Why, Lord? Why?

2nd Sunday in Lent, 2/25/24 Job 1:13-22 Why, Lord? Why? I. Because Job was faithful II. Because Job needed an opportunity for true worship III. Because we need reminders of God’s goodness “It’s time for you to get ready for bed.” “Why?” “We need to get ready to go home now.” “Why?” “I want you to pick up your toys and put them away before we eat dinner.” “Why?” If you were the parent of young children, you likely recall enduring that familiar verbal exchange with your young child. Some of you may be experiencing it right now. And you try to put the best construction on their inquisitive nature. You realize that the “why” questions simply come naturally at this point in their development. But then there are those situations when you don’t have the time or the patience to deal with it. While they might genuinely want to know why you are asking them to do something, your fuse is short. And answering them with, “Because I said so,” is certainly parental reason enough, it doesn’t help your child think things through, to realized that there are appropriate times for certain tasks. But even when the “whys” are no longer audible, they still exist. You’re not so naïve to think that your child will ever understand everything you say and do. My adult children are still scratching their heads about things I say and do. Some of them just don’t make sense. And there’s a part of me that rejoices over the fact that I’m still a mystery to them in some ways. They still don’t have the old man figured out fully and probably never will. And we can accept that when it comes to our relationships with others. After all, life is too short to spend it trying to understand what others are thinking and why they are doing what they do. It’s enough for most of us just to figure that out for ourselves in our own lives. I don’t have everything figured out in my life. How about you? And that’s one of the reasons we’re here in worship this morning. A life of hard knocks has reinforced the truth that we don’t have it all figured out. We need the Lord to assist us, to make sense of our lives and our world. But then along comes this truth in our worship theme this morning. Satan tempts us with the crowns of life when Jesus assures us of our crosses in life. What?! Satan offers crowns? Jesus offers crosses? Shouldn’t it be the other way around? Perhaps there is no more glaring example of the apparent inconsistency between our God’s love for us and the crosses in our lives than is here recorded for us in the life of the ancient hero of faith named Job. If you were to read the Book of Job, you would hear Job ask more than once, “Why, Lord? Why?” It’s the same question we ask when tragedies strike, when life doesn’t seem fair, when we’re the ones toeing the line of godly living and still seem to be suffering. Why, Lord? Why? So, this morning, let’s ask that very question and take to heart the answers that the Lord gives. I. There is a philosophy of life that asserts there is a force that keeps everything in balance. Some call it “yin and yang.” It’s the balance between good and evil, pain and pleasure, health and suffering, dark and light. And a corollary to that philosophy is that you get what you deserve, whether that’s good or bad. Remember, there is this force that keeps everything balanced. I hope you realize that this philosophy isn’t biblical. Because we don’t get what we deserve, and that’s a good thing. What’s more, sometimes incredibly pious people suffer unimaginable tragedy. And that’s the case with the biblical character before us this morning, a man named Job. Job was an incredibly pious, God-fearing man. He was the kind of person everyone admired. Even God admired him. Listen to the Lord’s own description of Job, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him. He is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil (1:8).” Job wasn’t sinless, but there was no one on earth like him. He was an exemplary believer in the only true God, and he lived his faith every day. And he was wealthy to boot. The Bible states, “He owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, and had a large number of servants.” And if all that weren’t enough, he had a lovely family—a wife, seven sons, and three daughters. But, in his infinite wisdom and love for Job, the Lord allowed Job to be tested. In fact, the Lord knew that Job needed to be tested. Why is that? Because your faith in anyone or anything is useless unless it’s needed and put to use. What did Job need God for if he had everything? Why did Job need to trust God for anything when he had it made in the shade? The Lord knew that Job needed to be tested. And it happened, in a single day. He lost everything, humanly speaking. All of his flocks and herds, almost every one of his servants; and the most crushing blow came when he lost all of his children in a freak windstorm, perhaps a tornado. The roof of the house they were in collapsed on them and killed them all instantly. That suffering tested Job like most of us have never been tested. That opportunity didn’t come gently sailing in; it slammed into him like a freight train. It instantly brought him to his knees. It grabbed him by the shoulders like a high school wrestler would and shouted at him, “What good is your faith now? Where is your God now? What does he think of you and what do you think of him? Has anything changed in your relationship with the Almighty? What will you do now, Job? How will you respond?” Aren’t those same questions at least echoing in the backs of our minds when we suffer in this life? Or maybe those questions are screaming relentlessly at us for answers, but the answers don’t come. “Why, Lord? Why?” Well, here’s one answer: Because our faithfulness to the Lord needs to be tested. II. In the story of Job’s life, we go from one incredulous historical event to another. Job literally loses everything in a matter of minutes but for his wife and his health. His wife urged him at one point to curse God and die. But Job does something amazing. “At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship.” Worship?! Are you kidding me?! We might not be able to imagine ourselves responding in the same way, but let’s focus for a moment on it anyway, because I think it’s going to be incredibly helpful to you. Notice what we don’t hear Job say. He didn’t stand before God, look up to heaven, and remind God of what a godly man he was. You know—like the Pharisee did in Jesus’ parable. And Job easily could have done that. Recall that even the Lord stated that he was outstandingly pious among the sinners on the earth. Nor does Job spend a second reminding anyone who would listen that the Lord was treating him unfairly. No one watches Job shake his fist at God. No one hears a single word of complaint. Just praise. You likely recall what he said, but his words are so astounding that they bear repeating, “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.” And then this comment: “In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.” It's easy to praise God when all is well in your life. Try praising him when things are going painfully tough, when you feel the bottom dropping out of your life, when there’s only a dim glimmer of hope left in your heart. Those moments bring these truths crashing into our hearts and minds: I’m really nothing before God, although I thought I was something. I deserve nothing good from him; only condemnation. As I come to him, stripped of everything I thought I was, he reminds me that he is my All, my Everything, from First to Last. That’s true worship. Why, Lord? Why? Because we need an opportunity for true worship. III. I’d like to share one more truth with you this morning, briefly. Isn’t it true that you don’t realize how much you have until you no longer have it? One of the ways of realizing how much we have before we lose it all is to try to pack everything up to move to a new location. You realize you have way more stuff than you imagined. There have been many times in the history of God dealing with his people that he allowed everything to be taken from them. Job wasn’t the first (recall Noah’s flood), and he wasn’t the last. Our news media covers such events daily, it seems. And there are many responses to those tragic events. Horror. Sadness. Regret. Pain. Bewilderment. And thanks. Thanks?? Yes, thanks! Every one of those events in our lives and in the lives of others ought to remind us, among other things, that our God has been and continues to be incredibly generous to us. His abundant blessings come to us not because we have earned or deserved them, but only because he is gracious, merciful, generous, and loving. And the outstanding example of who he is and how he feels toward us is not found in our closets, cupboards, garages, or investment accounts, but at the cross. There he meted out the punishment we deserve on his Son. There he removed the guilt and condemnation for sin that we deserve. There he redeemed us with the blood of his Son, so that we can be his forever. So now, when the crosses of life come slamming into your life as they did in Job’s, recall why. Every one of them is meant to bring us to our spiritual senses, to repent of our sins, and to look in faith at our Savior, Jesus Christ. Why, Lord? Why? To keep us close to Jesus. That’s why! Amen.