Good morning and blessings from our God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has gathered us together again this morning to feed us through His Word and sacrament.
Our first and second readings today focus us on the main reason that we are gathered here this morning…Faith. We are Christians because we believe in God, an all knowing, all mighty and at the same time a loving, caring God.
However, wherever we turn in our world today, there is pain and suffering, war, hunger, disease, hatred, abuse, murder, corruption, exploitation,…name it, it is present in the world. The question then becomes: Why would the God who created us and who supposedly loves us allow so much suffering as we witness in the world today?
Thankfully, the Bible does not shy away from the tough questions about suffering. One of the oldest stories in recorded history about suffering occupies a place in the Bible. In this story a righteous man named Job undergoes so much suffering. However, the way he dealt with his suffering has for centuries been a source of strength and encouragement for those who search the Bible for answers. Job responded to his suffering with great faith. In fact his story and his response leaves me as a person with a very nagging question…How do I respond, and how will I respond when my world caves in? Will I dare choose faith?
Choosing faith doesn’t mean that the battle with suffering will automatically be over. In most cases, the biggest battle comes after the initial storm has passed.
Choosing faith in the midst of suffering does not eliminate pain…Job was nearly crushed by the pain of his suffering. He tore his clothes, shaved his head and fell on ashes when he learnt that all his children were dead. This pain was psychological and for those of us who have ever struggled or do struggle with depression, we know that psychological pain is most times worse than being stabbed with a thousand knives. His psychological pain was followed or supplemented by physical pain from his ailments. Yet, in the midst of such pain and heartache, Job never faltered. Why did Job choose such great faith despite the pain? It is because he had taken the risk of loving God and so even when to other human beings what he was going through would overwhelm them with grief, which is the alternative to faith, Job would simply not take that alternative to faith.
Job’s story also clearly shows that choosing faith in the midst of suffering will not create a logical reason for suffering. To begin with, the book of Job starts with one of the most unusual and illogical scenes in the Bible. God entertains an audience with Satan, not once but several times, and their subject of conversation is on this holy and flawless person and how he might be tortured as a contest between these two ‘superpowers’ to each prove a point. God takes a seat to watch as pain and more pain is inflicted on an innocent great man! I personally don’t like this story at all and I am sure most people don’t. I hate imagining God having a conversation with the enemy, I don’t like God watching from the sidelines, I don’t enjoy the aftermath of the devil’s field day and cunning! Nothing in this story really makes sense and is not even remotely satisfying!
However that is what the point for this story is. That suffering does not make sense. As human-beings, we expect a picture perfect life for ourselves if not for everybody but our expectations of such a life soon collide with reality. We encounter suffering accompanied by grief, hardships, misfortunes, illnesses, crisis after crisis, tragedy and much more. Suffering like death pays no attention to one’s status, race, gender, nationality or the size of one’s bank account or estate.
However in the midst of such hardship, faith is still an option even if it seems illogical, stupid, insane and foolish to choose faith. Job is presented to us as an example of a person who is capable of great faith in the midst of great suffering.
A lot of things about faith really don’t make sense to those outside the circle of faith, even to some within it. However God works His greatest triumph through what appears to be the greatest loss or hopelessness.
Choosing faith in the midst of suffering teaches us that God is in control. Our choice doesn’t put God in control but reminds us of a fact that is, and has always been, and will always be. Even when it seems to me and others in the case of Job that God was tricked by Satan, at no time was God out of control. God weighed the options carefully and made a choice for the good of Job and all of us who will learn from Job’s example.
We too have a choice. We can choose to concentrate on our pain and reject the God who allows suffering as many do. On the other hand we can choose to trust The One who remains in control above all evil and all suffering. Though suffering doesn’t make sense and faith in the midst of great suffering seems to make even less sense, placing ourselves in the hands of God is the only ultimate course of action to take. This thought is reinforced towards the end of our gospel passage this morning where Jesus affirms the powerlessness, dependence and vulnerability of children as a symbol of greatness in the kingdom and as a way of entering the same kingdom.
In the second reading that we heard this morning from the letter to the Hebrews, Jesus who is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being and who sustains all things provides us with an example of faith, perseverance and obedience and hence is our all sufficient Savior. He was subjected to suffering and death so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. Hebrews 2:10 tells us that it was fitting that God for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory made the pioneer of their salvation perfect through suffering. If we therefore shun suffering or avoid it, we are avoiding being perfected. I am not in anyway trying to glorify suffering. All that the word of God is telling us this morning is that suffering is real and unavoidable but at the same time it can be an occasion for growth, purification and perfection.
When we encounter suffering, we may be tempted to ask where God is, feel abandoned by God or even doubt about His love and ability if not His existence. A song known as “God on the Mountain” that is sang by an African American musician called Lynda Randall reminds us that God is God and remains God despite our changing circumstances; He is the only constant, and is with us in, and leads us through our circumstances. Let us affirm our faith in Him as we listen and meditate on the words of the song…
Life is easy when you’re up on the mountain
You got peace of mind like you’ve never known
But things change when you’re down in the valley
Don’t lose faith for you’re never alone
For the God on the mountain is still God in the valley
When things go wrong He’ll make them right
And the God of the good times is still God in the bad times
The God of the day is still God in the night
You talk of faith when you’re up on the mountain
But talk comes so easy when life’s at its best
Now it’s down in the valley of trials and temptations
That’s when your faith is really put to the test
For the God on the mountain is still God in the valley
When things go wrong He’ll make them right
And the God of the good times is still God in the bad times
The God of the day is still God in the night
Welcome back Br Luc…I trust your visa processes will unfold without too much frustration. Thank you for your encouragement as we all, in some way, abide in the not knowing how He will make things right but live our lives in expectation of it being so – as best we can anyway:).