Loving God, just as Jesus often used the Scriptures to challenge people, so we, too, often have our assumptions challenged by Scripture. In all things, teach us to hear your voice and to do your will; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Job’s friends had certain assumptions about how things worked. They believed that when bad things happened to people, it could only be for one reason: God was punishing them. And so, when Job suddenly lost everything he owned, and all of his children were killed, and he developed sores all over his body, his friends told him that he had better ‘fess up to all of his sins, for surely God was punishing him.

Well, Job didn’t believe them. He could think of nothing that he had ever done that would be bad enough to merit all of the misery that he was experiencing. In fact, Job continued to bless God. He says: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there; the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21).

Job continues to worship God, and his friends continue to insist that the sort of things that have happened to Job only happen to the ungodly. It is at this point in the conversation that Job gives the proclamation of faith that we heard today:

For I know that my Redeemer lives, and that at the last he will stand upon the earth; and after my skin has been thus destroyed, then in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see on my side, and my eyes shall behold, and not another (Job 19:25-27).

In spite of what everybody else might be saying, Job believes that in the end, he will be vindicated. He will not be cut off from God, but he will see God, and God will not be against him, but for him.

As it turns out, Job’s faith is not misplaced. Although Job is chastised for insisting that he is totally innocent and righteous – something that is impossible for human beings – in the end he is vindicated and blessed by God. Although everybody had insisted that God was punishing Job, it was not so. Rather, Satan was the one who was trying to attack and destroy Job’s faith. Job was not being punished for his sins. He was simply experiencing some of the trials and tribulations that often are part of life here on this earth.

The message of the entire book of Job is that when bad things happen to good people, it is not because God is punishing them. Sometimes Satan is attacking. Sometimes the choices of sinful human beings cause misery for others. Sometimes it is simply part of life as a human being in this broken world. Yet, how many people are there who still believe the same as Job’s friends did? How many people are there who believe that God is punishing them whenever something bad happens to them? Will we allow the Scriptures to challenge our assumptions?

In today’s gospel we find a whole different set of assumptions which are held by the Sadducees and challenged by Jesus. The Sadducees actually are trying to trap Jesus when they come to him with this question about marriage and children and the resurrection. In fact, based on the Sadducees’ own belief system, none of the brothers whom they mention, nor the woman who married them would be eligible for eternal life.

You see, to their way of thinking, a man had eternal life when he had a son who would carry on his family name and lineage. This was the whole reason for the law that they mentioned to Jesus about brothers being obligated to raise up children for a brother who died childless (Deut. 25:5-10). It was a way of ensuring eternal life for their childless brother through a son.

However, Jesus makes it clear that whether you are married or not and whether you have children or not makes no difference when we’re talking about resurrection and eternal life. All are eligible to be children of God through their faith in Jesus Christ. Men and women, single and married, parents and those who are childless: All have a place in the kingdom of God. Eternal life is a gift of God and is so much more than men carrying on their family name through their sons.

Yet, how many people still assume that people need to be married and have children in order to be acceptable in God’s eyes and in the eyes of the Christian community? Is this something that people still believe? Are people looked at strangely if they are single or if they don’t have any children? Both Jesus’ teaching in today’s gospel and Paul’s writing in 1 Corinthians (7:1-16) are far more inclusive than this. Will we allow the Scriptures to challenge our assumptions?

Finally, we come to the fact that today is Remembrance Day, and all of our assumptions that go with that observance. As it turns out, there are many tensions that show up at such times between our lives in this age and in the age to come. To give you an example, I was talking to somebody this week whose father fought for Germany in the second World War. As it turns out, he didn’t have much choice. He was conscripted. Yet, the family now lives in Canada and always experiences Remembrance Day as a time of shame. What does the gospel have to say to those people today?

At the same time, there are many Christians in Canada and around the world who are pacifists. Many of these people would refuse to fight in any war, and don’t want to be part of anything that would glorify war in any way. They take their direction from the Scriptures and focus on the many passages that encourage us to learn “the things that make for peace” (Lk. 19:42). What does the gospel have to say to those people today?

Of course, there are also those, both Christian and otherwise, who have served in our armed forces both in the past and in the present. They would focus more on Scripture passages that talk about being good citizens and opposing enemies who would take away our freedom and the freedom of others. They would focus on standing up for those who need our help and who cannot stand up for themselves. They are the ones who mourn the loss of their comrades and who carry with them the wounds of what they have experienced and seen. What does the gospel have to say to those people today, and to the members of their families?

For one thing, there is truly a word of hope at the end of today’s gospel from Luke. In the gospel, Jesus points out that when God appears to Moses in the burning bush, he is identified as “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” (Lk. 20:37). These people were all dead at the time, and Jesus concludes that God “is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive” (Lk. 20:38). Especially for those who have lost friends and family members, and even for those who are concerned about loved ones over in Afghanistan, this is very much a word of hope. Every one of them are alive to God and are in God’s sight. Not one of them will be forgotten or abandoned, even as we pray for them today.

Today, we do remember, even as we listen for what the Scriptures have to say to us. We listen as we are reminded that the kingdom of God is not of this world (Jn. 18:36), and that our unity in Christ goes far beyond the boundaries that are created by nations. We listen as we are reminded of Isaiah’s vision for the future, where swords will be beaten into ploughshares and spears into pruning hooks – where nations shall not “learn war any more” (Isa. 2:4). We listen as we are reminded that each and every person is visible to God and has every hair on their head counted – for we are of so much more value than the sparrows who are cared for by God (Mt. 10:29-31). We listen, even as we come to God in prayer, lifting up those who are bowed down, and remembering the things that make for peace. Amen.

Lectionary 32(C) / Remembrance Day Job 19:23-27a
November 11, 2007 Luke 20:27-38
St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church
Pastor Lynne Hutchison Moore

© 2007 Lynne Hutchison Moore All Rights Reserved