WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.200 --> 00:00:03.800 Grace and peace to you from God, our Father and from our Lord, and 2 00:00:03.800 --> 00:00:05.200 Savior Jesus Christ. 3 00:00:05.200 --> 00:00:05.800 Amen. 4 00:00:06.900 --> 00:00:11.300 Those words of the hymn what pleases God, that pleases me. 5 00:00:12.700 --> 00:00:16.000 Well, I've been reading Job chapter 1 for like the last month to get 6 00:00:16.000 --> 00:00:16.700 ready for today. 7 00:00:16.700 --> 00:00:18.400 And I got to tell you I have questions. 8 00:00:18.800 --> 00:00:24.100 I'm not sure that what pleases God, that pleases me, or at least, I'm 9 00:00:24.100 --> 00:00:27.200 not sure that you can just get there right out of the gate. 10 00:00:27.200 --> 00:00:29.500 This story of job. 11 00:00:30.200 --> 00:00:30.900 I have questions. 12 00:00:31.200 --> 00:00:33.700 Job the greatest of the East 13 00:00:33.700 --> 00:00:36.300 according to verse 3, he is super righteous. 14 00:00:36.300 --> 00:00:37.900 He turns away from evil. 15 00:00:38.100 --> 00:00:39.100 He's so righteous 16 00:00:39.100 --> 00:00:39.900 they describe this. 17 00:00:39.900 --> 00:00:44.300 That not only does he consecrate himself, but he has his kids, his 18 00:00:44.300 --> 00:00:48.500 kids have feast when they have a feast he goes and consecrates them 19 00:00:49.000 --> 00:00:50.600 gives an offering for them. 20 00:00:51.400 --> 00:00:56.000 So that it because it may be that my children have sinned and cursed, 21 00:00:56.000 --> 00:00:59.500 the Lord in their hearts and thus Job did continually. 22 00:01:01.300 --> 00:01:02.800 I have questions about Job. 23 00:01:02.800 --> 00:01:05.000 How can, how can this happen to him, 24 00:01:05.300 --> 00:01:05.900 what happened? 25 00:01:05.900 --> 00:01:10.200 There's a little bit of interesting stuff here to just sort of 26 00:01:10.200 --> 00:01:11.900 animistic thinking a little bit. 27 00:01:11.900 --> 00:01:12.700 And that's all Job 28 00:01:12.700 --> 00:01:13.000 really 29 00:01:13.000 --> 00:01:14.900 possibly has available to him at this time. 30 00:01:14.900 --> 00:01:20.400 He must know of the Lord somehow and of sacrifices, but this idea that 31 00:01:21.000 --> 00:01:24.300 you got to be sure that everything is just right with God. 32 00:01:25.700 --> 00:01:26.500 It's interesting 33 00:01:26.500 --> 00:01:29.800 and in verse 5, it says it may be that the children have sinned and 34 00:01:29.800 --> 00:01:29.900 cursed 35 00:01:30.100 --> 00:01:31.200 the Lord in their hearts. 36 00:01:31.200 --> 00:01:34.700 And again, Satan says in verse 11, he will curse you to your face. In 37 00:01:34.700 --> 00:01:35.000 Hebrew 38 00:01:35.000 --> 00:01:38.000 those actually say the word Barack which means bless. 39 00:01:38.400 --> 00:01:41.600 He will bless you in his heart and he will bless you to your face. 40 00:01:41.600 --> 00:01:44.000 And so it's like what is going on there? 41 00:01:44.200 --> 00:01:47.400 The English has tried to what's obviously doesn't mean bless the way 42 00:01:47.400 --> 00:01:48.700 we think, bless right? 43 00:01:49.400 --> 00:01:50.900 It doesn't necessarily mean curse. 44 00:01:50.900 --> 00:01:54.700 As pro at least not the way I proactively think of cursing as an 45 00:01:54.700 --> 00:01:58.100 active, you know, curse against God. 46 00:01:58.100 --> 00:01:59.000 But somehow in 47 00:01:59.900 --> 00:02:00.400 studying this 48 00:02:00.400 --> 00:02:03.100 it's like they won't think about God, the right way, and it's possible 49 00:02:03.100 --> 00:02:05.800 that my children have had this festival and they've been having these 50 00:02:05.800 --> 00:02:08.500 parties and getting together in one of them accidentally didn't think 51 00:02:08.500 --> 00:02:09.600 right about God. 52 00:02:09.699 --> 00:02:11.800 And so I want to be sure that they're covered. 53 00:02:11.800 --> 00:02:14.500 That's actually if you really stop and think about what it would be 54 00:02:14.500 --> 00:02:18.200 like to live life that way, that's a really devastating way to live, 55 00:02:18.200 --> 00:02:22.300 to always wonder and be so consumed with am I right before God, that 56 00:02:22.300 --> 00:02:23.800 even did, I think right about God. 57 00:02:23.800 --> 00:02:24.800 Are my kids thinking, right 58 00:02:24.800 --> 00:02:28.400 about God? I got to make sure that's a lot for Job to have to handle. 59 00:02:28.400 --> 00:02:29.200 So already 60 00:02:30.700 --> 00:02:34.200 Job maybe doesn't necessarily think of God the right way, but he has 61 00:02:34.200 --> 00:02:35.300 the information he has. 62 00:02:35.300 --> 00:02:40.500 But the thing that I really have questions about is in verse 8, after 63 00:02:40.500 --> 00:02:44.200 it's revealed to us, that there is some kind of cosmic conversation, 64 00:02:44.200 --> 00:02:47.700 going on. And the angels are there before the Lord doing something, 65 00:02:47.700 --> 00:02:49.000 and Satan's there with them. 66 00:02:49.300 --> 00:02:50.700 And the Lord asked him 67 00:02:50.700 --> 00:02:51.400 where did you come from? 68 00:02:51.400 --> 00:02:54.000 And then the Lord himself is the one who brings up Job. 69 00:02:54.000 --> 00:02:55.700 Satan didn't even mention him. 70 00:02:57.600 --> 00:02:59.800 And you doing. What 71 00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:01.300 pleases God, that pleases me. 72 00:03:01.300 --> 00:03:02.000 I don't know. 73 00:03:02.200 --> 00:03:03.100 I have questions. 74 00:03:03.400 --> 00:03:10.200 And so the Lord brings up Job and says, we'll have you considered my 75 00:03:10.200 --> 00:03:15.300 servant Job, the one who there's none, like him on earth, a blameless 76 00:03:15.300 --> 00:03:15.900 and upright, man. 77 00:03:15.900 --> 00:03:17.700 He fears, God and turns away from evil 78 00:03:17.700 --> 00:03:19.500 and Satan says, of course, he does you blessed him. 79 00:03:19.500 --> 00:03:22.500 But if you take those blessings away, he will 80 00:03:23.500 --> 00:03:26.100 think wrongly of you somehow, he'll curse you to your face. 81 00:03:28.100 --> 00:03:28.900 Why is God doing that? 82 00:03:28.900 --> 00:03:29.500 I have questions. 83 00:03:29.500 --> 00:03:34.600 As I was looking, I found that when Peter was going to deny Jesus 84 00:03:34.600 --> 00:03:36.300 in Luke's account of that 85 00:03:36.800 --> 00:03:39.300 Luke says, in verse 31. 86 00:03:39.300 --> 00:03:40.900 Jesus says to Simon, Simon, 87 00:03:40.900 --> 00:03:45.600 Simon behold Satan demanded to have you you plural as in all of you. 88 00:03:47.000 --> 00:03:52.100 That he might sift you plural as a wheat, but I have prayed for you 89 00:03:52.100 --> 00:03:54.400 singular that your faith may not fail. 90 00:03:54.400 --> 00:03:56.900 And when you have been restored again, strengthen your brothers so 91 00:03:56.900 --> 00:04:00.200 somewhere there was some other Cosmic conversation, right? 92 00:04:00.200 --> 00:04:01.200 Where Satan was saying 93 00:04:01.200 --> 00:04:06.000 I want all these and somebody said well, you can have Peter. 94 00:04:09.500 --> 00:04:14.200 What is going on and Job suffers loss as you see in the rest of the 95 00:04:14.200 --> 00:04:20.600 reading of chapter one and it says that he does not sin or charge God 96 00:04:20.600 --> 00:04:21.300 with doing wrong. 97 00:04:21.300 --> 00:04:24.600 In fact, there's that very familiar verse where job says the Lord gave 98 00:04:24.800 --> 00:04:27.700 and the Lord has taken away blessed, be the name of the Lord. And if 99 00:04:27.700 --> 00:04:30.300 you ever been in a place in your life, where you had to say that, you 100 00:04:30.300 --> 00:04:34.700 know, that it comes from a place of deep sorrow and it took a lot to 101 00:04:34.700 --> 00:04:39.200 get there. And Job is not unmoved by what has happened to him 102 00:04:39.300 --> 00:04:42.500 but it still hasn't sinned against the Lord. 103 00:04:42.500 --> 00:04:45.700 And if you would read the rest of Job immediately in Chapter 2. 104 00:04:45.700 --> 00:04:48.500 It escalates Satan comes back 105 00:04:48.600 --> 00:04:50.000 the Lord says what about Job? 106 00:04:50.100 --> 00:04:56.000 You incited me to do wrong to him which again I have questions and 107 00:04:56.700 --> 00:05:01.500 then Satan says no, but if you actually harm himself, then he will not 108 00:05:01.500 --> 00:05:03.300 think rightly of you who curse you to your face. 109 00:05:03.300 --> 00:05:07.100 And of course, the Lord says, well, you can't, but you can't kill him. 110 00:05:07.100 --> 00:05:08.000 You can do anything else 111 00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:09.000 you want to. Again 112 00:05:09.900 --> 00:05:10.800 what pleases God 113 00:05:10.800 --> 00:05:11.800 that pleases me. 114 00:05:11.900 --> 00:05:12.700 I'm not sure. 115 00:05:14.300 --> 00:05:17.000 And then there's a lot of, I mean, the whole rest of the book goes on 116 00:05:17.000 --> 00:05:18.500 with people, trying to, explain to Job. 117 00:05:18.500 --> 00:05:19.500 Here's what's happened 118 00:05:19.500 --> 00:05:20.800 and he says, no, that's not right. 119 00:05:20.800 --> 00:05:23.800 And ultimately, I think it's actually not completely clear. 120 00:05:23.800 --> 00:05:27.200 But I could say you could say, eventually by the end of the book, Job 121 00:05:27.300 --> 00:05:30.800 certainly has questioned God and when he does, God says, who are you 122 00:05:30.800 --> 00:05:31.700 to question me? 123 00:05:31.700 --> 00:05:35.300 And so, there's something that maybe he hasn't thought right of God, 124 00:05:36.300 --> 00:05:38.000 but he is restored. 125 00:05:38.900 --> 00:05:43.200 But not without significant loss. Job eventually questions 126 00:05:43.200 --> 00:05:48.300 God as we all do as God invites us to and that's not necessarily wrong 127 00:05:48.300 --> 00:05:50.500 and maybe that's what Job learned. At the beginning 128 00:05:50.700 --> 00:05:53.600 he was offering sacrifices to be sure that nobody thought wrong about 129 00:05:53.600 --> 00:05:54.200 God at all. 130 00:05:54.200 --> 00:05:58.100 Not me, not my kids and now it's okay to question God. 131 00:06:00.500 --> 00:06:02.800 Otherwise, why would God do all this? 132 00:06:02.800 --> 00:06:06.200 I really have questions and I think as I think about what we hear in 133 00:06:06.200 --> 00:06:09.500 Job one, and I think about talking to you, ladies and gentlemen, who 134 00:06:09.500 --> 00:06:13.000 are in training for church work or who are already involved in church 135 00:06:13.000 --> 00:06:14.700 work or in providing that training. 136 00:06:14.700 --> 00:06:16.300 There's a few takeaways. 137 00:06:17.400 --> 00:06:23.500 The first, I think as a church worker and my own experience is that 138 00:06:23.500 --> 00:06:27.100 you also be a target of Satan that somewhere at some time. 139 00:06:27.100 --> 00:06:30.100 Satan is saying to the Lord, or maybe the Lord's even saying to say 140 00:06:30.300 --> 00:06:31.400 have you considered 141 00:06:32.400 --> 00:06:37.100 Pastor Rudowske? Why would you do that? 142 00:06:38.400 --> 00:06:41.300 But you're going to be a target and we may ask why. 143 00:06:41.700 --> 00:06:44.800 And I can remember as, as before coming to Seminary the interview. 144 00:06:44.800 --> 00:06:46.500 I had in the Michigan district office. 145 00:06:46.500 --> 00:06:48.100 I don't even know who the panelists were. 146 00:06:48.100 --> 00:06:52.000 But one of them was a pastor and he was talking to this real 147 00:06:52.000 --> 00:06:55.500 enthusiastic young guy and his wife that would be myself and my wife. 148 00:06:55.900 --> 00:06:59.500 And he said to us you are going to be hurt in Ministry. 149 00:07:00.500 --> 00:07:04.300 And he looked like, as my recollection of him as a person that had 150 00:07:04.300 --> 00:07:06.800 been hurt in Ministry, but you know what? 151 00:07:07.400 --> 00:07:08.300 He was right? 152 00:07:09.200 --> 00:07:13.500 And it happened and there are seasons and we ask the Lord, why? 153 00:07:13.500 --> 00:07:16.800 And that is to be expected. If it would happen to Job. 154 00:07:16.800 --> 00:07:20.000 If Satan asked for the apostles and the lord gave him Peter 155 00:07:21.000 --> 00:07:24.100 he might give him you too. But 156 00:07:25.400 --> 00:07:27.900 Job suffered all of these things. 157 00:07:29.300 --> 00:07:35.400 And this devastating loss and was just wondering and questioning God. 158 00:07:35.400 --> 00:07:40.000 We have the benefit of knowing that there was a cosmic conversation 159 00:07:40.500 --> 00:07:44.700 and that Satan didn't do anything that the Lord didn't let him do. 160 00:07:45.200 --> 00:07:46.200 And on one hand 161 00:07:46.200 --> 00:07:49.900 that's scary and raises questions on the other hand, that's good news, 162 00:07:49.900 --> 00:07:51.900 that nothing will happen to you 163 00:07:52.300 --> 00:07:54.800 that the Lord hasn't said could happen to you. 164 00:07:56.600 --> 00:07:58.400 And nothing will happen to you 165 00:07:58.400 --> 00:08:02.100 that God doesn't allow and that's not a platitude because the stuff 166 00:08:02.100 --> 00:08:06.600 that can happen is real and painful and can hurt, but the Lord is with 167 00:08:06.600 --> 00:08:10.000 you and he is calling on you to remember him. 168 00:08:10.000 --> 00:08:11.900 And that's the, the greatest takeaway 169 00:08:11.900 --> 00:08:15.000 is that. As we think of job in the Lenten season 170 00:08:15.000 --> 00:08:17.600 and obviously this reading is going to show up in Lent as somebody who 171 00:08:17.600 --> 00:08:19.700 suffered. And even in 172 00:08:19.700 --> 00:08:23.400 so suffering, didn't sin against God, as it said, 173 00:08:23.400 --> 00:08:24.300 at the end of chapter one. 174 00:08:24.300 --> 00:08:26.200 There is another greater than Job 175 00:08:26.700 --> 00:08:33.000 who has come, and who suffered and as was prophesied. 176 00:08:33.299 --> 00:08:37.500 He stood before those who accused him and harmed him, and, and killed 177 00:08:37.500 --> 00:08:41.799 him and was silent before them, and he is born that suffering for us. 178 00:08:42.100 --> 00:08:49.800 So that when we suffer, we remember that we are not, we are led by one 179 00:08:49.800 --> 00:08:53.100 who is not unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but was tempted 180 00:08:53.100 --> 00:08:56.300 in every way, just as we are, but unlike us and unlike 181 00:08:56.500 --> 00:08:59.600 Job was without sin. And he is 182 00:09:00.100 --> 00:09:02.300 guiding us and teaching us 183 00:09:04.100 --> 00:09:05.100 and loving us. 184 00:09:07.900 --> 00:09:11.600 And so as you go forth into ministry as you reflect on that savior, as 185 00:09:11.600 --> 00:09:17.200 you yourself, may experience pain. Pain that the Lord allows for 186 00:09:17.200 --> 00:09:18.300 whatever reasons. 187 00:09:19.400 --> 00:09:23.700 May you be filled with the Holy Spirit and able to say like Job, the 188 00:09:23.700 --> 00:09:25.600 Lord gave and the Lord has taken away blessed 189 00:09:25.600 --> 00:09:28.800 be the name of the Lord. May you be able to say the words of the hymn. 190 00:09:28.800 --> 00:09:30.200 What pleases God 191 00:09:30.600 --> 00:09:34.900 that pleases me. Maybe to say I have questions, but I know whom I'm 192 00:09:34.900 --> 00:09:35.600 following. 193 00:09:37.000 --> 00:09:41.700 And then may you comfort those whom you serve with the comfort that 194 00:09:41.700 --> 00:09:42.800 has been given to you. 195 00:09:42.900 --> 00:09:47.200 That God will be glorified in Jesus name would be mighty and spread to 196 00:09:47.200 --> 00:09:49.500 the ends of the Earth. In Jesus name. 197 00:09:49.900 --> 00:09:50.300 Amen. 198 00:09:51.500 --> 00:09:54.400 And the peace of God that surpasses all understanding. 199 00:09:54.400 --> 00:09:57.100 Keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 200 00:09:57.500 --> 00:09:57.900 Amen.