Introduction

In his classic book, Good Grief, Dr. Granger Westberg, a Lutheran pastor and former professor at the University of Illinois Medical School in Chicago, describes the "grief process" as a series of stages we go through in response and reaction to a severe trauma or a painful loss in life.

The death of someone we love, being fired at work, enduring a separation or divorce or facing some kind of serious physical or emotional affliction - all of those experiences and so many more can trigger a wide range of feelings that takes us up and down like a roller coaster ride: shock, denial, depression, loneliness, guilt, fear, anger, resentment and then the hard work of moving toward acceptance, healing and hope for the future. Most or all of those stages are part of the grieving process.

“Faith in God can and does make a difference”, writes Dr. Westberg, but he goes on to say that "wrestling with problems connected to our loss often causes us to re-evaluate our religious convictions. We may question certain aspects of faith and go through periods of doubt, like Job of old, who was beset on all sides by suffering, pain and sorrow." (From "Good Grief," pages 19-20, by Dr. Granger E. Westberg, Fortress Press, 1962)

Part 1

Now we know, because the Bible tells us so, that Job was forced to face those stages of grief and as we read our texts for today from chapters 6 and 7, I think you will understand why this sermon is not titled "The Patience of Job."

That, of course, is the general impression people have held down through the centuries - that Job patiently endured his calamities and trusted in God faithfully through the hard times until the good times rolled around again. But that is not how the real story unfolds.

Because after the initial shock of hearing the bad news that most of his family and possessions had been lost, and following the first reactions of sadness and depression wherein Job still clung tenaciously to his faith in the Lord, chapters 6 and 7 reveal a dramatic shift in attitude as Job becomes impatient, defiant and seething with anger at the unfairness of it all.

A friend named Eliphaz who has come to visit him, cautions Job about his behavior, saying “Vexation (anger, wrath) kills a foolish man" (5:2), and those words ignited an explosion. Job cried out:

"O that my vexation were weighed, and all my calamity laid in the balances! (6:1)...O that I might have my request...that it would please God to crush me...and cut me off!...For I have not denied the words of the Holy One...What is my strength, that I should wait? And what is my end, that I should be patient?..(6:8, 10, 11)

You who withhold kindness from a friend, you forsake the fear of the Almighty. You are treacherous as a torrent bed, as streams of water that pass away and dry up (6:14-15)...Such you have now become to me - you see my calamity and are afraid (6:21). Teach me and I will be silent, make me understand how I have erred (sinned)...Do you think that you can reprove...a despairing man?" (6:24, 26, 27)

Job's outburst is a classic case of anger in the grieving process. He is angry at his friend Eliphaz for offering criticism of his behavior instead of bringing the consolation and compassion he needs. Job turns his anger on himself, asking God to cut him off and end the pain. And in chapter 7, Job aims his anger at God, saying:

"Therefore, I will not restrain my mouth...I will complain in the bitterness of my soul (7:1)...What is man, that thou dost make so much of him...That thou dost set thy mind upon him...And test him every moment? (7:17-18) ...Why hast thou made me thy mark? Why have I become a burden to Thee? Why dost thou not pardon my transgression and take away my iniquity?" (7:20-21)

Now, if that sounds like blasphemy, let us remember, at the end of his tirade, that Job still looks to the Lord for mercy. You see, Job has not given up on God's goodness and love, but he is angry at the apparent unfairness of all the terrible things that have happened to him and his family.

In his cry of anger and pain, Job speaks up for all of humanity. Because, when we have been knocked down and kicked around by the troubles and tragedies of life, when our patience breaks and our hearts ache in sadness and in sorrow, we want to know with Job what in the world is happening to us and why.

Part 2

Philip Yancey, who is an evangelical believer and one of the editors of Christianity Today magazine, struggles with that question in his book Disappointment With God. He interviewed scores of people who felt that way - disappointed with, betrayed by, angry at God and living in the depths of despair. Yancey also talked with others who had walked through the valley of the shadow and found healing and hope on the other side.

His research led him to read again and rediscover the painful and profound story of Job. And in chapter 24 of his book, "Is God Unfair?" Yancey writes these words:

"At some point, every human being confronts the mysteries that caused Job to tremble in terror and cry out in anger: is God unfair?

One option seemed obvious to Job's wife: 'Curse God and Die!' she advised him. Why hold on to a sentimental belief in a loving God when so much in life conspires against it?...

Others propose another possibility: perhaps God knows about our suffering but cannot do anything about it...Yancey quotes Elie Wiesel, a survivor of the Holocaust, who once said, 'If that is who God is, then why doesn't He resign and let someone more competent take His place?’

A third group evades the problem of unfairness by looking to the future, when justice will work itself out in the universe. Unfairness is a temporary condition, they say...

A fourth approach is to flatly deny the problem and insist that things are fair...that the world does run according to fixed laws: good people will prosper and evil ones will fail...

And some Christians respond by searching for a hidden reason behind suffering:

· God is trying to teach you something

· Don't worry - God will not test you beyond your endurance

· Meditate on the blessings you still enjoy - are you a fair weather believer?

· Don't complain! You will forfeit the opportunity to demonstrate your faith to non-believers."

And finally, Yancey offers one last explanation:

"After hearing all of the alternatives, Job was driven to the conclusion which I suggest as the one sentence summary of the entire book: Life is unfair!” In the Old Testament Job, one of God's favorites, suffered terrible unfairness. And in the New Testament, God's own Son suffered even more...God responded to the question of unfairness, not with words, but with a visit, an incarnation. And Jesus offers flesh and blood proof of how God feels about our suffering and pain. On the cross, He offered no immunity to unfairness, but rather a way through it to the other side. Just as Good Friday demolished the...belief that life is supposed to be fair...Easter Sunday followed with its...clue to the riddle of the universe - out of the darkness, (God's love and light was shining from here to eternity).

(From Disappointment With God by Philip Yancey, excerpts from chapter 24, "Is God Unfair?")

You see, if we look at Lent and Easter through the eyes of Job, together with Philip Yancey and all Christian believers down through the centuries, we are led to the foot of the cross where Jesus did not say "I have come to answer all of your questions," neither did He promise to explain the reasons for our sorrow and pain. Instead, He suffered with us and for us to show us how much He and His Father, our Father in Heaven, love us.

And while Job and all the rest of us ever since cannot and will never find simple or easy answers to all of our questions, as Christians we can be absolutely certain, because of the cross, that through His Son our Savior Jesus, God hears our cry, God can absorb our anger, God identifies with our grief and sorrow and God cares about our pain. That is a promise He has given to us in person, and there is nothing, absolutely nothing, that can ever take that promise away.

Part 3

Before we close, there is one more lesson we can learn from The Impatience of Job. Not only does his cry of anger lead us to the cross of Calvary, his call for justice sends us out into the world to speak out and reach out for the rest of God's human family.

After asking over and over again, "Why is this happening to me?" Job suddenly becomes aware of the plight of other people who are suffering, and at the beginning of chapter 7, he lifts up this petition toward heaven:

"Has not man a hard service upon earth, and are not his days like the days of a hireling? Like a slave who longs for the shadow...and looks for his wages...So are (we) allotted months of emptiness and nights of misery...(7:1-3) As the cloud fades and vanishes, so he who goes down to Sheol does not come up - he returns no more to his house, nor does his place know him any more" (7:9-10)

What Job has recognized is that the lives of his fellow human beings are also in jeopardy. Some are stuck in the rut of hard labor, with little to show for their efforts. Others suffer as slaves, with nothing to gain at all. There are those who live their days and nights in misery, empty in body and soul because they lack food to eat and have lost all hope. And could it be that Job was talking about refugees wandering in the desert and homeless people without a roof over their heads or a place to sleep?

If that is so, then we know that Job, who was once rich and powerful, could do nothing in his disastrous situation long ago to help those who were in need. But we who live in this country today cannot and must not fail to hear and to heed Job's call for justice.

Because, we Christians who live in a nation that does have an over abundance of resources and unprecedented power, we have the opportunity and the God-given responsibility to speak out for justice and freedom on behalf of those who are oppressed - for people in the Sudan and in Pakistan and for Palestinians in the Holy Land of Israel. We need to join our voices to speak out with Pope John Paul II as he calls for reconciliation between Christians, Jews and Muslims in Jerusalem and throughout the rest of this world. Moreover, we need to reach out in the name of Jesus Christ to those who are refugees in far away places like Kosovo, Zimbabwe and Uganda, and to homeless men, women and children right here in the city of Atlanta and to hungry and hurting people wherever they may be.

And we must never forget that Job's call for justice, alongside the prophecy of Micah 6 - To do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with God - those words carry a sense of urgency.

Martin Luther King, Jr., whose death we will remember on April 4, once wrote similar words from a Birmingham jail:

"We have been waiting for justice for more than 300 years, and we can afford to wait no longer."

A cry of anger and pain - a call for justice throughout God's domain - such was The Impatience of Job and all those who have followed in his footsteps ever since. His words can still be heard in our world today. So may God come alongside us in our own time of trouble and empower us to speak and reach out for those who struggle and need our help.

In the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.