When God Pulls Rank (Job 38:22-30; 41:1-11; 42:1-6)

38:22-30 ““Have you ever traveled to where snow is made,
    seen the vault where hail is stockpiled,
The arsenals of hail and snow that I keep in readiness
    for times of trouble and battle and war?
Can you find your way to where lightning is launched,
    or to the place from which the wind blows?
Who do you suppose carves canyons
    for the downpours of rain, and charts
    the route of thunderstorms
That bring water to unvisited fields,
    deserts no one ever lays eyes on,
Drenching the useless wastelands
    so they’re carpeted with wildflowers and grass?
And who do you think is the father of rain and dew,
    the mother of ice and frost?
You don’t for a minute imagine
    these marvels of weather just happen, do you?

41:1-11 “Or can you pull in the sea beast, Leviathan, with a fly rod
    and stuff him in your creel?
Can you lasso him with a rope,
    or snag him with an anchor?
Will he beg you over and over for mercy,
    or flatter you with flowery speech?
Will he apply for a job with you
    to run errands and serve you the rest of your life?
Will you play with him as if he were a pet goldfish?
    Will you make him the mascot of the neighborhood children?
Will you put him on display in the market
    and have shoppers haggle over the price?
Could you shoot him full of arrows like a pin cushion,
    or drive harpoons into his huge head?
If you so much as lay a hand on him,
    you won’t live to tell the story.
What hope would you have with such a creature?
    Why, one look at him would do you in!
If you can’t hold your own against his glowering visage,
    how, then, do you expect to stand up to me?
Who could confront me and get by with it?
    I’m in charge of all this—I run this universe!”

42:1-6  Job answered God:

–Job 38:22-30; 41:1-11; 42:1-6 (The Message)

July 31, 2016 Sermon Notes

The final week of our sermon series on Job came at a very difficult time for many people. At the local level our community had experienced several tragic deaths in a short space of time. On the national level people were reeling from an extremely divisive presidential campaign, the deaths of multiple black men in police-involved shootings, and the murder of police officers in cities throughout the country. On a international stage, the wars in Syria and Iraq and the fear of the zika virus continued to dominate the headlines. There was much to fear, and the truth of the matter is that the summer left many people simply reeling from all that had taken place.

Job asks “why?”

This reality is exactly why the story of Job is so important. The writer used all that took place in this parable to remind us that the difficult situations we face in our world are nothing new. People have been wrestling with evil and injustice since the beginning of recorded history. Throughout most of the book of Job, we heard Job’s complaints, his anger, and his grief. We also heard the platitudes of his friends. In all of those comments it is easy to hear our voices, and the voices of those who try to make sense of brokenness in our own time. Above all, we heard Job ask the question, “why?”

“Why?” This is a question we have all asked at some point in our lives. Young children who are just beginning to understand the world around them ask this question incessantly. Because they are still trying figure out the laws of physics, relationships, and civilization, “why?” is a crucial question to ask. For them, cause and effect is still a new concept. Learning why things happen the way they do allows kids to be able to make the connections that they need in order to successfully grow and thrive.

As a child, I did this to my own parents. The question “why?” was a constant part of my dialogue. Usually my parents were very patient with my attempts to understand the world and would give me very specific, age-appropriate, answers to my questions. Sometimes, however, I would push my questioning too far. When told to do something, I would often respond with, “why?” When time permitted I was given the rationale behind the request. Sometimes I accepted the answer I was given. Other times I did not. Occasionally, I would follow up the explanation with, “why?” It was at that point that my mother would deploy the trump card, “because I’m the mom, and I said so.” That was the sign to me that the conversation was over. My window for questions had closed and it was time to do as I was told.

Mom was right

As most kids discover far too late in life, it turns out that mom was right. Although I did not believe it at the time, what my parents were telling me is that the world is far more complicated than I was able to understand. As a young child I did not have the life experience to know what they knew. My parents had seen more and done more than my six-year-old self was willing to give them credit for. Their assertion of a mature wisdom that far surpassed my own was not a hateful limitation on my freedom. Instead, it was a compassionate shelter in which I would be able to safely grow and mature.

This is very much what is happening to Job when God finally begins to speak from the whirlwind. For chapter after chapter Job has been crying out to God. Repeatedly, Job asks “why?” He begs for the opportunity to meet God face to face and plea his case. Eventually, Job gets his opportunity. God listens and then responds.

God’s response to Job is not at all what Job was hoping for. Instead of a detailed explanation of why all this turmoil and grief had entered his life, God goes off in a completely different direction. Job gets no answer to the question “why?” What God does is to take Job on a tour of all creation. God shows Job the world and everything that God had made. God asks Job if he is able to do what God has done, or to understand what God understands. God shows Job the world and tells him that everything made is under God’s control.

During the tour, God acknowledges the turmoil and brokenness of the world. Leviathan, the mythical sea monster, was an ancient symbol of chaos and destruction. Although chaos continues to do its work, God has placed a limit on its power. Suffering on earth is a reality, but it is not the end of the story. God is at work throughout all of creation. Even though evil and injustice exists, God does too, and God’s grace is at work even in the most difficult of times. God is constantly at work bringing justice, peace, forgiveness, and reconciliation into being. As Christians, we believe that this is the very reason God’s Son Jesus Christ came into the world.

Essentially, God answers Job’s “why?” just as my mom once did, “because.” Just as I did as a kid, we chafe at this answer. We want to know. We want to understand. We want to be able to put everything into properly constructed boxes of cause and effect. It feels disempowering and condescending to be told, “you won’t understand.” However, there is also an infinite amount of love and grace built into that answer. My parents created a environment of protection and love in which I could safely grow and mature. When I was ready to understand more about the world, they taught me; but until then, they worried about the things that I was not yet prepared to tackle.

God is God, and we are not

God does the same thing for us. As human beings we are not prepared to take on all the mysteries of the universe. We are not equipped to understand all that is. We can try. We learn a lot as we go, but some things will forever remain just beyond our grasp. This is why God’s protection and provision is so important. It is a blessing to know that even in the most difficult of situations, God is at work. God is creating limits for the chaos. God is continuing to walk with us, guide us, and comfort us. Initially we chafe at the recognition that we are ill-equipped to be gods of our own lives, but eventually we understand what a relief it is that we do not have to be. The position of God and creator of our lives has already been filled by someone infinitely more capable than we will ever be.

Given the ugly reality of our world, we will continue to ask, “why?” God’s answer will always remain difficult for us to understand. However, that inscrutable “because” will always be filled with compassion, love, grace, and reassurance. Our tears and frustrations are real, but the loving, protective, embrace of the God who made us is more real still. Reminders of God’s power and majesty are evident everywhere in creation. God recognizes evil, comforts us in our grief, and ultimately asserts God’s divine power over that evil in the person of Jesus Christ. It may not always be the answer we want, but it is the answer we need.

Job’s repentance at the end of the story is not a confession of sin, it is an expression of trust. He is letting go of his need to control or understand those things that are beyond his ability to comprehend. He proclaiming his faith in a God who will continue to walk him and comfort him no matter what he faces in this world. Job’s willingness to let God be God frees him up to be the person he was made to be. That confidence and reassurance is the very thing that each of us need each and every day.