Who Shall Separate Us From God's Love?

Job's friends offer little comfort. They say, "If you lived a righteous life all would be well. As it is, you must acknowledge your sin and change. Then God will bless you."

But this advice seems foolish to Job, for he struggles with the God who remains hidden and far beyond him. He cannot contend with God,

"For he is not a man, as I am, that I might answer him, that we should come to trial together. There is no arbiter between us, who might lay his hand on us both."Job 9:32-35

So many questions. So much confusion. And amidst it all how helpless is Job. God does indeed demand a righteous life.

"Truly I know that it is so: But how can a man be in the right before God? If one wished to contend with him, one could not answer him once in a thousand times. - Job 9:2-3 

How puny and helpless is Job before God, the Creator of earth and sky.

He is wise in heart and mighty in strength --who has hardened himself against him, and succeeded?-- he who removes mountains, and they know it not, when he overturns them in his anger, who shakes the earth out of its place, and its pillars tremble; who commands the sun, and it does not rise; who seals up the stars; who alone stretched out the heavens and trampled the waves of the sea; who made the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the chambers of the south; who does great things beyond searching out, and marvelous things beyond number. Behold, he passes by me, and I see him not; he moves on, but I do not perceive him. Behold, he snatches away; who can turn him back? Who will say to him, 'What are you doing?' - Job 9:4-12 ESV 

Turning to his friends, Job continues, imagining himself in a court room with God. Before Him Job admits his own mouth would condemn him.

How then can I answer him, choosing my words with him? Though I am in the right, I cannot answer him; I must appeal for mercy to my accuser. If I summoned him and he answered me, I would not believe that he was listening to my voice. For he crushes me with a tempest and multiplies my wounds without cause; he will not let me get my breath, but fills me with bitterness. If it is a contest of strength, behold, he is mighty! If it is a matter of justice, who can summon him? Though I am in the right, my own mouth would condemn me; though I am blameless, he would prove me perverse. - Job 9:14-20 ESV 

He has no way to justify himself. Turning back to God, he says,

If I wash myself with snow and cleanse my hands with lye, yet you will plunge me into a pit, and my own clothes will abhor me. - Job 9:30-31 ESV 

What is left for this poor sinner? Back and forth, round and around go his thoughts. God is completely in charge. Job is His puppet, yet Job cries out that he is innocent.

Does it seem good to you to oppress, to despise the work of your hands and favor the designs of the wicked? Have you eyes of flesh? Do you see as man sees? Are your days as the days of man, or your years as a man's years, that you seek out my iniquity and search for my sin, although you know that I am not guilty, and there is none to deliver out of your hand? 

Your hands fashioned and made me, and now you have destroyed me altogether. Remember that you have made me like clay; and will you return me to the dust? Did you not pour me out like milk and curdle me like cheese? You clothed me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews. You have granted me life and steadfast love, and your care has preserved my spirit. Yet these things you hid in your heart; I know that this was your purpose. 

If I sin, you watch me and do not acquit me of my iniquity. If I am guilty, woe to me! If I am in the right, I cannot lift up my head, for I am filled with disgrace and look on my affliction. And were my head lifted up, you would hunt me like a lion and again work wonders against me. You renew your witnesses against me and increase your vexation toward me; you bring fresh troops against me. - Job 10:3-17 ESV 

Finally this confused, suffering man cries out in despair. Death, doom, gloom and darkness is all that awaits him.

"Why did you bring me out from the womb? Would that I had died before any eye had seen me and were as though I had not been, carried from the womb to the grave. Are not my days few? Then cease, and leave me alone, that I may find a little cheer before I go--and I shall not return-- to the land of darkness and deep shadow, the land of gloom like thick darkness, like deep shadow without any order, where light is as thick darkness." - Job 10:18-22 ESV

 Are you familiar with Job's struggle? Can anyone understand God's ways? Why suffering, sickness, sadness, sorrow and finally death? Only by gazing upon the cross is there an answer. The apostle Paul

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urges us to consider Abraham, that great man of faith. Everything depends upon our believing in the undeserved mercy of God. So old man Abraham clung to the promise that he was to become the father of many nations and that through his seed all nations of the earth would be blessed.

He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb. No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. - Rom 4:18-21 ESV 

In the days ahead we will continue to walk with Job and hear his pitiless friends. Perhaps in all these words we will find our own answers, answers from the God who forces us to struggle that we may grow in our trust in His promise that in all things He is at work for our good, the promise that began to be worked out in the manger of Bethlehem. So the Apostle teaches,

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. - Rom 8:28 ESV 

Grace Alone, Not By Living A Righteous Life

"What good are you as friends?" Job asks, as he listened to those who came to comfort him. "What good are you?"

"Have I any help in me, when resource is driven from me? "He who withholds kindness from a friend forsakes the fear of the Almighty. My brothers are treacherous as a torrent-bed, as torrential streams that pass away, which are dark with ice, and where the snow hides itself. When they melt, they disappear; when it is hot, they vanish from their place. The caravans turn aside from their course; they go up into the waste and perish. The caravans of Tema look, the travelers of Sheba hope. They are ashamed because they were confident; they come there and are disappointed. For you have now become nothing; you see my calamity and are afraid." - Job 6:13-21 ESV

His friends were nothing but melted snow and ice that disappears when it gets hot. He felt like men in the caravans of Tema (Gen. 25:12-16), the travelers of Sheba who found no water in the desert. They plodded along in the dry lands, hoping to find water, but found nothing but parched desert. They were but dried up streams. Job's friends accuse him of some wretched sins for which God is punishing and disciplining him.

But now, be pleased to look at me, for I will not lie to your face. Please turn; let no injustice be done. Turn now; my vindication is at stake. Is there any injustice on my tongue? Cannot my palate discern the cause of calamity? - Job 6:28-30 ESV

Poor, wretched, miserable Job (Job 6:1-10). He loathes his life. He cannot sleep. His flesh is clothed with worms and dirt. His skin hardens, then breaks out with new sores. He complains to his "friends" and to his God. In the anguish of his spirit and the bitterness of his soul he cries out. Instead of being comforted he is terrified and scared with dreams and visions. When will it ever end?

What is man, that you make so much of him, and that you set your heart on him, visit him every morning and test him every moment? How long will you not look away from me, nor leave me alone till I swallow my spit? - Job 7:17-19 ESV

OK! Enough already. If I am guilty of sin and deserving of this sick and troubling disease, show me.

If I sin, what do I do to you, you watcher of mankind? Why have you made me your mark? Why have I become a burden to you? Why do you not pardon my transgression and take away my iniquity? For now I shall lie in the earth; you will seek me, but I shall not be." - Job 7:20-21 ESV 

Cyperus Papyrus

Next it is the turn of Bildad the Shuhite. He says the same thing as Job's other friend. God does not pervert justice and the right way of life. If you are pure and upright God will restore you to your former life. You must not forget God. To emphasize this he uses a number pictures drawn from the natural world.

"Can papyrus grow where there is no marsh? Can reeds flourish where there is no water? While yet in flower and not cut down, they wither before any other plant. Such are the paths of all who forget God; the hope of the godless shall perish. His confidence is severed, and his trust is a spider's web. He leans against his house, but it does not stand; he lays hold of it, but it does not endure. He is a lush plant before the sun, and his shoots spread over his garden. His roots entwine the stone heap; he looks upon a house of stones. If he is destroyed from his place, then it will deny him, saying, 'I have never seen you.' Behold, this is the joy of his way, and out of the soil others will spring. - Job 8:11-19 ESV

So Job and his friends struggle with a type of religion that continually seeks to bargain with God. It is a religion that tells us that if we live a righteous life God will bless us. If we do not, He will punish and humble us until we repent and return to His ways. This is a religion of works. It does not look deep into the teaching of God's Word to discover what the Apostles of Christ taught. Listen to Paul as he despairs of ever being righteous. No one is. All have gone astray. This is the true teaching of Scripture.

As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one." "Their throat is an open tomb; With their tongues they have practiced deceit"; "The poison of asps is under their lips"; "Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness." "Their feet are swift to shed blood; Destruction and misery are in their ways; And the way of peace they have not known." "There is no fear of God before their eyes." - Rom 3:10-18 NKJV 

How then shall anyone be saved from eternal death and destruction? Paul's answer:

Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, - Rom 3:20-25 NKJV 

It is all by God's grace, undeserved and unearned, yet given and available to all who put their faith and trust in the death and resurrection of the promised Messiah, the Christ whose birth we Christians celebrate at this time of the year.

The Hiddenness of God

Job ended his soliloquy (Job 3:1-26) with this complaint: "I am not at ease, nor am I quiet;
I have no rest, but trouble comes.”  Now it was time for the first of his friends to reply. Eliphaz the Temanite stepped up (Job 4:1-5:27). He began by reminding Job that Job's words have instructed many. Now that he is suffering as well, why is he so impatient? In his long discourse he makes two points and counsels Job to confess his sin so that he may return to his former blessed life

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• You are only reaping what you've sown: 

"Remember: who that was innocent ever perished? Or where were the upright cut off?
As I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same. By the breath of God they perish, and by the blast of his anger they are consumed. - Job 4:7-9 ESV

• You, Job, cannot claim to be innocent, can you? Bildad's questions imply no, never. 

'Can mortal man be in the right before God? Can a man be pure before his Maker? Even in his servants he puts no trust, and his angels he charges with error; - Job 4:17-18 ESV

• If I were you, I'd seek God and commit my cause to Him (Job 5:8). Here are some of Eliphaz's oft quoted words: 

The hungry eat his harvest, and he takes it even out of thorns, and the thirsty pant after his wealth. For affliction does not come from the dust, nor does trouble sprout from the ground, but man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward. - Job 5:5-7 ESV 

"Behold, blessed is the one whom God reproves; therefore despise not the discipline of the Almighty. For he wounds, but he binds up; he shatters, but his hands heal." - Job 5:17-18 ESV

Job responds that his friends, his brothers, "are treacherous as a torrent-bed, as torrential streams that pass away. He has asked nothing from them, certainly no wealth. Like melting ice and snow they give him nothing, they disappear and vanish. Job responds,

"But now, be pleased to look at me, for I will not lie to your face." - Job 6:28. 

He continues, pointing to his sickness:

When I lie down I say, 'When shall I arise?' But the night is long, and I am full of tossing till the dawn. My flesh is clothed with worms and dirt; my skin hardens, then breaks out afresh. - Job 7:4-5 ESV

You, my friends, my brothers, can't you see that I'm dying? If only I could die. Why do you keep accusing me?

If I sin, what do I do to you, you watcher of mankind? Why have you made me your mark? Why have I become a burden to you? Why do you not pardon my transgression and take away my iniquity? For now I shall lie in the earth; you will seek me, but I shall not be." - Job 7:4-5, 20-21 ESV

So for the moment we leave this despairing man. He stands for the millions who suffer and die every day of every year. He speaks for all of us who have suffered loss and cried out in our grief. Why, God, have You focused on me? Why have you made me your mark?

So we come to the issue of God's hiding Himself and His so-called alien work or the "theology of the cross." One pastor put it well with these words quoted from the Huffington Post:

I am glad that I am restricted in even seeing a mere glimpse of the Glory of God but find comfort in knowing that the height of God’s revelation was on the cross of Christ. To those who question the Hiddenness of God, I wonder how they deal with the notion of a God who comes down and loves the unlovely and the unrighteous before the objects of his love have any inclination to love him or do good? The cross shows that God identifies with those who suffer in the manifestation of God’s glory in Jesus Christ. This is a message of hope that human beings cannot determine who God is and how he acts, he requires no prior loveliness in the objects of his love, and rather prior love creates that loveliness without laying down preconditions. Such a God is revealed with amazing and unexpected tenderness and beauty in the ugly and violent drama of the cross.

I Have No Rest

It was all too much for Job—the loss of his wealth, the death of his children, his wife's hopeless urging to curse God and die, his horrible disease, and now his friends crying beside him. He finally let it all come cascading, cursing the day of his birth:

"Let the day perish on which I was born, and the night that said, 'A man is conceived.' Let that day be darkness! May God above not seek it, nor light shine upon it. Let gloom and deep darkness claim it. Let clouds dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it. That night--let thick darkness seize it! Let it not rejoice among the days of the year; let it not come into the number of the months. Behold, let that night be barren; let no joyful cry enter it. Let those curse it who curse the day, who are ready to rouse up Leviathan. Let the stars of its dawn be dark; let it hope for light, but have none, nor see the eyelids of the morning, because it did not shut the doors of my mother's womb, nor hide trouble from my eyes. "Why did I not die at birth, come out from the womb and expire? Why did the knees receive me? Or why the breasts, that I should nurse? For then I would have lain down and been quiet; I would have slept; then I would have been at rest, with kings and counselors of the earth who rebuilt ruins for themselves, or with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver. Or why was I not as a hidden stillborn child, as infants who never see the light? There the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary are at rest. There the prisoners are at ease together; they hear not the voice of the taskmaster. The small and the great are there, and the slave is free from his master. "Why is light given to him who is in misery, and life to the bitter in soul, who long for death, but it comes not, and dig for it more than for hidden treasures, who rejoice exceedingly and are glad when they find the grave? Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in? " - Job 3:1-23 ESV

Why? Why? Why?
Why did I not die at birth?
Why did the knees receive me?
Why the breasts that I should nurse?
Why was I not as a hidden stillborn child, as infants who never see the light?
Why is light given to him who is in misery?
Why is life given to the bitter in soul who long for death, but it comes not, and dig for it more than for hidden treasure?
Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in?

Job's plaintive cries echo the ever present cries of countless men, women and children who find no answers to the question of a God who permits suffering, sorrow, anguish and death? Does He get some sort of perverse pleasure from it all? Who can believe in such a God? Who can delight in His presence, promises and purposes?

These are the questions that haunt us like jackals in the wilderness, laughing and salivating in the hideous hope of devouring our souls, sending them carelessly into the fathomless darkness of hades. Do we dare to crawl along this painful journey with this pitiful man? Are there answers, any answers to our dreadful doubts? Do we dare to turn the page?

Listen to Job's wretched cries, for they are our own. . .

For my sighing comes instead of my bread, and my groanings are poured out like water. For the thing that I fear comes upon me, and what I dread befalls me. I am not at ease, nor am I quiet; I have no rest, but trouble comes. - Job 3:24-26 ESV

Job's Losses And His Disease

How swiftly did all of Job's wealth, together with his children, disappear. And yet this great man of faith humbled himself before the LORD.

Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, and there came a messenger to Job and said, "The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, and the Sabeans fell upon them and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you." While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, "The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you." While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, "The Chaldeans formed three groups and made a raid on the camels and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you." While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, "Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, and behold, a great wind came across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people, and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you." Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD." In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong. - Job 1:13-22 ESV

Did you hear what Job said?

"Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return.
The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD."

How easy is it to quote those words, but how incredibly difficult it is to speak them and truly bless the LORD when you hear that your children have all been killed by a tornado and marauders have stolen all of your earthly wealth. But the end of Job's misery is not yet in sight. Again we are taken by revelation to that strange and unearthly scene when Satan again demands the right to test Job's faith.

Then Satan answered the LORD and said, "Skin for skin! All that a man has he will give for his life. But stretch out your hand and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face." - Job 2:4-5 ESV

And again the LORD gives Job over to the hands of the devil with but one proviso: ". . . only spare his life." So Job is smitten with some loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head." And he sat in the ashes while his wife said, "“Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die!”

What was Job's illness? Louis Rushmore writes,

 The Barnes' Commentary likewise presents the likelihood of Job's disease being elephantiasis or black leprosy that was common in Egypt. The description of the symptoms and Job's recourse to attempt some relief lead commentators to suspect Job's disease was black leprosy (to distinguish it from white leprosy). In addition, the definitions of the original language words in Job that are pertinent to the disease describe a burning ulceration that enveloped all of Job's skin. Black leprosy is marked by eruptions in the skin that are first red and later turn black. Especially with the limbs, the skin swells and becomes crusty and irregular, resembling the hide of an elephant, hence the name, elephantiasis. The Jamieson, Fausset and Brown Commentary agrees that Job's illness appears to be black leprosy or elephantiasis, and it also concurs with other reference works that the original language word for "boils" in Job 2:7 is not plural. "Rather, as it is singular in the Hebrew, a burning sore, Job was covered with one universal inflammation." The Keil & Delitzsch Commentary also ascribes elephantiasis to Job, describes the disease and remarks of an Egyptian king who died of the disease. 

Wycliffe summarizes Job's disease:

The mycobacterium leprae causes leprosy

Modern medical opinion is not unanimous in its diagnosis of Job's disease, but according to the prognosis in Job's day, it was apparently hopeless. The horrible symptoms included inflamed eruptions accompanied by intense itching (Job 2:7-8), maggots in ulcers (Job 7:5), erosion of the bones (Job 30:17), blackening and falling off of skin (Job 30:30), and terrifying nightmares (Job 7:14), though some of these may possibly be attributed to the prolonged exposure that followed the onset of the disease. Job's whole body, it seems, was rapidly smitten with the loathsome, painful symptoms.

Leprosy is talked about 68 times in the Bible. Today it is called Hansen's disease and is curable. Early diagnosis and treatment usually prevents disability related to the disease. Infection spreads from person to person by nasal secretions or droplets. It is rarely transmitted from monkeys and nine-banded armadillos.

The Hebrew for leprosy, tsara'ath, included a variety of ailments, most frequently seen in Leviticus, and referred to a number of imperfections and scaly skin diseases. The Greek translation aphe lepras, implied a skin condition that spread over the body. All in all the Biblical words incorporate a collection of modern terms that include Hansen's disease, infectious skin diseases, mold and even mildew.

Biblical leprosy is a powerful symbol reminding us of sin's spread and its horrible consequences. 

The Problem of Pain and Suffering

As a pastor it was often my duty to stand at the bed of a man, a woman and sometimes a child suffering great pain and loss. Some were feeling this pain because of an illness or the death of a loved one, others because of an accident and some because of a foolish mistake or judgment. I remember attending to a physician in the ER. He had been attempting to diagnose his illness and treat himself only to be forced to deal with the fact that a man who tries to be his own physician is an idiot. As a result he was seriously ill and even close to death.

There are many reasons for suffering and pain, but beneath them all are the dark questions: Why? And, Why me? And further, Is God punishing me?

I invite you to join me in these next weeks as we seek answers to these questions by searching God's Word about suffering as it is preserved in the Book of Job. There is an adequate introduction to Job in the Wikipedia article on Job. You may wish to peruse it. We will, however, go beyond what that article says as we walk chapter by chapter through this ancient book.

Leon Bonnat's Job

Who was Job? Some say he was an historical figure. Others say he is a literary fiction created by one of the prophets.  I view Job as an historical figure. This is based upon the fact that the prophet Ezekiel speaks about him.

"Son of man, when a land sins against me by acting faithlessly, and I stretch out my hand against it and break its supply of bread and send famine upon it, and cut off from it man and beast, even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver but their own lives by their righteousness, declares the Lord GOD. - Eze 14:13-14 ESV

"Or if I send a pestilence into that land and pour out my wrath upon it with blood, to cut off from it man and beast, even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live, declares the Lord GOD, they would deliver neither son nor daughter. They would deliver but their own lives by their righteousness. - Eze 14:19-20 ESV

Again James writes about him in the New Testament.

As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful. - Jas 5:10-11 ESV

Ezekiel saw Job as a faithful man of God, equal to Noah who with his family survived the flood and Daniel who survived being thrown into a den of lions. James in turn views the man called Job as an example of patience amidst suffering. He calls him steadfast, a man of perseverance, enduring all his suffering, but never questioning God's purpose for his life. This is the man who has much to teach us all. We will walk with him in the next weeks and invite the Spirit to open our hearts to the lessons of faith that Job has to teach us.

What If God Gives You No Bread?

"Give us this day our daily bread." So you prayed today, fully expecting that God would grant you what you need for today. But . . . what if disaster strikes? What if you suddenly learn that you have cancer or that your mother just died from a heart attack? What if your house burns down after being struck by lightning or is burned up in an unstoppable forest fire? The what ifs can be multiplied.

What then? Can you still pray and give thanks as the Apostle instructed in yesterday's post?

. . . give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. - 1Th 5:18 ESV

In ALL circumstances? How is that possible? Surely Job's wife was correct when she advised,

Job by Leon Bonnat, c. 1860

"Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die." - Job 2:9 ESV 

Mrs. Job spoke with deep irony, for her word for curse is used in most other contexts of the Bible as the word for speaking a blessing, e.g.

And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. ... He also said, "Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem; and let Canaan be his servant. - Gen 9:1, 26 ESV 

Yeah, right. So when God knocks me down and takes it all away, I'm supposed to say thanks and bless Him? You've got to be kidding! You've already damned me, God! You've taken everything precious away and I will not thank you for that.

What's the lesson for us when we're poor, beaten down, filled with fear, loss and sorrow? How can we give thanks in those circumstances? How indeed?

Job's answer to his wife is most instructive.

But he said to her, "You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips. - Job 2:10 ESV

As hard as it may be in that moment, consider again how it is that you even dare to call yourself a child of God. Remember again that you are a member of God's family only by the grace and mercy of God freely displayed in Christ. Remember how you were called to faith, brought out of the certain eternal death we all deserve by the renewing work of the Holy Spirit. Remember that Jesus took you with Him into death and hell and from there to new life. Do not return to that foolishness that says that you deserve to have a perfect and wondrous life in the here and now. Too many name-it-and-claim-it false prophets teach that drivel.

Learn again what Job knew: "Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?"

But why?

Here we turn to Hebrews 12:1-13. Read over carefully the entire chapter several times. Ponder its meaning for you when you face adversity, suffering, sickness and loss. The writer makes several very important points.

• In Christ Jesus we truly are God's children and loved by Him. Already we have eternal life and we shall certainly share with Him in the imminent resurrection and renewal of all things.

• In the meantime we remain in this world, a world filled with dark powers, temptations, idolatry and evil. Our sinful flesh is constantly pulled toward them. 

• We truly need discipline and training in our struggle against sin. Who better to provide such discipline than our heavenly Father? If He were not to discipline us, then we would have to consider ourselves as illegitimate children and not His sons and daughters. 

• As we grow up, we eventually learn to respect our earthly fathers and mothers for their discipline and training. At the time we may not have. It was most painful and not at all pleasant to be denied and forced to do what we did not want to. But later on we learn how important it was that they did care enough to discipline us. 

• So should we not much more be willing to accept the discipline of our Father in heaven, the Father of all those who have gone before us into heaven? 

• Therefore pick up those hands that are clenched or have fallen helplessly at your side. Stop complaining and wobbling on your knees. Stand up, straighten your back. Take a deep breath and let out a prayer of thanks—yes even for this. 

• And then get on with what stands before you. Pull out that noxious "root of bitterness." It is very toxic and can only bring further suffering and sorrow. 

• Before us is the kingdom that cannot be shaken. And beyond this world's dark valley the Father's house awaits. The door is open and your room is already prepared. 

Our Father in heaven . . . give us today our daily bread!

Difficult Times And Church Going

Economics is a huge issue in the current race for the American presidency. Our debts need to be paid and our budget needs to be balanced. However, based on earlier American history, don't expect thousands to rush back to church to pray for wisdom and God's blessings. 

With millions of people out of work and millions others having lost their life savings, one might have predicted (as many at the time did) that there would have been a strong resurgence of the church during the period of the Great Depression in the 1930s. Indeed, after decades of declining church membership and what many perceived to be a general decline in religious piety throughout the country, many clergyman saw the Depression partly as a heavenly response to these developments. 

Moreover, many believed that the suffering masses would quickly rush back into the church, swelling membership rolls, and seeking forgiveness for their folly. Yet while most major denominations did see an average membership gain of about 5% during the thirties this gain fell far short of the clergy's collective hopes. Moreover, contemporary evidence indicates that religious piety among these church members may actually have been on the decline even during this period of crisis. At the same time that popular religion was experiencing a decline, the spread of radio allowed such people as Father Charles Coughlin to achieve nationwide fame.

The Lynds' famous study of "Middletown," the everyman of the small American city, indicated that little had changed in the years between 1925 and 1935, despite the intervening onset of Depression. Middletown is the title of the classic sociological study of a typical middle-American city published in 1929 by Helen and Robert Lynd. The study was based on field research done in Muncie, Indiana, in 1924-1925. A sequel published in 1937, entitled Middletown in Transition, was based on the Lynds' return to Muncie in 1935. Muncie was referred to as Middletown to convey the representativeness of the city and their findings there.

The Middletown studies were influential in identifying and popularizing the idea of America as a consumer culture. By observing the day-to-day life of the city's residents, the Lynds showed how traditional values and customs were changing under the influence of industrialization. They contrasted Middletown in the 1890s and 1920s, portraying the shift from an active, civic-oriented citizenry to one embracing materialistic values. Since work and community life in the 1920s provided fewer satisfactions to Middletowners, they turned to consumerism to fulfill their social needs. Middletown depicted the

dynamic conflict over this change, although most citizens believed it was inevitable and good. The Lynds implicitly criticized this emergent commercialism by successfully combining their moral critique with scientific analysis. The combination gave the study its power and originality.

Middletown in Transition focused on the power relationships in Muncie during the Great Depression. The Lynds showed how the residents were subordinate to both a powerful, local business elite and the national consumer culture. This domination rendered Middletown citizens somewhat impotent, unable to change their society. The solution, the Lynds concluded, was for professional managers to mold social institutions for the greater public good.

In religious matters, the Lynds found that the majority of churchgoers remained middle age women, with few people of either sex under the age of 30. One possible reason for this was the marked decline in piety among the younger generations who felt that religion did not occupy a significant place in their lives. While there was some resurgence of piety among the lower classes (which manifested itself in an increase in the strength of religious fundamentalism during this decade) most middle and upper class individuals remained unmoved even though they too may have suffered from the Depression.

Here is a cover from the New Yorker Magazine of October 13, 1934. This cover plainly represents how the uppper classes during the 1930's continued to pay little attention to religion during this decade. The tip of a hat by the dead rich gentleman being rushed up to heaven shows the only tacit attention which such individuals, often caught up in the business world, paid to matters of religion.

I suspect that the current economic crisis in the USA will have the same non-effect on church going. 

Are You Suffering?

My primary concern these past two weeks has been to lift up the central task of the Christian church, namely the ministry of reconciliation. This is so very important in a world of suffering, sickness and death. Jesus came among us out of deep compassion to  bring healing, power, new life and joy. Listen to James, son of Mary and Joseph, brother to our Lord and witness to His resurrection (Mark 3:21-34; 1 Corinthians 15:7).

"Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. ¹⁴Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. ¹⁶Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working" (James 5:13-16).

In this chapter James constantly reminds us that the Lord Jesus is coming. We who believe in Him are ever aware of His promise to return to complete the great work of salvation and the renewal of all things (Romans 8:18-25). In this interim we must not be surprised at suffering, sickness and sin. Even in the midst of all that, the Lord is present with His great power to heal and restore. He who is coming in power and glory at the end of the age is also present with us even now to heal and save. Let's look closely at what James teaches. 


He addresses those of us who are suffering. Something bad has happened in your lives. Things have not gone as you anticipated. The Apostle Paul wrote of this to Timothy. He said he was in jail and bound by chains, unjustly accused of being a trouble maker (2 Tim. 2:9). As a pastor, I have known of that kind of suffering. People misunderstood what I did. I failed to communicate my intentions. I acted on my own without discussing it with the congregation leaders beforehand. As a consequence, for reasons of their own, even acting out of fear, several of them accused me of false teaching. They began to slander me and gossip in the congregation. They called a secret meeting of like minded leaders to discuss what they might do to stop me from bringing further damage to the congregation. They even sent out letters. When I learned about their clandestine meetings and their slander I was deeply troubled in my heart. Why did they say what they said? Why had no one come directly to me to talk about it? I suffered great pain inwardly. 


James urges such sufferers to pray. Oh I did that. I prayed long and fervently, but the pain did not go away. The suffering intensified. I was no longer cheerful. It was most difficult to sing praise. It was nearly impossible to carry on with my work. I was, as James says, sick! I felt like the poor wretches that lay paralyzed, weak and helpless at the pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem (John 5:1-9). I desperately needed help. Yet I was the pastor of the church, the one James calls an elder (Acts 14:23). Who was I to call out to for help? I had no one. I had no pastor or elder of my own. I recall that during that time I tried to reach out to one of the pastoral leaders of our church body, but he too misunderstood and offered me no help whatsoever. I longed for someone to come to me, to discuss my problem with me, to pray over me and to lay healing hands upon my shoulders in the name of Jesus. But there was no one. 


So I offer to anyone who is suffering, be it from a physical illness or from a weakness and pain of the heart, this wise counsel of James. Do not suffer alone. Please, please reach out to your pastor or to his lay assistants, those we often call in our day the elders. Through them the Lord Jesus will act. He has not forsaken you. He longs to raise you up again and to fill your heart with cheer and hope. He longs to pour the healing power of His Spirit into your heart. All you need to do is ask (Luke 11:1-13). 


More on this another day. 

My Dog Will Be Resurrected Too

I have been thinking about the appointed Old Testament lessons for this second week in the Advent season. In one the prophet Isaiah describes what shall happen when the promised Christ or Messiah comes as a shoot from the apparently dead stump of the family of Jesse, David's father. Using poetic language he writes,

"The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den" (Isaiah 11:6-7). 

Frankly, those images have always disturbed me. They make no sense to me. As much as I like the idea of security and safety for humans and all other creatures, this image of a new creation where bears, wolves, leopards and lions eat grass and straw just blows my mind. How can a bear be a bear and a lion be a lion by turning into a herbivore? They're not built that way. Their whole bodily systems demand other kinds of food. Is the prophet, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, telling me that the entire food chain will be destroyed? It does not make sense to me, based upon what I see around me in the current way the natural world operates.

Is my problem of interpretation unique? And am I pushing language too far, trying to make poetry become literal prose? Perhaps I should simply accept the prophet's language as his inspired image of tranquility and peace in all of God's creation.

My problem is, in fact, not unique at all. C.S. Lewis struggled with the idea of cutting live animals open to study them. In an essay on vivisection he wrote that performing operations on live animals for scientific experiments, particularly when done on the higher animals who have consciousness, i.e. dogs, was completely unjustified.  In his small book "The Problem of Pain" he explored the theology behind his views. He insisted that higher animals are sentient and the idea of animals preying on other animals, especially where their prey is sentient, is contrary to the Creator's original plan for natural things. In that he agrees with Isaiah's vision that in the renewed creation such animals will no longer choose one another for food. They will be content to live of off lower forms of life that are not sentient, incapable of suffering and pain. One can see how he envisioned this future by reading about how he treats sentient and talking animals in his fantasy series, "The Chronicles of Narnia".

Several such animals have been part of our family's life. We name them, take photos of them and live with them for many years. Currently Wee-Z Zacchaeus So-cute  (his full name), a Pekingese-Poodle crossbreed, is a very intimate part of our life. I am inclined to believe that he and Pepper, a Schnauzer-Poodle mix who lived with us for over 18 years before passing away, will be resurrected with us in eternity. I base this conclusion upon the promise that our Lord will one day put all things right and things would not be proper and right without our beloved animals (Romans 8:16-25). They know us and talk with us. We communicate, laugh, play, travel, sleep—and suffer with them and they with us. Eternity will not be eternity without them. And yet I note that dogs, like their ancestral wolves, are apparently natural predators who prefer to eat meat.

Obviously this discussion could get us deep into another related one about scientific experiments with DNA marketing, cross-breeding, cloning, etc., but I'm not going there today. I'm simply wondering what Isaiah was revealing about the wonder that awaits us in the new creation.

Rebuilding Our Lives On A Firm Foundation

I woke up this morning to a confusing jumble of thoughts bouncing around inside my head. I thought about the many people I encountered yesterday, person to person, by telephone or in my correspondence. They live in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Arizona, Texas and Michigan. Some grew up in Germany, Great Britain or Australia or here in the States. They're men, women, young and old, a rather mixed bunch, with a wide variety of experiences and problems in their personal and family lives.

As I thought about—and prayed about—them, I started to think again about the sermon I'm preparing for the small congregation I began to serve last Sunday. My sermon will be based upon the report in Luke's Gospel about Jesus's early ministry. Right off the bat he encountered a man who had an evil spirit and then Simon Peter's mother-in-law with a high fever (Luke 4:31-44). Jesus commanded the demon to come out of the poor man and healed Mrs. Simon's Momma. The people, Luke writes, didn't know what to say, they were all so amazed.

Then I started to think about the way Luke and the New Testament writers thought about the world and how different it is today. It seems that most people believed in demons and that these spirits could get inside you. That explained the crazy talk and actions of some.

Today we're inclined to say those folks lived in what we so pompously call a pre-scientific era. In other words, they just didn't know better.

Of course, we do. We aren't so primitive. We do know better. All the crazy talk, the horrible things people do to one another, the murders, rapes, cheating, lying, irrational beatings, drunkenness and a thousand other things can be explained scientifically. We would never resort to such talk as Dr. Luke, about people having demons inside them—even though that might sound like the best explanation at times.

Maybe you think this way. Maybe you don't. Maybe you are mixed up inside, with a worldview that includes demons and some so-called unscientific thinking. Whatever. What I do know is that the world we live in and the millions of us who occupy it run into some crazy stuff and some very troubled folks every day. And if you're like me at the beginning of yet another, you'd really like to get rid of the confusion, the pain and suffering, war, killing, disasters, hunger, sickness and all that other rubble that keeps piling up. Please Lord, give me one quiet, peaceful, happy day without all this mess.

Wouldn't it be nice if we could take some kind of bull dozer and push it all into a huge hole some place, cover it up, smooth it out and start the world all over again, like the wretched folks down in Haiti are trying to do? Is that possible? Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could finally get a life and keep it that way forever?

The Apostle Paul says the reconstruction process has already started, at least in a few people's lives. He claims to be a master builder, helping people to rebuild their lives on a foundation already laid. What he says is worth thinking about.

"By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light" (read the rest of what he says in 1 Corinthians 3:10-23).

And do have a great day!

Lord, Come Down

If you're anything like me—and I believe you are—you get awfully tired of reading about the problems, suffering, war and death in our world. Today's news is but another part of the same litany: four policemen shot dead and we still don't know who did it; scientists lied and manipulated data about climate change; Iran still threatens to build nuclear weapons. 


And so it goes, on and on, like it always has. Think about the past century. How many non-combatants were killed? Piero Scaruffi estimates 160 million died in wars and genocide during the past 100 years! Mao Ze-Dong led in the slaughter of as many as 78 million in China and Tibet. Josef Stalin purged and starved 23 million in Russia and the Ukraine. Hitler's Nazis killed an estimated 12 million. 5 million Japanese civilians died during the reign of Hideki Tojo. I cannot go further. The numbers overwhelm me and I've not spoken of the tens of millions whose lives were shattered, but did not die. 


So I am tempted to pray the prayer of Isaiah 64:1-3 and ask the Lord God to come down in majesty and power. Lord, make the mountains tremble and quake at your presence. Be like fire that burns the underbrush of forests and makes water to boil. Let everyone on earth know that you are here and they had better shape up. Do what you once did when ancient Israel gathered before Mount Sinai and trembled at your power and majesty (Exodus 19:16-20). Then people will repent and turn away from their rebellion and sin. Then they will fall down before you and worship you. 


But not so, says the Lord. Fear, terror, suffering, death and damnation do not produce repentance and faith. Such things lead only to further hatred, idolatry, despair, revenge and rebellion. Did not ancient Israel see my majesty and glory only to turn away from me again and again in unbelief? Did all of Nazi Germany and Tojo's Japan turn away from their false gods after the defeat of World War II?

How then should the Lord come? We know the answer. We celebrate it throughout this season. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14).


His glory is that he came to bear our pain, our suffering and our death. Because of his coming we have hope for the future, both in this life and in that to come.