Invitation to Reimagine God's Economy

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Well, good morning Lifepoint! It is so good to be back with you today. If we haven’t met yet, my name is Dan and I serve here as the teaching pastor for our Worthington Campus!

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Alright, if you have a bible with you, meet me in the Old Testament...we’ll be in the book of Job. No shame in turning to the table of contents for this one if you need help finding it!

Introduction

Last week, we started a new series called “The Good Life” looking at what is typically a very challenging book of the bible to understand: The book of Job.

And it’s a challenging book for a couple reasons. If you’ve not read any of it before - you’ll pick up on this today - a good chunk of it is written as poetry. And it can feel like reading old Shakespeare...it’s just hard to follow sometimes.

How many of you like to sit back and read poetry? (Hand raised, LIAR!)

But it’s also challenging because of what the book is talking about: suffering.

If you sit down to read this - most of the book - at least with a surface reading of it - is pretty depressing. It tends not to be the part of the bible you flip to when you just need some quick “up lifting words.” Job passages are not on any T-Shirts.

More than that, depending on how you understand the whole thing - the book’s can be a bit problematic — I mean, Job, the main character suffers terribly. He looses everything including his kids...all He wants from God is the most natural thing in the world - an answer as to why - he never gets that answer...it really sounds God’s annoyed with his questions...and then at very end — it has this little bow on his story...but in a way that almost feels like it cheapens his whole experience - because while he ends up getting more than what he started with...having more kids...he still lost the first ones he didn’t get them back.

And so I think we’re often left not really knowing what to do with this book...other than this “it’s in the bible, so it’s probably important.”

But what if there’s something we’ve missed with the book of Job?

What if, in getting lost in the details - “missing the forest for the trees” - we’ve written off a book that, when we really see it for what it is - is so much more than Eeyore’s diary. It’s actually a deeply rich and surprisingly refreshing model for us as we walk through our own pain, and hardship.

And this is why I think it’s helpful to do a “fly-over” series on this book...not so that we can avoid some of the stuff I just mentioned, but so that we can take a step back and look at the full picture - to see the masterpiece that Job truly is! And from that perspective, have something to hold on to as we move through life - knowing that just like Job, we will encounter days, months, and maybe even years when we feel broke down and left for dead, for no discernably good reason... But friends, the more I’ve read through this ancient story, the more I’ve found Job to be a familiar traveling companion. And though it may not offer us the answers we want, the book of Job helps us make sense of ourselves and of God in our darkest moments.

So here’s how we’re going to spend our time with the remaining four weeks of this series: We’re going to talk about how the book of Job offers four invitations to us. All of them are invitations to rethink or reimagine some aspect of God or ourselves.

We’re going to see that: 1. Job invites us to reimagine God’s economy, or how He works in the world. 2. Job invites us to honestly face the “Dark Night of the Soul.” 3. Job invites us to rethink our need for answers. 4. Job invites us to reimagine God’s endgame.

And I know that all probably sounds a little “ethereal” at this point, but I promise we’ll get there!

But at the end of this series, my genuine hope is that message of Job becomes for all of us that familiar friend as we navigate some of the most challenging, painful, and lonely seasons of life.

So to that end, let me pray, and we’ll get started.

Pray.

What is the Book of Job

Alright, let’s go ahead and get started.

Real quick - in case you missed last week, let me give you a quick summary of what this book is all about.

First, Job is part of what we call the “Wisdom Literature” in the Old Testament: along with Proverbs, Psalms, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon.

As a whole, this is what the bible means by “Wisdom.”

Wisdom is rightly understanding how God has ordered the world and aligning one’s life in trustful obedience to him.

In other words, the underlying point of the Wisdom books is to help us understanding more of what God is like and how we ought to operate in His world.

Second, while this book is biographical, it’s not intended to be a biography of Job. It is a story that has been very thoughtfully and intentionally arranged - with intricate, poetic speeches carrying us through most of the book.

I’m not saying there wasn’t a real person named Job who actually experienced tremendous suffering! But I think remembering this is poetry will help us make even more specific connections to what’s being talked about here - even when our own stories don’t match up exactly with Job’s. As poetry, it’s intended to provoke us and make us imagine and reimagine - think and rethink as we find ourselves in the story.

Recap of Job

Now, last week, Ed Travers talked about the beginning of the story - that Job was a good man.

Job 1:1 ESV

1 There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.

On top of that, he is fantastically healthy and wealthy. Kids, booming business, everything he could want. If there was a stereotype of the “good life”, it would be Job’s.

But here is the critical point in the book - Satan approaches God and essentially accuses Him of having a flawed way of working in the world.

Look carefully at v. 1o.

Job 1:10–11 ESV

10 Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11 But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.”

In other words - Satan says, “God, You know Job is only interested in you for the benefits, right? Obviously, if you bless those who bless you, they will bless you so that you will bless them. People don’t really love you...they just love what you can do for them.

He’s trying to point out that God actually has a pretty big problem on his hands - because if God is...let’s say, “fair,” then anyone who claims to follow him and obey him actually has self-serving motives.

Are you following me?

It’s like as a parent, if every time my kids did what I told them to do, I gave them a five dollar bill...doesn’t that give them an ulterior motive to obey me?

Maybe they do it because I’m their dad and they want to listen to me...maybe they just want five dollars....

And what’s hiding behind that is the the question, “What kind of relationship is that...really?”

Is that really love?

Do you see it now?

And friends, we cannot loose sight of this...the central issue in the book really has nothing to do with Job - it has to do with God. He is the one on trial in the book as Satan, the accuser, takes direct aim at the way He operates in the world!

Which actually makes a lot of sense if this is a wisdom book, right? Remember, wisdom in the bible has to do with how God operates in the world!

So in response to this accusation, in the story, God organizes a set of circumstances by which Job looses all the “blessings,” the good gifts from God - everything, from his business, his livelihood, his health, even his own children...everything he holds dear. And, unsurprisingly, he enters into a season of incredible pain - emotional, physical, relational, and spiritual pain.

In fact, it’s so bad, that when his friends hear about all that’s happened...they don’t even know what to say...at least not at first.

Look at the end of chapter 2.

Job 2:12–13 ESV

12 And when they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him. And they raised their voices and wept, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads toward heaven. 13 And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great.

Invitation to Reimagine God’s Economy

Alright, I know that’s a lot of context - but I think we actually need all that to actually make sense of this first invitation we’re talking about: the invitation to reimagine God’s economy; to reimagine how God operates in the world.

And I say “economy” not because it has to do with money - but this is the way that theologians summarize the multifaceted and interconnected ways God operates in the world.

But why are we talking about that? And why is the book of Job and invitation to reimagine that?

Well, remember, the central issue - brought up by Satan in chapter one - is that there is something inherently broken about the way God operates. If he will bless those who do good and, conceivably, punish those who do wrong, then He actually introduces an ulterior motive for His people to obey him! We may just want the five dollars!

And as you move through the book - Job’s friends echo that problem. Think of a courtroom. Satan is the prosecuting attorney - and Job’s friends are witnesses for the prosecution.

They actually represent the dominant belief of how God operates - and actually in a lot of ways, they represent the way we generally assume God works.

You, see Job’s friends believe that the primary attribute of God - the central, controlling aspect of Him, is that He is just...or that He is fair.

And when you read the book, you’ll see Job’s friends say some iteration of this over and over again...let me give you one example. And I know it’s a longer passage - but this represents how all the friends (including Job) believe God operates.

One of them (Eliphaz) says to him in chapter 5:

Job 5:8–16 ESV

8 “As for me, I would seek God, and to God would I commit my cause, 9 who does great things and unsearchable, marvelous things without number: 10 he gives rain on the earth and sends waters on the fields; 11 he sets on high those who are lowly, and those who mourn are lifted to safety. 12 He frustrates the devices of the crafty, so that their hands achieve no success. 13 He catches the wise in their own craftiness, and the schemes of the wily are brought to a quick end. 14 They meet with darkness in the daytime and grope at noonday as in the night. 15 But he saves the needy from the sword of their mouth and from the hand of the mighty. 16 So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts her mouth.

In other words - God takes care of the righteous and he deals with the unrighteous. You do good, you get good. You do bad, you get bad.

This is how they believe God works in the world - no exception...because He is JUST, or FAIR at the core of who He is!

Now, because they believe this about God, there, actually, is very little question as to what’s going on with Job. Over and over again, explain to him why all of this stuff has happened to him.

"Look, Job, if God is fair and you are suffering...you must have done something to deserve it.”

“This is how God works in the world!”

They say it this way in chapter 4:

Job 4:7–8 ESV

7 “Remember: who that was innocent ever perished? Or where were the upright cut off? 8 As I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same.

Now, I don’t want to spoil the rest of the book - but this kind of response is, shockingly, not helpful for Job.

But it’s not because they’re way off in what they say to him! Maybe they could’ve have just kept the opinion to themselves - and I don’t think you can really write off everything the friends say as “worldly wisdom” or something like that. In fact, if you flip over just a few pages into the Old Testament book of Proverbs, one of the other Wisdom books, you’d find A TON of alignment between what the friends are saying here. Proverbs is absolutely filled with the general idea that if you live a righteous life, you will be blessed...and if you don’t you will perish!

Sometimes you can draw a straight line between your actions and consequences. Like if I am a jerk and chase away any close relationships and them am incredibly lonely, the suffering is real, but I’m experiencing the consequences of my own sin.

See, the problem Job’s friends have is that this is the only way they can make sense of suffering and apply some meaning to it! It’s the most natural thing in the world for them to want to do! I’m not faulting them for it.

The issue is that they have such a high view of God’s JUSTICE, that they are forced into the conclusion that God will only ever give you what you deserve.

Which, frankly, works fine when your life is fine.

You can take a nice look at your life - the job, the house, the family...things might be moving along just fine thank you very much.

But, you see, when God, in our heart of hearts, is at His core fair, what else can we conclude in suffering other than we deserve it?

What else can you really conclude when your spouse is no longer there. What else can you conclude when you’re diagnosed again and the treatment path is very bleak. What happens when you’re spiritually, relationally stuck [EXPAND] again...?

More than that, I think we have to ask, “What does it actually do to our souls and how we even make sense of God when the primary thing motivating our relationship with Him is really just a desire not to get wacked?”

And I think it’s worth asking...even if we’ve never really said it out loud...is this how I view God? Is this how I view my relationship with him - essentially scared of what happens if I step out of line? And if it is, how might that belief play out over time - not just over a few day, but over years and year and years, really just worried about doing the right thing so that the wrong thing DOESN’T happen to you!

Friends, there’s a lot of words you could use to describe that kind of relationship, but I don’t think love is one of them.

PAUSE

What follows in the book of Job is this long - and honestly, painful, back and forth between Job and his friends, as they insist time and time again that he MUST have done something to deserve all this, while he, groping for answers, stumbles upon the idea that God must have missed something because there is nothing he can think of that he’s done.

All he wants to do is plead his case before God!

Job 23:3–4 ESV

3 Oh, that I knew where I might find him, that I might come even to his seat! 4 I would lay my case before him and fill my mouth with arguments.

And you can read along as Job doesn’t want to come out and say God is unjust - or that He’s not fair...but he’s circling around that very idea - that there is something off here...if only God would tell him why.

PAUSE

And then...God responds.

And it’s not at all what we’d expect!

You see, all along the way, the book is building to this moment where Job’s friends find out what he actually did to deserve this...where Job finds out why God has seemingly violated his core principle of justice and fairness...

Job 38:1–3 ESV

1 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said: 2 “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? 3 Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me.

And then, He begins to walk through all of creation.

Job 38:4–6 ESV

4 “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. 5 Who determined its measurements—surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? 6 On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone,

It goes on like this for two chapters!

And there is a way to read as basically one long, “How dare you...who do you think you are?”

But that would be odd right? Like that doesn’t really fit the picture of God who is like Father who cares for His children is, as the Psalms declare:

Psalm 145:8–9 ESV

8 ...Gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. 9 The Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made.

No you see, this is God saying gently, but clearly, “Job, there are things in this world that you don’t know. There are things in this world that you can’t see.” But you see what has actually happened is that God has invited Job to reimagine how He operates in the world.

That actually, while Job, his friends, and us may think God, at his core, is JUST and fair, God, through the book of Job invites us to reimagine Him as one who, more than fair is Wise! That he is one who is far bigger and far greater than anything we could see!

And as the rest of the story of the Bible unfolds, we find this God to be One who is wonderfully unfair! Who graciously and lovingly gives us what we have not earned...what we have not deserved...because if we were to get what’s coming to us...the scriptures confirm, that in our brokenness...in our failure to live the way we’ve been created to live...if there’s anything we’ve earned it is judgment!

But God, in his wonderful unfairness has made a way for us to be made well...has made a way for us to be restored to Him when we should have been rejected...when we should have been left on our own, having walked away!

You see the book of Job still points forward to another One who who was blameless and upright...but was treated unfairly! It’s in the person and work of Jesus that we see God’s ultimately plan to redeem and heal come to fruition - and His Divine unfairness is on full display as Jesus, who lived the life we should have but failed to live...lovingly and willingly says to God, “Father, give me what I don’t deserve...and give them what THEY don’t deserve!”

And in a great exchange:

2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV

21 For our sake He (God) made him (Jesus) to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Friends, do you see what’s happening here in the book of Job?

We have been invited to rethink and reimagine God’s economy...how He works in the world...and how He works with us! He is not a “you simply get what you deserve” God. No, see when we put our faith and trust in Jesus, He is a “You get what He deserves” God.

So What?

So what now?

How does reimaging God’s Economy help us?

Well, in the short run, it probably doesn’t.

Some of you here today are in deep seasons of pain...and the thing that you don’t need is for someone to stand up here and try and explain to you why you’re going through what you’re going through.

But I will say, what the book of Job offers us in the long run, with the invitation to reimagine how God operates, is really the freeing truth that He is not one who has just been waiting to “strike you.” You do not need to be resigned like Job and his friends to that being the only option...

No, friend, you are invited to reimagine God...how He works...and what He’s like...as one who is a loving, good, and from the core of His being, a wise Father.

[EXPAND]

How do we take hold of this invitation?

-Wisdom is not always action oriented...but reflection oriented.

—Reading Job. The Whole Thing.

-Remembering God’s Wonderful Unfairness in The Lord’s Supper.

Communion Set Up

1 Corinthians 11:23–26 ESV

23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.