Living in the Spirit

September 27, 2021

Scripture Reading: Job 1:1, 2:1-10

There was once a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. That man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.

One day the heavenly beings came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the Lord. The Lord said to Satan, ‘Where have you come from?’ Satan answered the Lord, ‘From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.’ The Lord said to Satan, ‘Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil. He still persists in his integrity, although you incited me against him, to destroy him for no reason.’ Then Satan answered the Lord, ‘Skin for skin! All that people have they will give to save their lives. But stretch out your hand now and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face.’ The Lord said to Satan, ‘Very well, he is in your power; only spare his life.’

So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord, and inflicted loathsome sores on Job from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. Job took a potsherd with which to scrape himself, and sat among the ashes.

Then his wife said to him, ‘Do you still persist in your integrity? Curse God, and die.’ But he said to her, ‘You speak as any foolish woman would speak. Shall we receive the good at the hand of God, and not receive the bad?’ In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

The book of Job is a play examining the relationship between a God-follower and how he sustains his relationship with God despite the multitude of bad events Satan casts upon him to separate him from God. The book When Bad Things Happen to Good People by Harold S. Kushner comes to mind, as does Jesus’ statement in Matthew 5:43-45, ‘You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.

I have a problem with the premise of this text that God allows Satan to test Job’s faith like a contest, but it is just a play. God does gift us with free will, and thus we must choose to follow God’s way or the ways of the world.

We also live in community with other people where our successes or failures can impact them as theirs impacts us. Few would choose to catch the COVID virus, but all who fail to take prudent precautions not only put themselves at risk of the contagion but everyone else with whom they might come into contact. Our failure to address climate change results in thousands of people having their lives turned upside down from fires, drought, and lethal storms.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us when we are blind to how our behavior negatively impacts others. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.