if we can at least muster that will to believe, we're already further down the road than we would have been. One thing we can do to respond to God's good gift to us is to do our best to keep our faith constant, and to somehow find God present in every situation, even if it is only to console us as we seek to come to terms with it.
Another thing we can do to respond to God, believe it or not, is to be willing to keep talking to God, even to argue with God! I can't say enough about what an important part prayer plays in our relationship with God. But we don't always have to be pious in our prayers. We just need to pray. It is perfectly alright to get mad at God, to question God, to disagree with God if you need to. God can take it!
Scripture is full of stories of people who talk to God in "colorful" terms. Later on in the story of Job, Job finally takes all that he can take and really blows his stack at God. Moses talks to God through a burning bush, and when God asks him to be God's messenger, Moses nominates his brother-in-law instead! Even Jesus, that day on the cross, asks God why he had forsaken him.
Friends, our ancestors in the faith have been exactly in the same spot where we are sometimes. They have disagreed with God, and they have told God so. And if it was okay for them to do so, it's okay for us. It's only in the relationships that we really care about that we are willing to get vulnerable and dialogue and argue and keep on talking. And if we really care about our relationship with God, we will get vulnerable and dialogue and argue with God, too. One of the best ways we can respond to God is by keeping the lines of communication open: in praise, in gratitude, in times of need, and yes, even when we may see things differently than God. It was only when Job blew his stack at God that he learned once again what their right relationship should be. And so it may be for us.
We can also respond to the good gift of Jesus Christ through our life together as a faith community: through the things that we do with each other and say to each other, right here in this building and in this community. Coming to worship on a regular basis is part of it. Participating in worship is part of it. Doing service through Session, through MIB and COW and Youth Fellowship, through the Men's Prayer Group or the Women's Bible Study, through Praise Team or Choir or or teaching Sunday School or a million other ways, these are all ways that we can together continue to nurture that relationship. And best of all, you have the opportunity to gather around this table for sustenance, for fellowship, for comfort, and for renewal.
Shall we receive the good at the hand of God and not the bad? Actually, yes we shall. O taste and see that the Lord is good. Happy are all who find refuge in God!
Amen. |
