WTF was that all about?

Categories: uncategorized

Date: 07 February 2011 08:34:07

Ok so today we finished Job (Job 40:3 - 42:17) and I ran out of room in my diary where I make the notes for the first time. Will try to keep it all concise but with some hit you over the head type NT material this could get a bit longer than ideal...(but hey, what's new there).

So Job well God is getting him into a conversation but Job feels uncomfortable with this, he knows he is unworthy. But God speaks to him out of the storm and tells him he will answer. So much for gentle breezes and still small voices. Sometimes God takes the very in your face approach and makes you say something in reply to what he's saying. This is not fluffy, it's real scary but sometimes we, as humans, need the unsubtle approach.

Anyway after a massive description of Nessie's ancestor, (a creature from the deep which resembles a dragon), Job does reply to God and basically says, um I got it wrong - sorry, won't do it again. At this point God doesn't do what is expected and pat Job on the head or anything he turns to his friends - you know the do gooders and arrogant young man and says, he is angry with them because what they said about him was wrong. He makes them go to Job with their offerings and tells them that Job will pray for them and then God will forgive them.

This three of the four do, but it is interesting in the list of names Elihu, our troubled young firebrand, is missing. It seems that he doubted that it really was God and he could have got it wrong. Therefore, he one assumes suffers the wrath of God as a result. This I found really sad. It shows though how there will be people who stick so hard to their "conservative" positions and find it so impossible to know they could have gotten it wrong that God will have no choice but to do the opposite of what he wants. He wants to forgive people, but sometimes our stubboness will get in the way.

After Job is restored people come to comfort and console him. This I found interesting on two levels. Firstly, Job isn't instantly "back to normal" - it's a process which requires time and the positive input of those around him. Secondly, it suggests whilst he was "over the worst of it" that his spirit was still really troubled and he was down and upset because of what he went through. This is in contrast to the way I think some in the church expect things to work.

In the end it was a happy ending and he died after seeing his great, great grandchildren. Also interesting to note Satan does not make a reappearance at the end of the story to be told he cannot be overcome.

As I have constantly said over the last week or so though this is a brilliantly written piece of drama with some real dry humour. So loved reading it each day.

After the conclusion of Job it was back to Matthew (Matt 25: 14 - 46). Ok, some light reading that you don't have to think about here, NOT. First off the parable of the talents and then the sheep and goats stuff where Jesus is talking about having to look after the hungry, thirsty, prisoner, etc because in doing that you're looking after him. This is heavy stuff.

So starting with the parable of the talents, you know the one...it's where the servant who is scared of his master puts it in the ground whilst the other servants invest theirs and make profit for the master. On one level I was left thinking, ok so is God a capitalist? And then I thought no....go back to everything I have ever been taught on this....even if it scares me silly. It's about using what you have to serve God and others, and not being too scared to take risks and do anything. Um, now anybody who knows where my mind is at currently will know I would quite like to bury something away and run away from it. However, life don't work like that. God gives us gifts to use. My gift, I think, is acting as an interpretter. That is being a bridge between "outside" church and "in church". I have the gift, I think, of being able to understand both cultures and communicate between them sharing God's love to both. I also, I think, have the gift of being able to think outside the box and take a slightly sideways view on stuff. These are gifts that I believe are God given and he wants me to find a way of using. For a long time he has been taking me on a journey which I find so surreal as to just say WTF is this all about most of the time. But he is now bringing me to a crossroads where I will face a decision on how to use those gifts. Which ever way I end up going, and he is going to bring others alongside to help direct me and tell me whether one road is closed or not I know he is still giving me the opportunity to use my skills. This is scary, I can see this crossroads ahead of me in the not so distant future and I can see what is ahead on one level but it's like I am moving in fog not knowing quite how it works. Yet, God has been equipping me with lights, maps and so forth over the last few years particularly and so I have already accumulated some of the vital equipment I need for going into this deeper fog. Um, this may seem like wierd nonsense to some, but those who know where the journey is leading and what the significance of EDEV, Faith and Worship, Exploration Weekend, my change of denomination and post-grad study are in this situation will understand. Each of these bits of equipment was accumulated seperately, and all but two were gained without any acknowledgement of where this journey might be leading. For those who get wtf I've just been on about continued prayers would be appreciated as I will be reaching the crossroads this autumn most probably and spending the time up until next spring working out with others what direction God wants me to take.

The next bit of Matthew was not any more comforting. It was about being there for other people because that's when we're there for Christ. This scares me for several reasons. Firstly, my inadequacy. There is so much need and I am often so inept I get scared about how I can even start to live out this. Secondly, I get scared because I know that we are not simply talking about Big Society paternalism here we are talking about a counter cultural way of life which doesn't say I'll help with those things when convienient for me, but rather I will help with those things whenever I encounter them.

Psalm 18: 43- 50 was quite comforting after all that with its message that God shows unfailing kindness.

At the end of the readings today though I did feel a bit WTF is this all about. God is doing stuff in me and those around me at the moment which is scary. These readings all came together to say that the things we are thinking God is saying may be right even though they seem completely mad....I know myself.....I know what "good Christians" are like and I know why I don't fit the bill. Yet these readings seem to be giving a different message about who does fit the bill and stating quite clearly whilst we have a choice there is really no get out clause because choosing to say no to some of this stuff really pisses God off.