Happily Ever After?

Twenty Second Sunday After Pentecost, Year B
October 28, 2012
Job 42:1-17

Then the Lord blessed Job’s latter days more than his former ones. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand female donkeys. He also had seven sons and three daughters.

-Job 42:12-13

Under a Cajun moon I lay me open There is a spirit here that won't be broken Some words are sad to sing Some leave me tongue-tied (But the hardest thing to tell you ) But the hardest words I know Are I love you goodbye I love you goodbye

-Thomas Dolby, "I Love You Goodbye," 1992

I can still remember it like it was yesterday; presiding at a funeral of a man just a year younger than me who committed suicide.  His grieving partner was devastated as was the young man's parents who lost their only child.

I've read this ending of the book of Job before and never really thought much about it.  God restores Job with cattle and sheep and even more children.  A happy ending to a man that had to deal with so much pain.

But there are those that are troubled by this ending.  Does this mean that if we suffer, we are going to get all that we lost restored? And the fact is, more often than not, people don't get what Job got from God.  They don't get more kids after one is lost to gun violence.  The woman who is abused sexually doesn't get to erase those painful memories.

But while Job did get children and livestock, I have to think there was some sense of grief as well for what was lost.  Job might have celebrated having children again, but there had to be pain in his heart for the ones he lost.

Job is a happy ending in the same way that we celebrate the Ressurection.  Jesus was able to defeat death, but he was different, not simply restored.

Job's ending is a reminder of God's presence in our lives.  The ending isn't a guide to life, as it is a reminder of God's love for us even when we don't have a happy ending.

Sometimes life is simply about saying goodbye, about letting go, about loss.  Sometimes there is no nice ending to wrap up the story.  Sometimes the story ends horribly.

But good times or bad, God is there, present.  That's probably not the ending we all want, but on this side of heaven it is enough.

More Resources
 Here is what other scholars and pastors have to say on Job 42:

Presbyterian pastor Carol Howard Merritt wonders if this passage and others in the Bible only work for those who are privileged in society and not those on the margins. 

Episcopal Priest Rick Morley sees a hidden Easter message of hope in the last chapter of Job.

Finally, via Tony Jones comes a woman who wonders why she believes God is good despite all of the tragedies and heartaches this world offers.

Photo: Dürer, Albrecht, 1471-1528. Job on the dunghill, and his wife pours water on his sores, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=46323

 


 Dennis Sanders is the Associate Pastor at First Christian Church in Minneapolis.

There's a Wildness In God's Mercy

Twenty First Sunday After Pentecost, Year B
October 21, 2012
Job 38:1-7 and 34-41

Who is this darkening counsel with words lacking knowledge? Prepare yourself like a man; I will interrogate you, and you will respond to me. Job 38:2-3

Job is in many ways one of the most accessible books in the Bible. By accessible I mean that its something that we understand because we've all been there. Job is a good and faithful man with riches and many children. In an instant all of his wealth and his children are taken away from him. He is left with questions and not a small bit of anger with God.

 Theologian Kathryn Schifferdecker notes that Job and his friends believed in a common view of suffering: if you're good, then God will bless you. If something bad happens to you, then it's because you did something wrong. When all of this happens, Job feels cheated. He has lived a righteous life, so none of this should be happening to him. His friends are of little help, accusing him of doing something wrong and telling him to repent of his sin.

 Job isn't really that different from us. Shcifferdecker notes that Job and other thought the world revolved around them. The world was an orderly place where good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people. But the God comes to job in a whirlwind and sets Job right. Living the Midwest as I do, I can imagine God coming in a menacing tornado. God responds to Job not with answers, but with questions. God shows a created order that is rather wild, just like God. And humans are not at the center of anything. After a while Job gets it- things are not so ordered and sometimes bad things happen to good people.

If there is a takeaway from all this is that the world is not logical. Things happen that just doesn't make sense. We don't understand when a young woman dies in a traffic accident with a drunk driver. We don't understand the cancer diagnosis. We don't understand why we are laid off from a job. We don't understand when someone is raped. But in the midst of all this chaos, God stands with us. God took Job on, but he never left Job.

When I was training to become a pastor, I had to take a term of Clinic Pastoral Education. I spent time at a nursing home in Minneapolis. I remember seeing a young man who lost his leg in an ATV accident. You could see the anger on his face. I spent time sitting with him and saying a little. I always came away somewhat helpless. I still feel that feeling when I do pastoral care. But maybe being present is enough. Maybe it matters that God stands with us during the hard times, even when and especially when, we wonder, why?

Go and be church.  


 Dennis Sanders is the Associate Pastor at First Christian Church in Minneapolis.