Sermon Dan
Neary
Job: So Right... But Oh So Wrong
I haven’t been here to preach
for the past 5 weeks (Jay, Steve, Laurie, Darrell).
Lazy Pastor? Different kind of
church:
·
Many voices, varied perspectives
·
All Highly Qualified / Not taken
lightly
·
Continuity comes in many ways
·
Word centered… but not
preacher/personality centered
I’m glad I get to be part of a
church like this one!
We
come to this third sermon in our series on the Book of Job… a sermon we’ve
titled “So Right, But Oh So Wrong – Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar and their partial
answers about Divine Justice.”
I’m indebted to Dr. Hobson for
his work on putting this series together. I’m grateful for his work on the
outline of the series; his notes for this section served as an excellent base
of study.
We’re introduced to Job’s
Three Friends at the close of chapter 2. After Job looses everything:
wealth, family, respect and even his own health… these three friends come to
his aid. The Bible says they went to “sympathize with him and comfort him.” And
those last words of chapter 2 say:
Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was.[1]
And Job, of course, wished that
their silence would have endured beyond that seven days and seven nights… because
when these friends begin to speak into Job’s circumstances, it seems to us, and
I’m sure Job would agree, that they stray from their initial stated purpose of sympathy
and comfort;
they make Job’s bad situation worse.
Before we get into the specifics,
I’d like to remind us of an ancient fable. You’ll know this one; it pops up in
all sorts of contexts. On just the first page of a Google search, I saw this in a children’s book, a business article,
a philosophical argument, and a religious apologetic. This little fable has
been around forever; I’d like to use it to frame our thinking this morning.
In the children's book, The Blind Men and the Elephant,
Lillian Quigley retells the ancient fable of six blind men who visit the palace
of the Rajah and encounter an elephant for the first time. As each touches the
animal with his hands, he announces his discoveries.
The first blind man put out his hand and
touched the side of the elephant. "How smooth! An elephant is like a
wall." The second blind man put out his hand and touched the trunk of the
elephant. "How round! An elephant is like a snake." The third blind
man put out his hand and touched the tusk of the elephant. "How sharp! An
elephant is like a spear." The fourth blind man put out his hand and
touched the leg of the elephant. "How tall! An elephant is like a
tree." The fifth blind man reached out his hand and touched the ear of the
elephant. "How wide! An elephant is like a fan." The sixth blind man
put out his hand and touched the tail of the elephant. "How thin! An
elephant is like a rope."
An argument ensued,
each blind man thinking his own perception of the elephant was the correct one.
The Rajah, awakened by the commotion, called out from the balcony. "The
elephant is a big animal," he said. "Each man touched only one part.
You must put all the parts together to find out what an elephant is like."
Enlightened by the
Rajah's wisdom, the blind men reached agreement. "Each one of us knows
only a part. To find out the whole truth we must put all the parts
together."
The
fable teaches us important lessons about perspective and perception. Many say that
perception is reality… I can’t agree,
of course. We all know that our perception cannot be trusted; we find ourselves
wrong way too often! But we can see that our perception is our reality, at least for
the time being. We’re like the baseball umpire who says “I call ‘em as I see
‘em.” We observe, make a judgment, and proceed (let the game go on) with the
truth based on the way we saw it.
Problem is… we all have blind spots, right?
Even that is an overstatement.
The idea of blind spots gives the
impression that we each see most things… that there are only a few spots of
blindness.
Truth is… we all only have sight
spots. We are mostly blind; we can’t see it all. We can’t know it all.
Our perception is always so limited because we can’t see it all. We can’t see
wide enough, or deep enough. At best, all we have is tunnel vision.
So, I’ve noticed, we specialize
in our sight spots. We develop
abilities to explain most things through our lenses. We all do this:
·
Numbers
·
Relationships
·
Systems
·
Ways of thinking (i.e.
conservative, liberal, capitalistic)
·
Some see through wide angle
lens… others through a microscope… others through a telescope
Our perceptions are also bound
by:
·
Culture
·
Experience
·
Education
The world of business
understands this, hence the business trend to work in highly productive teams. That was the morale of the
elephant fable… right? The Rajah told the blind men to blend their perceptions to get to the true reality. Business call’s
it production
teams or synergy; in the church world we might call it community or the Body of Christ. We all play our part and the whole is able to do
way more than the sum of the parts.
Blended perception often results
in something very good… but differing perceptions often result in difficulty,
strife, sometimes even war. Perceptions about power and liberty are at the root
of most wars. But for many there is a controlling perception that trumps all
others; I’m one of those who have a trump
perception.
You
know what I mean, right? In any discussion or consideration, there are lots of
ideas thrown out on the table. Some are better ideas or perspectives than
others. But some perspectives, or suits, trump the others. They win the hand. For me, and probably for
many of you, in the realm of ideas and perceptions, those things theological are
trump… and what God says is high trump. No matter what, the
theological argument and perspective wins… and God’s Word is final.
That is a good thing… right?
That God is trump?
You
know… God isn’t just trump for you and me…
God is trump for Usama Bin Laden.
Remember, we’re dealing with
perception here… blind spots and sight spots. From this simple illustration we
are reminded that some of the most dangerous perceptions are rooted in how
people perceive God, God’s direction, and God’s will.
All
of that winds us back to providing some sort of base for the texts before us
today. Starting in chapter 4, Job’s Friends begin to speak into Job’s tragic
circumstances from their perspectives. They don’t speak as psychologists,
economists, philosophers, medical doctors or even friends… they speak as
theologians. They speak from the perspective that trumps all others. It is
difficult to argue with those who claim to be speaking on behalf of God.
For the span of chapters 4-25 we
read the back and forth.
·
Eliphaz then Job
·
Bildad then Job
·
Zophar then Job
Then the whole cycle all over
again… and again.
Most of what is recorded in
these speeches from Job’s friends is good, solid wisdom and theology.
From the first speech of Eliphaz
(5:8-17):
8 “But if it were I, I would appeal to God; I would lay my cause before him.
9 He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted.
10 He bestows rain on the earth; he sends water upon the countryside.
11 The lowly he sets on high, and those who mourn are lifted to safety.
12 He thwarts the plans of the crafty, so that their hands achieve no success.
13 He catches the wise in their craftiness, and the schemes of the wily are swept away.
14 Darkness comes upon them in the daytime; at noon they grope as in the night.
15 He saves the needy from the sword in their mouth; he saves them from the clutches of the powerful.
16 So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts its mouth.
17 “Blessed is the man whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.b[2]
From Zophar’s first speech
(11:7-9)
7 “Can you fathom the mysteries of God? Can you probe the limits of the Almighty?
8 They are higher than the heavens—what can you do?
They are deeper than the depths of the gravea—what can you know?
9 Their measure is longer than the earth and wider than the sea. [3]
From Bildad’s third speech
(25) [this is poetry]
2 “Dominion and awe belong to God; he establishes order in the heights of heaven.
3 Can his forces be numbered? Upon whom does his light not rise?
4 How then can a man be righteous before God? How can one born of woman be pure?
5 If even the moon is not bright and the stars are not pure in his eyes,
6 how much less man, who is but a maggot— a son of man, who is only a worm!” [4]
This
is great theology!
·
All of these believe in the
sovereignty of God over man
·
All of these believe in Divine
Justice as operating effectively in the affairs of man.
·
All of these believe in the
fallenness of man –though they don’t use those terms to describe it—humans are
fallible when compared to an infallible God.
·
All of these believe that the
appropriate response to human sin is repentance and a plea for divine mercy.
All of these propositions are
true… but these 3 friends, even with their true propositions, are in error. They
are completely blowing it here with
Job. They have the right tools in hand, they have good theology, but they are
applying it all wrong.
The
predominant thread throughout this discourse is this:
·
Righteousness leads to
prosperity
·
Evil leads to destruction
This is the doctrine of
retribution.
Job’s friends clearly believe
that this doctrine of retribution is universal and automatic. They state it
in no uncertain terms…
Job, you were once prosperous,
that must have been a result of your righteousness. Now, Job, you are facing
total destruction, this must be a result of your evil…
stop your sinning and then everything will be wonderful again.
Their argument is sound, logical,
and even has a theological base…
but their conclusion is entirely wrong.
Job’s friends lacked the
perspective that even we enjoy. You see, we have the benefit of a perspective
they never had. We see more of the whole picture. This trial wasn’t a consequence
of Job’s evil; it was a consequence of Job’s righteousness. This trial wasn’t
intended as punishment for Job’s sin; the trial was intended to glorify God.
We know that the trial of Job occurred
because Job’s motives for being righteous were being tested. Neither Job, nor
the three friends knew this – thus they spoke as though the doctrine of
retribution explains every instance of trouble in human life.
The doctrine of retribution is
the sight
spot (tunnel vision) of these three friends. It is from the perspective
of this doctrine of retribution that Job’s friends make their explanations for
Job’s tragic circumstances.
It is as if these three friends
went up to the elephant of Job’s circumstances and all yanked on the tail…
concluding that this elephant was some sort of rope. No matter what Job said,
they insisted on explaining everything from their limited perspective.
So
what? What lessons can we take away from all this?
We’re not like this right?
We always see things clearly and
appreciate the full perspective… right?
Let’s look to the examples set
by both Job and the friends.
From
the friends, we can take these lessons.
·
Presence:
The first lesson is a positive one. The friends started out in the right
direction. Sometimes, most times, the act of friendship that is most
appreciated in difficult situations is simply presence. Just show up. You don’t
have to say anything. You don’t have to do anything. You certainly don’t need
to provide any answers. You just need to be there. When a friend is in the
hospital, stop by. When a friend looses a loved one, show up at the funeral. Even
if we are suffering from self-inflicted wounds, it helps just to have someone
trustworthy around.
·
Presumption:
The friends’ error was primarily an error of presumption. They presumed to know
what God was up to and the presumed to speak for God. Our ideas and perceptions
of God often cause us to become arrogant and to presume to know what God must
do, and how he must do it. Arrogance
leads to error. The friends thought they had Divine Justice all figured out
within the frame of a doctrine of retribution. They were arrogant… and wrong.
From a logical point of view, their arguments and answers commit a fallacy
called false accident: Applying a
general rule to a specific case to which it does not apply. One might also see that they are “begging the
question” because they argue from the presumption of Job’s guilt. One might
argue that all of our applications of our rules about divine justice in human
affairs to specific cases, of which we have no real knowledge of divine
purposes, commit these same fallacies—and probably more.
It is so easy for us to presume both ways… that when something is upside down,
that there is some evil that deserves punishment… but it could be that the more
insidious presumption is that when things are going well that it is some sort
of reward. We err when we perceive God’s blessing only in the context of
pleasant circumstances.
·
Listening:
If only the friends would have listened to Job. Like I said before, they
started out on the right track… but then they started running their mouths. My
friend
·
Help:
They turned deaf ears to Job’s cry for help. There would have been nothing
wrong with Job’s friends exploring the possibility the Job’s circumstances were
a result of his sin. There are all sorts of times when a good friend confronts
us. These friends would have done well to probe Job’s circumstances. Friends
ought to call one another to righteousness. But there are other times, more
frequent times really, when preaching is not what is called for… help is what
is needed. When Job needed a hand up, we he needed encouragement and a shoulder
to lean on… all he got was repeated condemnation. True friends may confront,
but they also help. We need to be the kind of people who serve our friends…
with moral support, sure, but also tangible support.
And
from Job, there are lessons to be learned from his response of humility:
·
Trust in the sovereignty of God
·
Believe in divine justice AND
mercy
·
Honestly acknowledge human
frailty
·
Hope in God
James 1:12
Blessed is the man who
perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the
crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.
We can trust… he is trustworthy.
We can believe… he is just and
merciful.
We can hope… he gives us the
assurance that his ways are perfect and he will see us through.
Intercession
Today we’re going to move right
into our time of intercession without pause. This time when we share our
victories and trials is something that has some parallel with the today’s text.
We are here today among friends.
Now I’m glad to report that I can’t
think of a time when someone has shared a need and then someone else has stood
up to give a speech that basically says “you are getting what you deserve… stop
sinning and things will get better for you.” I suppose it could be that one or
two of us has thought something like that from time to time… let’s face it, we
often need God to heal us of our self inflicted wounds… that is just the way it
is. Who really cares what others are thinking?
I think sometimes the voices that
are the loudest along these lines, these condemning voices, are our own
internal voices. We don’t need others to tell us that we’re getting what we
deserve… we hear this kind of condemnation from ourselves.
This is a time when we come
together and we put our faith, friendship, and community to work. We share our
needs, and we present them to the Lord together. Not just today, but through
the week as we pray for one another.
We take the circumstances of our
lives, both good and bad, and pray that God would be glorified.
So this morning, who would like us
to pray with them?