GOD DESIRES TO BE OUR EMMANUEL – TOTALLY WITH US
Job 1:13-19 ; Isaiah 64:1a; Matthew 1:18-23
Rev. Paul Wrightman 11/26/23
IF I WERE METAPHORICALLY COMPOSING AN OPERA
BASED ON THE BIBLICAL BOOK OF JOB,
THIS SERMON WOULD SERVE AS ITS INTRODUCTION, OR OVERTURE.
CONTINUING THIS METAPHOR,
THE FOUR ADVENT SERMONS BEGINNING NEXT WEEK
AND CULMINATING ON DECEMBER 24TH,
WOULD SERVE AS FOUR SUCCESSIVE “ACTS”
IN JOB’S STORY OF TRAGEDY AND TRIUMPH.
JOB MIGHT SEEM LIKE A VERY ODD BIBLICAL BOOK
ON WHICH TO BASE A SERIES OF ADVENT SERMONS.
BUT NO OTHER BOOK IN THE ENTIRE BIBLE
CAPTURES THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY –
THE UNBEARABLE LONGING OF HUMAN BEINGS
TO MEET AND GREET GOD FACE TO FACE, AS IT WERE --
THAN THE BOOK OF JOB.
AS SUCH, IT IS THE PERFECT BIBLICAL BOOK
TO CAPTURE ADVENT’S INTENSE YEARNING
FOR A SAVIOR WHO WILL MEET US IN OUR SUFFERING
AND CARRY US THROUGH AND BEYOND IT.
RACHEL NAOMI REMEN, M.D., SHARES THE FOLLOWING
IN HER BOOK MY GRANDFATHER’S BLESSINGS. SHE WRITES:
“ANOTHER COLLEAGUE, A PSYCHOLOGIST, TOLD ME THIS STORY.
IN THE EIGHTIES,
WHEN SHE LIVED AND PRACTICED IN NEW YORK CITY,
SHE HAD DECIDED TO ATTEND A TWO-DAY
PROFESSIONAL WORKSHOP ON TWENTY OR SO SHORT FILMS
OF ONE OF CARL JUNG’S LAST PUPILS,
THE GREAT JUNGIAN DREAM ANALYST, MARIE-LOUISE VON FRANZ.
BETWEEN THE SHOWING OF THESE FILMS,
A DISTINGUISHED PANEL CONSISTING OF THE HEADS
OF TWO MAJOR JUNGIAN TRAINING CENTERS
AND CARL JUNG’S OWN GRANDSON
RESPONDED TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS FROM THE AUDIENCE
SENT UP TO THE STAGE ON CARDS.
ONE OF THESE CARDS TOLD THE STORY
OF A HORRIFIC RECURRING DREAM,
IN WHICH THE DREAMER WAS STRIPPED
OF ALL HUMAN DIGNITY AND WORTH THROUGH NAZI ATROCITIES.
A MEMBER OF THE PANEL READ THE DREAM OUT LOUD.
AS SHE LISTENED, MY COLLEAGUE BEGAN TO FORMULATE
A DREAM INTERPRETATION IN HER HEAD,
IN ANTICIPATION OF THE PANEL’S RESPONSE.
IT WAS REALLY A ‘NO-BRAINER,’ SHE THOUGHT,
AS HER MIND BUSILY OFFERED HER SYMBOLIC EXPLANATIONS
FOR THE TORTURE AND ATROCITIES DESCRIBED IN THE DREAM.
BUT THIS WAS NOT HOW THE PANEL RESPONDED AT ALL.
WHEN THE READING OF THE DREAM WAS COMPLETE,
JUNG’S GRANDSON LOOKED OUT OVER THE LARGE AUDIENCE.
‘WOULD YOU ALL PLEASE RISE?’ HE ASKED.
‘WE WILL STAND TOGETHER IN A MOMENT OF SILENCE
IN RESPONSE TO THIS DREAM.’
THE AUDIENCE STOOD FOR A MINUTE,
MY COLLEAGUE IMPATIENTLY WAITING FOR THE DISCUSSION
SHE WAS CERTAIN WOULD FOLLOW.
BUT WHEN THEY SAT AGAIN,
THE PANEL WENT ON TO THE NEXT QUESTION.
MY COLLEAGUE SIMPLY DID NOT UNDERSTAND THIS AT ALL,
AND A FEW DAYS LATER SHE ASKED ONE OF HER TEACHERS,
HIMSELF A JUNGIAN ANALYST, ABOUT IT.
‘AH, [MARIANNE]’ HE HAD SAID,
‘THERE IS IN LIFE A SUFFERING SO UNSPEAKABLE,
A VULNERABILITY SO EXTREME
THAT IT GOES FAR BEYOND WORDS,
BEYOND EXPLANATIONS, AND EVEN BEYOND HEALING.
IN THE FACE OF SUCH SUFFERING
ALL WE CAN DO IS BEAR WITNESS
SO NO ONE NEED SUFFER ALONE.’” (END QUOTE.)
(Rachel Naomi Remen, My Grandfather’s Blessings, pp. 104-105.)
THE FIRST THING THAT NEEDS TO BE SAID
ABOUT THE PROBLEM OF SUFFERING AND EVIL
IS THAT THERE HAS NEVER BEEN AND NEVER WILL BE
AN ADEQUATE ANSWER TO THIS PROBLEM.
THE ONLY SUITABLE RESPONSE
TO THE PROBLEM OF SUFFERING AND EVIL
LIES IN THE INEFFABLE REALM OF MYSTERY.
A REAL MYSTERY CANNOT BE SOLVED; IT CAN ONLY BE LIVED.
OUR SCRIPTURE READING TODAY REPORTS
A SERIES OF UNRELENTING TRAGEDIES THAT BEFELL JOB.
ON THE SAME DAY JOB LOSES HIS OXEN, DONKEYS, SHEEP, CAMELS,
SERVANTS, SONS, AND DAUGHTERS.
FINALLY, HE LOSES HIS HEALTH,
AND IS COVERED WITH BOILS FROM HEAD TO FOOT.
AT FIRST, JOB’S THREE FRIENDS ARE SPOT ON
WHEN IT COMES TO CARING FOR JOB.
WE ARE TOLD:
“WHEN JOB’S THREE FRIENDS,
ELIPHAZ THE TEMANITE, BILDAD THE SHUHITE,
AND ZOPHAR THE NAAMATHITE
HEARD ABOUT ALL THE TROUBLES THAT HAD COME UPON HIM,
THEY SET OUT FROM THEIR HOMES AND MET TOGETHER
BY AGREEMENT TO GO AND SYMPATHIZE WITH HIM
AND COMFORT HIM.
WHEN THEY SAW HIM FROM A DISTANCE,
THEY COULD HARDLY RECOGNIZE HIM;
THEY BEGAN TO WEEP ALOUD,
AND THEY TORE THEIR ROBES
AND SPRINKLED DUST ON THEIR HEADS.
THEN THEY SAT ON THE GROUND WITH HIM
FOR SEVEN DAYS AND SEVEN NIGHTS.
NO ONE SAID A WORD TO HIM,
BECAUSE THEY SAW HOW GREAT HIS SUFFERING WAS.”
(Job 2:11-13)
AT FIRST JOB’S FRIENDS ARE VERITABLE MODELS
OF GOOD PASTORAL CARE:
THEY SHARE THEIR DISTRESS AT HIS DISTRESS BY WEEPING,
THEN THEY SIMPLY SIT WITH JOB IN SILENCE,
OFFERING NO CHEAP EXPLANATIONS AS TO WHY
THESE TERRRIBLE THINGS HAVE HAPPENED TO HIM.
AFTER SEVEN DAYS AND NIGHTS OF SHARED SILENCE
WITH HIS FRIENDS,
JOB BREAKS THE SILENCE BY CURSING THE DAY OF HIS BIRTH.
(See Job 3)
IN TERMS OF GOOD PASTORAL CARE,
JOB’S CURSING THE DAY OF HIS BIRTH
IS A BREAKTHROUGH OF SORTS;
IT IS USUALLY A POSITIVE DEVELOPMENT
WHEN SOMEONE IN THE MIDST OF GREAT SUFFERING
BREAKS THEIR SILENCE AND BEGINS THE HEALING PROCESS
OF LAMENTATION,
BEGINS THE HEALING PROCESS OF NAMING THEIR LOSSES,
AND SUMMONS THE COURAGE
TO EXPRESS THEIR DARKEST FEELINGS.
THE APPROPRIATE RESPONSE OF ALL BYSTANDERS, OF COURSE,
IS FOCUSED ATTENTION AND ENGAGED LISTENING,
TO CONTINUE THE PROCESS OF SUFFERING WITH THEIR FRIEND.
AS SOON AS JOB CURSES THE DAY OF HIS BIRTH, HOWEVER,
JOB’S FRIENDS BLOW IT, AND BLOW IT BIG TIME.
OFFENDED AT THE THEOLOGICAL UNSEEMLINESS
OF JOB’S SAYING OUT LOUD
THAT HE WISHES HE WERE DEAD,
JOB’S FRIENDS BEGIN ARGUING WITH HIM,
OFFERING REASON AFTER REASON –
AT LEAST TWENTY CHAPTERS WORTH OF REASONS –
WHY JOB IS WRONG AND SHOULD RETRACT HIS WORDS.
IN THE COURSE OF THEIR ARGUING WITH JOB,
JOB’S FRIENDS, AT LEAST IMPLICITLY, CLAIM TO SPEAK FOR GOD.
GOD TAKES OFFENSE AT THIS,
AND BY THE END OF THE BOOK
JOB IS ASKING GOD TO HAVE MERCY ON HIS FRIENDS
FOR OFFERING THEOLOGICAL ANSWERS
FOR A SITUATION IN WHICH
NO THEOLOGICAL ANSWERS WERE TO BE HAD.
THE BOOK OF JOB STANDS AS THE BIBLE’S DEFINITIVE STATEMENT
THAT THERE SIMPLY ARE NO RATIONAL ANSWERS
TO THE PROBLEM OF SUFFERING AND EVIL.
WHILE MAKING IT ABSOLUTELY CLEAR
THAT NO RATIONAL ANSWERS
TO THE PROBLEM OF SUFFERING AND EVIL
WILL BE FORTHCOMING FROM GOD,
THE BOOK OF JOB ALSO HINTS THAT GOD DOES RESPOND
TO SUFFERING AND EVIL,
BUT IN A RELATIONAL, AS OPPOSED TO RATIONAL, WAY.
FROM THE NADIR OF HIS INCREDIBLE SUFFERING,
RESIGNED TO HIS IMMINENT DEATH,
JOB NEVERTHELESS MAKES ONE OF THE
SUPREME AFFIRMATIONS OF FAITH IN THE ENTIRE BIBLE.
CAUGHT-UP IN A VISION OF GOD’S WITHNESS
THAT TRANSCENDS EVEN DEATH,
MIDWAY INTO THE BOOK THAT BEARS HIS NAME
JOB BREAKS FORTH INTO A SONG OF CELEBRATION:
COMING SEEMINGLY OUT OF NOWHERE.
HE MAKES THE SHOCKING
AND SHOCKINGLY CONTRADICTORY AFFIRMATION:
“FOR I KNOW THAT MY REDEEMER LIVES,
AND THAT AT THE LAST HE WILL STAND UPON THE EARTH;
AND AFTER MY FLESH HAS BEEN DESTROYED,
THEN IN MY FLESH I SHALL SEE GOD.”
(Job 19:25-26)
THERE IS NO RATIONALITY, NO REASONABLENESS, HERE.
WHAT WE HAVE IS ONE OF THE MOST TRANSCENDENT STATEMENTS
IN ALL OF THE WORLD’S INSPIRED LITERATURE
OF THE ABSOLUTE PRIMACY OF THE GOD-PERSON RELATIONSHIP.
IN OTHER WORDS, GOD SEEMS TO BE MUCH MORE INTO BEING WITH
THAN IN EXPLAINING WHY.
BY THE END OF THE BOOK OF JOB,
THE THEOLOGICAL ANSWERS
TO THE PROBLEM OF SUFFERING AND EVIL
OF JOB’S FRIENDS HAVE BEEN DISCREDITED.
GOD’S RESPONSE TO JOB TAKES THE FORM
OF A RELENTLESS SERIES OF UNANSWERABLE QUESTIONS:
“WHERE WERE YOU WHEN I LAID THE EARTH’S FOUNDATION?
TELL ME, IF YOU UNDERSTAND.
WHO MARKED OFF ITS DIMENSIONS? SURELY YOU KNOW!
WHO STRETCHED A MEASURING LINE ACROSS IT?
ON WHAT WERE ITS FOOTINGS SET,
OR WHO LAID ITS CORNERSTONE –
WHILE THE MORNING STARS SANG TOGETHER
AND ALL THE ANGELS SHOUTED FOR JOY?
(Job 38:4-6)
GOD GOES ON LIKE THIS FOR A FULL FOUR CHAPTERS,
SWEEPING UP JOB IN A TIDAL WAVE
WHICH CELEBRATES MULTIPLE ASPECTS
OF GOD’S GOOD CREATION.
THE FEELING WE GET BY THE END OF GOD’S SPEECHES
IS THAT JOB STILL HAS NOT RECEIVED A RATIONAL ANSWER
TO THE PROBLEM OF SUFFERING AND EVIL, EVEN FROM GOD.
OR PERHAPS I SHOULD SAY ESPECIALLY FROM GOD,
BECAUSE GOD SEEMS INTENT ON CIRCUMVENTING RATIONALITY
IN A TSUNAMI OF RELATIONALITY.
IT BECOMES CLEAR IN GOD’S SPEECHES
THAT GOD IS INTENSELY WITH EACH AND EVERY THING,
WITH EACH AND EVERY BEING THAT GOD HAS CREATED.
EARLIER IN THE BOOK,
JOB HAS PETITIONED GOD TO BRING GOD TO TRIAL;
HE DEMANDS THAT GOD ANSWER FOR ALL
THE SUFFERING AND EVIL IN THE WORLD.
BY THE END OF THE BOOK, HOWEVER,
JOB SEEMS TO BE SATISFIED WITH THE FACT THAT GOD IS WITH HIM,
IN A RELATIONSHIP THAT TRANSCENDS LOGICAL EXPLANATION,
THAT TRANSCENDS EVEN WORDS.
BY THE END OF THE BOOK
JOB MAKES ONE OF THE MOST
AWESOMELY RELATIONAL AFFIRMATIONS
IN THE ENTIRE BIBLE.
HE SAYS TO GOD:
“MY EARS HAD HEARD OF YOU
BUT NOW MY EYES HAVE SEEN YOU.”
(Job 42:5)
THE IMPLICATION IS THAT ALL THEOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE OF GOD
IS KNOWLEDGE WHICH IS AT BEST ONE STEP REMOVED,
SECOND-HAND KNOWLEDGE ABOUT SOMEONE.
AFTER BEING CAUGHT-UP IN A VERITABLE WHIRLWIND
OF GOD’S RELENTLESS QUESTIONING AND INTIMATE SHARING,
JOB’S LANGUAGE ABOUT GOD CHANGES
FROM LANGUAGE ABOUT GOD,
TO DIRECT ENCOUNTER WITH GOD.
MIDWAY IN THE BOOK,
JOB HAD UTTERED THE REMARKABLE AFFIRMATION OF FAITH:
“THEN IN MY FLESH I SHALL SEE GOD.”
(Job 19:26)
THE TENSE AND THE HOPE THERE ARE FUTURE:
“I SHALL SEE GOD…”
AT THE END OF THE BOOK,
JOB STILL USES THE LANGUAGE OF SEEING,
BUT NOW THE SEEING IS PAST PERFECT,
SOMETHING THAT HAS ALREADY HAPPENED,
AND WILL CONTINUE TO HAPPEN:
“BUT NOW MY EYES HAVE SEEN YOU…”
(Job 42:5)
ONE OF THE BASIC PRINCIPLES OF JEWISH AND CHRISTIAN
BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION HAS LONG BEEN THAT
THE EXPERIENCE OF A BIBLICAL CHARACTER
CAN BECOME OUR EXPERIENCE AS WELL.
THUS, FOR EXAMPLE, WHEN JACOB IS WRESTLING WITH GOD
AND MAKES THE IMPOSSIBLY BOLD STATEMENT TO GOD,
“I WILL NOT LET YOU GO UNTIL YOU BLESS ME!”,
(See Genesis 32:26)
WE ARE INVITED TO MAKE JABOB’S STATEMENT OUR OWN.
WE ARE INVITED TO CHALLENGE GOD
IN THE SAME WAY THAT JACOB CHALLENGED GOD.
CLOSER TO HOME,
THE BOOK OF JOB GIVES US PERMISSION, AS IT WERE,
TO EXPRESS OUR FEELINGS TO GOD
OF WANTING TO PUT GOD ON TRIAL
FOR ALL THE SUFFERING AND EVIL PRESENT IN THE WORLD.
BUT, FOLLOWING THE PATTERN OF JOB,
JOB INVITES US NOT TO STOP THERE,
BUT TO ALLOW OURSELVES TO GET CAUGHT UP
IN THE INCREDIBLE RELATIONAL AFFIRMATION
THAT SOMEDAY, EVEN AFTER DEATH,
WE SHALL SEE GOD-OUR-REDEEMER.
EVEN MORE, JOB INVITES US TO ALLOW OURSELVES
TO GET SO SWEPT-UP IN THE WHIRLWIND OF GOD’S
UNSTOPPABLE CREATIVITY THAT WE COME TO SEE
THAT GOD IS IRREVOCABLY WITH US
AS GOD IS IRREVOCABLY WITH EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE.
JOB PERSONALLY INTRODUCES US, AS IT WERE,
TO SIMULTANEOUSLY THE MOST HIDDEN AND THE MOST EXALTED
OF ALL GOD’S NAMES:
EMMANUEL, GOD-WITH-US.
AND THE DISTANCE IS INFINITE
FROM THEOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THIS NAME –
A HEBREW NAME FOR GOD
MEANING GOD-WITH-US --
AND ACTUAL PERSONAL ENCOUNTER
WITH THE GOD BEHIND THE NAME,
THE GOD WHOSE IRREPRESSIBLE WITHNESS
GIVES MEANING TO THE NAME,
AND MAKES THE NAME COME ALIVE.
JOB INVITES US TO MOVE FROM
SECOND-HAND THEOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE
TO FIRST-HAND PERSONAL ENCOUNTER.
IN MAKING THIS JUMP FROM ABSTRACT KNOWLEDGE
TO PERSONAL EXPERIENCE,
WE STILL DON’T GET THE RATIONAL ANSWER OR EXPLANATION
TO THE PROBLEM OF SUFFERING AND EVIL
THAT WE WERE LOOKING FOR.
WE DON’T GET AND WILL NEVER GET THIS.
BUT WE DO GET SOMETHING INFINITELY GREATER:
WE GET TO GET SWEPT-UP IN A RELATIONSHIP-WITH-GOD
THAT TRANSCENDS SUFFERING, EVIL, AND EVEN DEATH ITSELF,
AND THAT WILL SUDDENLY BRING US
TO THAT ULTIMATE STATE OF HEALING WHERE
“[GOD] WILL WIPE EVERY TEAR FROM [OUR] EYES.
THERE WILL BE NO MORE DEATH OR MOURNING OR CRYING OR PAIN,
FOR THE OLD ORDER OF THINGS HAS PASSED AWAY.”
(Revelation 21:4)
WE DON’T GET AND WILL NEVER GET
A RATIONAL ANSWER OR EXPLANATION
TO THE PROBLEM OF SUFFERING AND EVIL,
BUT WE DO GET TO GET SO CAUGHT-UP
IN THE MYSTERY OF GOD’S OWN BEING
THAT WE ARE CARRIED TO THAT ULTIMATE
STATE OF HEALING WHERE
“THE WOLF WILL LIVE WITH THE LAMB,
THE LEOPARD WILL LIE DOWN WITH THE GOAT,
THE CALF AND THE LION AND THE YEARLING TOGETHER;
AND A LITTLE CHILD WILL LEAD THEM.
THE COW WILL FEED WITH THE BEAR,
THEIR YOUNG WILL LIE DOWN TOGETHER,
AND THE LION WILL EAT STRAW LIKE THE OX.
THEY WILL NEITHER HARM NOR DESTROY
ON ALL MY HOLY MOUNTAIN,
FOR THE EARTH WILL BE FILLED
WITH THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE LORD
AS THE WATERS COVER THE SEA.”
(Isaiah 11:6-7,9)
UNTIL THEN, THE BEST WE CAN OFFER
TO ANOTHER SUFFERING HUMAN BEING
IS SOLIDARITY WITH THEIR SUFFERING.
LIKE THE GOOD SAMARITAN IN JESUS’ PARABLE OF THAT NAME,
WHEN POSSIBLE, WE CAN SHARE IN BEARING THE BURDEN
OF SUFFERING HUMANITY AND SUFFERING CREATION.
WHEN THE BURDEN OF SUFFERING IS IMMENSE,
WAY TOO BIG FOR US TO EVEN BEGIN TO COMPREHEND,
LIKE THE PARTICIPANTS IN THE JUNGIAN WORKSHOP
MENTIONED AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS SERMON,
WE CAN EMBRACE A RESPECTFUL AND RELATIONAL SILENCE,
A SILENCE WHICH ACKNOWLEDGES OUR SOLIDARITY
WITH THOSE IN THE CONCENTRATION CAMPS,
AND ALL OTHER PLACES OF VIOLENCE AND REJECTION,
A SILENCE WHICH EXPRESSES OUR INTENSE YEARNING
FOR GOD TO SOMEHOW, SOMEDAY, SOMEWHERE
BRING GOOD OUT OF EVIL.
AMEN.