Our Lenten Journey

The season of Lent begins February 6th with Ash Wednesday. Ash Wednesday is preceded by Shrove Tuesday when we will consume copious amounts of pancakes and sausage (February 5th beginning 5:30 p.m.).  The season of Lent continues for 40 days, excluding Sundays, ending March 22nd, the day before Easter. Sundays are not part of Lent because Sundays celebrate Jesus’ resurrection. The 40 day period of Lent mirrors the 40 days Jesus was tempted by the Devil in the desert and nether ate or drank. The purpose of the Lenten season is to prepare Christians for Holy Week and Easter, that is, to prepare our hearts for the crucifixion and the resurrection. How can one prepare? This parable, which first surfaced in the 1960’s and repeated by John Blanchard in his tract, “Where was God on 9-11,” captures the essence of what it means to prepare for Holy Week and Easter. 
“At the end of time, billions of people were scattered on a great plain before God’s throne. Most shrank from the brilliant light before them. But some groups near the front talked heatedly — not with cringing shame but with belligerence. ‘Can God judge us?’ ‘How can he know about suffering?’ snapped a pert young brunette. She ripped open a sleeve to reveal a tattooed number from a Nazi concentration camp. ‘We endured terror … beating … torture … death!’ In another group a black man lowered his collar. ‘What about this?’ he demanded, showing an ugly rope burn. ‘Lynched for no crime but being black!’ In another crowd, a pregnant schoolgirl with sullen eyes. ‘Why should I suffer?’ she murmured. ‘It wasn’t my fault.’ Far out across the plain were hundreds of such groups. Each had a complaint against God for the evil and suffering he had permitted in his world. How lucky God was to live in heaven where all was sweetness and light, where there was no weeping or fear, no hunger or hatred! What did God know of all that men had been forced to endure in this world? ‘For God leads a pretty sheltered life,’ they said. So each of these groups sent forth their leader, chosen because he had suffered the most. A Jew, a black, a person from Hiroshima, a horribly disabled arthritic, a thalidomide child. In the centre of the plain, they consulted with each other.
At last they were ready to present their case. It was rather clever. Before God could be qualified to be heir Judge, he must endure what they had endured. Their verdict was that God should be sentenced to live on earth — as a man! Let him be born a Jew. Let the legitimacy of his birth be doubted. Give him a work so difficult that even his family will think him out of his mind when he tries to do it. Let him be betrayed by his closest friends. Let him face false charges, be tried by a prejudiced jury and convicted by a cowardly judge. Let him be tortured. At last, let him see what it means to be terribly alone. Then let him die in agony. Let him die so that there can be no doubt that he died. Let there be a whole host of witnesses to verify it. As each leader announced the portion of his sentence, a loud murmur of approval went up from the throng of people assembled. When the last had finished pronouncing sentence there was a long silence. No one uttered another word. No one moved. For suddenly all knew that God had already served his sentence.”

This modern day parable mirrors and reflects what happened to God’s trusted friend Job in the Old Testament book by the same name. Job understood the pain and the grief of the people on the plain of judgment. He was once blessed by God, a man of great wealth and prestige. He had sons and daughters, flocks and herds, gold and silver. He was the “Bill Gates” of his day. Job lost it all in days. His children died when the house they were in collapsed. His wealth was stolen and/or destroyed. All that he had left was his wife and his health. Then even his health was taken away.
So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.  Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes.  His wife said to him, "Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die!"(Job 2:7-9)
These verses reveal that Job’s suffering and loss were the result of a conversation between God and Satan in heaven. Satan claimed that Job’s faith and trust in God were based on the blessings God had showered on Job; therefore, if these blessings were withdrawn Job’s love and affection for God and Job’s faith in God would be destroyed. Satan wagered that Job would even curse God. Yet God had faith in Job, faith that Job wouldn’t cave in to loss, pain and suffering. God had faith that Job would pass the test.
Job struggled mightily with his pain, suffering and loss. Three friends and a young man came to comfort Job. The only comfort they could offer Job was to try to convince him he had done something terribly bad, committed some heinous sin which justified God’s anger with Job and God’s judgment. They counseled Job to confess and plead with God for mercy. Job denied he had done anything to merit this punishment.
Job did some soul searching while in the throws of pain and suffering. Job declared that his suffering and God were connected. God had withdrawn his protection. Job believed that there was a dispute between him and God and that God was putting the pressure on. He lamented over his condition. If another man was vexing and harassing Job, he could take that man to court and have his case judged. If Job was found innocent in the human court the judge would render a decision in Job’s favor and he could find relief. Job came to realize that if suffering came from God there was no court or judge to appeal to. Who would hear a case against God, who could judge God wrong and force God to recant and show anyone mercy?  Then Job declared:
5Are your days like those of a mortal or your years like those of a man,6that you must search out my faults
       and probe after my sin-7though you know that I am not guilty and that no one can rescue me from your hand?8"Your hands shaped me and made me. Will you now turn and destroy me?9Remember that you molded me like clay. Will you now turn me to dust again?10Did you not pour me out like milk and curdle me like cheese,11clothe me with skin and flesh and knit me together with bones and sinews?12You gave me life and showed me kindness, and in your providence watched over my spirit.13"But this is what you concealed in your heart, and I know that this was in your mind:14If I sinned, you would be watching me and would not let my offense go unpunished.
Job affirmed that God the creator had made him, showered him with love and blessings. God’s love and blessings had produced love and trust in God on Job’s part. Then God pulled the proverbial rug from under Job and inflicted him with a disease that plunged him in the pit of depression and despair. These thoughts produced Job’s most stinging indictment of God; namely, Job’s fall from God’s grace and freefall into physical and spiritual disease was God’s plan from the very beginning. In the final analysis, Job concluded that God had betrayed him. Job sought an audience with God so that he could confront Him  with all his questions and concerns. He believed he could argue his case before God and be vindicated.  
 Job also questioned about the fate of a man after he dies. Job asked the question in this way.
7"At least there is hope for a tree: If it is cut down, it will sprout again, and its new shoots will not fail.8Its roots may grow old in the ground and its stump die in the soil,9yet at the scent of water it will bud and put forth shoots like a plant.
10But man dies and is laid low; he breathes his last and is no more.11As water disappears from the sea or a riverbed becomes parched and dry,12so man lies down and does not rise; till the heavens are no more, men will not awake or be roused from their sleep.13"If only you would hide me in the grave and conceal me till your anger has passed! If only you would set me a time and then remember me! 14If a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait for my renewal to come.(Job 14:7-14)
In the middle of all of the chaos in Job’s life he made two statements which expressed a trust and hope in God that remained deep within him.
15You will call and I will answer you; you will long for the creature your hands have made.
16Surely then you will count my steps but not keep track of my sin.
17My offenses will be sealed up in a bag; you will cover over my sin. (Job 14:7-14)
Job’s words of hope pierced the despair caused by his assessment of the human condition. We must go to the grave. We must be judged for our sins, but God will intervene. God will call and we will answer that call.  Job believed and trusted that God would redeem him, would put his sins in a bag, and that God would stand on the earth.
25I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. 26And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God;27I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me! (Job 19:2-27)
  In the end, God did come on the earth and stand before Job in the whirlwind. Job did get a chance to make his case. However, this was his response.
1The LORD said to Job:
2 "Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? Let him who accuses God answer him!"
3Then Job answered the LORD :4"I am unworthy—how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth.
5I spoke once, but I have no answer—twice, but I will say no more." (Job 40:1-5)
In the end Job was speechless before God, in the same way the people on the plain of judgment were. God did not answer Job’s questions about sin and death. God gave Job, health, wealth, more children and a long life. God did answer Job’s questions and fulfilled the hopes expressed by Job in the person of Jesus.

• Job questioned whether God had a right to judge Job on the grounds that God had no idea what it was like to be a human being, what it was like to look at life through Job’s eyes. In the person of Jesus, God did take on human flesh. The Son of God voluntarily took on all human limitations, including death, while retaining His divinity.

• Throughout Jesus’ ministry Job appeared to Him in the form of the deaf, the blind, the dumb, the leper, the withered hand, the stooped back, fevers, and paralysis, the woman vexed with a bleeding disorder, and the demon-possessed. Jesus took their illnesses away. He healed them and grew their faith.

• Job spoke of temptation and how we all fall prey to it. In response, Jesus was tempted with every temptation which is known to man, including being tempted by the Devil in the middle of a 40 day fast. Jesus overcame all temptations. Jesus overcame temptation for us and for our salvation, so that He could pass it on to us.  

• Job accused God of being a merciless judge who looked at human behavior so that He could count our sins and then punish us. Jesus led a blameless life under God’s law so that He could pass that blameless life on to us. 

• Job declared that from experience it looked like God loved nature more than humans. Nature is constantly renewed, dying in fall and winter and coming back again in the spring. Job points out that humans die and there is no renewal. Yet, he hoped and believed that God would hide him in the grave and call to him and he would come back to life. Jesus called out to Lazarus who was dead in the grave for four days and he awoke and arose from the grave.

• Job hoped and believed that God would remove his sins from him and put all his sins in a bag. When Jesus Christ died on the cross He took all the sins of the world on Him so that God could put them in a bag and remember them no more.

All this is passed on to us by faith in Jesus. We participate in all that Jesus did in our Baptism. We die with Him and rise with Him. We receive the Holy Spirit and thereby become a new creation. We have hope for a future and for eternal life. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  (John 3:16).

For Job and the people on the plain of judgment, coming into communion with God in the most intimate way came about through a repentant heart.  The repentant heart for the people on the plain came when they realized God had satisfied their judgment against Him. The repentant heart for Job came following his diatribe against God and man, when he had said all he could say, and his friends had said all they could say. God broke the silence and caused contrition, repentance, healing and restoration.

As I read the account of Job’s ordeal, I came to see that God has the same faith he had in Job, in me. The scriptures declare that my faith will be challenged from without and within. The Devil is real and will tempt, vex and harass me and create situations which will cause me to be in conflict with others. 
“Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8). And what I have forgiven—if there was anything to forgive—I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes. (2 Corinthians 2:10-12).
In addition, my own human nature will cause problems for me and lead me to sin, “but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed.” (James 1:14).The trials of life caused by the Devil and my own nature will cause me to question God, and even blame Him for my temptation. I could say, “God how can you judge me? You made me this way!” You made everyone! How can you judge us?” God’s response: “But you did judge me! My Son declared His identity and purpose to you. He was perfect, exactly the kind of person I envisioned you all to be. He loved me with all His heart, soul, mind and strength, and His neighbor as Himself. But, you called Him a liar and a blasphemer. You sentenced Him to death and killed him. You continue to judge me when you say I made you the way you are and therefore I can’t judge you.”  Jesus’ intercession, from the cross: “Father, forgive Ed, he knows not what he is doing.” That is the moment that slays me. When I realize just how sinful I am and just how righteous God and Jesus are. It is at that moment I fall to the ground and ask God to forgive me, and for Jesus’ sake, God does forgive me. This is my Lenten journey. I hope it will be yours too.

In Christ,
Pastor Ed