Job: Last Sunday's Sermon

Old Testament

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.



The Gospel
Mark 10:2-16


Some Pharisees came, and to test Jesus they asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her.” But Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote this commandment for you. But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

Then in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”

People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.

The Sermon

The patience of Job. When I was a kid I thought this had something to do with having a job. I wasn't especially well versed in scripture when I was a child. I believe a lot of us probably have a variety of understandings about the Book of Job as well. All most of us know about Job is that he was 'patient'.

First of all we have to understand why this story is in the bible. Did all of this really and truly happen. It is unlikely. It is hard for me to imagine a discourse between God and Satan, much less a wager with a human as the object of the wager.

Having said that this story has a very important purpose and message. It poses a question that all of us ponder at some time during our lives. Why do people sometimes get away with doing bad things and good people appear to be punished for doing what is right. Life is not fair!

In our story, Job loses everything. His family and servants are killed. His livestock is taken away and his house crashes in. He loses his health and finds himself covered with boils. To top it all off, he has bad breath. It could not possibly get any worse.

Does Job complain? Yes! He does not understand why these bad things have happened to him. He is and has always been a righteous man. Job lists all of the things that he has done right and he is confounded by all of the hardships he is facing.

The message Job finally receives is that yes bad things do happen to good people but the hand of God is also at work in the world in ways that are often overlooked. God reminds him of the morning dawn, the starry night, the wondrous animals of the earth.

Job responds, Lord I know that you do all these things. I uttered what I did not understand. He repents.

In the end all that Job had lost was returned to him and then some.

Is there an answer here for us. I honestly do not know. I do not know or understand the ways of God. I think I never will.

The Gospel reading gives us another difficult problem, divorce, and Jesus' response to the question of how it is viewed in the eyes of God. All of us at some level have been affected by divorce. We know someone, are related to someone, or we have experienced divorce first hand. It is an awful thing, to see or experience a marriage that has died. It is like a death.

In the first century, in Jesus' time the rules of divorce were different. Only men could divorce and it was a fairly simple procedure for them to do so. All that was required was that they sign a slip of paper giving their intent to divorce. Women were not permitted to file for divorce. Men were allowed to marry again without much of any consequences. However, if the woman wanted to marry again it was considered adultery on her part. Women were considered property and a woman who was divorced would likely be thrown into poverty and spurned by society.

Jesus is making the point that marriage is a sacred bond that should not be taken lightly. He says in Matthew that divorce should only be allowed with few exceptions. Jesus was speaking for his time and the injustices that were attached to divorce.

Divorce happens and will continue to happen. We also know that those of us who are married must do what we can to strengthen those marriage bonds with the love that Jesus has encouraged us to commit ourselves to.

So, how do we strengthen those marriage bonds. Do things together. Not be afraid to say I am sorry. Tell each other 'I love you'. Communicate! Relationships grow stronger when people talk to each other and truly share their lives.