1 Peter 4.7-19

Morning Musings on the Lectionary, 1 Peter 4.7-19.

I've read this before, but this morning, it hit me hard:

"Maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins" ... the point being, nothing is perfect, and no one has it all put together, and in the midst of chaos and turmoil, to hang on to one another, to help, to assist, to encourage ... because "love" isn't just a pleasant feeling, which it is sometimes, because "pleasant feelings" aren't the point, but rather hiking up one's pants, rolling up one's sleeves, to seek one another's welfare, do what's right for one another, and the larger the circle of life, the more demanding it becomes, to live Micah 7:8

He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
and what does the LORD require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?

Peter makes clear to his readers that suffering is sometimes part of the deal ... and for some of his readers, and for many within the folds of history, the suffering has been immense, horrible and deadly.

For others, it's a suffering of the spirit, an anguish of soul, a conscience bleeding for the sake of others ... a desperate desire to make a difference, to plead the cause of justice, to lift up the voice of hope, to hold in mind and heart an image of life that reflects the image of God's Edenic purpose.

Peter offers what I think is a bit of gallows humor: "If you're gonna suffer, be sure it's for the right reason. Don't complain if you suffer for being a murderer or a thief [and here, it's helpful to understand this as taking life away from others, if not literally, then economically and socially through a sadistic manipulation of the system to feather one's own nest] ... a criminal or even a mischief maker" (I imagine Peter winking as he writes this, and his readers winking at one another). In other words, "don't be a jerk."

The reading ends, not with hope, but with encouragement to keep on keepin' on ... an echo heard throughout the Book of Revelation ... because, for sure, in the long run, the long, long, long, run, things will end well, but in the short run, remember love, accept whatever suffering comes your way for the sake of the gospel, remember that you're in good company on this score, and continue to do good (which sounds very much like Micah).

I laid awake last night, pondering ... with a sometimes clenched gut ... I see the outskirts of hell sometimes, I hear the demons laugh, and I smell the stench of power, power run amok, and power's kin, greed and lust ... and the consequences of God Mammon: the death of the soul of those who have too much, and the death of the mind of those who dare not think about what they do.

And then, this morning, I read Peter ...

Be Not Merciful

Merciful God, be not merciful to us.
When we prefer the lie.

Be harsh to us, awaken us.
To hear those who cry.

Save us from cheap words.
That take your name in vain.

While bullets fly and people die
In noise and smoke and pain.

Merciful God, unto the dead and dying.
Be close and kind, with mercy untold.

But unto us who must decide.
Be not merciful, until truth shall unfold.

Book of Job, Session Four

Bible Study @ Calvary Presbyterian Church, Hawthorne, CA

Winter Semester … The Sorrow and Hope of Job

Tuesday Jan 15	Saturday Jan 19	Job 1-7
Jan 22	Jan 26	Job 8-14
Jan 29	Feb 2	Job 15-21
Feb 5	Feb 9	Job 22-28
Feb 12	Feb 16	Job 29-35
Feb 19	Feb 23	Job 36-42

There are some serious textual issues in this section, the third cycle. Though I am cautious about “reconstructing” the text, I think we’re on safe ground with Robert Gordis

, an acclaimed rabbi, who suggests the following reconstruction. Rabbi Gordis is a conservative commentator who doesn’t jump to such conclusions easily:

“Thus, only the opening speeches of Elliphaz (chap. 22) and of Job (chaps. 23-24) are in order. Moreover, the closing section of Job’s reply (chap. 24) raises grave difficulties with regard to its interpretation and relevance.

Fortunately, much of the third cycle can be restored, especially when the stylistic traits of the book are taken into account. Chapter 25 is much too short for Bildad. Most of chapter 26, on the other hand, which is assigned to Job in our received text, is inappropriate to his position but highly congenial to Bildad’s. Similarly, the latter part of chapter 27,which is also attributed to Job, stands in direct antithesis to all he has maintained. It is, however, thoroughly appropriate for Zophar, to whom no speech at all is assigned in our present text.

Chapter 28 is a ‘Hymn to Wisdom,’ differing radically in its lyrical form from the dialogic structure of the debate. It reflects in brief compass the basic outlook of the poet, which is elaborated upon in the God speeches that constitute the climax of the book. Chapter 28 is therefore best regarded as an independent poem by the author of Job or by a member of his school.

By allocating the appropriate portions of chapters 26 and 27 to Bildad and Zophar, respectively, and by recognizing the independent character of the ‘Hymn to Wisdom’ (chap. 28), we gain an additional advantage. We are able to reduce the dimensions of Job’s reply, which is much too long, occupying six chapters in the received text (chaps. 26-31).

While the evidence of injury sustained by the text is clear, all proposed restorations of which there have been many, are necessarily tentative and uncertain. The reconstruction proposed here requires a minimal change of order in the Masoretic

 text.”

The conflict worsens. Eliphaz is all the more convinced that Job is an evildoer, and to make his case, Eliphaz lays out a litany of Job’s misdeeds, and there is no escape from God on any of this. Period!

Up to this point, his friends have conceded to Job’s claim to be a good man. Good, but faulted; good, but sinful. Now, Job is painted as the worst man who ever lived! The rhetoric is amped up to its final level - Job is utterly wicked, totally evil. There is no good in him at all.

⁵      Is not your wickedness great?

      There is no end to your iniquities.

⁶      For you have exacted pledges from your family for no reason,

      and stripped the naked of their clothing.

⁷      You have given no water to the weary to drink,

      and you have withheld bread from the hungry.

⁸      The powerful possess the land,

      and the favored live in it.

⁹      You have sent widows away empty-handed,

      and the arms of the orphans you have crushed. 

¹⁰      Therefore snares are around you,

      and sudden terror overwhelms you,

¹¹      or darkness so that you cannot see;

      a flood of water covers you.

But hope remains for Eliphaz. All Job needs to do is repent sincerely and he will be restored, and more than that, Job will become a source of help and inspiration to others.

The friends have invoked tradition and the widely held consensus that God is great, that God knows us better than we know ourselves, and that He punishes only when He has a reason to punish. [Kushner, The Book of Job (Kindle Edition), p.88]

²¹      “Agree with God, and be at peace;

      in this way good will come to you.

²²      Receive instruction from his mouth,

      and lay up his words in your heart.

²³      If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored,

      if you remove unrighteousness from your tents,

²⁴      if you treat gold like dust,

      and gold of Ophir like the stones of the torrent-bed,

²⁵      and if the Almighty is your gold

      and your precious silver,

²⁶      then you will delight yourself in the Almighty,

      and lift up your face to God.

²⁷      You will pray to him, and he will hear you,

      and you will pay your vows.

²⁸      You will decide on a matter, and it will be established for you,

      and light will shine on your ways.

²⁹      When others are humiliated, you say it is pride;

      for he saves the humble.

³⁰      He will deliver even those who are guilty;

      they will escape because of the cleanness of your hands.” 

Sounds good … but Job will have none of it. Job is not going to deny his own conscience in order to gain what Eliphaz promises - peace and healing with God. A bad deal is no deal at all. Sort of a like a forced police confession!

So Job ignores the specific charges leveled against him by Eliphaz and reiterates his claim - that if he could have a hearing with God, God would recognize the legitimacy of Job’s complaints.

Let me suggest that at the core of Jewish God-talk is the unshakable conviction that God’s most dominant attribute is His commitment to justice rather than power.

Other nations worshipped a powerful god, the most powerful they could find. Israel served a God who was both powerful and just, and they would spend the next 2,500 years trying to reconcile those two attributes with each other and with the collective suffering of the Jewish people and the anguish of so many individual Jews.

[the above two quotes are from Harold Kushner, The Book of Job, Kindle edition, pp. 82-83]

By the way, Job’s style reveals an excellent insight into how to deal with unjust accusations hurled at us … Job is not sidetracked by them, but remains focused on his own position, restating it consistently. In other words, don’t bother trying to answer the accuser - no answer will satisfy anyway. Just stick with your story and restate it. 

Job introduces a new element: The Absent God. Job has looked for God, but hasn’t been able to find God.

  “If I go forward, he is not there;

      or backward, I cannot perceive him;

⁹      on the left he hides, and I cannot behold him;

      I turn to the right, but I cannot see him.

¹⁰      But he knows the way that I take;

      when he has tested me, I shall come out like gold.

¹¹      My foot has held fast to his steps;

      I have kept his way and have not turned aside.

¹²      I have not departed from the commandment of his lips;

      I have treasured in my bosom the words of his mouth.

¹³      But he stands alone and who can dissuade him?

      What he desires, that he does.

¹⁴      For he will complete what he appoints for me;

      and many such things are in his mind.

¹⁵      Therefore I am terrified at his presence;

      when I consider, I am in dread of him.

¹⁶      God has made my heart faint;

      the Almighty has terrified me;

¹⁷      If only I could vanish in darkness,

      and thick darkness would cover my face! 

--------------------------------------

Throughout the history of faith, “the absent god” has been the subject of much writing, such as St. John of the Cross (1542-1591) and his “Dark Night of the Soul,” written for young monks who enter the monastery with much joy and spiritual conviction, often relating profound experiences of the divine.

But in time, many of these young monks found their joy dissipating and their sense of the divine decreasing, creating a crisis for many, wondering if they’ve done something wrong and thus destroyed their spiritual life, and rightly calling it, “a dark night.”

John writes to them words of encouragement.

God is “absent” only because their initial spiritual experience was immature, and like a child suckling on its mother’s breast, was very much a matter of need, and God was kind enough to meet that need.

But now it’s time for something else; it’s time to grow up.

In God’s “absence,” some of God’s best work is being done. But like a sculptor who veils her work from the public eye, God must veil God’s work from our prying eyes, lest we rush in and muck it all up with our suggestions. 

Only when the work is done will the veil be removed, and will we be able to see the new work God has wrought in our life, without our help. Though, at the time, it seemed as if God were absent, God was doing some of God’s most important work.

------------------------------

Job experiences the absence of God!

Chapter 24

And now, in Chapter 24, Job goes into a full-bodied description of how sinners get away with it, time and again.

Job clearly wonders if there is any justice whatsoever in the world.

As I read through Chapter 24, it became an ever-more painful portrait of injustice … again and again, Job reiterates what is found throughout the Prophets - the powerful get away with horrendous crimes against the poor; the powerful enjoy their privilege while the poor struggle to make ends meet, often driven to the very brink of death by starvation and disease. 

As for the prophets, this is no accident, but the result of an unjust social system wherein, by the luck of the draw, if you will, certain people rise to the top of the food chain, and unless they’re profoundly conscious of just how lucky they are, they continue to feed off the poor, as Jesus notes, “devouring the houses of widows.”

Who are the poor here in Job?

Migrant farmers … perhaps they once were tenant farmers, or even owned their own land, but in the course of time, they’re now reduced to migrancy.

 ⁵      Like wild asses in the desert

      they go out to their toil,

      scavenging in the wasteland

      food for their young.

⁶      They reap in a field not their own

      and they glean in the vineyard of the wicked.

⁷      They lie all night naked, without clothing,

      and have no covering in the cold.

⁸      They are wet with the rain of the mountains,

      and cling to the rock for want of shelter.

The crimes against the poor intensify in this chapter … it would seem that the author wants the reader to be painfully clear that the world is ruled by injustice, that the powerful get away with crimes, and there is no one to bring them to trial. 

Psalm 37

²¹      The wicked borrow, and do not pay back,

      but the righteous are generous and keep giving;

⁹      “There are those who snatch the orphan child from the breast,

      and take as a pledge the infant of the poor.

¹⁰      They go about naked, without clothing;

      though hungry, they carry the sheaves;

¹¹      between their terraces they press out oil;

      they tread the wine presses, but suffer thirst.

¹²      From the city the dying groan,

      and the throat of the wounded cries for help;

      yet God pays no attention to their prayer.

In vs. 12, blunt and without any hint of compromise, it is said, God pays no attention! The author pulls no punches here in trying to capture how it must feel and how the world must look to the poor and the oppressed who have so little to show for a day’s labor and years of hard work.

Monday morning, I read a piece by Frederick Buechner, one of my all-time favorite writers and Presbyterian minister, who recounted his student years under some very famous theologians, one of whom was James Muilenburg, an Old Testament scholar at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. 

Buechner recounts what Muilenburg said about faith and confession:

“Every morning when you wake up, before you reaffirm your faith in the majesty of a loving God, before you say I believe for another day, read the Daily News with its record of the latest crimes and tragedies of mankind and then see if you can honestly say it again.” 

Buechner than adds:

“He … didn’t or couldn’t or wouldn’t resolve, intellectualize, evade, the tensions of his faith but lived those tensions out, torn almost in two by them at times. His faith was not a seamless garment but a ragged garment with the seams showing, the tears showing, a garment that he clutched about him like a man in a storm.” [from Listening to Your Life, February 4 reading].

If nothing else, we might be very careful in how we look at the poor. In our time, we heard a lot of talk about “takers and makers” - where the powerful condemn the poor for being poor, “takers,” and congratulate themselves for being so resourceful, being “makers.”

Job was one of those “makers,” and now he’s lost it all. Was Job ever proud and arrogant about his place in life? We don’t know that. Job himself make it clear that he wasn’t; that he was a kindly and generous man. 

At this point in chapter 24, we encounter a textual issue; it is suggested that vss. 18-24 are not Job’s words, but Job’s quotation of what his friends have said to him. 

In fact, Job contends that the wicked, the powerful (here and elsewhere in the Bible, the wicked are most of the powerful) are rewarded in this life, without any punishment coming to them for their crimes against the poor.

Hence, vss. 18-24: Job repeats what his friends suggest: the powerful/wicked will always pay a great price for their crimes against humanity. That’s what the friends contend; Job, on the other hand, says No!

Vs. 25, then, belongs to Job: he challenges his friends - Prove me wrong!”

Chapter 25 & 26.5-14 - Bildad

Bildad refuses to deal directly with Job’s challenge on injustice in the universe and rather exults the glory and power of God, and, once again makes clear, in his own mind at least, that no one can stand before God and claim innocence. Nothing and no one can stand against God. 

If Job has challenged his friends to refute his contentions about injustice, Bildad ends with a challenge to Job (vs.14): Who can understand God’s power?

Chapter 26.1-4 & 27.1-12 - Job

Job replies with biting sarcasm - Oh my, how you have helped!

Job is clear: he can expect no help from his friends. Therefore he stands alone, and stand he does. He will never concede to their claims that he’s in the wrong, that he’s guilty before God.

Job reiterates his faith in God’s justice and begs his friends to lay off.

Chapter 27.13-23 - Zophar

My trusted commentator attributes Chapter 27.13-23 to Zophar, who is not mentioned in the text; it would seem that the text is rather tangled at this point, having experienced some loss in the transmission.

I’m content with this “reconstruction” of the text, in spite of the fact that portions are simply missing and not likely to be recovered. Other commentators offer alternatives; Gordis’ is rather simple and gives clarity to what otherwise seems confused.

Zophar’s speech, then, adds nothing new here; he reiterates the conventional ideas of the day - the wicked who gather wealth will ultimately lose it and will be swept away.

Chapter 28

Again, let me quote from my trusted commentator:

“While the beautiful ‘Hymn to Wisdom’ is not an integral part of the book of Job, it is a highly welcome product of the poet’s pen. In view of the vast dislocations sustained in the third cycle of the dialogue, it is easy to understand how this poem found its way into the text here. In its present position after the conclusion of the third cycle, the ‘Hymn to Wisdom’ is a well described as a ‘musical interlude’ between the debate and Job’s final soliloquy.” [Gordis, p.278]

In the finest of the Wisdom tradition, chapter 28 reminds the reader that wisdom is not to be found in this world, but only in God. Though humankind may know a great deal about life and even have religion and morality, knowing something about good and evil, the final abode of wisdom is in the heart of God.

Though final wisdom is not to be ours, the author reminds us that we know enough to be in awe of God - that’s wisdom (see Proverbs 1.7) and to avoid evil - that’s understanding (Proverbs 1.10).

And, as is found in the Book of Proverbs, wisdom is cast as a female.

Once again, we have covered a lot of material, but Job and his friends have not found a way through their arguments. Job’s friends remain adamant about his sinfulness, even as Job remains firm about his integrity and faithfulness to God.

Chapter 28 is almost a preview of what is to come.

But for that, we’ll have to wait.

As always, to be continued!

--------------------------------------------

From Wikipedia ...

The Masoretic Text is the authoritative Hebrew text of the Jewish Bible. While the Masoretic Text defines the books of the Jewish canon, it also defines the precise letter-text of these biblical books, with their vocalization and accentuation known as the Masorah. The MT is also widely used as the basis for translations of the Old Testament in Protestant Bibles, and in recent years (since 1943) also for some Catholic Bibles, although the Eastern Orthodox continue to use the Septuagint, as they hold it to be divinely inspired.[1] In modern times the Dead Sea Scrolls have shown the MT to be nearly identical to some texts of the Tanakh dating from 200 BCE but different from others.

The MT was primarily copied, edited and distributed by a group of Jews known as the Masoretes between the 7th and 10th centuries CE. Though the consonants differ little from the text generally accepted in the early 2nd century (and also differ little from some Qumran texts that are even older), it has numerous differences of both greater and lesser significance when compared to (extant 4th century) manuscripts of the Septuagint, a Greek translation (made in the 3rd to 2nd centuries BCE) of the Hebrew Scriptures that was in popular use in Egypt and Israel (and that is often quoted in theNew Testament, especially by the Apostle Paul).[2]

The Hebrew word mesorah (מסורה, alt. מסורת) refers to the transmission of a tradition. In a very broad sense it can refer to the entire chain of Jewish tradition (see Oral law), but in reference to the Masoretic Text the word mesorah has a very specific meaning: the diacritic markings of the text of the Hebrew Bible and concise marginal notes in manuscripts (and later printings) of the Hebrew Bible which note textual details, usually about the precise spelling of words.

The oldest extant manuscripts of the Masoretic Text date from approximately the 9th century CE,[3] and the Aleppo Codex (once the oldest complete copy of the Masoretic Text, but now missing its Torah section) dates from the 10th century.

Book of Job, Session Two

Bible Study @ Calvary Presbyterian Church, Hawthorne, CA

Winter Semester … The Sorrow and Hope of Job

Tuesday Jan 15	Saturday Jan 19	Job 1-7
Jan 22	Jan 26	Job 8-14
Jan 29	Feb 2	Job 15-21
Feb 5	Feb 9	Job 22-28
Feb 12	Feb 16	Job 29-35
Feb 19	Feb 23	Job 36-42

Review:

1. Keep in mind - the Book of Job is more interested in exploring the terrain of suffering and the loss of hope rather than simply offering quick and easy answers. 
2. There is truth to be found in what the four friends say, but not the whole truth. Life is more complex, and so is faith in God, and God’s ways with us, and our ways with God.
3. There are textual issues with Job, especially toward the end. Translators have great difficulty; go ahead and scratch your head. It’s okay.
4. Job often “quotes” his friends, or the received, or conventional, wisdom of the day. Hebrew, of course, has no quotation marks, so it’s a challenge to the reader: What is Job actually saying about his own faith or beliefs, and what is he merely quoting, or alluding to, from his friends?

Chapter 8

The gloves are off … Bildad jumps into the conversation and gets all over Job for saying “foolish” things. Bildad defends the justice of God. It’s Job’s sin that causes all of this. 

Please note: there’s not a shred of compassion in Bildad’s harangue. This is sometimes called “theology from above” - it’s all about ideas about God. Whereas “theology from below” always begins with the human condition.

When Jesus says, “People were not made for the Sabbath, but the Sabbath was made for people” (Mark 2.27), Jesus is “doing theology” from below. In other words, Jesus begins “down here” and works his way upward. 

In theology “from above,” it begins with ideas and works its way down.

Once again, there is “truth” in Bildad’s speech - essentially the same as Eliphaz, but with an edge: Do good, get good; do bad, get bad.” The laws of retribution..

Sure, of course; we all know, “you reap what you sow” (that’s in the Bible); the Book of Proverbs and simple human wisdom (garbage in, garbage out), but it’s not the whole truth, and that’s the problem explored in the Book of Job. 

As one pundit put it, “For every hard question, there’s a simple answer. The only problem, however, it’s the wrong answer.”

Simple answers often lead to cruelty. Simple answers, black and white thinking, in and out, up and down, who’s in and who’s out, who’s been naughty and who’s been nice.

You better watch out,          

You better not cry,

Better not pout,

I'm telling you why:

Santa Claus is coming to town.

He's making a list,

And checking it twice;

Gonna find out

Who's naughty and nice.

Santa Claus is coming to town.

He sees you when you're sleeping.

He knows when you're awake.

He knows if you've been bad or good,

So be good for goodness sake!

Oh, you better watch out!

You better not cry.

Better not pout,

I'm telling you why:

Santa Claus is coming to town.

Santa Claus is coming to town!

Bildad uses an image of plants - one endures hardship and overcomes - the righteous; the other fails, the way of the godless. 

Chapter 9:

Job “agrees” - there is much in Bildad’s speech that’s good and right, but something is “rotten in Denmark” … 8.20-24 - Job here declares, “If this is the way it is, then God is pretty much a god of destruction and suffering.

“What do you want me to do?” - put on a happy face? (9.27-28) - “I can’t.”

Chapter 10

Job’s complaint continues - tell me what I’ve done, and Job readily admits, he speaks out of bitterness (10.1).

Job intensifies his attack on God … more references to Psalm 8 … why would God reject the work of God’s hands and cause the purpose of sinners to shine?

Job cries out for a God of justice rather than a God of power … Job contends that God’s decision to punish him has nothing whatsoever to do with Job’s guilt or innocence. He cries out for the peace of death.

Chapter 11                   

Zophar now weighs in … without mercy. God has punished Job for his sins, if not known, then, at least, secret. Period. In fact, God has reduced Job’s punishment, and it’s simply beyond human understanding. To be restored to life, Job needs to repent his sins and become worthy of God’s forgiveness and favor.

For people of faith, it remains a significant question: is there something we do that can trigger God’s forgiveness, or does God’s forgiveness come to us before we can do anything? 

In Christian history, it’s the difference between the Reformed Family of thought - God makes the first move; it’s grace, and grace alone, that fashions our soul for salvation - and the Arminians who believe that we have to confess our faith first of all in order for the grace of God to enter in and redeem us. For the former tradition, it’s God who makes the first move; for the latter, it’s the believer who makes the first move.

This is seen in the difference between preaching in the two traditions - one focuses on God and God’s goodness and greatness; the other focuses on the human being, our sinfulness and the need to repent of our sins - the quintessential expression of this is the revival service with the emotional/rational appeals to “come forward” and “be saved.” 

The hymn, “Grace Alone” is a solid example of Reformed thinking - the primacy of grace, as well as “Rock of Ages” -

Rock of Ages, cleft for me,

Let me hide myself in Thee;

Let the water and the blood,

From Thy wounded side which flowed,

Be of sin the double cure,

Save from wrath and make me pure.

Not the labor of my hands

Can fulfill Thy law’s demands;

Could my zeal no respite know,

Could my tears forever flow,

All for sin could not atone;

Thou must save, and Thou alone.

Nothing in my hand I bring,

Simply to Thy cross I cling;

Naked, come to Thee for dress;

Helpless, look to Thee for grace;

Foul, I to the fountain fly;

Wash me, Savior, or I die.

While I draw this fleeting breath,

When my eyes shall close in death,

When I rise to worlds unknown,

And behold Thee on Thy throne,

Rock of Ages, cleft for me,

Let me hide myself in Thee. 

Chapters 12-14 - Job’s reply to Zophar

The key to understanding these chapters lies in recognizing the “use of quotations.” Job cites the words of his friends in order to refute them, or Job quotes ideas found within his own religious traditions in order to support his own position. 

Job’s speech begins with a sarcastic reference to the friends’ claim to have superior knowledge of God.

As for Job, God may be powerful, but what good does such power do when it’s manifested only in destruction. That’s hardly a god worthy of praise or worship. Merely being big is no virtue, and proves nothing, other than “size matters.”

Job looks for hope and considers a new idea - immortality which after the Exile appeared in Jewish thought - that if this life is filled with injustice, there will be redress in the after-life.

By the time we get to the New Testament, the notion of the after-life has taken hold, and Jesus supports the idea, though the Sadducees do not - in that interesting encounter noted in: Matthew 22.23 ff, Mark 12.18 ff and Luke 20.27 ff.

Though it must be noted: nowhere does the New Testament support the Greek/Roman notion of immortality, but resurrection from the dead … but that’s a whole other study - what happens to us 1) upon death, and 2) what is the New Testament vision, rooted in the Hebrew Bible, of Resurrection from the dead.

As the early Christians confessed in what came to be known as the Apostles’ Creed.

For now, let it be noted: Job considers the possibility of some kind of afterlife and then rejects it. No reward in the afterlife could compensate for his sorrow and suffering now. What good does it do to anyone for whom life is a misery to tell them that it’ll be okay when they die. And what kind of a god would create such a miserable life and then offer compensation for it in the afterlife?

Historically, this promise of “happiness in the sweet by-and-by,” is what Marx called “the opiate of the people,” a tool used by the powerful and the comfortable to maintain their privileged status (ordained by god) and offered to their serfs and slaves a hope of things to come, certainly not in this world (don’t get uppity), along with other verses of Scripture that can be interpreted to mean, “stay in your place, as god ordained.”

Job takes no comfort in an afterlife promise; Job looks at life here and now and sees a terrible injustice afoot. Something is wrong. Job is not content with either what his friends offer 1) repent and all will be well, or 2) the notion of afterlife compensation.

To be continued ...

Book of Job, Session 1

Bible Study @ Calvary Presbyterian Church, Hawthorne, CA

Winter Semester … The Sorrow and Hope of Job - Session 1

Tuesday Jan 15	Saturday Jan 19	Job 1-7
Jan 22	Jan 26	Job 8-14
Jan 29	Feb 2	Job 15-21
Feb 5	Feb 9	Job 22-28
Feb 12	Feb 16	Job 29-35
Feb 19	Feb 23	Job 36-42

The Book of Job consists of two elements that can stand by themselves. 

The Fable of Job, a very patient man (1, 2 and 42).

James 5.7-11

Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. Beloved, do not grumble against one another, so that you may not be judged. See, the Judge is standing at the doors! As an example of suffering and patience, beloved, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Indeed we call blessed those who showed endurance. You have heard of the endurance of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

The Fable presents a very simple scenario - Good man, bad things, faithfulness and patience, good things and then some.

The Poem of Job (everything in between 1, 2 and 42; likely written at a later date (after the Exile) when the Jews were wrestling with some very large questions. Though Job is no Jew, and his friends aren’t either. This is Everyone’s story! Universal in scope - questions everyone has asked.

In the Fable, it’s all rather simple; in the Poem, nothing is simple.

At some point in time, the ancient Fable, a rather simple story, becomes the framework of a struggle between 1) conventional thinking, represented by Job’s friends - do good, you get good; do bad, you get bad. 2) Job’s dogged defense of his life - yes, he’s not perfect, but he’s a man of integrity. Whatever he’s done wrong, or good he’s failed to do, doesn’t deserve this kind of loss and suffering. Something is wrong in the universe, and if there is a God of compassion, Job needs that God to come to his defense against the God of Reward and Punishment. 3) God’s speech, which doesn’t touch upon the question of suffering, but brings to Job a larger picture of creation (see Psalm 8). While God doesn’t address Job’s suffering, God does show up to address Job - Job is that important to God. 

The Fable

A man of great prosperity and piety in the Land of Uz - likely Edom, since most of the names in the story are drawn from Esau’s geneology (Genesis 36); Esau’s first son is Eliphaz, the first of Job’s friends to speak.

Satan, who seems to be a spy of sorts for the LORD (Yahweh), joins a  meeting of the heavenly council. The conversation turns to Job, a very good man. Then comes the question: Who wouldn’t be good and faithful since you have blessed everything he’s put his hand to. Turn against him, and we’ll see what kind of man he truly is.

Angry at God, folks will tell me, “I don’t go to church anymore, because what good did it do me anyway. I’ve been …, I’ve served …, I gave …, and now look at me. What a mess I’m in. I have no further interest in God.”

The central accusation: Human beings are faithful to God when life is good for them, but seriously disrupt that life, and they’ll quickly turn away, cursing God to God’s face.

What are the conditions of our relationship with God? Do we “love” the LORD our God for God’s sake, or our own, or a combination of the two? Have we ever “cursed” God, and wondered why God was “doing harm to us, and for what purpose? Do we deserve this, or is God going after us senselessly, for the heck of it (like the other gods who trouble humanity - many cultures of the past saw the gods as troublers, teasers, tormentors, of humanity for their own entertainment)? Or is God against us from sins, known or unknown? 

Have I wasted my time in worship and service? Is this what I get for all my effort?

How could God answer the question?

So begins the experiment - what is the character, the true character, of a human being - this strange creature possessed of divine qualities embodied in the dust of the earth. In other words, can there be genuine devotion, worship and praise? Or is it all tainted by self-interest.

Does Satan see something God doesn’t see, or refuses to see?

Satan takes everything away from Job, but Job remains steadfast. Satan and the heavenly council gather again, and once again, Job comes up for discussion. Satan suggests that Job’s faithfulness will collapses if his health is taken. 

So, let’s see how far this can go to uncover Job’s “true” character.

Three friends come by to comfort Job, and they’re silent for seven days and seven nights; they give Job the gift of presence. They didn’t come to argue with him, though it comes to that. They came to offer him comfort, and counsel. They await his words.

Job curses the day of his birth (see Jeremiah 20.14); he doesn’t curse God. Though, as we will see, Job believes something to be wrong.

The easy manner in which the comfortable dispense counsel to the suffering.

Chapter 4: Eliphaz enters the discussion and begins in a kindly way, to say what Job himself has likely said to others in the day of their distress. Ultimately, says Eliphaz, Job has, indeed, sinned, as everyone does, thus bringing calamity upon himself. Job may be a good man, and he is, but no one’s perfect, not even angels. We all make mistakes and we have to pay for them.

But commit your way to the LORD (5.8); the LORD wounds and heals (5.18) … this has been well-studied by us; pay attention to it and know it for yourself (.5.27). “What we say to you Job is tried and true; you’ve likely said it yourself.” It’ll all work out, just you wait!

Chapter 6 - Job replies and stands by his claims, and challenges God to come to his aid. “Tell me what I’ve done to deserve this?” His pain and sorrow are unrelenting. And Eliphaz’s words are tasteless to him (6.6-7). Job says, “My friends have betrayed me.”

6.24 - give me more than cheap advice and counsel. Teach me. Show me where I have gone wrong.

Chapter 7, further reflection by Job on life’s hardships: life is short, and ends in death … and, 7.11, Job says, “I’ll not shut up. I’ve a complaint, a just complaint, and I’ll make noise until I get some satisfaction.” 7.17, an ironic play on Psalm 8, which asks the question: Why is God concerned about humankind, as small as we are? Job turns it a bit, wondering why such a “big god” would bother with creatures so tiny? “Why don’t you let me alone? What am I to you?”

Summary: it’s all about big questions.

Satan: What is the character of humankind? Are they capable of loving God, or are they driven by self-interest?

Job: Why is this happening to me?

Eliphaz: What did you do wrong to deserve this? 

Job’s question: Why does God even bother with me? 

This World IS My Home ...

When anyone has to sing, "This world is not my home," something is terribly wrong. Not with the singer, but with others who have allowed conditions to grow so bad that someone can only see hope in a way out. 

God intended that everyone sing, "This world is my home" ... and the saints with God, under the altar, wait for the day of resurrection, so they can go home again, where they belong - a new earth, with heaven and earth bonded together in the new creation, heralded by Jesus and his resurrection. He goes away, but only for a time, and will come again. Jerusalem comes down from safekeeping to be with us, here in our world. 

This world is our home, as God intended. Let us strive with all our might to make it so for everyone, all of God's creatures, great and small.

Abortion as "Child Abuse"?

From my good FB friend Craig Hexham:

He writes:

Driving home from work today, came across a billboard paid for by Michigan "Right to Life" [sic]. It stated, "Abortion: the ultimate child abuse." 


Struck me as odd. How about the two year old who experiences weeks and months of abuse--burns, hits, pinches, and neglect, before finally being dashed to death against the living room wall? 


How about the four year old who, in imitation of his policeman father, gets the gun while dad's not looking and kills himself? 


How about the six year old who's repeatedly sexually molested by her grandfather? 


How about the ten year old with medical problems who is stuffed upside down in a trash can at school by his peers because he is small and wears leg braces? 


How about the fifteen year old who is wanted by neither parent when they divorce? 


How about the seventeen year old with skittles and iced tea who is terrorized by a maniac with a firearm? 


How about the eighteen year old who's told he's a man when he's killed his first "enemy combatant? 

...and these are just the ones from the last few days news. I haven't gotten started about the kids in other countries who aren't as "lucky" as the ones I've already mentioned.

A Friend's Faith

A journey of faith through the valleys and mountains of a husband's stroke. Every day, signs of hope, and then signs of setback, too.

What has touched me so deeply is her easy integration of faith and church into the ordeal. Faith soars and plummets, like a swift in flight. Church and prayers and friends and concerts hold her soul together, and often bring tears. There's a level of comfort here that speaks of a mature faith nurtured over the years, with good theology and Bible and steady patterns of worship.

She's what some would call a "mainline" Christian.

As I write and think about her faith, I reflect upon something that has bothered me for years - the need of so many "evangelicals" to prove the "power" of their god and the "miracle-working wonders" of their faith. Frankly, it's all talk, and mutual hype - a lot of fury to keep the illusions going.

No wonder evangelicals are up tight. It's tough to maintain a false front of hope and victory and courage and smiles and Jesus talk. Anyone who raises a question is shouted down. Those who express doubt are labeled "backsliders." Writers and preachers who question the standard lines of thought are treated as "heretics."

How much better when nothing needs proving, because of Christ Jesus.

The cross and the tomb, his wisdom and his love, and the mystery of the resurrection - what else is there to prove?

Why must Christians always be proving their faith? Is this some kind of competitive one-upsmanship? What's the point?

For my friend, the journey through these demanding days is as natural as breathing - in and out, up and down, good and bad, fear and faith, hope and sorrow, friends and family and church and sacred concerts and hymns and sermons.

I'm grateful to share a bit in my friend's journey, through her postings, and the musings of her children. They hope for the best; fear for the worst. They're flesh and blood, as we all are. And mortal, too. Dadgum it all!

Faith, if it's faith at all, is not some cosmetic heavily layered on to hide wrinkles and blemishes. Faith is something deep within, something that understands and welcomes the foibles and failings of mortal flesh, even as we rejoice in the wonder and glory of God's love for us.

We have nothing to prove to the world, because God has already done that, and continues to prove to the world through sunrise and sunset and pot luck dinners and preachers struggling to proclaim the word and little old ladies with blue hair and children and grandchildren singing hymns and organs and pianos and love divine and folks who strive for justice and folks who dream big dreams for a better world.

Nothing to prove, so that we can be at peace with who we are and the way life is.

Nothing to prove, so that we can live amidst the hopes and tears of real life.

Nothing to prove, so that we can love fiercely and deeply and powerfully, and cry, as well, when the darker moments come to us.

Nothing to prove.

And everything to live.

And to God be the glory.