Job 8:20-9:10     OT p. 446 or 638

[20] "See, God will not reject a blameless person,
nor take the hand of evildoers.

[21] He will yet fill your mouth with laughter,
and your lips with shouts of joy.

[22] Those who hate you will be clothed with shame,
and the tent of the wicked will be no more."

[9:1] Then Job answered:

[2] "Indeed I know that this is so;
but how can a mortal be just before God?

[3] If one wished to contend with him,
one could not answer him once in a thousand.

[4] He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength
--who has resisted him, and succeeded?--

[5] he who removes mountains, and they do not know it,
when he overturns them in his anger;

[6] who shakes the earth out of its place,
and its pillars tremble;

[7] who commands the sun, and it does not rise;
who seals up the stars;

[8] who alone stretched out the heavens
and trampled the waves of the Sea;

[9] who made the Bear and Orion,
the Pleiades and the chambers of the south;

[10] who does great things beyond understanding,
and marvelous things without number.

[NRSV]

INTRODUCTION:

My all time favorite movie is Frank Capra's "It's A Wonderful Life" starring Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed. What a classic. It's a movie about a man who suddenly finds his life in despair.

Through the forgetfulness of his uncle and the downright, mean spirited, stinginess of Mr. Potter, owner of the Bank and nearly everything else in Bedford Falls, George Bailey finds himself on the brink of ruin. The day's deposit from the Bailey Building and Loan has disappeared and the Bank Examiner is there.

Under accusations of malfeasance, George Bailey's life seems to be unraveling before his very eyes. He finds himself driven totally to despair. He's never had much but the Building and Loan, his family and his friends and his good name, and now all of that is about to be stripped from him for something he didn't do.

He was innocent, yet he found himself in the heart of a storm that threatened to take him under. And in that despair he is ready to end it all.

Sounds a lot like our friend Job doesn't it? Maybe "It's A Wonderful Life" is a modern telling of Job. It certainly is a unique way to look at life. In the movie an angel, Clarence, intervenes to let George Bailey see exactly what the world would have been like if he hadn't been born.

Can you imagine that? What would your life have been like if one of those significant people in your life hadn't been born? What kind of impact would there have been if your best friend hadn't been born? Or a favorite aunt or uncle. Or a particular teacher, professor or preacher? What would it have been like if YOU had never been born?

It's an interesting question that has puzzled the mind of story tellers and philosophers for centuries. What if a particular person had never been born? What influence did their life have? What if YOU had never been born? What influence has your life had? How many lives have you affected? How many lives have you changed?

That's NOT one of the questions Job asks in this Biblical epic about trials and temptations is it? Job asks the same questions we always ask. "Why?" "Why ME?"

And he knows in his heart that there really isn't an answer because he has been faithful and righteous and walked with the Lord without fail. Job doesn't understand what is happening to him.

Job didn't understand why all the tragedy had happened to him. He felt like George Bailey, desperate and alone. He felt just like we feel in the midst of suffering and tragedy. He asked the questions we asked after the Murrah Federal Building was blown up. He felt the same loss for words and ache in his heart that we felt after the Columbine High School shooting. He felt the same deep wound in his soul that we felt after the Wedgewood Baptist Church shooting.

Job ached from the inside out. He even cursed the day he was born. Job needed someone to understand. Job needed someone who was willing to experience it from the inside out with him. Or someone who, like himself, had experienced it all from the inside out. Not those who had only experienced it from the outside in.

I. WITH FRIENDS LIKE THIS:

A. Now, I can't prove it. I don't know the etymology or origin of the phrase. I can't parse the original Hebrew to see if I'm right. But I'd guess that the origin of the phrase: "With friends like you, who needs enemies," began with Job.

In the midst of Job's suffering and loss; in the midst of his desperation and hopelessness his friends came to offer solace and comfort. They came to ease Job's suffering. But instead all they really did was pour salt on an already open and painful wound. All they really did was inflict more pain. They meant well. But they didn't understand. They coul only look from the outside in. And Job needed someone who could look at the situation from the inside out. He needed someone who had experienced what he was experiencing. Or someone who was willing to enter the experience with him.

Job needed someone who knew what was happening to walk with him through the tragedy. Job needed someone who could empathize with him. Not someone who would pontificate about all the things he should have done or could have done. Not someone who would look at his life and tell him that surely he must have done something wrong or God wouldn't be treating him this way. And he certainly didn't need someone to tell him repeatedly to repent and turn back to God. He'd never left.

Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar got it wrong. They all assumed that Job had done something to displease God. They all assumed that Job had sinned and that Job needed to repent and get rid of the guilt. They were working from false assumptions. But Scripture describes Job as: "blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil." He even intervened on behalf of his children and made offerings for them, in case they had sinned.

This is the kind of guy who harbored a secret sin? This is the kind of guy who needed to repent? Thar's is sort of like accusing Gandhi of using excessive force in dealing with someone. This is like accusing Elvis of lip-synching to someone else's voice for all those years. It's like accusing the Pope of being in a secret alliance with the Mormon Church to conquer the world. (Wait, maybe I saw that in one of the Tabloids while waiting in line at the Grocery Store.) The point is, it's absurd!

There was no one more faithful than Job. That's why God chose Job. he knew that even though tragedy came his way, Job would remain faithful. He might curse the day he was born, he might loathe his life, but he would never turn away from God.

B. What Job needed was someone to walk with him who knew how he felt from the inside out. And if that couldn't be found, then at least someone who could enter into Job's pain with him and look at it from the inside out.

Unfortunately, none of Job's friends were able to do this. And as time passed and things got worse, they began to distance themselves from Job. Why? For a couple of reasons:

1) First, they couldn't explain away Job's tragedy. They couldn't understand why this had happened. Their pat answers weren't so pat. And it scared them. And so rather than puzzling out the answer. Rather than living with the their lack of understanding, they backed away. And they distanced themselves from their friend, Job

2) Second, I think they were afraid that it would rub off on them. You know how they say that "Misery loves company." Well, I believe they thought if they stuck around Job for too long, some of the tragedy of his life would rub off on them. They'd carry it home like an infectious disease and they didn't want that.

3) Third, they couldn't see Job's tragedy from the inside out. They didn't have the ability to do anything but look at it from the outside in.

II. FROM THE INSIDE OUT:

I want to tell about Danny and Linda. Danny and Linda are wonderful people. Danny is Vice President of a bank. Linda, loves kids, especially teenagers and works as a receptionist at the High School. They had two children, Curtis and Cindy. Linda was only able to have one child, Curtis. But Danny and Linda wanted more, so they adopted a beautiful little girl and named her Cindy.

Curtis and Paul, our oldest son, became best friends. They did everything together. They were in band together. Danny, Linda, Mary and I worked the concession stand together to support the band. And we became good friends. Whenever I was in the bank and Danny wasn't busy, he and I would just sit and talk. Not as Pastor and Parishioner but simply as friends and fathers of teenage boys.

We also talked about Cindy.

As a teenager, Cindy's birth mother and her teenage father had given Cindy up for adoption because they knew that she needed a good home and a good family that they couldn't provide. Danny and Linda made it a point not to keep the truth from Cindy.

Unfortunately, Cindy had a problem with that. And it was a problem I understood. My father chose never to be a part of my life. He never wanted any part of me. And when your young and need to be loved and trying to figure out just who you are, that hurts. All the time.

As a result, sometimes you go through life doubting everybody else's love. Their love may be the perfect love. It may be never ending love. But still you doubt it. And you question. And you blame yourself. That's what happened to Cindy.

I took Cindy through Confirmation and baptized her. I can't begin to tell you how many times Danny and Linda called me to come over to talk to Cindy. They knew my story and knew I could talk to Cindy from the inside out.

And it was true. We connected. We were able to talk. She found out that I did understand. She found out, too, that it didn't matter what she had done, I was still there for her. She'd come by the office every now and then, and we'd just talk.

I watched her grow up through her troubled teen years into a beautiful young lady who finally came to realize that she was OK, that she was a beautiful child of God. She learned that that she was lovable and loved and that those people who loved her wouldn't desert her. As she grew so did her faith and her relationship with Christ.

She graduated from High School. She found a new job. She started attending college. And then she met the right guy, Thomas. I knew the minute I met him, that they were made for each other. And they were so much in love. It don't think I've ever seen a couple more in love.

Danny and Linda were reluctant at first because Thomas was 24 and had been married before. When he was 19, Thomas married and fathered a little girl. But the marriage hadn't lasted. One morning, Thomas' wife just up and left, leaving their daughter with him. Dad had to grow up quickly and raise his little girl. Which he did.

Thomas started coming to Church with Cindy. And they both became very active in the church. They always came together with his daughter between them. And you could see that Cindy and this little girl were totally enthralled with each other. This was a family that was meant to be. What might be even more important is that Danny and Linda began to feel the same way. And they began to think of Thomas as another son.

I'll never forget the day that Cindy and Thomas came into my office. They wanted to talk about marriage and they wanted me to be the first to know. They hadn't set an official date for their engagement yet, but Thomas had given Cindy a promise ring. They hoped to announce their engagement in about 2 months, but Thomas wanted to ask Danny first. They came to make sure I would perform the ceremony. Of course, I said, "Yes!"

I can't tell you how happy I was for them. A couple of weeks later I was sitting in the office at Church, working on my sermon. The train came through town just like it does here. And most of the time I just blocked it out. But that day, it sounded different. I heard the horn blowing and the brakes screeching. I even heard the impact.

I jumped in the van and took off to see if I could be of any help. And that's when I saw Cindy. The EMTs were putting her in the ambulance. She had been on her way to school. She was waving good-bye to Thomas, who was sitting at a protected crossing, while she crossed the only unprotected crossing in town. She never saw the train.

I followed the ambulance to the hospital. I was in the waiting room when Danny and Linda arrived. I was in the emergency room praying for the doctor and nurses as they tried to save Cindy's life. For over an hour they worked.

Every couple of minutes I would go and spend time with the family. We'd pray and talk. About 50 people had crowded around the E.R. out of concern for the family. And all over town, everyone was praying.

I cried and prayed with Danny and Linda when it fell to me to tell them that their daughter didn't make it. It was one of the hardest and worst things I've ever had to do.

We took Danny, Linda and Thomas home. Thomas showed me the ring he and Cindy had picked out a couple of nights before. It was late when I went home.

The next day, after I was sure that they had plenty of rest. I went back. There wasn't much any of us could say. Mostly we all cried together. Sometimes we'd just sit. Sometimes we'd talk.

And I watched as a steady stream of people came by to express their condolences. Some said little, not knowing what to say. Some offered words of comfort and words of friendship. Some went on and on in a nervous attempt to try and make some sense out of the tragedy and fill the void with the sound of their voice.

Some even expressed the sentiment that it had to be "God's will." Well, I've got one word for that sentiment. "Baloney."

Some of those friends who came to visit Danny and Linda, sounded a lot like the friends of Job: Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar. They were as sincere as could be but they had no idea what they were talking about. It was important for them to be there, don't get me wrong. Danny and Linda needed all the hugs and kind words they could get to get them through that ordeal.

But they needed someone who had experienced it from the inside out. Or someone who could step into the midst of their pain with them and experience it from the inside out.

That was my job. It was one of the hardest funerals I've ever had to preach. Cindy had become more than just a young member of the church. She and her family had become a part of me and my family. God walked with us all through those times. And that's all that got us through. But that was enough.

About a year later, Danny and I were talking one day and he said to me. "You know, in those first few days after Cindy's death, lots of people came by and offered words of condolence. Some even came by weeks later and told us how sorry they were. But Linda and I were talking and do you know what meant the most to us?"

I told him, "No, I didn't."

"The simple fact that you were there. You cried with us in the emergency room. You cried with us in our living room. You cried with us at the funeral home. You were there with us every step of the way. I know you offered words like everyone else. But what meant the most to us is that every time we needed you, you were there."

That's what Job needed. But he didn't get it through his friends. Because his friends didn't get it. They didn't understand that even in the midst of the tragedy that was befalling Job, that God was still there.

There wasn't an answer to the questions: "Why?" or "Why Me?" And sometimes in OUR lives there aren't any answers to those questions either.

But the promise is still the same. God will be with us. God will walk with us. God will guide us. God will give us the strength to get through, even as he gave Job the strength to get through. Because God knows the broken heart and pain of tragedy from the inside out.

CONCLUSION:

On the first day of school, a first grader handed his teacher a note from his mother. The note read, "The opinions expressed by this child are not necessarily those of his parents." (1)

Maybe Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar needed a note like that from God. "The opinions expressed by these friends are not necessarily those of your God." Whatever the case, they got it wrong. Instead of helping with his despair, they only seemed to make it worse.

For George Bailey, his friends came to the rescue. They made sacrifices to help him out. They didn't just offer words of encouragement, they acted out that encouragement because they knew what kind of man George Bailey really was. His despair was redeemed by the sacrificial love of his friends and family, all of whom, felt his pain from the inside out.

For Job, it was God. His friends didn't help at all. All they did was make him feel worse. It was God who redeemed Job. It was God who never deserted him even though, at times, Job felt like God had. It was God who sustained Job. It was God. And for Job that was enough.

And like Job, God, through Christ Jesus, should be enough for us.

Recently I received a piece of email from several different people. It's by Bob Perks, that's all I know. He writes:

Recently I overheard an elderly father and his daughter in their last moments together. They had announced her departure and standing near the security gate, they hugged and he said, "I love you. I wish you enough."

She in turn said, "Daddy, our life together has been more than enough. Your love is all I ever needed. I wish you enough, too, Daddy."

They kissed and she left. He walked over toward the window where I was seated. Standing there I could see he wanted and needed to cry. I tried not to intrude on his privacy, but he welcomed me in by asking, "Did you ever say good-bye to someone knowing it would be forever?"

"Yes, I have," I replied. Saying that brought back memories I had of expressing my love and appreciation for all my Dad had done for me. Recognizing that his days were limited, I took the time to tell him face to face how much he meant to me. So I knew what this man was experiencing.

"Forgive me for asking, but why is this a forever good-bye?" I asked.

"I am old and she lives much too far away. I have challenges ahead, and the reality is, the next trip back will be for my funeral," he said.

"When you were saying good-bye I heard you say, 'I wish you enough.' May I ask what that means?"

He began to smile. "That's a wish that has been handed down from other generations. My parents used to say it to everyone." He paused for a moment and looking up as if trying to remember it in detail, he smiled even more. "When we said 'I wish you enough,' we were wanting the other person to have a life filled with just enough good things to sustain them," he continued and then turning toward me he shared the following as if he were reciting it from memory:

"I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright.
I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more.
I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive.
I wish you enough pain so that the smallest joys in life appear much bigger.
I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.
I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.
I wish you enough "Hello's" to get you through the final "Good-bye."

He then began to sob and walked away.

I wish you enough, today. I wish you enough faith to get through the difficult times. I wish you enough friends to stand by you in your time of need. And I wish you enough of Christ. For he certainly is enough for all of us.

1. Clean Joke A Day.

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