Job 29-31

Call to Worship

Lord, as we end the Lenten season tomorrow and enter into a Holy Weekend where we recall and partake in your suffering offered once and for all in our place, and as we have been called to worship You and week-by-week, preach Your gospel, Your good news for all men, allow us tonight to hear Your words:

First, from the Gospel according to Luke, chapter 19, where, during your triumphant entry to Jerusalem we celebrated this past Palm Sunday, wept out over Jerusalem :

If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side, and they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.

And, from the Gospel according to John, chapter 9, when the disciples asked of a blind man’s state, “Rabbi who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?” And you, before healing him, answered,

It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him… While I am in the world, I am the Light of the World.

Let us remember Your wise teachings and Your glorious sacrifice throughout today’s teaching…

Lord’s Prayer and Absolution

Before tonight’s sermon, let us pray together as Christ’s children in His kingdom, let us be absolved according to His power, and begin tonight in peace according to His glory:

Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. 

Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us all your sins through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen us in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep us in eternal life.

For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. In the name of the Father, who creates, and of the Son, who redeems, and of the Holy Spirit, who sanctifies and purifies us before You, Amen.

Sermon

Last Sunday we celebrated Christ’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem, where—despite knowing His fate—chose to be nailed on the cross, to be disgraced by the world, and to die before us. God from God. Light from Light. On Maundy Thursday He celebrated His final communal meal. On Good Friday he was killed, akin to the Paschal Lamb except with the intent to purify all. On Holy Saturday, the earth was in darkness, the veil of the temple had been torn, and Christ’s body laid buried. But finally, on Easter Sunday, he rose from the dead for all; light has been returned to the world. For if death once kept us in its bonds, death has now lost its sting, for Christ is risen!

Reading the Crucifixion narrative in Luke, one can hardly deny Christ’s mental parallels to Job—i.e., the tormented man. We will see in Job’s final monologue, final pleas, final soliloquy, a correspondence with Christ’s emotional appeal to Jerusalem, as Job similarly reflects on his past, his present, and the future. Sort of that wisdom at the end of one’s life, Christ attempted to paint with broad strokes His mission and His ministry; and Job attempts to describe his life’s work, and what he’s learned, particularly from his recent torment permitted by God. Hence, today, more than ever, we will be focusing on “The Self,” “Self-Reflection,” and our path towards reconciliation with the divine through the risen Christ.

The structure of the three chapters we will focus on today can be divided three-fold: chapter 29 looks to Job’s past, chapter 30 to his present, and chapter 31 to the future. While it’s been argued by me that throughout his interactions with his “friends” he has truly been speaking beyond them to God as his audience instead, he begins a true direct address to God—one not seen since the beginning of the book—in the middle of chapter 30. And throughout this final speech, when Job returns to address God and explicate his urgent need in his ongoing suffering, we find Job’s faith underpinning his prayer of divine protest—a daring act of trust to persuade God to finally show up.

Job’s Past/Beginning of Self-Reflection

Job’s reflections begin then, naturally, at his past. Reflection on one’s past is difficult, often more than one’s destiny. Our past is very often viewed through rose-tinted glasses, where certainly we are occasionally humbled, but overall, nostalgia, reminiscence, and sentimentality reign supreme. Job represents an extreme, where his past is most certainly plentiful, and his present is most certainly painful. Pay attention to this man, who began in the prose and with his maxims discussing what God has given, applies again this transition now to focus on what God has taken. Let it be no coincidence that as Job turns to what God has taken away (against his earlier motif that one must focus first on the “good” God has done for one), he makes his clear mistakes of confusing a “pure and blameless” conscience with a “pure and blameless” nature. But this will be more clear when we hear next week from Elihu. For now, let’s read Job’s initial—what I will call a—wish that underlies his state of mind, when.,

Job 29:1-4 Job again took up his discourse and said,… Oh that I were as in months gone by, / As in the days when God watched over me; / When His lamp shone over my head, / And by His light I walked through darkness; / As I was in the prime of my days, / When the friendship of God was over my tent;

Job 29:11-12 For when the ear heard, it called me blessed, / And when the eye saw, it gave witness of me, / Because I delivered the poor who cried for help, / And the orphan who had no helper.

Job 29:25 I chose a way for them and sat as chief, / And dwelt as a king among the troops, / As one who comforted the mourners.

Job’s Present/Presence before the Creator

In this final section of Job’s poetry that we’ve been studying throughout…

Job 30:1 But now those younger than I mock me,…

As we turn now to the

Job 30:13 They break up my path, / They profit from my destruction; / No one restrains them.

Job 30:20-21 I cry out to You for help, but You do not answer me; / I stand up, and You turn Your attention against me. / You have become cruel to me; / With the might of Your hand You persecute me.

Job 30:31 Therefore my harp is turned to mourning, / And my flute to the sound of those who weep.

Job’s Pleas of Innocence/Job’s Future to Come

Job 31:1-2 “I have made a covenant with my eyes; / How then could I gaze at a virgin? / “And what is the portion of God from above / Or the heritage of the Almighty from on high?

Job 31:16 If I have kept the poor from their desire, / Or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,…

Job 31:22-23 Let my shoulder fall from the socket, / And my arm be broken off at the elbow. / For calamity from God is a terror to me, / And because of His majesty I can do nothing.

Job 31: 24 “If I have put my confidence in gold, / And called fine gold my trust,…

Job 31:28 That too would have been an iniquity calling for judgment, / For I would have denied God above.

Conclusion

Magnificat

Let us now end with a prayer, the song of Mary, called the Magnificat, let us pray in accordance with God’s redemptive plan through His Son so that we may be reconciled to Him and find eternal life,

Luke 1:46–55 “My soul exalts the Lord, And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. “For He has had regard for the humble state of His [lowly servant]; For behold, from this time on all generations will count me blessed. “For the Mighty One has done great things for me; And holy is His name. “And His mercy is upon generation after generation Toward those who fear Him. “He has done mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their heart. “He has brought down rulers from their thrones, And has exalted those who were humble. “He has filled the hungry with good things; And sent away the rich empty-handed. “He has given help to Israel His servant, In remembrance of His mercy, As He spoke to our fathers, To Abraham and his descendants forever.”

Benediction

Thank you all again, happy early Easter. If you can and are willing, I highly encourage you all to attend a church gathering this weekend.

But as you depart tonight, as the Lord wills, count yourself blessed now before Him,

The Lord bless you, and keep you;

The Lord make His face shine on you,

And be gracious to you;

The Lord lift up His countenance on you,

And give you peace.’ Num. 6:24-26

If anyone is devout and a lover of God, let them enjoy this beautiful and radiant festival.

If anyone is a grateful servant, let them, rejoicing, enter into the joy of his Lord.

If anyone has wearied themselves in fasting, let them now receive recompense.

If anyone has labored from the first hour, let them today receive the just reward.

If anyone has come at the third hour, with thanksgiving let them feast.

If anyone has arrived at the sixth hour, let them have no misgivings; for they shall suffer no loss.

If anyone has delayed until the ninth hour, let them draw near without hesitation.

If anyone has arrived even at the eleventh hour, let them not fear on account of tardiness.

For the Master is gracious and receives the last even as the first; He gives rest to him that comes at the eleventh hour, just as to him who has labored from the first.

He has mercy upon the last and cares for the first; to the one He gives, and to the other He is gracious.

He both honors the work and praises the intention.

Enter all of you, therefore, into the joy of our Lord, and, whether first or last, receive your reward.

O rich and poor, one with another, dance for joy!

O you ascetics and you negligent, celebrate the day!

You that have fasted and you that have disregarded the fast, rejoice today!

The table is rich-laden: feast royally, all of you!

The calf is fatted: let no one go forth hungry!

Let all partake of the feast of faith. Let all receive the riches of goodness.

Let no one lament their poverty, for the universal kingdom has been revealed.

Let no one mourn their transgressions, for pardon has dawned from the grave.

Let no one fear death, for the Saviour's death has set us free.

He that was taken by death has annihilated it!

He descended into Hades and took Hades captive!

He embittered it when it tasted His flesh! And anticipating this, Isaiah exclaimed: "Hades was embittered when it encountered Thee in the lower regions".

It was embittered, for it was abolished!

It was embittered, for it was mocked!

It was embittered, for it was purged!

It was embittered, for it was despoiled!

It was embittered, for it was bound in chains!

It took a body and came upon God!

It took earth and encountered Heaven!

It took what it saw, but crumbled before what it had not seen!

O death, where is thy sting?

O Hades, where is thy victory?

Christ is risen, and you are overthrown!

Christ is risen, and the demons are fallen!

Christ is risen, and the angels rejoice!

Christ is risen, and life reigns!

Christ is risen, and not one dead remains in a tomb!

For Christ, being raised from the dead, has become the first-fruits of them that have slept.

To Him be glory and might unto the ages of ages.

Amen.

But it is true and I believe so, Ruler of the world, that your providence is infinite; nor could I ever Believe against it, because I see it from experience;Sometimes it would be more severe than cold snow, Seeing the world upside down, And every virtue and every good custom extinguished at the bottom.I find no living light, Nor even one who is ashamed of his vices: One who denies you, one who says you are dreaming. But I believe that you are delaying, oh King on high, To the greater punishment of his great defects;Or that perhaps it is near, and you await it, The final day that makes hell tremble.To us virtue will not return forever.Here they judge who is God's enemy.Cato goes begging;In the hands of a pirate the scepter has reached: Saint Peter goes to land; Here lust and all plunder abound: That I do not know how the sky does not confuse. Do you not see the satirist Mattone[1] How proud and how full of vice a river is?That my heart is consumed with great disdain.Ah! look at that cynosure and that pimp Dressed in purple, a comedian Whom the common people follow and the blind world adores!Do you not feel disdain yet, That that lustful pig enjoys, And his high praises Usurps, absentees and parasitists;And his sons are banished from land to land? Happy now is he who lives by robbery, And he who feeds on the blood of others, Who I see despoiled and his swaddled children, And he who runs to ruin among the poor!That soul is gentle and foreign, Who by fraud or force makes more gains;Who scorns heaven with Christ, And always thinks of driving others to the bottom: He who honors the world, Who has books and papers full of thefts, And who of every evil deed knows best the art. The earth is so oppressed by every vice, That it will never lift its burden: To the ground goes its head, Rome, Never to return to the great office. Oh how much grief Brutus and you Fabricius have, If you have heard this other great ruin!Catiline is not enough, Not Sulla, Marius, Caesar or Nero: But there men and women, Every man tries to do it some damage.The pious time and the chaste time are past. Virtue beggars, never lift your wings: The vulgar and the blind[2] people cry out.Usury is now called philosophy;To doing good at all times only the shoulders: There is no one who now goes in the straight line.So that the valor rests that I have left: Except that, one hope Still does not let it go entirely, For I know that in the next life It will be seen well what a gentle soul I am;And who lifted his wings to a more graceful style. Song, make it short, That you do not lean on a purple color;Flee palaces and lodges, And make sure that your reasoning tells few: Because you will be an enemy to all the world.