Introduction
The great
Jewish author and ethicist, Elie Wiesel, once said about the Book of Job that throughout
his ups and downs, God’s servant never lost his faith even in the midst of his
most anguishing trials. He may, however,
have lost his mind at times – and it is to that development that I want
to call our attention today. Specifically, I want to share with you some
thoughts and reflections based upon two broad challenges:
+ First, how Job’s friends respond to
his grief and agony. These three
individuals love Job. They are people of faith and integrity. But what they say
and do bring no hope or compassion to Job. And in this, the book of Job offers
a biting critique of the ways traditional religions often response to
suffering. Job’s friends make it clear that more often than not we get it wrong
– so I want to spend a little time with Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar – Job’s
three pious friends.
+ And second, I want to share with
you Job’s response to both his own physical, emotional and spiritual agony and
the truly unhelpful counsel that comes from his friends. For what Job shows us – and expresses – is a healthy and holy use
of anger. And because Christians are so
often uncomfortable with anger, I think it could be redemptive to pay attention
to what God’s servant Job does with it, ok?
So, first
the words and actions of Job’s friends and then Job’s angry response. And I am
going to ask you to pray with me so that we might be grounded for this time of
study and spiritual searching:
Our heart is
comforted in its awareness of you, O Lord, for you are the soul within our soul
and the life within all life. Center us
in your grace and open us to your truth that we might grow in faith, hope and
love according to the pattern of Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
Insights
Because this
study is cumulative, I wonder if anyone might be able to recap what we talked
about last week so that everyone is starting from the same place. What broad
themes did I share with you last week about the start of Job’s story? What has
happened to him according to the beginning of the book? Does anyone
recall?
Four things:
1) we learned that Job is an anxious man who is always worried about
pleasing God; 2) that God in heaven accepts Satan’s wager that Satan can make
Job curse God by bringing him suffering; and 3) that Satan’s curse results in
the death of Job’s camels, cattle and sheep – his livelihood – as well as his
house and all his children – his family and security.
Do you recall that?
The first three chapters of Job set things up – so in addition to Job’s
suffering – the last thing that happened is that Job’s wife asked him to curse
God and die, but how did Job reply? He
said all of life’s blessings come from the Lord, so we must learn to be patient
with the suffering, too. Does that sound familiar?
That’s the
opening and presenting picture: a
faithful person – not necessarily a Jew – but an anxious God lover who finds
his life turned upside down by tragedy.
The second part of the story involves what Job’s friends tell him about
the meaning of his suffering. Each person advances a theological or spiritual
perspective that was popular in the day.
Actually and sadly they are still popular in many religions including
our own.
+ So what
these various speeches represent – and I should tell you that each of the three
men give three sets of speeches throughout this book – is a religious
perspective on suffering. Are you with
me on that?
+ You see,
what the theologians behind the story are doing is showing us how
traditional piety and thinking about suffering is often inadequate and even
sometimes cruel to those who are hurting.
In order to make the climax of the story even more persuasive, they set
things up in a way that forces us to wrestle with three initially loving but
increasingly ugly and offensive perspectives on suffering.
And I have
to tell you that I think the theological editors of Job are brilliant in their
construction of this story. In chapter two they make clear that Job’s friends
are not to be considered straw men or caricatures. These are men who love
Job. When they come to visit him, the
Bible tells us right away that they noticed their friend’s anguish – he looked
like hell – so they cried out for him. They felt some-thing of his pain. And acted
in solidarity with him: they tore their
own clothes and sprinkled their faces with ashes. This was a common way to
express grief. Further, they sat with their beloved friend Job for seven days
in silence. These are NOT fair-weather
friends. These are men of love and trust.
And it is my
hunch that this was included in the text to show us what we
should do when we want to bring comfort to our loved ones
in their suffering: silence and
presence. We can’t change anything. We can’t explain it or even comprehend it –
but we can share it. How does that hymn
go: I will weep when you are weeping, when you
laugh I’ll laugh with you; I will share your joy and sorrow ‘til we’ve seen
this journey through. This is a foretaste of the wisdom expressed at
the end of Job – and it stands in stark contrast to what happens over the next
almost 28 chapters – is that clear? Any questions before I go forward?
Starting in
chapter three and moving through chapter 38 of Job, there are a series of
speeches and reactions – a theological dialogue, if you will – between Job’s
friends and then Job himself. Here’s my
summary of what takes place – and you can read it all yourselves, of course –
but here’s the USA Today version:
Job’s
first friend, Eliphaz the Temanite, starts off mild and composed but soon grows
increasingly harsh. The essence of
his message is simple: God does not
punish the innocent; rather, only the wicked experience suffering. So, if you
are suffering or experiencing travail, you must be wicked and sinful. Eliphaz
tells this to Job over and over again: your suffering is proof of your
sin.
+ This is an
ancient but not forgotten approach to suffering. It is known in all theological
and religious traditions and is grounded in the belief that God’s justice is
experienced in this life unquestioningly.
If you are suffering, it is because you are guilty.
+ Any one want to comment on that:
what do you think about this approach to suffering?
Now here’s a
challenge: Job essentially agrees that his Eliphaz is right – he, too, believes
and trusts that God is just – that God punishes the sinful only as they
deserve. But try as he might, Job can’t find any evidence or proof of his own
sin – it doesn’t exist – and yet his suffering continues.This is what
makes him lose his mind according to Elie Wiesel’s commentary, ok? His mind
starts to split because his experience and reason are in high conflict with his
theology. Eventually, Job cries out that his friend is unkind and cruel - Job
asks God to let him die. Because he
can’t get his mind around the fact that his under-standing of God’s justice demands
punishment for sin – and that no longer works for his experience.
It made me
think of the transgendered teen, Leelah Alcorn, in Ohio last December who stepped
in front of a 17 ton tractor trailer truck along Interstate 71 because her
parents defined her as a sinner. After years of fear and judgment, she saw her
only option as death by suicide because a harsh and narrow theology had turned
her parents and her church into enemies. That’s just what Job concluded – so
let’s never think the consequences of such theology are just for another place
and time. They are tragically alive and well all around us.
Job himself
begs for death rather than shout at God because his mind is breaking and his
heart is sick: his life no longer jives with what his theology and he doesn’t
know what to do. Notice one
more nuance: Job never says that God doesn’t punish injustice with suffering.
Not at all. Job never puts limits on the One who is Holy. He simply says if
there is only ONE way that God works in the world, something is out of whack
because my life no longer fits – and it is making him sick.
Enter Job’s
second friend, Bildad the Shuhite, who takes the story from bad to worse. Bildad’s position is essentially: you must be a hypocrite, Job, because your
pain is so awful. (How’s that for friendly compassion?) The more you complain,
the more you mock the Lord and prove your guilt. “God never betrays the innocent
or takes the hand of the wicked. God will fill your mouth with laughter (only)
if you stop protesting and acting like a hypocrite.”
+ This is
essentially a war of competing syllogisms. Job’s friends say:
suffering comes from God; God is just; therefore Job is guilty because he is
suffer-ing. Job says: Suffering comes from God; I am innocent; Therefore,
God must be unjust (this is what breaks his mind.)
+ Sadly,
nobody (except God at the end of Job) says: Suffering may come from the Lord;
God is just; and Job is innocent (with NO therefore!) It would
seem that both Eliphaz and Bildad are locked into very harsh notions of God’s
eternal judgment, yes? (Stephen Mitchell, Out
of the Whirlwind)
Now Christians
have been known to say similar things albeit in a highly
sanitized manner. Have
you ever heard – or said – something like: “God never gives you more than you
can handle.” Whatever that might mean to the speaker, whenever a person hears
it, it means shut up and deal with your problems, right? How about: “God has a
plan for everything; if you wait faithfully you will find out what God wants to
give you from this hard time. Just trust in the Lord.” Or even: “You may never
know what this is all about but you will when you meet God after your death.”
+ From my
perspective, those things may sound pious and spiritual but they are untrue and
cruel. There’s no compassion – no solidarity – no heart-to-heart connection in
such words.
+ In fact, as
Stephen Mitchell notes in his commentary, the point of such sayings really has nothing
to do with God and everything to do with human reactions. These are words that
distance us from another’s pain – they use God as an excuse for pushing another
away who might cause us sorrow or involvement or tender love.
Notice what
the gospel for today tells us about Christian connections and authentic love. After Peter confesses that Christ is Lord,
Mark’s gospel says: "then Jesus began to teach
them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the
elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days
rise again. He said all this
quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his
disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are
setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”
+ Authentic
love makes a connection – and
it includes suffering – for such is the true way of the Lord. Peter tries to keep himself and his beloved
Jesus safe by arguing with the Lord, but Christ calls him out saying with some
anger and passion: Get thee behind me, Satan.
+ Using pious
and religious language to diminish the cost of discipleship and the
consequences of compassion are never of the Lord.
So let’s
bring Job’s third friend, Zophar the Nahmathite, into the mix: he doesn’t add a
lot that is new except one twist: he wants
Job to repent of his sins so that God might forgive him with mercy. Zophar emphasizes a God who is more like a
“Stalinesque tyrant” (Mitchell) than the author of Psalm 22 but he wants to
remind us of God’s mercy. I think he
truly wants God’s grace to come to Job even when he becomes mean spirited and
belligerent in the process. Have you
ever said something stupid or cruel to someone you love when you are
frustrated? I know I have – and the older I get the more examples I have to
confess to the Lord. Zophar goes too far
– and in this he also makes a mess of things because he doesn’t take the time
to really trust Job. He has a one-size fits all theology and he’s going squeeze
Job into it no matter what.
+ Some
suffering they believe is given to teach us something; other pain comes to us
to warn us away of deeper trouble and sin. And some anguish will never be fully
understood in this realm, but will be explained as part of God’s loving plan
after this life is over.
+ I think
there is some truth in all of these claims. Some suffering teaches us not
to touch a hot stove, right? Some pain warns us away of further danger and sin.
When I was 8 I carelessly lost a neighbor’s electro magnet I had borrowed for a
school science project. After hemming and hawing and avoiding this mistake, my
father finally took me over to our neighbor’s house to explain what had
happened, to ask for forgiveness and to work out a repayment plan. That pain
taught me there are consequences to my actions and while I hated it, I also
learned from it, too. Some pain warns us away of worse things to come.
+ And there is
some pain I will never fully comprehend and trust that because now I see as
through a glass darkly, later I shall see face to face. All of these things are true – they are also
incomplete. Not all pain is edifying. Not all suffering gives birth to greater
moral wisdom. And certainly not all of our anguish is part of a cosmic lesson
that will only be revealed further along and by and by in the sky.
Job’s
friends give him every reason to be angry – and that is exactly what
happens as
the book of Job unfolds. It is poem
written to give us permission to do what Job does: express bewilderment and
moral outrage. “My mind is breaking, Lord,
because what I know of you is too small!
What I can figure out is too harsh. I KNOW you
to be the source of life that drew me out of my mother’s womb and made me safe
at her breasts.” (Psalm 22)
So HELP me!
Conclusion
Beloved, we
can never be too angry with God. There are no mysteries we must keep hidden
away or silent about. And there is NO immediate certainly that we will grasp
God’s compassion in the midst of our anguish.
This, beloved, is the path of
Biblical wisdom. Don’t be in a rush for answers. Don’t be afraid to question
the Lord with vigor. Never accept sloppy agape or cheap piety from your friends
or your church in place of compassion. And always know that you can bring everything
to the Lord in prayer – even those things that frighten or disgust you – even
your sense of abandonment – because the mystery of God’s love is greater than
even our wildest imagination. And so the journey of Lent deepens….
credits:
1) www.khackney.com
2) www.wikiart.org
3) www.gopixpic.com
4) imgkid.com
5) art.ekstrax.com
6) michellehinz.com
credits:
1) www.khackney.com
2) www.wikiart.org
3) www.gopixpic.com
4) imgkid.com
5) art.ekstrax.com
6) michellehinz.com
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