Sunday, November 11, 2012

Life is ... life

Job 4:1-6, 5:17-22


Suffering is something we all share in common.  There is not one soul among us who has not endured pain to one extent or another, but there are many souls among us who have suffered - at least in their own minds - unjustly.  To be sure, bad things happen to good people every day, but the superstitious elements of religion have reduced these sufferings to either 1) "God has turned His back on me", or 2) "Satan is trying to get me".  Whether either statement can be true in Job's context or in our own, I suppose, is a matter of perspective; but we cannot ignore this profound reality: life happens, and it is not always pretty.  I believe this to be the essential component of Job.
           
It is arguable whether Job is to be understood as a literal account or a story of metaphor with much broader implication and meaning (I pick metaphor).  In this it is also arguable as to the true nature and character of "Satan" as the "evil one" who intends to undermine divine sovereignty - or - a legitimate member of the "Judgment Day" divine court as the "accuser" or "prosecutor" whose charge is to challenge the human facade of faith.  Either role can challenge the devoted believer because it is hard to imagine the "evil one" with unfettered access to the heavenly court (1:6) as much as it is difficult to envision a benevolent and merciful God who would subject His faithful to such a test only to prove a point or settle a bet.
           
To answer questions about Job's challenge is to dig deeper into a study that will challenge the believer to perhaps question the basis for faith.  "Satan" suggests to YHWH that Job's faith has been essentially "bought" with divine favor and that if this facade as the basis for his faith were to be challenged and the divine favor withdrawn, Job's faith would fall away at the first sign of trouble (1:11).  It is here where we are challenged to examine ourselves and our own relationship to YHWH just as we often evaluate our human relationships, the compelling component of this evaluation being whether we would participate in any relationship without a certain promise or a reasonable expectation of reward. 
           
This is, I think, the essential element of Eliphaz' discourse to Job.  Job clearly wants answers to his suffering just as anyone would if one were to go from "abundance" to "nothing" virtually overnight with no clear cause.  What would be troubling, however, is what may finally come from such answers.  Would we discover that absent divine blessing, we may find no practical use for YHWH if we discovered we had an abundance of hope for good things but no faith to endure the bad?  If the mask of contentedness were to be pulled away, might we discover that our faith can be reduced to the promise of reward or the threat of punishment which, of course, would be completely about self and "stuff"?  That is, we are eager to "receive" but not so willing to "give".  That is no relationship at all.
           
Our Christian theology informs us of eternal life in Christ, but our practical experience proves to us that it is a long time between "now" and "eternity".  That is, we have to endure life now with its ups and downs, with its blessings and curses, with perhaps more broken hearts than dreams fulfilled.  There is good and bad, but it would be disturbing to most of us if we were to discover that the adversity we face in this life was not so much a "natural order" (stuff happens) as it is a "bet" between YHWH and "Satan" as merely a test of the authenticity of our faith.  Such a portrait of a cruel God would not be enticing to those who are still searching for meaning to their existence in the midst of needless suffering or self-imposed "pity parties".
           
"Satan" suggests Job's faith is connected directly to his wealth, but we are also told Job was devout in his religious practices and faithful in his burnt offerings for sins that "might" have been committed by his children (1:5).  His gratitude for all he has seems clear to us as it is equally clear Job was willing to go to great lengths (and substantial expense) to offer sacrifices to YHWH faithfully. 
           
After such fidelity, then, it is understandable that Job was not as willing to be instructed as he had been willing to instruct others in their misery and pain (4:3).  Others may have brought their misery upon themselves, but we are not given that kind of information.  We see by what is written that Job was virtually flawless in the practice of his religion and in his relationships with others.  What may come from his faith, however, remains to be seen in his conversation with Eliphaz that is equal parts accusatory and comforting.  
           
What the faithful reader is confronted with is the certain reality that life is just ... life.  Jesus teaches that it rains on the just AND on the unjust.  Life happens.  Yet even if we do not figure out all the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, we can be confident through genuine faith that the Lord has His own purposes.  We are often "reproved" perhaps so that we do not become so full of ourselves in our own sense of pious "awesomeness" that we compromise our humility and ultimately endanger our immortal souls as the Pharisee in Jesus' parable of Luke 18:9-14 ("Lord, I'm glad I'm not a sinner like that tax collector!"). 
           
Such necessary reproval may be better understood in the context of Jesus' parable of the vinedresser (John 15:1-8); when one is "pruned" (enduring "pain" as in being "cut"), it is for the purpose of producing even more fruit than before.  That is, when we have done well and faithfully, our Lord will enable us to do even better in the perfection of our faith and the honest practice of genuine religion.
           
Honest evaluation of our relationship with the Lord is as much a part of sanctifying grace (i.e., "going on to perfection", Hebrews 6:1-3) for the soul as is the food and water we consume to nourish our bodies, maintain our health, and grow stronger.  The Church provides all the tools necessary for this growth, but we have to make an effort to use these tools.  Indeed how much good can it do for us to join a gym but never use the equipment?  Is it of any practical use that we can proclaim our "membership" if we do not actively participate in that "relationship"?  Or will others simply laugh at us as the "hypocrites" we ultimately prove ourselves to be? 
           
It is not always easy to endure such "growing pains", but there is divine purpose (beyond self-indulgence) in our common calling as ministers of the Gospel irrespective of material wealth and worldly comfort.  For it is as St. Peter shares: "Since Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same intention (for whoever has suffered in the flesh has finished with sin), so as to live for the rest of your earthly life no longer by human desire but by the will of God" (1 Peter 4:1-2 NRSV).
           
Life is ... just ... life.  For our Lord.  In our Lord.  And through our Lord who "[may] wound but will bind.  Who [may] strike but will heal".  As faith endures.  Amen.       

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