Job 42:1-6

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all. Amen.

Dear congregation,

Job 42:1-6 (New International Version)

1 Then Job replied to the Lord: 

2 “I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted. 

3 You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. 

4 “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.’ 

5 My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. 

6 Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.”

Christmas and Job - do they go together? The story of a man who loses everything. The story of a man surrounded by illness and death, whose friends cannot really bear to witness all his suffering. A man in the midst of life and suffering, torn between his piety and great trust in God and his encounter with evil. Is this what we want to hear about at Christmas?

Do we even want to deal with such heavy experiences of suffering? Our own and those of others?

But that is precisely what we are invited to do: between Christmas and New Year, I like to take time to reflect on my life - a time for honest reflection.

Job is ready to do this in the end, and that is precisely where he finds liberation.

Until then, Job is certain: I have done nothing wrong. And he is right about that. He is a devout man. He lives according to the commandments. He trusts God.  I marvel at this trust and I certainly do not want to cast it in a bad light. But somehow Job is still caught up in the question of guilt, in the search for a reason, and in his fixation on himself. 

And yes, often it is circumstances, things that we cannot influence (at least at first glance). 

When we look at the great suffering in the world, yes, we feel helpless and powerless. What do we have to do with it?

The story of Job looks back: from the big world to one particular man. And it asks what changes when God draws so close to this man that he learns to see himself in a new light. “Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes!”

Job does not give up in general. Nor does he give up on God. Rather, Job gives up his self-assurance. His changed image of God also changes him. 

Job expresses himself as follows: “I had only heard about you from hearsay. But now my eyes have seen you!” This is his insight after intense conversations with God.

We gain insight into a deep and difficult struggle. A man who becomes more and more honest in his distress. A man who is increasingly coming to terms with himself: thrown back on himself - and because he truly encounters God, he no longer has to cling to the conviction: “I did everything right!”

Those who encounter God can look at their own lives with a new honesty and can stop deceiving themselves. “I give up!” These words can be understood in very different ways: they harbour opportunities and dangers.

“Just don't give up!” How often have we heard that?

But there are a few biblical stories where it is precisely when someone “gives up” that God can begin to work in a new way. It is not about giving up on life or giving up hope. It's about giving up the illusion of having everything under control. It's about giving up the idea that if I'm pious enough, everything will always be fine. 

There is such a moment in the story of Elijah: after all his zeal and struggles, Elijah lies under the juniper bush and realizes, “I can't go on—I am no better than my fathers.”

For me, this is one of the decisive scenes: because now Elijah can see God differently: no longer as the god of war who sends him out to kill thousands of Baal prophets.

Paul also has such a moment: he sees Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus and realizes: My way was wrong. Now he repents of persecuting Christians and turns back.

Abraham's insight not to kill his son when he was already on the sacrificial altar.

And now Job: an insight, a knowledge of God that changes him.

Between Christmas and New Year is a wonderful time for new encounters with God: We have seen God: How did you see him? As Luke tells us: A tender child—as a great ray of hope. This changed image of God changes the world. Not a god of war, but a God of peace.

As long as Job clings to his personal innocence, he remains an isolated, sick, helpless man who only sees what he has lost or could lose. Job's insight is that it is not just about him. It is not possible for just one person to live well, happily, and contentedly. That is not piety.

In the end, Job begins to pray for his friends. The isolated, sick man becomes someone who sees himself as connected and integrated again.

That is Christmas: the connection between heaven and earth overcome. No more separation: no beings isolated from God, wandering helplessly in the world, but beings surrounded by God's love, by his peace, and integrated into God's creation.

People who fearlessly and honestly take a fresh look at their lives so far.

We see this when we look at the story in Bethlehem: a birth story: Jesus Christ at the centre!

Yes, I believe there is a deep wisdom here for dealing with hardship and suffering: those who experience and realize that their personal innocence does not save them, but that they are redeemed in the midst of the guilt from which we cannot escape.

A difficult thought and a liberating thought.

Job saw God when he realized: it is about me when I, as an innocent person, raise my voice in heaven for the guilty – then something changes.

Yes, this story remains open; it challenges us, it makes us ask new questions about God. Job repented—that is, his fixed worldview, his fixed self-image, all of that comes alive again: it is questioned and renewed.

That is what life is like, and that is what faith is like: facing challenges—and above all, remaining in search of God.

The moments when we then see God, gain new insight, realize that heaven and earth remain connected: yes, that is when we experience liberation.

May we transition from this year to the next in this way: everything could be completely different from what we thought before: above all, God could encounter us anew, so that we see much of what we have not understood and comprehended before in a new light. Freed from powerlessness.

Behold, today the Saviour is born unto you. 

May the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.