“Does not man have hard service on earth? Are not his days like those of a hired man?  2 Like a slave longing for the evening shadows, or a hired man waiting eagerly for his wages,  3 so I have been allotted months of futility, and nights of misery have been assigned to me.  4 When I lie down I think, ‘How long before I get up?’ The night drags on, and I toss till dawn.  5 My body is clothed with worms and scabs, my skin is broken and festering.  6 “My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, and they come to an end without hope.  7 Remember, O God, that my life is but a breath; my eyes will never see happiness again.  - Mark 1:21-28, The New International Version, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House) 1984.

In the name of Christ Jesus, dear friends:

Unless you are in the habit of putting a calendar of the church year next to your regular calendar on the refrigerator, you were probably not aware that this Sunday marks the halfway point of the Epiphany season.  It’s hard to believe, but Christmas Day was over six weeks ago.  And in a little over a month, Lent will begin on Ash Wednesday.

In the meantime, it is Epiphany.  Remember that the word, "epiphany," means "revealing" or "making known."  In the context of the church year, Epiphany is the season in which Jesus makes himself known to us.  In the gospel lessons for Epiphany, Jesus reveals himself as true God.  The Wise men worshiped him.  His disciples followed him.  Jesus healed the sick and drove out evil spirits.  All of these things demonstrate that Jesus is not just a man.  His words and actions prove that he is our powerful and merciful Lord.

If the purpose of Epiphany is to show us how Jesus reveals himself to us, and it is, then you might have some questions about the Old Testament lesson for today.  Job’s words don’t appear to have much to do with Epiphany.  Instead, Job’s complaint is about God’s "De-piphany."  In Job’s mind, God is not a God who reveals himself clearly.  Rather, he is a God whose plans are hidden from him.  And if God was not hidden from Job, he had at least turned against him.

Ever since God’s perfect creation was corrupted by sin, all the way back in the Garden of Eden, God’s people have struggled against the forces of evil in this world.  And for just as long, God has invited his people to cast their cares on him.  In our text for today, Job took God up on his offer.  You could say that Job laid it all out on the table.  He held nothing back.  But Job is not the only believer who has ever talked this way to God.  His words could be the words of any believer who has been worn down and weighed down by life’s problems.  Job’s plea is really the prayer of any Christian who has felt lost and alone in the world.  If you had to condense all of Job’s thoughts and feelings and emotions into just a few words, his prayer would sound something like this…

In order to understand the words of our text, it is important to know the context in which they were spoken.  Job was a classic "riches to rags" story.  He was a man who had it all.  God had blessed him with great wealth.  He had flocks that numbered in the thousands.  He hired servants to manage his estate.  God had also blessed him with a family, a wife and ten children.  Job enjoyed a good reputation, and he was highly respected by everyone who knew him.

But then Job’s fortunes changed.  His flocks were carried off by bandits.  His servants were slaughtered in battle.  All ten of his children were killed in a tragic windstorm.  How did Job respond to this string of terrible tragedies? He said, "The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised" (1:21).

But Satan wasn’t finished yet.  He had taken everything away from Job…except his health.  So Satan afflicted Job’s body with painful sores from head to toe.  His wife was the only one Job had left, and her best advice for him was to curse God and die.  How did Job react this time?  Was his patience running out?  He said: "Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble" (2:10)?

At last, three of Job’s friends came to the rescue.  Surely they remembered the support that Job had given them in the past.  Surely they were eager to return the favor.  After a week of silence, one of them finally spoke up.  What great comfort did he have to offer his troubled friend?  Allow me to paraphrase.  "Job, I know how you helped many people in the past.  You were a great friend.  But now that the shoe is on the other foot, its not so easy, is it? This is what I think you need to do.  It’s pretty obvious that you have done something terribly wrong for God to punish you this way.  I don’t know what you did to make God so angry, but you need to confess your sin.  Then and only then, will things turn around for you." Job needed strength.  He needed support.  He needed encouragement.  What he got was a lecture.  Perhaps Job was the first person to say, "With friends like this, who needs enemies?"

These were the things that weighed heavily on Job’s heart when he spoke.  Job had demonstrated amazing patience.  He showed trust in God, but Job was only human.  He was finally wearing down.  God promises that he will not give us more than we can bear.  Job must have felt like he was at the end of his rope.

For one thing, life had become very hard.  "Like a slave longing for the evening shadows, or a hired man waiting eagerly for his wages, so I have been allotted months of futility, and nights of misery have been assigned to me" (7:2,3).  At the end of the day, the only reward for a hired worker is a day’s wage.  The slave has even less to look forward to after long hours of labor because he doesn’t get paid.  The slave’s only reward is a good night’s sleep.  But Job couldn’t even get that.

"When I lie down I think, 'How long before I get up?' The night drags on, and I toss till dawn" (7:4).  Job’s life was not only too hard to endure.  It was also too long.  He had nowhere to go to escape from his misery.  His terrible pain even prevented sleep.  If you have ever experienced a couple of sleepless nights in a row, maybe you can relate.  As you toss and turn, you become acutely aware of even the littlest thing.  You hear every tick of the clock.  You hear every creak and crack in the house.  You hear every car that drives by.  And you realize that every minute you lie awake will make the next day drag on that much longer.

Job’s life was long and hard, but that’s not all. "My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and they come to an end without hope.  Remember, O God, that my life is but a breath… (7:6,7).  At first glance, you might think that Job was losing it.  He complained that his life was to long.  And in the next breath he made the opposite claim, that his life was too short.  Perhaps he was beginning to crack under the pressure.  But if you read these verses carefully, it becomes clear that he was talking about two different things.

On the one hand, he thought that his suffering would never end.  His pain was non-stop, and there was no relief in sight.  But as he looked at the sores on his body, it was obvious that he was weak and frail.  His health was failing and he couldn’t last much longer.  Compared to all of time and eternity, his life would come and go as quickly as a single breath.

Whether we are talking about the anguish that Job felt in his heart or our own pain, a question that is often asked is: "Why?"  Why do bad things happen to good people?  Or on a more personal level, why do bad things happen to me? This is the way the world approaches life’s problems.  We want to know why things happen.  We want to know the cause of the problem so that we find the proper solution.  And the prevailing philosophy of today tells us that we can.  If we only apply ourselves, we can solve any problem.  If we apply ourselves, we can overcome any obstacle.  But what happens when we can’t? What happens when the company is laying off permanently?  What happens when the money does run out?  What happens when the medication isn’t working?  What happen when things are getting worse instead of better?  Where do the answers come from then?

Satan fought long and hard to disrupt God’s plan of salvation.  He tempted Jesus to sin in the wilderness.  He bruised Jesus’ heel when he was nailed to the cross.  And even though Jesus won the final victory, Satan has not given up.  He still attacks Jesus’ followers.  The devil went after Job with a vengeance.  He is the roaring lion who comes after us today.  Therefore, it should be no surprise to us when we face trials and tribulations.  Jesus himself said: "In this world you will have trouble (John 16:33)."  This subject is not up for debate.  It’s a fact.  Luther put it this way: "If Christ wore a crown of thorns, we should not expect people to place wreaths and roses on our head."

Christians don’t have all the answers.  We are not guaranteed a life of ease and luxury.  But we don’t need these things because we anticipate something better.  Our hope for this life does not depend on our health and wealth, or on our friends and families, or even on our own wisdom and experience.  Our hope rests in our Savior God.  Jesus said that believers will have trouble in this life, but he also said: "Take heart.  I have overcome the world" (John 16:33).  God heard the pleas of Job.  God remembers all of his children.  God alone gives us hope for this life, and he is the only one who gives us comfort in death.

For centuries, theologians have debated what was going on in Job’s heart when Satan put him to the test.  Was he a devout believer who was almost consumed by his grief?  Or did he go over the edge and forsake God for a time?  Only God knows the answers to those difficult questions.  But even if Job didn’t fall from faith during his darkest days, there is no question that Satan pushed him to the limit.

If you were to take this text out of its context, if you read those verses by themselves, they could certainly be attributed to a person who had given up hope.  And these are not the only words of Job that do not sound like the words of a trusting child of God.  Earlier in the book, Job asked, "Why did I not perish at birth, and die as I came from the womb?  Why were there knees to receive me and breasts that I might be nursed?  For now I would be lying down in peace; I would be asleep and at rest…" (3:11-13).  And later, Job asked the Lord, "Why do you hide your face and consider me your enemy?  Will you torment a windblown leaf?  Will you chase after dry chaff?  For you write down bitter things against me and make me inherit the sins of my youth" (13:24-26).

If you read these passages by themselves, you could draw the conclusion that Satan had the upper hand.  He wanted to convince Job that he had no reason to live, no reason to trust in a God who was not there when he needed him the most.  Satan wanted Job to believe that death was his only hope, because then at least his pain and suffering would be over.  But if Satan had succeeded, Job’s death would have not have been the end of his troubles.  It would have been just the beginning of his real pain, an eternity of torment in hell.

That is why it is so important to read the book of Job as a whole.  Job questioned God’s justice.  He even questioned God’s goodness.  Job’s faith was stretched to the limit, but God preserved him in the end.  The man who wished that he had never been born was the same man who said: "I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth.  And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes--I, and not another.  How my heart yearns within me" (19:25-27)!

God rescued Job from the pit of despair.  Job’s life was not always easy, but God never forgot him.  In spite of Satan’s attempts to lead Job astray, he could always fall back on God’s firm promise.  Job found comfort in death because it was a door to eternal life.  Because our Redeemer lives, because Jesus died on the cross and rose again, the same comfort is ours.  We will see God with our own eyes.  We will see him when he stands upon the earth.  Just like Job, our hearts yearn for that day. 

So what can we learn from this account? What can we take home with us?  First, remember that Job was a real person.  He was not some mythical character who was created by some ancient author to teach us some lessons about life.  He was a human being with flesh and blood, a person with feelings and emotions.

The story of Job also reminds us that Christians have problems.  God allowed Job to experience great success, but Job also knew the depths of despair.  God does not promise that our lives will be perfect if we believe in him.  Faith will not make all of our problems melt away.  Christians sometimes face persecution just because they are Christians.  What God does promise is that he will help us through our struggles.  Job did not hesitate to talk to God.  When we are burdened with a problem, when there is nowhere else to turn, God will hear and answer our prayers.

Finally, take comfort in the fact that God makes everything work out for the good of his children.  At one point, Job was convinced that he was about to die.  Little did he know that God would give him another 140 years to live.  Sometimes God allows hardships to enter our lives to remind us that this life is not the end.  A little trouble on earth can remind us that God has better things in store for us in heaven.

Through the good times and the bad, God never left Job’s side.  God remembered his servant, Job.  God still remembers his servants today.  God gives us hope in this life.  And in even in death, God gives us comfort, the comforting promise of eternal life.  Amen.