This reflection was brought to us by Gordon Ramsay (not the sweary one) on October 31, 2021

Readings

• Job 42:1-7,10-17 
• Psalm 34:1-8,(19-22) 
• Hebrews 7:23-28 
• Mark 10:46-52

Have you noticed that people regularly see patterns in things.
We can be good at seeing images, or shapes, in clouds
or even seeing faces in the frothy milk on our coffee.
Sometimes we see patterns when in reality there probably isn’t really a pattern to see
and at other times we can miss patterns that are quite deliberately built in to things 

The gospel that churches across the world have been concentrating on this year is Mark.
And in Mark there is a really solid pattern that has been built in.
And a good starting point for us to remember 
is that it is a gospel written for the followers of Jesus
much more than a gospel to try to convince people that they should become Christians.
In many ways it is a discipleship manual – how to build a new world order.

And in Mark, one of the patterns that repeats quite often 
are healings about people who cant hear, or who cant see.
Mark will tie two stories together – 
one that is about how to follow Jesus with a story about someone being healed
from being unable to hear, or unable to see.
Have a read sometime and see how it works.   It’s there quite a bit

Why is all this important – 
because, remember the real message in Mark is *how* to be a follower of Jesus
How to walk the walk.
And in Mark, the disciples regularly get a really bad rap.  
They are portrayed as missing it.    Over and over again.
And the more important you are as a disciple (in ‘hierarchy’) the worse it seems to be.
Peter – disciple #1 – gets the worst rap of all.   
James and John – the “close ones” are almost as bad

This discipleship stuff is supposed to be *different* from normal ways of living, 
the gospel is telling us.
But, Mark tells us, you just aren’t seeing how different it is.  
You are not listening properly.
And then, just when the disciples muck it up again, 
out comes a story about being healed from not hearing, or not seeing.

And *that’s* where the reading of Bartimaeus comes in.
It’s a story about not seeing, and seeing.

The first part of the story is about James and John
They have been following Jesus throughout Gallilee, 
and now they are really close to Jerusalem.   
And we all know what’s going down in Jerusalem.

They reach out to Jesus because they want something. 
            “What do you want me to do for you?” asks Jesus
           We want a bit of glory and privilege please.
                        Hmmmm.

And then the group moves on to Jericho, and this guy called Bartimaeus reaches out to Jesus
            “What do you want me to do for you?” asks Jesus
            I want to be able to see.

                        Ouch.

Despite everything that Jesus is saying and doing, the disciples don’t get it.
If we don’t see the contrast here, then there is something wrong.
But if we smile and think that this is a nice, comforting positive passage, then we’re not looking.

It is an uncomfortable passage 
and we shouldn’t read the Bartimaeus story
without also reading the James and John story.   
They are part of the same narrative.

James and John want to maintain structure, familiarity, prominence.
Bartimaeus (literally) tosses away what he knows, what gives him security and heads off.

This is a story that asks us to do some thinking.   Some serious thinking.
For those of us who are trying to live the way of Jesus
this passage suggests that we might have some blind spots.
There is a suggestion that if we are looking what we like, enjoy, are pleased or comforted by
then we aren’t seeing things all that well.
Maybe there is a blind spot there.

Now, if you are anything like me, you will probably find it 
much easier to see other people’s blind spots than our own.
It tends to be easier to point out where other people have got it wrong

And the likelihood is that most of us tend to resent someone pointing out a blind spot

Mark tries to point it out by putting another story there
 and hoping that in the two different stories, we can see something else is possible
When Emilia Willows came across Mr Walter, she gave him a new way of thinking
            just by being herself.

But we just have to ask – to sit with – that awkward question today:
What’s your blind spot?
What are the ways that you live (even while you are trying to be a follower of Jesus) because you come away feeling more inwardly content.

For today, let’s allow this gospel story to speak with us here in this community.
This local community 
and this faith community.
Where might the gospel suggest that we just aren’t seeing things all that well??

And what is it that we each need to help us to move 
from potentially being a bit James and John-ish
in to the uncertainty of the Bartimaeus way of following Jesus

Gordon’s reflection ended with the audio of Joshua Radin singing the Jimmy Cliff song “I Can See Clearly Now” which you can hear on youtube here now, or on Spotify here, or on Apple Music here.

The story of Job is a great place to go if you love stories that inspire tough questions, and over the last couple of weeks I’m hoping I’ve opened a few up to you, but, perhaps the toughest lot of questions for me come here at the ending of the story.

Perhaps the response of the friends in Job has frustrated us, maybe because we’ve been in on the bet and know Job is innocent, the friends response is ill informed. Maybe we’ve been frustrated with the friends because we’ve had well-meaning friends offer similar reflections to us when we’ve suffered, or maybe we’ve struggled because the friends remind us of times when we’ve responded to someone else’s suffering in ways that have been unhelpful.

But the most frustrating response, as I reflect on how I first read the story was how I responded as the reader. I came to the end of Job and thought “there’s the happy ending I was hoping for, it all worked out in the end.”

Yet, after a while the story began to haunt me (as many good stories do) and my response became something that made me feel uneasy, and I began to hear in my response the voices of the friends, again assuring that those who are righteous will end up being blessed… that it will always end with a happy ending. 

How quick was I to forget Job’s suffering, or the death of his family, all for the sake of a happy ending?

God’s reconciliation with Job is complicated, remember, the story seems to only treat family members as products we own and that are replaceable, the reconciliation also seems over the top… It’s almost like God is saying to Job and us as readers “you want recompense, here’s more recompense than you can handle…” I’m reminded that exaggeration is often a part of Jewish humour, maybe I’m supposed to be laughing at the idea that God can make it all well, that God can erase away one’s suffering like that? Wouldn’t it be nice to just say “hey presto” and have all that suffering just go away?

The working preacher podcast this week reminded me that it takes time for stock to grow, families to form and for children to be born.  While for us, as hearers of the story it might seem this has happened within a couple of paragraphs, for Job a lot of time would have passed between God’s response and this ending. Perhaps we’re being reminded that reconciliation takes time, and we’re supposed to come out of this story understanding that the God Job worships is in it for the long haul, and takes reconciliation seriously?

Yet, if we see what happens at the end of Job as restoration or recompense then perhaps we are more like the friends than we’d like to think.  Perhaps we hold onto the idea that God rewards the righteous so hard that we are willing to accept the death of his previous family if he’s given payment afterwards for his suffering. 

For we can still say “see, our God does reward the good…” and perhaps we can still say “with God all things work out for the best”

Maybe we come to the end of the story and are supposed to continue to be outraged by its conclusion and maybe to continue to sit by Job and argue with God until we’re satisfied, or until God comes to us and responds to our cries?

Maybe the end of the story reminds us that we don’t live in a fairy tale, “that happily ever after” is not the story many of us share. That when we sit with people who are suffering, or when we are the person grieving the last words that should leave our lips are words from a fairy tale.

The story of Job doesn’t give us clear answers, or definite morals for us to follow, or even a list of thing we need to believe in order to have a good life… but it does give us the space to have a lot of time for questions and conversation with God, maybe in this time, this year, this week, or today that in itself is a blessing in and of itself?

Shalom,

Darren Wright

Readings

• Job 38:1-7, (34-41)
• Psalm 104:1-9, 24, 35c
• Hebrews 5:1-10
• Mark 10:35-45

This week I was reminded by the Working Preacher team of the Triangle of Job, where one point is God is good, another point is that a good God rewards the righteous and punishes the unrighteous and the final point is that Job is righteous. The thing about the triangle is that as we tell the story of Job we’re only ever able to hold two points of the triangle.  

Job and his friends each decide to hold different points of the triangle at the same time. The friends choose to let go of the idea that Job is Righteous while Job lets go of the point where God is Good. I wonder, if you had the chance which points would you choose? I wonder, if you’ve ever suffered, or sat with another who has suffered and made a decision to hold onto two of these points? I wonder if we’re only ever able to hold two points of that triangle… unless something can challenge the idea that we’re only ever given these three options.

This is the part of the story where God responds to Job’s questions and the words of the friends. To the friends, God’s response reminds them that they aren’t in control, that they should have been sitting and suffering with Job rather than putting words in God’s mouth, that God doesn’t need them to justify God’s actions. 

To Job, God responds, not in anger, but with understanding. Job, as we are aware is righteous, however he, and his friends seem to have an image of the creation where they’re at its centre. Here God’s response puts them back in place, not everything happens because of you, or because of anything you’ve done. 

God reminds Job, his friends and the listener that while we may occasionally think that we’re the centre of the creation we’re not.

It’s not about you.

God’s response offers us a third viewpoint, where God is good AND Job is righteous while letting go of the righteous are blessed and the unrighteous are punished.  How does that play with your imagination? What feelings does that arouse in you?

In the end Job is a work of ancient fiction, ancient wisdom literature that’s designed to invite us to ask these types of questions. And, because it’s fiction, it’s ok to not agree with any of the character’s responses, it’s even ok to not like the image of God we’re given. I personally have great difficulty with the image of God portrayed in the story, maybe because I’d like to hold onto the same points of the triangle as Job, or his friends.

But I love the story, the challenges it poses, the questions it invites me into, and the conversations it inspires with others.

What about an alternative image of God to that shown in Job? Perhaps I can encourage you to head to this week’s Gospel reading where Jesus is again, challenging peoples assumptions and offering the image of a servant God who asks each of us to be servants also. Is this an image that also challenges you? Is this an image that you’re pleased by? Is this an image of a God you can follow?

And if you’re able to follow this God, how will you serve the creation this week?

Shalom.

Darren Wright

Readings:

• Job 23:1-9, 16-17
• Psalm 22:1-15
• Hebrews 4:12-16
• Mark 10:17-31

There are no stupid questions… perhaps you’ve heard that before and maybe you didn’t believe it when you heard it, because deep down you might have a question you’re too afraid to ask, for fear of being seen as stupid.

What about feelings? Are there any stupid feelings? Are there any feelings you’re afraid to share with friends, family, your faith community or God? Are there any feelings that aren’t welcome in worship, perhaps you’ve stayed away from worship before because of some of these feelings, thinking they’d not be welcome.

The story of Job shows us that there are feelings that friends might find uncomfortable, but that God is able to carry. This shouldn’t be a surprise, the Hebrew Scriptures are full of stories of God’s people arguing, and fighting with God, there’s even a form of Psalm called Lament which is specifically a song / prayer of complaint, check out this week’s Psalm as an example.

Even Jesus cried out on the cross to God asking why he had been abandoned.

Perhaps it’d help to remind ourselves that, as the readers of Job’s story, we’re aware of the bet made and know that Job is completely in the right here, he’s done nothing wrong, yet, he finds himself suffering. So while his friends find the conversation uncomfortable and try and calm him down, offering advice and platitudes, perhaps we might be able to sit with his anger more comfortably because we know he’s right.

In my experience, however it doesn’t tend to make us feel much better, because as much as we try, we still struggle with the idea that God cannot handle our real self, our real feelings, our real anger. Perhaps, Job’s complaint still makes us uncomfortable because, maybe, we have problems with naming our own feelings with God. Or, perhaps we’re more like Job’s friends than we are like Job.

The Psalms of Lament, and the story of Job are strong reminders that God is bigger than we can comprehend and is able to sit with our complaints, our pain, our feelings and our questions, even if those questions are pointed directly at God. Why am I suffering? Why does Sam have cancer? Why is my child sick? Why did Judy die? Why, why why?

God is God and, unlike many of our friends or family is able to bare the burden of our feelings are of anger and frustration, of pain, grief and anguish, taking it all completely seriously.

Perhaps this week we might find time to have an honest conversation with God about the times where we felt we had to hide what we were thinking or feeling from God, and perhaps we might, like Job be confident enough that God is listening to our prayers and sitting with us as we do.

Perhaps this week we might be challenged to try and sit with another’s grief or anger and not, like Job’s friends offer platitudes and advice, just sit with those feelings, allowing them to be honoured.

The good news is that our God is a God who listens, and will sit with us and hear our complaints, our cries for justice, our screams and our shouting even when our friends, our family and perhaps our Church might find it difficult to do so.

Shalom,

Darren Wright

This is a brief reflection on the Job reading from Sunday the 3rd of October 2021, Job 1:1, 2:1-10. The story of Job gets 4 weeks of our time over October, it’s a great story.

Have you caught yourself wondering why things keep happening to you? Why you have cancer, why you’re going through a bad break up, why you’ve lost your job, why you find yourself homeless, why you’re sick, why you’re in hospital after a heart attack…

It’s not your fault.

Perhaps you’ve been tempted to make up stories to make yourself feel better, perhaps you, or your grandparents did something bad, sinned, and now you’re going through this.

It’s not your fault.

Perhaps you’ve caught yourself thinking that God’s testing you, that it’s all a part of your faith being tested. God’s closing a door and opening another, there’s always a reason for people’s suffering…

It’s not your fault.

Perhaps you’ve sat with someone who’s life is hard, who’s going through cancer, or an illness, or grieving the loss of someone they loved and you desperately want there to be a reason for their suffering. You might even think about telling them that there’s always a reason for their suffering, perhaps because their suffering makes you a little uncomfortable and saying those words might make you feel a little better…

It’s not your fault.

It’s not their fault either.

Perhaps you’d like to come up with a story of a giant cosmic battle between good and bad, and that your suffering, their suffering, the world’s suffering is all a part of this battle…

It’s not your fault.

The story of Job is a story that’s written with that simple message. It’s not your fault, it’s not their fault, not everything has a reason, not everything has a purpose.

Not everything happens for a reason.

It also is a story where the main character, now suffering gets to confront and challenge God. I wonder if you’ve ever felt like you’d like to confront God about something you, or another is experienced, but felt that it was wrong to argue with God, to pick a fight.  The Hebrew Scriptures are full of stories of people arguing with God, in fact there’s an entire genre of Psalm called Lament, prayers of naming one’s anguish, pain, grief before God.  One could say that arguing with God is biblical, it also shows us that God is big enough to take our suffering seriously and to hear our complaint.

The story of Job is an amazing one, I love it.  

Job tells of a cosmic argument that brings torment, suffering and death… and I wonder if it’s because sometimes it’s easier to believe that suffering is because God’s made a bet with someone rather than believe the truth.

It’s

Not

Your

Fault.

And God is with you and is able to shoulder your anguish, your pain, your anger, your grief.

And anyone who tells you otherwise is lying. 

It’s not your fault.

Say it again.

It’s not your fault.

And again.

It’s not your fault.

Amen.

Shalom

Darren Wright