Knowing God

Here we are on our second to last week of Job. We pick up with God continuing to tell Job about creation and rhetorically asking questions about how different parts of the world came into being. God then goes on to talk about the great Leviathan creature and how there is nothing in creation that can subdue the chaos that Leviathan brings…except God of course. God continues to talk about the Leviathan creature throughout the rest of Job 41. Perhaps God isn’t so much trying to point out that God is the only one who can subdue the might and chaos that Leviathan represents, but instead is trying to parallel God’s own self with Leviathan.

Job is a long story in the Bible and to cover it in 6 weeks we have to take snippets here and there, but there are portions of the story of Job where Job has attacked creation by calling it chaotic as we can see in Job 9. He then seems to think that God has singled him out for a personal attack of Job in Job 7. In both of these moments and in others throughout the story of Job, we see Job essentially saying that he knows what God is like. He assumes that what he says is the actual behavior and way of God. We even talked about in our sermon series how Job did not like the advice he was receiving from his friends and perhaps realized that his advice was maybe as equally unhelpful to those he was giving it to at those times. So I say again, Job seems to claim he knows God.

When God talks about Leviathan and rightly points out that there is no way that Job, or anyone else for that matter, can tame or catch it God is showing Job that there is so much he doesn’t understand about Leviathan. There is so much about this great creature that goes beyond Job’s understanding or ability to place Leviathan in a box. That is exactly why I said earlier that God is comparing God’s own self to Leviathan. Job called creation chaotic and said that he was being singled out by God. Job felt he knew exactly what God was all about. If Job can’t know where lightning bolts will strike, or when the rain will come. If Job cannot understand the wonder and awe of Leviathan, then how can he possibly think he understands the intricate workings of God? If no human can tame Leviathan by putting it on a leash as Job 41:5 asks, then how is it that we think we can speak definitively about everything that God does in this world and in our lives?

God has shown time and time again that God’s ways are not our ways as we see in Isaiah 55:8-9. God is trying to show Job that despite all the things that he does know about God and creation isn’t the whole story. God loves all creation and God’s finger isn’t just being placed on Job for random chaotic amusement.

I believe that God is saying all of these things to remind Job that creation is just as important as each and every one of us. As we talked about last week there is this tension between loss of something from creation (like loved ones) and the the beauty of creation that God gave us. That coupled with the reminder that we cannot know everything about God and God’s ways helps us to understand what I believe Job finally gets in Job 42:1-6.

Job acknowledges that God can do anything. Job acknowledges that there are things about God that we cannot understand. In that acknowledgement he then opens himself up to listening to what has said and what God will say in the future. Through God’s discourse on the workings of creation and the creatures in it, God helps Job realize how much he doesn’t know and he cannot control. Through that God has helped Job to empty himself of all this preconceived understanding of God and the world. I mean Job really thought he knew it all, or at least good enough to feel justified in everything he said up until this point. He was blessed with a huge family, large amounts of land and livestock. That was the epitome of what people thought it meant to be blessed. Because of that Job used that ‘status’, even if he didn’t see it that way, to offer advice and help to those who weren’t as blessed as he was. As we can see through this story, and as we have talked a little about today, that he thought he knew God was better than he actually knew God.

Now emptied, Job declares in Job 42:4 that he is ready to listen to what God has to say. He is ready to listen to God with open ears and and open heart. Job has been emptied and has emptied himself of whatever notions and noise that were already in there so that he can truly listen to the voice of God. I love the way that Job 42:5 is worded. Job says that he had heard of God through his ears. It wasn’t until now that he actually sees God with his eyes. Job now knows God. Seeing through the beauty of creation, the order and not the chaos. The love and not the vindictiveness. The care and not the callousness. In Job 42:6 he says that he despises himself. That word can also mean relent or reject, and in light of what Job has just said I believe he doesn’t hate himself but hates the way he used to think about the world and God and is now ready to repent and move forward with a fuller understanding of God.

What do we need to let go of? What preconceived notions about this world and the people in it do we need to reject in order to open ourselves up to the Word of God? What are the things that we need to empty out of our lives so that we can fully embrace the Good News that God brings through Jesus Christ? A message meant for all people in all circumstances and walks of life? A message that says that even I am welcome to the family and body of Christ. A message that says the God of all the universe loves each and every thing God made in it. The God that made the lightning bolt and the rivers, Leviathan and all creatures. The God that made you and me, and all of us. A message of love for you, a message of love for me, a message of love for all. Amen.