Daily Devotion for Lent 2025, Day 25

Today's Reading: Job, Chapters Twenty-five and Twenty-six

Since these chapters are short, we are combining to help us finish the book within our 40-day Lenten season.  We begin with Bildad's recognition that human beings are fairly inconsequential compared to God.  From a Christian standpoint, we can hear the words of the apostle Paul saying to the Romans in 3:23, "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God".  Of course, Paul is making the argument that we are justified in Christ rather than from who we are individually.

But as we hear Job's counter argument, we may see that he's not necessarily refuting Bildad.  God is certainly beyond us.  How can we who are limited and finite, truly have any understanding of God?

But as God is limitless, as we seek to understand the rationale of "why the injustice?", Job seems to be admitting that we may not ever get a satisfactory answer.  But for his point, it means that this doesn't necessarily equate to his being deserving of all that has happened.

This allows us to ask the question, "Who does deserve it?"

If we follow along the line of Paul's thinking, then all of us deserve whatever we get.  But at the very same time, as we begin to understand Paul's position of God's love in Christ, it may be that we can step outside the transactional nature of our own works and see it all as blessing.

What does it mean to contend with the mystery?

What does it mean to find contentment in the everyday wonders and see God's hand at work rather than to only feel an absence?   

We may begin to give people the benefit of the doubt which may be all Job asks of Bildad.

Prayer for the day:

God, help us to see past ourselves, to see past our conditions and to see past our circumstances.  These things often blind us to the wider realities of life.  Give us eyes to see and ears to hear.  And as we take it all in, may we wonder anew at who you are for us.  Amen.

Gif from Unforgiven (1992) directed by Clint Eastwood.

New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Daily Devotion for Lent 2025, Day 24

Today's Reading: Job, Chapter Twenty-four

In this passage, we see a more general complaint by Job of the prosperity of the wicked.  This is a theological exploration more than a part of the narrative as we don't see anyone in Job's circumference that fits these characteristics.

Rather, his friends have tried to label Job as one of the wicked.  He seems to be saying that there are plenty of wicked people who never have any of these kinds of consequences happen to them.  It is very similar to what is expressed in Psalm 73.

In essence, we once again see a plea for justice.  When we are doing the right thing as opposed to someone doing the opposite, we like to find ourselves coming out on top.  And when we see someone actually taking advantage of people in order to get ahead, we would like to see their actions come back to haunt them.

This kind of desire is expressed by William Shakespeare in MacBeth.  In Scene 1 of Act 5, we see Lady MacBeth sleepwalking while she tries in vain to rub the blood off her hands.  Of course, her hands are clean, but she has the guilt of murder on her mind.  We hear her say the famous line, "Out, damned spot! Out, I say!"

If we can't get outright punishment for the wicked, we can at least see that their conscience is bothering them and keeping them miserable.  This has to do with our sense of justice.

As we weigh this with God's mercy, we may discover that we would rather have God smite them.  

But even as Job proclaims his innocence, the question we come to ask is, "Who is totally innocent?"  All of us by living in a larger system take advantage of the resources we have available to us.  This may also mean that others don't have the same advantages.  We pretend that we've earned every advantage we have, but if you are the child of royalty, you are starting with many more resources than if you are the child of a peasant.  

How can we come to understand a mercy even for people that don't deserve it?  It is not too much of a stretch to then translate this to discovering that our own blessings may not have been as "earned" as we like to imagine.  This allows us to begin to understand grace more proficiently.

Prayer for the day:

O God, make us more thankful for what we have received, more content with what we have, and more merciful of other people in need: we ask it for his sake who lived for us in poverty, Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Prayer by Simon H. Baynes, Church of England, 20th Century

Photo by Andrew Valdivia on Unsplash

 

Daily Devotion for Lent 2025, Day 23

Today's Reading: Job, Chapter Twenty-three

As we see Job having a conversation with his friends, he is really having a conversation with other scripture.  Yesterday, we saw commentary on Ezekiel and today seems to pick a bone with Psalm 139.

This Psalm is a wonderful example of God's prevenient grace that reaches to us beyond our wildest expectations.  We see the concept of the omnipresence of God especially in verses 7-8:

Where can I go from your spirit?

    Or where can I flee from your presence?

If I ascend to heaven, you are there;

    if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.

The cat gets the psalm!

This would have been one of the first places in scripture that would speak of God's presence with us in the afterlife.  It is pastoral in nature and has a very comforting vibe.

The author of Job was undoubtedly aware of this psalm as we see the declaration refuted in Job 22:8-9:

“If I go forward, he is not there;

    or backward, I cannot perceive him;

on the left he hides, and I cannot behold him;

    I turn to the right, but I cannot see him.

The absence of God is something that many people have experienced in suffering.  We see Jesus experience this on the cross as he expresses feeling forsaken.

What is interesting is that Psalm 139 seems to take a retaliatory tone after verse 18.  One wonders if the material starting with verse 19 was a later addition.  

If Job 23 is a commentary on this psalm, it is interesting to note that the wicked and hated enemies from verses 19-24 of the psalm could be seen as Job!  Since God obviously hates Job, we should hate Job too!  Of course, since the reader knows that Job is innocent, it makes this retributive logic seem childish at best.  

Job seems to be calling us to question who we count as an enemy.

Prayer for the day:

O creator and mighty God, you have promised strength for the weak, rest for the laborers, light for the way, grace for the trials, help from above, unfailing sympathy, undying love.  O creator and mighty God, help us to continue in your promise.  Amen.

Photo by fabcom via Flickr.com.  Used under the Creative Commons license.

Prayer is traditional from Pakistan

New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Daily Devotion for Lent 2025, Day 22

Today's Reading: Job, Chapter Twenty-two

Eliphaz speaks about Job’s great wickedness.  This isn’t anything new from the perspective of the other speeches from Job’s friends.  But as we begin to see the list of unhelpful qualities, we can see how Job could easily be seen theologically as a stand-in for the country of Judah.

The prophet Ezekiel has a critique of Judah and gives the ideas that those who transgress will die and those who follow God’s laws will live.  In chapter 18 of his own book, Ezekiel mentions the importance of restoring to the debtor his pledge, giving bread to the hungry and covering the naked with a garment in verse seven.

Interestingly, Eliphaz states in Job 22:6-7:

For you have exacted pledges from your family for no reason

    and stripped the naked of their clothing.

 You have given no water to the weary to drink,

    and you have withheld bread from the hungry.

Within Ezekiel’s understanding, the transgressors of these things will end up in exile.  

And even though Job has remained in his home, it is as if he is in exile in that all of the fruitfulness of his land (including his offspring) is gone.  Even Job’s health is in exile.

Sometimes our theology is in line
with a good dog/bad dog mentality

And the author of Job moves us to see that the character Job’s protestations are that he has done all the things that should afford him life.  And since this hasn’t happened, he wants answers.  The reader can see that the character Job is not really any different theologically from Eliphaz – the difference is that Job knows he should be on track with the blessings he’s received from God.

And as we see Job as a stand-in for Judah, we could see that there may be those within the country who would be asking the same questions.

This may allow us to ask the question, “Is there a way in which we can grow spiritually while in exile?”

Prayer for the day:

God, give us the confidence to believe that you remain with us even in our darkest times.  Remind us that even the beloved suffer from time to time.  Help us to understand that the faithful acts in which we engage do not guarantee us freedom from strife.  And when we forget these truths, be patient with us.  Amen.

Photo by Paul David via Flickr.com.  Used under the Creative Commons license.

New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Daily Devotion for Lent 2025, Day 21

Today's Reading: Job, Chapter Twenty-one

Job is refuting the dominant belief of his day that God smites the wicked in the here and now through a number of ways.

In a world where miscarriage seemed mysterious, it was often thought to be God's judgment on a family.  If one was fortunate enough to be a live-stock owner, miscarriages among livestock could also be seen as divine disfavor.

Ethically, a calf might be saying, "Why
am I being punished for the sins of my parents?

Job seems to say that there are wicked people who never experience this as a disincentive for bad behavior whether it be through their loss of livestock or children.

In fact, Job states that even those who scoff at God seem to get away with it.

If we see Job as a stand-in for the country of Judah who was carried away to Babylon in the Exile, we know that there were some within that country that didn't follow as faithfully as they should have.  But there would also have been people who did do the right thing most of the time.  If you looked at the behavior of some of the other countries in the region, it may be that they felt they were getting a raw deal.  

They might very well be asking God, "Why would we lose all that we had while the aggressors who murdered your people seem to increase their holdings?"

Prophets within the day indicated that the injustices toward the widow and the orphan and the outsider by the country as a whole led to the Exile.  

And so, we seem to have a both-and.  

It may be that we find ourselves questioning our own behavior, when we face difficulty.  When things make us move toward better action, one could say that God is utilizing calamity to move us toward holiness.  But at the same time, it's important to note that Job's critique seems to be saying that God doesn't work that way or else you would see it universally applied.

As a pastor, I would never want to blame the victim.  However, I know that sometimes drastic change brings upon self-reflection which may be helpful.

How do I open myself to the possibility of change during suffering while simultaneously seeing God giving me the strength to live through it?

This is a theological movement that Job seems to be nudging God's people toward.  It would speak to a people in exile. 

Prayer for the day:

God, the hosts of evil round us scorn your Christ, assail his ways.  From the fears that long have bound us, free our hearts to faith and praise.  Grant us wisdom, grant us courage for the living of these days, for the living of these days.  Amen.

Prayer by Harry E. Fosdick, "God of Grace and God of Glory", 1930.

Photo by jomango274 via Flickr.com.  Used under the Creative Commons license. 

Daily Devotion for Lent 2025, Day 20

Today's Reading: Job, Chapter Twenty

Zophar has a rebuke that Job may not disagree with in today's reading because Job doesn't count himself among the wicked.

This scathing review of the unjust takes the long view.  Basically, the evil people will perish and their deeds will be forgotten.

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in a speech given on March 25, 1965 (sixty years and a couple of days ago) stated that injustice had become normal in our country.  In order to see some relief, some were asking, "How long will it take?"

And Dr. King began the famous litany of "How long?  Not long."  He stated with a similarity to Zophar's speech that "No lie can live forever" and "You shall reap what you sow."

And then one of my favorite quotes by Dr. King: "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice."

This is the long view.  It is a hopeful view.  It takes resolve because the injustice doesn't disappear today.  It takes community because we need one another to endure hardships.  But it also takes work on progress toward a goal.  

Dr. King's goal was this: "The only normalcy that we will settle for is the normalcy that recognizes the dignity and worth of all of God’s children."

With Job's situation, we recognize that there is always suffering even in the midst of working toward the goal.  Yes, the wicked will eventually perish but what does that do for the one distressed today?

Zophar is privileged in that he hasn't endured the same calamities that have befallen his friend.  And so, if he doesn't share with his friend who has suffered misfortune, does Zophar become the greedy person that he highlights?  

How do we use the times we are in good circumstances to lift the fortunes of those who are experiencing hard times?

Prayer for the day:

Behold, O Lord God, our strivings after a truer and more abiding order.  Give us visions that bring back a lost glory to the earth, and dreams that foreshadow the better order you have prepared for us.  Scatter every excuse of frailty and unworthiness.  Consecrate us all with a heavenly mission.  Open to us a clearer prospect of our work.  Give us strength according to our day gladly to welcome and gratefully to fulfill this goal, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Prayer by Brooke Foss Westcott, Church of England, 19th Century

Quotes by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. from "How Long?  Not Long."

Photo by Unseen Histories on Unsplash

Daily Devotion for Lent 2025, Day 19

Today's Reading: Job, Chapter Nineteen

What is the nature of piling on?

In American Football, piling on is a 15-yard penalty when the offensive player with the ball is already down and the play has been blown dead and a defender jumps on top of the defenseless player.  This penalty is considered a personal foul because it is unnecessary to the outcome of the game.  It is also dangerous and can cause injury against a player who is in a vulnerable position.  

It likely happens because the defender's blood is worked up and the aggression is difficult to turn off with the blowing of a whistle.  The penalty (and likely yelling from the coach) is a way to train people not to pile on.

Today, Job basically accuses his three friends of piling on.  He's already down with all of the tragedies that have struck.  What good does it do for his friends to berate him?

One of the baser instincts among animals is to attack the wounded.  Predators find wounded prey easier to dispatch and so they may go after them even more aggressively.  Does some of this carry over into social situations?

Job is calling foul and wishes that there was a referee to intervene.  

As we consider the people around us, we may find it easy to pile on - especially if we believe that the person's actions are to blame.

"You should have studied harder."

"I told you that outfit was too suggestive."

"You shouldn't have been late so many times."

"Why did you talk back to your boss?"

Our comments are meant to be instructive so as to prevent more bad consequences.  We are really saying, "You should get in line with the social norms."  

Job is reminding us that these comments may be less than helpful in the moment.  And we don't want to drive someone over the edge.  If we pile on, we could hurt a vulnerable person.  And that may be worth more than 15 yards.

How can we seek to be more empathetic?

Prayer for the day:

God, help me to be patient with the people I know - especially the people for whom I feel responsible.  As I seek to guide, may I do so with humility and compassion.  May the goal of their health and wholeness be my first thought for them.  And may it also be the first and last thing I share.  And please silence me when the things in between are better left unsaid.  Amen.

Photo by Kyle T via Flickr.com.  Used under the Creative Commons license.