They Called It The Streak!

 

I am old enough to remember streaking back in the early1970s. I suppose it still happens today. But, with many people’s wardrobe choices it can be hard to tell if they are streaking or dressed! And, as the morals in my country have been constantly eroding, I am not sure there would be a public out cry if someone was found to be streaking. I am not even sure too many people would bother to sat, “Don’t look Ethel!” But, have treated streaking (in the 70s) as if it was something new; when, in fact, as Christians, we can at eh very least trace streaking back to the biblical days.

On 29 April we are set to celebrate Saint Mark.  I always read with amusement as a child Mark 14:51, “And a young man followed him, with nothing but a linen cloth about his body. And they seized him, but he left the linen cloth and ran away naked.” Yet, as I studied the scripture more maturely the verse became less funny and more sorrowful. While St. Mark never says that he is that young man, tradition and scholarship have come to the conclusion that ‘young man’ is in fact the Gospel writer.

The episode adds nothing to the Jesus Story. Yet, for some reason the writer preserved the story. One reason many scholars believe the story was kept was that the young man who ran away naked was none other than Mark himself.

Mark sets out his Gospel with a thesis statement: The beginning of the good news [the gospel] of Jesus Christ, the Son of God (Mark 1:1). And throughout his Gospel that thesis is asserted, but not by the people who Christ is trying to ‘win over.’ The Demons know who he is. A very shaky reply from Peter that could almost be phrased as a question as much as statement, says He’s the Messiah. And, of course, the final proclamation in Mark 15:39, “surely this man is the son of G(g)od,” leaves one to wonder just which god the centurion was referencing!

As we approach the feast day of St. Mark, 25 March, which Christ do we worship and proclaim? Do our own demons know more about the Christ than we do and keep us from worshipping? Or, are we like Peter and say his is the Messiah in more of a question form than a statement? Maybe, you proclaim that surely this man is the Son of God; but he is a God you’ve made him into as opposed to the God of the Bible, a thoroughly modern and updated god. Or even sadder, maybe you are willing to simply run away naked instead of being identified with the one true God.

St. Mark gave us sign post that the Christ was God’s Son, the true Messiah of Israel. As we remember St. Mark let us remember he told us about the “good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” And he proclaimed throughout his book that “Surely this man must be the Son of God.” From the beginning to the end, and all points in the middle, Mark made the case that the Christ is our savior!

Until next time May the Good Lord Bless and Keep You!

Nonsense, Easter, Empty Tombs, Stones

A Friend of mine asked/mentioned on a social media site, “One thing I never understood about the story though. Why was the giant stone rolled to the side of the tomb? He didn’t need a doorway. In the next few days, if you read the scripture there are several instances where Jesus “appears” which it makes it sound like he was spirit?

Ok, let me answer your question with a question—or two or three! You said you never understood … So let me ask you what is understandable, what makes sense in the entire story? The answer is ‘nothing.’

The Roman guard was not going to let a, for lack of a better word, prisoner—at least a body under their watch—escape. They would have received the death penalty for such. Yet, they shook and became like dead men.

That the stone was rolled away would have been a supernatural feat. We would have never been able to roll the stone away. It would have weighed several tons. It sat in a trench and rolled down to cover the entrance. Yet, the Greek implies that it was not rolled—either left or right—in the trench; it was rolled outward away from the tomb. This would not have been an easy task for men.

Who were the first to discover the risen Christ? Women. Women were tasked with telling the others that the Christ had been raised. A woman was not a believed or relied on source in the ancient world. They could not testify in a court of law; and now they are given the burden of telling everyone that Christ has risen in the middle of history not at the end of time! Probably why in Mark’s gospel they don’t tell anyone! Who would have believed them!

First, while Jews, and Jews alone, believed in a bodily resurrection, they believed it would come at the end of history. The resurrection of the Christ came in the middle of history. And the women? As the women went to the tomb they said there was an earthquake. That was the stone being rolled away—the angel sat on the stone. I’m 99.44/100^th percent sure the stone was rolled away so the witnesses could know that what had happened had indeed happened.

The Jews had had many people come and claim to be the Messiah, the anointed one of Israel. They had been put to death. Jesus was no different. He came made his claim and was put to death. They did not expect a resurrection, not until the end of time when everyone would be resurrected. Women were not reliable witnesses. Romans are not going to let a body under their watch disappear (remember these were highly trained fighting men).

Nothing in the story makes sense. But, then it does. As other messiah want-to-bes had come and gone, Jesus, the true Messiah, had to rise. What he accomplished, he accomplished on the cross on ‘Good Friday.’ After his death the world was a different place. God’s new creation was taking place. The resurrection was the proof of what had happen on Friday!

Now, I believe Jesus was raised before the stone was rolled away. It was rolled away so that it could be shown to be empty. But, something needs to be remembered. While did have those ‘spirit’ aspect like being able to appear in places, he also had a physicality ae to tough the wounds. This suggest some type of human body. Also, He had to appear somewhat human as he was mistaken for the gardener. The fact that the disciples didn’t recognize him walking down the road doesn’t point to him being changed so much as it points to them not expecting him to be raised!

When he ascended into Heaven some of earth went to Heaven; some days later when the Holy Spirit came down (Acts 2) some of Heaven came to earth. I think we too often we think of dying and going to heaven as the end. But if we follow Christ’s example, we will die and be with our Lord for a period of time and then there will be the resurrection. Our bodies will be raised on a New Earth with a New Heaven. So, Heaven is great place to visit but it’s not the final stop.  And nothing in these stories makes sense because it was something the world had never seen and will never see again! And, if everything made perfect sense there would be no room for faith.

May our faith guide us through this Eastertide as we move forward to Pentecost.

 

Until next time, May the Good Lord Bless and Keep You!

 

Simply A Cross

One of the most popular pieces of jewelry is a cross. Not just among the religious, mind you, but among society in general. They come form the plain and simply to the most diamond studded bling. Even among denominations that only a few years ago might have shunned the wearing of such a sacred symbol, crosses adorn the necks, the ears, and anywhere else they can find to put one—on jewelry that is! We glamorize the cross on everything but seem to somewhat gloss over it in our churches. Sure, we sing a few songs such as the ‘Old Rugged Cross,’ or, ‘When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.’ But for the most part we skip past the cross and get right to the resurrection.

            As we hold our blingy crosses in such high esteem, even being proud when we see others adorned with them, for the First Century Jew, or anyone else for that matter, the cross was not the pretty thing we have made it out to be. The cross was a scary symbol. It represented the most horrid way a man could die. As one walked down the first century road, they could see the sights of the dying hung on the cross. Maybe the stench of rotting flesh filled the air. Buzzards would have been circling, waiting for the precise, right moment to swoop down for the awaiting feast. Flies would been buzzing around and maggots filling the open wounds. A deterrent to crime. An example set for one not to rebel against the empire. Yes, the cross.

            Yet too often we want to, in our we want it right now mental, go straight on to the resurrection. But, it was the cross on that—what has come to be called Good Friday—afternoon that changed the world. For St. Paul, he maintained that when in Corinth he vowed to know nothing but Christ and Christ crucified. It was not the resurrection—Sunday morning—it was Friday afternoon. Sadly, we look closer at the resurrection and skim the wondrous cross that changed the creation that God had once called ‘good,’ but had strayed from God’s will and way.

            While we look at the crosses we have around our necks, pierced in our ears, tattooed on our bodies, we forget what the cross symbolized to the Jewish people. We tend to forget that it was the cross, the wondrous cross, that on a Friday afternoon, changed the world. It was because of the cross that the proclamation ‘Surely, this man was the Son of God,’ not the resurrection, though by the resurrection He was declared to be the Son of God by the Holy Spirit.

            The Cross changed the world. The Cross made way for us to walk on a new earth, in the future, while still living in the present. The Cross, the Wonderous, Old Rugged Cross, changed the world; the resurrection was the proof that it had happened.

 

Collect for Good Friday:

Lord Jesus Christ, by your death you took away the sting of death: Grant to us your servants so to follow in faith where you have led the way, that we may at length fall asleep peacefully in you and wake up in your likeness; for your tender mercies’ sake. Amen.

 

Until next time, May the Good Lord Bless and Keep You!

Lint, Lent, Belly Button Scent

March 6^th marks the beginning of Lent 2019. It’s that period of time where we fast from things that keep us from drawing closer to God, in hopes that we draw closer to the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth. Just as we would, hopefully daily, we would clean the lint from our belly, during the 40 days of fasting in Lent we would clean the lint from our lives. We attempt to say goodbye—remove that unclean lint—to the things that keep us from the new life with God. Or, as N. T. Wright put it, “we say a firm goodbye to everything in us that still clings to the old!”

As Ronald Rolheiser said, “It is no easy task to walk this earth and find peace.” But, when we clean away our lint, during Lent with the hope that it stays away, walking this earth becomes easier due to our walking closer to God.

Our Ash Wednesday service takes on a journey both backward and forward. We have the sign of the cross made on our foreheads in ashes. These ashes take us both back in time and into the future. We can look back at all the people in biblical times that mourn, our showed their grief by sitting in ashes, or placing ashes on the heads. So, our ashes will symbolize the ‘junk’ we’ve removed from our own lives. But, they show a bit more!
The sign of the Cross points to something better than what we are leaving behind. St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians that when he was with them he vowed to know nothing but Christ, and [Christ] crucified. It was all about that cross. When we ‘survey that wondrous Cross’ we find that there, our new life begins. It was there that the New World began. It all happened on that old rugged cross. The earth was there to be forever changed. Then, three days later came the resurrection; the proof that what happened on the cross was real, that the world was forever changed.

Our foreheads are marked with those ashes—symbols of those things, our past, that we are giving up in order that we may more fully be closer to God and do his work—in the sign of a cross—identifying us with the New World that began on a Friday with the death of the Christ. The ashes then look back on what we’ve left and forward to the life refined by the fire given to us  through the work of the Lord on the cross!

Let your Lenten fast draw you closer to that Cross. Clean you bellybuttons so to speak so your lives will be a sweet scent going up to the Lord!

 

Until Next Time, may the Good Lord Bless And Keep You!

 

MAKING BELIEVE, DRAGON THINGS, AND REAL LIFE

I’ll admit that I am old enough to remember the song, “Making Believe.” And as a kid I ‘made believe’ as  much as did any other child. Yet, with age ‘painted wings and giant things’ make way for other things—hopefully real life. Yet, in our current society we are asked to make to make, well, make believe. We are asked to make believe that God’s creation doesn’t exist as God created.

A recent article told of a lady who had a baby. Not too much ‘making believe’ so far as that happens daily. Yet, in this particular situation, the lady, Sabastian Sparks as CNN reports, who had the baby wants us to pretend—to pretend after she has given birth, after she breast fed—that she is now the baby’s father. Now, to take another twist, the person who fathered the baby was the mother’s boyfriend. And—sit down for this—he now wants us to ‘make believe’ that he is the baby’s mother! In one sentence: Regardless Of the DNA; regardless of what God created; we are asked to make believe that the baby’s mother is the baby’s father and the baby’s father is the baby’s mother. You can almost imagine the child trying to explain in school how his father—remember he is the mother who wants us to pretend he is the father—gave birth to him and breast fed him. And by that time the child could have made some decision about how he will identify. This entire paragraph made my head swim typing it!

Maybe, just maybe, society has ‘made believe’ just too much. God made man and He made woman. He didn’t ask us to ‘make believe’ one was the other. In each he gave DNA specific to their particular gender. We were not designed to pretend that a man was a woman and a woman was a man. God ordained biblical manhood and womanhood. And he didn’t ask that we pretend that we were the other, but that we be what we are. Maybe the degradation of society has something to do with our pretending things—people—are something other than what they are. When we are to ‘make believe’ we see society through a skewed lens. Maybe it’s time we step back and stop ‘making believe’ and just believe in man as God created him and woman as God created her. Society will flourish when we reclaim biblical manhood and womanhood.

 

Collect: Keep, O Lord, your household the Church in your steadfast faith and love, that through your grace we may proclaim your truth with boldness, and minister your justice with compassion; for the sake of our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Until next time may The God Lord Bless and Keep you!

A Cross, Some Thoughts, Surveying the Wondrous Cross

One of the most popular pieces of jewelry is a cross. Not just among the religious, mind you, but among society in general. They come form the plain and simply to the most diamond studded bling. Even among denominations that only a few years ago might have shunned the wearing of such a sacred symbol, crosses adorn the necks, the ears, and anywhere else they can find to put one—on jewelry that is! We glamorize the cross on everything but seem to somewhat gloss over it in our churches. Sure, we sing a few songs such as the ‘Old Rugged Cross,’ or, ‘When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.’ But for the most part we skip past the cross and get right to the resurrection.

            As we hold our blingy crosses in such high esteem, even being proud when we see others adorned with them, for the First Century Jew, or anyone else for that matter, the cross was not the pretty thing we have made it out to be. The cross was a scary symbol. It represented the most horrid way a man could die. As one walked down the first century road, they could see the sights of the dying hung on the cross. Maybe the stench of rotting flesh filled the air. Buzzards would have been circling, waiting for the precise, right moment to swoop down for the awaiting feast. Flies would been buzzing around and maggots filling the open wounds. A deterrent to crime. An example set for one not to rebel against the empire. Yes, the cross.

            Yet too often we want to, in our we want it right now mental, go straight on to the resurrection. But, it was the cross on that—what has come to be called Good Friday—afternoon that changed the world. For St. Paul, he maintained that when in Corinth he vowed to know nothing but Christ and Christ crucified. It was not the resurrection—Sunday morning—it was Friday afternoon. Sadly, we look closer at the resurrection and skim the wondrous cross that changed the creation that God had once called ‘good,’ but had strayed from God’s will and way.

            While we look at the crosses we have around our necks, pierced in our ears, tattooed on our bodies, we forget what the cross symbolized to the Jewish people. We tend to forget that it was the cross, the wondrous cross, that on a Friday afternoon, changed the world. It was because of the cross that the proclamation ‘Surely, this man was the Son of God,’ not the resurrection, though by the resurrection He was declared to be the Son of God by the Holy Spirit.

            The Cross changed the world. The Cross made way for us to walk in the new earth, the future, while still living in the present. The Cross, the Wonderous, Old Rugged Cross, changed the world; the resurrection was the proof that it had happened.

 

Collect for Good Friday:

Lord Jesus Christ, by your death you took away the sting of death: Grant to us your servants so to follow in faith where you have led the way, that we may at length fall asleep peacefully in you and wake up in your likeness; for your tender mercies’ sake. Amen.

 

Until next time, may the God Lord bless and keep you!

GUNS, TWITTER, AND ICONS

We’ve another week of mourning in America as the live of innocent school children were taken by an evil shooter. Yet, the children are not the only reason America mourns; we also lost our most prized possession and icon, the Rev. Dr. Billy Graham. And therein might lie the key to many of the problems that are prevailing in our world. While I’m not quoting the comments on Rev. Graham in the body of this post [they are posted at the end of the writing for those with a curious nature] that were given by Teen Vouge—yes, the Teen Vouge your child reads—writer Lauren Duca, her diatribe aimed at Graham epitomizes the predicament of today’s America; we no longer have love and respect for our fellow man. We no longer love our neighbors as ourselves. And as the tirade of Duca was aimed at a man of God, it points to the fact that we no longer have love and respect for God. Our Country is drifting away from the very things that held us together; we have allowed, and are allowing, our country and ourselves to drift farther from the shore.

 Instead of clinging to the Christian principles that have given us hope, that have made us strong, that taught us to love God and our neighbor, that gave us love back from both, we have given in to the hate filled vitriol of Hollywood. We have settled in to permit the likes of Duca and pop stars to shape the minds of our youth. We have, as a people, forgotten the one who created the people. We have allowed the worship of the created instead of worshipping the creator. Idolatry is  killing our youth and in essence our country.

It’s not about ‘gun control’—though I could easily argue that it could be about more controlled people having guns! It’s about us and whom/what we choose to worship. When we come back to worshipping the Creator God and shunning the man-made idols of Hollywood, Teen Vouge, and every other idea that aims to take us away from the one true God—the God whose gospel the Rev. Graham preached for years—our country will again be a place where our children can go to school without fear. It will be a place where we can enjoy a music festival with the only fear being our toes getting stepped on. When come back to truly loving God, we will truly love our neighbor as ourselves; We come back to loving God our neighborhood, our community, our state, our country, will again be the place—the place where we had love and security—we once lived in and have long pined for. While Duca has vehemently commanded Rev. Dr. Graham to rest eternally in a lowly place of everlasting torment, it is my wish that we all hear and follow his simple message, and when we depart, as he did make Heaven an even brighter place.

[Duca’s comments taken from her twitter account @lurarenduca: “The big news today is that Billy Graham was still alive this whole time. Anyway, have fun in hell, bitch.” This was followed with “’Respect for the dead’ only apples to those who weren’t evil pieces of shit while they were living, thanks.”]

Until next time may the Good Lord bless and keep you!

 

LENT, ASH WEDNESDAY: I’M GIVING UP MAYONNAISE!

The time of Lent is again upon us. And, for many it is the time where we give up something. For the next 46 days we ‘fast.’ We give up something. And, it is my plan to give up mayonnaise. Of course, of the 46 days, six are Sundays of which we are under no obligation to fast, so I can eat mayonnaise on those days—should I so choose. Yet, as I detest mayonnaise I believe I shall not partake of this food—I use the word loosely—on those days on which I could actually eat it. Sadly, that is the attitude with which many enter into the Lenten fast.

Our time of fasting during the Lenten period should be a time of bring us closer to God. Amos has called on us to “Seek the Lord” (Amos 5:6, ESV). We need to be clearing out the clutter that is causing us to spend less time with our God. Some many times in our busy lives, when time is tight, it is God who gets pushed by the wayside. Thus, our fast should be one that turns our eyes upon Jesus. As Paul wrote in the Epistle to the Hebrews, “Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus” (Hebrews 12:1-2). Our fast then needs to draw us closer to the Lord. As we await that day when we celebrate what the Lord has done, the day when the Lord changed the world on the Cross and gave proof of that change by his resurrection.

It was the Cross that changed the world. On that day the world became a new place. We have the evidence of this when Paul wrote to the church in Corinth that he resolved to know nothing while he was in Corinth except “Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). The proof of what happened on that Cross became manifest three days later when the Christ “was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of Holiness by His resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 1:4).

Our Lenten Fast then helps us to seek the Lord. It helps us to run the race with endurance. It should more clearly help us to see the world that came to be on a Friday afternoon on a Cross. Our fast helps to bring into focus the work of Jesus on the Cross.

John preached a baptism of repentance. And our Lenten fast should be a type of repentance. It is not a fast that turns us back from where we came; it is a fast that turns us to where we should go. We fast from what tends to take away our time from focus on God. It is a fast that helps us to turn to Him, to seek Him. It is a fast that doesn’t weaken us but strengthens us to run the race with endurance. As John preached a baptism of repentance, our Lenten fast turns our eyes toward, helps us more fully seek, the one who was raised by the same Holy Spirit by which we are baptized. It is not enough for us to simply turn our eyes from the things of which we fast; we must in the Spirit turn our eyes unto Him.

Of course, I am not giving up mayonnaise for Lent; I never eat the nasty mess to start with! As a matter of fact, eating mayonnaise, I feel, would probably send me on to the heavenly realm! But, I ask at this Lenten period, allow your fast to be one that draws you ever so closer to God. Seek Him and allow your fast to allow you to run the race with endurance. Turn from the world and walk in the Spirit by which you are indwelled.  As you seek God, humble yourselves so that you may be exalted (Luke 18:14). Allow the Holy Spirit to take you on a pilgrimage during Lent that takes you to the Cross of Christ with a proclamation that surely this man really is the son of God!

 

Until next time, may the good Lord bless and keep you!

(For those of you on FaceBook I will see you in April)

HERE’S THE DEAL JOB!

Job chapter 8 brings in one of my favorite characters: Bildad the Shuhite. It was always the running gag in seminary to ask the incoming freshmen who has the shortest character in the Bible. Of course they would always answer together, “Zacchaeus!” We would correct them right away that it was Bildad, as he was only a Shuhite—a Shoe Height—[insert groan]. But, as chapter 8 seems to bear out, Bildad was short—short in his dealing with Job’s circumstance.

Bildad begins with a technique familiar to Israeli wisdom literature: attack that last speaker’s speech. And in true form and fashion Bildad attacks and does not seem to let up until possibly at the end. If it was thought that Eliphaz was easy on Job, after reading chapter 8 no-one will make that assertion about Bildad.

“How long will you say these things and the words of your mouth be a great wind?” Bildad could have well said, “Come on Job, how much longer are you going to continue speaking all this nonsense?”  Job follows it up with a question—possibly a rhetorical question—asking, “Does God pervert justice?” Yet, that is not exactly Job’s complaint. Job’s lament was that God was treating him rather harshly.

Bildad differs from Eliphaz though in his appeal is to past history and nature to justify his message 8-10. Eliphaz justified his message recanting a dream. Then, in verses 11-19, Blidad launches into a series of rhetorical questions (11-13) and answers/explanations (14-19) to begin closing out his speech.  The bottom line of Bildad’s speech however, is summed up in verse 20: Behold, God will not reject a blameless man [remember we have been told that Job is blameless], nor take the hands of the evildoers. If we think of Israel as the legalists that they have always been made out to be, this might bear some weight. But we have to actually see Israel as they were; they were never ones who believed their salvation was in perfect Law keeping. There was atonement for sins in Israel. Yet, it must be remembered that this story comes before the Law and possibly Israel. So, while we have been told that Job is blameless, there were none who were blameless before God. And, this statement by Bildad, in all his bluntness and shortness sets the stage for Job’s reply in chapter 9.

COLLECT FOR TODAY:

Lord God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ triumphed over the powers of death and prepared for us our place in the new Jerusalem: Grant that we, who have this day given thanks for his resurrection, may praise you in that City of which he is the light, and where he lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.

Until Next Time, May the Good Lord Bless and Keep you!

GOD, SAY WHAT?

Looking at Job Chapter Seven

 

Job begins chapter 7 continuing his discourse; yet the recipient will seem to change. While chapter 6 had Job responding somewhat to Eliphaz, chapter 7  Job’s peroration will become aimed at God. While verse 2:22 asserts, “In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong,” the reader now has to determine if the same can be true after reading chapter seven.

            The first pericope of chapter 7 (vv.1-6) begin with the parallelism that is common to Hebrew poetry and has been a feature of the book of Job. Verses 1 and 2 form individual parallel lines while verse 5 and 6 perform the same. Yet, tuck neatly in the middle of all the parallelism are verse 3 and 4. They are written in another vice of Hebrew poetry: chiasm. And, their place in the middle points to Job’s emotional state—because of the misfortunes mentioned in the surrounding verses [this is brought out by the use of conjunction ‘so’ beginning verse 3] (1-2;5-6).

Verses 3 and 4 and their chiastic structure:

             A¹                                 B¹

V3. so I am allotted         months of emptiness

              B²                                                  A²

      And nights of misery      are appointed me.

 

The center of the chiasm points to emptiness and misery as the emotional components of Job’s current life. Job interestingly forms the next pericope of 7 (7-10) into 2 chiasms—7-8 form the first while 9-10 form the later.

 

 

Verses 7-8:

              A¹                                                                              B¹

7 Remember that my life is but a breath   my eye will never again see good.

                B²                                                                           A²

8 The eye of him who sees me            will behold me no more.

 

For Job, a man whose life is emptiness and misery, his eyes will never see good again, nor will the eyes of him who sees him—while many attribute the ‘eyes of him who sees me’ as being God, it almost seems a better interpretation to see the ‘eyes …’ as anyone who now sees job including his friends who are taking part in the discussion. If we believe to be able to see all then we would have to concede that God would be able to see Job in sheol—see him anymore, his life is but a breath and will be no more. While it is tempting to want to make an appeal to James 4:14 when interpreting  ‘life is but a breath,’ we should refrain from using the New Testament in interpreting Job—a case could be made however when handling James 4:14 to make an appeal to Job 7:7.

Verse 9-10’

             A¹                                                                                  B¹

9. As the cloud fades and vanishes, so he who goes down to sheol does not come up,

             B²                                                                                  A²

10. He returns to no more to his house, nor does his place know him anymore.

 

 

We now have a man whose life is misery and emptiness, whose eye will never see good any longer, nor will anyone see him any longer because when one goes to sheol—this is not hell but simply the place of the dead—he does not anymore return [This predates resurrection theologies]. Because of this Job feels unrestrained in addressing God at t he beginning of the final pericope of verse 7: “Therefore I will not restrain my mouth.”

            For Job, all of his problems are coming from God, and God does not—in Job’s eyes—want to let up. Job makes this clear in the last pericope of chapter 7.  Job, for all of his problems simply needs a break. He can’t sleep because—in his opinion—God sends bad dreams (v.14). Job just wants God to back off for long enough for him (Job) to swallow his spit (v.19).

            But, what is very interesting in this final passage is this man Job, who is upright and blameless, who is so upright that he makes sacrifices on behalf of his children in case they might have sinned, has now to come to the conclusion that he has sinned and that is the reason for his problems. He seems to have taken Eliphaz’s cause and effect theory to heart: Verse 20- Why do you not pardon my transgressions and take away my iniquity?

            Job has come from being upright to believe he has sinned so bad that God now is tormenting him. And for Job this torment will go on until death—For now I shall lie in the earth, you will seek me, but I shall not be (v.21).

            While we always speak of the “patience of Job,” as we read more into Job that patience seems to have been replaced with bitterness. Job sees himself as man tormented by God. As a result, he lives a life of emptiness and misery—remember this is a man who sum five chapters earlier had it all and was upright before God—he will go to the grave in this condition and all he wants is just a break for the amount of time it would take to swallow his spit.

            We have all been in that situation where it seemed that the ‘bad’ would not let up. It is at that time that cheerful hymns just do not seem to comfort. And, like Job, we seem to feel like the good and gracious God has it out for us. As well, we have all probably been angry at God. And Job is not the only person in the Bible who has felt betrayed by the almighty. Jerimiah said:

 

 

            O Lord, you deceived me, and I was deceived;

                You over powered me and prevailed.

            I am ridiculed all day long;

              Everyone mocks me (Jeremiah 20:7).

 

Bad things happen in a good world and to good people. There are not always, though they definitely can be, the result of cause and effect. And, we will at times get mad at God. As I have been meditating on this chapter, over in England baby Charlie Gard is dying—as a result of a genetic condition [there have been many court cases about him receiving help that would not help him], and it would be safe to assume that his parents, if they are Christians, might have a bit of anger directed towards God. Why would you God not step in and heal this genetic problem; why would you God not allow him to cross the big pond for treatment in the USA; Why would you not step in and let him come home and be well; why would you not step in and let him come home to die? The questions could go on and on, but the point is we all can get angry at God. Some people might not express it as forcefully as Job, while others might express it stronger. But, not matter how it is expressed, we have to see God as sovereign over all creation. We have to remember the word’s that Job has seemed to have forgotten, “Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil [at this point he has not attributed the evil to God] (v. 2:10)? The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away; blessed be the name of the Lord (1:21).

We serve a good God in an evil world. We, like Job, will receive good. But, like Job, we also will receive bad. While we love God, just like the family member we love, we will at times feel angry his way. But in all things we should remember, blessed be the name of the Lord.

 

Collect for today:

O God, you make us glad with the weekly remembrance of the glorious resurrection of your Son our Lord: Give us this day such blessing through our worship of you, that the week to come may be spent in your favor; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

Until next time, may the good Lord bless and keep you!