Last night I preached a sermon on Job 3. It's a dark text... shockingly dark. Job had just lost everything and he opens his mouth to curse his very existence. He wishes he had never been born - or at least that he had died in infancy. In our church we follow the reading of scripture with the traditional "This is the Word of the Lord"... 'Thanks be to God". I was struck as we said these words... "Thanks be to God"? Really...? For this?
I began my sermon by affirming our thanks for such a word. We need to hear about the darkness. We need to read Job 3 corporately... because there are so many people sitting in the pews who are caught in the darkness. Cancer... sickness... the death of a loved one... the loss of a job... depression... loneliness... all reminders of the continued presence of brokenness.
We live with a cultural Christianity that is obsessed with glossing over the difficulties of life... Christians aren't supposed to struggle. Christians aren't supposed to get depressed, be anxious... Christians aren't supposed to mourn or lament the loss of loved ones... after all "they're in a better place" we are told. Yet... here sits Job. Lamenting... crying out... wishing he hadn't been born. Here sits Job calling God out... demanding an answer... wanting God to give an account of Himself.
We need to acknowledge the darkness. We need to name it... call it what it is. Only then will we begin to see the work of God... the one who call forth the light that shatters the darkness. The one who brings forth life where there once was nothing... The one who brings forth creation from the depths of chaos. Thanks be to God...
3 comments:
I just listened to your sermon, it was great... and the song that followed it was a perfect fit... also appreciated the blog...
Tell me you quoted Moltmann.
"We need to acknowledge the darkness. We need to name it... call it what it is. Only then will we begin to see the work of God..."
Right on; my final philosophy paper had that as a thesis, and it paralleled Kierkegaard, Pascal, and Ecclesiastes on how to genuinely lament. I think Christians are just, sometimes, afraid of a dynamic life and experiencing degrees of emotion they're unfamiliar with, so they stall grieving or paint a brighter picture on their life or tragedy instead of coming to grips with it.
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