Job 7:1-4, 6-7 1^st Corinthians 9:16-19, 22-23 Mark 1:29-39

The Book of Job is a work of fiction that wrestles with the meaning of suffering in the life of the just person. Job is not exactly patient, but rather strong-willed, persevering, and persistent in asserting the truth his innocence. (The phrase "the patience of Job" comes from the King James Version translation of the Letter of James; other translations use more appropriate words). Unlike some of the powerfully corrupt in modern society, Job did not accept a penalty for a crime while denying responsibility for wrong-doing. Ezekiel the Prophet (see Ezk 14:14, 20) lists Job among three of the most righteous legendary humans in history (along with Noah and a certain Danel). Today's text is Job's lament as one who is unaccustomed to such abject suffering. He had been among God's most favored and blessed servants. For reasons never explained to him, he lost everything except his very life's breath as a test which God allowed. Job had considered God his friend and does not at all understand why such evils have befallen him: the tragic deaths of his wife and adult children, destruction of his home, farm, livestock and all wealth, and finally, the removal of his good health. This soliloquy is a rhetorical description of his plight and a subtle hope that his divine friend (God) might yet save him from this miserable situation. Some might hear in Job's words a sort of "reality check" or an appraisal of how things are. Job was not in denial of reality; he engaged it and struggled to make sense of it. Behind all his words we hear, "Why?!" Job sought to understand and to find meaning in reality! Indeed, this entire book falls short of resolving the issue of why the good are often made to suffer, but there is tremendous nobility in Job's example of engaging life in spite of the painful reality. For Christians, it is the Cross of Christ which personifies the reality of sin and evil in our lives. We do not seek to escape from the world as much as to engage it fully, in grace-filled ways, in hope of finding God and, ultimately, entering into a fully mystical union in God's presence.

Mark's Gospel's description of Jesus earliest days of public ministry concludes with Jesus' seeking solitude. After preaching the Gospel, casting out demons, healing Peter's mother-in-law, and then healing numerous others brought to him, he actively looks for solitude of time and place for prayer. Exercising God's power was exhausting work! This first chapter of Mark's Gospel establishes both Jesus' Christological credentials and the basic message of the Gospel. Gospel power and message are invoked as the ability to provide to the weak and needy the wholeness by which they could engage life fully. Those to whom Jesus ministered were wrestling with the questions of "Why do the good suffer?" and "What can be done about such suffering?" Jesus' invitation to others to enter into Gospel discipleship was one of his ways by which to translate the Gospel into practical assistance for those who suffered and to address that second question. His preaching the Good News was full of genuinely practical purpose, not merely empty words. Jesus wanted God's Grace to sanctify and change the reality of life for the people of his day. We who proclaim the Gospel message by word and deed, either clergy or laity, bear that same responsibility today. The Word of God is active and must bear fruit.

Paul preached the Gospel message for the sake of "saving some." He defined "saving" in at least two ways. His first and most immediate definition was the offer of joining the Gospel Fellowship, which we have come to call "the Church." This salvation meant entering among the safe community of believers. This community of believers who embraced the Risen Christ and his Gospel message loved one another in ways remarkable for the time and place. Initiation into the Gospel community had involved for them public rejection of other ways of life which cost them dearly in terms of social status, civic position, and even family relationships. Paul was willing to lose all for the sake of generously and freely preaching the Good News. His second and more long-range sense of "saving" was that which occurred upon death in this life. Paul truly imagined and yearned for death as an entre into the permanent kingdom of God. His religious imagination held that being with God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit out of this material world was the ultimate reward for any and all effort and even suffering. Paul had a "big picture" in his mind and heart that reduced every problem and reality of life to veritable insignificance. He genuinely wanted to share this two-fold salvation by immediate fellowship and long-term hope with everyone, but he was satisfied that even some heard and responded.

It is difficult to appreciate the blessings of Gospel fellowship and eternal life when one's life is complex, urgent, messy, and busy. Let us pray for a place of solitude to which to retreat regularly in life as a retreat place for prayer and restoration. Even the Son of God did that regularly in the Gospel so as to be alone with God. Self-care and prayerful renewal are necessary for engaging in an active proclamation of the Gospel in our lives. Like Job, we need to wrestle with reality; we also need to rest from life's challenges, as did Jesus.