The Reward of Righteousness

Job 1:1, 2:1-16 October 4, 2015 The Reward of Righteousness? 19th Sunday after Pentecost Year B Wow, can you believe that it is October 4th already. There is a lot going on in our world today. Once again, we are dealing with another mass killing, this is starting to be a common occurence. Even right here in Chicago, Just this week, there were 4 killed and 53 others wounded by guns. Every time there is a shooting in Englewood, I get an email from the 7th district police department, Just in case it happens near the church. Just last night I heard that in Cleveland, there was a 5month baby who was shot while sitting in her car seat in her mothers car. When does it all end? What are the answers to finally bring peace to our land? Even the President expressed his frustration about the situation. And we can’t help but to ask Where is God in the midst of all of this? What does God have to say about all of this? This is a day that we cant help but to turn to our faith. October 4th is St.Francis day – st francis of assisi was a priest who taught many about the way of peace. He wrote the poem-make me an instrument of you peace. Today is also world communion Sunday –where we are reminded that Christians all over the world our in communion with Christ and with one another. I thought it was interesting that president Obama said that the united states is the only nation in the world with this level of violence against ordinary citizens. Why is there this level of hatred on our streets. For those of you who are my facebook friends, you know that in my own life, I am going through a pretty dark tunnel in life myself. I spend a lot of time asking God-why, how and when. The last time I just wanted my mommy to just come and rescue me and make it better was when I was in labor with my son. But I am calling for her everyday. So in this sermon, I am looking for my own answers. That is partly why thought we should look at the old testament today. All summer we have been looking at the wisdom lessons in the bible. Today we start the book of Job, and we will look at it for 4 weeks. I know that we all have heard about Job, but I don’t know how many of you have actually read the story in the bible. Job was a foreigner, who had everything. He had a wife and ten kids- the number of perfection. Most of them were sons. He had a big farm, many animals, he was doing really well. More importantly, he had his faith. He truly believed that he was blessed. And I am not going to make this sermon about the devil, but it was the devil who questioned his faith. Saying he is only blessed because things are going well. If you take his life away –will he still say that he is blessed. Now scholars say that Job is not a real person – that he is just a folk hero. I would not say that Job is nobody, I think he is everybody. How many of you would say that you are blessed? How many of you would say that your faith has been tested at some point in your life? All of us are grateful for what we have, but if we were to lose it all tomorrow, would we still say that we are blessed? Corrie Ten Bloom said that I have held a lot of things in my hands, and lost them all. It is only the things that I put in God’s hands that I can still hold onto. That is a message that I needed to hear- put it in God’s hands. The president says that he doesn’t have any answers to how to stop all of this violence. If you look at the story of Job, he was anything but patient. He was struggling and looking for answers. And he got a lot of answers. It must have been something that you did, why don’t you just admit that you are wrong and go on. But Job knew that he didn’t do anything wrong. And Job struggled because he knew that would not solve the problem. He was still not willing to give up his faith, and his integrity. There is one thing that all of the people who use guns to solve their problems have in common –they are convinced that they are the victim. They are hurt, and they feel that they have no choice but to hurt others. They are out of any other options. Job is an example for us, in the darkest of situations, he did not want to be victim. He turned to God so that he could be victor. We didn’t read the psalm for today, because it was not in the hymnal and I could not find a responsive reading. But many of the psalms are of hard times in a person’s life when they are standing on their faith. Psalm71 says that I am an enigma to many – an enigma is a puzzle. Many people don’t understand Job’s response to suffering. Why be faithful, when you are getting the short end of the stick. When faced with a problem –most people want answers. And sometimes in life there are no answers. There is an Asian proverb that when you are shot, you don’t need to find our the make of the bullet, or thehistory of the gun in order to heal. Anwers don’t always solve the problem. Sometimes you don’t get an answer, all you get is to respond. You can respond with hurt or you can respond with love. You can be a victim or you can be a victor. I have always had appreciation for Leslie Wheatherhead's insightful statement suggesting that after we have had a painful human experience we ought to get from that experience everything it has to teach us, because we have paid such a high price for the wisdom it seeks to impart. Being blessed is not about what you have, it is about who you are. Do you love God? Are you willing to put it in the hands of God or do you need to hold on? 1509 One Year To Live The Baltimore Sun conducted a contest, and the following poem received a prize for the best answer to the question, “What would you do if you had one more year to live?” “If I had but one year to live; One year to help; one year to give; One year to love; one year to bless; One year of better things to stress; One year to sing; one year to smile; To brighten earth a little while; One year to sing my Maker’s praise; One year to fill with work my days; One year to strive for a reward When I should stand before my Lord, I think that I would spend each day, In just the very self-same way That I do now. For from afar The call may come across the bar At any time, and I must be Prepared to meet eternity. So if I have a year to live, Or just one day in which to give A pleasant smile, a helping hand, A mind that tries to understand A fellow-creature when in need; ’Tis one with me—I take no heed. But try to live each day He sends To serve my gracious Master’s ends.” —Mary Davis Reed We don’t know what our circumstances will be next year. Wedont know about next month, or even tomorrow. We haveto take life moment by moment. Turn it over to God. and be willing to claim that you are a blessed child of God, no matter what the circumstance. Amen. Children’s Sermon Materials: A large suitcase, a purse, and a backpack. Message: Can you believe all the things we have to help us carry around supplies with us every day? It seems that we can hardly go anywhere these days without bringing something to help us carry things! How many of you ladies here today brought a purse with you? How many of you men carried a wallet? What about you children, do you carry a backpack or some type of bag with you to school every day? Even when we go on vacation to get away from it all, we certainly take a lot of things with us. Just look at the size of this suitcase. In our family we take several of these! There is no doubt about it! Wherever we go, we usually end up taking a lot of supplies with us. Even before we are old enough to carry them ourselves, our parents carry those bags of supplies! That is very different from what the Bible says our lives were like when they began and what they will be like when they are nearing an end. God says that when we came into the world we had nothing - just the bodies He had given us. When we leave the world, we will take nothing - even leaving those bodies behind to go into Jesus' presence. That reminds us that we need to be aware of what is really important in life. The most important things are not the possessions we have, or the things we can accumulate, or the house we live in, or the cars we drive. The most important things in life are inside of us: our faith in Jesus, the love we hold for our family and others, our willingness to help people who need our support. When we get to heaven, those are things that will count the most, not the things that we can see and hold onto in life but the things that are unseen - inside our hearts. FROM A MUSTARD SEED by Mark A. Hultquist Additional illustrations…… Text: Job 1:21 Job declared: Naked I came from my mother's womb and naked I will depart. The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away; May the Name of the Lord be praised! Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my little apple tree and pay my debts. —Martin Luther • St. Francis of Assisi, hoeing his garden, was asked what he would do if he were suddenly to learn that he was to die at sunset that day. He said: “I would finish hoeing my garden.” It is said of Henry of Bavaria that at one time, becoming weary of court life, he determined to enter a monastery. When he presented himself to Prior Richard, the faithful monk gave him the strict rules of the order. The king listened eagerly and enthusiastically expressed pleasure at the prospect of such complete consecration. Then the prior insisted that obedience, implicit and expressed was the first requisite of sainthood. The monarch promised to follow his will in every detail. “Then go back to your throne and do your duty in the station God assigned you,” was the prior’s word to him. The king took up his scepter again, and from then until he died, his people said of him, “King Henry has learned to govern by learning to obey.” —The Treasury It is said of Henry of Bavaria that at one time, becoming weary of court life, he determined to enter a monastery. When he presented himself to Prior Richard, the faithful monk gave him the strict rules of the order. The king listened eagerly and enthusiastically expressed pleasure at the prospect of such complete consecration. Then the prior insisted that obedience, implicit and expressed was the first requisite of sainthood. The monarch promised to follow his will in every detail. “Then go back to your throne and do your duty in the station God assigned you,” was the prior’s word to him. The king took up his scepter again, and from then until he died, his people said of him, “King Henry has learned to govern by learning to obey.” —The Treasury