Job's Longing!

Reflection:  As Job reflects on his suffering, he contemplates the character of God with these words, “He is not a mere mortal like me that I might answer him, that we might confront each other in court. If only there were someone to mediate between us, someone to bring us together, someone to remove God’s rod from me, so that his terror would frighten me no more. Then I would speak up without fear of him, but as it now stands with me, I cannot.”

Job is coming to terms with what Paul will state in Romans 3:23, “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”  His friends think he has done something specifically wrong to deserve his circumstances, and Job knows God’s holiness and judgment are much bigger than that.  Job begins to meditate on something very profound when he wonders, “If only there were someone to mediate between us, someone to bring us together.”  If the New Testament we learn that this is this called “reconciliation”. 

Job is way ahead of his time in realizing that there is no amount of good he could do to stave off God’s judgment. His friends have put God in a box to say God does this when we do this and so and so.  Job realizes that God is so much bigger than that.  This is essentially the same issue Paul is facing in the young Roman church.  Some whose faith is what Paul terms “weak”, meaning very sensitive or fragile, feel they cannot eat meat.  Whereas others, who Paul calls “strong”, realize with the new covenant it is not about eating meat; but they are saved by grace.  But Paul urges them to get beyond this and realize that whatever you do, do it as unto the Lord serving him not trying to impress.  He uses the same logic with some who believe certain days of the week are special, whereas others think every day is special unto the Lord.  Again he says, “Each one should be fully convinced of what they are doing and why and make sure it is for the right reasons!” 

So what does this mean for us today?  It means that while there are many behaviors that are clearly wrong and inappropriate for Christians to engage in, there are also many behaviors that will fall into the “gray area”.  Like for instance, whether to drink alcohol or not (drunkenness is clearly prohibited in scripture for obvious reasons).  Or, whether we worship on Saturdays, or Sundays, or Wednesdays for that matter!  Or, whether we use real wine or grape juice for Holy Communion.  Or whether we sing praise songs, or old hymns.  I think you get the point! 

The important thing is that we who have beheld the Gospel have an answer for the question that Job longed to have answered. We are saved by grace through faith, not by works. What we do in response is motivated by wanting to serve the Lord and not justifying ourselves.  This is what Paul will call “Christian freedom”.  Like any freedom it cannot be abused, and yet it is the hallmark of true Christian living and often missing in the Church today!   

  

 Psalm 44:17-26

17 All this came upon us,

    though we had not forgotten you;

    we had not been false to your covenant.

18 Our hearts had not turned back;

    our feet had not strayed from your path.

19 But you crushed us and made us a haunt for jackals;

    you covered us over with deep darkness.

20 If we had forgotten the name of our God

    or spread out our hands to a foreign god,

21 would not God have discovered it,

    since he knows the secrets of the heart?

22 Yet for your sake we face death all day long;

    we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.

23 Awake, Lord! Why do you sleep?

    Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever.

24 Why do you hide your face

    and forget our misery and oppression?

25 We are brought down to the dust;

    our bodies cling to the ground.

26 Rise up and help us;

    rescue us because of your unfailing love.

Job 9

9 Then Job replied:

2 “Indeed, I know that this is true.

    But how can mere mortals prove their innocence before God?

3 Though they wished to dispute with him,

    they could not answer him one time out of a thousand.

4 His wisdom is profound, his power is vast.

    Who has resisted him and come out unscathed?

5 He moves mountains without their knowing it

    and overturns them in his anger.

6 He shakes the earth from its place

    and makes its pillars tremble.

7 He speaks to the sun and it does not shine;

    he seals off the light of the stars.

8 He alone stretches out the heavens

    and treads on the waves of the sea.

9 He is the Maker of the Bear[a] and Orion,

    the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.

10 He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed,

    miracles that cannot be counted.

11 When he passes me, I cannot see him;

    when he goes by, I cannot perceive him.

12 If he snatches away, who can stop him?

    Who can say to him, ‘What are you doing?’

13 God does not restrain his anger;

    even the cohorts of Rahab cowered at his feet.

14 “How then can I dispute with him?

    How can I find words to argue with him?

15 Though I were innocent, I could not answer him;

    I could only plead with my Judge for mercy.

16 Even if I summoned him and he responded,

    I do not believe he would give me a hearing.

17 He would crush me with a storm

    and multiply my wounds for no reason.

18 He would not let me catch my breath

    but would overwhelm me with misery.

19 If it is a matter of strength, he is mighty!

    And if it is a matter of justice, who can challenge him[b]?

20 Even if I were innocent, my mouth would condemn me;

    if I were blameless, it would pronounce me guilty.

21 “Although I am blameless,

    I have no concern for myself;

    I despise my own life.

22 It is all the same; that is why I say,

    ‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’

23 When a scourge brings sudden death,

    he mocks the despair of the innocent.

24 When a land falls into the hands of the wicked,

    he blindfolds its judges.

    If it is not he, then who is it?

25 “My days are swifter than a runner;

    they fly away without a glimpse of joy.

26 They skim past like boats of papyrus,

    like eagles swooping down on their prey.

27 If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint,

    I will change my expression, and smile,’

28 I still dread all my sufferings,

    for I know you will not hold me innocent.

29 Since I am already found guilty,

    why should I struggle in vain?

30 Even if I washed myself with soap

    and my hands with cleansing powder,

31 you would plunge me into a slime pit

    so that even my clothes would detest me.

32 “He is not a mere mortal like me that I might answer him,

    that we might confront each other in court.

33 If only there were someone to mediate between us,

    someone to bring us together,

34 someone to remove God’s rod from me,

    so that his terror would frighten me no more.

35 Then I would speak up without fear of him,

    but as it now stands with me, I cannot.

Romans 14:1-12

The Weak and the Strong

14 Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. 2 One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. 3 The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. 4 Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand.

5 One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. 6 Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7 For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. 8 If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. 9 For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.

10 You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. 11 It is written:

“‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord,

‘every knee will bow before me;

    every tongue will acknowledge God.’”

12 So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.

Yes, and from ancient days I am he. No one can deliver out of my hand. When I act, who can reverse it? Isaiah 43:13 (NIV)

Christ himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. Colossians 1:17

God of past, present, and future; things temporal and eternal; everlasting life and daily living: for all time you have held all things together - what decision, then, could we make without your instruction? Help us not to separate your authority from matters we enjoy ruling for ourselves. Amen.