A Lenten Journey with Job

Have you ever wondered why bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people? Do you struggle to understand why a loving, all-powerful God allows evil and suffering to be present in the world? Have you ever felt bewildered by or frustrated trying to interpret the Book of Job and other biblical sources that attempt to speak to the problem of evil and suffering?

For five Wednesday evenings during Lent, our clergy staff offers a series addressing these and other questions.

1. Download the first session's reading from the Book of Job and the discussion questions here.
2. Download the second session's presentation and the discussion questions here.
3. Download the third session's reading and the discussion questions here.
4. Download the fourth session's reading and the discussion questions here.

Thursday, February 28: Sunni Bannon

Psalm 71. You have taught me ever since I was young, and I still tell of your wonderful acts. Now that I am old and my hair is gray, do not abandon me, O God! Be with me while I proclaim your power and might to all generations to come. Your righteousness, God, reaches the skies. You have done great things; there is no one like you.

I can’t remember a time that I didn’t believe in God. Over the years, my understanding of the Divine has expanded, but I’ve always believed in the Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer. When I look back over my life, I see a rich tapestry of blessing. God’s redemption and grace obviously carried me through every challenge and trauma. To be honest, it is only with hindsight that I recognize the never-failing presence of God. Because, despite God’s faithfulness during every previous struggle, when suffering strikes, I experience fear and doubt. A mentor committed suicide, my dad had a stroke, my sister-in-law miscarried and a dear friend went through a heart-breaking divorce, and every time I cried, “Oh my God! Why did this happen? How can we get through this? Where are You?!”

Psalm 71 is called the “Prayer for Lifelong Protection and Help.” David refers again and again to God’s ever-present power and protection. But in the middle of his adoration he also admits his own fear and doubt. “Do not abandon me, O God!” Like me, he has only known a faithful God, but his human nature can’t quite let go of the fear. So, like David, first I will celebrate all that God has done for me. And in that same breath, I will also ask God to never forsake me.

Holy One, your wonder and glory are evident in the taste of a perfectly-ripe avocado, in the sweet smell of my child’s head after a bath, and in the beauty of the Puget Sound as seen from a ferry deck. I am so thankful and grateful for all that you have done and all that you are doing. Don’t ever, ever leave me. And give me the faith, for at least today, to trust in Your protection and help. Amen.        

—   Sunni Bannon

Wednesday, February 27: Brian Gregory

Jeremiah 3:6-18. Return, faithless Israel, says the Lord. I will not look on you in anger, for I am merciful, says the Lord; I will not be angry forever.

There are some parts of Scripture I wish we didn’t have to deal with – they make me uncomfortable. This passage from Jeremiah is one of them. In vivid allegory, the relationship between God and God’s people is described as that of a husband and wife. And God is angry with God’s unfaithful wife. On the surface, I am uncomfortable with outbursts of anger from God. It seems to contradict a God who, as the book of Numbers puts it, is “slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion” (Num. 14:18). But the longer I reflect on this passage, the more I realize that I am most uncomfortable because it points out my own unfaithfulness. What lover doesn’t experience immense sadness and anger when their beloved betrays them? In the harshness of this passage and the difficult language of verses 6-11, it is easy to miss the language of love and redemption that stands at the center. It is easy to miss the point.

When we recognize our unfaithfulness and failure to return God’s love, all God wants is for us to “return.” Come home. Stop wandering. Live in God’s mercy. Embrace your calling as God’s beloved. God’s anger when we turn away is evidence of how deeply we are truly loved. And God will take us back again, and again, and again. Lent is an invitation to examine the deepest parts ourselves. It is an invitation to acknowledge the places in our lives and in our communities where we have not lived as God’s beloved. It is an opportunity to return, to come home, and to embrace the relationship with God that we were created for. Let us listen to the voice of God as it calls us into redemption and healing.

            — Brian Gregory

Tuesday, February 26: Jim Ward

John 4:43-54. The father realized that this was the hour when Jesus had said to him, ‘Your son will live.’ So he himself believed, along with his whole household.

This anxious father had heard of the miracles Jesus had performed in Cana-in-Galilee. It is recorded that “the man believed the word that Jesus spoke.” Jesus directed him to return home: his son would live. The father responded faithfully to Jesus’ challenge, “Unless you see the signs and wonders you will not believe.”

Yet we have reason to think that for this man, the truth about Jesus hadn’t fully sunk in. It might have been due to a lingering skepticism, or as I’d prefer to think, from a desire to corroborate the good news from Jesus with the good news from his servants. This royal official no doubt was used to making sure that his facts were well established before reporting them to the king. In asking his servants the time of his son’s recovery, he was testing his faith, making sure that his faith linked up with reality. He received the answer he hoped for, and in realizing this, his faith “clicked.” It must have been catching since not only he but his whole household came to believe in Jesus.

Ah Lord God, you who made the world that exists in time and space, help my poor faith in you to grow beyond the limits of time or space, that I might truly know you as the savior whose perfect love extends through all eternity. Amen.   

—    Jim Ward

Monday, February 25: The Rev. Karen Haig

John 15:1, 6-16. I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine-grower … I am the vine, you are the branches. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you; abide in my love…

I’ve just returned from the Bishop’s Ranch, a diocesan retreat center that sits atop a little hill in northern California’s wine country. From the veranda, one can look out over seemingly endless rolling hills lined with seemingly endless rows of grapevines. Because the angle of the sun is different on each of those hilltops, because the rain pools in the valleys, because the minerals in the soil are ever-changing, the grapes that grow on each hill and in each valley have their own particularities. I have learned that the characteristics of the grapes that grow on the vines in one row can be altogether different from the grapes in a row just a stone’s throw away. Winemakers call this terroir… a sense of place. Terroir describes the reality that grapes grown on a particular patch of ground express the characteristics of the place where they are grown, the place where they abide.

That’s true for people too. Children who grow up knowing that they belong, that they are treasured, that they are connected to God and to all of God’s creation usually exhibit characteristics very different from children who grow up outside the bounds of a loving community that reflects for them their value. And adults who find their way into loving community experience life very differently from those who are isolated and alone because they are not connected with anyone at a deep and soulful level. “I am the true vine and my Father is the vine-grower,” Jesus said. “I am the vine, you are the branches.” We cannot truly live apart from these loving and life-giving connections. We were created to be deeply connected to God, to God’s people, and to all of creation. Those connections are made from love, yes… but they also create and deepen our love. Just like the grapes that take on the characteristics of their own little patch of ground, we take on the character of God’s love when God’s love is our terroir.

Loving God, as we journey through what often feels like the solitary desert wilderness of Lent, help us to be mindful of the ever deepening connections you are calling us into. Walk with us, helping us always to remember that we live in your love and that you are our home. Amen.

—    The Rev. Karen Haig

Sunday, February 24 – The Second Sunday in Lent: Susan Huenefeld

Philippians 3:17–4:1. Brothers and sisters, join in imitating me, and observe those who live according to the example you have in us. For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ; … their minds are set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul teaches by his example how to live my life, following Jesus’ life lessons of love, acceptance and service. His message, just like Jesus’ is to not be caught up in the material world. Our transformation depends upon letting go and having faith that God will provide all that we truly need. By imitating Jesus and Paul, I can share in the Christ consciousness. That, to me, is heaven on earth.       

—   Susan Huenefeld