What is God's will?
Commentary
When I was a student serving an internship in hospital chaplaincy, I was given the job of informing an African-American woman that her son had been tragically killed in an automobile accident. She received the shocking news with shrieks of anguish, doubling over in grief and pain. Then, suddenly, she straightened up and declared firmly, "It is the will of the Lord!"
This seemed to bring her composure and strength, but as I reported the incident later to colleagues, I shared that I was personally troubled that this woman believed God wanted her boy to die. An African-American chaplain on the staff immediately responded, "That's not what she meant! In our community, when chaos breaks into our lives, we believe it is important to affirm that God is still in control. To say that something is 'the will of the Lord' doesn't mean it is what God wanted to happen. It means that even this has been taken into account."
The theme for today may well be, "What is the will of the Lord?" Or, "How can we believe God is in charge in the midst of suffering and trial?"
Job 1:1; 2:1-10
We begin with the most famous text in the Bible -- indeed, in all literature -- concerning faithful response to suffering. As the book of Job unfolds, it will explore the question of that response with far more complexity, but this prologue establishes some ground rules for the debate. God's sovereignty must be respected, even when it defies human understanding. And, if God's allowance for evil seems incredible, we must never forget "the good" that comes from God's hand also (v. 10). In this regard, I will always remember the words of a father whose son was born with a tumor, destined to live but a few hours. Awestruck at the horror, someone at the hospital said to him, "I just think God must be cruel, to let something like this happen." The father replied, "Well, I guess if this were all the evidence, I'd have to agree with you." But, of course, it is not all the evidence. It never is. Instead of asking, "Why do bad things (sometimes) happen to good people?" Job would step back, examine the big picture, and ask, "Why do good things ever happen at all?"
Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5-12
We may be surprised to find this text appearing now, since it is usually associated with Christmas. Magnificent and meaningful in many ways, its relevance for this day is found primarily in 2:9-11 where reference is made to the sufferings of Jesus. Even Jesus, greater than prophets and higher than angels, endured the trials of earthly life and the pain of death. Suffering has come not only to good people, but to the best there ever was.
There may be three points here relevant for understanding suffering.
First, suffering apparently has value. Jesus' suffering, of course, was redemptive in a way that ours is not. He tasted death for everyone in order to bring many to glory (2:9-10). But he is also a "pioneer" in some sense of those who are "made perfect through sufferings." The plural form of the latter noun implies the reference is to our suffering as well as his. Somehow, our suffering improves us, brings us a notch closer to perfection. Admittedly, how this works is often unclear. The theme is explored further two weeks from now (Proper 24).
Second, suffering is not the end; exaltation is. Jesus is now crowned with glory (2:9), as we shall be (2:10). Suffering, in short, is at worst something we go through. It is a means, not an end. Like Jesus, our pioneer, we pass through suffering to glory.
Finally, since Jesus is the exact imprint of God (1:3), we recognize in him that God suffers, sharing our humanity and all that it entails. Ultimately, this is the most significant point of all, since (as the book of Job finally reveals) our questions on this subject are not going to find satisfactory answers in this life. Still, even without understanding "the whys and wherefores," we may recognize that we are not alone. God has suffered and still suffers for us and with us.
Mark 10:2-16
The central concern, again, is "What is the will of God?" How can we know God's will in a world where things go so wrong? Jesus affirms in no uncertain terms that God wants children to be valued and marriages to be preserved. But children suffer and marriages fail -- even good children, even good marriages.
Jesus certainly does not mean to prohibit divorce. Moses already settled that one. Divorce must be allowed in this hard-hearted world. What the self-righteous Pharisees want him to do is specify the circumstances under which people can get divorced without sin. When can they do this and maintain that it is what God wants? Jesus' answer is never! God never wants marriages to end, anymore than God wants babies to be born with tumors or teenagers to die in car crashes. Any time a couple gets divorced, they can say, must say, "This is not what God wanted!" Yet, ultimately, God's will is larger than any calamity, too large to be offset by human failing.
My attempt to relate this divorce text to the overall theme of inexplicable human suffering in the other two lessons may seem artificial. Often, the cause of suffering in divorce does not seem inexplicable at all. Adultery, abuse, neglect, stubbornness ... married persons bring this grief upon themselves through sin and disobedience. We feel sorry for them, but not in the same way as we would, say, a person who loses his or her spouse in a tragic accident.
Jesus says nothing about blame. When two people divorce, God's will has not been done. Whose fault is it? The husband? The wife? The community that failed to sustain and enable them, or that blessed in the first place a union that should not have taken place? Society? Jesus doesn't say. Sin is loose in the world. Chaos breaks in everywhere. But let's call it what it is: sin, chaos.
The Christian church has often tended to adopt the attitude of the Pharisees toward divorce, trying to ascertain whether it should self-righteously condemn the divorcing couple or (worse) offer a blasphemous blessing of the dissolution. Sometimes, it has also volunteered to play the role of Job's "friends" in the main portion of that book, attempting to discern the nature and degree of the individuals' failings. Jesus' attitude would be that of the African-American woman in the story above: a terrible thing has happened, but God is still in control.
FIRST LESSON FOCUS
By James A. Nestingen
Job 1:1; 2:1-10
With summer's end, the skies already turning grey and the air cold in more northern climes, the heart and the lectionary turn to suffering. October and Job belong together, both of them beautiful in their own way, but steely, confrontative, rough. The month and the texts keep pace, moving Sunday by Sunday from the beginning of Job's story to his cry against God, God's reply, and the ending, each one of them an inevitable move toward November. Or is it inevitable?
Faced with the question of suffering, the prologue to Job already proposes three different answers, setting the terms of the debate to follow. One answer emerges out of the story line, setting out the devil's responsibility and God's allowance. A second is screamed rather than offered, by Job's wife. The third remains something of a mystery, as does Job himself.
Fit best of all to the fairly comfortable, the first answer -- and that's the appropriate word, in this case -- to the problem of suffering frames the whole discussion in Job. It is all very reasonable. God is clearly in charge, the ultimate CEO, gathering the council of heaven as though there were a board meeting. Satan moves in like a junior colleague on the make, eager to rise in the hierarchy, surveying, examining, testing everything. Watching him move, God sets out a challenge: "Have you examined Job?" After some discussion, they engage in what amounts to a friendly wager: God backs off, Satan goes to work, bringing suffering to test Job's character. Everything is balanced, controlled, purposeful.
Unless, of course, you happen to be Job's wife. Little is known of her, beyond her scream, but there's enough to it to hear a second answer. Perhaps, given how well everything else had previously gone for Job, she was the ideal wife of Proverbs. Maybe she was a little more average. Either way, when all the troubles struck, she suffered with Job and to the point where all rhyme and reason disappeared. "Curse God and die," she defiantly protested. Harmony, purpose, balance, appropriateness, relationship -- everything important has been left to chance. So forget it, curse it all -- in the end, there's nothing left.
The third is not answer or response, neither theory. The text uses several words to describe Job -- "blameless," "upright," a God-fearer -- but it is probably his wife who knows him best. For her, the word is "integrity," and it's a problem -- so much so that it had apparently been a problem between them before. "Are you still going to persist in your integrity?" she asks. He is an honest man, honest in the sense that he is not going say to anything more than what he knows for sure: there has been good, there is no evil. Who can understand it? That's a question worth asking, and insisting on being honest about.
This seemed to bring her composure and strength, but as I reported the incident later to colleagues, I shared that I was personally troubled that this woman believed God wanted her boy to die. An African-American chaplain on the staff immediately responded, "That's not what she meant! In our community, when chaos breaks into our lives, we believe it is important to affirm that God is still in control. To say that something is 'the will of the Lord' doesn't mean it is what God wanted to happen. It means that even this has been taken into account."
The theme for today may well be, "What is the will of the Lord?" Or, "How can we believe God is in charge in the midst of suffering and trial?"
Job 1:1; 2:1-10
We begin with the most famous text in the Bible -- indeed, in all literature -- concerning faithful response to suffering. As the book of Job unfolds, it will explore the question of that response with far more complexity, but this prologue establishes some ground rules for the debate. God's sovereignty must be respected, even when it defies human understanding. And, if God's allowance for evil seems incredible, we must never forget "the good" that comes from God's hand also (v. 10). In this regard, I will always remember the words of a father whose son was born with a tumor, destined to live but a few hours. Awestruck at the horror, someone at the hospital said to him, "I just think God must be cruel, to let something like this happen." The father replied, "Well, I guess if this were all the evidence, I'd have to agree with you." But, of course, it is not all the evidence. It never is. Instead of asking, "Why do bad things (sometimes) happen to good people?" Job would step back, examine the big picture, and ask, "Why do good things ever happen at all?"
Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5-12
We may be surprised to find this text appearing now, since it is usually associated with Christmas. Magnificent and meaningful in many ways, its relevance for this day is found primarily in 2:9-11 where reference is made to the sufferings of Jesus. Even Jesus, greater than prophets and higher than angels, endured the trials of earthly life and the pain of death. Suffering has come not only to good people, but to the best there ever was.
There may be three points here relevant for understanding suffering.
First, suffering apparently has value. Jesus' suffering, of course, was redemptive in a way that ours is not. He tasted death for everyone in order to bring many to glory (2:9-10). But he is also a "pioneer" in some sense of those who are "made perfect through sufferings." The plural form of the latter noun implies the reference is to our suffering as well as his. Somehow, our suffering improves us, brings us a notch closer to perfection. Admittedly, how this works is often unclear. The theme is explored further two weeks from now (Proper 24).
Second, suffering is not the end; exaltation is. Jesus is now crowned with glory (2:9), as we shall be (2:10). Suffering, in short, is at worst something we go through. It is a means, not an end. Like Jesus, our pioneer, we pass through suffering to glory.
Finally, since Jesus is the exact imprint of God (1:3), we recognize in him that God suffers, sharing our humanity and all that it entails. Ultimately, this is the most significant point of all, since (as the book of Job finally reveals) our questions on this subject are not going to find satisfactory answers in this life. Still, even without understanding "the whys and wherefores," we may recognize that we are not alone. God has suffered and still suffers for us and with us.
Mark 10:2-16
The central concern, again, is "What is the will of God?" How can we know God's will in a world where things go so wrong? Jesus affirms in no uncertain terms that God wants children to be valued and marriages to be preserved. But children suffer and marriages fail -- even good children, even good marriages.
Jesus certainly does not mean to prohibit divorce. Moses already settled that one. Divorce must be allowed in this hard-hearted world. What the self-righteous Pharisees want him to do is specify the circumstances under which people can get divorced without sin. When can they do this and maintain that it is what God wants? Jesus' answer is never! God never wants marriages to end, anymore than God wants babies to be born with tumors or teenagers to die in car crashes. Any time a couple gets divorced, they can say, must say, "This is not what God wanted!" Yet, ultimately, God's will is larger than any calamity, too large to be offset by human failing.
My attempt to relate this divorce text to the overall theme of inexplicable human suffering in the other two lessons may seem artificial. Often, the cause of suffering in divorce does not seem inexplicable at all. Adultery, abuse, neglect, stubbornness ... married persons bring this grief upon themselves through sin and disobedience. We feel sorry for them, but not in the same way as we would, say, a person who loses his or her spouse in a tragic accident.
Jesus says nothing about blame. When two people divorce, God's will has not been done. Whose fault is it? The husband? The wife? The community that failed to sustain and enable them, or that blessed in the first place a union that should not have taken place? Society? Jesus doesn't say. Sin is loose in the world. Chaos breaks in everywhere. But let's call it what it is: sin, chaos.
The Christian church has often tended to adopt the attitude of the Pharisees toward divorce, trying to ascertain whether it should self-righteously condemn the divorcing couple or (worse) offer a blasphemous blessing of the dissolution. Sometimes, it has also volunteered to play the role of Job's "friends" in the main portion of that book, attempting to discern the nature and degree of the individuals' failings. Jesus' attitude would be that of the African-American woman in the story above: a terrible thing has happened, but God is still in control.
FIRST LESSON FOCUS
By James A. Nestingen
Job 1:1; 2:1-10
With summer's end, the skies already turning grey and the air cold in more northern climes, the heart and the lectionary turn to suffering. October and Job belong together, both of them beautiful in their own way, but steely, confrontative, rough. The month and the texts keep pace, moving Sunday by Sunday from the beginning of Job's story to his cry against God, God's reply, and the ending, each one of them an inevitable move toward November. Or is it inevitable?
Faced with the question of suffering, the prologue to Job already proposes three different answers, setting the terms of the debate to follow. One answer emerges out of the story line, setting out the devil's responsibility and God's allowance. A second is screamed rather than offered, by Job's wife. The third remains something of a mystery, as does Job himself.
Fit best of all to the fairly comfortable, the first answer -- and that's the appropriate word, in this case -- to the problem of suffering frames the whole discussion in Job. It is all very reasonable. God is clearly in charge, the ultimate CEO, gathering the council of heaven as though there were a board meeting. Satan moves in like a junior colleague on the make, eager to rise in the hierarchy, surveying, examining, testing everything. Watching him move, God sets out a challenge: "Have you examined Job?" After some discussion, they engage in what amounts to a friendly wager: God backs off, Satan goes to work, bringing suffering to test Job's character. Everything is balanced, controlled, purposeful.
Unless, of course, you happen to be Job's wife. Little is known of her, beyond her scream, but there's enough to it to hear a second answer. Perhaps, given how well everything else had previously gone for Job, she was the ideal wife of Proverbs. Maybe she was a little more average. Either way, when all the troubles struck, she suffered with Job and to the point where all rhyme and reason disappeared. "Curse God and die," she defiantly protested. Harmony, purpose, balance, appropriateness, relationship -- everything important has been left to chance. So forget it, curse it all -- in the end, there's nothing left.
The third is not answer or response, neither theory. The text uses several words to describe Job -- "blameless," "upright," a God-fearer -- but it is probably his wife who knows him best. For her, the word is "integrity," and it's a problem -- so much so that it had apparently been a problem between them before. "Are you still going to persist in your integrity?" she asks. He is an honest man, honest in the sense that he is not going say to anything more than what he knows for sure: there has been good, there is no evil. Who can understand it? That's a question worth asking, and insisting on being honest about.
