The Patient Justice of God - Eastgate Service - October 2024

Scripture: Job 36:5-12

Job 36:5–12 NIV

5 “God is mighty, but despises no one; he is mighty, and firm in his purpose. 6 He does not keep the wicked alive but gives the afflicted their rights. 7 He does not take his eyes off the righteous; he enthrones them with kings and exalts them forever. 8 But if people are bound in chains, held fast by cords of affliction, 9 he tells them what they have done— that they have sinned arrogantly. 10 He makes them listen to correction and commands them to repent of their evil. 11 If they obey and serve him, they will spend the rest of their days in prosperity and their years in contentment. 12 But if they do not listen, they will perish by the sword and die without knowledge.

The most famous line from the movie Forrest Gump is when he tells the person on the park bench the wisdom he learned from his mom: Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get. That kind of wisdom fits the character of Forrest Gump because it points out something slightly obvious but doesn’t help us know what to do about it. We learn to go through life, facing the ups and downs, taking what we get, and making the best of it.

There are a lot of sayings in the Bible, like our scripture passage from Job today, that tell us otherwise, though. Many people who knew God, who knew Jesus, and whose testimony became our scripture tell us that if we choose to live for God, obeying his will for our life, we will be rewarded. If we rebel against God, we will be punished. That version of wisdom is simple in another way. In everything we do, we have two choices, and the consequences in our lives are up to us, depending on our choices.

Over the thousands of years that people have known God, that wisdom has brought comfort, especially to those who try to live for God and whose lives prospered. There are, however, many times when things just don’t work out right. Sometimes, bad things happen to good people, and bad things happen to bad people. We have things happen to ourselves on the days we try our best to be good, And there are moments when God blesses us even though we know we do not deserve it. Life is messier than we would like, but God is still in charge.

I remember they first began teaching us how to manage bank accounts in school. They gave us those ledger sheets where we started with a total and used the line center underneath to ride in our purchases. It wasn’t bad if there were only two or three things there. However, once we got 15 or 20 withdrawals from the bank account, it became more difficult to total them all and figure out how much money we had left. It would be one thing if we did him one at a time, but I got pretty confused quickly about whether we had a lot of numbers to subtract or deposits to add at the same time. The beginning and the end were simple, but the middle got messy.

And that’s really how our life works, according to Peter. He wrote in his letter to the churches that the wisdom of God and the teaching of how to live our lives was true, even if it didn’t always look that way to us. He wrote:

2 Peter 3:3–10 NIV

3 Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4 They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” 5 But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water. 6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. 8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.

When life seems messy, God‘s word tells us to remember that we are still in the middle. There’s an end that is coming. All accounts will be settled, all debts will be paid, and all deposits will be taken into account. No matter how much the wicked prosper today, it will be for nothing in the end. They will face punishment and lose everything they thought they gained in this life. Righteousness will be rewarded. For those of us who know they don’t have a lot of righteousness, our only hope is to trust in the righteousness of Jesus. Because we follow him, we know we are forgiven for our wickedness. Because we have given our lives to him, we know he shares with us the rewards he receives for being righteous.

No matter where we are or how we feel on any given day, Peter’s message is to remain vigilant, knowing that God can swoop in and deliver justice at any moment. He is ready. But He is not in a hurry because He is waiting on us. He wants to give each of us every opportunity to come into a saving relationship with Him through Jesus and then to grow into the person age created us to be. He doesn’t want us to be surprised or scared when we get to Heaven, having no idea of how to live in a place of perfect peace and goodness when all we have known is trouble and sorrow. He wants to learn to live loving Him and each other now so we are ready for heaven when we get there and don’t get swept away by the wicked. God is waiting on everyone, which means He is waiting on you and me.

He is patient with us because He knows how it all ends. He is the one who will make sure it does. All of our gains and losses won’t matter at that moment. The only thing that matters to Him is you. He loves you and wants to extend your mercy and forgiveness so that you are not lost in the mess of the middle and come up short in the end. He wants to pay your way if you will let Him. The cost of salvation was the life of God‘s only son, Jesus. That’s far more than anything we could ever pay on our own. But the invitation is there for you. Will you accept God‘s invitation? He has been offering it to you your whole life, waiting patiently for you to invite him to lead, guide, shape, and change you. But there will be an end for each of us when our time runs out, and the justice of God comes, knocking on our door to collect for everything we’ve ever done wrong.

Is Jesus working on you already? Don’t give up until He finishes that work in your life.

Have you been avoiding Him? Now is your chance to turn around and run to Him. Invite him right into the middle of your mess. He will give you everything he’s got and make sure you come out OK in the end.

If you don’t know him, there’s no time like the present to start getting to know him. He is a good Shepherd who loves and cares for us, disciplines us when we go, astray, and lays down his life to protect us, even from our own mistakes. And he leads us into eternal life with him in his kingdom of peace and joy. We would love to introduce you to Jesus if you don't know him.

Closing Prayer