October 28, 2018 - Proper 25B

Lectionary Readings

Be with us, O Lord, for if you are with us nothing else matters, and if you are not with us, nothing else matters. Amen.

            “Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.” Those words of Job express so much about the human condition and both the blessings and the challenges of saying anything about God. This morning, I want to say four things about the grandeur of God, but first I will give a very short summary of the Book of Job to make sure that we’re all up to speed on how we got to this, the final chapter in Job.

October 11, 2015 - Proper 23B

Lectionary Readings

In the name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

            As I mentioned last Sunday as we began our exploration of the book of Job, this Biblical book forces us to rethink our assumptions. We’ve skipped over 21 chapters since last week and today we have a speech by Job as our entry into the unfolding story. The premise of the book is that Job is being tested to see whether or not he will ever curse God for all the calamities that have befallen him. Job doesn’t quite curse God, but he does curse the day he was born. And then some of his friends come by to offer him encouragement and advice. Today’s reading is part of Job’s response to one of his friends. The book of Job invites us to go deeper into our faith, but doing so will require rethinking some of the most foundational aspects of our faith.