Blinded by our Assumptions – Br David Vryhof

SSJE

Br. David Vryhof

Job 23:1-9, 16-17

Poor Job. In the midst of a prosperous life, he suddenly meets with a series of calamities. His fortune disappears, his sheep and camels are stolen, his children die in a tragic accident, and he finds himself banished to the edge of the city, diseased and covered with nasty sores.

But Job’s suffering goes beyond these tragic physical losses. He also suffers emotionally because he cannot understand WHY this has happened to him. Has God abandoned him? Is God punishing him?

Despite all his troubles, Job refuses to curse God. His response is remarkable: “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away,” he says, “Blessed be the name of the Lord.” (Job 1:21)

Three friends, learning of his misfortune, travel to see him and to offer comfort. And at first, they do just that. They cry out to God, they tear their clothes, they sprinkle ashes on their heads, and they sit in silence with him for seven days and seven nights. But then their patience runs out and they feel compelled to offer their opinions about WHY Job has suffered this string of tragedies.

There’s a lesson for us here about keeping company with the sick and bereaved. More often than not, a person who is suffering is not looking for advice, nor are they seeking an explanation for what has befallen them. Usually, they want someone who will sit with them, who will recognize their pain and give them permission to grieve. They need someone to bear their suffering with them, not to explain it away, or tell them what they should be thinking or feeling.

Based on the counsel they offer him, it is clear that Job’s friends share an underlying assumption: They are convinced that because God is just, Job’s suffering must be the consequence of his sin. In biblical times, people saw prosperity and good health as signs of God’s blessing, while poverty, sickness, disability or bad fortune were signs of God’s displeasure. This belief lingers in our own day.

His friends urge him to confess his sins, but Job rejects their assumptions, insisting that he is innocent. But he is still left with the question, “WHY?” In the passage we read this morning, he reaches the pinnacle of frustration. He longs for a chance to put his case before God. He is sure, if he could gain an audience with God, that God would hear him and acquit him. But God seems to be absent, deaf to his cries.

God does answer Job, eventually. We’ll hear God’s response in readings from the book of Job over the next two Sundays. But what I want to draw our attention to here is the response of Job’s friends, which proceeds from their assumption that because God is just, Job must be the one who is at fault. They insist this is true, even when there is plenty of evidence that Job is a righteous man. Job is innocent, and yet he suffers.

Their insistence that Job is guilty and therefore deserving of this punishment prevents them from recognizing the truth that is before them. They cannot let go of their belief, even when there is clear evidence to the contrary. They are blind to the truth.

We are not unfamiliar with this type of blindness. Science gives us the best examples. It was obvious to everyone that the earth was the center of the universe until Copernicus introduced a new idea, that the sun was at the center and the earth was in motion around it. His new idea made better sense of the observations of astronomers, but it took a very long time for this view to be accepted. Our assumptions, beliefs and convictions can blind us to the truth.

Bill McKibben, a well-known scholar and environmentalist, insists that a similar blindness, one with potentially drastic consequences, exists today.[i] The belief that humankind clings to, despite clear evidence to the contrary, McKibben says, is that more is better, that growth is always to be desired.

Increases in our nation’s economy, upticks in gross national product, reports that sales of cars or construction of new homes are up – all these are taken as good news. Similarly, when the nation’s output of goods and services is sluggish, this is taken as bad news. Any decline in the economy is cause for concern. The implication is that growth is unquestionably good, that more is better.

But, in fact, there is plenty of evidence that more is not always better – not for human beings, nor for the planet on which we live or for the creatures that share it with us. Still we push on, trying to become wealthier, trying to own and sell more or bigger or better things, while ignoring the crisis that surrounds us. One might think that the rise in the earth’s temperature, disappearing icebergs, or the dangerous weather patterns we’ve been experiencing would cause environmental concerns to be at the top of the list in this election season, but they are barely mentioned. The most important question seems to be, Which candidate will grow the economy? We are blinded by our belief that more is better and that continued growth is desirable, even necessary. Where will this conviction lead us?

We don’t know if Job’s friends ever came to see how their belief system was preventing them from acknowledging the truth of Job’s innocence. But we can certainly take a lesson from them as we examine the pre-conceived notions, systems of belief, or profound prejudices that may be keeping us from recognizing or embracing the truth. For this grace we pray, “Lord, open our eyes to see the truth and to act upon it.”

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[i] McKibben, Bill; The Comforting Whirlwind: God, Job and the Scale of Creation; (Cambridge MA: Cowley Publications, 2005).