17th October 2021 Pentecost 21 (Twenty First Sunday after Pentecost)
Title: Creator and Creation
(Scripture Reading: Job 38:1-7; Hebrews 5:7-10)
By Heeyoung Lim
Job is a person who underwent a profound “dark night of the soul” without apparent reason. He was blameless and upright, but his life with his family was destroyed. Chaos displaced order: sadness came up instead of joy; despair overwhelmed hope; anger overcame his peace; sickness banished his health. His close friends became part of the problem, for they blamed his troubles on his sin or his fault.
Tragedy strikes and chaos comes knocking at his door. Job loses everything due to heavenly deal between God and Satan. Job knew that he has not sinned or disobeyed God and still he suffers, but he felt it was all God’s doing and he wanted some answers that made sense. Why do bad things happen to good people? What is the reason for Job’s suffering? This question has increased vigorous discussion among Job and his friends during the previous thirty-seven chapters. However, the multiple voices from Satan, Job’s friends, and his wife give way to God when God takes the stage in chapter 38. Meanwhile, suspense has been building as Job keeps asking God to answer his complaint. It was about justice and the absence of God during Job’s suffering.
Job has challenged God. In his suffering, he seeks some answers and some vindication. His words were derived from a false perspective about the positions of God and man. He had confused the truth about who God is. He forgot the truth that God was the Creator and he was the creation.
When Job takes his case to God, God meets him face to face and questions him. God suddenly broke His long silence and spoke to Job in anger. The LORD answered Job out of the storm; it was a divine encounter in a fierce whirlwind. Whenever God speaks in the Bible, the attention shifts.
God’s answer to Job’s dark night of the soul is to challenge him with the wonder and amazement of the universe. His answer to Job is no solution, rather, it consists of questions. God never explains why Job has suffered as he has, but God humbles Job by asking him questions about His creation and He turns Job’s attention away from his own situation and circumstances towards God’s majesty, wisdom, and power. God does not correct Job or teach him a lesson but dazzles him with the divine glory. God stretches Job’s imagination to ponder His majestic creation.
Just as verses 4-7 outline Job’s absence from the creation of the world, verses 8-11 testify to Job’s absence in the establishment of the seas. Job is learning his place in the universe before God. He is assured of God’s presence, and this resolves Job’s problems on a different level. God creates, controls, and rules over the world. After a time of profound questions, Job proclaims his faith in God.
Psalm 104:1 sings, “O Lord my God, you are very great.” We can imagine Job is singing this Psalm that describes the majesty and wondrous deeds of God in creation. When have you experienced the presence of God? When have we found ourselves singing with the realization that no matter what, God is God? The sovereignty of God is expressed through the wonder of creation. May we praise God as our creator whenever we see or look after God’s creation.
We rejoice in the works of God in our daily lives. We live within the limits of human knowledge and unresolved questions, but we are called to trust God and look after God’s creation. May we only hold on to God and care for each other and God’s creation with trust and hope. The wisdom and love Jesus revealed on the cross came in remaining faithful to God and trusting God’s way. May we look to Jesus’ example of obedience in suffering and give Jesus our full obedience and attention in God’s plan.
God is our Creator and Jesus is our Saviour. May we come to Jesus for the strength to overcome our weakness and we be in search of relationship and intimacy with God. It does not mean that we believe in Jesus because of our problem solving, it is because we are God’s creation and Jesus’ disciples. The righteous or God’s people should not lose sight of the exalted position that God occupies. God redeems people who are in trouble, sustains them through the wilderness, and brings them into the promised land. God acts through history, in fulfillment of promises made long before to a particular people, with whom God enters covenant relationship.
God works through our story, fulfills His promises in our lives. Creation and redemption are inextricably linked. God so loved people and the world. God invites us to protect His creation. Our planet is in danger, the causes of this problem seem to lie in the lack of awareness and action. Many people across the world, however, do not save energy and water, many of them do not recycle their waste and send everything to landfill. People therefore are generally unaware of the importance of saving resources and recycling their refuse. Some people are not interested in climate change and climate action even though our planet is in danger due to human induced problems. Despite our pain and loss, God’s creation will support and sustain.
Our role is to recognise God’s work, not just in the exceptional moments, but on a regular basis in our lives. It must be done not only by word and explanation, but by action and experience in the presence of God. May we recognise God’s work, participate in helping people who are in unwanted suffering, and protect our planet by bold climate action each and every day.
If there had been no book of Job in the Bible, it would have been more difficult for us to understand the suffering and pain that the righteous must endure. Like Job, many people want to listen to an explanation and exact answer when they suffer, but God is giving us questions to be identified ourselves as God’s creature and experienced the presence of God. All questions from God intended to reveal the sovereignty of the Lord. God is here represented as the sovereign Lord who guides us and governs all. God leads us to praise God as our Creator, consider God’s creation, and take good care of it.
Today’s Hebrew 5 shows that Christ passed through testing and suffering. This happened during his days on earth and guaranteed that our Saviour could identify human beings’ weaknesses and problems. Christ himself was no stranger to hardship. Jesus’ salvation applies only to those who obey and believe in Him. Obedience is our acceptance of God’s will and love. God’s gift of salvation is open to all.
I pray that we look at Jesus’ example of obedience in suffering for our salvation as we face hardship. I hope we can give Jesus our full obedience and attention. May we stay constantly alert to distinguish good actions from bad practices and discern God’s will even in uncertainty. (Hebrews 5) Christ’s humility in His service forms another invitation to find our place and calling in servanthood. May we obey God and serve God’s people and His creation.
Thanks be to God! Amen.
(Ref. Bible, commentaries, theological books, UCA materials)
