Loading...
Sermon Texts: Job 38:1-11, Mark 4:35-41
Collect of the Day: O Lord, make us have perpetual love and reverence for your holy Name, for you never fail to help and govern those whom you have set upon the sure foundation of your lovingkindness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Sermon Audio -
Sermon Text:
A full week has passed since a visit to Rhode Island to be with my mom on her 80th birthday. What a whirlwind these last eight years have been for her. After spending her entire life in Southern California, Mom has spent the first four of the past eight years in Texas, and the second four in Rhode Island.
We spent mom’s birthday in Newport, on a tour of Marble House and Rosecliff House, two of the many historic residences that most people would consider mansions, but were known to the original occupants as “cottages,” where they would spend “the season,” six weeks during the summer. These original residents were the wealthiest of the wealthy of their day, a period of American history known as “The Gilded Age.” They were captains of industry with names like Belmont, Hunter, Oelrich, Bell, and Vanderbilt.
Had he lived in the Gilded Age, the biblical character named Job would have fit right in with Newport society. From the introduction in the first chapter of the Book of Job, it is clear that he was among the wealthiest of the wealthy of his day, the owner of a spread with room enough for 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 donkeys, very many servants, and he was blessed with ten children, seven sons, and three daughters.
The families who spent “the season” at their Newport cottages may well have considered themselves the masters of their destiny. Success and wealth were theirs in abundance, but a well oiled industrial machine, a vast fortune, and a respected name still are not sufficient shelter from the storms of life.
Marble House, the first stop on our tour, was the property of one of the Vanderbilt boys, whose marriage grew stormy because his wife was a radical for her time, an active leader of the women’s suffrage movement. There is a photograph on display of a “Votes for Women” rally on the grounds of Marble House, and in the crowd is 89 year old Julia Ward Howe, the famous abolitionist and author of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” who came to say a few words to the assembly. This Mrs. Vanderbilt found a supportive neighbor in Mr. Belmont, so she divorced her Vanderbilt, a radical move in that time, and married Mr. Belmont.
A storm that spared none of these wealthy families struck in 1913. The name of the storm was the Revenue Act, and on its strong winds came the Federal Income Tax, a rising tide that brought the Gilded Age, and the era of palatial summer “cottages” to an end.
Job, at least, acknowledged that he was not the master of his own destiny. He was, we are told, very religious, the biblical narrator describing him as blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil. Job knew that he depended on God. Job believed that if he were faithful to God, God would bless him with land, wealth, and a good name. It all seemed to be working, until one day during a heavenly staff meeting, when the Satan gave a discouraging report that he could not find anyone in all the earth who was unflinchingly faithful to God.
Before we go on, a word about the Satan, which means “Accuser.” When the Book of Job was written, the Satan was understood to be part of God’s privy council, you might say the “District Attorney” of God’s kingdom. The picture of the Satan as the personified force of evil comes later in Jewish thinking, and thus finds its way into Christian thought, as well. If you want to learn more about the development of thought around Satan, I suggest a book entitled “The Origin of Satan,” by Elaine Pagels. For today, stick with me on this idea of “District Attorney” Satan, with apologies to the Honorable John Best.
In response to the Satan’s report, God says, “Have you seen Job? He’s a great guy; blameless, upright, he fears me and turns away from evil. “Of course he’s a great guy,” says the Satan. “You’ve given him every blessing. Give me a crack at him, and he’ll curse you to your face.”
And so begins a series of storms, one after the other, that pound Job into destitution and heartache. In spite of all the misfortune and suffering, Job never does curse God, but he doesn’t come through the whole ordeal with a perfect score, either. Job does not think that what has befallen him is fair. He does a lot of complaining. He spends a good bit of time whining. He demands justice and petitions God for a hearing of his case.
And that’s where we come to God’s response in the whirlwind. The complaining, whining, and demanding that his case be heard goes on for about 35 chapters, until God has had quite enough. “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?” God’s response to Job’s complaint is, well, rude. It is certainly not an answer, but rather a dazzling tour into the majesty and awe of creation, a tongue-lashing that lasts four chapters. It’s as if God is saying, “You think you’re so smart, you know how it’s all supposed to run. Where you when when I set it all up?”
In chapter 42 of Job, after this incredible whirlwind encounter with God’s awesome power, Job says, “I’ve been talking and talking about stuff I don’t even understand. Before this, I had only had heard about you. Now I’ve seen you. I’m so ashamed of myself. I repent before you in dust and ashes.”
Job has complained. Job has whined. Job has decried his unfair treatment. But, he did not curse God, the Satan could not have his way with Job, and Job comes to realize more than ever before his absolute dependence on God. In the end, his fortunes are restored
and multiplied to the point that even the captains of industry of the Gilded Age would be envious.
If I could assign homework, I would give a reading assignment for everyone to read chapters 38-41 of Job. We heard just the beginning of God’s whirlwind response today. You would get the full impact if you would read those chapters. God recounts the awesomeness of creation, and sternly reminds Job who made it all, and who has authority over it. When I read those chapters I hear them with the story of creation in Genesis 1 in the background. You know that story, six days when God brought everything into being just by saying, “Let there be.” The Genesis story also tells us what God started with, which was “a formless void.” The Hebrew words are תֹהוּ וָבֹהוּ (toh-hoo wah-boh-hoo), and means literally ‘chaos.’ God started with chaos. The first ingredient of creation is chaos. When God began to say, “Let there be,” God began to push back against the chaos, holding it in check so that everything might come into existence. Is it any wonder, after holding back all that chaos, God rested on the 7th day?
תֹהוּ וָבֹהוּ, chaos, is part of creation, given more power and fury by the fall, the choice that Adam and Eve made to give in to the serpent’s wily solicitation to eat of the fruit of the tree and thus be like God, knowing good and evil. (Gen. 3:5). Chaos erupts in this life from time to time. It messes with our sense of what is fair and just. It brings storms, storms that strike the earth, storms that impact our lives by tearing into well-laid plans, relationships, financial security, careers, community life, world events, health and wellness.
When things get chaotic, in the realm of creation, in the realm of current events, in the realm of our own personal well-being, we who are people of faith can trust that God, who set the foundations of the earth, set its measurements, who prescribes bounds for the roaring sea so that its proud waves shall not overwhelm us, is, as we prayed this morning, always there to govern those who are set on the sure foundation of God’s lovingkindess.
God is always with us “in the boat,” in the presence of Jesus our Lord, who offers himself to us to be seen, to be known, to be experienced today in scripture and the breaking of the bread.
Receive him today, By faith and with thanksgiving, and be assured that with him in your boat no storm shall overwhelm.
