Mystery of Christ: Disoriented Job 1:1; 2:1-10
- We are all drawn to unsolved mysteries.
- The New Testament speaks of a great mystery that has been uncovered. Jesus tells his disciples that “the knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven has been given” to them (Matt. 13:11, Mark. 4:11 and Luke 8:10). The Apostle Paul speaks of the “mystery of Christ” and the “mystery of the Gospel” (Eph. 3:4, Col. 4:3 and Eph. 6:19). Paul says believers are “those entrusted with the mysteries of God” who should speak of the mystery so that others “may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ” (1 Cor. 4:1, Eph. 3:9 and Col. 2:2). In Biblical Greek the phrase rolls beautifully off the lips: mysterion tou Khristou, the mystery of Christ.
- What is this mystery that you and I are supposed to know and live out in life and to share with others? Paul spells it out in 1 Timothy 3:16: Beyond all question, the mystery from which true godliness springs is great: [Christ] appeared in the flesh, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory…Or as we say in our Holy Communion liturgy, Christ died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again. That’s it. That’s the mystery. Oh, but as we read in 1 Peter 1:8 and as the hymn we sang last week say, the half as never yet been told. We are just scratching the surface of allowing this mystery of Christ to fully dwell in us.
- As we have said before. This is our work. It is important work. To make way for this great Mystery of Christ to be revealed more fully in us. It is the work of the disciple to get whatever is in the way, out of the way, so that the Spirit might reveal Christ ever more to us.
- Over the next few weeks we will dig into the story of Job to learn how we position ourselves so that the Spirit can reveal Christ more and more to us. Because it is only in Christ that we find fullness, completion, wholeness, actualization, as the psychologists call it.
- We will look at how the Mystery of Christ was revealed to Job, because the pattern of revelation in Job is often a pattern for you and me. We find Job is at first disoriented by an unexpected turn of events in life, then deserted, then silenced and then restored.
- But first, this morning, the disorientation of Job. What strikes me, is what seems, at first, like a casual conversation between the Almighty Creator of the earth and the Author of Death and Destruction. How’s it been, Satan? Oh just roaming the earth seeing what kind of trouble I can get into you. You know. It is getting kind of boring though. Everyone is so easy to tempt, distract and lead astray. I may have to retire. Then the Almighty Creator of the Universe says, what about ‘ole Job. Have you tried him? He’s as good as they get. Blameless, upright. Satan responds, yeah, but that’s night a fair fight. Job is successful, rich, lots of land, an good wife, upright children. How could I ever get Job to curse you when everything is going his way. We can sense God lean in, at this point, sit his coffee down. He feels a challenge coming on. Okay, Satan, he says, throw anything at him that you wish…anything…but you must spare him his life. Satan chuckles and says he will surely curse you to your face. Then Satan departs.
- Back at the Job ranch. Job is walking around his estate. Probably got up early, made his wife breakfast in bed, did the dishes and vacuumed the floor. Gave each of his kids a $20 bill and told them to go help a homeless person. Now he is getting ready to donate a few hours at the Red Cross, right after he drops off the recycling and helps a little ole lady across the street. Then he would come home and write some poetry to his mother and some psalms to God before saying his evening prayers. All was right in the world of Job.
- Then Satan shows up and unleashes his fury. Ever felt the fury of Satan? One day everything is perfect, and one breath later, one bit of news, one accident, one ill-word spoken, one life-changing mistake and the storms of fear and doubt assail. You find yourself in a spiral, a free-fall.
- This is what happened to Job. Job is afflicted sores from head to foot. It got so bad he had to scrape his sores with a shard from a broken piece of pottery. The picture is of a man stoically suffering alone. Dealing with it. Sucking it up. Not complaining. Questions starting to sit in. Why? Why is this happening? Did I do something? Is life is full of uncertainty? Is life just a throw of the dice? But he gracefully suffers. We are told he maintains his integrity.
- Job’s wife plays the foil in our story. She looks on Job and cannot believe he is taking things in stride. He is an upright man of honesty and goodness and yet this has happened to her husband? How can he remain so strong, peaceful, serene, assured? It starts to bother her. She paces the floor while mumbling to herself. I can’t believe he is not screaming at God. This is ridiculous. I cannot let this go. She introduces drama.
- Drama does not have to be a part of disorientation. In our story today the woman introduces the drama, but men are pretty good at this, too. Something bad happens and we go straight into drama mode. The script is familiar. Woe is Me! At fault is he or she! Doomed are we! Oh, if there is a God he did flee! We take ill-fortune, a bad turn of events and we stir in some drama or high heat, and the whole situation escalates into major theatrics. Job’s wife says to Job in melodramatic fashion, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!” Is does not get much more dramatic than curse God and die.
- But disorientation does not have to be accompanied by theatrics. Job has been hit hard. He doesn’t understand. He is disoriented, but he is not blown completely off course. Theatrics enter into disorientation when we go looking for blame and become resentful of others. Or when we feel endless guilt and beat ourselves up. Idiot, Idiot, Idiot as we hit ourselves on the head. Or we embrace some ascetic ideal and think we have to go off to a cave and do some sort of penance.
- Listen to the wisdom of the Scriptures, though. In the wise words of scripture we find that life happens to us. But we know that God gives more grace, as James says (4:6). God’s grace is sufficient, as Paul says (2 Cor. 12:9). As Jesus taught, grace is greased by faith (Matt. 15:21), as the Syro-Phoenician woman learned. Life happens, but
- The secret to life, someone once said, is how you handle plan B. I have known very few if any people whose Plan A worked out for them. If it did, God bless you. If it did not, God bless you just the same. Because, Plan B, is often better than Plan A, because we come out of disorientation and desertion stronger. Because, as we will discover over the next few weeks, in Plan B, God silences us (be quiet and listen to me for a change), and in that silencing, he redeems us.
- God desires for the mysterion tou kristou to be revealed in us to the fully. Sometimes it is in episodes of disorientation that a way begins to open for the mystery to be revealed. Like Job, may we never curse God but instead accept both good and trouble in life and in all of this not sin.
Email this post