Talk about your bad
days. In the story of Job we learn that
he is the ultimate and perfect model of perfection when it comes to faith . . .
God even says so: “Have you considered my servant Job.
There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man
who fears God and shuns evil.”
The guy was the epitome of the good and faithful servant, and he even
has God’s seal of approval to prove it.
At least that is the way that the story begins . . . but, as the story
continues . . . well, we have to wonder.
The story begins with
a gathering of the angels in the presence of God. Showing up at the party was Satan. God strikes up a conversation with Satan by
asking him what he has been up to . . . “Just wandering around the earth,”
replies Satan. God then wants to know
whether or not Satan has run into his good and faithful servant Job in any of
his wanderings. God kind of goes off on
expounding the virtues of Job . . . but Satan isn’t buying any of it.
Basically Satan tells
God that anyone can be as good and faithful as Job when God is placing a
protective force shield around him or her . . . tells God that anyone can be
like Job when they have a protector like God taking care of everything. Take away that protection, says Satan, and
Job is nothing but a regular old slob like the rest of the human race. Though the writer doesn’t say so, it seems
that God takes offense to what Satan is saying . . . kind of rubs God the wrong
way. A challenge . . . or should we say,
an experiment . . . is issued.
God tells Satan to
prove it. Have at Job. But, says God, there is a limit that what you
can do. Basically all Satan can do is to
mess with what Job has . . . his wealth, property, and family . . . but, Satan
cannot lay a hand on Job. So, that is
what Satan does . . . pretty much wipes out everything Job owns including his
family. Well, not quite all of his
family . . . Satan leaves Job’s wife alone . . . sort of a source of comic
relief to the story. Through it all, Job
remains faithful to God. He doesn’t
complain. God smirks.
That was round
one. Satan is not satisfied and points
out that nothing—personally happened to Job.
True he lost everything he owned.
Lost his family . . . but, those things can be replaced. They are only a temporary discomfort, says
Satan. Now, suggests Satan, if something
were to effect Job physically and personally . . . he wouldn’t be the perfect
and faithful servant that God thinks he is.
Again, God tells
Satan to prove it . . . with one stipulation . . . Satan cannot kill Job. In
round two Satan afflicts Job with a terrible skin disease from the tips of his
toes to the crown of his head . . . terrible, painful, itching, oozing
sores. It is so bad that Job takes to
the town dump where he sits, taking broken pieces of pottery, scraping his body
of its decaying flesh. Then, to make
matters worse, his wife shows up . . . moaning and groaning, nitpicking,
complaining, and telling her husband to give it up . . . curse God and be done
with it. But, Job refuses.
During the beat down
that Job receives from his wife she asks him a serious question . . . a
question that we all need to hear and consider: “Are you still holding on to your
integrity?”
Job’s wife might be
seen as a bit of comic relief in the story, but at the same time she is really
a loving and caring wife who cannot stand to sit by and watch her spouse suffer
as he is suffering . . . losing everything including his health. She would rather see him die than to continue
to live a life of suffering. Not only
does she question Job’s stubbornness to being faithful to God, she also offers
him a solution to his problem: “Curse God and die!”
Job refuses. Job responds: “Shall we accept good from God,
and not trouble.”
Ah, you’ve got to
love a person who stands on his or her integrity.
Integrity is defined
as “a quality of being honest and having strong moral principles.” Job demonstrates integrity . . . he sticks to
his guns . . . he is not going to blame God for any of the calamity that has
afflicted him or his life. He is going
to embrace it all as a part of the relationship he has with God. Pretty much he implies the wonderful Doris
Day quote: “Que sera, sera, whatever will be will be.”
But, the wife isn’t
buying it. In her mind and heart she
believes that no one should have to endure such suffering in life . . . that no
one deserves it. The heck with integrity
. . . curse God and end the suffering.
And, you know what, it is not difficult to identify with Job’s
wife. All of us have uttered such
thoughts when we have stood by watching people we love endure great suffering
and calamity in their lives. We have
thought it when we see the suffering in the world around us. We have thought it and even said it out loud
when life becomes more than we think we can ever endure. Integrity does not solve or remove the
suffering and pain of life. It only
seems to make it go on and on and on.
And, like Job’s wife,
we have also realized that sometimes we hang on to things that only prolong the
suffering and pain . . . realize that enough is enough . . . even when it comes
to faith. Job’s wife may be portrayed as
a nag, but she hits the nail on the head when she tells her husband that the
solution to the problem is to just let go . . . let go of your integrity and
get it over with.
Remember that joke
about going to the doctor and complaining about your elbow hurting when you do
this? Remember what the doctor tells
you? Quit doing that. That’s the problem when it comes to integrity
. . . we just can’t stop doing it. Job
cannot stop being a person of integrity when it comes to his faith. In that regard, God is right.
Yet, at the same
time, most of us know the story of Job.
Most of us know how the story rolls out.
We know that the statement about Job’s patience is not true . . . that
Job was not a patient person as we listen to his words of . . . well, words of
complain when we honestly consider them.
In this heavily theological book, there are many issues that are dealt
with, but the most important one is the integrity of faith. Is Job really a person of integrity when it
comes to his faith? Listening to his
words throughout the book it sounds as if he is whining and complaining with
the best of them. Does he really believe
that the words that he is speaking are congruent with being faithful?
I guess we will see
in the weeks to come. True, the word integrity
does mean a “quality of being honest and having strong moral principles”; but,
at the same time, it also means “the state of being whole and undivided.” In this morning’s story we are faced with an
issue that all people of faith have dealt with for ever . . . how can we be a
people of faith when we moan and groan and complain about the way that we think
that God treats us? Can we be
disappointed in God and the way that God treats us? Can we be angry at God? Can we be a people of faith and curse God? Isn’t that the issue we are dealing with as
we read and hear the story of Job?
Again, we will
see. In the next week take the time to
read the story of Job . . . read his words . . . read God’s words. Ask yourself what does this story have to do
with me . . . with my faith? Think about
it. Pray about it. And, let’s discuss it. Because I content that in the end . . . Job
does have integrity of faith. I content
that it is okay to be disappointed in God . . . to be upset with God . . . to
be angry with God. I content that we can
be all those things and still be a people of integral faith. I believe that Job did that. I believe that because—in the end—Job
remained a person who was whole and undivided . . . he was being who he was,
who God created him to be.
The question echoes .
. . “Are you still holding onto your integrity?” I hope we are because, as Job will show us,
it comes down to holding onto who we are—as created by God. It comes down to honesty . . . honesty about
who we are . . . honesty with God. Amen.
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