The Lord Gives and the Lord Takes Away

Rev. Mark J. Bender - Job 1:13-22 - 9.18.2011

(due to technical difficulties, this sermon was not recorded)

As his parents watched from the patio, a little boy played baseball by himself in the back yard. Of course this amounted to tossing a ball into the air and attempting to hit it with his bat. As he did so he proclaimed to no one in particular, "I’m the greatest hitter in the world!" Unfortunately, he missed the ball and, since he was the umpire too, regretfully announced, "Strike one." Undaunted the little fellow picked up the ball, threw it back into the air and said, "I’m the greatest baseball hitter ever!" With even greater intensity he swung the bat but all he caught was air for his efforts. "Strike two," he said. The boy paused a moment, examined the bat and ball carefully, and then for a third time threw the ball into the air. "I’m the greatest hitter in the history of baseball," he said. This time he swung for all he was worth, but just like the other two attempts, he missed. "Strike three," he mumbled. Then the boy sat for a moment considering what had just happened. After a minute or so, he turned to his parents and much to their surprise said, "Wow, I just struck out the greatest hitter in the world! I must be the greatest pitcher of all time."
We shall all face trying circumstances in our lives. The question and the challenge for us is how will we respond to these trials. When there occurs a drastic change in our circumstances there is often revealed either defects in our character or unanticipated excellencies. As William Henry Green said, “Emergencies are the making of some men, and the destruction of others.”
I believe what has created such interest in the book of Job is his response to the harsh and painful suffering that invades his life. He responds unlike anyone including ourselves would respond not with despair, or complaining, or a superficial shrug that says, “Praise the Lord anyhow!”, or not with a stoic fatalism that sees no use in complaining because bad things are bound to happen anyway. No, Job's response is not of this world and it catches us off guard so that we ask, “How is this response possible?”
Theme: What should our response be when tragedy, loss or suffering invades our lives?
I. Living for Self or God?
In this first chapter of Job we find Satan appearing before God to give an account. God says, Have you considered my servant Job?” God goes on to say that Job was a blameless, upright man who feared God and avoided evil. The Lord even went on to say concerning Job, “...there is none like him on earth...” This is high praise from God who is holy and possesses no imperfection.
Satan then responds being true to his evil and deceitful nature. Satan accuses Job of being loyal to God and living an honorable life only for the motivation of self interest and not out of a true devotion and love for God.
Read Job 1:10
Satan's argument is, “No wonder Job live a blameless God-fearing life, look at all that you have done for him in terms of his material possessions and prosperity.” Satan says, “Does Job fear God for nothing.” The devil's unspoken response is, “Of course not.” Satan's argument is that Job is motivated by self-interest. Satan is suggesting that Job worships God because he wants to obtain God's blessing.
We know in reading the remainder of this chapter that Satan's accusation against Job is entirely false. Job is placed into the furnace and is tried and he reemerges innocent and pure. There was not a shred of hypocrisy or motive for enriching self at the cost of denying God in his life or heart. Yet what Satan was proposing could be true of many in the Christian church today. Satan was describing the spirit of consumerism that is alive and well in many congregation throughout our land.
Consumerism is focused on the gifts of God rather than the person of God. Consumerism seeks to obtain that sense of well-being and contentment that comes from obtaining goods for oneself. The problem with this approach is that one never gets to the point of being completely satisfied. There is always one more item that needs to be purchased, one more upgrade on the house, one more entertainment that must be experienced. In order to obtain the good life now, we work longer hours, we fill our days with more self-actualizing activities and we increase our spending. We still may have a love for God but He is put on a list with everything else we must accomplish and even if He is first on the list God is still treated as one good among many rather than the ultimate good who deserves whole-hearted devotion as the first commandment describes, “You must have no other gods before me.”
In the summer of 2002 Tulsa Oklahoma had a burglary suspect that did something quite unusual. According to the KOTV television news, Edward McBride kicked in the door of a house, and grabbed a duffle bag full of electronic gear. As he left the house, a man working next door saw him and called 911. The police arrived as McBride was running toward The Arkansas River and he jumped in with the bag of loot. Mike Branson was fishing in the river and saw officers go in after McBride. Mike said, "They were pulling their stuff off yelling at him to come back in but the guy just stayed out there. The officers got in the water he [the suspect] went down once or twice, he didn’t come back up.” The suspect never would release the stolen items. The fire department recovered McBride’s body about thirty minutes later, still clutching his loot.
Richard Foster noted: “Nothing can destroy human beings like the passion to possess. All of us grow attachments to incidental things—things that are temporal—things that are familiar and fail to venture forth where God leads.
I read a brief letter to the editor a few weeks ago that was authored by a man who was upset. Whether he was a Christian or not, I do not know, but he knew that what he witnessed was wrong. He saw the sign in front of a church advertising a revival and the hook to get people there was a raffle to be held to give away a car. This is where the church is it's own worst enemy in fueling the consumer spirit that is rampant in our American culture.
The consumer spirit asks, “What's in it for me? How do I benefit? How will this make a difference in my life? We demand. We expect. We want. We are entitled. We deserve. The problem with the consumer spirit is that it does not work in a relationship with God who is Lord over all.
II. The Lord Gives and Takes
The Lord gives permission to Satan to lay his hand against all that Job possesses but does not allow Satan to harm Job's bodily health. So Satan leaves the presence of the Lord and goes to work against all that Job possesses.
In verse 13 we find all of Job's sons and daughters gathered together in the oldest brother's house and what is about to occur happens in rapid succession all on the same day. First, the Sabeans attacked and took all of Job's oxen and donkeys and then struck down the servants that were with them. Second, another messenger came and reported that that fire fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and those servants who watched them. Third, another messenger came and reported that the Chaldeans made a raid on all of Job's camels, stealing them and killing those servant who had the care of them. Then finally, and causing the most devastation and tragic results, a violent wind tore apart the house that contained all of Job's children and they all died. This is a drastic, monumental and devastating event that shakes one's world and for it to happen in such a short span of time fuels the impact. Even if we take away the loss of Job's herds, we still have left the loss of seven sons and three daughters in a single day. What sorrow and anguish this produced. It no doubt took a long time for Job to obtain all his wealth and to raise his children and then to have it all vanish in a single day is mind numbing.
In verse 20 we read of Job's response. He rose and tore his clothes. The tearing of clothes was a common expression of intense emotion in the form of inner turmoil, shock and often grief. Then we read that Job shaved his head. This indicates the loss of personal glory and dignity in Old Testament times. Then we read that Job fell on the ground. Job is a broken and humbled man who is absolutely devastated. Then there is something else in this verse that we do not expect to see. We would expect to read something like, “Job shook his fist at God”, or “Job complained to God in the bitterness of his soul”, or “Job cursed God”, or “Job wept bitterly and thought about taking his own life.” This is not what we read. Verse 20 says, “...and worshiped.” It was the worst day of his life and he worshiped.
What makes this response so unbelievable is that this was a spontaneous reaction for Job. This was not a response that occurred several days later. We know that worship does not come to a person naturally even when all is well. Worship is Job's initial response and spontaneous reaction because for Job it was his way of life. This is what he knew and this is where his heart was anchored.
Read Job 1:21
Job looked at his birth and eventual death as bookends with the realization that he would leave this life in the same way he entered it, as naked. Here Job acknowledges that everything he possesses in between his birth and death is given to him by God. He knows that he was not deserving of anything, entitled to nothing, and empty of any expectations. He understood that his wealth was the sole result of God's gracious provision and that he had earned none of it. Job understood that he was simply a steward who was allowed to tend to all that God entrusted Him. He understood this of his possessions as well as his children.
I think as Christians we live with more of a stake in this material world than in the kingdom of God that operates on an entirely different principle. Jesus said in Luke 14:33, “So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.” I want to share with you a principle: We cannot truly worship God unless we are naked.
What is important to you? What do you long for? Would you still have reason to worship God if everything you possessed was taken from you (cars, house, job, family)? Sometimes God will strip us of all our privileges, our status, our possessions, and our comforts to show us what it is we truly need. What is worship? It is having God as your first and only love. We must ultimately become naked before God.
Think about Jesus, our savior and what he did for us so that we could come to God in worship. Often when you look at a painting or drawing of Jesus on the cross he is covered by a loin cloth. Well, when the crucifixion occurred there was no loin cloth. Our Lord was naked from head to toe. It seems we are more embarrassed by our Lord's nakedness than we are of his suffering. He was strip of his dignity, he was stripped of his status, he was stripped of his moral standing by carrying the burden of our sin. If there was anyone who walked this earth who had a right to expect blessing and wealth and honor it was Jesus and yet he became more naked than any human who ever lived so that you might live and might live abundantly.
There once was an old woman who unfortunately was gradually losing her memory. Throughout her life, however, this woman had cherished and depended on the Word of God, committing many verses to memory. Her favorite was 2 Timothy 1:12 -- "I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day." Confined to a bed in a nursing home, her family knew that she was would never leave it alive. As they visited, she would quote verses, especially 2 Timothy 1:12. But with the passing of time, even parts of this well-loved verse began to fade. "I know in whom I have believed...he is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him..." Then it was..."what I have entrusted to Him..." A few short days before her death all she could remember was..."entrusted to Him." Finally in her last moments there was only one word left, Him." She whispered it again and again as she stood on the doorstep of heaven. "Him...Him...Him." It was all that was left and it was all that was needed.
Are you a consumer, content to just present your shopping list to God and never ready know Him? Or are you willing to become consumed? William Henry, songwriter from years ago, stated it this way:
Lord, I would be wholly Thine,
I would do Thy will Divine
From the world of sin and self I would be free!
On the altar now I lie
And with all my heart I cry,
“Let the holy fire from heaven fall on me!”