In riches or sorrows, God’s name be blessed.

 

Sermon for Lent 2, February 25, 2024

The God of love and peace will be with you.  Amen.

Job 1:13-22  ¹³One day when Job’s sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their oldest brother, ¹⁴a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the female donkeys were grazing nearby, ¹⁵when the Sabeans swooped down and took them away.  They put the servants to death with the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”  ¹⁶While he was still speaking, another servant came and said, “The fire of God fell from the sky and burned up the flocks and the servants and consumed them, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”  ¹⁷While he was still speaking, another servant came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three raiding parties and plundered the camels and took them away.  They put the servants to death with the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”  ¹⁸While he was still speaking, another servant came and said, “Your sons and daughters were eating and were drinking wine in the house of their oldest brother. ¹⁹Suddenly a powerful wind swept in from the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it collapsed on the young people, and they died, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”  ²⁰Then Job stood up, tore his robe, and shaved his head.  He fell to the ground and worshipped.  ²¹Then he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will return.  The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.  May the name of the Lord be blessed.”  ²²In all this, Job did not sin or blame God. (EHV)

In riches or sorrows, God’s name be blessed.

Dear fellow redeemed,

            Job’s story is almost beyond belief in its sorrow, and therefore, many doubt that it really happened.  However, we know the Holy Spirit does not lie, so we have no reason to doubt that this is a true account.  Therefore, imagine the horror that had to go through poor Job’s mind that long ago day.  The man was wealthy beyond anything any of us will ever know, with vast flocks and herds, a huge farming operation, and most likely a trading business involving numerous caravans of camels with all the servants needed to operate such vast enterprises.  These were not slaves as we might imagine but valued and trusted members of his business activities.  Lest we forget, Job was also blessed with seven sons and three daughters. 

Job was widely known as the greatest man of his time.  However, everything changed in just one day.  Bad news came in from the far reaches of his operation.  Job’s domain was invaded by enemy raiders from the south who killed his workers and stole away all the animals that powered his farming operation. 

Before Job could even digest the horror of that loss, another messenger brought news of the random destruction of Job’s flocks in what many would call an unmitigated natural calamity, and again, Job’s servants died with the animals.  That alone would knock the wind out of the strongest individual, yet without a moment’s break, a third messenger arrived to inform Job that his vast trading operation was wiped out for the servants were slaughtered and everything else stolen away by raiders from the north. 

Finally, the biggest blow came.  While the third man was informing Job that the last of his wealth had been lost, the final messenger arrived to tell Job that all his sons and daughters were killed when a sudden, random windstorm devastated his oldest son’s home.

Modern day psychologists might question whether any person could receive such catastrophic news without becoming catatonic with despair.  Most of us would likely become little more than quivering masses of weeping confusion.  How could all this bad stuff happen to one family?  How could any person survive the grief of losing so much?

The book of Job is given to us to help us understand a few realities for surviving our world.  Some claim that it is given to help us understand why bad things happen to good people.  Some say it shows the power of faith.  Both cases can be made.  Still, I hope to show that there are also other reasons for us so that among us, In riches or sorrows, God’s name be blessed.

It will help us understand what happened to Job and to many others around our world, to read what St. Paul wrote to the Ephesians: “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12)  As much as we might like everything to make sense in our world, many of the world’s troubles come because of the devil’s constant other-worldly war against God’s plan and our welfare.  That demon, who was created good, turned against God very early in history and even though being defeated by Christ in that rebellion, the devil still remains a constant instigator of evil.  He will go as far as God allows him to cause chaos in the world and trouble for God’s people. 

Now, the devil has nothing to gain in his rebellion, yet his outright hatred of God causes him to try to prevent any of God’s people from receiving the joy that is theirs through faith.  Of course, the devil really doesn’t have to do anything to get the unbelieving world on his side.  He already owns their hearts.  Therefore, he can use them quite easily to cause trouble for those who love God.  Furthermore, because Satan has no care for the lives of anyone, he feels no remorse for their deaths.  Thus, wars, plagues, pandemics, mental turmoil, and any kind of love of evil Satan can inspire among his slaves will be used as he tries to instill doubt or fear in God’s people.

In Job’s case, it was his great faith in the Lord of all that provoked Satan to seek permission from God to test Job.  This, though, leads us to understand another truth: “The Lord knows those who are his.” (2 Timothy 2:19)  In addition, the Lord doesn’t just know who we are, He knows us individually and intimately.  He knows are strengths and weaknesses.  He knows what our faith can endure, whether riches or poverty, health or sickness, gain or loss, and still remain His trusting children.  Indeed, St. Paul writes, “He chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, so that we would be holy and blameless in his sight.  In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ.” (Ephesians 1:4-5)  Therefore, having been chosen by God from before time began, the Lord makes certain that we might hear His Gospel message and believe it.

What annoys Satan to no end and makes him meaner than any junkyard dog is that God doesn’t leave us defenseless, but rather, He promises great intervention on our behalf so that the devil cannot steal us away from God’s care.  The psalmist wrote, “He will give a command to his angels concerning you, to guard you in all your ways.^” (Psalm 91:11)  Jesus also promises, “Surely I am with you always until the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20)  Thus, even when the devil was doing everything possible to destroy Job, God placed a limit on the devil and put a circle of protection around His chosen believer, so that the trust in God almighty that the Holy Spirit had worked in Job through the promise of a coming Savior, kept him trusting in God even in the face of this great trauma.

Because of his strong faith in God’s promise of a Redeemer, Job could receive this tidal wave of horrible news, and still deal with his great losses, not without sorrow, but yet with hope.  Then he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will return.  The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.  May the name of the Lord be blessed.”  By the faith God had worked in Job, he understood that this life is not our end.  As the hymnwriter reminds us, “Heaven is our home.”  By faith, Job could suffer the loss of servants and children knowing that he had led them to believe in God’s promises and he would see them again in heaven.  Trusting in his Savior’s care, Job believed that even in this great loss, the Lord would again bless and preserve him.  Though Job didn’t yet have the details of how God would accomplish all this, he could trust the message Jesus later gave His disciples, “In this world you are going to have trouble.  But be courageous!  I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)  Thus for Job, In riches or sorrows, God’s name is blessed.

Finally, this account is preserved for us so that we may see what true faith in God looks like.  However, it is not just so we have a picture to imitate as some might guess, though we should.  It is instead a foreshadowing of the faith of the Man who became our Redeemer.  To be our Savior, the God-Man, Jesus Christ, had to lose everything except His trust in God His Father, so that we would be blessed with every good thing.

In coming to earth and taking on human flesh, the Son of God had to set aside the glory and power that are rightfully His.  Though Jesus is true God and the owner and Ruler of all things, as true Man, He humbled Himself to suffer the betrayal of His closest followers.  And knowing that the devil would do whatever he could imagine to tempt God’s Son, challenge His resilience, provoke His anger, and steal His most precious possessions which are all the people God has given Him by faith, Jesus humbly and with great faithful patience endured all things so that you and I may have everlasting life. ‘

Job had to suffer boils all over his body as the devil tormented him, trying to cause him to sin.  On the other hand, Jesus suffered the wrath of God, His own eternal Father forsaking Him, and the cruel torment and death of being nailed to the cross bearing all the sins and guilt of the world.

After the devil completed his tormenting of Job, God restored Job’s health and blessed him with even greater wealth, the same number of children, and a long life.  Likewise, after Jesus suffered all things for you and me, the Father raised Him from the dead on the third day and welcomed Him to His side in heaven, putting all things in heaven and earth under Jesus’ authority.  Furthermore, by the sacrifice of His Son, God had restored the wealth that Jesus truly treasures, the children of God made holy and precious through faith and by the blood Jesus shed.

Dear friends, let us always strive to have a faith like Job, but especially, may the Holy Spirit help us remember the faith Jesus lived for us so that we could be holy in God’s sight.  Then, no matter what comes our way in this troubled world, In riches or sorrows, God’s name will be blessed.  Amen.

After you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who called you into his eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will himself restore, establish, strengthen, and support you.  To him be the glory and the power forever and ever.  Amen.