Pastor Cal Lord's Recent Sermons
I Need A God I Can’t Understand
Job 42:1-6, 10-17 October 29, 2006
Elijah was exhausted and at his wit’s end. He had been running from Queen Jezebel and her
army. He came to a cave in a mountain and wanted to hide from everything. That’s when God
called him out. Elijah quickly went through a laundry list of complaints against God. He said I
have been zealous for you and done everything you asked and now I am hunted and hated. In
other words, he asks God, “Where were you when I needed you!”
Have you ever been there? Of course you have. It is part of the human condition. It is that part
of our faith life we don’t like to talk about. We have all had those moments when it seems like
God disappears and the devil can take his potshots at us.
Just ask Job. There is nobody that had it as bad as Job. His misfortunes came out of nowhere
and he lost everything. I have to tell you that Job’s story is probably the most troubling in the
Scriptures. I know this is inspired writing, but give me a break. The text says that God and the
Devil used Job to determine just how much a person could take and still remain faithful. I know
that a lot of scholars have said you can’t take this story literally. You have to read it as allegory.
You are supposed to look past the personification of the devil as being a real character. Well then
why is it in there? Why not just tell us how bad things happened to Job and God had his
reasons. That’s the kind of stuff we can deal with because we live it every day. Don’t tell me
that God lets the devil has his way with us. That messes with my understanding of who God is.
We like to think we have God figured out, don’t we? We read the scriptures, listen to sermons,
read devotionals and formulate an opinion on who God is and what he does. We like to outline
the way he acts and explain the things he does. It makes us feel good to know that we
understand God.
The Pharisees and Sadducees of Jesus’ day were a perfect example of people who had it all
together. These learned men studied the scriptures and had an answer for everything. Their
world was neat and orderly. Then Jesus stepped up on the stage and began to speak and their
world view was challenged.
Many of you have heard this story before but I am going to tell it again because it was formative
in my life.
I was a freshman at UCONN and often carpooled to Storrs with a couple of good friends of
mine. As it turns out one of my friends was Jewish and another was a Jehovah’s Witness. We
got along great until the one day when we started talking about religion. The discussion quickly
turned into a debate and by the time we concluded the thirty minute ride to UCONN I had
condemned both of my friends to hell because neither of them had been born again and accepted
Jesus as their Lord and Savior. It’s a wonder they ever talked to me again.
The truth is that I was right by classical theological understanding. Jesus is the way, the life and
the truth. He is the only way to get to heaven. But then a few years later I had a class in
systematic theology that challenged my understanding. For the first time I was opened to the
possibility that maybe I didn’t know everything about God.
You see, we have this tendency to put God in a box. We collect all our knowledge and
understanding about something, anything, including God, and then fool ourselves into thinking
that there is nothing more to know.
The problem is that there are always those painful moments when all we know about God doesn’
t make a lot of sense in light of our circumstances.
That’s where Job comes in. For Job stands up for all of us and asks the question why and God
tells him, even if I told you, you wouldn’t get it. So simply trust me.
Isaiah said it best in 40:28, “God’s understanding no one can fathom.” That means I may not
agree with or even like what God does, but that does not mean it isn’t right. He allows things to
happen, he accepts people that don’t appear to be worthy, he works in the world in mysterious
ways, and we are called to simply trust him.
That’s hard to take. We like to have answers. If you read through the book of Job you will find
lots of answers. It is a classic in that it answers all the questions of what is fair and why bad
things happen. Jobs friends lift up all of the classical answers as to why people suffer. We know
them only too well.
We are sinners. We bring sickness and death on our selves.
We live in a fallen world. Therefore because we associate with sinners we are tainted by them.
Our parents sinned and therefore we are corrupt by virtue of our birth. Yada yada yada.
The problem is that these answers are not good enough for Job. He believes that if these
theological assertions are correct, then he has been given a bad deal. Job knows in his heart that
he has not sinned and has been faithful to God his whole life.
{Just an aside: That’s pretty arrogant thinking especially in light of Paul’s statement that all of
have sinned, but the truth is this is often our own starting point when evil befalls us isn’t it?}
But we will give him the benefit of a doubt because the text tells us “There is no one like him; he
is a blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil” in Job 1:8.
So maybe Job has a legitimate beef. He is certainly more righteous than any of us. For 38
chapters the story begs for God to answer and tell us why. Then the text relays that God heard
Job’s plea for an audience and the first thing God does is give Job a pop quiz. The text says,
“God THUNDERED from the heavens and said, “Who is this who fills his mouth with WORDS
without KNOWLEDGE? Brace yourself and I will QUESTION you, and you shall answer me” in
Job 38:2-3.
God asks Job a series of QUESTIONS, about 43 questions in all, and he couldn’t answer single
one. He asked questions like: “What holds up the world? Who decided how big the world would
be? Who determined where the sea should stop and the land begin? Can you make morning come
when you are ready? Can you make thunder and lightening, or cause the wind to blow in any
direction? Can you change the stars in the sky or rearrange the constellations?”
For four chapters God asked Job these questions, and Job stands there will his MOUTH wide-
open not saying a word. Finally, he answers: “Lord, I know you can do all things; no plan of
yours can be thwarted. You asked, ‘Who is it that fills his mouth with words with
KNOWLEDGE?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not UNDERSTAND, things too WONDERFUL
for me to KNOW.” Then it said, “Job then REPENTED of his ARROGANCE, and God
BLESSED him ABUNDANTLY.”
Job couldn’t answer a single QUESTION, and God knew it. What point was God making? I
think God was saying, “Job, I don’t need you to be SMART. I don’t need you to EXPLAIN Me
to the world. I don’t need you to SOLVE the PROBLEMS of LIFE. I don’t even need you to
UNDERSTAND Me. All I need from you, Job, is absolute FAITH in Me.” God has never
demanded that we UNDERSTAND Him, just to TRUST Him.
That is the same thing that happened to Elijah. He wanted God to be there in the whirlwind or
the storm when he came out of the mountain. He wanted God to smote his enemies and make
the world nice. But god came to him as the calm reassuring voice, that which he really needed.
Funny, huh?
In the movie Bruce Almighty, Jim Carey plays a guy who has a popular understanding of who
God is. God is always there to answer everyone’s prayer. God is always fair, at least in doing
what I want him to do. God is often not doing his job because things don’t happen the way we
think they should. Bruce learns that it isn’t easy being God and that there is more to it than our
mortal minds can fathom.
We like to put God in a box so we can understand him, but the truth is that we need a God that is
bigger than we can imagine, more powerful that we can fathom and much greater than our
understanding. And if you read the Bible you will see that is exactly who God is.
As Paul says in the book of Ephesians “God is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or
imagine, according to His POWER that is at work within us.” God is greater than anything we
can perceive in our minds. So we simply need to affirm that and then trust that this loving God
will take care of things.
Proverbs 3:5-6- “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.”
It’s this TRUSTING FAITH that becomes difficult at times, because we are so conditioned to
BELIEVING only what we can SEE and relying only on what we can UNDERSTAND. It should
be enough to know that God is holy and righteous and that he cares for you and me. For when
we understand that about god, we don’t need to know anything else.
Amen.
Let’s be thankful that we have a God that we can’t UNDERSTAND!
Job 42:1-6, 10-17 October 29, 2006
Elijah was exhausted and at his wit’s end. He had been running from Queen Jezebel and her
army. He came to a cave in a mountain and wanted to hide from everything. That’s when God
called him out. Elijah quickly went through a laundry list of complaints against God. He said I
have been zealous for you and done everything you asked and now I am hunted and hated. In
other words, he asks God, “Where were you when I needed you!”
Have you ever been there? Of course you have. It is part of the human condition. It is that part
of our faith life we don’t like to talk about. We have all had those moments when it seems like
God disappears and the devil can take his potshots at us.
Just ask Job. There is nobody that had it as bad as Job. His misfortunes came out of nowhere
and he lost everything. I have to tell you that Job’s story is probably the most troubling in the
Scriptures. I know this is inspired writing, but give me a break. The text says that God and the
Devil used Job to determine just how much a person could take and still remain faithful. I know
that a lot of scholars have said you can’t take this story literally. You have to read it as allegory.
You are supposed to look past the personification of the devil as being a real character. Well then
why is it in there? Why not just tell us how bad things happened to Job and God had his
reasons. That’s the kind of stuff we can deal with because we live it every day. Don’t tell me
that God lets the devil has his way with us. That messes with my understanding of who God is.
We like to think we have God figured out, don’t we? We read the scriptures, listen to sermons,
read devotionals and formulate an opinion on who God is and what he does. We like to outline
the way he acts and explain the things he does. It makes us feel good to know that we
understand God.
The Pharisees and Sadducees of Jesus’ day were a perfect example of people who had it all
together. These learned men studied the scriptures and had an answer for everything. Their
world was neat and orderly. Then Jesus stepped up on the stage and began to speak and their
world view was challenged.
Many of you have heard this story before but I am going to tell it again because it was formative
in my life.
I was a freshman at UCONN and often carpooled to Storrs with a couple of good friends of
mine. As it turns out one of my friends was Jewish and another was a Jehovah’s Witness. We
got along great until the one day when we started talking about religion. The discussion quickly
turned into a debate and by the time we concluded the thirty minute ride to UCONN I had
condemned both of my friends to hell because neither of them had been born again and accepted
Jesus as their Lord and Savior. It’s a wonder they ever talked to me again.
The truth is that I was right by classical theological understanding. Jesus is the way, the life and
the truth. He is the only way to get to heaven. But then a few years later I had a class in
systematic theology that challenged my understanding. For the first time I was opened to the
possibility that maybe I didn’t know everything about God.
You see, we have this tendency to put God in a box. We collect all our knowledge and
understanding about something, anything, including God, and then fool ourselves into thinking
that there is nothing more to know.
The problem is that there are always those painful moments when all we know about God doesn’
t make a lot of sense in light of our circumstances.
That’s where Job comes in. For Job stands up for all of us and asks the question why and God
tells him, even if I told you, you wouldn’t get it. So simply trust me.
Isaiah said it best in 40:28, “God’s understanding no one can fathom.” That means I may not
agree with or even like what God does, but that does not mean it isn’t right. He allows things to
happen, he accepts people that don’t appear to be worthy, he works in the world in mysterious
ways, and we are called to simply trust him.
That’s hard to take. We like to have answers. If you read through the book of Job you will find
lots of answers. It is a classic in that it answers all the questions of what is fair and why bad
things happen. Jobs friends lift up all of the classical answers as to why people suffer. We know
them only too well.
We are sinners. We bring sickness and death on our selves.
We live in a fallen world. Therefore because we associate with sinners we are tainted by them.
Our parents sinned and therefore we are corrupt by virtue of our birth. Yada yada yada.
The problem is that these answers are not good enough for Job. He believes that if these
theological assertions are correct, then he has been given a bad deal. Job knows in his heart that
he has not sinned and has been faithful to God his whole life.
{Just an aside: That’s pretty arrogant thinking especially in light of Paul’s statement that all of
have sinned, but the truth is this is often our own starting point when evil befalls us isn’t it?}
But we will give him the benefit of a doubt because the text tells us “There is no one like him; he
is a blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil” in Job 1:8.
So maybe Job has a legitimate beef. He is certainly more righteous than any of us. For 38
chapters the story begs for God to answer and tell us why. Then the text relays that God heard
Job’s plea for an audience and the first thing God does is give Job a pop quiz. The text says,
“God THUNDERED from the heavens and said, “Who is this who fills his mouth with WORDS
without KNOWLEDGE? Brace yourself and I will QUESTION you, and you shall answer me” in
Job 38:2-3.
God asks Job a series of QUESTIONS, about 43 questions in all, and he couldn’t answer single
one. He asked questions like: “What holds up the world? Who decided how big the world would
be? Who determined where the sea should stop and the land begin? Can you make morning come
when you are ready? Can you make thunder and lightening, or cause the wind to blow in any
direction? Can you change the stars in the sky or rearrange the constellations?”
For four chapters God asked Job these questions, and Job stands there will his MOUTH wide-
open not saying a word. Finally, he answers: “Lord, I know you can do all things; no plan of
yours can be thwarted. You asked, ‘Who is it that fills his mouth with words with
KNOWLEDGE?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not UNDERSTAND, things too WONDERFUL
for me to KNOW.” Then it said, “Job then REPENTED of his ARROGANCE, and God
BLESSED him ABUNDANTLY.”
Job couldn’t answer a single QUESTION, and God knew it. What point was God making? I
think God was saying, “Job, I don’t need you to be SMART. I don’t need you to EXPLAIN Me
to the world. I don’t need you to SOLVE the PROBLEMS of LIFE. I don’t even need you to
UNDERSTAND Me. All I need from you, Job, is absolute FAITH in Me.” God has never
demanded that we UNDERSTAND Him, just to TRUST Him.
That is the same thing that happened to Elijah. He wanted God to be there in the whirlwind or
the storm when he came out of the mountain. He wanted God to smote his enemies and make
the world nice. But god came to him as the calm reassuring voice, that which he really needed.
Funny, huh?
In the movie Bruce Almighty, Jim Carey plays a guy who has a popular understanding of who
God is. God is always there to answer everyone’s prayer. God is always fair, at least in doing
what I want him to do. God is often not doing his job because things don’t happen the way we
think they should. Bruce learns that it isn’t easy being God and that there is more to it than our
mortal minds can fathom.
We like to put God in a box so we can understand him, but the truth is that we need a God that is
bigger than we can imagine, more powerful that we can fathom and much greater than our
understanding. And if you read the Bible you will see that is exactly who God is.
As Paul says in the book of Ephesians “God is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or
imagine, according to His POWER that is at work within us.” God is greater than anything we
can perceive in our minds. So we simply need to affirm that and then trust that this loving God
will take care of things.
Proverbs 3:5-6- “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.”
It’s this TRUSTING FAITH that becomes difficult at times, because we are so conditioned to
BELIEVING only what we can SEE and relying only on what we can UNDERSTAND. It should
be enough to know that God is holy and righteous and that he cares for you and me. For when
we understand that about god, we don’t need to know anything else.
Amen.
Let’s be thankful that we have a God that we can’t UNDERSTAND!
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