Home » Ministers' resources » Worship Resources » Preaching Kits » Year B Mark » Kit 7 » Pentecost 18

Pentecost 18 (12 October 2003)

Job 23: 1 – 9 , 16 – 17; Psalm 22: 1 – 15; Hebrews 4: 12 – 16; Mark 10: 17 – 31

Job 23: 1 – 9 and 16 – 17

The New RSV heads chapter 23 with the words ‘Job Replies: My Complaint Is Bitter’ and the previous chapter heading is “Eliphaz Speaks: Job’s Wickedness Is Great’. Obviously the intensity of the conflict with Job’s comforters / tormentors is getting worse. Eliphaz inflames the situation with these words (22 vs 5 ff) “Is not your wickedness great? There is no end to your iniquities … you have given no water to the weary to drink, and you have withheld bread from the hungry.” In response Job wishes to track God down (v3) so he could ‘present his case’ and argue with God and then get an answer from God (v5). Underlying this section is the conviction that God is reasonable and can be reasoned with, even in an extreme situation. That our God and judge will treat everyone fairly, a conviction that goes right against Job’s experiences up to this point.

Verse 8 and 9 are reversed in psalm 139 vs 7 – 12.  One describes the absence or hiddeness of God and the other God’s presence everywhere. In  a sense both realities are true simultaneously. God is present with us, but not always perceived to be present. In the valley of the shadow, our eyes seem blind to the presence of the one we seek so desperately and urgently. A central part of Job’s suffering is spiritual, the feeling that God has abandoned him, and closed his ears to Job’s anguished cries.

The chapter finishes with a terrified Job, frightened deeply by his experience of the hiddeness of God ‘the Almighty has terrified me’, he says. The darkness has hidden God from him, now he prays that he could vanish into that same darkness and be hidden from God in return. Strange though it might seem, often it is in the darkness that we find God most deeply and powerfully.

Psalm 22: 1 – 15

If the opening words of this psalm sound familiar – read the gospel accounts of the crucifixion. At Jesus’ darkest moment he cries out in the words of this psalm ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me’. These words could just as easily be placed on the lips of Job in his darkness of the soul. But they originate in the life of David at a time he felt encircled by bulls (v12) and at the point of being dismembered by ‘a ravening and roaring lion’ (v13), not to mention the dogs (vs 16, 20). These are images of vulnerability in the face of the ruthless and aggressive enemy. The psalmist searches for God not in placidness and stillness, but in the cut and thrust of political intrigue and amidst the violence of injustice. Like Job, like Jesus, the psalmist doesn’t give up on his search for God, even in his darkest hour. Perhaps the signs of true faith are not the success stories, but what happens when we think God has forsaken us, in the dark night of the soul.

Hebrews 4: 12 – 16

Isn’t it amazing how the Word of God cuts into our lives with such power. Words on a page seem so passive, but God’s Word to us, inspired and empowered through the Spirit, really is living and active, transforming people and churches and communities. The image of a double edged sword wouldn’t be my image of choice for the living and active Word – but there is no denying that when God’s Word impacts our lives, it cuts deep into the spirit and the marrow of our lives.

It would have been great if Job and David could have picked up their Bibles and read Hebrews 4: 15, because it really would have been a living and active word of God to them. Knowing that Jesus is able to sympathise with us in our weaknesses, and has been tested as we are, makes all the difference as we experience the harsh times, when God seems to disappear into the darkness. Knowing that Jesus has been through it all, gives us confidence to approach God with boldness, to receive mercy and grace in times of need. These are powerful and comforting words – living and active – especially when going through the experiences reflected in our readings from Psalms and Job.

Mark 10: 17 – 31

Wealth and possessions can have a major impact on the lives of people. After a while it becomes almost impossible to give them up. You don’t have to be involved in parish ministry long to know that wealth does not bring happiness – often the opposite. How many have said if they win lotto they will give half to charity – how few have. Another interesting question is if wealthy Job had met Jesus and been asked to give away his wealth to the poor, would he have been able to do it. I think it is easier to have wealth taken from you, than to give it away.

The rich man in this passage was shocked by what Jesus said. He expected Jesus to be impressed by his keeping of the 10 commandments – and Jesus was. But he didn’t expect Jesus to challenge him so deeply over financial matters and I think he was just as shocked by his own reaction. Because few of us recognise how important possessions are to us, until we are asked to give them up. The hold possessions have over us has a very spiritual dynamic to it. We need deliverance from its hold on us. Perhaps this is why Jesus says in vs 23 ‘How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of heaven.’ Perhaps this is another instance of the word of God cutting deeply and uncomfortably into our souls.

Jesus got everyone’s attention that day and they asked each other ‘Then who can be saved?’ Societies have a habit of implying that the wealthy and powerful and economically successful, will be in the front row when rewards are handed out. So the people were astounded to hear that the wealthy would have difficulty even getting through the front gate into the kingdom – the response is almost ‘if they can’t be saved, how can we’. Jesus response indicates that God doesn’t buy into the social hierarchies of  human societies. God will have no use for the NZ rich list, because wealth and status don’t feature in the criteria for entry into the kingdom.

The last verse of our passage captures the heart of what Jesus is saying ‘But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first. It’s a topsy-turvey kingdom of God, where Jesus stands our standards on their heads, and the guests to the wedding banquet come out of the back streets, not the castles. Can you hear the poor and the outcasts of Israel cheering, as the wealthy Pharisees make plans to silence the prophet of Galilee.

Some preaching suggestions:

1. Explore the theme of the hiddeness of God in the valley of the shadow.
2. Look at all these scriptures through the lens of Hebrews 4: 12, the word of God as living and active in people’s lives, cutting to the core of our beings.
3. Try to make sense of the text ‘How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God’ Matt 10: 23.

Hymn and song suggestions:

1. 1. Seek Ye First (SP 93)
2. Let Justice Roll Down  (AA 85)
3. I Heard The Voice Of Jesus Say (hymnbook)
4. Where Could I Go - Psalm 139 Natalie Yule Yeoman)
5. Where Human Voices Cannot Sing  (AA, 151)

A prayer

God of shadows and light, our preference is to experience you in the strong light of your glory, but often you come to us through the valley of the shadow, bringing comfort and reassurance in the toughest times. Today we ask that you would touch those people we know who are walking in the valley of the shadow, give them your comfort and renew their hope with your loving presence. We ask that we would be beacons of light in their lives, reflecting you compassion and grace. Amen.