Sunday
10/03/21 - Sidney UMC
Sermon Title: “Faith Like That!”
Old Testament Scripture: Job 1:1; 2:1-10
New Testament Scripture: Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5-12
Gospel Lesson: Mark 10:2-16
So, I have a question for all of us to
think about. This is the question, has anyone here ever lost your faith, or does
anyone here know someone else who has lost their faith? By this, did you ever
stop believing in Jesus, in heaven, and in the existence of God himself. Or do
you know anyone else who ever stopped believing in Jesus, in heaven, and it the
existence of God himself? I certainly know people that claim to have had faith,
who now openly say that they have none.
Some people that I have meet simply sat
down, read, thought, and decided that faith just was no longer for them. Most
often however, I have encountered people who have experienced great sufferings,
trials, and or misfortunes. Since these people could not reconcile these great
sufferings, trials, and or misfortunes with God, they decided that God did not
exist, that Jesus was not Lord, and the Holy Spirit did not move among us. They
had an idea of who God is, of who Jesus is, and of who the Holy Spirit is. When
they felt that God did not hold up his end of the “bargain” they abandoned their
faith. Many of them would say since “God abandoned them, they abandoned God.”
Given this, friends, brothers, and
sisters, what would have to happen for us to abandon our faith completely and
utterly? A health problem? The death of a loved one? Our house burning down? We
lose our job? We go bankrupt? Our car breaks? Our health is in jeopardy? We
become a Mets fan? What would need to happen for us to abandon our faith
completely and utterly?
I truly think that this question is
very important, as I think having a Biblical understanding of God is important.
Is the God we believe in expected to always give us fame and fortune? Is belief
in God, is serving Christ, and is calling upon the power of the Holy Spirit, a
ticket to earthly wealth and material contentment? Is faith all about living a life
here on earth with no struggles, no trials, no hurts, and no misfortunes?
It would seem friends that some people
have learned a “version” of Christianity, which is not biblical, that states
our faith means that we will have nothing but comfort, material wealth, and
never suffer here on earth. It is a nice thought and boy does it sell, especially
on TV! The only problem though, is that it is not true. Jesus came to earth, to
live, breath, teach, love, heal, forgive, and to die for our sins so that we can
be reconciled to a loving and a just God. We are broken and sinful by nature.
We are incapable of living perfect and flawless lives, even though we are
moving on to perfection. As a result of all of this, God sent his only son who was
and is perfect and flawless to die for all of us who are flawed and broken. God
sent his son Jesus to spiritually restore us and to reconcile us with God.
Through this “New Covenant” that we
will celebrate, in part, through Holy Communion this morning, through this reconciliation
to God through Jesus Christ, we are offered eternity with Christ, and the
amazing promise that Christ will never leave us or forsake us. Do want to live
a life where we never struggle or suffer? Well of course, who would not, but
Christ came so that we may be forgiven, and so that we may journey with him to become
like him. Romans 8:38-39 says:
38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom. 8:38-39, NRSV).
Do
we believe this? Do we believe this no matter what? Or do we lose this belief
if things get back enough?
This
is one of the questions that is answered in the Old Testament Book of Job. Job
is a wealthy landowner, with many herds of animals. Job is Godly, upright, and
blameless. He has a good family and good life. Job is completely dedicated to
God, and to serving God. How much suffering, misfortune, and calamity would it
take though for Job to lose his faith though? If it gets bad enough, would Job
just forsake God and turn away from his love?
To
some extent this is what the Book of Job discusses. In looking at our reading
for this morning from the Book of Job once again, we start with 1:1, and then move
right to 2:1. Once again it says in 1:1:
1 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 (Job 1:1, NRSV).
So,
we hear these wonderful things about Job in the Old Testament. Then beginning
in 2:1 it says once again:
2 One day the heavenly beings
came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan
also came among them to present himself before the Lord. 2 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.” 3 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” (Job 2:2-3, NRSV).
The angels of the Lord come to God, and Satan,
a fallen angel shows up to. It is clear to God that Satan, as usual, is up to
no good. The devil wants to corrupt, destroy, and tear people down. God says to
Satan though, you will not turn or break Job. His faith is too strong. God
tells Satan that he can test him and harm him, as long as he does not kill him.
God tells Satan that Job will remain faithful.
In
response, the scripture picks up in Job 2:4 saying once again?
4 Then Satan answered the Lord, “Skin for skin! All that people have they will give to save their lives. 5 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” (Job 2:4-5, NRSV).
The
devil tells God that everyone, even Job will cave and lose their faith when it
comes down to it. Some people of faith struggle that God would allow Satan to
cause harm to Job, but Job was a man of God. Job committed and covenanted to
God to serve and love him, no matter what. It is pretty similar to marriage vows.
You know the ones that say:
“Will you love them, comfort them, honor and keep them, in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others, be faithful to her as long as you both shall live?” (UMW BOW).
Generally wedding days are happy days.
There is excitement, love, and a fun reception. Oh, and cake! What if one the
two people getting married though change, get sick, and or violate the vows of their
marriage? If things get hard enough in a marriage, is it fair for a person to
just leave? Do not get me wrong, I do not mean leave for the wrong reasons. A
biblical divorce is where one or both of the married people have broken their
marriage covenant/vows. If this cannot be reconciled, then sometimes the result
is divorce. Both of my parents have been divorced and remarried, for example. I
am not criticizing anyone who has gotten divorced, but divorce is not a good or
a happy thing.
You
see Job, like many of us made promises and took vows to serve and love God. Satan
though says when things are really hard though, many will break their vows.
These could be broken wedding vows, or broken faith. Since God allows Satan to
test and harm Job, the scripture picks up as 2:7 saying once again:
7 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. 8 Job took a potsherd with which to scrape himself, and sat among the ashes. 9 Then his wife said to him, “Do you still persist in your integrity? Curse God, and die.” 10 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 (Job 2:7-10, NRSV).
Job’s
commitment, his covenant to God is not shaken. Throughout the entire Book of
Job, he will suffer, but he will never forsake God. At the end of the Book of
Job, God rewards Job with even more than he had before.
Are
marriage vows, and vows to God conditional, or unconditional. I worry my
friends that increasingly we live in a conditional society, not an
unconditional society. Are there Biblical reasons for divorce? Of course.
I
worry in this post-modern era that we live in however, that some have
conditional faith in God. We decide what God will do for us, or how God will fulfill
the covenant we want God to make with us, and when God does not fulfill our expectations,
then we divorce God. Will God ever leave us for forsake us? No. Maybe though,
in our minds our covenant with God is one that is beneficial to us, and we
expect God to whatever we want him to do, whenever we want it. God never breaks
covenant with us, but many break covenant with God. God’s covenant with us is unconditional,
even though some people have a conditional covenant with God.
Our reading for this morning from the Book of Hebrews tells
us that God spoke to our ancestors and various prophets in the Old Testament.
In last days though, God has spoken to us through his Son Jesus Christ. Jesus
became like one of us, took of flesh, suffered, struggled, and died for us all.
So, does God know suffering? Oh yes, through Jesus, and through what he sees in
the broken world every minute of every day.
When I think of God allowing Satan to put Job through a
time of trial and suffering this morning, I think of one of my favorite movies.
This movie came out in 1983, stars Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy, and is called “Trading
Places”
So, what is the plot for the 1983 movie “Trading Places”?
Here it is:
Trading Places is a 1983 American comedy film directed by John Landis and written by Timothy Harris and Herschel Weingrod. It stars Dan Aykroyd, Eddie Murphy, Ralph Bellamy, Don Ameche, Denholm Elliott, and Jamie Lee Curtis. The film tells the story of an upper-class commodities broker (Aykroyd) and a poor street hustler (Murphy) whose lives cross when they are unwittingly made the subject of an elaborate bet to test how each man will perform when their life circumstances are swapped (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trading_Places).
Well, if you have seen the 1983 movie “Trading Places,” the
rich and pampered Dan Aykroyd falls apart, and the now rich and Eddie Murphy,
changes, as well. All of this happens because Dan Aykroyd’s bosses the “Duke” brothers
make a one dollar bet. One bets Dan Aykroyd will faulter, the other bets he will
not. Sound a little familiar to our Book of Job story for this morning?
Is our faith and trust in God, our spouse, and our family
conditional, or unconditional? Will we break when it gets hard, or will keep
our faith and our covenants?
In our gospel of Mark reading for this morning once again,
the Pharisees tests Jesus using the covenant of marriage. Once again, the scripture
picks up in Mark 10:2 saying:
2 Some Pharisees came, and to test him they asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” 3 He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” 4 They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her.” 5 But Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote this commandment for you. 6 But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ 7 ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, 8 and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate” (Mk. 10:2-9, NRSV).
Some Christians could argue that one
should never divorce ever, under any circumstances, but when the marriage covenant
is violated, sometimes it cannot be repaired. No one likes divorce, but if
someone makes a conditional promise to an unconditional covenant than they have
not kept their vows. If the vows are kept, and both love, care for, and do
everything that they said they would, then in general there should be no reason
for a divorce. Sometimes though people violate the marriage covenant.
Jesus then says stating in Mark 2:10
once again:
10 Then in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. 11 He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; 12 and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery” (Mk. 2:10-12, NRSV).
Many Christian denominations and churches
approve divorces under certain circumstances, and Jesus is talking about conditional
love, or a conditional covenant. Jesus is saying that you cannot an eternal
covenant and then just decide for no reason that you want out. Marriage means
that both people are committed and working to maintain their marriage covenant.
If that covenant is extremely violated, then yes this can be biblical grounds
for divorce, but people should not divorce because they found someone younger,
there spouse got sick, etc.
Marriage, like our commitment to God
is both parties making an unconditional covenant to be faithful to each other. According
to one source that I read it says that:
“In the United States, about 50% of married couples divorce, the sixth-highest divorce rate in the world” (https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/divorce-rate-by-state).
I
think the reason in part that we have so many divorces in this country, is not
because we are bad people, but because many people have a tough time keeping an
unconditional covenant. Maybe some people enter into the unconditional covenant
of marriage, but inside they really are making a conditional covenant.
It
makes perfect sense to me then, that when some people come to Christ, repent of
there sin, accept Jesus, follow God, and are filled by the Holy Spirit that
some people internally might accept Christ conditionally. They love Jesus, they
are part of the church, they are living their faith, as long as the conditional
covenant they have made with God is upheld. Except, God only has an
unconditional covenant with us. We might be unfaithful to God, but God will
never be unfaithful to us. Some of us might decide what we expect God to be and
to do, and when God does not deliver, well then, we just divorce God.
Making
an unconditional covenant is important, and there are times when that covenant
is strong, and sometimes when that covenant is weak. This morning, Jesus says that
divorce should not be a matter of convenience and that both men and women
matter in marriage. God is so certain this morning that his servant Job has made
an eternal covenant with him, not a conditional covenant with him that he
allows Satan to test Job. God allows Satan to make Job suffer, but the Book of Job
ends with Job’s faith in God being unconditional, not conditional.
I do not know about you all, but I want unconditional faith in God. As my sermon time says this morning of Job, I want “Faith Like That”! Do you? Amen.
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