Have you considered my servant Job? (Job 1:1-22)

1 There was once a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. That man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil. ² There were born to him seven sons and three daughters. ³ He had seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred donkeys, and very many servants; so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the east. ⁴ His sons used to go and hold feasts in one another’s houses in turn; and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. ⁵ And when the feast days had run their course, Job would send and sanctify them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all; for Job said, “It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts.” This is what Job always did.

⁶ One day the heavenly beings came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. ⁷ The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered the Lord, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” ⁸ The Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil.” ⁹ Then Satan answered the Lord, “Does Job fear God for nothing? ¹⁰ Have you not put a fence around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. ¹¹ But stretch out your hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.” ¹² The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, all that he has is in your power; only do not stretch out your hand against him!” So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.

¹³ One day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the eldest brother’s house, ¹⁴ a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were feeding beside them, ¹⁵ and the Sabeans fell on them and carried them off, and killed the servants with the edge of the sword; I alone have escaped to tell you.” ¹⁶ While he was still speaking, another came and said, “The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed them; I alone have escaped to tell you.” ¹⁷ While he was still speaking, another came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three columns, made a raid on the camels and carried them off, and killed the servants with the edge of the sword; I alone have escaped to tell you.” ¹⁸ While he was still speaking, another came and said, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house, ¹⁹ and suddenly a great wind came across the desert, struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people, and they are dead; I alone have escaped to tell you.”

²⁰ Then Job arose, tore his robe, shaved his head, and fell on the ground and worshiped. ²¹ He said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there; the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”

²² In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrongdoing.

–Job 1:1-22 (NRSV)

July 3, 2016 Sermon Notes

This week’s sermon was the introduction to a multi-week series on the book of Job. Over the next month we are going to be reading about a character whose name is familiar to most Americans. Many people have heard the phrase, “the patience of Job,” even if they have no idea what Job was waiting for. As part of my introduction, I encouraged people to sit down and read Job for themselves. There is no better way to understand the complexity and power of this story than to engage it firsthand.

Part of the problem that many people have with this book is the fact that a callous and uncaring God seems to be playing games with Job’s life. In fact, the text for this week starts with a wager between God and Satan in the heavenly court. It is understandable why people find this image so troubling. If this is the way that the righteous people of the world are treated, is this a God truly worthy of worship?

One of the first steps in coming to terms with the story of Job is to recognize that it is just as much a parable as the ones told by Jesus himself. Throughout his ministry Christ used images and settings familiar to his listeners in order to illustrate a greater truth about God’s kingdom. The writers of the Old Testament did exactly the same thing. Job is a parable that wrestles with the question of evil in the world.

This book is a reminder that suffering has been a part of the life of faith since biblical times. Job’s friends and wife use excuses and platitudes that we have all heard well meaning, but ignorant, people say in our own lives. As righteous as he was, Job found himself in the midst of the worst of all possible situations. He grieved, became despondent, argued with his friends, his spouse, and ultimately with his God. If we are honest with ourselves, this is something that eventually happens to us all, no matter how strong our faith may seem.

Sunday’s sermon began this conversation. It looked forward to what God, Job, and his friends are going to do in the weeks ahead. It also asked us to consider what we believe about God, suffering, and grief in the world.

What kind of God do we worship? Do we believe in God as our heavenly genie or do we trust in a God who will be with us in the midst of the suffering of life? How do we handle grief and suffering in our lives? How do we respond to the suffering of others?

Finally, we closed with the reminder that no matter how righteous we think we are, or how good the world might happen to be for us at any given moment, suffering is real. Evil can strike at any time. One of the bits of good news here is that we are not alone in our grief. The very existence of the book of Job is a reminder that people have been struggling with these issues since before the time of Christ.

Over the next few weeks we will be reminded that no matter how bad Job’s suffering became, God did not give up on him. God listened to the questions, the anger, and the pain. Even when it felt like it, Job was never truly alone. God was with him every step of the way.