FEARFUL BUT RESOLUTE
Sunday Worship Sermon

OCTOBER 11, 2009 - “If I go forward he is not there; or backward I cannot perceive him; on the left he hides, and I cannot behold him; I turn to the right but I cannot see him.” (Job 23: 8)

John bought a brand new car, and he loved it. He didn’t want anything to happen to it so when he went to Wall Mart he parked his new car the whole way across the parking lot, well away from any other cars even though it was later in the day and there weren’t many cars even in the parking lot. John didn’t mind the longer walk to the store because he was protecting his brand new car. While John was in the store a storm came up; a storm with a lot of wind. There was a shopping cart out in the lot by itself. It hadn’t been properly returned to one of the several drop-off places in the lot. It was just sitting in one of the parking spaces. Then it happened. The wind got behind that shopping cart and it started ever so slowly to move across the lot. As the wind blew, the cart picked up speed. With no parked cars in its way it moved faster and faster across the lot. The cart was moving fast enough now that it could knock a person over or do damage if it ran into something. And wouldn’t you know it, that shopping cart was headed directly for John’s brand new car. On impact, the shopping cart went into pieces but not before putting in big dent in the passenger side door of John’s beautiful new car. It was as though the shopping cart was on a mission to damage John’s car; pursuing it from way across the other side of the parking lot.

Sometimes we feel like we are being pursued by hard times. A tragedy interrupts our lives leaving us full of grief. A long term illness wears our spirits down over the long time we’ve had to endure it. Or one thing after another seems to test us until we reach a point where we say, “I don’t know how much more I can take.” Sometimes, like the shopping cart, bad things seem to be directly aimed at us.

When we think of a person in the Bible who endured a lot of hardship, we often think of Job. In today’s reading, Job is feeling bitter. Despite his groaning, the heavy hand of misfortune won’t let up and Job can get no relief. Job seeks God, but can’t find him. He believes if he could find God, he will be heard, and God will grant him relief. In verse 8, Job says, “If I go forward he is not there; or backward I cannot perceive him; on the left he hides, and I cannot behold him; I turn to the right but I cannot see him.” Job has faith that God will help him. But in the midst of his misfortune, Job cannot find God. Earlier we listened to the reading some of Psalm 139. Verses 7-12 talk about the accessibility of God but that’s not what we’re talking about here. Job finds himself in just the opposite situation. Job seeks God, but so far God seems inaccessible.

What can we do when we find ourselves in these circumstances? When things are rough and we seek God but God feels inaccessible. A wise pastor of mine once preached, “Sometimes all you can do is put one foot in front of the other.” Sometimes all we are able to do is to keep on keeping on, trusting that we will find God and he will help us. Job hit rock bottom, but in the process he never forgot who his Rock was.

This week I was meeting with a group with other clergy including Matt Poole. Matt led the devotions that day and I feel led to share them with you. Matt reminded us of how over the history of God’s people, creeds have helped to sustain the faithful. They are statements of what we believe. Going to them in times of trouble can be helpful. Matt asked me to read Israel’s ancient creed, the Shema. It’s found in Deuteronomy 6:4-9. Shema means “hear” and that is how the creed begins. “Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

Reciting the Shema when they lied down at night and when they arose in the morning helped the ancient Israelites remember the faith and keep the faith. After the Shema was heard, Matt asked if anyone could think of a passage from the New Testament that might serve as a person’s modern-day creed. Matt shared that for him it was Matthew 22:34-36. “‘Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?’ He [Jesus] said to him [the man], ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

Matt remembered the words of guidance in the Shema: “Recite them when you lie down and when you rise.” And that is exactly what Matt is doing. He has committed for thirty days to recite Matthew 22:34-36 when he goes to bed at night and when he gets out of bed in the morning. He testifies that by so, his relationship with God and others have been impacted. That committing to loving God and others each day has helped him to be more successful at loving God and others.

Now, we were talking about Job and his time of trouble and our times of trouble and I’m thinking just maybe Matt’s practice might be of help to us in our times of trouble. Job was seeking God, but not making a connection. We seek God, but sometimes God feels distance. But what if we were to recite when going to bed at night and getting up in the morning, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’’’ And then what if we asked for God’s help to live out those words for the coming day, and to reflect on how our day went each night when we go to bed.

We have a tendency in our lives to state we are Christians but I think all too often we fall short of practicing rituals which greatly help us live out our faith, practices which greatly assisted our Christian brothers and sisters of earlier times. So many distractions want to pull us away from God who needs to remain the center of our lives. We need rituals to keep us on track.

One day when I was departing Poolesville heading down to work in Bethesda I noticed a tree near the middle of a corn field. I admired that stately tree standing there in the cornfield but I often wondered why it was the sole tree in the field. As so often happens, daily devotions provided an answer. The title of The Upper Room devotional for the day was, “The Resting Tree.” The devotional explained that trees remained in the middle of fields to provide a resting place from the heat of the day, and how, like that tree, God is our resting place. That tree near the middle of the field as I left Poolesville became my resting place. I used the tree to bring me back. Typically a flood of thoughts raced through my mind as I began my drive out of Poolesville each morning, but when I passed the tree I noticed it and was brought back; brought back to praying to God before starting the day. It became a ritual, and it worked for me.

Find things that work like this in your life and practice them each day. You’ll forget some days, but when you do just pick it back up again. Anything that can help us stay in love with God and one another is a good thing. Even though Job lost a great deal, he never lost his faith. Perhaps it might be a good thing for you and I over the next 30 days to recite verses 34-36 from Matthew 22. What if we all did it, when we arose in the morning and went to bed at night? How might our personal lives be different? How might our community be impacted? I’m going to give it a try and I encourage you to give it a try also.

Amen.

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