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READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:
Job 4:1-8, 11:1-6
1 Corinthians 1:10-31
- St. Luke 7:36-50
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ (Rom 1)
Who speaks to you, as we continue in His Book of Job heard,
saying:
“God exacts of you
less than your guilt deserves”
And these words are true, but are only Good News when we
know and believe that Jesus is both God and man, and that He was crucified,
died, buried, and rose again, for us, on the third day. Without that Promise of
Jesus, Job’s words only burden the conscience further, revealing an endless
string of sins that deserve punishment from God. It is the Gospel that brings
hope, for the Law shows us our sin, but the Gospel shows us our Savior.
When Job’s friends approach him, after hearing the horrible
news of his enormous losses, they do not recognize him. Covered in sores, dust,
and ashes Job is half the man he used to be. They do not recognize him and yet
they do, because they don’t leave or say anything. They just sit in the ash
heap, next to their friend, and remain silent for 7 days.
And that would have been fine, yet on the eighth day, they
chose to open their mouths. Not in spite, but in hopes that their words would
bring comfort to the friend in need. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Job
calls them all “miserable comforters”, in chapter 16:2. That doesn’t seem very
charitable on Job’s part, so what’s going on here?
First off, there is only one Comforter, the Holy Spirit sent
by Jesus Himself to preach to us Jesus Himself. So at the start, Job’s friends
cannot be comforters in order to replace The Comforter. This, then, leads to
the second issue. That Job’s friends, attempting to fix the situation, only
make it worse.
They are us, in our sin, when we employ our “theology of
rewards”. That is the theology that says, “Just find the sin and God will start
the paychecks rolling again”. And that is the satanic lie. The Law cannot fix
your faith, your soul, or your life. It can only shatter the bones that were
already fractured.
Let’s take a listen.
Job has just finished his little soliloquy of, “just let me
die already”, in Chapter 3. (So dramatic!) Eliphaz is moved to answer Job in
chapter 4. He preaches there that Job was able to do much good for others, in
the past, “but now it has come to you, and you are impatient; it touches
you, and you are dismayed”, from verse 5.
He, I would say rightly, uses the Law to point out that Job
has been trusting in his own fear of God and his own integrity of his own ways,
to be his confidence and hope (v.6). This cuts Job deep, as the Law of God
should, and he cries out all the more. For the Law searches the inward parts,
scrying where only the Spirit goes to uncover sin and convict the soul. Eliphaz
concludes that this would never happen to an innocent and upright man, so
something must still be wrong with Job.
Bildad speaks up in chapter 8, saying if only Job prayed
harder, for real this time bro, and repented better this time, really mean it
bro, then God would reject him no longer. And in chapter 11, which was part of
our reading tonight, Zophar just cuts right through all the red tape,
declaring, “Job suck it up. You deserve much worse.”
Zophar’s main point comes in verse 12 with no filter, “a
stupid man will get understanding when a wild donkey's colt is born a man!”
In other words: never. He attempts his comfort in saying
that “God exacts of you less than your guilt deserves” (11:6), but does
not give a reason for that. His conclusion is not to turn to the Gospel, which
would be where you would do it, but to more Law. For, he continues to demand
Job stretch out his hands toward God and prepare his own heart (v.13), but for
real this time as if it wasn’t real the first 777 times.
Yes, “miserable comforters” because they are attempting to
use God’s Law to bring about righteousness, where it only brings accusation.
Job already knows he has sin. Job already knows he has more sin than he knows.
The purpose of God’s commands and demands are to show how far we have fallen
and how hopeless it is to try and fix ourselves, in front of God.
Does that mean the Law has become useless? Far from it. “For
on the one hand”, says Hebrews 7, “a former commandment is set aside
because of its weakness and uselessness (for the law made
nothing perfect); but on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through
which we draw near to God” (v.18-19). Law and Gospel.
The Law must be proclaimed to all people, but especially to
impenitent sinners. And it does not go away either. Even the best of the
Apostles and prophets constantly prayed for purification from their sins, as if
they were tormented night and day, by them. So what hope do we have? Job’s
friends were heading down the righteous path, preaching the Law: that Job did
have, and was thoroughly corrupted by sin.
Where they forgot to turn, was towards the Gospel. They
correctly wanted Job to repent, but they failed to take him to the only place
where repentance counts: the foot of the cross.
And before we try to fix Job’s friends on their behalf, they
may not have had the cross of Christ, per say, but they already had the promise
of a suffering Savior. They already had God’s gospel of the Seed Who would
crush satan’s head.
Thus, the miserable in their sins, must be comforted with
the Gospel, and Job was miserable. The Gospel, “the Good News that we are freed
from the guilt, the punishment, and the power of sin, and are saved eternally
because of Christ’s keeping the Law and His suffering and death for us",
must be proclaimed to sinners who are troubled in their minds because of
their sins.
Job has already confessed his sins and, like misguided
priests, his friends simply pile on the guilt. Keep going, keep going, they
shout. You have more sin! Remember when you pushed your sister down the stairs
and blamed it on the dog in the 4th grade?
These are the devil’s own words, “You are not good enough
for forgiveness”. And his only other words to us are, “You are good enough
without forgiveness.”
The fulfillment of God’s Law is not accomplished by mere
outward actions or sincere efforts or the best of intentions. The
fulfillment of God’s Law is accomplished by love: pure, sacrificial, obedient,
Serving. Perfect love for God and our neighbors. “Love God. Love your
neighbor”, Jesus declares. Not two Greatest Commandments, but one: Love.
And Jesus is love. Job and his friends want a fair God, “I
deserve my fair share”, but what they need is a merciful God. A merciful God
Who will not only restart the checks, but make it so the checks never stop for
all eternity.
We call that salvation. And that salvation is only found in
the Crucified and Risen, Jesus Christ. There is no other God but Jesus. There
is no other Judge, there is no other way. In sinfully believing that God’s Law
is a contract, we even attempt to fix God. We use our religion to escape the
cross, for if we can pull ourselves up, then Jesus doesn’t have to worry about
us.
You cannot deceive Jesus. It is His Law after all. He knows
it better and He shows us better, by His life. The love of God is not found in
fearful obedience, but joyful belief. Christ is the end of the Law for
righteousness to all who believe” because He comes to perfect it, in His own
Body and Blood.
“Do we then overthrow the law by this faith?”, asks
St. Paul in Romans 3:31, “By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law”. That
is, a real and true “fixing” of the sinner is only found in the death and
resurrection of Jesus, and the subsequent death and resurrection of the sinner
in Baptism. A pure grace and mercy, given by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Without which, we remain wicked. Without which we remain
unrighteous. Without which remain that wild donkey’s colt of a man: stupid. In
Christ, we are a new man, born again. We have cast aside our old ways and our
own integrity, in exchange for a baptismal gown.
For this reason the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, was sent to
us. That we be sanctified, as our Epistle from Sunday said. That we “preach
Christ crucified, a stumbling block and folly to the world, but…which
is the wisdom and strength of God”, our 2nd reading declared. And, that we find
our multitude of sins, those we know and those we don’t, surprisingly forgiven
by grace, through faith, for Christ’s sake alone, as the 3rd reading said.
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