photo by Andrew McGill / flikr
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Looking out the window—beyond the stained glass—what can a preacher say in such a time as this? Seems like a long time ago that we remembered what happened on September 11th 19 years ago. Weeks ago we turned on the TV and listened as family members and loved ones call out name after name that were lost that sad day. We remembered.
But after that memory, now 19 years old—we find ourselves wading through another kind of loss. Since January when the virus trickle had not become a roaring river—we didn’t think the virus would affect us. Yet we have lost over 200,000 teachers and children and strong women and men and doctors and nurses and aides who have cared for the dying. The list of those names is seemingly endless.
And that does not count all these who have lost their jobs. So many cannot make monthly payments on their homes or apartments. Some of them now live in their cars and on the streets. Thank God we have established food banks for many in need. And yet many that come never look us in the eyes because shame does this. Everything has been touched—church, school, sports, businesses—everything. And it isn’t over yet and may not be for a long time. The scary thing is that we just do not know what the future will hold.
Anger and Rage
Anger and rage is in every town. We have spit on Chinese. We have pointed fingers at immigrants. So many have taken to the streets to protest while some rioted. A number of people have been shot by citizens or police. Cities have burned as if there is nothing to lose. And a woman at the Wal Mart the other day saw my mask on and sneered, “That’s a waste of time,” and shaking her head she moved in.
As I was working on what wanted to say today I thought about the book of Job. Job? It's is the oldest book in the Bible. So I started studying Job and began to put him down beside all of us today.
The book was written during Israel’s exile. God’s people were dragged hundreds of miles by the Babylonians. More than 4500 were taken over time from their homes against their will. And they were homesick.And in that cursed new land the language was strange. The food was even stranger. And many of their children began to adopt Babylonian customs and some even married their captors. And one of the Psalms captured their feelings: “How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?”
Loss piled on top of loss. It was a terribly hard time and one of the defining moments in Israel’s faith. And there came this book. Job. Most of them could not read. But they told Job’s story around campfires. And they told the story to one another and to their children.
They asked, over and over, “Where is God?”And they were angry and tired of being tired. And so this book of Job frames the old question that we too struggle with. Why do God’s people suffer?
The Book of Job
And so the exiles told the Job story. This godly man with great faith. Was wealthy. Had a great family. Lots of kids that the loved. A farmer. Sheep everywhere and other animals. Many acres. And the Devil looked down and saw Job and told God: “I bet if you let me put the pressure on old Job he’ll buckle. He’ll curse and turn his back on you.” And God wearily said, “Well do what you will with Job but you cannot kill him.”
And so the Devil went too work. Job lost his kids. He lost his wife. His house burned down. He lost his health and was covered in sores. And so the book deal with his losses. Which were a lot. And there were days when he suffered terribly. And the story says some days he railed out at God. Some days he prayed to the Lord God for help. Before the Devil took his wife she said, “Job, why don’t you just curse God and die.” But he shook his head.
The story goes on for 42 long chapters. And the question he asked has been asked in every age since: “Why does God allow suffering of the innocents.?” And over the death of babies and little children and ALS and cancer and cancer and mental illness and every other adversity that after all these years there is still no answer.
It reminds me of that funny story about the guy who fell off the cliff. He reached for a tree’s root and he was just dangling in mid air. He saw it was a long way down. And he began to pray: “God help me. God help me I’m gonna die.” A voice came out of the blue that said, “Let go of the root. Have faith. Let go.” And the man yelled out: “Is there anybody else up there?” Have you ever asked that question? A whole lot of people around the world are still asking that question today. Is there anybody else up there?
A couple of summers ago I took my Granddaughter to see the September 11th Memorial. And she and I stood there with our hands over our mouths as we looked and looked at all those pictures of the 3,000 murdered that day. They came from 75b countries. Like Job we wondered too: Is there anybody else up there?
This is gloomy talk I know. Maybe you wished you had stayed home. Bur we leave here where we have to wear masks and keep away from one another and wonder how long this will last and how many other hundreds or thousands will be affected? We keep muttering: When we ever get back to normal?
So what are we to do? We can whistle while we work. We can look for a silver lining. We could say: “You know we could be worse off than we are.” Or like why painter-buddy told me, “Ah, this virus is nothing. Just the flu. Don’t worry.” We can turn off the TV because the bad news just keeps coming. We could turn the TV back on until we find one of these prosperity gospel preachers just smiling and saying everything is great. We could tell one another: “Let’s just talk about positive things.” But the Bible never turned away from the hard questions.
The Promise
That’s the Job story. He took it all. Every single loss the Devil could throw at him. And covered in sores, and tears streaming down his face. he wrote these words:
“For there is hope for the tree, if it is cut down, that it will sprout again, and that its shoots will not cease. Though its roots grow old in the earth, and its stump dies in the ground…” Listen. Even after all this devastation old Job writes: “Yet at the scent of water it will bud and put forth branches like a young plant.” He ended that 42nd chapter by saying to God: “I know that you can do all things and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted…I have heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eyes sees you…”
As I read those words I remembered that time when my wife and I visited England. We went to Coventry to see the town and the ruins go the great Cathedral that was bombed during the Second World War. The Germans dropped 198 tons of bombs on that city. Over five hundred of their citizens lost their lives. 2,300 homes were destroyed. And the beautiful Cathedral that dated back to 1043 was obliterated. When we got there we went to the church. The town decided to prop up the bombed-out ruins to remember that sad time. And next to the ruins they built a new Cathedral. They named it: The Cathedral of Saint Michael’s. Outside that entrance of the new church Jacob Epstein, great sculptor has designed this huge statue of St. Michael with an upraised spear in his hand. And below him was the devil he had destroyed.
photo by Coventry City Council / flikr
As I worked on this sermon I thought of Coventry and Job and us, too hanging on to our fragile roots. Wondering about the future. I try to remember that faith always has a hard time. Read the Bible from one end to the other. Look at the centerpiece of our faith: a Cross.
In another hard time Psalm 30 was written. Looking back on all the hurt and pain and tears this was the promise of faith that some writer left for himself and those around him: “Weeping many last for a night, but Joy comes in the morning.”
Friends we have lost a lot but this is not the end of the story. Think about Job and us and the whole world. There really is someone up there.
Thanks be to God.
photo by Roland Turner / flikr
(I preached this sermon two weeks ago at the Mt. Zion Presbyterian Church., Sandy Springs, SC )
--Roger Lovette / rogerlovette.blogspot.com
