Year B, Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost
October 6, 2024
Job 1:1, 2:1-10; Psalm 26; Hebrews 1:14, 2:5-12; Mark 10:2-16
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Faith Beyond the Storm: Lessons from Job’s Journey
We are going to hear the story of Job over the next several weeks in our Old Testament readings. This provides a perfect opportunity for us to take a deeper look into this powerful and profound story.
When I was doing clinical pastoral education, I was told about a woman who had suffered unimaginable grief. We would present verbatims about our encounters in the hospital and I still remember sitting in the conference, hearing this story. She had lost her husband, her two sons, her father, an uncle, and a nephew in a single boating accident. Six loved ones perished in a freak storm during their annual fishing trip.
Her story makes me think of Job. Both faced a level of suffering that’s hard to comprehend. The story of Job has captured the human imagination for millennia. Even people unfamiliar with the Bible reference the “patience of Job,” or the “faith of Job.” It’s true that Job never cursed God, but he certainly complained about his lot in life.
Most of Job’s story, after the brief prologue and before the epilogue[1], much that we do not hear in today’s lesson, is a lengthy debate between Job and his friends—Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar—who insist that Job must have done something to deserve his suffering. They suggest he’s being punished for his sins and needs to repent. But Job, from beginning to end, insists on his innocence. He doesn’t sit quietly; he complains, despairs, questions, and anguishes over his fate.
The story of Job doesn’t offer easy answers to big questions like why the wicked prosper or why God sometimes seems silent in our pain. Instead, it deals with a more specific question: What’s the connection between faith and prosperity? We, as readers, know something that Job doesn’t. Satan comes before God and questions Job’s faith, accusing him of being faithful only because his life is good. “Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan asks[2]. He argues that Job’s faith is transactional—Job serves God because he benefits from it, not because of any deep or selfless devotion. Satan bets that if Job loses everything, he’ll abandon God.
God accepts the bet. He allows Job to be tested, and Job’s life is turned upside down. His wealth is wiped out, his ten children die, and his body is ravaged with painful sores. To call this a dramatic reversal is an understatement.
Despite everything, Job passes the test. He doesn’t curse God or abandon his faith. Even though he complains, questions, and suffers deeply, the narrator tells us that “in all this, Job did not sin”[3]. Job maintains his integrity, and God commends him for it, telling Satan that Job “persists in his integrity” even when he was “destroy[ed]…for no reason”[4].
By the end of the story, Job’s fortunes are restored, but the real victory is more spiritual than material. In a surprising reversal, God commands Job’s friends to seek his prayers, telling them that they, not Job, were wrong in their judgment.[5] Job’s faith had been genuine all along, despite their accusations.
The story of Job teaches us several lessons. In the New Testament, James commends Job for his perseverance.[6] His friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, remind us of the harm that can come from trying to “fix” or “explain” someone’s suffering with easy answers or pious clichés. Sometimes, the best thing we can do for someone in pain is to sit in silence with them.
One of the most important lessons from Job is that we can’t always make a direct connection between a person’s suffering and their righteousness or sin. Life doesn’t work that way.
The story of Job also speaks to our collective grief in the face of unimaginable tragedies, such as the violence that continues to plague our schools. When children and teachers lose their lives to senseless acts of violence, we are left grappling with the same deep questions Job asked: Why? How could this happen? Where is God in the midst of this suffering? In these moments, we must remember that God does not need more angels. The loss of life through violence is not part of some divine plan. It is a devastating consequence of the brokenness in our world. Like Job, we are called to cry out against the injustice and mourn the lives that have been stolen, trusting that God grieves with us. This is not the time for easy answers or platitudes, but for action, compassion, and a shared commitment to building a world where our children are safe, loved, and able to thrive.
Job also reminds us that we don’t have to sanitize our emotions before God. He vented his frustrations openly, and God affirmed that Job had “spoken rightly”[7]. We, too, can come to God as we are—honest, raw, and even angry.
In addition to all of these insights, Job offers a clear refutation of the idea that faith is a ticket to wealth, health, or success. Many television preachers still promote the lie that God wants us to be rich, healthy, and happy—the catch – if we send them money. Job exposes this myth.
True faith doesn’t manipulate God for material gain or to avoid suffering. The British poet Mary Elizabeth Coleridge captured this kind of genuine faith in her poem After Saint Augustine:
Sunshine let it be or frost,
Storm or calm, as Thou shalt choose;
Though Thine every gift were lost,
Thee Thyself we could not lose.
The Lutherans of the Reformation understood the difference between earthly “security” and divine “certainty.” Security depends on human guarantees. Certainty rests on God’s promises. Job reminds us that while life offers no guarantees, we can have the certainty that nothing can separate us from the love of God.
In the end, the story of Job reassures us that while suffering is an inevitable part of life, it does not mean we are abandoned or forgotten by God. Job’s faith wasn’t dependent on his circumstances, and neither should ours be. Instead, we are invited to trust in God’s unwavering presence, even when life doesn’t make sense. Job’s journey from despair to deeper understanding shows us that true faith isn’t about having all the answers—it’s about holding on to the certainty of God’s love, even in the darkest moments, knowing that this love endures through every storm. Amen.
[1] Job 1:1-2:13; 43:7-17, New Revised Standard Version (“NRSV”)
[2] Job 1:9, NRSV
[3] Job 1:22, NRSV
[4] Job 2:3, NRSV
[5] Job 42:7, NRSV
[6] James 5:11, NRSV
[7] Job 42:7, NRSV