Job III
Blind Faith
Job 38:1-7; 42:1-6; Mark 10:46-52.
Rev. Patricia Barth
October 29, 2006
This month we have been exploring the book of Job and some of the hard questions it raises. Ever since the beginning of consciousness, humankind has wondered why bad things happen to good people, and whether God is involved or not. Sometimes this question deepens our faith, and other times it drives us into the agnostic or atheist camp. Some of us move back and forth between these thoughts. And some people are driven to play God themselves.
In "Just Do It," a short play by John McNeil, Gordon Struthers CEO was blind to all the suffering he caused in his workers and in the environment. Yet he claimed to not have faith because God allows sickness, earthquakes and famine. Perhaps the greatest reason for his lack of faith is that he can't imagine anyone other than himself in charge.
At the other end of the spectrum, the beggar Bartimaeus has experienced the harsh side of life. We don't know if he was blind from birth or by accident; perhaps he has always been poor and alone, or maybe he lost family and wealth along with his sight. We only know he cannot support himself now, and must beg for a living. He is no doubt used to being treated as so much roadside trash; that is why he is sternly ordered to keep quiet and not bother Jesus. Yet his faith persists—he knows that Jesus can heal him. Although blind, he alone can see that Jesus is the Son of David, the Messiah; and he also sees that Jesus is his Teacher. Jesus heals him without a touch, and says, "Go, your faith has made you well."
Job was born too early to meet Jesus on the road, yet his faith was even greater than Bartimaeus'. Instead of blindness and poverty, he was suddenly struck with the loss of family, wealth and health. His wife tells him to curse God, and die, but he refuses to. His friends tell him he must have sinned, but Job refuses to repent. He has done nothing wrong. He rejects the idea, as we must, that God sends sickness and sorrow as punishment for sins. People in grief suffer enough, without also struggling with the idea that their misfortune is their own fault. That is an ancient belief that we need to let go of. It stunts our relationships with God and with each other, and hinders our free will, if we are always viewing God as the great disciplinarian on a throne, zapping us with punishing thunderbolts.
Still, terrible things happen, and they test our faith. Job refuses to curse God and die, but he does question God. Job protests to God and to his friends, asking why so many bad things have happened to God's faithful servant. He alternately hides from God, and looks for God, to put him on trial. Thus Job initiates the theology of protest that we talked about on October 15th. The theology of protest reminds us that it's OK to question God; even to be angry with God. You've heard the expression, "blind faith." Faith doesn't have to be blind; although some things will always be a mystery, God expects us to use these wonderful brains we are born with. Doubts can strengthen and renew faith. God can take all of our anger and more besides.
Finally, after much protest, God appears and responds to Job--
"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." [Job 38:1-3]
God speaks from a whirlwind, and takes Job on a tour of the universe, asking him if he was there when the pillars of the world were set in place, challenging Job to assume the creator's role. Some writers feel that God acts like a bully, daring Job to match him instead of answering Job's charges. God definitely does not come off as a warm and fluffy God, conveniently tailor-made for our comfort and ease; a teddy bear to take off the shelf and put back when we're feeling better. I don't see God as a bully any more than I see God as warm and cuddly. God is spirit; not a playground bully or an earth mother or a stuffed animal to cuddle. God is God! Sometimes I see God as an energy field; sometimes as a kind of majestic unimaginably big entity or person; sometimes in the sun. I'm sure you have your own images and ways of thinking about God. We just don't know what God looks like; we can't wrap our minds around him or her. That's why Jesus came to earth, so that we could see God, and know that God in Christ has experienced our human life fully.
Our ways are not God's ways. We can only trust, and have faith; and know that, as the old song goes, "we will understand it all by and by." And this is the understanding that Job comes to. He says in chapter 42 verse 3: "Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know." He sees God face to face, and he repents in dust and ashes. Job realizes that life and death; health and suffering; are ultimately mysteries that we will never fully understand this side of heaven. As the poet says, "…life is full of joy and sorrow mix'd."
After his repentance, Job's life is restored—health, wealth and family. Scholars disagree as to whether this happy ending is a later addition to the text or not. Some people just have to have a happy ending to a story! Job learned that life is full of mystery— some things just happen— and God is God. God's ways are not our ways.
The important thing to remember is that, one way or another, God is present in our pain. There is no sickness, sorrow or death that God cannot use for our benefit. Many people have told me that their final illnesses are treasured, sacred time because they have a chance to look over their life and see the good and the bad, and where God has been present in it. They are able to say thank you to all the people who have made their lives special, and they feel closer to God than ever. The Holy Spirit waits to gather us all into her joyful arms.
God's loving care is there for us, and those we love, in this life and the next. We can have faith that God will bring good out of whatever happens to us, happy or sad or in between. Because "Nothing in all creation can separate us from God's love for us in Christ Jesus our Lord!" [Romans 8: 39] Amen.
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