Sermon: “The Courage to be Transformed” (Job, Part 5)
August 30th, 2020 Rev. Betsy Perkins
Scripture passage: Job 42:1-17 First Baptist Church, Delavan WI
The Monarch butterflies are beginning their Fall migration – have you seen the photos being shared on Facebook? Apparently, there is a lot that even biologists don’t know about butterflies. How do the butterflies emerging from their cocoons right now know to delay their reproductive processes and instead prepare for a long journey? Who tells them how to find enough nectar to sustain them in this strenuous flight, flapping their tiny wings to travel 100 miles each day? What calendar guides them, as cold-blooded creatures, so they are not caught in weather that is too cold for them to fly? What map are they given, to find their way to the high mountains of Mexico, since the butterflies heading south now are the great-great-grandchildren of the ones who arrived here in the spring? Does the caterpillar understand what it going to happen when it weaves a cocoon around itself? Does it have to work up the courage to let go of life? Or is it driven by a deep hope toward a new life ahead, life in which it will not be earth bound, but will be given wings to fly! Does it take courage to be transformed?
I don’t know much about caterpillars and butterflies, but I do know that as Job emerges from his time of intense trauma, there are signs of tremendous courage in this last chapter of his story. We see it in three ways: first in Job’s reply, next in how he helps his friends, and finally in his restored life.
Job’s Reply
Let’s start with Job’s final speech given in response to being taken on a tour of creation, a reply to God’s many questions. 585 verses of Job talking have gone before, and now he winds it up with just 5. Job begins with what he knows to be true, “I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted.” Job begins with an affirmation of faith in the sovereignty of God.
Then, he has the courage to admit what he does not know. Have you ever heard someone bluster on when it’s clear they don’t really know the answer to a question but they aren’t willing to admit it? Maybe you’ve even done that a time or two, ashamed of a gap in your knowledge? But Job recalls that God’s first question had been, “Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorance?” And Job honestly admits, “Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things far too wonderful for me to know.”
Job recalls again God’s instructions to him as God had begun to speak, “Listen now, and I will speak;” God had said, “I will question you and you must answer me.” Job then utters the second most famous verse in this book. You may recall from 2 weeks ago, the most famous verse, Job’s hopeful declaration, “I know that my redeemer lives, and in the end he will stand on the earth … and in my body I will see God, I will see him with my own eyes.”(19:25-27) Now Job declares to God: “My ears had only heard of you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes.” Job’s deep hope has been fulfilled. But it fascinates me that we are never told that God actually appeared to Job; only that God speaks to Job. Yet somehow by truly listening, not just his ears, but with his heart and mind and soul, Job sees! It’s the power of truly listening to another.
This summer Pearl shared a book with me about racism and the church. It was a powerful read, so I shared it with a few others, including Lisa Reshkus, because I knew that her work in the Beloit schools takes her into that conversation. She joined an online book study with people from around the world. After the first session Lisa told me that she was the only one from the US in her small group, and the only white person. She wasn’t sure that she had anything to say, so she just listened. It struck me that her willingness to simply listen was a courageous choice. It was a choice to not react defensively, but instead to offer the gift of bearing witness to others’ experiences and others’ insights, and by doing that to receive insights herself. By listening, Job’s eyes were opened to see life in a new way, in God’s way, and through that to see God! It reminds me of God’s message about Jesus to the disciples, “This is my beloved son; listen to him!” (Mt.17:5)
The last verse in which we hear Job’s voice has been translated and interpreted in very different ways. The translation of the NIV and NRSV, which you may be more familiar with, has Job saying, “I despise myself and repent.” Or the King James, “Wherefore I abhor myself and repent.” However, this way of interpreting Job’s words seem to be in direct contradiction to a point this story has made repeatedly, which is that Job did not sin, he maintained his integrity. Rather than hearing it an expression of self-disgust, another valid way to translate that word is ‘recant’ instead of ‘despise’ or ‘abhor’. Recanting is meaning communicated by the version on our bulletin, “I take back everything I said, and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance”(NLT). In this case, his repentance is not a confession of sin, but in keeping with the literal idea of repentance as turning around to go in a new direction.
In her book titled, Getting Involved With God, Ellen Davis writes, “Job has gotten what he most wanted: he has seen God. And as a result he takes a new view of the human condition and of his own place in the world… It is not only his theology that is renewed; it is his whole mind.” Job has the courage to take back what he said, to admit his ignorance, accept a new perspective, and take a new point of view. Job has the courage to change his mind!
Friends Reprimanded
Next, we see Job’s courage in his relationship with the friends who had argued with him, lectured him, and falsely accused him of unidentified failures and sins. God tells them, “You have not spoken the truth about me, as Job has.” They have not spoken the truth about God, or spoken the truth to God, as Job has. They have not cried out on behalf of their friend, nor have they prayed on their own behalf to ask for insight and understanding. So God directs them to offer a sacrifice for themselves, an act of worship to seek forgiveness. God directs Job to pray for them. And Job the sufferer, Job the scorned and betrayed, becomes Job the mediator, Job the healer and reconciler. Consider for a moment, the courage it must have taken for Job to minister to those who had hurt him; to pray to God on behalf of those who didn’t pray for him. I wonder if his prayer went something like this, “Father, forgive them, for they did not know what they were doing.”(Lk.23:34)
Job Restored
God accepts Job’s prayer, and God restores Job’s life and prosperity, even doubling his livestock. It seems Cinderella-ish, like a cheap, magical, happy ending to a story. Does God really think Job can just be given a replacement family and everything will be okay again?! Like those insensitive people who say to a mother grieving a miscarriage, “It’s ok, you can have another child.” Some have made this accusation against God, but I believe that is drawing the wrong conclusion. This isn’t so much about what God is up to, as about what Job is up to. Like the Holocaust survivors whose greatest act of courage was to become parents again, to trust God with more defenseless children. We need to consider what it takes for Job to become a father again. What does it cost his wife to become a mother again? (Ellen Davis, Getting Involved With God)
The point being made at the end of Job’s story is not about God replacing what was lost, the point is an illustration of the depth of Job’s transformation. We see the complete renewal of Job’s mind that has taken place. At the start of the book we are given the picture of Job as an anxious parent, making sacrifices just in case his children sinned. He is fearful, controlling, taking on responsibility that isn’t his. But now we have a new picture. We see Job giving his daughters fun, endearing names. Not the usual biblical names, but Jemimah, which means Dove, and Keziah, which means Cinnamon, and Keren-Happuch, which means Pot of Rouge or Eye-Shadow. Job breaks with sexist cultural norms to include his daughters in his will with an inheritance alongside their brothers. The only conclusion we can draw is that Job’s inspiration and model for this new, freewheeling style of parenting, has come from God the Creator. Job saw it when God spoke out of the whirlwind and Job listened. Job now loves as God loves, reveling in the beauty of every child, affirming the worthiness of every creature, granting the freedom for each to reach their full potential. Job has seen God’s heart in which every creature is worthy, is honored, is loved. And Job has the courage be vulnerable again. He has the courage to live again, to rebuild his life, to say ‘yes’ to God’s restorative work. Job has the courage to love what you cannot protect against suffering – the way God loves us.
Take Courage
The picture on the front of the worship bulletin this morning is an example of the Japanese art of Kintsugi. Kintsugi means “to repair with gold.” The artist take a piece of broken pottery and repairs it with gold resin, accepting the damage as an event in the life of the object, and understanding that the piece is more beautiful for having been broken.
Many of you have lives that are like a piece of Kintsugi art. You have had your lives broken with losses, or cancer, or other disasters and traumas. At the right time, after the work of lamenting and grieving, after the work of holding onto hope and holding onto God, God invited you to rise up from the ashes to be resurrected to life again. God can repair your broken places with the gold of God’s love. That is the invitation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, to die to our old selves, to let go of fearful, anxious living, to turn from our sinful and broken ways. And then to have the courage to be transformed into a new creation in Christ, to a live the life of loving yourself and loving others and loving God freely and fully.
Closing Song: # 723 “Revive Us Again”
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