(Job 32; Matthew 9:14-17) – J G White

11 am, Sun, Jan 26, 2020 – UBC Digby

You know that feeling of being ‘ready to burst’ with something to say? 

Here is a photo from about ten years ago. Sharon was happily doing a little plumbing repair at our home in Falmouth, when her phone rang. Does it look like it was good news? Yes. Her daughter, Teanna, was calling to say that her boyfriend, Sherwin, had finally ‘popped the question;’ and she said, ‘Yes,’ of course. 

Here is a photo from almost three years ago that reminds me of another time my step-daughter was bursting with something to say. Yes, it was her son’s fourth birthday. He was supposed to be having a big party, of course, but a day or so before, plans changed. His mother, Teanna, called on Friday to say there was a problem with her pregnancy, 27 weeks on, and they had to rush to the IWK. On Dryden’s fourth birthday that little sister had to come out, at one pound, three ounces! Here they are today, doing quite well, thanks be to God!

People are often bursting at the seams to say something. Not just personal news. We read lots on social media, and other media – TV, Radio, News, etc. People are always rushing in to set the record straight.

Today, in scripture, we heard about a young fellow in the Ancient Near East named Elihu. He was bursting with words, with opinions, with anger.

It’s the time of a man of faith named Job, who had lost everything. Family, wealth, physical health. And three of his friends had just had long conversations with him about what must have gone wrong.

Then this fourth visitor appears on the scene. He is just bursting with things to say. In the first few sentences that introduce Elihu, his anger is mentioned four times! He became angry. He was angry at Job who justified himself, not God. He was angry at Job’s three friends who could not come up with good answers for how Job was in the wrong. We are told again that Elihu was angry with the three for their lack of answers to the suffering of Job.

Once he gets talking, Elihu mentions three times he is going to ‘declare his opinion.’ (32: 6, 10, 17) 

Opinions run rampant, a lot of the time. If we are not giving our own opinion, we are hearing the opinions of others. Here’s my cousin, Robbie, years ago, wearing a T-shirt that says: “If I want your opinion, I’ll give it to you!” I’ll let you know Robbie is not as opinionated as his T-shirt was.

But we do meet people like this. Some people are ‘ready to burst’ with anger. Some are ready to burst with their opinions. Some are simply ready to burst with words, words, lots of words. Sometimes we resemble one of these people. 

Having plenty of words can be a way of not saying much at all. And of not speaking the truth. This is a critique of politicians at every level, I suppose. I have mentioned before a remarkable little interview I heard on the radio last summer. It was a municipal counselor from the Cape Breton Regional Municipality being questioned, as I recall. And what was amazing about this? Every time she was asked a question, the first word she said was either “Yes” or “No”, and then she gave an explanation. So many questions that get asked usually get answered with a long explanation, and by the end, the public servant has not given a real answer. This was exceptional.

Elihu, here in Job chapters 32-37, has been criticized for being quite wordy. Hey, he takes about twenty verses just to say, “Look out, I’m going to speak now!” We will hear some of his words, over the next few weeks, which are here in God’s Word. 

Elihu is just bursting to speak and take his turn in the debate over why Job deserved to get his life destroyed. We might learn from what young Elihu does well, and also from what is does poorly.

I endeavour to preach a Gospel that is essentially positive. Good News. I believe we are becoming people who are “bursting at the seams” with something new that is very good in our world. 

Like Job and his companions, we know the unexplainable disasters that seem randomly to befall people. We also know the terrible ways of we the people of this planet. Poet Robert Burns put it this way, more than 230 years ago, in ‘Man was made to mourn: A Dirge.’

Many and sharp the num’rous ills

Inwoven with our frame!

More pointed still we make ourselves

Regret, remorse, and shame!

And man, whose heav’n-erected face

The smiles of love adorn, –

Man’s inhumanity to man

Makes countless thousands mourn!

“Man’s inhumanity to man” not to mention to nature, continues in old ways and new in our day. 

There are times to be full to overflowing with the bad news, and to be speaking of it in order to get a grip on things. Troubles sometimes fill our prayers. Yet over and above this I believe we have a message of powerful hope. 

It’s about Jesus. Jesus, whose key preaching was “the Kingdom of the heavens has come near.” And then he told numerous parables about this Kingdom. 

Our traditional Christian language expresses this in many familiar ways. We remember that

That though the wrong seems oft so strong

God is the ruler yet.  (M. D. Babcock, 1915)

Along with His words is His life story. He lived as a teacher – with apprentices, and as a healer. He faced evil forces head on, and always won the contest. He was a critic of His Jewish religious leadership. He stayed closest to the people in trouble: the untouchable, the unlovable, the unforgivable. Of course, He touched, He loved, He forgave. 

He got tortured and executed, and even that convinced some onlookers that He was holy and good and right. Then, a few hundred of His followers met Him again, alive. And the movement truly began, with Jesus not even present. Yet, present in Spirit.

It is this presence of the Spirit of Jesus, the Holy Spirit, that my human spirit knows today, and perhaps yours too. 

So we have much to speak and to show.

Unlike Elihu, of olden days, we need not flood the room with our words, with our opinions, or with our frustrated anger. In the Spirit of Christ, living water can pour out from us, and gently flow and seek those who thirst for hope and life. 

I think of many people. I think of a friend named Ruth. She lives a busy life. For many years she worked as a lab tech in her local hospital. Each week, some people would arrive, to have their blood taken, or an X-ray done, and be very down and troubled. Ruth was a gentle, wise listener, and the patients poured out their troubles to her. After work, she might have one of her four children drop by to talk, and sort out some personal problems. In the evening, Ruth would lead the Baptist Youth Group meetings: and whatever creative plans she had cooked up would be put aside, if one of the young people was having a sudden crisis. They youth set the agenda. 

The next day, she would be baking a pie to take to an elderly acquaintance. Or gathering materials for her spectacular decorations in the Church. Or reading a great book, and studying scripture. Ruth spends her days in creative ways, drinking deeply from Jesus, the spring of living water. I know, because she and I spoke of Him much.

One last image of the New Realm of Jesus, today, is of new wine into new wineskins. We peeked at a scene from Jesus’ life today, again this week from Matthew 9. Jesus and His close followers are acting differently than those still devoted to John the Baptizer, and the usual traditions of Hebrew life. Jesus and company are not fasting twice a week, as usual, for instance. 

They are ready to celebrate, not mourn, it seems. Ready for what’s new and good. Jesus’ Way of faith and life is fresh and new, and even demands new containers, so to speak. 

Now, Christ is with us, but also not here. So we have times to fast and pray, and times to praise and celebrate! Respond to the holy grief, and the holy glory that you experience. Grounded in God, we can have the best things burst out from within us. It is a matter of transformation. 

No wonder we have one study group here called the Transformers. A little group that gets together to talk about the things of the Spirit. Sharing words, sharing food, sharing life, on the way to being improved, made good. It’s an act of God, I tell you!

And there are plenty more where that came from.

Amen.

(Job 31:24-40; Matthew 9:1-13) – J G White

11 am, Sun, Jan 19, 2020 – WPXU – UBC Digby

The Men’s Choir sang Bill Gaither’s 1974 song:

I just feel like something good is about to happen,

I just feel like something good is on its way;

He has promised that He’d open all of Heaven,

And, brother, it could happen any day…

A good dose of joyful hope like this is just what some people are looking for; this song stirs up holy optimism. It refers to a number of scriptural promises:

(2 Chr 7:14) if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven… 

(Rom 8:28) We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. 

(1 Cor 2:9)“[What] no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the human heart conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him…”

This is the fair opposite of the feelings of the ancient man named Job, at the end of all his speeches. He suffered so much pain – and for what reason? 

“Let the Almighty answer!” Job cries out. “O that I had one to hear me!” “O that the indictment was written by my adversary!” 

Job’s wealth was lost. Job’s children had all been killed off. Job’s physical health was destroyed. Why?

Why? Author Phillip Yancey calls this “The Question That Never Goes Away.” We ask the question: we ask one another, we ask our God. 

A senior asks, ‘Why did that young man die of cancer, and I lived?’ 

A young parent asks, ‘Why does every chance I get at a good job fail, and we still struggle to make ends meet?’

A woman asks, ‘Why do we still have to keep marching, keep speaking out, keep striving for justice in the workplace and in society?

An immigrant asks, ‘Why does violence and war continue in my home nation, after all these years of fighting!’

A pastor asks, ‘Why, Lord, is the spiritual battle so fierce, and my church is merely hoping to survive until it dies?’ ‘Let the Almighty answer!’

‘Let the Almighty answer.’ That was Job’s cry, over and over again. His speeches are recorded here in the book that bears his name, this ancient, holy text. After the disasters hit him, a few friends gather, and they are silent with him for seven days. 

Then the talking begins. We have twenty pages of speeches. By Job. By his three friends. 

Job insists he has done nothing to deserve all his troubles. He insists he has not neglected things either. His three so-called ‘comforters’ argue the finer points of sin and punishment with him, of God’s justice and right actions. Of good, solid, biblical, Deuterono- mistic theology: we will get what we deserve. 

It goes on an on. 

Have you read it all lately? Give it a try. 

Or, maybe you have heard it all before. From someone you know. Someone in our day who has suffered a lot. Lost too much. Had nothing but trouble. Faced Some challenge that others didn’t. It happens. No wonder this old book, Job, has stood the test of time, and never was disputed. 

A great man of suffering and faith of the 20th century was priest and author Henri Nouwen. At one point, he left the stress and loneliness of being a Harvard divinity professor to become a worker at a L’arch community in Toronto, a community for people with physical and mental disabilities. 

Before he made that ‘downward’ career move, almost prophetically, he wrote something to family members back in Holland, his home. You see, one day he received news that his sister-in-law had given birth to a daughter with Down’s syndrome. He wrote to his family these words:

Laura is going to be important for all of us in the family. We have never had a “weak” person among us. We all are hardworking, ambitious, and successful people who seldom had to experience powerlessness. Now Laura enters and tells us a totally new dependency. Laura, who always will be a child, will teach us the way of Christ as no one will ever be able to do. (from ‘Gracias!’) If we feel powerless, our conversation with the Almighty changes. 

The powerlessness of the ancient man, Job, is of another sort. As he comes to his tenth and final speech, he speaks in three ways. First, chapter 29, he remembers nostalgically his former, happy days. Second, chapter 30, in a pathetic mood, he expresses how he has been degraded and isolated. Third, chapter 31, he defiantly ends with curses upon himself, if he has done any of these bad things:

• ‘If I have walked with falsehood’
• ‘If my heart has been enticed by a woman’
• ‘If I have rejected the cause of my …slaves’
• ‘If I have withheld anything that the poor desired’
• ‘If I have made gold my trust’
• ‘If I have rejoiced at the ruin of those who hated me’
• ‘If my land has cried out against me’

And he names the curses for each of these vices, which, of course, he means to say, he has never done. This man has been filled with grief, facing all the stages of grief, as we call them today: Denial, Anger, Depression, Bargaining, Acceptance. Perhaps we could even name others. 

As I read this incredible text, and others – like the book of Psalms – I see how intense and complete are the prayers of these people. They say anything and  everything to God. Every feeling. Anger. Depression. Trying to bargain and make a deal. They say it with powerful words and images. So this is acceptable prayer. Deep prayer. Genuine prayer. Honest to God.

And then, ‘the words of Job are ended.’

Job had one more visitor who came to him in his misery. This man also came to offer insight and advice: a younger fellow, his name was Elihu. Over the next few weeks we will hear from him, and consider his wisdom, spoken to Job, and to Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar. 

When we know someone in miserable trouble, what can we do? Perhaps it is as simple as to ‘take them to Jesus.’ Like our Gospel story. To be inspired by those people who brought their friend to Jesus: a parylized man on a cot, carried to Him. 

How do we take someone to Jesus? ‘Prayer,’ is one short answer. We draw near to God, have conversation about our friend in trouble, pour out our heart, and listen. We listen by being silent. We listen by reading scripture. We listen to God’s world around.

When we get to spend time with someone who is ill or in other trouble, we find ways to be the hands and heart of Jesus, so to speak. We do little helpful things. We listen. We understand. We feel. We might pray with that person, or share scripture. Holy words can have holy power. We are graciously given this ministry.

A few of us heard a remarkable little sermon at a funeral a couple weeks ago. The pastor spoke of some of the common things we say at the time of a death that are really not usually good and helpful.  I came up with my own list. ‘God wanted another flower in the garden of heaven.’ ‘At least she lived a good life.’ ‘He’s an angel now, looking over us.’ There are better phrases we can train ourselves to say. And being quieter can also be helpful. Listening.

It’s like talking to a friend who is sick. And we start telling them about someone we knew who had the same illness, and all the pain and problems they suffered! “You’re having carpal tunnel surgery? Oh, my cousin had that. They messed it all up – he got an infection, had to have more surgery, what a time!” Might be true what we say, but not encouraging. Listening can be most important. 

Which is what Job’s four visitors did, at first. They sat with him, in silence, for seven days. But then they opened their mouths; they got talking… way too much, we might say. 

And, be ready for people around to criticize your ministry to people in trouble. How you try to help can be misunderstood by others. They tell you how to do it better. Remind you how the person is at least partly at fault for causing their own problem. Not deserving. And so on.

I see this happening in the Matthew 9 story today. Christ heals the fellow and speaks forgiveness, and gets in trouble immediately for doing this! ‘You can’t do that!” Jesus shows He can give those blessings.

And Jesus notices the faith of the paralized man’s friends. Jesus gave the sick man two words: forgiveness and healing. To us today, when we want to be helpers with forgiveness and healing, Jesus can give us faith. Faith to be a blessing to others. For the sake of their healing, in soul and body. Faith in the Source of the blessing. 

And with that confidence, growing in us, we can sit down for quality time with people in need. People who are imperfect – like we are. Even people who have been hit, again and again, with bad news. Or people who fail, over and over. As we have too. 

Last Sunday we sang:

Ponder anew what the Almighty can do…Notice where Christ goes. To whom He goes. Back then – in the Biblical record. Here and now, in Spirit, among us. Let us seek, day by day, how the Almighty will answer!