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JOB: WHO’S TO BLAME

Rabbi Harold Kushner (Natick, MA), wrote a book based on the Book of Job: When Bad Things Happen to Good People, he writes:
“Is there an answer to the question of why bad things happen to good people?  That depends on what we mean by “answer.”  If we mean “is there an explanation which will make sense of it all?” - Why is there starvation in the world?  Why did my father get cancer?  Why did the plane crash?  Why did my child die? - then there is probably no satisfying answer.

We can offer learned explanations, but in the end, when we have covered all the squares on the game board and are feeling very proud of our cleverness, the pain and the anguish and the sense of unfairness will still be there.”

Today, given things like the ongoing political tensions in our nation, financial insecurity, the continuing wars in Ukraine & the Middle East, struggles in our own lives, we are often prone to wonder what’s going on?!  Who is to blame?

Things in life can really play havoc with our sense of equilibrium.
Poor Job had a really rough time.  The Scripture read this morning is just the beginning of the story.  Job then loses everything.  His livestock, his children, and his health.  In all of this, distraught as he is, believing that God had something to do with it, and yet, he   is not angry with God:
“Job arose, and rent his robe, and shaved his head and fell upon the ground . . and said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return; the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”
In the Book of Romans, Paul, compares God to the potter and works of clay:
“Who can resist God’s will?  Will what is molded say to the one who molds it, “Why have you made me like this?”  Has the potter no right over the clay . . ?”
Again the implication that this is just the way things are. It’s not so much a matter of God doing or causing something to happen, but more in the sense of: as God has set the world in motion, this is simply the way it goes.  Countless factors coming together at each moment in time to create reality.
Countless references to our human attempts to understand the will of God.

The blame, or less accusatory, the reason for things happening as they do is in the fabric, the perfection of creation.
Scripture makes the claim with subtle references:

Job:  “In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.”
Romans:  Paul writes,
“Will what is molded say to the one who molds it, ‘Why have you made me like this?’” . . and what if he has done so in order to make known the riches of his glory for the objects of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory”
“Prepared beforehand” - predestined.
Everything that happens follows the plan, the interconnectedness of all creation.
Predestination.  Given all of the factors to any decision we make, there is predictability - the catch is, knowing every single influence involved.
Over against the notion of free-will, where we may believe we’re making this choice or that choice, yet, if all the factors were known, that choice would be the only choice.  And we’re talking here of the minutest kinds of factors - from what we learned on that day in elementary school, to what we had for breakfast, to the color of the walls in the room.

We’ll never know God’s will, for certain, so, given what we can discern, we must choose the best response we can.
Job’s response: to forgive the world for not being perfect, to forgive God for not making a better world, to reach out to people around us, and to go on living despite it all.  Rabbi Kushner writes:
“Forgive the world for not being perfect.
Forgive your neighbor for not being perfect.
Forgive yourself for not being perfect.
Forgive God for not being perfect.”

From a slightly different angle, I would move us forward into the New Testament, the life of Christ: “God is perfect.”
We can praise God for a perfect world and pray for a wider understanding. If it rains on my picnic someone’s garden must be dry.

To instill intentionality upon God’s nature is to narrowly define and restrict the idea of God’s presence.  It is to place God over there, apart from us; wielding power and cracking the whip.
St. Paul, again:  “You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”  Perfect, not in the sense of never making a mistake, but perfect as in being connected.  God is not “out there”, God is bigger than that and yet as small as the smallest subatomic particle.
When I was ordained a minister in the United Methodist Church, we were asked the question, “Do you expect to reach perfection in this life?”  As a young 26 year old, I had some trouble with that one.  Obviously, we were expected to answer that in the affirmative.  It felt rather arrogant of me to say, “sure!”  Being provided well ahead of time with the list of what would be asked of us, I did some serious soul searching.
As I studied that passage from Jesus Sermon on the Mount, I remember a special insight that was offered in the discussion:  Perfection is not a permanent state of being, only something one might achieve on occasion.  Perfect is not something we are, but something we taste.

Life will never be perfect all the time.  Not from where we stand.
But from where God stands, we are perfect in his eyes, life is perfect, God’s love is perfect, Everything is perfect and moves seamlessly forward.  The world works perfectly.  Flawlessly.
Around 1920, Max Ehrmann penned a poem that made a comeback in the 60's:  Desiderata (Desiderata is Latin and means 'things that are yearned for', which in the context of the poem more closely means 'essential things'.)  It contains the following line:
“And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.”
Perfection, for the Christian, is something that Jesus touched more than any other human being before or since.  He becomes the goal, the mentor, the ideal of our lives.
The challenge, then is:
>to forego any attempts at trying to know all the nuances of an event or a decision;
>to worry less about predictions and the illusions of free will;
>to resist the temptation to attach blame . .and then, step out bravely, with faith and courage;
Still striving for perfection.

Knowing that it is not the absence of mistakes, but the basis of decisions and actions. Following God’s love as exemplified in Jesus Christ as we know him from the Scriptures.

Job did indeed fall into some terrible times.
We know them as well, some of us better than others.
Who’s to blame?   There probably is an absolute answer, but we will never know it.
Our only concern must be to live and learn and love as much as we possibly can; in life, in faith, hope and love.
The perfection we seek is to be found in our savior.  And when we discover it, awaken to that perfect-in-love, we will know it, celebrate it and enjoy the moment.

One of my all time favorite little poems: Eternity written by William Blake:
"He who binds himself to a joy,
Does the winged life destroy;
But he who kisses the joy as it flies,
Lives in eternity’s sunrise.

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November 17, 2024

Twenty-Sixth Sunday after Pentecost

GATHERING FOR WORSHIP

We greet our friends and neighbors quietly and allow the music of the prelude to lead us into a worshipful place in our hearts and minds.

Prelude Great Is Thy Faithfulness

William M. Runyan, arr. Glenda Austin

Welcome and Announcements

Choral Introit

Call to Worship

Leader: We look in the mirror and WHAT do we see?

People: We see people who try to be faithful, even as questions and  struggles challenge our faith.

Leader: We look in the mirror and HOW do we see?

People: We see with hearts which are open to God's love, with lives  which seek to trust when all the evidence tells us not to be so foolish.

Leader: We look in the mirror and WHO do we see?

People: We see Jesus standing next to us, our example of faithfulness  for all who would follow.

*Opening Hymn A Mighty Fortress Is Our God

Unison Prayer of Invocation (based on the Book of Job)

When nothing seems right, when we are weary and lost, when clouds  dull the sky, help us to be still.

When our cries seem unheeded, when no effort bears fruit, when the  sun sets, help us to be still.

When love seems over, and hope, gone, when darkness covers the land, help us to be still.

For in being still, in refusing to panic or despair, we shall come to know that God is there, suffering alongside and with us, waiting to show us stepping-stones through the swirling waters, helping us find a  new song to sing. Amen

SHARING GOD’S WORD

Scripture Reading Job 1:6-12

Leader: This is the Word of the Lord.

People: Thanks be to God.

Musical Interlude

THE COMMUNITY AT PRAYER

Sharing of Joys and Concerns

Call to Prayer  Lead me, Lord, lead me in thy righteousness, make thy way plain before my  face. For it is thou, Lord, thou, Lord, only, that makest me dwell in safety.

Pastoral Prayer

Lord’s Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

*Hymn of Preparation There Is a Balm in Gilead #501

SERMON Job: Who’s to Blame? Rev. Gary Ritts

THE SERVICE OF OFFERING

Collection and Offertory

*The Doxology (#46)

Praise God from whom all blessings flow; praise Him,

all creatures here below; praise Him above, ye heavenly host:

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

* Unison Prayer of Dedication

Help us to be generous givers, dear Lord, both of our money and our  lives, that we might make a difference in our communities. We ask this  through your son, our Savior Jesus Christ, who gave all that he was that  we might know life in all its fullness. Amen.

WE GO FORTH TO SERVE

*Hymn of Parting Here I Am, Lord #452

*Benediction (Ephesians 3:20-21)

Now to him who, by the power at work within us is able to accomplish  abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the  church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever.

All: We go in peace to love and serve the Lord, In the name of Christ. Amen.

Congregational Response

Go now in peace. Never be afraid. God will go with you each hour

of every day. Go now in faith, steadfast, strong and true. Know He

will guide you in all you do. Go now in love, and show you believe.

Reach out to others so all the world can see. God will be there,

watching from above. Go now in peace, in faith, and in love.

POSTLUDE To God Be the Glory

William H. Doane, arr. Mary McDonald