Write It in Stone

Introduction

A. I think we live by a basic premise — good conduct results in good consequences. It is a belief in cause and effect. God runs a you get what you deserve universe. This premise is stated in a number of different ways:

B. work hard and you will do well

C. good things come to those who work hard

D. Santa brings toys to good boys and girls

B. But what happens when the basic premise doesn’t work. What happens when you work hard and you lose your job? What happens when you try to do the right things and something bad happens to you? What happens when you are good and Santa doesn’t show up? What happens when you go to church and eat the Lord’s Supper and you still get some disease that takes your life or the life of someone you love? As Harold Kuschner’s book title suggests “Why do bad things happen to good people?” Isn’t being good supposed to keep us from dealing with bad things?

C. It is when bad things happen to us that we find out what we truly believe. Our convictions come out when we are put under pressure. And when trials come we hear the basic premise come out in our prayers. “Lord, I am trying to live for you, what is happening?” In other words, I’ve tried being good and you, God, are supposed to protect me. We live by a basic premise — good consequences are to come to those who are good. This kind of thinking has been around for a long time. I don’t think it is going to change anytime soon. Today’s lesson isn’t about changing our thinking, but to affirm our convictions. We are going to briefly look at Job and see what he has to say to us about our convictions. We’ll be challenged but hopefully we will leave strengthened in our faith.

Job

A. Job has all kinds of things happen to him. He loses everything of value. One day life is good and the next day it isn’t. One day everything makes sense and the next day everything has fallen apart. Job lived life with a basic premise — God rewards the good and punishes the wicked. But Job cannot figure out what he did wrong. He has tried to live right. Just in case there was sin in his life or even in his children’s life he has sacrificed regularly to deal with sin. He cannot imagine what heinous thing has been done to bring about such suffering. His children die, his livelihood is swept away, and his health deteriorates. What did he do to deserve such punishment. For Job it was God who gave the good and it is God who takes it all away.

B. So when he doesn’t understand, he cries out for someone to explain things to him. What he really wants is a face to face encounter with God so that he can get some explanation about things. Additionally, Job’s friends attack him as well. They constantly remind him that his sin is great otherwise, he wouldn’t be suffering this much. This thinking still exists. People will say “I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve what I am suffering.” The basic premise — good people get good things; bad people get bad things. We do live by that thought.

C. Job cannot understand what is happening. He wants someone to fight for him. Someone to affirm his innocence. Someone to acknowledge that he hasn’t sinned. When things fall apart our convictions come out. This is what Job learns in our text. He wants his words to be permanently recorded. He wants latter generations to know that he was an innocent man. He wants the truth to be etched in stone. God is against him; his friends are against him; his wife despises him. He has no place of refuge and safety. The world has turned on him. But he wants his words remembered forever.

D. We’ve been there. Our world falls apart. It’s not that we are just suffering without reason, it is that we can find no reason in our suffering. It feels like the world has turned on us; we are despised; we feel isolated; we feel like we are fighting an uphill battle with weights on our back. We cry out in our hearts — life isn’t fair and we plead for God to do something. And our prayers for help turn into prayers of bitterness “why aren’t you doing something, God?” We weep inwardly and outwardly. We feel dead and yet we take in breath. You’ve been there, haven’t you? As Job says in verse 7, “though I cry ‘I’ve been wronged!’ I get no response; though I call for help, there is no justice.”

Faith

A. What is it that Job wants carved into stone? What words would he like to have engraved for all to see long after he is gone? “I know that my Redeemer lives and that in the end he will stand upon the earth.” The Redeemer is the one who pays the price to buy back something. In the book of Ruth, Boaz is the Redeemer who pays the price to buy land to keep it in the family and in the process acquires Ruth as his wife. The Redeemer might be the one who pays the price for the slave so that the slave can have freedom. These are the words Job wants inscribed “I know that my Redeemer lives.” It is a pronouncement of faith.

B. In his dark days when there seems to be no purpose, Job says I know that my Redeemer lives. Can we join Job in this testimony of faith?

1. When the world is against me -- I know that my redeemer lives

2. When our friends turn away -- I know that my redeemer lives

3. When my family despises me -- I know that my redeemer lives

4. When my health deteriorates -- I know that my redeemer lives

5. When a loved one dies -- I know that my redeemer lives

6. When I find no purpose in suffering -- I know that my Redeemer lives

7. When life doesn't make sense -- I know that my Redeemer lives

C. But don’t stop there, Job also says that he will see God one day. Many have found an allusion to Job’s belief that there will be a resurrection. After my skin has been destroyed certainly sounds like death; yet in my flesh I will see God. Did Job believe in a resurrection? I cannot say with certainty. But what Job did believe is that a day would come when an explanation would be given. Notice the end of verse 27. “How my heart yearns within me.”

D. Let me make this practical. We don’t always show up here on Sunday morning because we want to. Parents make us come; spouses make us come; even guilt makes us come. It’s like the old joke about the man who wakes up on Sunday morning and tells his wife that he isn’t going to church. The people don’t like him; the pews are filled with hypocrites; all he ever hears are people complaining. His wife says, “you are going. It is a beautiful day, the birds are singing, you will see some smiling faces, and besides you’re the preacher.”

E. But our convictions, what we really believe, are revealed in the pressures of life. I don’t understand suffering. I don’t understand why bad things happen to good people. Here is what I do know:

1. I know that my redeemer lives

2. I know that it doesn't matter how long the line is in heaven, I want to hug Jesus

3. I know that no matter what happens to me and against me, that my heart yearns to see God.

4. I know that life is about making God look good.

5. I know that I cannot possibly understand everything about my life.

6. And I know that God loves me more than I can ever imagine.

7. Write it in stone. Save it for people to see after you are dead and gone. What did you really believe? Did you believe in something more than hard work, comfortable life, great vacations, and good food. When the pressure was on, what do you really believe?

Follow Jesus

If you’d like to respond to this message or learn more about following Jesus, please reach out.