Above: A Job Illustration by William Blake
Image Source = William Safire, The First Dissident: The Book of Job in Today’s Politics (New York, NY: Random House, 1992)
Scan by Kenneth Randolph Taylor
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The Collect:
Mighty God, you breathe life into our bones,
and your Spirit brings truth to the world.
Send us this Spirit, transform us by your truth,
and give us language to proclaim your gospel,
through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord,
who lives and reigns with and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.
–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 36
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The Assigned Readings:
Genesis 2:4b-7 (Thursday)
Job 37:1-13 (Friday)
Psalm 33:12-22 (Both Days)
1 Corinthians 15:42b-49 (Thursday)
1 Corinthians 15:50-57 (Friday)
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Our soul waits for the LORD;
he is our help and our shield.
–Psalm 33:20, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)
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We come from God and hopefully return to God. Our bodies are perishable, but we will have imperishable bodies one day. We depend on God for everything, so our sufficiency comes from God alone, not from ourselves. Psalm 33 tells us to trust in God, as does Elihu from Job 37. But what about the times we find doing so difficult?
Elihu, shoehorned into the Book of Job between Job’s concluding argument and God’s response thereto, repeated arguments of Job’s alleged friends. God is just, they and he said, so God does not permit the innocent to suffer. The Book of Job contradicts Elihu on the final point, however, for it tells the reader at the beginning that God permitted Job’s suffering as a test of loyalty.
God does not torment,
Elihu told Job. But is there a practical difference between tormenting and permitting torment? The fact that Elihu’s remarks resemble God’s subsequent speech adds another layer of interpretative difficulty to the Book of Job, but I digress.
The Book of Job is, among other things, a useful caution against easy answers to difficult questions. I prefer Job’s attitude in 13:15-16 (TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures, 1985):
He may well slay me; I may have no hope;
Yet I will argue my case before Him.
In this too is my salvation:
That no impious man can come into His presence.
At least Job was willing to speak to God, not just speak of God. And arguing faithfully with God is among the most wonderful aspects of Judaism.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
DECEMBER 20, 2014 COMMON ERA
THE TWENTY-FIRST DAY OF ADVENT, YEAR B
THE FEAST OF SAINT DOMINIC OF SILOS, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT
THE FEAST OF SAINT PETER CANISIUS, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST
THE FEAST OF KATHARINA VON BORA LUTHER, WIFE OF MARTIN LUTHER
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Adapted from this post:
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BLOGA THEOLOGICA 
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