WEBVTT 00:00:00.900 --> 00:00:13.720 Last year, when COVID was really blowing up for the first time, many of us were walking around wondering, why do I feel so tired all the time? 00:00:14.700 --> 00:00:20.359 I never even left the house today, and yet I just feel exhausted all the time. 00:00:21.160 --> 00:00:23.839 Why am I having such a hard time focusing? 00:00:24.980 --> 00:00:27.820 Why do I feel like I can't get anything done? 00:00:27.820 --> 00:00:29.080 Did anybody feel this way? 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:32.920 Why do I feel this perpetual mental fog? 00:00:33.519 --> 00:00:37.839 Why is it so hard even to make the smallest decisions? 00:00:37.979 --> 00:00:43.399 I remember even the decision of what to wear in the morning or what to make for breakfast felt impossible. 00:00:44.599 --> 00:00:49.019 And I read this great article by a local psychiatrist, a guy named Kurt Thompson. 00:00:49.859 --> 00:00:56.060 And he basically says in the article, hey, you know that thing that we're all feeling, that fog, that inability to make decisions? 00:00:56.239 --> 00:00:57.599 That's called grief. 00:00:57.600 --> 00:01:03.840 And we need to recognize that we are all corporately grieving right now. 00:01:03.840 --> 00:01:21.219 And he says, and I love this analogy, just like COVID was creating a kind of inflammatory response in our immune system, he said, grief is our emotional inflammatory response to loss. 00:01:21.219 --> 00:01:24.819 And he says, this is what loss does to you. 00:01:25.640 --> 00:01:30.280 It results in this inflammatory emotional response called grief. 00:01:30.280 --> 00:01:37.480 We've been in this series over the past few weeks during the season of Lent talking about emotionally healthy spirituality. 00:01:37.480 --> 00:01:47.600 And a huge piece of emotional maturity is knowing how to deal with grief and loss. 00:01:47.600 --> 00:01:50.000 That's essential for emotional maturity. 00:01:50.000 --> 00:01:56.840 And so we're going to be looking at probably the best place in the Bible to understand grief and loss, which is the book of Job. 00:01:57.299 --> 00:02:00.960 And as I said, we're going to just very briefly summarize the book. 00:02:01.040 --> 00:02:02.620 We're going to focus on the final chapter. 00:02:03.359 --> 00:02:05.439 And this is going to show us three things. 00:02:06.000 --> 00:02:11.439 It's going to show us first the inevitability of loss, something we have to come to terms with. 00:02:11.439 --> 00:02:16.719 Number two, it's going to show us the necessity of grief, not something that can be avoided. 00:02:17.400 --> 00:02:20.120 And then finally, we're going to meet the God of the storm. 00:02:20.939 --> 00:02:21.599 Let's pray. 00:02:23.340 --> 00:02:25.039 Lord, we thank you for your word. 00:02:25.300 --> 00:02:35.680 And we thank you that there are things in your word, there are parts of your word that are meant to speak into the deepest, darkest recesses of our hearts. 00:02:35.680 --> 00:02:51.719 And Lord, I know that even as I've heard from people as we've been doing this series, this has been dredging up for some people old pain, old wounds, things that they haven't dealt with, things that they have maybe forgotten about that are coming to the surface. 00:02:52.379 --> 00:02:59.180 And I pray that as you always do, that you would use your word in the power of your spirit to do your work, to do your surgery in your people, 00:02:59.180 --> 00:03:09.540 to gradually, progressively set us free from the things that bind us, open our eyes and our hearts to the truth and the hope that can only be found in the gospel. 00:03:10.020 --> 00:03:12.460 We pray this in your son's name, Lord. 00:03:12.640 --> 00:03:12.879 Amen. 00:03:16.180 --> 00:03:18.280 So let me just give you a summary of the book. 00:03:19.240 --> 00:03:24.300 Very, very, very simplistic summary, I admit, but it's all we have time for. 00:03:24.300 --> 00:03:30.340 Job basically starts out as an ancient Near Eastern equivalent of a Jeff Bezos. 00:03:31.520 --> 00:03:37.939 And that is if Jeff Bezos were as righteous as he is rich, right? 00:03:37.980 --> 00:03:43.200 Because Job is not only fabulously wealthy, but he's a paragon of righteousness and piety. 00:03:43.380 --> 00:03:48.160 He is and has everything an ancient Near Eastern person could want. 00:03:48.159 --> 00:03:55.359 And then, in one fell swoop, catastrophe strikes, and he loses everything in a day. 00:03:55.479 --> 00:03:56.659 He loses his children. 00:03:56.939 --> 00:04:01.919 Very tragically, he loses all of his wealth, and he even loses his health. 00:04:02.400 --> 00:04:09.599 And in short order, we find Job having moved outside the city, outside the wall, living in the trash heap, 00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:12.519 and covered in sores and boils. 00:04:12.520 --> 00:04:17.600 And he's really in the midst of his grief. 00:04:17.840 --> 00:04:24.199 He's trying to wrestle with this profound, catastrophic loss that he has suffered. 00:04:24.800 --> 00:04:29.960 And so then his wife and his first three friends offer some pretty bad advice. 00:04:30.759 --> 00:04:35.420 And then a fourth friend comes along named Elihu, and he offers much better advice. 00:04:36.139 --> 00:04:38.740 And then finally, we see God. 00:04:38.980 --> 00:04:40.819 Job meets God face to face. 00:04:40.819 --> 00:04:43.540 Job, all through the book, says, I don't want to talk to you. 00:04:43.719 --> 00:04:44.699 I want to talk to God. 00:04:44.839 --> 00:04:45.939 I don't want to talk to you. 00:04:46.159 --> 00:04:47.079 I want to talk to God. 00:04:47.180 --> 00:04:48.319 Finally, God shows up. 00:04:49.199 --> 00:04:53.620 And what this is really about as a book is it's a lot about loss and grief. 00:04:54.000 --> 00:04:58.740 And it's about how loss and grief fundamentally change our relationship with God. 00:05:00.699 --> 00:05:06.339 So I want to break this down into the three points that we're going to focus on as this relates to Job. 00:05:06.339 --> 00:05:07.560 The first is this. 00:05:07.659 --> 00:05:12.839 Job shows us that loss is inevitable if you're a human being. 00:05:13.060 --> 00:05:15.119 You say, well, how can we get that from Job? 00:05:15.239 --> 00:05:18.699 Job is this ancient, mysterious book written thousands of years ago. 00:05:18.819 --> 00:05:21.099 It may or may not even be history. 00:05:21.299 --> 00:05:22.899 It could just be some sort of parable. 00:05:23.139 --> 00:05:24.319 How does that relate to me? 00:05:24.819 --> 00:05:29.019 And Jonathan Edwards, in his well-known sermon on Job, 00:05:29.319 --> 00:05:32.959 says that Job is actually the story of all human beings. 00:05:32.959 --> 00:05:37.560 You know, he says Job loses everything in a day, 00:05:37.639 --> 00:05:44.879 but all human beings will eventually lose all of these things over the course of a lifetime. 00:05:45.500 --> 00:05:49.179 You know, no matter how many anti-aging products we buy or use, 00:05:49.339 --> 00:05:51.719 we can't slow the passing of time. 00:05:52.139 --> 00:05:57.359 We can't slow or stop the impact of time on our bodies. 00:05:57.360 --> 00:06:02.560 We can't slow the breaking down inside that is occurring right now. 00:06:04.199 --> 00:06:07.420 Beyond that, we're all going to have to let go of dreams. 00:06:08.420 --> 00:06:14.699 We're all going to have to watch doors close and know that they will never reopen. 00:06:14.860 --> 00:06:20.720 We will have to let go of childhood aspirations once and for all. 00:06:21.220 --> 00:06:25.240 You know, this is what leads many people to have a kind of midlife crisis. 00:06:25.240 --> 00:06:28.519 You reach this point, and some people in our church are at that point now 00:06:28.519 --> 00:06:31.600 where you realize, I'm never going to do that thing. 00:06:32.540 --> 00:06:34.780 That thing that I always thought I would do, I'm never going to do it. 00:06:35.300 --> 00:06:37.600 And that can be really terrifying and unsettling. 00:06:38.379 --> 00:06:44.319 And we lose some things very slowly, like our neuroplasticity or our vision. 00:06:45.100 --> 00:06:49.319 You know, I just this past year was getting headaches and realized I needed to get glasses 00:06:49.319 --> 00:06:51.740 because my eyes are starting to fade. 00:06:51.740 --> 00:06:55.180 I can no longer read the text in front of me as well. 00:06:55.680 --> 00:06:56.879 That's inevitable. 00:06:57.079 --> 00:06:58.060 It's a kind of loss. 00:06:58.280 --> 00:07:03.840 But then we're also going to all face catastrophic loss at some point in our lives, right? 00:07:03.900 --> 00:07:06.879 Many people have lost loved ones to COVID this past year. 00:07:07.680 --> 00:07:09.540 And that's been horrible and tragic. 00:07:11.319 --> 00:07:13.100 Maybe your spouse has an affair. 00:07:14.220 --> 00:07:18.620 Or maybe one of the doors that closes that never reopens is the possibility of getting married 00:07:18.620 --> 00:07:19.519 or having kids. 00:07:19.519 --> 00:07:22.120 Maybe you lose your job. 00:07:22.159 --> 00:07:23.799 A lot of people lost their job this past year. 00:07:23.919 --> 00:07:25.299 Maybe you get a cancer diagnosis. 00:07:25.699 --> 00:07:29.219 But in one way or another, catastrophic loss is going to come. 00:07:29.959 --> 00:07:35.019 And the point that we need to see in Job is that loss is an unavoidable part of life. 00:07:35.099 --> 00:07:36.439 There's no way to avoid it. 00:07:36.819 --> 00:07:38.099 It's a part of being alive. 00:07:38.899 --> 00:07:41.659 And I think that this is, you know, it may sound like an obvious point to you, 00:07:41.660 --> 00:07:48.480 but this is a point, particularly in the West, that needs to be made and that we need to hold on to. 00:07:49.280 --> 00:07:54.920 Because in the West, I think that we have lost touch with this fact of life. 00:07:55.360 --> 00:08:00.640 I think in the West, we have increasingly denied that loss is inevitable. 00:08:00.639 --> 00:08:03.939 And you really see this trend ever since the Enlightenment. 00:08:04.139 --> 00:08:09.959 There's been this increasing optimism and confidence and reliance on our technology 00:08:09.959 --> 00:08:14.060 and our democracy and our prosperity, 00:08:14.339 --> 00:08:18.659 just our ability as a society to generate unimaginable amounts of wealth. 00:08:19.060 --> 00:08:21.219 It's very recent, historically speaking. 00:08:21.560 --> 00:08:24.680 And there are many people who, because of all of these massive advancements, 00:08:25.000 --> 00:08:30.039 truly believe that one day we're going to be able to transcend the limits of our humanness. 00:08:30.040 --> 00:08:33.740 You know, and I'm not just talking about the transhumanist movement, 00:08:33.960 --> 00:08:39.320 you know, people who want to take our consciousness and sort of upload it into a machine. 00:08:39.440 --> 00:08:40.100 That's part of it. 00:08:40.139 --> 00:08:46.279 But there's a broader kind of rejection of limits across the board. 00:08:46.379 --> 00:08:51.060 And so many people in our culture say that limits are meant to be broken. 00:08:52.320 --> 00:08:52.560 Right? 00:08:52.840 --> 00:08:55.139 Don't let anything stand in the way of your dreams. 00:08:55.240 --> 00:08:58.440 Don't even let your own body stand in the way of your dreams. 00:08:58.740 --> 00:08:59.860 Limits are meant to be broken. 00:09:00.039 --> 00:09:01.839 That meme will go far. 00:09:01.959 --> 00:09:02.860 It will go viral. 00:09:03.959 --> 00:09:06.419 I'll tell you a meme that won't go very far. 00:09:06.819 --> 00:09:07.860 Embrace your limits. 00:09:09.019 --> 00:09:12.539 You know, if you post that, you're not going to get probably as many likes. 00:09:13.019 --> 00:09:15.539 Because people hear that and it's not quite as inspiring. 00:09:15.620 --> 00:09:16.439 Embrace your limits. 00:09:16.519 --> 00:09:18.579 No, I want to hear chase your dreams. 00:09:19.419 --> 00:09:20.980 You know, limits are meant to be overcome. 00:09:21.419 --> 00:09:22.919 You know, climb every mountain. 00:09:23.139 --> 00:09:23.939 You can do anything. 00:09:24.159 --> 00:09:25.139 That's what we want to hear. 00:09:25.139 --> 00:09:31.120 But the Bible says that limits are what make us human. 00:09:31.120 --> 00:09:36.779 In other words, they're the thing that reminds us that we're not God. 00:09:37.899 --> 00:09:41.679 And if you look back at Genesis 3, that's kind of important to remember. 00:09:42.220 --> 00:09:43.879 Because it's something that we tend to forget. 00:09:43.879 --> 00:09:48.200 And the message, embrace your limits, may not be as popular. 00:09:49.379 --> 00:09:51.340 But that is the beginning of true wisdom. 00:09:52.080 --> 00:09:52.899 Biblically speaking. 00:09:53.679 --> 00:09:56.980 That's where true wisdom, that's the acorn of wisdom. 00:09:59.059 --> 00:10:00.059 Embrace your limits. 00:10:00.059 --> 00:10:06.099 And the problem that we will see is the more we deny our limits, 00:10:06.179 --> 00:10:07.619 and this is where it gets really practical, 00:10:08.119 --> 00:10:12.359 the more unprepared we will be to face loss when it comes. 00:10:13.500 --> 00:10:14.379 Which it will. 00:10:14.739 --> 00:10:19.779 The more we deny our limits, the more unprepared we will be to deal with loss. 00:10:19.859 --> 00:10:20.399 Here's why. 00:10:20.799 --> 00:10:24.939 Much of what determines whether or not suffering is traumatic 00:10:24.939 --> 00:10:29.459 has to do with our subjective experience of it. 00:10:29.460 --> 00:10:32.240 You can have two people who go through the same horrible thing. 00:10:32.700 --> 00:10:34.940 This person comes through relatively okay. 00:10:35.139 --> 00:10:36.379 They're able to move on with their lives. 00:10:36.639 --> 00:10:38.560 This person is left deeply traumatized. 00:10:38.820 --> 00:10:39.500 What's the difference? 00:10:39.759 --> 00:10:43.120 It's the subjective experience of the suffering. 00:10:43.560 --> 00:10:46.580 Suffering is much more likely to traumatize you 00:10:46.580 --> 00:10:49.680 if it is completely unexpected. 00:10:51.580 --> 00:10:55.280 It's much more likely to traumatize you if it's completely unexpected. 00:10:55.519 --> 00:10:58.400 If it completely overturns your sense of how the world works. 00:10:58.399 --> 00:11:01.899 So if you're cruising along and it completely comes out of left field 00:11:01.899 --> 00:11:04.319 and it overturns your entire sense of what's possible, 00:11:04.740 --> 00:11:06.360 it's going to be much more traumatic. 00:11:07.779 --> 00:11:12.199 So accepting our limits and accepting the fact that loss is inevitable 00:11:12.199 --> 00:11:16.840 will actually prepare us to face loss much better. 00:11:16.840 --> 00:11:19.860 So that's the first point. 00:11:20.860 --> 00:11:21.700 Loss is inevitable. 00:11:23.040 --> 00:11:24.300 Now what do we do with loss? 00:11:24.379 --> 00:11:27.700 Well, in order to deal with loss, we have to know how to grieve. 00:11:28.120 --> 00:11:34.160 As Dr. Thompson says, it is the emotional inflammatory response to loss. 00:11:34.840 --> 00:11:37.920 So we need to understand what grief is and why it's necessary. 00:11:37.919 --> 00:11:43.860 Behind every loss, whether it's a minor loss, 00:11:44.019 --> 00:11:46.479 like a loss of mobility due to a sprained ankle, 00:11:46.919 --> 00:11:50.979 or a catastrophic loss, such as the loss of a loved one, 00:11:51.979 --> 00:11:55.879 eventually, grief will come knocking at your door. 00:11:55.879 --> 00:12:00.139 I remember in my high school psychology class, 00:12:00.759 --> 00:12:05.960 I remember having to memorize the Kubler-Ross stages of grief. 00:12:06.439 --> 00:12:08.000 And maybe some of you know what I'm talking about. 00:12:08.159 --> 00:12:14.460 Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and finally, acceptance. 00:12:14.659 --> 00:12:17.419 And I remember looking at that and thinking, even as a high schooler, 00:12:17.480 --> 00:12:20.659 wow, isn't that great that somebody has been able to map this out? 00:12:20.679 --> 00:12:22.620 And look how linear this is. 00:12:22.620 --> 00:12:25.279 This seems pretty doable, you know? 00:12:25.720 --> 00:12:29.899 Well, of course, I had never really had to grieve at that point in my life. 00:12:31.200 --> 00:12:34.440 And then that same year, I lost one of my dear friends 00:12:34.440 --> 00:12:36.139 in a really tragic car accident. 00:12:37.879 --> 00:12:43.759 And it was the first time I'd ever encountered anything like that. 00:12:45.179 --> 00:12:46.799 And I remember thinking, 00:12:47.379 --> 00:12:50.580 I think that the Kubler-Ross stages of grief diagram, 00:12:50.580 --> 00:12:53.940 I think looking at that is kind of like looking at a diagram of a hurricane. 00:12:55.300 --> 00:12:57.160 You know, it's technically accurate, 00:12:57.700 --> 00:13:00.900 but it somehow doesn't quite capture the experience of it 00:13:00.900 --> 00:13:03.020 when you're in the middle of it. 00:13:03.580 --> 00:13:06.200 Because I remember feeling like my life had been turned upside down. 00:13:06.700 --> 00:13:09.620 The way I thought the world worked was turned upside down. 00:13:10.120 --> 00:13:12.720 You know, I know other people who know people who know people who die. 00:13:12.860 --> 00:13:15.000 I don't know anybody who dies. 00:13:15.000 --> 00:13:20.000 And I realized how privileged my life had been. 00:13:20.740 --> 00:13:23.159 Some people know grief from their earliest memories. 00:13:24.539 --> 00:13:26.179 And it really shook me. 00:13:27.740 --> 00:13:29.919 Job's account of grief is much more realistic. 00:13:31.159 --> 00:13:34.440 We have basically 35 chapters, you know, Job 42 chapters, 00:13:34.720 --> 00:13:39.000 35 chapters full of Job weeping and raging 00:13:39.000 --> 00:13:42.820 and even cursing the day of his own birth. 00:13:43.139 --> 00:13:44.139 And even, dare we say, 00:13:44.220 --> 00:13:47.379 there are times when Job hopes and prays 00:13:47.379 --> 00:13:49.440 that God might just end his life 00:13:49.440 --> 00:13:51.539 so that his suffering would end. 00:13:51.600 --> 00:13:53.580 And this is something that people maybe not, 00:13:53.919 --> 00:13:56.919 are not prone to tell you about grief. 00:13:57.100 --> 00:13:58.879 There will be times that you want to die. 00:13:59.659 --> 00:14:01.220 There will be times that you may lay in your bed 00:14:01.220 --> 00:14:02.460 and say, God, just end it. 00:14:03.379 --> 00:14:05.720 Now, that doesn't mean that you're suicidal. 00:14:05.720 --> 00:14:08.320 It doesn't mean that you're having suicidal ideation 00:14:08.320 --> 00:14:08.840 and need to go. 00:14:09.100 --> 00:14:11.200 There's a way in which we can think that 00:14:11.200 --> 00:14:13.020 even if we never really intend to do it. 00:14:13.620 --> 00:14:15.300 Because the suffering is just that bad. 00:14:15.420 --> 00:14:17.860 You know, most people don't kill themselves 00:14:17.860 --> 00:14:18.740 because they want to die. 00:14:18.820 --> 00:14:20.600 They kill themselves because they want to end the pain. 00:14:22.260 --> 00:14:24.480 Now, if you're feeling those feelings 00:14:24.480 --> 00:14:27.020 and you begin to develop specific ideas about it, 00:14:27.060 --> 00:14:28.600 you begin to develop a specific sense 00:14:28.600 --> 00:14:30.020 of how you would do it and when you would do it 00:14:30.020 --> 00:14:31.379 and where you would do it and all of those things, 00:14:31.900 --> 00:14:33.660 you need to recognize that 00:14:33.660 --> 00:14:35.440 and you need to recognize that you're in trouble 00:14:35.440 --> 00:14:37.200 and you need to reach out and you need to get help. 00:14:38.320 --> 00:14:40.420 But there are a lot of times when people 00:14:40.420 --> 00:14:43.100 who would never actually do it when you're grieving 00:14:43.100 --> 00:14:44.760 think, wow, that would be nice 00:14:44.760 --> 00:14:46.280 just to not feel this anymore. 00:14:47.820 --> 00:14:49.120 And Job, we see that. 00:14:49.180 --> 00:14:50.300 It's very honest in Job. 00:14:50.400 --> 00:14:52.220 In fact, Job's not the only one in the Bible 00:14:52.220 --> 00:14:55.740 in whom we see that kind of prayer. 00:14:56.960 --> 00:14:58.379 And Scazzaro in the book, 00:14:58.460 --> 00:14:59.840 Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, 00:14:59.860 --> 00:15:01.379 does a pretty good job of describing 00:15:01.379 --> 00:15:03.080 what grief looks like in Job. 00:15:03.180 --> 00:15:04.340 He says, look at what Job is doing. 00:15:04.340 --> 00:15:06.600 First of all, he's paying attention to his emotions. 00:15:06.940 --> 00:15:08.840 He's not running from them or numbing them out. 00:15:09.800 --> 00:15:13.080 He says he's willing to wait in the confusing in between. 00:15:13.200 --> 00:15:14.560 There's a lot of times when you're in grief 00:15:14.560 --> 00:15:16.340 when really nothing makes sense. 00:15:16.519 --> 00:15:18.620 You don't have a sense of moving through the stages 00:15:18.620 --> 00:15:19.780 of the Kupfer-Ross model. 00:15:19.980 --> 00:15:21.700 You just feel like everything's upside down. 00:15:23.259 --> 00:15:26.500 You see Job embracing his limits in a whole new way. 00:15:26.500 --> 00:15:32.179 You see Job growing profoundly in humility. 00:15:32.460 --> 00:15:35.100 His creatureliness is unavoidable. 00:15:36.000 --> 00:15:39.980 And then finally, Scazzaro says that part of grief 00:15:39.980 --> 00:15:42.220 is letting the old give birth to the new. 00:15:43.500 --> 00:15:45.159 That out of the things that die, 00:15:45.259 --> 00:15:46.360 out of the things that we grieve, 00:15:46.460 --> 00:15:49.200 out of the loss, new things grow. 00:15:50.360 --> 00:15:52.299 But the main thing I want us to see 00:15:52.299 --> 00:15:54.320 for purposes of this message is this. 00:15:54.740 --> 00:15:56.240 Job doesn't run from the pain. 00:15:56.500 --> 00:15:59.220 Job faces it. 00:16:00.120 --> 00:16:01.279 He doesn't avoid the grief. 00:16:01.379 --> 00:16:02.460 He's willing to go through it. 00:16:03.879 --> 00:16:06.120 You know, different cultures have different ways 00:16:06.120 --> 00:16:08.580 of dealing with and processing grief. 00:16:08.659 --> 00:16:11.940 It's a very, very culturally specific phenomenon. 00:16:12.460 --> 00:16:15.340 I think in our culture, many people, 00:16:15.460 --> 00:16:17.899 our kind of commonly understood way of dealing with grief 00:16:17.899 --> 00:16:19.120 is to not deal with it. 00:16:20.440 --> 00:16:21.620 It's to deny it. 00:16:21.679 --> 00:16:22.600 It's to minimize it. 00:16:22.600 --> 00:16:26.320 It's to avoid it through various forms of addiction. 00:16:26.500 --> 00:16:28.899 Some more socially acceptable than others. 00:16:29.379 --> 00:16:32.399 You know, I love the quote from the actor Russell Brand, 00:16:32.620 --> 00:16:34.740 who has been very public about his battle 00:16:34.740 --> 00:16:36.379 with various kinds of addiction. 00:16:36.559 --> 00:16:38.820 And Russell Brand, he wrote a piece in The Guardian 00:16:38.820 --> 00:16:40.000 a few years ago. 00:16:40.139 --> 00:16:43.679 He's very honest about his struggle with drugs and alcohol. 00:16:43.779 --> 00:16:44.200 And he says, 00:16:44.200 --> 00:16:46.460 drugs and alcohol are not my problem. 00:16:47.879 --> 00:16:49.240 Reality is my problem. 00:16:50.520 --> 00:16:53.360 And I bet that rang true for a lot of people. 00:16:54.220 --> 00:16:56.620 Drugs and alcohol, he says, are my solution. 00:16:56.980 --> 00:16:59.840 I look to drugs and booze to fill up a hole in me. 00:16:59.840 --> 00:17:05.319 Another guy whose quote I have to include, 00:17:05.420 --> 00:17:08.700 the comedian Louis C.K., despite his recent infamy, 00:17:09.539 --> 00:17:11.220 his words still ring true. 00:17:13.360 --> 00:17:16.620 He talks about how everyone is constantly on their devices, 00:17:16.940 --> 00:17:22.240 texting and Snapchat and Instagram and TikTok all the time. 00:17:22.620 --> 00:17:24.440 And he says, he's like, why do we do, 00:17:24.559 --> 00:17:26.140 why are we all on our devices all the time? 00:17:26.140 --> 00:17:27.840 He says, the reason that we do it, you know, 00:17:27.880 --> 00:17:29.880 the reason that we fill up every available minute 00:17:29.880 --> 00:17:32.180 with distraction is because, and here's the quote, 00:17:32.620 --> 00:17:34.300 underneath everything in your life, 00:17:34.460 --> 00:17:38.920 there is that thing, that forever empty, he calls it. 00:17:39.160 --> 00:17:40.040 The forever empty. 00:17:40.800 --> 00:17:42.560 And he essentially says that the reason 00:17:42.560 --> 00:17:44.320 that we're constantly doing all of this 00:17:44.320 --> 00:17:46.860 is to keep ourselves constantly distracted 00:17:46.860 --> 00:17:48.980 because we're trying to outrun the sadness. 00:17:50.040 --> 00:17:51.620 And he talks about this one experience 00:17:51.620 --> 00:17:53.640 where he didn't outrun it. 00:17:53.700 --> 00:17:55.620 He just pulled the car over to the side of the road, 00:17:55.619 --> 00:17:57.819 set his phone down and allow it to hit him. 00:17:57.979 --> 00:17:59.199 And he says, he just cried. 00:17:59.799 --> 00:18:01.519 He's just sitting in his car for no reason in particular 00:18:01.519 --> 00:18:03.179 and just breaks down into tears. 00:18:03.519 --> 00:18:04.619 And then he says, and you know what? 00:18:04.639 --> 00:18:06.500 I cried and then I felt better. 00:18:07.639 --> 00:18:08.419 He stopped running. 00:18:09.399 --> 00:18:12.000 I think a lot of that sense that we have 00:18:12.000 --> 00:18:13.819 where we're trying to avoid something, 00:18:13.959 --> 00:18:15.839 I think a lot of that is what you might think of 00:18:15.839 --> 00:18:17.019 as deferred grief. 00:18:18.879 --> 00:18:21.299 There is pain that we've tried to put off 00:18:21.299 --> 00:18:22.619 that we've tried to escape. 00:18:22.619 --> 00:18:26.139 So I think a lot of us, 00:18:26.179 --> 00:18:27.519 I think a lot of Christians in particular, 00:18:27.639 --> 00:18:29.399 because in a lot of churches you hear the message 00:18:29.399 --> 00:18:30.500 that Christians should be happy. 00:18:30.599 --> 00:18:31.359 We should be at peace. 00:18:31.419 --> 00:18:32.239 If you have true faith, 00:18:32.519 --> 00:18:34.199 then you should have lots of hope. 00:18:34.919 --> 00:18:36.699 And there are a lot of Christian communities 00:18:36.699 --> 00:18:38.839 where negative emotions are really not that welcome. 00:18:40.000 --> 00:18:41.399 Christians aren't supposed to act that way. 00:18:42.519 --> 00:18:44.779 And so I think there's a lot of unresolved grief. 00:18:45.479 --> 00:18:46.539 And what you've got to understand is 00:18:46.539 --> 00:18:48.939 unresolved grief will show up in different ways. 00:18:49.019 --> 00:18:50.019 It has symptoms, right? 00:18:50.019 --> 00:18:52.319 So people who are very irritable or angry 00:18:52.319 --> 00:18:53.299 with no real reason, 00:18:53.839 --> 00:18:55.960 sometimes that could be caused by unresolved grief. 00:18:57.119 --> 00:18:59.160 If you just feel a general sense of apathy 00:18:59.160 --> 00:19:00.859 or a low-grade depression, 00:19:01.180 --> 00:19:03.319 that could be unresolved grief. 00:19:04.740 --> 00:19:08.420 Feeling stuck or feeling fixated on some loss in your life, 00:19:08.460 --> 00:19:10.339 a job that you lost or a person that you lost, 00:19:10.480 --> 00:19:12.139 and it's been years and years and years and years 00:19:12.139 --> 00:19:14.019 and years and you're still stuck, 00:19:14.220 --> 00:19:15.900 it could be that there's a way 00:19:15.900 --> 00:19:17.440 that you haven't grieved yet. 00:19:17.440 --> 00:19:19.860 You've never really faced the pain, right? 00:19:23.580 --> 00:19:24.059 Hypervigilance. 00:19:25.360 --> 00:19:27.539 In other words, an overblown fear of loss. 00:19:28.799 --> 00:19:30.320 Sometimes when people lose something 00:19:30.320 --> 00:19:31.519 and they don't grieve it, 00:19:32.660 --> 00:19:36.360 that can create a kind of magnified fear 00:19:36.360 --> 00:19:39.580 of losing anything else in their current or future life. 00:19:39.579 --> 00:19:42.720 And so they become hypervigilant about loss. 00:19:44.220 --> 00:19:46.000 Of course, addictive behavior, 00:19:46.339 --> 00:19:47.759 self-harming behavior. 00:19:48.139 --> 00:19:50.179 You know, cutting isn't the only kind of self-harm. 00:19:50.419 --> 00:19:51.799 For some people, going to the gym 00:19:51.799 --> 00:19:53.059 two, three, four times a day 00:19:53.059 --> 00:19:54.599 can be a form of self-harm. 00:19:55.659 --> 00:19:56.740 You know, you look healthy, 00:19:56.799 --> 00:19:57.819 it's more socially acceptable, 00:19:57.939 --> 00:19:58.960 but it's actually self-harm. 00:20:00.759 --> 00:20:02.379 So there are a lot of more subtle ways 00:20:02.379 --> 00:20:03.399 that this can show up. 00:20:03.400 --> 00:20:06.120 And so it's very important that we recognize 00:20:06.120 --> 00:20:07.860 when we need to grieve, 00:20:08.040 --> 00:20:10.820 both collectively and individually. 00:20:11.200 --> 00:20:13.300 And this isn't just true for you as an individual 00:20:13.300 --> 00:20:14.140 or me as an individual. 00:20:14.400 --> 00:20:15.820 This is also true for the church. 00:20:16.080 --> 00:20:18.180 The church needs to learn how to grieve better. 00:20:18.580 --> 00:20:19.540 Many of the prayers, 00:20:19.880 --> 00:20:21.940 many of the psalms are psalms of lament, 00:20:22.700 --> 00:20:23.519 corporate lament. 00:20:24.540 --> 00:20:25.880 That's corporate grief. 00:20:27.240 --> 00:20:28.100 You know, this week, 00:20:28.160 --> 00:20:29.620 I think that we as the church 00:20:29.620 --> 00:20:32.640 need to grieve the deaths in Atlanta. 00:20:32.640 --> 00:20:34.840 You know, we need to grieve 00:20:34.840 --> 00:20:36.300 the eight people who were shot, 00:20:36.580 --> 00:20:38.400 six of whom were Asian women. 00:20:39.080 --> 00:20:41.280 We need to grieve the horror of that, 00:20:41.360 --> 00:20:42.640 the atrocity of that. 00:20:43.140 --> 00:20:46.840 Whatever twisted motives Robert Aaron Long had, 00:20:47.320 --> 00:20:48.780 eight people died. 00:20:49.360 --> 00:20:51.880 And we have our Asian American 00:20:51.880 --> 00:20:53.200 Pacific Islander community 00:20:53.200 --> 00:20:54.759 filled with fear 00:20:54.759 --> 00:20:56.460 that this is representative 00:20:56.460 --> 00:20:59.380 of deeper layers of hostility 00:20:59.380 --> 00:21:00.520 waiting to be expressed 00:21:00.520 --> 00:21:02.620 in this way or even worse way. 00:21:03.640 --> 00:21:03.780 Right? 00:21:03.800 --> 00:21:04.540 And a lot of that 00:21:04.540 --> 00:21:05.940 in the wake of COVID 00:21:05.940 --> 00:21:07.920 and the impact that COVID has had 00:21:07.920 --> 00:21:09.180 on people's attitude 00:21:09.180 --> 00:21:10.259 toward Asian Americans 00:21:10.259 --> 00:21:11.280 and the ways that that 00:21:11.280 --> 00:21:12.320 has been expressed, 00:21:12.800 --> 00:21:12.980 right, 00:21:13.040 --> 00:21:14.100 a lot of that fear 00:21:14.100 --> 00:21:15.100 feels very justified. 00:21:15.860 --> 00:21:16.940 And we as the church, 00:21:17.020 --> 00:21:18.980 whatever role we have played in this 00:21:18.980 --> 00:21:20.040 and whatever way that the church 00:21:20.040 --> 00:21:20.940 has been complicit in this, 00:21:21.080 --> 00:21:22.280 that's something that we need to grieve 00:21:22.280 --> 00:21:23.140 and we need to repent. 00:21:25.500 --> 00:21:27.200 There also may be some ways 00:21:27.200 --> 00:21:29.020 that you need to grieve individually 00:21:29.019 --> 00:21:31.480 that may never have occurred to you. 00:21:31.539 --> 00:21:32.420 Let me just ask you this 00:21:32.420 --> 00:21:33.279 before we move on. 00:21:34.680 --> 00:21:36.460 Maybe you need to grieve 00:21:36.460 --> 00:21:38.700 the childhood that you wish 00:21:38.700 --> 00:21:39.579 you had had 00:21:39.579 --> 00:21:42.220 so that you can accept 00:21:42.220 --> 00:21:43.819 the childhood that God gave you. 00:21:47.539 --> 00:21:48.619 You know, there are a lot of people 00:21:48.619 --> 00:21:51.599 stuck wishing, lamenting, 00:21:51.759 --> 00:21:52.799 resenting the childhood 00:21:52.799 --> 00:21:53.339 that they had, 00:21:53.379 --> 00:21:54.500 the parent who wasn't there 00:21:54.500 --> 00:21:57.859 or the parent who was there, 00:21:57.960 --> 00:21:58.680 who shouldn't have been. 00:21:59.720 --> 00:22:02.140 The circumstances of their childhood, 00:22:02.380 --> 00:22:03.220 where they grew up, 00:22:04.180 --> 00:22:05.160 where they went to school. 00:22:06.839 --> 00:22:08.079 Instead of holding on to that 00:22:08.079 --> 00:22:08.960 and trying to change something 00:22:08.960 --> 00:22:09.960 that you can't change, 00:22:10.059 --> 00:22:10.720 maybe that's something 00:22:10.720 --> 00:22:11.339 that you need to grieve. 00:22:11.440 --> 00:22:12.099 Grieve the childhood 00:22:12.099 --> 00:22:13.059 that you wish you had had 00:22:13.059 --> 00:22:14.440 so that you can accept 00:22:14.440 --> 00:22:15.759 the childhood that God gave you. 00:22:17.319 --> 00:22:18.160 You know, this is what 00:22:18.160 --> 00:22:19.339 Skizero is talking about. 00:22:19.700 --> 00:22:22.079 Let the old give birth to the new. 00:22:22.480 --> 00:22:23.880 Grieve what has died 00:22:23.880 --> 00:22:24.820 so that you can embrace 00:22:24.820 --> 00:22:25.680 what has come to life 00:22:25.680 --> 00:22:26.380 in its place. 00:22:27.720 --> 00:22:29.000 Maybe you need to grieve 00:22:29.000 --> 00:22:30.380 the loss of the person 00:22:30.380 --> 00:22:32.340 that you want your spouse to be 00:22:32.340 --> 00:22:35.060 so that you can accept 00:22:35.060 --> 00:22:36.340 the spouse that God gave you. 00:22:37.060 --> 00:22:37.820 There are a lot of people 00:22:37.820 --> 00:22:38.260 who can go through 00:22:38.260 --> 00:22:40.220 20, 30 years of marriage 00:22:40.220 --> 00:22:43.460 in love with the spouse they want, 00:22:44.860 --> 00:22:45.840 resenting the fact 00:22:45.840 --> 00:22:46.940 that their actual spouse 00:22:46.940 --> 00:22:48.140 isn't that person. 00:22:50.100 --> 00:22:51.340 Maybe you need to grieve 00:22:51.340 --> 00:22:52.320 the death of the person 00:22:52.320 --> 00:22:53.480 that never existed. 00:22:53.880 --> 00:22:56.020 You know, there's this 00:22:56.020 --> 00:22:57.240 really fascinating movie, 00:22:57.340 --> 00:22:58.660 I'm blanking on the name now, 00:22:58.740 --> 00:23:00.060 where a couple goes 00:23:00.060 --> 00:23:01.120 on this kind of strange 00:23:01.120 --> 00:23:01.940 couple's retreat 00:23:01.940 --> 00:23:03.340 and there's this building 00:23:03.340 --> 00:23:04.800 where when you go in 00:23:04.800 --> 00:23:05.460 by yourself, 00:23:05.660 --> 00:23:06.680 you actually meet 00:23:06.680 --> 00:23:08.060 an idealized version 00:23:08.060 --> 00:23:08.900 of your spouse. 00:23:09.580 --> 00:23:11.640 Almost like your actual spouse, 00:23:12.080 --> 00:23:15.060 but your idealized version. 00:23:15.660 --> 00:23:17.260 And it's a really fascinating movie. 00:23:17.480 --> 00:23:17.920 I'm sorry, 00:23:18.100 --> 00:23:19.340 I'm blanking on the name. 00:23:19.400 --> 00:23:20.340 I wish I could remember the name. 00:23:20.400 --> 00:23:21.020 But it's out there, 00:23:21.060 --> 00:23:21.580 you'll find it, 00:23:21.600 --> 00:23:22.180 it's really great. 00:23:22.180 --> 00:23:25.000 And, you know, 00:23:25.060 --> 00:23:26.920 one final kind of unresolved grief, 00:23:27.019 --> 00:23:27.900 maybe we need to grieve 00:23:27.900 --> 00:23:30.799 the loss of other lives 00:23:30.799 --> 00:23:31.799 we might have lived 00:23:31.799 --> 00:23:33.880 so that you can accept 00:23:33.880 --> 00:23:35.380 the life that God has given you. 00:23:35.960 --> 00:23:37.180 If you're always dreaming, 00:23:37.380 --> 00:23:38.519 always fantasizing 00:23:38.519 --> 00:23:41.000 about the life 00:23:41.000 --> 00:23:41.960 that you wish you had, 00:23:42.960 --> 00:23:43.820 maybe that's something 00:23:43.820 --> 00:23:44.820 that you need to grieve. 00:23:46.200 --> 00:23:47.100 You know, in other words, 00:23:47.259 --> 00:23:48.160 when I say something 00:23:48.160 --> 00:23:48.920 that you need to grieve, 00:23:48.920 --> 00:23:50.860 maybe there is a kind of pain 00:23:50.860 --> 00:23:52.400 in there that you're not facing. 00:23:53.160 --> 00:23:54.320 And maybe you actually need 00:23:54.320 --> 00:23:55.680 to stop and face that pain 00:23:55.680 --> 00:23:57.840 rather than trying to mitigate it 00:23:57.840 --> 00:23:59.380 through fantasy and daydreaming. 00:24:01.220 --> 00:24:02.940 So there's all kinds of grief 00:24:02.940 --> 00:24:04.140 that we may need to go through 00:24:04.140 --> 00:24:05.680 that we have probably deferred 00:24:05.680 --> 00:24:06.640 for one reason or another, 00:24:06.759 --> 00:24:07.560 mostly out of fear. 00:24:09.000 --> 00:24:10.620 And the hard truth in Job is this, 00:24:10.660 --> 00:24:13.240 the only way to deal with grief 00:24:13.240 --> 00:24:14.600 is to go through it. 00:24:14.599 --> 00:24:16.899 The only way to deal with it 00:24:16.899 --> 00:24:17.579 is to go through it. 00:24:19.019 --> 00:24:19.719 That's the only way. 00:24:19.759 --> 00:24:20.240 You've got to go 00:24:20.240 --> 00:24:22.039 to the darkest place 00:24:22.039 --> 00:24:24.819 where there's the least light, 00:24:25.240 --> 00:24:25.819 where it seems like 00:24:25.819 --> 00:24:26.699 there's the least hope, 00:24:27.219 --> 00:24:28.199 where there's the most fear. 00:24:28.459 --> 00:24:29.439 That's where you need to go. 00:24:30.179 --> 00:24:30.659 It's the only way 00:24:30.659 --> 00:24:31.219 to get through it. 00:24:32.559 --> 00:24:33.459 But as terrifying 00:24:33.459 --> 00:24:34.480 as that might be, 00:24:35.579 --> 00:24:36.799 the book of Job shows us 00:24:36.799 --> 00:24:37.639 that that is often 00:24:37.639 --> 00:24:39.039 where you will find God. 00:24:42.179 --> 00:24:42.839 Third point, 00:24:42.939 --> 00:24:43.859 the God of the storm. 00:24:44.599 --> 00:24:47.059 As I said at the beginning, 00:24:47.219 --> 00:24:48.879 Job gets a lot of bad advice 00:24:48.879 --> 00:24:49.819 through the course of the book. 00:24:51.139 --> 00:24:51.959 First bad advice 00:24:51.959 --> 00:24:52.879 comes from Job's wife. 00:24:52.959 --> 00:24:53.939 I do think it's interesting 00:24:53.939 --> 00:24:54.939 that God says, 00:24:55.119 --> 00:24:56.099 let's make Job suffer, 00:24:56.599 --> 00:24:56.879 you know, 00:24:57.980 --> 00:24:59.480 says that to Satan, right? 00:25:00.259 --> 00:25:01.259 You can make Job suffer 00:25:01.259 --> 00:25:02.379 and Satan kills the kids, 00:25:02.480 --> 00:25:03.240 takes the health away, 00:25:03.500 --> 00:25:04.219 takes the wealth away, 00:25:04.259 --> 00:25:05.859 but leaves his wife alive. 00:25:06.779 --> 00:25:07.339 I don't know 00:25:07.339 --> 00:25:08.099 what's going on there, 00:25:08.480 --> 00:25:09.219 but I don't think 00:25:09.219 --> 00:25:10.159 they had the best marriage. 00:25:11.099 --> 00:25:11.779 And Job's wife 00:25:11.779 --> 00:25:12.779 is the first to give advice 00:25:12.779 --> 00:25:13.279 and her advice 00:25:13.279 --> 00:25:13.939 is simply this, 00:25:13.940 --> 00:25:15.380 just curse God and die. 00:25:17.480 --> 00:25:18.799 Now, not everybody's gifted 00:25:18.799 --> 00:25:19.600 to be a counselor. 00:25:20.440 --> 00:25:22.700 And that's okay. 00:25:24.100 --> 00:25:25.580 But that's clearly bad advice. 00:25:25.680 --> 00:25:26.380 Then we have roughly 00:25:26.380 --> 00:25:27.539 29 chapters 00:25:27.539 --> 00:25:29.320 where three of Job's friends 00:25:29.320 --> 00:25:30.279 try to counsel him. 00:25:30.779 --> 00:25:31.400 And you say, 00:25:31.460 --> 00:25:33.100 well, why would 29 chapters 00:25:33.100 --> 00:25:33.840 of this book 00:25:33.840 --> 00:25:34.559 be taken up 00:25:34.559 --> 00:25:35.900 with bad advice? 00:25:37.019 --> 00:25:37.460 Clearly, 00:25:37.700 --> 00:25:39.059 the author wanted that 00:25:39.059 --> 00:25:40.039 to be front and center, 00:25:40.140 --> 00:25:40.360 right? 00:25:40.740 --> 00:25:41.740 Wanted us to wrestle 00:25:41.740 --> 00:25:42.519 with the bad advice 00:25:42.519 --> 00:25:43.140 of his friends? 00:25:43.380 --> 00:25:44.759 Well, I think this gives us 00:25:44.759 --> 00:25:46.319 a clue into why 00:25:46.319 --> 00:25:47.380 the book of Job 00:25:47.380 --> 00:25:48.579 was written in the first place. 00:25:49.099 --> 00:25:50.279 Job was likely written 00:25:50.279 --> 00:25:53.480 sometime in the second millennium BCE. 00:25:53.960 --> 00:25:55.180 It's possibly, as I said, 00:25:55.220 --> 00:25:56.240 the oldest book in the Bible. 00:25:57.079 --> 00:25:58.980 And there are other ancient texts 00:25:58.980 --> 00:26:00.819 from that time period, 00:26:01.220 --> 00:26:02.220 from other cultures 00:26:02.220 --> 00:26:02.759 and religions, 00:26:02.759 --> 00:26:03.920 that also deal 00:26:03.920 --> 00:26:04.920 with the same question 00:26:04.920 --> 00:26:06.099 of evil and suffering. 00:26:06.099 --> 00:26:07.679 And I think that's fascinating. 00:26:08.379 --> 00:26:09.539 Job is what you might think of 00:26:09.539 --> 00:26:10.459 as a theodicy. 00:26:10.599 --> 00:26:11.359 It tries to resolve 00:26:11.359 --> 00:26:12.959 the issue of suffering in God. 00:26:13.099 --> 00:26:14.599 But it's not the only theodicy 00:26:14.599 --> 00:26:15.539 from the ancient world. 00:26:15.779 --> 00:26:16.519 We have other, 00:26:16.619 --> 00:26:17.039 for instance, 00:26:17.219 --> 00:26:19.279 Mesopotamian theodicies 00:26:19.279 --> 00:26:21.819 about somebody who suffers 00:26:21.819 --> 00:26:23.539 and has to make sense of that 00:26:23.539 --> 00:26:26.539 in light of the reality of God. 00:26:27.259 --> 00:26:28.879 But what's even more fascinating 00:26:28.879 --> 00:26:29.419 than that is 00:26:29.419 --> 00:26:30.139 when you compare 00:26:30.139 --> 00:26:30.939 the book of Job 00:26:30.939 --> 00:26:32.539 to these other theodicies, 00:26:32.539 --> 00:26:36.539 the advice of Job's friends 00:26:36.539 --> 00:26:40.940 reflects the wisdom 00:26:40.940 --> 00:26:43.220 in all of these other theodicies 00:26:43.220 --> 00:26:44.339 from the ancient world. 00:26:45.480 --> 00:26:47.339 And so one very plausible explanation 00:26:47.339 --> 00:26:48.539 for the book of Job is 00:26:48.539 --> 00:26:49.859 the book of Job is meant 00:26:49.859 --> 00:26:53.000 to counter the teaching 00:26:53.000 --> 00:26:53.879 that you would find 00:26:53.879 --> 00:26:57.420 in these other Mesopotamian theodicies. 00:26:57.799 --> 00:26:59.500 So the advice of Job's friends 00:26:59.500 --> 00:27:00.519 perfectly reflects 00:27:00.519 --> 00:27:01.359 what you would find 00:27:01.359 --> 00:27:02.699 in these other texts. 00:27:02.979 --> 00:27:03.939 And it's almost as though 00:27:03.939 --> 00:27:05.399 the text is trying to dialogue 00:27:05.399 --> 00:27:07.639 with these other texts. 00:27:09.179 --> 00:27:10.639 And so all three friends 00:27:10.639 --> 00:27:12.240 basically make the same argument. 00:27:12.719 --> 00:27:13.099 They say, 00:27:13.139 --> 00:27:14.219 Job, you must have done 00:27:14.219 --> 00:27:15.019 something horrible. 00:27:15.619 --> 00:27:17.659 There must be some egregious sin 00:27:17.659 --> 00:27:18.359 in your life. 00:27:18.439 --> 00:27:19.219 Look at the amount 00:27:19.219 --> 00:27:19.899 that you're suffering. 00:27:20.319 --> 00:27:21.659 Nobody suffers like this 00:27:21.659 --> 00:27:22.740 unless they deserve it. 00:27:23.219 --> 00:27:24.859 Surely you've done something 00:27:24.859 --> 00:27:25.939 that you haven't told us about, 00:27:26.019 --> 00:27:26.959 you haven't told God about. 00:27:27.179 --> 00:27:27.939 Just confess. 00:27:28.219 --> 00:27:29.199 That's what they keep saying. 00:27:29.259 --> 00:27:30.339 And it gets harsher and harsher. 00:27:30.339 --> 00:27:31.480 There are several cycles 00:27:31.480 --> 00:27:32.500 of dialogue between Job 00:27:32.500 --> 00:27:32.839 and his friends 00:27:32.839 --> 00:27:34.000 and each time 00:27:34.000 --> 00:27:36.779 they get a little less nice, 00:27:37.079 --> 00:27:38.199 a little less refined 00:27:38.199 --> 00:27:40.059 and the gloves finally come off 00:27:40.059 --> 00:27:40.419 and they're like, 00:27:40.500 --> 00:27:43.159 Job, obviously you're a horrible sinner. 00:27:43.279 --> 00:27:43.980 Just admit it 00:27:43.980 --> 00:27:44.679 and be done with it. 00:27:46.299 --> 00:27:47.419 And that's essentially 00:27:47.419 --> 00:27:48.699 what all of the other 00:27:48.699 --> 00:27:50.339 Mesopotamian cultures believed. 00:27:50.619 --> 00:27:51.539 It's what most religions 00:27:51.539 --> 00:27:52.339 believe today. 00:27:52.559 --> 00:27:53.199 That ultimately, 00:27:53.419 --> 00:27:54.319 if you're blessed, 00:27:54.659 --> 00:27:56.279 you must have done something good. 00:27:56.399 --> 00:27:57.539 God must be on your side. 00:27:57.539 --> 00:27:58.720 God, if you're suffering, 00:27:58.879 --> 00:27:59.599 if you're cursed, 00:27:59.920 --> 00:28:02.579 if you're having to grieve loss, 00:28:02.920 --> 00:28:04.599 then you must have really screwed up 00:28:04.599 --> 00:28:06.200 and God must be frustrated with you. 00:28:06.319 --> 00:28:07.259 And that's what we think. 00:28:08.099 --> 00:28:08.299 You know, 00:28:08.480 --> 00:28:09.799 you get a cancer diagnosis 00:28:09.799 --> 00:28:10.859 and a lot of people, 00:28:10.940 --> 00:28:11.559 your first thought is, 00:28:11.659 --> 00:28:13.019 God, what did I do to deserve this? 00:28:14.720 --> 00:28:16.139 Or you look at somebody else 00:28:16.139 --> 00:28:16.519 and you're like, 00:28:16.759 --> 00:28:18.399 why are they having all the success 00:28:18.399 --> 00:28:19.059 and not me? 00:28:19.559 --> 00:28:20.879 What did they do to deserve that? 00:28:20.880 --> 00:28:24.840 But Job counters this in two ways. 00:28:25.120 --> 00:28:25.840 First, he says, 00:28:25.960 --> 00:28:27.620 look, when you look around the world, 00:28:27.900 --> 00:28:28.540 what do you see? 00:28:28.720 --> 00:28:30.360 You don't see righteous people flourishing 00:28:30.360 --> 00:28:32.320 and unrighteous people being punished. 00:28:32.500 --> 00:28:32.720 He's like, 00:28:32.740 --> 00:28:33.440 you see the opposite. 00:28:34.080 --> 00:28:35.820 You see unrighteous people flourishing 00:28:35.820 --> 00:28:38.180 and you see righteous people suffering. 00:28:39.160 --> 00:28:39.440 He's like, 00:28:39.480 --> 00:28:40.440 this doesn't make sense 00:28:40.440 --> 00:28:41.380 according to your logic. 00:28:42.860 --> 00:28:43.860 And then secondly, 00:28:44.620 --> 00:28:45.580 Job insists, 00:28:45.900 --> 00:28:46.680 I really and truly 00:28:46.680 --> 00:28:47.500 haven't done anything 00:28:47.500 --> 00:28:48.440 to deserve this. 00:28:49.040 --> 00:28:50.540 And he's telling the truth. 00:28:50.880 --> 00:28:51.960 In this story, 00:28:52.080 --> 00:28:52.680 Job is innocent. 00:28:55.220 --> 00:28:56.820 So by chapter 31, 00:28:57.040 --> 00:28:58.860 Job has proven his friends wrong. 00:28:59.700 --> 00:29:01.260 That retribution principle 00:29:01.260 --> 00:29:02.360 that they're operating out of, 00:29:02.400 --> 00:29:03.180 that's not true. 00:29:04.180 --> 00:29:05.500 But he has not solved 00:29:05.500 --> 00:29:06.440 the problem of suffering. 00:29:07.660 --> 00:29:09.140 Because what we are left with 00:29:09.140 --> 00:29:10.100 in chapter 31, 00:29:10.240 --> 00:29:11.660 if Job just had 31 chapters, 00:29:12.240 --> 00:29:13.200 what we're left with 00:29:13.200 --> 00:29:15.240 is a God who is capricious 00:29:15.240 --> 00:29:17.560 and arbitrary. 00:29:17.559 --> 00:29:21.240 And I think a lot of Christians 00:29:21.240 --> 00:29:23.319 secretly believe 00:29:23.319 --> 00:29:25.099 that that's how we understand suffering. 00:29:26.700 --> 00:29:27.139 Ultimately, 00:29:27.259 --> 00:29:28.240 God is capricious 00:29:28.240 --> 00:29:29.720 and arbitrary. 00:29:31.079 --> 00:29:32.259 The only way to explain it 00:29:32.259 --> 00:29:33.039 is that God just 00:29:33.039 --> 00:29:35.359 randomly dispenses 00:29:35.359 --> 00:29:36.539 blessing and suffering. 00:29:37.919 --> 00:29:39.119 And that's not enough. 00:29:39.500 --> 00:29:40.339 That's not enough. 00:29:40.460 --> 00:29:41.779 And Job's not going to leave us there. 00:29:42.139 --> 00:29:42.859 Chapter 32, 00:29:42.980 --> 00:29:43.819 we meet Elihu. 00:29:43.819 --> 00:29:46.059 And Elihu says, 00:29:46.179 --> 00:29:46.779 you're all wrong. 00:29:48.200 --> 00:29:49.379 The friends are wrong 00:29:49.379 --> 00:29:50.259 and Job's wrong. 00:29:50.359 --> 00:29:50.679 He says, 00:29:51.139 --> 00:29:51.779 suffering is neither 00:29:51.779 --> 00:29:53.639 proof of God's wickedness 00:29:53.639 --> 00:29:55.639 nor is it proof of God's, 00:29:55.700 --> 00:29:56.359 or I'm sorry, 00:29:56.639 --> 00:29:57.399 neither is suffering 00:29:57.399 --> 00:29:59.220 proof of Job's wickedness 00:29:59.220 --> 00:30:01.139 nor is it proof 00:30:01.139 --> 00:30:03.119 of God's arbitrariness. 00:30:04.779 --> 00:30:05.639 And then he says 00:30:05.639 --> 00:30:06.379 something pretty radical. 00:30:06.559 --> 00:30:07.659 Sometimes suffering 00:30:07.659 --> 00:30:09.399 is proof of God's love. 00:30:09.400 --> 00:30:12.140 In chapter 33, 00:30:12.240 --> 00:30:13.320 verses 14 to 19, 00:30:13.440 --> 00:30:13.840 he says, 00:30:14.600 --> 00:30:16.160 God speaks to humans 00:30:16.160 --> 00:30:17.220 in two ways. 00:30:18.400 --> 00:30:19.540 Through His word 00:30:19.540 --> 00:30:21.720 and through suffering. 00:30:24.400 --> 00:30:24.980 C.S. Lewis 00:30:24.980 --> 00:30:26.460 lost his mother 00:30:26.460 --> 00:30:27.540 at an early age. 00:30:28.340 --> 00:30:29.200 He was emotionally 00:30:29.200 --> 00:30:31.019 abandoned by his dad. 00:30:31.759 --> 00:30:32.580 He suffered from 00:30:32.580 --> 00:30:33.759 a respiratory illness 00:30:33.759 --> 00:30:34.580 as a teenager. 00:30:35.300 --> 00:30:36.060 He fought 00:30:36.060 --> 00:30:36.800 and was wounded 00:30:36.800 --> 00:30:37.900 in World War I. 00:30:37.900 --> 00:30:39.560 and then he had to bury 00:30:39.560 --> 00:30:40.700 his beloved wife. 00:30:41.900 --> 00:30:43.019 And out of all that pain, 00:30:43.120 --> 00:30:43.660 he wrote a book 00:30:43.660 --> 00:30:44.780 called The Problem of Pain. 00:30:45.519 --> 00:30:46.060 And in there, 00:30:46.160 --> 00:30:46.940 he says this, 00:30:47.780 --> 00:30:49.180 pain insists 00:30:49.180 --> 00:30:51.440 upon being attended to. 00:30:52.280 --> 00:30:53.480 God whispers to us 00:30:53.480 --> 00:30:54.140 in our pleasures, 00:30:54.680 --> 00:30:56.140 speaks in our conscience, 00:30:56.519 --> 00:30:58.440 but shouts in our pain. 00:30:59.180 --> 00:31:00.640 It is His megaphone 00:31:00.640 --> 00:31:03.680 to rouse a deaf world. 00:31:04.680 --> 00:31:05.900 So God is not capricious 00:31:05.900 --> 00:31:06.900 or arbitrary. 00:31:06.900 --> 00:31:07.540 arbitrary. 00:31:07.700 --> 00:31:08.560 Elihu says, 00:31:09.140 --> 00:31:09.940 there's a purpose 00:31:09.940 --> 00:31:11.060 behind everything 00:31:11.060 --> 00:31:12.000 that God does, 00:31:12.300 --> 00:31:13.600 including the suffering 00:31:13.600 --> 00:31:14.700 that He allows 00:31:14.700 --> 00:31:15.700 into our lives. 00:31:15.740 --> 00:31:16.700 He only allows 00:31:16.700 --> 00:31:17.800 exactly as much 00:31:17.800 --> 00:31:19.440 as He needs to allow 00:31:19.440 --> 00:31:20.420 in order to accomplish 00:31:20.420 --> 00:31:21.140 the purposes 00:31:21.140 --> 00:31:22.259 that He has 00:31:22.259 --> 00:31:23.120 in the lives 00:31:23.120 --> 00:31:24.200 of the people He loves. 00:31:26.120 --> 00:31:27.220 And this takes us 00:31:27.220 --> 00:31:28.580 beyond a capricious God, 00:31:28.780 --> 00:31:29.700 but the final word 00:31:29.700 --> 00:31:30.060 in Job 00:31:30.060 --> 00:31:30.740 has to come 00:31:30.740 --> 00:31:31.700 from God Himself. 00:31:33.019 --> 00:31:33.980 All the while, 00:31:34.100 --> 00:31:35.080 Job keeps saying, 00:31:35.079 --> 00:31:35.919 I don't want 00:31:35.919 --> 00:31:36.399 to talk to you, 00:31:36.439 --> 00:31:37.220 I want to talk to God. 00:31:37.279 --> 00:31:38.679 And God finally shows up. 00:31:39.419 --> 00:31:40.460 And Job gets a little more 00:31:40.460 --> 00:31:41.419 than he bargained for. 00:31:43.480 --> 00:31:44.759 God shows up 00:31:44.759 --> 00:31:46.099 as a massive hurricane. 00:31:46.960 --> 00:31:47.619 Very fitting. 00:31:48.659 --> 00:31:49.359 And He speaks 00:31:49.359 --> 00:31:50.619 starting in chapter 38. 00:31:51.659 --> 00:31:52.699 And here's what He says, 00:31:52.740 --> 00:31:53.539 just to paraphrase 00:31:53.539 --> 00:31:54.240 a few of the verses. 00:31:55.079 --> 00:31:55.460 Job, 00:31:55.859 --> 00:31:56.220 He says, 00:31:56.299 --> 00:31:57.119 prepare yourself. 00:31:57.819 --> 00:31:58.679 I've got a few questions 00:31:58.679 --> 00:31:59.079 for you. 00:31:59.779 --> 00:32:00.079 And He says, 00:32:00.339 --> 00:32:00.939 where were you 00:32:00.939 --> 00:32:01.439 when I laid 00:32:01.439 --> 00:32:02.019 the foundations 00:32:02.019 --> 00:32:02.659 of the earth? 00:32:04.539 --> 00:32:05.359 I was there. 00:32:06.399 --> 00:32:07.159 I don't remember 00:32:07.159 --> 00:32:07.859 seeing you there. 00:32:08.960 --> 00:32:09.759 Where were you 00:32:09.759 --> 00:32:10.899 when the morning stars 00:32:10.899 --> 00:32:11.899 sang together 00:32:11.899 --> 00:32:13.439 and all the sons of God 00:32:13.439 --> 00:32:14.299 shouted for joy? 00:32:17.339 --> 00:32:18.059 Where were you 00:32:18.059 --> 00:32:18.519 when I laid 00:32:18.519 --> 00:32:19.839 the clouds over the sea 00:32:19.839 --> 00:32:20.539 like a blanket 00:32:20.539 --> 00:32:21.720 over a newborn child? 00:32:23.399 --> 00:32:23.879 He says, 00:32:23.939 --> 00:32:24.460 I was there. 00:32:24.539 --> 00:32:25.079 Where were you? 00:32:26.259 --> 00:32:27.220 And He goes on 00:32:27.220 --> 00:32:27.699 and on 00:32:27.699 --> 00:32:28.199 and on 00:32:28.200 --> 00:32:28.640 and on. 00:32:29.600 --> 00:32:30.259 And the point 00:32:30.259 --> 00:32:30.740 is clear. 00:32:32.259 --> 00:32:32.880 He says, 00:32:33.059 --> 00:32:33.860 there's a purpose 00:32:33.860 --> 00:32:34.680 behind suffering. 00:32:35.720 --> 00:32:36.620 And it flows 00:32:36.620 --> 00:32:37.660 out of God's wisdom. 00:32:38.340 --> 00:32:39.200 But that purpose 00:32:39.200 --> 00:32:40.440 is so much greater, 00:32:40.720 --> 00:32:41.779 it is so much higher 00:32:41.779 --> 00:32:42.720 than anything 00:32:42.720 --> 00:32:43.860 that we could ever 00:32:43.860 --> 00:32:44.680 hope to understand. 00:32:44.880 --> 00:32:45.740 It would be like you 00:32:45.740 --> 00:32:46.640 trying to explain 00:32:46.640 --> 00:32:47.279 your laptop 00:32:47.279 --> 00:32:48.160 to an ant. 00:32:51.100 --> 00:32:52.279 In the storm, 00:32:52.539 --> 00:32:54.180 Job comes face to face 00:32:54.180 --> 00:32:56.120 with his finitude, 00:32:57.019 --> 00:32:58.180 with his creature 00:32:58.180 --> 00:32:59.560 creatureliness, 00:33:00.700 --> 00:33:01.900 with his humanness. 00:33:03.140 --> 00:33:03.640 And then, 00:33:03.740 --> 00:33:04.900 and only then, 00:33:05.039 --> 00:33:06.160 does he see God 00:33:06.160 --> 00:33:06.620 clearly, 00:33:06.759 --> 00:33:07.500 maybe for the first 00:33:07.500 --> 00:33:08.380 time in his life. 00:33:08.620 --> 00:33:09.060 He says, 00:33:09.279 --> 00:33:10.100 I had heard of you 00:33:10.100 --> 00:33:10.720 by the hearing 00:33:10.720 --> 00:33:11.299 of the ear, 00:33:11.500 --> 00:33:12.680 but now my eyes 00:33:12.680 --> 00:33:13.380 see you. 00:33:13.460 --> 00:33:13.740 You know, 00:33:13.799 --> 00:33:14.740 I had this abstract 00:33:14.740 --> 00:33:16.100 concept of you, 00:33:16.240 --> 00:33:17.340 but the problem was 00:33:17.340 --> 00:33:18.720 I was so big 00:33:18.720 --> 00:33:19.620 in my own eyes 00:33:19.620 --> 00:33:20.720 and you were so small 00:33:20.720 --> 00:33:21.820 that I was actually 00:33:21.820 --> 00:33:23.279 not able to see you 00:33:23.279 --> 00:33:23.820 because you were 00:33:23.820 --> 00:33:24.920 cast in my shadow. 00:33:24.920 --> 00:33:26.700 I was so big 00:33:26.700 --> 00:33:27.380 that I was looking 00:33:27.380 --> 00:33:27.900 at you, 00:33:28.200 --> 00:33:29.860 but you were shrouded 00:33:29.860 --> 00:33:30.480 by the shadow 00:33:30.480 --> 00:33:31.259 that I cast. 00:33:32.080 --> 00:33:33.060 And now that I've 00:33:33.060 --> 00:33:33.940 gotten smaller 00:33:33.940 --> 00:33:35.420 and you've gotten 00:33:35.420 --> 00:33:35.860 bigger, 00:33:36.080 --> 00:33:37.080 now I can see you. 00:33:37.140 --> 00:33:37.820 Now you're not just 00:33:37.820 --> 00:33:38.840 an abstract concept 00:33:38.840 --> 00:33:39.360 in my mind, 00:33:39.480 --> 00:33:40.320 now I can actually 00:33:40.320 --> 00:33:40.920 see you. 00:33:43.120 --> 00:33:43.920 And he says, 00:33:44.560 --> 00:33:46.120 I'm going to shut up 00:33:46.119 --> 00:33:46.979 and I'm going to 00:33:46.979 --> 00:33:48.000 repent in dust 00:33:48.000 --> 00:33:48.379 and ashes. 00:33:48.479 --> 00:33:49.319 That's all I can do. 00:33:51.399 --> 00:33:52.259 And this is what 00:33:52.259 --> 00:33:53.179 grief ultimately 00:33:53.179 --> 00:33:54.179 does in us. 00:33:54.259 --> 00:33:55.000 It brings us 00:33:55.000 --> 00:33:55.859 face to face 00:33:55.859 --> 00:33:56.579 with the truth 00:33:56.579 --> 00:33:57.639 of our own limits 00:33:57.639 --> 00:33:59.039 and then 00:33:59.039 --> 00:34:02.339 it brings us 00:34:02.339 --> 00:34:02.959 face to face 00:34:02.959 --> 00:34:03.479 with the truth 00:34:03.479 --> 00:34:03.939 of who God 00:34:03.939 --> 00:34:04.659 actually is. 00:34:05.879 --> 00:34:06.699 And this is the 00:34:06.699 --> 00:34:07.459 core of all true 00:34:07.459 --> 00:34:07.779 wisdom, 00:34:07.879 --> 00:34:08.219 by the way, 00:34:08.279 --> 00:34:08.759 the realization 00:34:08.759 --> 00:34:09.960 that there is a God 00:34:09.960 --> 00:34:10.920 and I am not Him. 00:34:12.219 --> 00:34:13.219 If you want to be wise, 00:34:13.359 --> 00:34:13.859 start there. 00:34:13.860 --> 00:34:16.820 Now I'm almost done 00:34:16.820 --> 00:34:18.019 but there's one more 00:34:18.019 --> 00:34:18.920 little thing we have 00:34:18.920 --> 00:34:19.360 to say. 00:34:20.059 --> 00:34:20.940 Some people might 00:34:20.940 --> 00:34:21.599 object to this 00:34:21.599 --> 00:34:22.039 and say, 00:34:22.360 --> 00:34:23.420 so I'm just supposed 00:34:23.420 --> 00:34:25.039 to accept that God 00:34:25.039 --> 00:34:26.280 has reasons for suffering 00:34:26.280 --> 00:34:27.400 even if we can't 00:34:27.400 --> 00:34:28.019 understand it. 00:34:28.140 --> 00:34:28.740 How do I know 00:34:28.740 --> 00:34:29.400 I can trust that 00:34:29.400 --> 00:34:29.940 kind of God? 00:34:30.519 --> 00:34:31.140 I'm just supposed 00:34:31.140 --> 00:34:31.880 to leave it entirely 00:34:31.880 --> 00:34:32.579 in His hands? 00:34:34.120 --> 00:34:34.960 And the reason 00:34:34.960 --> 00:34:35.980 that we can trust God 00:34:35.980 --> 00:34:36.599 with the suffering 00:34:36.599 --> 00:34:37.260 in our lives 00:34:37.260 --> 00:34:38.539 is not really found 00:34:38.539 --> 00:34:39.640 in this story. 00:34:39.920 --> 00:34:41.300 It's found in the story 00:34:41.300 --> 00:34:42.420 to which the story 00:34:42.420 --> 00:34:43.000 points. 00:34:43.000 --> 00:34:44.460 It's found in the 00:34:44.460 --> 00:34:45.179 greater story 00:34:45.179 --> 00:34:45.760 of the Bible. 00:34:46.679 --> 00:34:47.679 In this story, 00:34:47.840 --> 00:34:49.079 Job is supposedly 00:34:49.079 --> 00:34:50.900 innocent and yet 00:34:50.900 --> 00:34:51.880 as an innocent man 00:34:51.880 --> 00:34:52.739 he suffers more 00:34:52.739 --> 00:34:53.420 than any of his 00:34:53.420 --> 00:34:53.760 friends. 00:34:54.639 --> 00:34:55.320 Through all of his 00:34:55.320 --> 00:34:56.159 suffering he remains 00:34:56.159 --> 00:34:57.099 faithful to God 00:34:57.099 --> 00:34:58.400 and in the end 00:34:58.400 --> 00:34:59.300 God tells the 00:34:59.300 --> 00:35:00.400 unfaithful friends 00:35:00.400 --> 00:35:02.280 offer sacrifices 00:35:02.280 --> 00:35:04.119 and ask Job 00:35:04.119 --> 00:35:05.059 to pray for you 00:35:05.059 --> 00:35:06.940 and if Job 00:35:06.940 --> 00:35:08.139 prays on your behalf 00:35:08.139 --> 00:35:09.139 I won't deal with you 00:35:09.139 --> 00:35:09.780 according to your 00:35:09.780 --> 00:35:10.119 folly. 00:35:11.039 --> 00:35:11.559 And what we need 00:35:11.559 --> 00:35:12.400 to understand is 00:35:12.400 --> 00:35:12.980 this story 00:35:13.000 --> 00:35:13.960 points to an even 00:35:13.960 --> 00:35:14.820 greater story 00:35:14.820 --> 00:35:15.239 and an even 00:35:15.239 --> 00:35:16.159 greater Job. 00:35:16.800 --> 00:35:17.679 There's only one 00:35:17.679 --> 00:35:18.260 human being 00:35:18.260 --> 00:35:18.900 who ever lived 00:35:18.900 --> 00:35:19.760 who was really 00:35:19.760 --> 00:35:20.840 and truly innocent 00:35:20.840 --> 00:35:22.920 and his name 00:35:22.920 --> 00:35:23.820 was Jesus Christ. 00:35:25.000 --> 00:35:25.639 And yet Jesus 00:35:25.639 --> 00:35:26.300 was willing 00:35:26.300 --> 00:35:27.179 it was his delight 00:35:27.179 --> 00:35:27.980 to go to the cross 00:35:27.980 --> 00:35:28.780 to suffer more 00:35:28.780 --> 00:35:29.739 than any other 00:35:29.739 --> 00:35:30.480 human being 00:35:30.480 --> 00:35:31.260 in history 00:35:31.260 --> 00:35:33.960 and he was willing 00:35:33.960 --> 00:35:34.400 to do that 00:35:34.400 --> 00:35:35.300 to offer himself 00:35:35.300 --> 00:35:36.079 as a sacrifice. 00:35:36.940 --> 00:35:37.760 And the gospel 00:35:37.760 --> 00:35:38.860 says that because 00:35:38.860 --> 00:35:39.960 Jesus did that 00:35:39.960 --> 00:35:40.980 he offered himself 00:35:40.980 --> 00:35:41.599 as a sacrifice 00:35:41.599 --> 00:35:42.339 and because 00:35:42.339 --> 00:35:43.480 Jesus prays 00:35:43.480 --> 00:35:44.019 to the Father 00:35:44.019 --> 00:35:45.119 on our behalf 00:35:45.119 --> 00:35:46.960 if we come 00:35:46.960 --> 00:35:47.380 to Jesus 00:35:47.380 --> 00:35:48.239 and ask for him 00:35:48.239 --> 00:35:48.940 to intercede 00:35:48.940 --> 00:35:49.579 for us 00:35:49.579 --> 00:35:50.639 it says that 00:35:50.639 --> 00:35:51.239 because of the 00:35:51.239 --> 00:35:52.019 prayers and the 00:35:52.019 --> 00:35:53.000 sacrifice of Jesus 00:35:53.000 --> 00:35:54.059 God won't deal 00:35:54.059 --> 00:35:54.759 with us according 00:35:54.759 --> 00:35:55.500 to our folly. 00:35:55.639 --> 00:35:56.339 He won't deal 00:35:56.339 --> 00:35:56.920 with us according 00:35:56.920 --> 00:35:57.639 to our sin. 00:35:57.759 --> 00:35:58.159 He won't deal 00:35:58.159 --> 00:35:59.099 with us according 00:35:59.099 --> 00:35:59.920 to all of the ways 00:35:59.920 --> 00:36:00.659 that we have questioned 00:36:00.659 --> 00:36:01.779 and even abandoned 00:36:01.779 --> 00:36:02.299 God. 00:36:03.339 --> 00:36:04.299 And so this is 00:36:04.299 --> 00:36:04.880 what we see 00:36:04.880 --> 00:36:05.860 as God's final 00:36:05.860 --> 00:36:06.920 answer to suffering 00:36:06.920 --> 00:36:07.579 in the world. 00:36:07.940 --> 00:36:09.079 Not an explanation 00:36:09.079 --> 00:36:10.759 but a solution. 00:36:11.960 --> 00:36:12.880 So we may never 00:36:12.880 --> 00:36:13.880 understand why God 00:36:13.880 --> 00:36:14.639 allowed suffering 00:36:14.639 --> 00:36:15.420 to enter the world 00:36:15.420 --> 00:36:16.619 but we do know 00:36:16.619 --> 00:36:17.059 this 00:36:17.059 --> 00:36:18.539 that God 00:36:18.539 --> 00:36:19.059 was willing 00:36:19.059 --> 00:36:19.699 to suffer 00:36:19.699 --> 00:36:20.579 more than 00:36:20.579 --> 00:36:21.819 any one of us 00:36:21.819 --> 00:36:23.460 to bring an end 00:36:23.460 --> 00:36:24.239 to suffering 00:36:24.239 --> 00:36:25.739 once and for all. 00:36:26.779 --> 00:36:27.380 Let's pray. 00:36:31.239 --> 00:36:32.079 Lord again 00:36:32.079 --> 00:36:32.460 I 00:36:32.460 --> 00:36:33.119 we 00:36:33.119 --> 00:36:34.980 I know 00:36:34.980 --> 00:36:35.599 that there are people 00:36:35.599 --> 00:36:36.259 who are genuinely 00:36:36.259 --> 00:36:37.659 really truly suffering 00:36:37.659 --> 00:36:39.019 who might be hearing this 00:36:39.019 --> 00:36:40.539 and we know that 00:36:40.539 --> 00:36:41.399 words alone 00:36:41.399 --> 00:36:42.199 aren't enough 00:36:42.199 --> 00:36:43.679 and so what we pray 00:36:43.679 --> 00:36:44.619 now is that 00:36:44.619 --> 00:36:45.319 you would take 00:36:45.319 --> 00:36:46.179 whatever of this 00:36:46.179 --> 00:36:47.019 is of you 00:36:47.019 --> 00:36:47.960 from you 00:36:47.960 --> 00:36:49.940 and that you 00:36:49.940 --> 00:36:51.119 would make it true 00:36:51.119 --> 00:36:52.119 make it flesh 00:36:52.119 --> 00:36:53.279 through the power 00:36:53.279 --> 00:36:54.079 of your Holy Spirit. 00:36:55.299 --> 00:36:56.079 Deliver your word 00:36:56.079 --> 00:36:56.980 as medicine 00:36:56.980 --> 00:36:57.899 to those parts 00:36:57.899 --> 00:36:58.639 of us that most 00:36:58.639 --> 00:36:59.599 need to be healed 00:36:59.599 --> 00:37:01.259 and we pray 00:37:01.259 --> 00:37:02.099 that this would 00:37:02.099 --> 00:37:03.239 kindle in us 00:37:03.239 --> 00:37:04.259 a hope 00:37:04.259 --> 00:37:05.000 that enables us 00:37:05.000 --> 00:37:05.539 to face 00:37:05.539 --> 00:37:06.719 the inevitability 00:37:06.719 --> 00:37:07.279 of loss 00:37:07.279 --> 00:37:08.320 and grief 00:37:08.320 --> 00:37:10.699 and to do it 00:37:10.699 --> 00:37:11.440 faithfully Lord 00:37:11.440 --> 00:37:12.500 we pray this 00:37:12.500 --> 00:37:12.980 in your son's 00:37:12.980 --> 00:37:13.440 holy name 00:37:13.440 --> 00:37:13.860 Amen 00:37:13.860 --> 00:37:20.680 Amen 00:37:20.680 --> 00:37:21.680 Amen 00:37:21.680 --> 00:37:22.920 Amen 00:37:22.920 --> 00:37:23.000 Amen 00:37:23.000 --> 00:37:23.340 Amen 00:37:23.380 --> 00:37:25.160 Amen 00:37:25.160 --> 00:37:25.420 Amen 00:37:25.420 --> 00:37:26.019 Amen 00:37:26.160 --> 00:37:26.880 Amen 00:37:26.880 --> 00:37:27.240 Amen 00:37:27.240 --> 00:37:28.019 Amen 00:37:28.120 --> 00:37:28.380 Love 00:37:28.380 --> 00:37:31.180 Amen 00:37:31.980 --> 00:37:32.780 Amen 00:37:32.780 --> 00:37:33.720 Amen 00:37:33.720 --> 00:37:34.500 Amen 00:37:34.500 --> 00:37:38.900 Amen 00:37:38.900 --> 00:37:41.180 Amen 00:37:41.180 --> 00:37:41.519 Amen 00:37:41.519 --> 00:37:43.720 Amen