BIG, MYSTERIOUS, MAJESTIC GOD

Presented at County Line Brethren Church on October 18, 2009.
Year B, Proper 24
Scripture passages: Job 38:1-7, 34-41; Hebrews 5:1-10

Not that long ago, Bart and Joan were doing rather well. Bart had a good job. He had been there several years and had earned the respect of his co-workers. When problems surfaced, they would seek out his input and opinion. He had been promoted a couple times and had a supervisory position. His wife, Joan, had been working part-time ever since the kids both entered public school. It was fulfilling and flexible, allowing her time off when the kids were sick. It provided her an opportunity to interact with other people and the modest income allowed the family to enjoy some extra activities. They had a small savings account, a couple of reliable vehicles, were buying a house and the Christmas tree last year was surrounded by gifts. The kids were doing well in school. The oldest was in advanced math and played the clarinet. The youngest liked to play soccer and enjoyed the children's ministry at church.

Every few weeks or so (not that long ago) they would get together with grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. There would be plenty of food and fun, along with an occasional skirmish between the younger cousins. Oh, and I must mention the regular touch football game enjoined by young and old, male and female, throughout the fall – especially on days like today.

Not that long ago they attended church most every Sunday. They sat in pretty much the same seat, every time they went. Half the family sang, half didn't. And even though Uncle Roger couldn't hold a tune in a bucket, he sang loud enough for everyone to hear anyway. He explained to those who were brave enough to question him that he was just making a joyful noise to the Lord, and then gave them a little wink.

Not that long ago, the family would get up on Saturday morning early. Father and son would go to a Boy Scout event. Mother and daughter would go shopping at the mall.

Not that long ago. Not that long ago.

About a year and a half ago, Bart had an accident in his pickup truck. It was his fault. The road was a little wet and he had lost focus on his driving for a moment. He rear-ended the car in front of him and injured the elderly driver of the other car. The insurance company eventually settled the whole mess. But Bart would occasionally see this person around town who still appeared to walk stiffly. Bart would feel guilty.

About a year ago, Uncle Roger was diagnosed with dementia. He started leaving the oven and the stove on, almost burning the house down one day while sustaining heavy damage to the kitchen. Uncle Roger was lucky to get out alive. A couple months after that he was found wandering in the middle of a street across town at midnight. He did not know where he was, or how to get home. Uncle Roger has lived with his kids ever since, and he doesn't sing loud in church anymore – everyone kind of misses that. In fact, Uncle Roger has never been the same.

About 9 months ago, Bart was laid off because of the bad economy. For a few weeks it was kind of nice, he said it was like a vacation. He was able to do some of those projects around the house. Joan was sure happy about that. He started collecting unemployment, which was only about 60% of his previous take-home pay. They decided to pay for the COBRA insurance out of their savings, in order to keep health insurance. Bart looked for work, but it seemed like there were 100 or more applicants for every job he pursued. Furthermore, 90% of the available jobs were for ½ the pay he had been getting. To help ends meet, Joan began working full-time when she had the opportunity, but it was second shift. The benefits were virtually non-existent and sometimes had to go into work when she was sicker than a dog because she was afraid of getting fired. Everyone missed having mom at home for dinner.

Bart finally got a part-time job working for a friend involved in remodeling. It was money under the table, without any benefits.

The trips to the mall stopped. COBRA ended because they could not afford it. The savings account was empty. Bart and Joan were arguing more than they used to. The kids spent more time in their rooms, alone. The TV was on all the time, even when there was no one watching it.

When they went to church, it was not as enjoyable as it had been. It was hard to “get into worship.” Their attendance at church became less frequent. They even missed one of the family gatherings at Bart's brother's house.

Bart would spend time with his friends occasionally. They would give him advice about how to find a job, talk about the bad economy, and rail against both nagging wives and ungrateful children.

Bart and Joan could not figure out how they were going to handle Christmas this year. They simply did not have the money to stack gifts next to the Christmas tree and they certainly could not contribute to the family gift exchange at grandma's house on Christmas Eve.

They began to question where God was. They weren't bad people. They did not live extravagant lives, and yet they were beginning to feel like God had forgotten about them. Most of the friends that Bart met with periodically did not attend church and would sometimes speak about religion disrespectfully – that religion was only for kids and old women and weak people (you know, like what Jesse Ventura says).

One Sunday morning Joan announced to the family that she was done with church, she was done with God, she was done with the Bible, and suggested that God had deserted them. Joan was tired. Joan was finished.

Meanwhile, Bart continued to get together with the pastor for breakfast once in awhile. The pastor's answer was that Bart needed to read the Bible more, pray more, and to come to church every Sunday.

Bart began experiencing panic attacks about 2 months ago. At first he thought he was having a heart attack, but the ER doctor said there was nothing wrong with his heart. All the follow-up tests confirmed that there was nothing wrong physically. He has started receiving the hospital and doctor bills and has no idea how to pay for them. He's not sure how to pay for the medicine he now takes for his anxiety, and has tried skipping doses.

He recently took a walk on a nearby country road. His God-fearing friend had made that suggestion indicating that it had helped him. He was surprised after just a few minutes on his walk that he started to cry. A few minutes later, he noticed he was angry and began yelling at some cows in a nearby pasture. Then the anger turned toward God, there in between a field of corn on one side of the road and soybeans on the other side of the road.

After successfully keeping a lid on it for several months, the dam broke. Out spewed the venom at the One Person who could have done something to fix it all – and was choosing not to. And yet, in everything Bart said, he did not curse God, but simply and animalistically vented his hurt, his pain, and his frustration like the ooze spurting out of boil having just been lanced.

You could almost hear the voice of Job as he screamed at God saying, “desert me if you choose, but I shall not forsake you. Kill me if you must, even in death will I trust you.”

When he was done and the eruption subsided, he began to weep. It was like he was walking to nowhere in particular, without any awareness of his surroundings.

After walking another mile or so, he noticed some wild turkeys crossing the road about a 1/10th of a mile beyond him, and he stopped in his tracks. For some reason Bart could not move. He was mesmerized. He was struck by how the younger ones were nearly as big as the adults. He noticed the heightened vigilance of the adults compared to the younger ones. The waddling snood under their beak caught his eye as it walked, along with that odd-looking red-pink carbuncle on top of its head. He remembered that he had seen them fly up into the trees before, and that Benjamin Franklin advocated that the turkey be named as our national bird. He observed that they traveled as a group across the road. And in comparison to the summer hummingbird and the winter plumage of goldfinch, blue jay, and cardinal, the turkey is a rather homely bird. But I must say, they are not nearly as ugly as the ostrich or the vulture.

And then it was like Bart heard a soft whisper. It was a question. “Were you there when I make that turkey? No, I'm not talking about all those turkeys. Were you there when I make that turkey? And it was like Bart was drawn to one specific turkey just about to disappear into the corn field. Then it was like Bart was drawn to one specific ear of corn, which had already fallen and was drooping downward, about ready to be harvested, and he heard the voice continue softly. “Were you there when I make that ear of corn?

He was then drawn to a grove of trees not far away, with some of the branches hanging over the road. It was like a painter’s palate, filled with virtually every color imaginable. As he approached the grove, his brain seemed to swim in the colors. One bright yellow leaf shook a bit and he heard the voice again, “Were you there when I made this leaf, not just the entire grove, but this particular yellow leaf?”

About that time, the sun was starting to go down and began to radiate as a blazing red fireball. And he heard the voice again, “Were you there when I hung that in the sky?” Soon, it seemed that the entire western sky was ablaze in streaks of colors and the voice asked, “Can you do that?” Unable to move or attempt to answer, Bart just stood there. It was like for the first time in his life, he was catching a glimpse of the BIG, MYSTERIOUS, and MAJESTIC GOD.

 Again, another question, “How is it that you are able to understand what is happening to you at this moment?”
 “How is it that you are able to love your wife, play with your children, and hug your parents?
 “How is it that you are able to read my precious letters that I wrote specifically for you and comprehend them?
 “How is it that you are able to enjoy Beethoven, George Beverly Shea, Eric Clapton, U2, Third Day and John Mayer?”


• And then it dawned upon Bart that God had not answered any of his complaints. God did not provide a satisfactory answer.
• God had not apologized but nor had he chastised Bart. God did not apologize for making any mistakes.
• God did not reveal his great big plan which would have helped Bart make sense of everything that was happening and how his life had felt like someone had flushed the toilet. God did not talk about how all the bad things fit into his wonderful plan for Bart's life.
• God did not tell him to read the Bible, pray more often, or even to attend church. God did not tell him to do more spiritual activities.

Attempts to understand the ways of God extend way beyond the walls of the church or even beyond those who identify themselves as part of the church. Questions about God seem to pop up in the oddest places.

In the movie, The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy and the others have taken care of the wicked witch of the west and returned to Oz. They approach the Wizard in his castle and ask for the favors previously promised as rewards for the demise of the witch. As they stand there, “the little dog”, Toto, sees movement off to the side, bites and pulls down the curtain. “Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.” “I am the great and powerful wizard of Oz” (said with diminishing confidence).

The powerful wizard that they were anticipating did not exist. There are some people whose encounter with God is kind of like this movie. Many people view God as similar to the Wizard of Oz, manipulating all the bells and whistles behind a cosmic curtain, but without any real power to have any impact on difficult circumstances. They hear all kinds of promises that God makes to them if they live right, make good choices, avoid all forms of evil, and fight for the right causes. Then when they come to God to collect on his so-called promises, they are sorely disappointed. They come to believe that God is not really a god at all. Indeed, he is often identified as inept, like an elderly person in a nursing home who simply wants visitors and sentimental gifts, but can offer no gifts themselves.

Other people view God as the George Burns or Morgan Freeman, giving sage advice to his unwilling disciples.

And still others view God as a tyrant who would subject one of his trustworthy followers, such as Job, to cruel game of “he loves me, he loves me not” with the devil himself.

And yet, the God of Job defies definitions and explanations; choosing instead to reveal his majesty to his servant.

Dazzling pictures and data from the Hubble Space Telescope continue to bear witness to the unfathomable vastness of the cosmos. Multiple galaxies can be seen in some images, each of them made up of BILLIONS of stars. In the light of such amazing and overwhelming realities, it is possible for us to feel very small. “Who are we?” we wonder with the psalmist, “that God would take notice of us,” given the near infinite scope of creation?
In that context, the voice of the Lord thundering from the whirlwind comes addressed to one of us! The Lord speaks about the rest of creation, but to Job. For all of the seeming inconsequence, we are the ones to whom God has spoken, the ones to whom God holds out the promise of conversation about the design of creation. Outside the boundary of this lection, God says to Job, “Look at Behemoth, which I made just as I made you” (40:15, NRSV, emphasis added). God is not dismissing Job, but is REORIENTING Job within a larger awareness of God's good creation. “Who is it that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?” (38:2). The answer is Job – the (very) one with whom the living God (chooses) to speak. [Feasting on the Word, Year B, Vol. 4, pp. 170-175]

You see, for God, it is not about the 'why', but about the who.

It is fitting that at the end of every sermon on Job, John Calvin writes, “Now we shall bow in humble reverence before the face of our God.”

We are all trying our best to understand God, in the midst of our own troubled existence. We read and study the Bible. We pray. We treat others as we would like to be treated – some of the time. We are trying. Nevertheless, God will always be the 'never-fully-understood-personified-mystery.' For, you see, the human mind is fully incapable of grasping God's majesty – except perhaps on a country road around sunset.