Hebrew Testament text for Sunday 7 October 2018

Job 1:1; 2:1-10        There was once a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. That man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.

One day the heavenly beings came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the Lord. The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered the Lord, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” The Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil. He still persists in his integrity, although you incited me against him, to destroy him for no reason.” Then Satan answered the Lord, “Skin for skin! All that people have they will give to save their lives. But stretch out your hand now and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face.” The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, he is in your power; only spare his life.”

So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord, and inflicted loathsome sores on Job from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. Job took a potsherd with which to scrape himself, and sat among the ashes. Then his wife said to him, “Do you still persist in your integrity? Curse God, and die.” But he said to her, “You speak as any foolish woman would speak. Shall we receive the good at the hand of God, and not receive the bad?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

Reflection      Job is a man of grand slam success and insistent faithfulness. We meet him at the heels of a wager between God and Satan. All of his livestock are destroyed, his servants are carried away, his business decimated. A great wind collapses the house in which his sons and daughters are eating and all ten of them are killed.  “(Despite) all of this, Job did not sin or charge God with wrongdoing.” (Job 1.22) God wins the wager. Job remains faithful in the face of unrelenting loss, a fact God loses no time pointing out to the Satan.  “(Job) still persists in his integrity, though you (Satan) incited me against him, to destroy him for no reason.” 

Furious the adversary ups the ante. “People will give up anything to save their own life…” Again, God,  betting Job will persist in his integrity, accepts the second wager and empowers the Satan to inflict unspeakable physical suffering on Job.  And indeed, though his body is covered with oozing boils and Job sends himself into exile sitting on an ash heap, when his wife confronts him saying, “Do you still persist in your integrity? Curse God and die,” Job endures saying to his maligned wife, “Shall we receive the good at the hand of God and not receive the bad?” 

This is integrity. No matter what happens to us on the outside, our interior values, our moral principles, what we know to be true, must continue to determine how we behave. Which is to say,  our values are revealed in our daily actions. The quality of our actions bespeak the authenticity of our faith. Integrity. 

Job’s faith is established through his acceptance of blessing as well as suffering which is not to say, Job liked his suffering nor did he think he deserved it. In fact, for the next twenty-nine chapters of the Book of Job, he never stops calling out to God, asserting his innocence, despising his condition and demanding God’s attention. And therein lies the key. Job never stops calling out to God because he sees God’s hand in the good as well as in the bad. 

This melodramatic tale of enduring faithfulness and resolute integrity has much to say to us today. As we navigate our troubled times, like Job we will do well to put our confidence in God with us regardless of the raging tides of our circumstance. Like Job we must act with integrity making our daily actions line up with our hearts values; receiving blessing as well as suffering. Rather than asking, “Who is to blame?” better we should ask, “Where is God in this?” 

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Luke 21:5-19     When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, Jesus said, "As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down."

They asked him, "Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?" And he said, "Beware that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name and say, `I am he!' and, `The time is near!' Do not go after them.

"When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately." Then he said to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven.

"But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. This will give you an opportunity to testify. So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance; for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your souls."

Reflection    The refrain in Carly Simon’s song “Coming Around Again” speaks to the edge and the depth of our human experience of impermanence. “I know nothing stays the same but if you're willing to play the game it's coming around again. So don't mind if I fall apart. There's more room in a broken heart.” Indeed, “not one stone will be left upon another.” There will be “wars and insurrections,”  not to mention “earthquakes, famines, plagues” and typhoons that kill more than three thousand island people. 

The writer of Luke’s gospel minces no words, we cannot hold onto the things of this world. We cannot “prepare our defense in advance” against the ebb and flow, the jig and jag of all that is created (and that includes natural disasters and even our “parents and brothers, relatives and friends” who will disappoint and betray us). The question that pushes on me is, if nothing that I see stays the same, how then am I to play the game?

Jesus answers the question with unequivocal clarity, “make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance; for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict.” In other words, put all (not some) all of our trust in Jesus, the risen Christ who is with us and for us. Rather than rely on things that we see, rely on the wisdom and grace of Divine Presence with us. 

It is inevitable that every stone of the temple will fall, which is to say, everything that is seen and has been humanly constructed including, social, political and religious instutions, will break down and cause much upheaval. In stark contrast to all that is seen and  thus impermanent, unseen God is eternal, always and everywhere Present, with and for all of us. 

In this world of ours there is no escaping change and yes even suffering. Still, in the darkest days when all seems lost, the unborn, undying Divine Reality we call God rises to fill the empty room in our broken hearts. 

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