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OUT OF THE WHIRLWIND
In today’s scripture lesson we dipped into the Book of Job at two different
places. The first is near the end of the last speech that Job makes before he
receives an answer from God. Job has finished his argument with his
friends. He agrees with them that God rewards the just and punishes the
unjust. He has no problem with the idea that God is fair in the way he deals
with people. Those who suffer, suffer because they are not among the
righteous, and the unrighteous always reap the consequences of their
selfish and wicked ways.
The only conflict that Job has with his friends is that he thinks that God
made a mistake in his case. He boldly asserts that HE is not sinful and
wicked, and HE does not deserve the unimaginable hardships he has
suffered.
Job, as you know, doesn’t make much headway in convincing his friends.
So now, he turns to speak directly to God, and he is not afraid to remind
God of what a good person he truly is:
29:14
I put on righteousness, and it clothed me;
my justice was like a robe and a turban.
15
I was eyes to the blind,
and feet to the lame.
16
I was a father to the poor,
and I searched out the cause of him whom I did not know.
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I broke the fangs of the unrighteous,
and made him drop his prey from his teeth.
Job dares to put himself before God. He demands to have his day in court.
Job is so confident in his righteousness that he PUTS EVERYTHING ON
THE LINE.
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31:35 - 37
Oh, that I had one to hear me!
(Here is my signature! let the Almighty answer me!)
Oh, that I had the indictment written by my adversary!
Surely I would carry it on my shoulder;
I would bind it on me as a crown;
I would give him an account of all my steps;
like a prince I would approach him.
I love Job. I love him for his toughness… for his honesty… and, yes, for his
righteousness. He is bold and brash, AND he is right. He is in every way a
good man.
The wager between the Satan and God was not about whether Job was
righteous or not, it was about whether Job was righteous only because God
had made it easy for him to be righteous by providing him with a life of
plenty. “Take away all the blessings you have given Job,” says the Satan,
“and then we will see what kind of a man he really is.”
1:11
…put forth thy hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will curse
thee to thy face.”
But the Satan is wrong. God strips Job of everything he owns, of every
relationship that is important to him, and even of his health… and Job
never curses God.
So, the proof is in. Job is not only good, he is good whether it serves him to
be good, or not. Job is good for goodness sake. Between Job and God there
is no QUID PRO QUO, no let’s make a deal. There is only goodness for
goodness sake. How many people could say the same for themselves? I
wonder.
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Now I want to ask you a question. What is the dominant narrative for the
Christian life in 21st century America? Now I know this is a nerdy question.
Unless you’re a religious nerd, you probably have never thought about it.
But, I guarantee that once I describe the narrative, you will recognize it
immediately. It has four parts. Ready?
Part one: a person recognizes that he/she is a sinner.
Part two: the sinner comes to believe that he/she needs to be saved.
Part three: the sinner repents.
Part four: the new believer sets out to share the good news of his/her faith.
Now I am well aware that this narrative can get pretty complicated. We
Christians have never been able to agree on questions such as “what is sin,
afterall?” and “what does it mean to be saved?” and “what does repentance
require of us?” …It’s been two thousand years and we are still debating
these questions. But I still insist that for 21st century American Christians,
whether Protestant or Catholic, whether liberal or conservative, this is the
primary narrative: conviction of sinfulness, acceptance of salvation,
repentance of old behavior, and sharing of faith.
OK. So now we need to go back to Job because the story of Job messes with
our narrative. First and foremost, JOB IS NOT A SINNER! He does NOT
feel the need to be saved. He is NOT repentant. And he really doesn’t feel a
need to share his convictions.
So what is Job’s narrative? Can we really even say that Job has a salvation
story?
The answer comes when God speaks to Job out of a whirlwind.
38:2 - 3
“Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
Gird up your loins like a man,
I will question you, and you shall declare to me.
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God goes on from there to talk about how majestic and unfathomable his
creation is...
38:4 - 7
“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell me, if you have understanding.
Who determined its measurements—surely you know!
Or who stretched the line upon it?
On what were its bases sunk,
or who laid its cornerstone
when the morning stars sang together
and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy?
God’s words might be crudely wrapped up in a single statement: “Just who
the heck do you think you are?”
As I was thinking about God’s response to Job a song that was very popular
years ago popped into my mind. It was sung by Carly Simon and the first
verse went like this:
You walked into the party
Like you were walking onto a yacht
Your hat strategically tipped below one eye
Your scarf, it was apricot
You had one eye in the mirror as
You watched yourself gavotte
And all the girls dreamed that they'd be your partner
They'd be your partner, and
I bet that many of you remember the chorus. If you do, sing along with me.
Hit it Sherri…
You're so vain
You probably think this song is about you
You're so vain,
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I'll bet you think this song is about you
Don't you?
Don't you?
In a way… I think that is what God is saying to Job.
You’re so vain
You probably think this book is about you
You’re so vain
I bet you think this book is about you
Don’t you?
Don’t you?
God bombards Job with things that are far beyond the scope of Job’s
understanding. God’s intent is to overwhelm Job with thoughts of life that
so exceed his comprehension that they bring him into the presence of the
Holy.
38:16 - 19
“Have you entered into the springs of the sea,
or walked in the recesses of the deep?
Have the gates of death been revealed to you,
or have you seen the gates of deep darkness?
Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth?
Declare, if you know all this.
“Where is the way to the dwelling of light,
and where is the place of darkness,
God takes Job on a whirlwind tour of creation. From the cosmic to the
earthly. From things that glory in the light to things that hide in the
darkness. From the beautiful and approachable to the threatening and
scarey. It’s a lesson in astronomy, botany, geology, oceanology, biology,
ornithology, ichthyology, entomology and another dozen “…ologies” all
rolled into one.
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The irony is that in the tour of the universe that God takes Job on, he never
even mentions human beings as part of creation. Unlike the story in
Genesis where Adam and Eve are the pinnacle of creation - God’s finest
piece of work - humans are not even in the picture that God shows Job.
Here’s the bottom line: in the Book of Job the spotlight is not on humans, it
is on God and God’s holiness.
At one point Job expresses his audacious desire to SEE God. And when we
get to the end of God’s speech Job does, indeed, say that he has seen God.
But he is speaking symbolically. Job never actually gets a face-to-face
meeting with God. When Job says “I have seen God” he is saying that he
has seen God in all the holiness of creation that came out of the whirlwind.
The challenge for us is to do the same… SEE God in the holiness of the
world around us.
I have to admit that from where I sit in recent months, it is hard to see the
good in the world. It is hard to see the good in human kind. It seems at
times like basic decency has been lost. Tortured minds lose the ability to
distinguish between reality and the distorted evils that plague their
thoughts. Common people rage against injustice but can’t agree on where
the injustice lies.
In these times I thirst for those words that we sang earlier:
Great is thy faithfulness, O God, Creator;
there is no shadow of turning with thee.
Thou changest not; thy compassions they fail not.
As thou hast been thou forever wilt be.
And I have to consciously remind myself that the holiness of God is all
around me.
I have to go looking for it.
I have to make the effort.
I have to get my hands dirty in the soil of my garden.
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I have to take the time to talk to the man who is sitting alone in the coffee
shop.
I have to turn off the talk show and turn on Brahms and Mozart.
I have to celebrate every step of healing that comes in the broken lives of
people around me.
I have to thank the waitress who remembers my favorite beverage.
I have to take myself back in my memory to the moments of great beauty
and unexpected joy that I have witnessed in the world.
I have to amplify my gratitude for the people who make me laugh, who
make me cry, who make me wonder.
I have to gather with the people who know me in my frailty and still love
me.
And when I have a chance to sing, I have to sing with gusto the words that
we will sing together at the close of our worship today:
My life flows on in endless song,
above earth’s lamentation.
I hear the clear, though far off hymn
that hails a new creation.
No storm can shake my inmost calm while to that rock I’m
clinging.
Since love is Lord of heaven and earth, how can I keep from
singing?
God still speaks out of the whirlwind.
Look around you - God’s holiness is everywhere.
Rev. Fred Neuschel – July 24,2016