Righteous Suffering

Readings for the day: Job 33, 34, 35, 36

 “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter‬ ‭1:6-7‬)

 “For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” (Hebrews‬ ‭12:10-11‬)

 “For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.” (2 Corinthians‬ ‭1:8-9‬)

There is such a thing as righteous suffering. Redemptive suffering. Suffering with a purpose. We may not always see that purpose and, in fact, it is often only revealed upon reflection after the fact.  But that doesn’t mean all suffering is meaningless. Or all suffering is bad. Or all suffering is to be avoided. Clearly, the first century believers suffered. 10 of the 12 Apostles would be tortured and executed in excrutiating ways for their faith. (Judas committed suicide and John, though he suffered, died of old age.) Throughout the first three centuries of the church’s existence, Christians were burned as torches in Nero’s garden. Thrown to the lions for sport in the arena. In certain regions of the Empire, they were systematically rounded up and killed. This was not only true back then but remains true in certain places around the world today. According to Christianity Today, it is estimated that over 70 million Christians have been martyred since the time of Jesus. They suffered and died in places all over the earth. Ottomon Turkey. Nazi Germany. Soviet Russia. Communist China and North Korea. Uganda. Sudan. Mexico. Columbia. And the suffering continues. I have seen it firsthand in Ethiopia and have spoken to eye witnesses in South Sudan, Djibouti, and Somalia. 

The introduction of Elihu to the narrative represents a turning point in Job. At first glance, Elihu just seems to be piling on. Repeating the same tired arguments of Job’s friends. But a careful reading of the text reveals a significant shift. Elihu bursts on the scene declaring his anger at both Job and his three friends. (Job 32:1-5) He believes he has something new to offer that has not yet been said. So what is it that Elihu brings to the table? It is the idea that God does allow the righteous to suffer in order to purify and to save. Perhaps the key passage is Job 33:12-30...

 “Behold, in this you are not right. I will answer you, for God is greater than man. Why do you contend against him, saying, 'He will answer none of man's words'? For God speaks in one way, and in two, though man does not perceive it. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men, while they slumber on their beds, then he opens the ears of men and terrifies them with warnings...Remember, they had no Bible. No written records. So the Word of God would come to them in visions and dreams. Why? To punish? To judge? To wound? To destroy? No...So that God may turn man aside from his deed and conceal pride from a man; he keeps back his soul from the pit, his life from perishing by the sword. This is deeply significant as it adds a new layer of meaning to the story. God does allow suffering but it’s for our good. He uses suffering to purge the pride from us. The pride - as I said yesterday - Job himself suffers from. Yes, Job is a righteous man. Yes, Job is a blameless man. But Job is also a sinful man. Though he has a heart after God, he is not perfect and God will use his suffering (as we will see at the end of the book) to cleanse the depths of Job’s heart. 

God not only warns us in dreams and visions and through His Word, he also uses our physical pain for our good and for His glory. "Man is also rebuked with pain on his bed and with continual strife in his bones, so that his life loathes bread, and his appetite the choicest food. His flesh is so wasted away that it cannot be seen, and his bones that were not seen stick out. His soul draws near the pit, and his life to those who bring death.” If we follow the logic of Job’s friends - whom Elihu rebukes strongly - we would conclude that those who suffer deserve it. They should go down to death. But that’s not where Elihu lands. His God is not a harsh judge but a faithful, loving Father who delivers His children ultimately from their pain and suffering. “If there be for him an angel, a mediator, one of the thousand, to declare to man what is right for him, and he is merciful to him, and says, 'Deliver him from going down into the pit; I have found a ransom; let his flesh become fresh with youth; let him return to the days of his youthful vigor'; then man prays to God, and he accepts him; he sees his face with a shout of joy, and he restores to man his righteousness. He sings before men and says: 'I sinned and perverted what was right, and it was not repaid to me. He has redeemed my soul from going down into the pit, and my life shall look upon the light.' "Behold, God does all these things, twice, three times, with a man, to bring back his soul from the pit, that he may be lighted with the light of life.” The key phrase being that last sentence. It is God who does all these things for man in order to bring his soul back from the pit, lighted with the light of life. 

This understanding squares with what Christians have said throughout the centuries. Martyrs facing their death without fear. Those who suffer enduring for the sake of something greater.  They understand God is at work even in the middle of their pain. Not only bringing about His will and His glory but also continuing to sanctify and purify even their own hearts in the midst of it all. The reality is Job needs to be humbled and indeed will be humbled before the Lord of Hosts. This is one of the most important lessons from the Book of Job for all of us.  

More true than we know...

Readings for the day: Job 29, 30, 31, 32

Charles Spurgeon once wrote, “If any man thinks ill of you, do not be angry with him, for you are worse than he thinks you to be.” I remember running across this quote when life was at its darkest and I was struggling to understand what had happened. The people I worked for lacked integrity. They treated me poorly. They were purposefully deceitful and evasive and lacked transparency. Furthermore, one of them made it his mission in life to not only undermine the work I was doing but took every chance he could to speak ill of me. Accuse me. Spread false rumors about me. It was brutal. And then I read these words from Spurgeon and I realized that as badly as I was being treated, I deserved far worse. All of the things I was being accused of WERE actually happening in my heart. I was angry. I was frustrated. I was prideful and arrogant. I harbored resentment and bitterness. I refused to forgive and extend grace. When it hit me that I was all these things and more, I almost laughed out loud. It dawned on me that all my pent up emotions and feelings were just a cover for my own insecurity and fear. And once I confessed those insecurities and fears to God, I was set free. Free from the need to justify myself. Free from the need to be right. Free from the need to see justice done. Free from the need to please them and gain their approval. It was a life-changing experience for me. 

Job’s friends are an easy target in this book. Their theological purity brings little comfort to their suffering friend. Furthemore, their beliefs are far too simplistic for we all know the righteous are not always rewarded nor are the wicked always punished. Therefore, their attacks on Job are without warrant. Having said that...here’s a mind-bender for you...Job actually believes the same way they do! Listen to what he says,  “I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; my justice was like a robe and a turban. I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame. I was a father to the needy, and I searched out the cause of him whom I did not know. I broke the fangs of the unrighteous and made him drop his prey from his teeth.” (Job‬ ‭29:14-17‬) The reality is Job believes his cause is 100% just. He believes he’s done nothing to deserve his fate. Because he is a righteous man, he cannot imagine why God would allow these things to happen to him. “God has cast me into the mire, and I have become like dust and ashes. I cry to you for help and you do not answer me; I stand, and you only look at me. You have turned cruel to me; with the might of your hand you persecute me. You lift me up on the wind; you make me ride on it, and you toss me about in the roar of the storm. For I know that you will bring me to death and to the house appointed for all living.” (Job‬ ‭30:19-23‬) Essentially Job is making the same argument his friends have made throughout the book. Why does God not reward the righteous (in this case, Job himself) and punish the wicked? Job clearly believes He should. Clearly is angry with God that He doesn’t. Job has held fast to his integrity. He has not committed any sin worthy of his suffering. He even goes as far as recounting all his righteous deeds in chapter 31. Making his closing argument before God. 

As readers, I am sure we all find ourselves in agreement. We take Job’s side. We’re convinced. But then...if we’re careful to listen...we hear the soft whisper of Satan’s initial question. “Does Job fear God for no reason?” The honest truth is Job does expect something from God. He expects an answer. He expects a justifiable reason for his suffering. His expectations have not been met. Job believes he’s kept his end of the deal so it must be God who has failed. (A notion God Himself will correct in just a few chapters...)

So let me put the question to all of us...do we fear God for no reason? Asked another way, why do we love God? Is it for the eschatological goodies? A guaranteed pass to heaven? Health? Wealth? Blessings in this life and the next? Or is God enough? Do we love God simply because He’s God? If there were no eternal rewards. If there were no promises. If God never gave us a single thing, would He be worthy of our love and devotion? 

Insulation

Readings for the day: Job 25, 26, 27, 28

Three years ago, we built a home. Got to see it take shape from the ground up. Walked through it at every stage. Spent time going over all the details with the general contractor. Among the more significant was the insulation. How much? Where would it go? What was the rating? Insulation provides a protective barrier around the home. Keeps the utility bills low. Saves energy. Keeps the home comfortable.  

As a Christian living in 21st America, I am “insulated” from so much that goes on in the world. My government is stable and has a history of peaceful transfers of power. My community is protected by faithful men and women who serve on the police force and in fire departments. I have access to the best medical care in the world.  My household income places me in the top .06% of the world’s wealthiest people. As such, I can buy what I need when I need it.  I live in a warm home in the winter, a cool home in the summer. My children go to great schools where they are taught by some of the best teachers around. College is not just a pipe dream but an expectation for them. Because of the color of my skin, I have never had to face racism either on a personal or systemic level. I have never been held back because of my gender. My sexual orientation places me in no danger.  All these advantages create “layers of insulation” that have afforded me a pretty safe and comfortable, dare I say even idyllic, life. 

They also create “cultural distance” between myself and those who have had a much different experience in life. This includes many of my African-American and Hispanic brothers and sisters. Many of my female colleagues in ministry. Many of my LGBTQ friends. It includes my brothers and sisters living in Ethiopia, South Sudan, Uganda, Djibouti, and Somalia. And it most certainly includes a man named Job who lived in the land of Uz during the time of the patriarchs of the Bible.  One of the more difficult challenges when it comes to interpretation is recognizing the “cultural distance” between us and the men and women of Scripture. Job lived at a time when there was no democracy. No rule of law. No peaceful transitions of power. Job lived in an age where pain and suffering was common. There were no police, no firefighters, no first responders. Healthcare was non-existent. Disease, famine, pestilence, drought happened all too often. Job lived at a time where families and clans and tribes lived in an almost constant state of war. Women and children were raped and murdered. The wealthiest were often the most envied and most targeted. And there was no guarantees beyond what you could guard and protect through your own strength. As such, when we read about the Sabeans raiding and killing all of Job’s oxen and donkeys. When we read about a firestorm from heaven that kills all Job’s sheep and servants. When we read about the Chaldeans raiding his camels or hurricane force winds collapsing a home on Job’s children, we cannot imagine what that must feel like. Because we are largely insulated from such tragedies. But Job is not. His friends are not. They live in a world where these things happen with some degree of regularity. 

And yet Job believes. He holds fast to his faith. The language he uses to describe God in chapter 26 is some of the most beautiful and stirring in all of Scripture. “Sheol is naked before God, and Abaddon has no covering. He stretches out the north over the void and hangs the earth on nothing...He has inscribed a circle on the face of the waters at the boundary between light and darkness...Behold, these are but the outskirts of his ways...” (Job‬ ‭26:6-7, 10, 14‬) And I love how he describes his search for wisdom in chapter 28. “But where shall wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding? Man does not know its worth, and it is not found in the land of the living. The deep says, 'It is not in me,' and the sea says, 'It is not with me.' It cannot be bought for gold, and silver cannot be weighed as its price...Gold and glass cannot equal it, nor can it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold...From where, then, does wisdom come? And where is the place of understanding?...Abaddon and Death say, 'We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.'” (Job 28: 12-15, 17, 22)

In the face of all Job has suffered, he still trusts in God. One of the great truths I have discovered as I travel and teach all over the world is that “insulation” is a faith-killer. The more layers, the more we struggle to believe. The more we have, the harder it is for us to trust in God. The more safe and comfortable we are, the less resilient our faith. The book of Job describes in vivid detail what happens when all the layers are peeled back. Everything we have is stripped away. All we hold dear is lost. In that moment, will we cling to faith? Will we walk the path of wisdom that God lays out for us? “God understands the way to wisdom, and he knows its place...And he said to man, 'Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.'” (Job 28:23, 28)

Doubling Down

Readings for the day: Job 22, 23, 24

I remember vividly the last time I gambled at a casino. It was in the late nineties before I became a pastor. I was on a business trip to Las Vegas and a friend of mine and I decided to play craps. We had a good night. When it came time for me to roll, I hit a hot streak. Rolled for almost an hour without hitting a seven. It was crazy. People were cheering. Money was being made hand over fist. Frankly, I’ve never experienced anything quite like it. In the middle of all the chaos, a homeless man shuffled in. The lines in his face told the story of a hard life on the streets. He hadn’t showered in days. His teeth were almost gone. His eyes were blurry and unfocused. He held a crumpled up $20 bill he’d found in the gutter somewhere. He threw it down on the table. I promptly rolled a seven. The board cleared. The run was over. Everyone turned on this man. They cursed him. They jeered him. He just turned and shuffled away, never saying a word.  

I sometimes think about that man when I pray. I wonder where he is? Where life took him? If he ever got any help or if he just continued to barely survive on the streets?  Doubling down each chance he got when someone gave him some money? I think about my own life. In so many ways, I am just like him. Doubling down on my own sin in my own heart rather than humbly submitting to God. As I read Eliphaz’s words this morning, I can feel his frustration boiling over.  The general theological principle he’s held to his entire life - the righteous prosper, the unrighteous are punished - has failed him.  But rather than humbly recognizing the failure and taking a step back, he doubles down. He attacks his dear friend Job. He accuses him of crimes against God.  “Is not your evil abundant? There is no end to your iniquities.” (Job 22:5) You have robbed your brothers. You have stripped the naked. You have withheld water from the thirsty. You have not fed the hungry. You have treated widows and orphans (the true measure of pure and undefined religious devotion according to James 1:27) with disdain. Over and over again, he verbally assaults his friend. (Someone asked earlier why Satan is not more visible in this story? We hear him very clearly here in Eliphaz’s words. The word satan means “accuser.”)

How does Job respond? He doubles down on God.  “Oh, that I knew where I might find him, that I might come even to his seat! I would lay my case before him and fill my mouth with arguments. I would know what he would answer me and understand what he would say to me. Would he contend with me in the greatness of his power? No; he would pay attention to me. There an upright man could argue with him, and I would be acquitted forever by my judge.” (Job 23:3-7) Job is confident in God’s justice and righteousness.  Confident God will hear his prayers. Confident God would pay attention to him, unlike his friends who seem so bent on contending with him. 

The problem, of course, is Job can’t seem to find God in the midst of his suffering and pain. Though he’s assailed the heavens, they seem shut up. Though he’s cried out, all he’s received so far is deafening silence. Job has done his best but to no avail. “Behold, I go forward, but he is not there, and backward, but I do not perceive him; on the left hand when he is working, I do not behold him; he turns to the right hand, but I do not see him.”  However, he does not despair. Why? Because he trusts God. “He (God) knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold.” (Job‬ ‭23:10‬) Though Job can’t seem to find the way to God, God knows the way to him. And at the end of all the trials and all the trauma, Job is confident God will make things right. Job is confident he will emerge better than before. Refined. Purified. Sanctified as God separates the gold from the dross in his life. 

Admittedly, I am partial to these verses. When things have been at their darkest in my own life. When I’ve struggled with uncertainty and doubt and fear.  When the trials I’ve faced have taken me to the end of myself. The end of my resources. The end of my plans. Job 23:10 has been my comfort and my hope.  I know what it’s like to double down on sin. I know what it’s like to double down on self-destruction. I know what it’s like to double down in my pride and arrogance. And in those moments, God has broken me utterly and completely. Humbled me in so many ways. He has laid me low to teach me about His sufficiency and grace. He has used the trials of my life to refine me. Purify me. Sanctify me. And His work is not done.  Not until I reach glory. 

Relentless

Readings for the day: Job 14, 15, 16, 17

“Pain won’t kill you.” Miss Annie shared those words with me when I first visited her. She was 95 and living at home by herself. I was all of 29 years old and a freshly minted pastor just out of seminary. As I listened to her story, my heart just broke.  She had been battling a host of diseases for decades. She had fought off various cancers. She could barely walk due to her COPD. She had a degenerative back condition that left her in excruciating pain. She was also one of the meanest, nastiest people you will ever meet. She treated the home health nurses that cared for her terribly. Constantly cussing them out and calling them names. She did the same to her family to the point where they hated coming around. I visited her about once a month to serve her communion since she was one of our homebound members.  A lot of the time, I left without serving her the elements because she refused to confess her sins before the Lord and I refused to make a mockery of the sacrament. During those times, she would cuss me out as I headed out the door.  But she always welcomed me back the next month and along the way there would be these breakthroughs.  Moments of grace where a window would open into her soul. She would weep. She would confess. She would repent. Those were sacred moments where God’s Spirit rushed in. 

The pain Job feels is relentless. It is ruthless. It is excruciating. With no end in sight. He longs for death. Longs for the release of the grave. (I cannot tell you how many times I prayed with Miss Annie for the Lord to take her as she slept. This was her most heartfelt prayer request.) The way Job describes his experience is almost painful in itself. “But the mountain falls and crumbles away, and the rock is removed from its place; the waters wear away the stones; the torrents wash away the soil of the earth; so you destroy the hope of man...He feels only the pain of his own body, and he mourns only for himself." (Job‬ ‭14:18-19, 22‬) 

“Surely now God has worn me out; he has made desolate all my company. And he has shriveled me up, which is a witness against me, and my leanness has risen up against me; it testifies to my face. He has torn me in his wrath and hated me; he has gnashed his teeth at me; my adversary sharpens his eyes against me...I was at ease, and he broke me apart; he seized me by the neck and dashed me to pieces; he set me up as his target; his archers surround me. He slashes open my kidneys and does not spare; he pours out my gall on the ground. He breaks me with breach upon breach; he runs upon me like a warrior.” (Job‬ ‭16:7-9, 12-14‬)

“My spirit is broken; my days are extinct; the graveyard is ready for me.” (Job‬ ‭17:1‬)

Job’s pain is an endless cataract, cascading down on his body, mind, and soul. There is never an end to it. It is so terrible and horrifying, I’m sure it made Eliphaz want to squeeze shut his eyes and close his ears. He simply cannot handle what he’s seeing and hearing. So he opens his mouth again and this time one can hear his frustration.  “But you are doing away with the fear of God and hindering meditation before God...Your own mouth condemns you, and not I; your own lips testify against you...Why does your heart carry you away, and why do your eyes flash, that you turn your spirit against God and bring such words out of your mouth?” (Job‬ ‭15:4, 6, 12-13‬) I cannot tell you the number of times I got frustrated listening to Miss Annie. Over and over again, I felt compelled to rebuke her. Correct her. Challenge her. Her racist rants were offensive. The way she spoke of her kids disrespectful. Even the way she talked about God made me angry. I cannot tell you the number of times I threw up my hands and walked away. And yet, God’s Spirit kept bringing me back. Forcing me to walk into her living room where she lay in her hospital bed and engage her once again.

The great C.S. Lewis once said, “Pain insists on being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains. It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” The reality is God was trying to “rouse” Miss Annie. In the midst of her suffering, He reached out for her over and over again. His love never wavered. His faithfulness never failed. His grace never reached its limit. As dark as things have gotten for Job - and they will get darker still before the dawn - God is present. Always there. Hovering in the background for now but by the end of the book, manifesting Himself in all His glory. And for centuries, He has used Job’s pain as a megaphone to rouse our deaf and dying world. 

Judah and Tamar

Readings for the day: Genesis 38, 39, 40

Today’s readings include all kinds of material that can often seem confusing to our 21st century ears so we’ll save Joseph’s story for tomorrow.

The story of Judah and Tamar seemingly comes out of nowhere. It’s almost an interruption in the much larger story of Joseph.  And yet, it is critical for our understanding of the saving purposes of God. In the first chapter of Matthew’s Gospel, Judah and Tamar are both mentioned and Matthew knows his audience will immediately call to mind this story from Genesis. Women, by the way, are almost never included in any genealogy but Matthew makes sure we know the names of Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba. That’s prostitute, prostitute, Moabite, and adulteress for those scoring at home.  The point Matthew is making is that even the family tree of Jesus is not free from scandal and sin! 

All kinds of important questions are raised by this text. Why does God kill Er and Onan for seemingly minor offenses?  Why is Judah engaging the services of cult prostitutes? Is this his regular practice after his wife dies? And why is the penalty for adultery so harsh for Tamar? Burning at the stake? What is God up to here? 

After the incident with Joseph where Judah sells his own brother into slavery, he leaves his family.  Perhaps out of guilt over what he has done. Perhaps just to get away from the family dysfunction. We aren’t given a reason. He marries outside his clan and his wife bears him three sons. Er, his oldest, is so wicked that the Lord puts him to death. Again, no reason is given. It is simply something we have to accept. In the ancient near east, brothers were required to take their widowed sister-in-laws into their home with the hope they could get them pregnant and thereby continue the family line. Onan is fully aware of this custom but apparently only uses Tamar for his own personal sexual gratification while refusing to fulfill his filial responsibility. And the Lord puts him to death for his offense. This rightfully frightens Judah. He’s not about to lose his third son as this will put his own family’s future at risk so he sends Tamar home to her own family and asks her to wait until Shelah comes of age.  

Then the subject of the passage shifts. Tamar is now the primary actor. She also is frightened for her future. She’s been married twice. Her reputation is in tatters as both men have died. She’s been sexually abused by at least one husband. And she knows by now that Judah has no intention of fulfilling his promise. So she dresses herself as a cult prostitute, complete with a veil so he won’t recognize her.  She knows his wife has died. Perhaps she even knows Judah visits prostitutes with regularity although the text doesn’t indicate as such. And she places herself in prime position to meet him along the way. Judah takes the bait and Tamar is crafty enough to ask for his signet, cord, and staff, all of which clearly identify him to the community. Then she returns home.  Three months later, she starts showing. And even though she’s living in her father’s home, she is technically Judah’s responsibility. He brings her out to be burned at the stake and that’s when the other shoe drops. 

So what is God up to here? Over and over again, this family He has chosen puts their promised future at risk. The scheming and lies of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  The barrenness of Sarah, Rebekah, and Rachel. And now Judah’s failings as a father-in-law. It always seems like the salvation plan of God is teetering on the edge of collapse. And yet God remains faithful! He continually bends the arc of human sin towards His purposes! 

What about your life? Where have you sinned and fallen short? Where have you failed and lost sight of God’s promises? Where have you seen God bend even your failings towards His purposes?  Where have you seen God use all things for your good?