Job Almighty

I wasn't sure what to think about Bruce Almighty when it was first produced in 2003. My reservations were largely due to the crude humor and one sexual scene. However, the underlying theme of the film has caused me to use it as an illustration in several sermons. As I thought about preaching today's final sermon in the Job series I returned once again to the film.

When the question of suffering arises how easy it is to think that a "good" human (like myself) could do a much better job running the universe than God is doing. One only need look at the evil that exists in the world and the horrific things that cause people pain to think this.

The book of Job opens another option. Perhaps we humans don't know all the facts. None of the human characters in the story do. Neither Job, his wife, or his friends have any idea why Job is suffering. Only the reader knows because we've been given a peak behind the curtain into Heaven. Don't make the mistake of thinking that the heavenly glimpse given to the reader thus solves the problem of pain. (Aha! The reason there is suffering is because Satan and God are duking it out again!) Rather, we are given what we need to make sense of the story. We thus know from the beginning that Job is righteous and is not suffering because of sin. That sets the stage for the real drama to begin. Therefore, the other option is NOT figuring out why there is suffering. The other option is realizing that God is God and I am not.

After God asks Job the 70 questions at the end, this is Job's conclusion. And it is in this fact that we must ultimately put our faith. I don't have all the answers because I don't even know the right questions to ask. Like Job, I don't have enough information to even begin to run the universe. I'm simply going to have to trust God. And when suffering comes, I can at least find some measure of comfort in knowing that God's one and only Son suffered on earth as well. I can trust a God like that, even if I don't understand everything.

Theology Matters

Were you surprised to learn that the arguments made by Job's friends are the same arguments Christians make today to explain why bad things happen? I found it relatively easy to pick out certain statements regarding AIDS, Hurricane Katrina, and the most recent devastation in Haiti to illustrate that point. After today's lesson, however, someone mentioned the sermon I preached after the 9-11 tragedy. As I remember I took that opportunity to point out our national sins and issued a call to repentance. In retrospect; not my finest hour.

What a beautiful story Job would have been if instead of trying to explain and offer solutions for Job's suffering, his friends could have gone to him--simply to be with him! They could have listened to Job as he voiced his fears and doubts without trying to "fix" his theology. They could have offered to bath his fevered body and perhaps fed him some broth to ease his hunger. They could have expressed care and concern in a number of very significant ways. Instead they did the one thing that made God angry; they tried to make sense of Job's suffering by explaining what God was doing. They didn't have enough information to even begin to guess. Thus, God's judgment, "I am angry with you . . . because you have not spoken of me what is right" (Job 42:7).

My we learn and not repeat the mistakes of the past. May we do our job of loving, caring, and serving without falling into the trap of explaining and blaming. God help us.

Recognizing Satan's Voice

In the 1980's Metropolitan Life adopted the motto, "Get Met. It Pays." Why else would someone buy an insurance policy? If it doesn't pay to own the policy why on earth would I want to fund it? The message of the contemporary church has sometimes been, "Get Christ. He Pays." It's obviously true that Jesus paid the ransom for sin, however, the message that Jesus makes everything in life work out the way it should is simply a lie. As we studied this morning it is the voice of Satan that finds expression in many unexpected avenues.

Questions related to why God allows pain and suffering are essentially intellectual queries. This is not to say that they are invalid; rather, it simply means they are questions that can be discussed and debated in the comfort of one's living room. The question asked by the book of Job is a heart probing question that involves one's whole being. The question raised by the author of Job strikes at the root of whether or not one is truly following the God of the Bible or has imagined God to be something other than who he is. The question is simply, "Will you follow God even if everything goes wrong?" Or, to reverse the question, "Do you only follow God because of the benefits you receive?"

C. S. Lewis struggled with both questions. In his book, The Problem of Pain, Lewis expertly analyzes the problem as an intellectual. He describes his former atheist position and then explains how, as a Christian, he now address the issues. After experiencing the gut wrenching agony of losing his beloved wife to cancer he wrote a different book, A Grief Observed. No longer was the issue of pain simply intellectual. He now had to decide if he would follow a God who gave no guarantees concerning earthly pleasure and happiness. This is a most difficult book to read because the depth of struggle to which the author sinks is so depressing that I found myself wrestling with the question. Thankfully, by the end of the book he decides to stay with God even without having his questions answered. May my faith sustain me to that same end.