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. 

[Read more…]

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.

[Read more…]

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.

[Read more…]

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.

[Read more…]

This week James invites us to pray. I don’t know if you remember ever being taught to pray, if you learned to pray when you were young, or when you were old, if a parent or elder taught you to pray, or if one day you found yourself looking to the sky crying out to God for something, anything, or maybe you found yourself walking along a path admiring the world and just thought “Wow.”

I was taught to pray by my parents, and my church, but over time I found that my understanding of prayer, and how I’d pray would change.

Today I find myself praying, as if it were a conversation wth God as I drive, walk, shower, or even now as I type this reflection now.

Author Anne Lamott suggests there are three types of prayer;

Help. Prayers that ask for help from a higher power.

Thanks. Prayer offering gratitude for what we have.

Wow! Prayers that acknowledge the amazing world around us.

[Read more…]