"As for Me....." Job 5:1-2, 6-9 Summer Sermon Series Opener: Your Next Miracle: Personal Choices That Create Miracles

Job 5:1–2 (NRSV)

“Call now; is there anyone who will answer you?

To which of the holy ones will you turn?

Surely vexation kills the fool,

and jealousy slays the simple.

Job 5:6–9 NRSV

For misery does not come from the earth, nor does trouble sprout from the ground; but human beings are born to trouble just as sparks fly upward. “As for me, I would seek God, and to God I would commit my cause. He does great things and unsearchable, marvelous things without number.

INTRODUCTION

THERE IS A BEAUTIFUL PIECE OF SCRIPTURE THAT HAS SERVED AS AN ENCOURAGEMENT FOR GENERATIONS

UNTOLD TO TALK ABOUT THEIR FAITH....TO SHARE SOMETHING VITAL ABOUT THEIR JOURNEY WITH THE LORD OUR

GOD.....AS WE BEGIN THIS NEW SERIES TODAY, ON YOUR NEXT MIRACLE, I BEGIN WITH THE HOPE THAT ALL OF US

WILL FEEL GOOD ABOUT SHARING OUR PERSPECTIVE ON WHERE MIRACLES FIT INTO OUR FAITH, HOW OUR

AWARENESS OF THEM IN THE PAST & PRESENT HELP US PREPARE FOR THE ONES COMING…THE ONES GOD HAS

YET TO UNFOLD IN OUR LIVES AND IN THE LIVES OF OUR FAMILIES AND FRIENDS....MIRACLES THAT WE CAN

ANTICIPATE, WELCOME AND SOMETIMES BE SURPRISED BY.........

THAT PIECE OF SCRIPTURE SO BOLD IN ITS DECLARATION AND ENCOURAGEMENT IS FROM JOSHUA 24:15

Joshua 24:15 NRSV

Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

“BUT AS FOR ME AND MY HOUSE....WE WILL SERVE THE LORD”

WITH AN EMPHASIS ON… “AS FOR ME......” AND THE CHOICES WE MAKE FROM DAY ONE OF OUR FAITH JOURNIES,

WHOM WE WILL SERVE.....THIS PIECE OF SCRIPTURE IS CONNECTED TO ISRAEL GOING FROM THE WILDERNESS

YEARS INTO THE PROMISED LAND YEARS.....ISRAEL

MOVING FROM THE THE YEARS WITH MOSES AS THEIR LEADER....TO MOVING FORWARD WITH JOSHUA IN

CHARGE.....IT WAS ANOTHER BEARER OF FAITH, CAROLINE MYSS WHO SPOKE ELOQUENTLY AND ELEGANTLY OF

FAITH OF HER YOUTH AND GROWING UP YEARS, SAYING:

WHEN I WAS GROWING UP ROMAN CATHOLIC, WE WERE BILINGUAL IN ENGLISH AND ANGELS. MIRACLES

COULD HAPPEN EVERY DAY. THE INVISIBLE POWER OF ANGELS AND SAINTS WAS AND THEIR EXISTENCE WAS

A GIVEN, A FACT, ORDINARY. IT WOULD HAVE BEEN UNTHINKABLE NOT TO BELIEVE IN THEM. EVERY DAY

WAS A SAINTS DAY AND GAVE US THE OPPORTUNITY TO RECOGNIZE THE IMPORTANCE OF A PARTICULAR

VIRTUE OR ENERGY THAT EACH SAINT EMBODIED. WE REGULARLY INVOKED THE SAINTS AND ANGELS

STRENGTH: ST. JUDE GAVE US THE COURAGE TO FACE IMPOSSIBLE CAUSES; ST. ANTHONY HELPED US

NOTICE AND FIND LOST OBJECTS; ST. FRANCIS PROTECTED OUR ANIMALS AND TAUGHT US COMPASSION

FOR ALL LIFE. EVEN AS AN ADULT, WHEN I WAS SELLING MY HOME RECENTLY AND WANTED TO MAKE IT GO

AS FAR AS POSSIBLE, I BORROWED A STATUE OF ST. JOSEPH FROM A CLOSE CHILDHOOD FRIEND AND,

ACCORDING TO TRADITION, BURIED IT UPSIDE DOWN IN THE BACKYARD. SAY WHAT YOU WILL, BUT MY

HOUSE SOLD WITHIN DAYS OF THAT LITTLE RITUAL.

HANG IN FOR THIS ENTIRE 6-WEEK SERIES AND I AM TRUSTING THAT GOD WILL USE MANY MODES OF REVELATION

AND MOVEMENTS OF THE SPIRIT TO ASSURE THAT YOU’LL KNOW MORE ABOUT MIRACLES THAN YOU USED TO,

YOU’LL BE SET TO SEE AND RECEIVE THE NEXT ONE GOD HAS DUBBED UP FOR YOU AND WHILE YOU MAY NOT BE AS

CONVERSANT IN THE SAINTS AS CAROLINE MYSS IS, YOU’LL BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR HOW YOUR ANGELS ARE

WORKING ON YOUR BEHALF, AND HOW MUCH THE SPIRIT OF GOD CAN ENCOURAGE YOU IN THESE DIFFICULT

TIMES.......AMEN? AMEN!!!!!!!!

CATHOLICS AND PROTESTANTS ON MIRACLES

THOUGH NO SUMMATION CAN ACCURATELY CAPTURE ALL THE INFLUENCES OF THE AGES ON THE SUBJECT OF

MIRACLES WE ALL ARE SOMEWHAT INFLUENCED BY PERCEPTIONS LIKE THESE TWO, BELOVEDS:

In Catholic tradition, miracles represent more than physical healing. They also confirm what Jesus preached:

that God is willing to intervene in people's lives and can take away their suffering.

Belief in miracles is thus obligatory in the Roman Catholic Church, although belief in any specific miracle is not

necessarily so. Classical Protestantism, however, has confined its belief in miracles to those recorded in

Scripture.

THE GREATEST PROTESTANT REFORMER, MARTIN LUTHER FOR INSTANCE CHOSE TO BELIEVE IN MIRACLES

BECAUSE HE LIVED A FEW OF THEM HIMSELF:

Martin Luther saw miraculous answers to prayer and experienced courage in the most excruciating

situations that can only be explained as a manifestation of the gift of faith.

An example of such faith in the life of Luther occurred when he received word that his friend and colleague,

Frederick Myconius, lay dying in the last stages of tuberculosis. When Luther read this report, a

supernatural and bold faith rose up in his heart. He then penned a letter to Myconius in which he said, “I

command you in the Name of God to live because I still have need of you in the work of reforming the

Church. The Lord will never let me hear that you are dead but will permit you to survive me. For this I am

praying, this is my will, and may my will be done because I seek only to glorify the Name of God.”

Myconius said that when he read the letter it seemed as though he heard Christ say, “Lazarus, come forth!”

Luther’s words were fulfilled. Myconius was healed and outlived Luther by two months.

FOR MIRACLES TO WORK IN YOUR LIFE THE “AS FOR ME” QUESTION IS ONE OF REFLECTION, ONE OF GRACE AND

GOD’S GOOD WILL.....THE QUESTION OF JOB’S MIRACLE COMES INTO FOCUS FOR US THIS MORNING.....AND I AM

ESPECIALLY GRATEFUL TO MARTIN LUTHER FOR THE RECORD OF HIS LIVING OUT THE MIRACULOUS, SO HE COULD

BELIEVE MORE DEEPLY AND COMPLETELY IN MIRACLES, BELOVEDS....

JOB’S MIRACLE DIDN’T COME WITHOUT TREMENDOUS PAIN

LIFE WAS FALLING APART FOR JOB.....ALL HIS FAITHFULNESS AND FIDELITY BEFORE THE ALMIGHTY DID NOT SAVE

HIM FROM HIS PAIN.....HIS LOSSES WERE MOUNTING WHEN WE HEAR THESE FATEFUL WORDS FROM HIS FRIEND,

ELIPHAZ IN THE TEXT, “AS FOR ME”.......

ONE THEOLOGIAN POINTED OUT THAT THE TEXT SHOWS US THAT ELIPHAZ WAS JOB’S OLDEST FRIEND BECAUSE IT

WAS ELIPHAZ THAT SPOKE FIRST TO JOB OF HIS THREE FRIENDS......ISN’T IT OUR HOPE, BELOVED, THAT OUR

OLDEST FRIENDS WILL SPEAK TO US WITH THE MOST SOOTHING WORDS WHEN THE WORST IS HAPPENING IN OUR

LIVES? BUT TO SPEAK OF ELIPHAZ AS JOBS’S OLDEST FRIEND, HERE, IS SIMPLY TO RECOGNIZE HE WAS THE

OLDEST IN CHRONOLOGICAL AGE OF THE 3 FRIENDS....AND PERHAPS NOT HIS DEAREST OF THE 3 FRIENDS....

THIS “AS FOR ME....” IS CLOSE TO A PUT DOWN....A CONDESCENDING WAY OF DEALING WITH JOB.......TO GET TO

JOB’S MIRACLE, YOU BEGIN SEEING JOB’S PAIN AND DOWNFALL IN CHAPTER 1, AND YOU’VE GOT TO KEEP READING,

AND READING AND FOR ME YOU DON’T SEE JOB’S MIRACLE UNTIL YOU GET TO THE FINAL CHAPTER, CHAPTER 42...

IT WAS THE SCOTTISH THEOLOGIAN, THOMAS BOSTON, WHO COULD HAVE JOINED JOB’S FRIEND ELIPHAZ IN THE

NOTION THAT SOMEHOW IT WAS JOB WHO SINNED AND IT WAS SIN THAT BROUGHT GOD’S WRATH UPON HIM........

Surely, BOSTON SAID, corruption is ingrained in our hearts, interwoven with our very natures, has sunk deep into

our souls, and will never be cured but by a miracle of grace.

SO EVEN FOR BOSTON....A MIRACLE COULD EMERGE.....A MIRACLE COULD COME TO PASS.....AND IF THE MIRACLE OF

JOB’S RESTORATION WASN’T ENOUGH, WHAT ABOUT THE MOMENT SCRIPTURE REVEALED IT WASN’T JOB’S SIN AT

ALL.....THAT CAUSED JOB ALL HIS TROUBLES, TRIALS AND TRAVAIL......CHAPTER 42 IS A MIRACULOUS RECANTING

OF JOB’S RESTORATION AGAINST ALL ODDS, BELOVEDS......

APPRECIATING YOUR NEXT MIRACLE

THE OUTSTANDING REVEREND MICHAEL SLAUGHTER NOTED SOMETHING IMPORTANT ABOUT MIRACLES AND THE

MIRACULOUS THAT WILL BE INFUSED THROUGHOUT OUR 6-WEEK SERIES.....HE WROTE:

Miracles come at a cost and require something of us.

To experience miracles, you must realize that miracles aren’t for you; God releases miracles through you for

God’s purposes in the lives of other people. Where is God calling you to heal, teach, preach, redeem, and

restore that which is broken, struggling, or suffering in the world God loves?

MIRACLES remind us that there is something more to this life than simply going to work, paying the bills,

and playing a little golf on Saturdays. Deep down inside we desire action, adventure, or anything that pulls

us out of what sometimes feels like the “rinse and repeat” humdrum of everyday life.

WHAT ARE THE HOPES THAT YOU STILL TREASURE AND CHERISH IN YOUR HEART TODAY? NOT JUST FOR

YOURSELVES BUT FOR OTHERS TOO? MIRACLES AHEAD FOR YOU CAN BE THE MANIFESTATION OF THOSE HOPES....

THE THING THAT ELIPHAZ GOT RIGHT IN HIS SPEECH TO JOB WAS HIS CONCLUDING 2 VERSES:

But as for me, I would seek God; I would lay my cause before God.

Who does great things beyond comprehension,

wonders without number.

WONDERS WITHOUT NUMBER THERE IN THE TEXT SOUND LIKE MIRACLES TO ME, BELOVEDS....

MIRACLES - CHOOSE MIRACLES, BELOVEDS......

LISTEN AGAIN TO THE WONDER IN THE WORDS OF JESUS, OUR SAVIOR, IN JOHN 15: 16

John 15:16 NRSV

You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name.

Psalm 65:4 ESV

Blessed is the one you choose and bring near, to dwell in your courts! We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, the holiness of your temple!

SONGWRITER BRYAN JEFFREY LEECH REMINDED US OF WHAT IT MEANS TO BE CHOSEN BY GOD.....AND GOD

CHOOSES YOU TO SHOW MIRACLES TO....GOD CHOOSES YOU TO WORK MIRACLES THROUGH.....BRYAN’S

BEAUTIFUL LYRICS TO ONE OF HIS SONGS SAYS:

WE ARE GOD’S PEOPLE, THE CHOSEN OF THE LORD, BORN OF HIS SPIRIT, ESTABLISHED BY HIS WORD; OUR

CORNERSTONE IS CHRIST ALONE, AND STRONG IN HIM WE STAND, O LET US LIVE TRANSPARENTLY, AND

WALK HEART TO HEART AND HAND IN HAND.

AS FOR YOU, BELOVED, AND AS FOR ME......LET’S CHOOSE MIRACLES THIS SUMMER.......LET’S CHOOSE TO HEAR

AND SHARE THE IMMORTAL WORDS OF HELEN KELLER AGAIN:

WHEN WE DO THE BEST THAT WE CAN, WE NEVER KNOW WHAT MIRACLE IS WROUGHT IN OUR LIFE, OR IN THE LIFE

OF ANOTHER......

LET’S BE OPEN TO THE EXTRAORDINARY…FROM ACTS, THE 19th CHAPTER, NEXT SUNDAY....

LET US PRAY...........