Being Good ... For Nothing
Sermon
Sermons On The First Readings
Series II, Cycle B
If I were to ask you to complete the sentence, "You know it is going to be a bad day when ..." how would you respond? Let me give you a few examples.
You know it is going to be a bad day when your car horn sticks on Interstate 75 and you are behind 32 Hell's Angels. You know it is going to be a bad day when you arrive at work and find a Sixty Minutes news team waiting in your office. You know it is going to be a bad day when your birthday cake collapses from the weight of the candles. You know it is going to be a bad day when you turn on the evening news and they are showing evacuation routes out of the city. You know it is going to be a bad day when your twin sister forgets your birthday.
It's good that we can laugh at some of these silly suggestions, isn't it? It's good, because we know that we all have some of those kind of days, and they are anything but funny.
Take Jeannie, for example. She had majored in motherhood for 25 years, and then her last child left home. Her nest was empty, and the many tasks she had performed for her family, tasks which defined who she was, were no longer necessary. Even more shattering, her husband left her, asking for a divorce. Suddenly, Jeannie found herself unneeded by her children, unwanted by her husband, and all alone. Her world had collapsed. Even God seemed far away.
Or what about Danielle? She had worked hard to achieve her goals. She had been a good student in high school and was the first in her family to attend college. After graduation she began working for a nationally known retailer and worked her way up to store manager. Devoting herself totally to the company, she believed that it was only a matter of time until she became district manager. Danielle's dreams were coming true, until one day life became a nightmare. The area manager stopped by her store and talked with her using words such as "restructuring, downsizing, and streamlining." Danielle was let go, and became very depressed. Because she had not been accustomed to calling on God, she had no idea even how to begin.
Then there are the runaways. Frightening statistics tell us that there are more than a million youth living on the streets in our country. Surprisingly, most are from middle- and upper-class families. Take Jay, for instance.
Jay was sixteen years old, living in and around a shopping mall. His father had lost his job five years earlier, and his parents divorced shortly afterward. The father remarried, but Jay and his stepmother did not get along. Soon he left to live with his mother. She had also remarried, and he did not fit in there, either. So, he found odd jobs for a few weeks to support himself. When winter came, he called his father to ask if he could come back home, but his father told him he never wanted to see him again. Jay's last comment was, "I just want to die so I won't hurt any more."
We have all struggled with losses of one kind or another, and sooner or later we arrive at the big three-letter question, "Why?" Have you ever wondered, "Why must I go through what I am experiencing?" "Why is there suffering in this world?"
To be honest, I would be very surprised if you answered me by saying, "No, I have never wondered about suffering." "I have never wondered why I have to go through this experience." I believe the question of suffering is universal. Suffering is all around us, and maybe you have already experienced more than your share. Eventually, each of us will wonder why we have to face and endure some of the experiences that come our way. In fact, this question of suffering is so all-embracing that there is an entire book in the Bible that was written just to deal with this one specific issue. That book is the book of Job.
You'll find Job in the Old Testament right before the book of Psalms. Open your Bible to the middle, flip back a few pages, and there it is, just waiting for you (demonstrate). I have a feeling it is placed in such an easy spot to find because it addresses the universal question of suffering. We all need immediate access to the story of poor Job, because his story just may be our story, too. Follow along with me and see if you don't agree.
As our story begins, we learn immediately that Job is a righteous man. The Bible tells us he is "blameless and upright," and as a result, he is very wealthy. He has everything a person could ever want, a wonderful wife and children, abundant possessions, incredible wealth, and good health. Scripture tells us, "This man was the greatest of all the people in the east."
Job is a wealthy, righteous, blameless man who suddenly loses everything. His oxen and donkeys have been stolen, his sheep have been destroyed by a heavenly fire, the camels have been taken away, and all his sons and daughters have been killed when their house is destroyed by a mighty wind.
After the tragic losses of his livelihood and children, Job also loses his health, being stricken with "loathsome sores ... from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head." Job's words reach across the centuries to allow us a glimpse of just how he looked. He describes himself as "shriveled up" and says that his arms and legs are mere shadows of what they once were, and his bones cling to his flesh. He sits in a heap of ashes outside the city walls, scratching his sores with pieces of broken pottery. People are appalled at the sight of him, and spit at him because of the way he looks. They despise him, leaving him very much alone in his suffering.
Covered with sores, Job resolves not to be silent. He curses the day he was born, and yearns for death. Job has been caught up in a web of confusion and deceit spun by Satan. In Job's day, there was a simple philosophy of life. Like all of his peers, Job believed that if you were righteous, you prospered. If you were wicked, you suffered. Job has discovered that this simple philosophy just does not hold up. He has done nothing to deserve such suffering. Job may have felt that he had spent a lifetime being good ... for nothing.
Some people chafe at the terms sin and Satan, believing these terms are outdated and untrue. But, where does all the suffering and violence in this world come from? According to scripture, sin and evil are destructive forces that are within and around us all. Because of our sin, all of us are part of the problem of suffering. We do bring about some of our suffering because of poor choices we make, and because of our sinful natures. But, there is also much suffering which is beyond easy answers, as well as beyond our control.
There is an old saying that is sometimes used to challenge people who are suffering. We say, "When the going gets tough, the tough get going!" Job would express this differently. He might say that when the going gets tough, the tough curse and lament. It is as if Job is a pawn on a giant heavenly chessboard, being moved about according to the whims of those who control the game.
Job expresses his intense pain and despair by talking to God. Though Job refuses to curse God when calamity strikes, his words remind us of an expression we use when we are in desperation and pain: "I wish that I had never been born."
As Rabbi Harold Kushner so famously noted, "bad things do happen to good people."1 When Kushner's son, Aaron, died from progeria, or rapid aging, he had believed that God was a God of retribution, a God of rewards and punishments. Kushner struggled with the question, "Why do the righteous suffer?" or, as he put it, I have tried "to do what is right in the sight of God. How can God do this to me?"2 We feel that something has gone terribly wrong, because God is not supposed to behave that way. That's not part of the deal, and we find ourselves asking, "Where is God in all this?"
Mrs. Job is wondering the very same thing. She is also devastated at the loss of her children, her servants, her social status, and her source of support. In the raising of her children, she was probably a vital part of a family of faith. "Do you still persist in your integrity?" she asks her husband.
We ask the very same question Job asked. Where do I turn when I feel that only God can help me, but I can't find God? Job laments that God is hiding from him. "If I go forward, he is not there; or backward, I cannot perceive him; on the left he hides, and I cannot behold him; I turn to the right, but I cannot see him." Job's heart is faint. Is it too much to expect God to answer us? This is what faith is all about. Faith is believing what we cannot see. "Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1).
We can take great comfort in knowing that suffering is not God's will. God may know about our suffering, and God may be present in it, but God is not the cause of it. There are forces in the world, and our own life choices, that land us where we do not want to be. Suffering is not a punishment for our sins. Look at the multiple tragedies that befell Job, "a blameless and upright God-fearing person."
There is suffering in the world -- catastrophic, overwhelming, and destructive suffering. Far from ignoring this reality, scripture is intent on identifying the sources of suffering and proclaiming a gracious and compassionate God who, through the cross, overcomes suffering and death on our behalf. God takes an active role in our suffering. God does not merely stand by but "consoles us in all our afflictions, so we may be able to console those who are in any affliction" (2 Corinthians 1:4). In order to help others through their suffering, we must be personally acquainted with suffering. Christ himself taught us this lesson.
We grow through suffering, knowing that God stands with us in our sorrow. So does our church, our community of faith. My prayer for each of you this day is that you may know the presence of the living God in your lives, and that in times of trial, know that God suffers with you. God is with you always, as your guide and your comforter, offering all the strength you need to face tomorrow.
____________
1.ÊPeter J. Gomes, "Storm Center: When Bad Things Happen," The Christian Century 120, no. 11 (May 31, 2003), p. 8.
2.ÊHarold S. Kushner, When Bad Things Happen to Good People (New York: Schocken, 1981), p. 2.
You know it is going to be a bad day when your car horn sticks on Interstate 75 and you are behind 32 Hell's Angels. You know it is going to be a bad day when you arrive at work and find a Sixty Minutes news team waiting in your office. You know it is going to be a bad day when your birthday cake collapses from the weight of the candles. You know it is going to be a bad day when you turn on the evening news and they are showing evacuation routes out of the city. You know it is going to be a bad day when your twin sister forgets your birthday.
It's good that we can laugh at some of these silly suggestions, isn't it? It's good, because we know that we all have some of those kind of days, and they are anything but funny.
Take Jeannie, for example. She had majored in motherhood for 25 years, and then her last child left home. Her nest was empty, and the many tasks she had performed for her family, tasks which defined who she was, were no longer necessary. Even more shattering, her husband left her, asking for a divorce. Suddenly, Jeannie found herself unneeded by her children, unwanted by her husband, and all alone. Her world had collapsed. Even God seemed far away.
Or what about Danielle? She had worked hard to achieve her goals. She had been a good student in high school and was the first in her family to attend college. After graduation she began working for a nationally known retailer and worked her way up to store manager. Devoting herself totally to the company, she believed that it was only a matter of time until she became district manager. Danielle's dreams were coming true, until one day life became a nightmare. The area manager stopped by her store and talked with her using words such as "restructuring, downsizing, and streamlining." Danielle was let go, and became very depressed. Because she had not been accustomed to calling on God, she had no idea even how to begin.
Then there are the runaways. Frightening statistics tell us that there are more than a million youth living on the streets in our country. Surprisingly, most are from middle- and upper-class families. Take Jay, for instance.
Jay was sixteen years old, living in and around a shopping mall. His father had lost his job five years earlier, and his parents divorced shortly afterward. The father remarried, but Jay and his stepmother did not get along. Soon he left to live with his mother. She had also remarried, and he did not fit in there, either. So, he found odd jobs for a few weeks to support himself. When winter came, he called his father to ask if he could come back home, but his father told him he never wanted to see him again. Jay's last comment was, "I just want to die so I won't hurt any more."
We have all struggled with losses of one kind or another, and sooner or later we arrive at the big three-letter question, "Why?" Have you ever wondered, "Why must I go through what I am experiencing?" "Why is there suffering in this world?"
To be honest, I would be very surprised if you answered me by saying, "No, I have never wondered about suffering." "I have never wondered why I have to go through this experience." I believe the question of suffering is universal. Suffering is all around us, and maybe you have already experienced more than your share. Eventually, each of us will wonder why we have to face and endure some of the experiences that come our way. In fact, this question of suffering is so all-embracing that there is an entire book in the Bible that was written just to deal with this one specific issue. That book is the book of Job.
You'll find Job in the Old Testament right before the book of Psalms. Open your Bible to the middle, flip back a few pages, and there it is, just waiting for you (demonstrate). I have a feeling it is placed in such an easy spot to find because it addresses the universal question of suffering. We all need immediate access to the story of poor Job, because his story just may be our story, too. Follow along with me and see if you don't agree.
As our story begins, we learn immediately that Job is a righteous man. The Bible tells us he is "blameless and upright," and as a result, he is very wealthy. He has everything a person could ever want, a wonderful wife and children, abundant possessions, incredible wealth, and good health. Scripture tells us, "This man was the greatest of all the people in the east."
Job is a wealthy, righteous, blameless man who suddenly loses everything. His oxen and donkeys have been stolen, his sheep have been destroyed by a heavenly fire, the camels have been taken away, and all his sons and daughters have been killed when their house is destroyed by a mighty wind.
After the tragic losses of his livelihood and children, Job also loses his health, being stricken with "loathsome sores ... from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head." Job's words reach across the centuries to allow us a glimpse of just how he looked. He describes himself as "shriveled up" and says that his arms and legs are mere shadows of what they once were, and his bones cling to his flesh. He sits in a heap of ashes outside the city walls, scratching his sores with pieces of broken pottery. People are appalled at the sight of him, and spit at him because of the way he looks. They despise him, leaving him very much alone in his suffering.
Covered with sores, Job resolves not to be silent. He curses the day he was born, and yearns for death. Job has been caught up in a web of confusion and deceit spun by Satan. In Job's day, there was a simple philosophy of life. Like all of his peers, Job believed that if you were righteous, you prospered. If you were wicked, you suffered. Job has discovered that this simple philosophy just does not hold up. He has done nothing to deserve such suffering. Job may have felt that he had spent a lifetime being good ... for nothing.
Some people chafe at the terms sin and Satan, believing these terms are outdated and untrue. But, where does all the suffering and violence in this world come from? According to scripture, sin and evil are destructive forces that are within and around us all. Because of our sin, all of us are part of the problem of suffering. We do bring about some of our suffering because of poor choices we make, and because of our sinful natures. But, there is also much suffering which is beyond easy answers, as well as beyond our control.
There is an old saying that is sometimes used to challenge people who are suffering. We say, "When the going gets tough, the tough get going!" Job would express this differently. He might say that when the going gets tough, the tough curse and lament. It is as if Job is a pawn on a giant heavenly chessboard, being moved about according to the whims of those who control the game.
Job expresses his intense pain and despair by talking to God. Though Job refuses to curse God when calamity strikes, his words remind us of an expression we use when we are in desperation and pain: "I wish that I had never been born."
As Rabbi Harold Kushner so famously noted, "bad things do happen to good people."1 When Kushner's son, Aaron, died from progeria, or rapid aging, he had believed that God was a God of retribution, a God of rewards and punishments. Kushner struggled with the question, "Why do the righteous suffer?" or, as he put it, I have tried "to do what is right in the sight of God. How can God do this to me?"2 We feel that something has gone terribly wrong, because God is not supposed to behave that way. That's not part of the deal, and we find ourselves asking, "Where is God in all this?"
Mrs. Job is wondering the very same thing. She is also devastated at the loss of her children, her servants, her social status, and her source of support. In the raising of her children, she was probably a vital part of a family of faith. "Do you still persist in your integrity?" she asks her husband.
We ask the very same question Job asked. Where do I turn when I feel that only God can help me, but I can't find God? Job laments that God is hiding from him. "If I go forward, he is not there; or backward, I cannot perceive him; on the left he hides, and I cannot behold him; I turn to the right, but I cannot see him." Job's heart is faint. Is it too much to expect God to answer us? This is what faith is all about. Faith is believing what we cannot see. "Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1).
We can take great comfort in knowing that suffering is not God's will. God may know about our suffering, and God may be present in it, but God is not the cause of it. There are forces in the world, and our own life choices, that land us where we do not want to be. Suffering is not a punishment for our sins. Look at the multiple tragedies that befell Job, "a blameless and upright God-fearing person."
There is suffering in the world -- catastrophic, overwhelming, and destructive suffering. Far from ignoring this reality, scripture is intent on identifying the sources of suffering and proclaiming a gracious and compassionate God who, through the cross, overcomes suffering and death on our behalf. God takes an active role in our suffering. God does not merely stand by but "consoles us in all our afflictions, so we may be able to console those who are in any affliction" (2 Corinthians 1:4). In order to help others through their suffering, we must be personally acquainted with suffering. Christ himself taught us this lesson.
We grow through suffering, knowing that God stands with us in our sorrow. So does our church, our community of faith. My prayer for each of you this day is that you may know the presence of the living God in your lives, and that in times of trial, know that God suffers with you. God is with you always, as your guide and your comforter, offering all the strength you need to face tomorrow.
____________
1.ÊPeter J. Gomes, "Storm Center: When Bad Things Happen," The Christian Century 120, no. 11 (May 31, 2003), p. 8.
2.ÊHarold S. Kushner, When Bad Things Happen to Good People (New York: Schocken, 1981), p. 2.
