A glimmering of thought

This devotion pairs with this weekend’s Lutheran Hour sermon, which can be found at lhm.org.

Job 1:21 – And he [Job] said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the Name of the Lord.”

It’s what Job says initially when he hears the news and later sees his burnt-up property and children dead in the aftermath of some out-of-the-blue “act of God.” “The Lord gave. The Lord took away. Let the Lord’s Name be blessed.” For some, this is the summary of the whole book. But the story is just getting started. It’s a story about how Job’s way of relating to God is transformed. It’s not a transformation from guilt to forgiveness, because we’re told throughout that Job is innocent (see Job 2:3; 42:7-8). Instead, Job’s transformation is in how he talks. Job goes from proper, pious talk about God to raw and honest talk to God.

Imagine yourself in Job’s situation. People look up to you because your faith is so strong. And you know that you have to be strong for them. You have to say the right thing. So, that’s what Job does. He grins and bears it. But there is more going on inside him. And after seven days of silence, he lets it out. His friends try to “shush” him. They want him to stick to the script, but Job isn’t having it. He lets out a torrent of questions, complaints, and accusations straight to God’s face.

But maybe he went too far? The traditional translation near the end of the book leads us to that conclusion. God answers Job in a storm. God challenges Job: “Who are you to question Me?” And what’s Job’s response? The traditional translation has Job saying that he went too far. Job says, “I despise myself and I repent in dust and ashes” (see Job 42:5-6). But some Bible scholars argue for a different translation. They read the ancient Hebrew script and hear Job say something like, “I have heard about You, God, and now my eyes have seen You. Therefore, I am fed up, and I have pity on dust and ashes.” In this reading, Job is not backing off. He is doubling down because he knows he doesn’t need to be guarded with God because he’s already right with God. So, he can be honest with God.

It may be that the traditional translation is right. It may be that Job repents. But it’s also possible the other translation is right, that Job doesn’t back down. Not that he’s trying to be God, but that he’s being honest to God. And if that’s the case, what comes next tells us something about God’s heart, because God doesn’t condemn Job for his honesty. Instead, God condemns Job’s friends for their scripted pious phrases. God says that they haven’t talked rightly about Him, but Job has. However you understand Job, it’s clear from the rest of Scripture that God does not simply want your pious talk. God wants your heart. He wants to hear what’s on your heart. He already knows everything in there anyway. And in Jesus, you’re already in the right with Him. So, you can talk to Him. You can be honest with Him.

Let’s do that now.

WE PRAY: Dear Father, help me to talk with You, even, at times, like Job did, so that we can be closer. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

This Daily Devotion was written by Rev. Dr. Michael Zeigler, Speaker for The Lutheran Hour.

By Name

Psalm 46:1-3 – God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling.

During a natural disaster or a personal crisis, even faithful believers may cry out in prayer, “Where are you, God? Why don’t you stop all of this from happening?” The people of God have been asking questions like that for a very long time. David asks in a psalm, “How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever?” (Psalm 13:1a). Jesus’ disciples, crossing the Sea of Galilee in a storm-tossed boat, woke Jesus with their frantic plea, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” (Mark 4:38b). Martha confronted Jesus with a grief-stricken accusation, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died” (John 11:21b). Jesus Himself cried out from the cross, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46b).

Our psalm describes a series of disasters. The earth gives way. Entire mountain ranges slide into the sea. The ocean roars and foams, so much so that the mountains tremble at the sound. The psalmist’s world is collapsing around him. These disasters are far greater than personal troubles and inward fears—or are they? When we endure endless grief, a frightening diagnosis, the loss of employment, family strife, and so much more, it feels very much like our world is collapsing. We endure these things with faith, but the questions may still come. Does God care? Where is He in all of this?

The psalmist knows the answer: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” When the world is collapsing or when our own personal worlds are crumbling, God is our very present help. In these circumstances He is where He has always been and where He will remain. He is right beside us, reliably, certainly, truly present. He is our refuge and strength, our only Source of peace when solid earth gives way beneath our feet. He was present for the psalmist who longed to know when his troubles would end. The Son of God was present in the boat with His frightened disciples. The Lord was present for Mary and Martha as He called their brother Lazarus out of the tomb. God the Father was present even as He abandoned His Son to the suffering of the cross for the sake of our salvation. God was present in strength and power on the first Easter morning, raising His Son to life in triumph over death. The Lord is present in His Word. Jesus is present in His body and blood in His holy Supper. Wherever we are, whatever we must endure, even when the world collapses around us, God is our very present help. He loves us. Where else would He be?

WE PRAY: Lord, whatever happens, I know that You will be present with me. Amen.

This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Carol Geisler.

Mark 4:38-41 – But He [Jesus] was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” And He awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”

“Jesus, don’t You care?” Two-thousand years ago was not the last time that question has been asked. That’s because any time we’re caught in a natural disaster or accident or illness the temptation is there to ask, “Jesus, don’t You care?” When people wonder where God has gone, when they ask, “If God is a God of love, why doesn’t He stop this?” we are rephrasing the disciples’ question: “Jesus, don’t You care?”

The truth of it is no one cares more than Jesus. Listen to Him as He, looking through an intense pain, provided for His mother; offered forgiveness to those responsible for His crucifixion, and invited a dying sinner into heaven (see John 19:25-27; Luke 23:34, 43). Most certainly Jesus cared. It was His caring which—after He had fulfilled the Law we have broken, after He had resisted all of Satan’s temptations—allowed Him to confidently proclaim, “It is finished!”

Yes, Jesus cares. The disciples had hardly finished waking Jesus up before He was on His feet, calming the raging waters around them. But other storms would come their way, and their faith during those storms was not an improvement on what they did on the Sea of Galilee. When Jesus asked them to pray with Him, they fell asleep. When He was arrested, they ran away. When He was crucified, they slipped into hiding. When He rose from the dead, they were slow to get it.

The time eventually came when they, touched by the Holy Spirit’s power, were given understanding and faith. By God’s mighty grace, they were transformed, and these meek little lambs became the Lord’s lions, proclaiming the conquering Christ to a sin-sickened world, which so desperately needed to hear that message.

And this is a message you and I need to hear, too. In life’s storms, during those times when we’re afraid, when we question whether we can make it through the next day, the next hour, we need to hear Jesus. He will—just as He did for the disciples those many years ago—rise up and still the storm. Sometimes He will make that storm disappear; other times He will give us the power to get through that storm. But either way, with Jesus we will survive. We will survive until the day comes when He safely takes us to our home port in heaven. On that day, if we look back, we will see and thank Him for the many storms He has stilled in our lives.

WE PRAY: Heavenly Father, You sent Your Son to calm the storms in our lives. Teach us to trust in Him. In His Name we pray. Amen.

From “Jesus, Don’t You Care?” a sermon from Rev. Dr. Kenneth Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour