Living in the Spirit

June 14, 2021

Scripture Reading: Job 38:1-11

Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind:
‘Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
Gird up your loins like a man,
   I will question you, and you shall declare to me.

‘Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
   Tell me, if you have understanding.
Who determined its measurements—surely you know!
   Or who stretched the line upon it?
On what were its bases sunk,
   or who laid its cornerstone
when the morning stars sang together

   and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy?

‘Or who shut in the sea with doors
   when it burst out from the womb?—
when I made the clouds its garment,
   and thick darkness its swaddling band,
and prescribed bounds for it,
   and set bars and doors,
and said, “Thus far shall you come, and no farther,
   and here shall your proud waves be stopped”?

Having had a hectic week, I was ready to kick back and watch a movie. Angels & Demons was available. Although I have seen it several times, it was a good choice. It is the story of a professor who specializes in symbolism, particularly that of religions. He is contacted to help the Catholic church deal with a problem that demanded his skills. At one point in the movie, a church representative asked him if he believed in God. He stumbled around responding and demonstrated that he was a curious agnostic.  The above scripture challenges those of us to say one way or another whether we have faith that there is a God. If we come done on the side that says yes, there is a God, then we must deal with the question: where are we in our relationship with and service to God?

The interesting thing about this series of movies, starting with the Da Vinci Code, is that it is almost impossible to tell who the good people are and who the bad people are until the very end. My book club recently read, The Trouble with Goats and Sheep: A Novel, which addresses the same question. How far afield can we go in our attempts to serve God when we invest much of our energies in defining God in an image of our own making. But, unfortunately, Job and his pals had become tangled in separating their idea of God from God.

Prayer: Lord, guide us in the search for understanding how we dwell with you in fuller understanding, resulting in our having a better understanding of who we are. 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.