Loving God, you remind us through Job that you hear, and you see, and you answer, even in the midst of despair.  Fill our hearts with faith, hope and love by the power of your Spirit, that others might encounter Jesus through us, for in his name we pray.  Amen.

            As today’s reading begins, Job is in the midst of despair.  He has concluded that life is short and full of trouble, and there is more hope for a tree than there is for him (Job 14).  He has seen what can happen to a tree.  He has seen the old, rotten stump that can send forth new shoots, giving birth to new life.  However, he has also seen the lake or the river that has totally dried up and disappeared.  Human beings, he imagines, are more like the dried-up waters.  They expire, and will they ever awake again?

         Still, Job seems to think that he would be better off dead.  He wishes that God would hide him in Sheol – the land of shadows – the place of the dead.  He wishes that he could just be hidden there for a while and not have to endure all of the trouble that God seems to have brought upon him.  He is, after all, still grieving the loss of his children.

         While some might think that the book of Job is kind of depressing, far too many people are able to relate to Job’s despair.  Some, who have lost children, know exactly how he feels.  Others struggle from day to day just to be able to provide for their family and have enough to eat.  Still others don’t see any hope for their future and drown their sorrows with alcohol or drugs.  And how many big issues have people been discussing lately that could easily lead to despair?

         In spite of government promises to eradicate poverty, it continues to run rampant in nations around the world.  At the same time, how many places are there during this pandemic where income for the wealthy is valued more than the lives of other people?  Corruption seems to run rampant.  Care homes that are run in order to make a profit continue to resist providing adequate staffing and protection for residents.  Black and Indigenous people continue to end up dead at the hands of police.  And profit continues to be valued more than caring for the planet on which we live.

         It is easy to see how people sink into despair, and it is just as easy to see how Job sunk into despair.  Job, however, had one thing that many people in today’s world lack.  Even in the midst of his anguish and anger and despair, Job believed that “God hears, God sees, and God will answer” (workingpreacher.org).  This faith leads to the capacity for hope, even in the midst of despair.

         In the first part of today’s reading, which is mostly a prayer of despair, there is one tiny hint that there might be hope.  We hear, “mortals lie down and do not rise again; until the heavens are no more, they will not awake” (Job 14:12).  Is this the tiniest hint that there might be resurrection in the end – when “the heavens are no more”?  However, then we hear this astonishing expression of faith and hope in chapter 19:

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 (Job 19:25-26).

         Many of you have probably heard these verses before – perhaps at a funeral, or perhaps being sung as part of Handel’s Messiah.  In spite of the fact that most of Job was written many years before the birth of Jesus, Christians have always seen Jesus in these verses.  This is actually not surprising, as the Hebrew word that can be translated as Redeemer or Vindicator implies somebody who will be a mediator between God and humanity.  As one who is both human and divine, Jesus certainly fulfills this role.  And, while Job didn’t seem to have a mediator like this, he does actually “see God” at the end of the book of Job (42:5).

         As we will see in the coming weeks, there was, in fact, hope for Job in this life, as well as in the next.  Death is not the only way out of his despair and anguish, and it is not the only way out for us, either.  While it is true that there will be challenges and sorrows in this life, it is often during those times that we are most aware of the presence and power of God.  In fact, even when we are not sure if God hears us or not, we have the Holy Spirit, who prays for us when we don’t have the words (Rom. 8:26).

         Now, it is true that things like racism and corruption and greed and poverty are not going to magically disappear.  We can certainly pray for a miracle, but sometimes God actually uses us as an answer to our own prayers.  Just as many of the causes for despair in our world are perpetrated by people, so those who are part of the body of Christ can also perpetrate the love of God in our world.

         When we pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven,” we are also asking that this would happen in and through us, by the power of the Holy Spirit.  We are the hands and feet of Christ in our world, who continues to bring healing and new life and forgiveness to those who believe in him.  Our Redeemer lives – both in and through us, and in many of the people whom we meet.  Our calling continues to be to share the love of God with all people.

         This includes standing up for those who are oppressed, and always choosing people over profit.  This includes treating all people with dignity and respect, especially those who are mistreated by others and those who are in need, for this is the way of Christ.  May we bring hope in the midst of despair, just as the Holy Spirit gives us the gifts of faith, hope and love, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Pentecost 3 (NL summer)              Job 14:7-15; 19:23-27

June 21, 2020

St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church

Pastor Lynne Hutchison

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