faith despite suffering

the story of Job (part 1 of 4)

introduction 

I’m sure that you have heard it said, “there is nothing certain in life except death and taxes”. While a humourous anecdote, it hints at the sense of despair that many feel, that life is painful and full of suffering. Suffering is such a ubiquitous experience that one of the world’s major religions, Buddhism, is completely focussed on this issue.

If suffering is such a persistent experience of the human condition, then how are we to make sense of it? How are we to find meaning in life despite the consistency of suffering? How can we believe in a good God who alleged does nothing to relieve suffering?

Job 1:1, 2:1-10

In order to address such questions, let us investigate a biblical story which speaks of suffering honestly and reveals something of its foundation. I am speaking of the story of Job, which is so interesting that we will stay with Job for four weeks in total.

^1:1In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil.

^2:1On another day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them to present himself before him. ²And the Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?”

Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it.”

³Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.”

⁴“Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give all he has for his own life. ⁵But stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face.”

⁶The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life.”

⁷So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. ⁸Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes.

⁹His wife said to him, “Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die!”

¹⁰He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?”

In all this, Job did not sin in what he said (Job 1:1, 2:1-10).

The first point of interest in this story is that Satan makes his way into the assemblage of angels in heaven. His presence there does not seem to cause any kind of a stir. Satan, as his name implies, is simply an adversary of Almighty God; at this point of history, however, he may not have yet become the enemy described in the NT.

Satan is not a god. He is not all-powerful, all-knowing, nor everywhere present. God strikes up a conversation with him, boasting of the righteousness of Job. Satan challenges God to a wager, of sorts, and Job is made to suffer.

The second point of interest is that Job was not a Hebrew. He likely belonged to the Aramean race as the land of Uz does not fall within any known borders of the tribes of Abraham. He was a patriarch, a wise elder, a man of prestige, integrity, and wealth. What we know of Job is found only in the book that bears his name, spurious legends notwithstanding. The book of Job is a literary work of great quality and spiritual significance.

The next point of interest regards the quality of Job’s suffering, a point to which I will come back.

Let us consider also the advice of Job’s wife to “curse God and die”. This advice is an example of bad, yet primitive, theology: if Job would curse God, then he would become a ‘sinner’ and be punished. Throughout the OT we find a discussion of God’s justice, whether it is characterised by punishing the wicked and blessing the righteous. Job's response expresses the answer: “Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” (Job 2:10), or, according to Jesus, “[God] makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous” (Mt 5:45b). God’s economy of salvation is not superficially characterised by punishment and reward. Instead, Job’s story deals with the breakdown of relationships and the triumph of faith.

Unfortunately, the theology of Job’s wife continues in our day in such theologies of prosperity which promote the idea that God’s blesses His righteous people with material wealth. An idea which will again come to the fore in our final week of this series.

the persistence of suffering

At the heart of Job’s story is the question of faith in the midst of suffering. Job’s suffering is more than a cracked fingernail or a stubbed toe. Satan is permitted to afflict Job with anything, so as to test the integrity of his faith, but he is not allowed to take Job’s life. If you were Satan, what would you do to Job, so as to prove your point? You would probably do everything in your power to make Job fall. Satan did exactly that. He took away Job’s wealth, animals and servants. He took away Job’s family, all his sons and daughters were killed. Finally, he took away Job’s health, painful sores covering his entire body, which could only be soothed by scratching with broken pottery. Job’s suffering was thorough, reaching the limits of human endurance.

What are the limits of your endurance for suffering? I, myself, could not bear to see my wife and children raped. What would you do to be released of such suffering? Myself, I would not hesitate to fight or die trying to free my family.

Job was counselled to curse God by his wife, his confidante and soul-mate. This counsel alone should have pushed Job’s suffering over the edge. He was being advised to commit the ultimate wrongdoing, so as to be relieved of his suffering. Would this have been acceptable? Not to Job. Instead, he admitted that his faith recognised no guarantees. He willingly accepted suffering as a possible obstacle in his journey of life. He remained faithful and righteous.

Would you accept such suffering? It seems that many people today will not. Our culture is somehow training people to not accept suffering. The proliferation of drugs, alcohol, prostitution, crime, and suicide, among other escapist vices, are all indications of the avoidance of suffering, as well as themselves being causes of suffering and social breakdown.

Even worse than such escapism is the increase in violence against others as a protest against suffering. In one week alone, we have witnessed three shootings in American schools. The most recent in Paradise, Pennsylvania, was, by far, the most heinous of them all. Charles Carl Roberts committed a grievous sin in his early teen years by sexually molesting two young girls. Later in life, one of his own children dies at birth, a daughter. His anger at God becomes so great, and his temptation to molest children equally so, that he planned to ‘curse God’ by hijacking some Amish children, molesting them, and killing them before killing himself. His plan was foiled; yet, 8 children still lost their lives. ‘Luckily’, they weren’t sexually abused.

What has happened in our world that people willingly hurt others as a way of easing their own suffering? How can committing violence against innocent victims relieve pain, especially when the perpetrators intend to die in the process? The level of alienation and pain revealed in such instances begs our prayer and intervention for the cause of justice, reconciliation, peace, and salvation.

evil as proof of God?

Such suffering cause some to doubt God’s existence because, they reason, why would a good god allow suffering? Surprisingly, it is Christianity alone that can actually make sense of the presence of suffering.

Suffering presumes the presence of evil, since suffering is, itself, an evil. Does anyone deny that what the gunman did to those Amish children was evil? To accept the presence of evil is to make a moral judgement and accept a moral standard. People reject evil and suffering; therefore, moral standards must exist. Even the most diehard atheist will take moral standards for granted, although denying their existence.

For moral standards to exist —like propositions, numbers, and the laws of logic— they cannot be physical since we don’t bump into them when we walk down the street. Since they are invisible, the recognition of moral standards opens us to accept the possibility of other non-physical beings in our cosmos.

Moral standards are a form of communication; they convey meaning; they command. Commands only make sense if there exists a commander.

Moral standards have a force that we sense long before we behave according to, or against, them.

When we contravene moral standards, we feel discomfort and guilt. Why? If there are no moral absolutes in the universe, then we should experience no compunction when we “just do it”. The fact is that moral standards carry the weight of the authority of their commander. This “commander” cannot be an accident of nature, nor another being equal to humanity, else we would not regard those commands compulsively. We are left with no logical alternative than to accept that God exists if moral standards exist. In other words, suffering proves that God exists.

conclusion

This final point will come as no consolation whatsoever for those who endure suffering. Interestingly, Job expects no consolation, nor does he receive any. “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised (Job 1:21), Job exclaims. His story does not conclude with God stating, “this is the meaning of your suffering, Job”. God never answers Job’s questions.

What the book of Job does conclude with is a wonderful expression of faith: “I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted [...] My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you” (Job 42:2, 5). Job had suffered horribly at the hand of God’s adversary. His suffering did eventually end; and in the midst of it all his faith endured and grew as he recognised God’s holiness, power, and justice, even despite his own circumstances.

The families of the slain Amish children should never have had to endure the pain of losing their children to a violent madman. Those families will survive because God is with them.

Charles Roberts did not have to curse God. Even though his children died at birth, he could have experienced the love and peace of God in the midst of his anguish. How could he not have known God’s love and mercy? His family were faithful churchgoers. Somewhere along the line, he did hear to good news of Jesus, who revealed the love of God through the ultimate triumph over suffering: He passed beyond the limits of endurance into death, and came through into a glorious resurrected life that is available to us all, even now.

There are people all around us, in our neighbourhood and possibly even in our congregation, who suffer pain and torment. Who will counsel them to find God in the midst of darkness? How will they know of love and restoration if no one loves and restores them?

Your assignment this week, and forever, is to spot-pray for people. Take a moment or two during your day to study the faces of those around you and to pray for whatever you believe they might be experiencing in their life. If they seem content, pray for their continued peace; if they seem happy, pray for their joy; if they seem sad, pray for their hope. And as the Spirit leads, intervene.

You might be in the midst of suffering this morning. You might be experiencing a dark time in your life. This will very likely, and even reasonably, cause you to question God, as Job did. The apostle Paul counsels us, “In your anger do not sin” (Eph 4:26). So I beg of you: Don’t let your suffering cause you to lose faith, nor hope, nor love. Know and accept that suffering is part of life. If there were no suffering we would not be free. But know also that suffering does not last.

Make your suffering known to someone. Speak with me, or an elder of this church, or someone of mature faith whom you can trust to pray with you and to intervene for you.

sermon delivered by Ian Forest-Jones
at Hurstville Church of Christ
on Sunday, 8 October 2006 at 10am
[email]

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