Yeah, God! What Job Asked!

5th Sunday after Epiphany, 2/8/15
Job 7:1-7


Yeah, God! What Job Asked!
I. What is the meaning of life?
II. What is the meaning of death?


Children are inquisitive by nature. It’s how they learn. “Why is the sky blue? Why do dogs bark but cats meow? Why is snow white?” It isn’t long before they realize that asking themselves questions drives them to find the answers themselves. That quest is the foundation of all learning.

But youth isn’t the only time in life when we ask questions. Another one is whenever disaster strikes. And as Christians, that’s when we start questioning our God. “Why did this happen? Why did this happen to me? Why didn’t you stop this from happening, God? Why don’t you take my pain away? When will I start to feel better? Will I ever be happy again, Lord? What did I do wrong in order to deserve this? What do you have against me, God?” And the longer our suffering continues, the more our questions arise out of a sense of frustration and despair.

We’ve all suffered through one thing or another, but none of us have ever suffered like Job did. At first Job spoke these amazing words of faith, “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” (1:21). But as his suffering deepened and his situation worsened, the questions began to erupt.

In the section of God’s word before us this morning, Job is at the point in his suffering in which he wonders what it means. What’s the point? Have you ever been in that place? Have you ever felt like Job? All of us have. God, what is the point of what I’m suffering? In effect, we stand next to our suffering brother Job and state, “Yeah, God! What Job asked!” Let’s take a look at Job’s questions this morning and find our Lord’s answers in his word.

Part I.

If you read the daily comic strips, you’ll see one appear every so often that has the main character of the strip climbing up to the top of a mountain where he comes into the presence of what looks like an old man who sits in quiet contemplation. Invariably the comic strip character asks the wise man something along the lines of, “What’s the meaning of life?” Since it’s a comic strip, the wise man’s answer evokes a chuckle out of you.

Job wanted an answer to that question as well. Recall why he would ask such a thing.

Job was not only wealthy, he was pious. In fact, God took special note of what a godly life Job lived. He was blessed with sons and daughters, flocks and herds. The beginning of this book states, “He was the greatest man among the people of the East” (1:3). But he literally lost it all in a single day. He was robbed of all his flocks and herds, his servants were killed and, worst of all, all his children died when the house they were in collapsed on them. And if all that weren’t enough, he then lost his health. He was covered in painful sores from head to toe.

Hearing of his plight, his friends came to be with him to console him. But they only added to his misery. Each one tried to suggest that Job must have done something terribly wrong and, therefore, God was punishing him for his sin. They advised Job to man-up and confess it. But Job staunchly maintained his innocence. Although Job would never claim to be sinless, he was adamant that he had done nothing so wrong as to deserve such suffering.

And that leads him to ponder if his plight is different from anyone else. And he concludes it’s not. Everyone suffers; the only difference is to what degree. Thus the pursuit of happiness in life is fruitless. Job says it like this, “Does not man have hard service on earth? Are not his days like those of a hired man? Like a slave longing for the evening shadows, or a hired man waiting eagerly for his wages, so I have been allotted months of futility, and nights of misery have been assigned to me.” Find enjoyment in the work that you do? That’s a pleasant thought, but it’s not based in reality. Reality is that slave away every day and get nowhere. The reality is that we earn a day’s wages, only to spend it all and go back to work the next day in order to do it all over again. It’s a mindless grind.

Worse yet, when we’re not working and we’re trying to get some rest, we can’t find it. Listen to how modern Job’s words sound, “When I lie down I think, ‘How long before I get up?’ The night drags on, and I toss till dawn.” Have you ever experienced what Job did? Countless times. Sometimes our sleeplessness is caused by physical pain. Other times by emotional pain and worry. At least at those times there’s a reason for our sleeplessness. Worst of all is when there is no good reason for it. We awake dead tired waiting for the night to fall 12 hours later so we can do it all over again. How futile! How frustrating!

All the while nothing seems to get better. I spoke earlier about Job’s loss of health. Listen to him describe it, “My body is clothed with worms and scabs, my skin is broken and festering.” Makes you cringe, doesn’t it? In 2,000 BC there was nothing that could be done for Job medically. He wasn’t getting better; he was getting worse.

So, when you put all this together, when you try to obtain a broad view of life with all its problems and heartaches, when you try to make sense of it all but utterly fail, then we stand next to Job and state, “Yeah, God! What Job asked! What is the meaning of life?”

If you’re going to limit your view of this life only to how much it’s filled with problems and heartaches, you’ll quickly find yourself in the dark pit of despair with Job. Misery loves company! Job’s correct—so much of life is futile, an endless cycle of misplaced hopes and efforts. Each day is full of trouble. By now you’re probably thinking, “Thanks for the pick-me-up, pastor!” So what is the point of such a life full of trouble? To drive us to our gracious God. This isn’t the life God designed for us or wants for us. The meaning of life is to come to know the God of your salvation, the God who has rescued you from every one of life’s troubles, the God who loves you so much he sent his Son to be your Savior, to experience the suffering of hell itself for you, so that you could live with him. Do you know that Lord and Savior? Then praise God because that’s the meaning of life and that’s our comfort in every one of life’s troubles.

Part II.

Has your situation in life ever been so bad, so painful, that you wish you could die? I’m not talking about being suicidal. I’m talking about being so overwhelmed by pain and suffering that you pray, “Lord, just please let me die.” I’ll bet most of us have.

Our troubles cause us to get lost in that darkness of mind and spirit, and it clouds our thinking. We find ourselves saying with Job, “Remember, O God, that my life is but a breath.” In other words, it seems so short and inconsequential. Our suffering causes our world to close in around us and we forget the influence we have on others. We fail to recall how we’ve been a blessing to others and they have found joy in being a blessing to us. It’s true that life will go on without us, but it’s not true that life would have been the same had we never been here.

What’s more, our current problem looms so large in our lives that we think we’ll never smile again. Job said it like this, “My eyes will never see happiness again.” Eyes welling up with tears? Yes. Eyes filled with mirth? Never again, or so we think.

So we ponder our deaths. And in our pain, our view of death is skewed. “My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, and they come to an end without hope.” Job stated some amazing Christian truths during his days of suffering. He’s the one who first proclaimed, “I know that my Redeemer lives.” But in between those moments of faith came stretches of doubt and despair. Sound familiar? Job was so overwhelmed with pain and suffering that he simply wished for death to end it all.

But he was wrong about it ending without hope. Because of what his Redeemer and our Redeemer did, we have certain hope even in the face of death. Death isn’t the end. It’s not even our punishment for sin. It’s merely the vehicle by which the God of amazing love and grace transports us to life—real life—eternal life with him in heaven. Because of Christ, death isn’t the end; it’s the beginning—the beginning of a life full of meaning and purpose, a life free of pain and suffering, doubt and despair, crying and mourning. God will mend our broken lives. He’ll overcome the curse of sin. Stress and frustration will never enter our lives again. That’s the life Job enjoys right now.

So what is the meaning of death? Is it only an end to life’s pain and suffering? Not at all! For us who trust in Christ, it’s the beginning of a perfect life with our God.

It’s been said that a Christian’s faith is simply a crutch needed to get through life. That would be true if it weren’t for one solid, eternal truth. The Jesus who died for us also rose from the dead for us. His resurrection is our constant assurance that everything Jesus said is true; that everything he did, he did for you. The resurrection of Christ is what sets Christianity apart from all other religions. His death and resurrection not only give meaning for our lives, they give meaning for our deaths.

That’s what our God declares to us in every one of life’s troubles. He’s the God of our salvation who gives eternal meaning to life and death. That’s what Job believed. By God’s grace, so do you. May those truths bring you comfort all the days of your life no matter how troublesome they may be. Amen.