Job 1:1 - 2:1-10; Psalm 26; Hebrews 1:1-4, 2:5-12; Mark 10:2-16
This is World Communion Sunday. Today, we share Holy Communion with Christians around the world – and remember the martyrs whose bodies were broken and blood was shed that our God might be glorified. In particular, we remember the martyrs of Oregon today who had the integrity to answer “yes” when a weapon was pointed at them and they were asked, “are you a Christian?” – and therefore, I am dressed in red and the Communion Table is decorated in red in their memory and in memory of all persecuted Christians around the world.
This is the fourth of 8 sermons on a series Entitled “God Solves our Problems”.
We’ve heard how the promise of eternal life changes our perspective on problems, allowing us to see problems with an eternal, godly perspective instead of an urgent, human perspective. And we saw how, with our permission, God puts us into a training program to help us learn to live godly, holy lives. Then we saw how God’s model of the servant leader drives us to help other people rather than look upon others as our servants. And last week, we saw how understanding our relationship to God keeps us from becoming arrogant, and how prayer keeps us humble.
And today we will talk about integrity.
What is integrity?
When I was single, I bought a kitten. After a year or so, that now-grown cat had several kittens. I kept one and gave the rest to the local pet store to sell. About a year later, Saundra and I married and we made the first of what now add up to thirteen moves. And, of course, we had problems finding apartments and houses over the years because of the cats.
At any time, we could have given the cats – and later, the dogs – over to the Humane Society. It would have saved us much money, it would have been easy, it would have made finding homes much simpler and cheaper – but it would have broken an implied contract that I made the day I bought that first cat, which was to take care of that cat until she died. That cat lived 16 years until I had to have her put to sleep. And the last few years, she was not a very pleasant beast. But integrity meant that I had to honor my contract with her.
A long, long time ago, before Moses led the people out of Israel, there lived a man named Job. Job was a man of perfect integrity, blameless in all of his dealings – a good man who could be completely trusted. He even conducted a burnt offering sacrifice after the birthday parties of each of his children in case they had sinned or cursed God in their hearts. Just in case. Job was fully committed to God – not 50% committed, not 90% committed, but Job had figured out how to trust God completely and yet he worked as a livestock owner. And, largely because of his integrity, everything had gone right in life for Job – he had great wealth, he had a large family, and many servants.
In the first chapter of Job, Satan comes to heaven and talks to God. God points out Job and praises him. But Satan says that “of course Job loves God, because God has blessed him.” And so, to teach Satan a lesson, God allows Satan to take away all of Job’s wealth.
In the course of an afternoon, Satan has raiders steal his livestock, kill his servants, and sends a tornado to destroy the house where his children are having a party, killing them all. Job is left with his wife, four frightened servants, and his health.
Job’s response was not very satisfying to Satan. Job said,
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
and naked I will depart.
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;
may the name of the Lord be praised.”
And Job did not say anything against God.
A while later, there is another gathering in Heaven, and Satan again shows up. God once again points out Job and how Job has kept his trust in God.
This time, Satan says, “Yeah, but if he were sick, he’d curse you.”
And God says, “fine do what you want – just don’t kill him”
And so Satan puts a disease on Job like smallpox or chickenpox. He’s completely covered with painful, itchy sores.
And so Job goes and sits in some ashes and scratches himself with a piece of broken pottery. (There is actually some medical benefit to this – older folks will remember that ashes are used to make strong lye-based soap, and the dried ashes would probably reduce infections in the sores.)
Job’s wife is very helpful. 9 His wife said to him, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!”
Job replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?”
And the Bible tells us that “In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.”
Job’s time of trouble did not end that day. In the Book of Job, Job’s four friends come over to visit and console him, but their conversation is the sort of conversation from friends that you’d rather not have. You see, his friends are all convinced that Job must have done something evil and wrong or he wouldn’t be in the shape he’s in. They talk about how God hates evil people and torments them. And for over thirty chapters, they take turns examining different possibilities of what Job might have done wrong – and Job patiently answers them by saying, in effect – “No, I didn’t do anything wrong. And God, who is always good, must have had a good reason for doing what God did.”
And we still do this today, don’t we? When someone has a heart attack, we immediately assume it is because they smoked, or ate too much pork, or too much butter. If someone has skin cancer, we assume it is because they went out in the sun too much when they were younger. If someone becomes addicted to pain pills, we assume it is because they have a moral weakness. And if someone is killed in a bar fight, we assume it is because they went to those bars too frequently.
We are particularly strong about assuming that when a person loses their job, it is because of some laziness or moral problem on their part.
Yet sometimes, you are just in the wrong place at the wrong time. I’ve seen an entire factory get shut down just because the company sold the division at to another, more efficient company who could make the products at their own factory more efficiently because they were ten times larger than the shut down factory. It was no fault of the people in the shut-down factory – they had succeeded for years despite their small production volume because their product designs were that good.
Our text – and the remainder of the Book of Job, though, tells us that sometimes God lets Satan attack us – and it has nothing to do with us. It appears that God let Satan attack Job to teach Satan a lesson. But what happened in the end?
Near the end of the book, Job says that he wishes God would speak to him and let him know what he has done wrong.
(“Oh, that I had someone to hear me!
I sign now my defense—let the Almighty answer me;
let my accuser put his indictment in writing.
36 Surely I would wear it on my shoulder,
I would put it on like a crown.
37 I would give him an account of my every step;
I would present it to him as to a ruler.)—
Job’s fourth friend, Elihu, cannot take this. Job’s three older friends have condemned Job – yet Job persists in claiming he has done nothing wrong. Yet Elihu is convinced that the situation demands that either God or Job must be in the wrong. So Elihu states that :
“So listen to me, you men of understanding.
Far be it from God to do evil,
from the Almighty to do wrong.
11 He repays everyone for what they have done;
he brings on them what their conduct deserves.
12 It is unthinkable that God would do wrong,
that the Almighty would pervert justice.
A storm builds up and approaches, and out of the storm, God speaks to Job:
Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.
After pointing out the many things that God knows that no other person knows,
The Lord said to Job:
2 “Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him?
Let him who accuses God answer him!”
God, when God answered Job, had a different answer for Job – and for us. God said, in effect: “I, who created this Universe, don’t need to answer to you, whom I created.”
Isn’t that an answer that is difficult to take? God has just allowed Job’s life to be wrecked, God has allowed Job’s friends to mock him, and God has allowed Job’s wife to speak to him with zero respect. And through it all, Job has maintained his confidence in God’s goodness. Job holds his faith together and does not falter. Job continues to trust God.
And so, after God has finished chewing out Job, God says: “Don’t dare question me, for I am God – and you’re not!” It is a difficult message - one that is difficult for us today in a land where we feel everyone is equal - perhaps even our God?
Job got the message, the message that Job was the created person and God was the Creator. Job understood just how small he was compared to God.
Then Job replied to the Lord:
2 “I know that you can do all things;
no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
3 You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’
Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me to know.
5 My ears had heard of you
but now my eyes have seen you.
6 Therefore I despise myself
and repent in dust and ashes.”
Job knew how small he was compared to God. And Job had the integrity to say so. But do we? Do we truly see how we compare to God? Or do we still want to demand answers from God for what God has done?
And so what should we take away from the story of Job’s integrity?
First of all, believe in the goodness and love of God with all your heart, and keep on believing through good times and bad times. Hold onto that belief – that faith – with everything you have no matter what your friends may say to you. Remember that your very existence is proof positive of God’s love for you and God’s goodness. Elihu was right - it is inconceivable that God would do wrong.
Second, hold onto your own goodness. If you have done evil in the past, pray to God to forgive your past evil and move forward, changing your ways and doing nothing but good as you move forward. You will mess up! But if you truly focus upon doing good, on being in God’s will, on becoming holy, and daily ask for God’s help in this, you will grow better and better until you, too will have the integrity of Job.
Jesus’ teaching on divorce in Mark 10 is related to this: According to Jesus, there are some very adverse consequences to divorce. If you have married, and decide you want to divorce your husband or wife, you need to consider that just because divorce is legal, just because Moses allowed a certificate of divorce to be given, just because you can legally walk away, you will need to recognize that more people than yourself are affected. Integrity demands that we work through the consequences, never taking divorce – or marriage – or even what we would call today “intimate relationships” lightly. Integrity demands that we hold onto our vows, even when things get difficult. Do we never get a divorce? No, there are a few sound reasons to get a divorce – abandonment, adultery on the part of the other, consistent abuse, when your life is in danger from your spouse, and a few other circumstances. But even then, the consequences to all involved – yourself, your spouse, your children – need to be considered. What are you promising when you first become close to another? What are you promising when you become engaged, when you say, “I do”? Your integrity is on the line, and your personal integrity is nothing to be considered lightly. God commended Job for his exceptional integrity. Integrity is important to God.
And finally, let us learn from Job to recognize that sometimes evil will be allowed to come your way. Bad things do happen to good people. But just as in Job’s case, not everything bad that happens to you is about you. Job’s troubles were largely because God wanted to teach Satan a lesson and God had tremendous confidence in Job. Sometimes, you see, the troubles in your life are merely a shadow of the great spiritual warfare that is constantly going on between the arrogance of Satan – and the love of God for all people. Trust in God’s goodness always, for hell happens when the evil of this world exceeds our belief that God can stop it!
You may want to read more about Job – I encourage you to do so. I try to reread the Book of Job once a year, and every time I do I get more out of it.
Our integrity is involved in almost everything in our life. One part of it is in our call by Christ to love others. Because God loved you so deeply that God forgave all of your sins and allows you into Heaven, if you have integrity, you recognize your debt to God and are grateful for God’s love. Christ has asked us to tell other people about God’s love, to bring people to baptism, and to teach them everything He commanded. Our integrity tells us that following this command is a reasonable response to our debt to God. And so we begin to turn our life’s focus from what we want – to what God wants.
As you go about your life this week, remember to pray for your twelve people on your list. And as you visit them or speak to them over the phone, remember to praise the God who is always good. Always praise God to your friends, your neighbors, and your families.
And so we come to the final questions to ponder for our self-examination.
Do you have the integrity of Job? Why not? If not, perhaps you might ask God for help in keeping your integrity from this day forward.
Do you trust in God completely and keep that trust through good days and bad days?
Do you trust in God’s goodness and love for all people? Or do you attribute evil to God and other people? Why? Is it perhaps because you often have evil thoughts or do and say evil things?
Jesus Christ so loved us and God that He walked to the Cross where He died. His integrity was perfect, as He sacrificed His body and His blood for us. And this past week, others, including some people in Oregon, also had the integrity to sacrifice their bodies and blood for the glory of God. They stood strong despite their fear, despite their innocence. There is urgency in what we do, my friends. We must work to share the Gospel widely, lest the evil overwhelm us in this country.
Today, we will have the opportunity to share the love of Christ among us. We will have the opportunity to remember what perfect integrity can do. We will have the opportunity to take the spiritual nourishment which is the body and blood of Jesus Christ within us, letting Him spread throughout our body and soul, changing us into a more perfect image of Him.
Take this time to pray for your twelve people you are leading to Christ. Take this time to pray for them to come to know Christ and His love for us. Take this time to pray for God to save their souls. Take this time to pray for the martyrs and to thank God that you have not had to show the same integrity, the integrity of Job, the integrity of Christ.
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