What Shall God Do?

Job 42:1-6; Psalm 34:1-8, 19-22; Mark 10:46-52

Central Baptist Church, Lowesville, VA

29 October 2006

There are many voices espousing prosperity as God’s inviolable will for believers. Many claim for the gospel a message of health, wealth, position, and power. “God’s blessings are available for the taking; after all, we are children of the King of the Universe!” The gospel becomes a religious lottery for believers who will claim its blessings. What about the real-time suffering so prevalent in the world? Is this gospel of prosperity what the Bible’s true message? If God plans for our prosperity, are we willing to accept whatever God defines as prosperity and success?

Job calls us to take a serious look at prosperity, suffering, and the value of material blessing. At the end of Job’s story, the reversal of fortune seems suddenly out-of-place. Job’s suffering and loss has utterly destroyed any sense of material well-being. “Happily ever after” no longer seems appropriate for a life beset by such intense tragedy. Sudden restoration of wealth with the blessing of new children somehow fails to override the distress of suffering and loss. Once realized, this reversal seems just as pointless as Job’s original suffering. It does not, nor indeed can it erase the realities of death and loss.

We received a new batch of young chicks this week. Most of you know that in our move to Central, we lost some twenty hens to dogs back in Pamplin. Among the hens massacred was Jonathan’s favorite chicken, Parrot. We received a new batch of baby chicks this week. We are excited about them. Even so, the new chicks don’t negate the massacre we experienced. Some of the new chicks are buff colored like Parrot. Regardless, they are not an even replacement. They are, after all, new chicks, not the ones we enjoyed before.

In the massacre, we re-learned lessons regarding the value of life and the tragedy of senseless killing. We grieved over the loss of our chickens, but do we grieve over the loss of life that God holds dear? Our media reported that October had the highest death count of U.S. forces in Iraq over the last two years. Why do we not count the Iraqi dead as well? Are their lives of any lesser value? My family has grieved over chickens senselessly slaughtered by dogs this month. God grieves over a broken humanity we fail to embrace with the gospel. While I grieve over poultry, God wants to teach us the greater value of God’s mission. God wants to mold our character to conform us to the greater scope of divine love.

Job’s story leaves me empty, requiring me to re-evaluate what I consider valuable. Do I value character the way God does? Is my life in tune with God’s mission, or do I seek unsatisfying definitions of prosperity that would place me above others, degrading their worth for contrast?

Life is no sterile existence devoid of struggle. Psalm 34 grants no sense of shielding from pain and suffering. The psalmist accepts the reality of life’s distress and conflict. He does grant, however, that there is more to life and God’s blessing than avoidance of difficult experiences. Amid life’s tumult, shines God’s presence and blessing, protecting and redeeming even within our suffering, pain, and death. This is not the prosperity gospel we hear on the airways. This is God’s version of blessing—the presence of the Almighty healing our wounds amid the storms of life.

No one prepared me for what we experienced during our final weeks on the field in Brazil. After serving for seven years where our boys were born, we the International Mission Board gave us 16 days to leave the country. Amid packing and selling or giving away what we could not ship, we were called upon time and again to comfort Brazilian friends struggling to grasp what we did not comprehend. They were the roughest two weeks of our lives. They were also the richest.

During those two weeks, we were forced to trust God’s provision on a wholly new level. We had to review our call to missions as primarily a call to serve God however and wherever God desired. We were disciples first, and salaried missionaries second. Like Job, we wanted to understand why, but God wanted us simply to trust and be faithful to our Lord. In our time of need, God provided space to rebuild our lives. God provided a new venue for ministry. God provided financial support during unemployment, meeting our financial needs, despite significant financial loss. The tragedy and turmoil in our lives was not wasted. We began to trust God on a new level, giving God further rights to our lives. We experienced richly God’s provision amid life’s turmoil. We had to reassess the extent to which we would allow God full reign over our lives.

You see, just going back to Brazil would not have righted the wrongs we suffered. Restitution could never return us to the same ministry and lives we had enjoyed. We cannot turn the clocks back to recreate the past. Through our experiences, we have changed and need new beginnings that embrace the realities of life. We needed to see life anew through God’s eyes, a process we are still learning. Rather than grasping onto our definitions of prosperity and success, we needed to allow God to refashion our understanding in accordance with the higher values of the gospel of God’s reign.

Jesus asked the blind man on the road the same question he had asked the disciples. “What do you want from me?” The answer could not have been more hauntingly different. Bartimaeus asked for sight—a metaphor for understanding. This is what the disciples should have requested. They were too preoccupied with advancement over others to grasp the essential character of this kingdom in which they sought greatness. Rather than power over others, they needed clarity regarding the quality of God’s richer blessings. They did not understand the character of God’s definitions of success and blessing.

God had more in mind than advancement through earthly power structures. God had other means to accomplish his will than rising above others, using force and coercion to advance love and grace. Jesus did not cast the gospel in terms of earthly political victory over an enemy somewhere out there. He cast the living of God’s reign within the interaction of the faithful among a world in opposition to God’s demands of love. Jesus’ victory over sin, death, and worldly power would not be fought with the tools of oppression, politics, or intimidation. The victory of the gospel decries success in spite of these forces arrayed against us. God provides victory, success, and blessing through the character of love and grace crafted amid life’s distress.

It is not the easy road that engenders faith. It is not the life devoid of pain that breeds the will to comfort others in distress. It is not our worldly definitions of success that offer true fulfillment. Success lies in overcoming the shackles that bind us to seeking after what can never satisfy.

Should God really be about the business of keeping our lives free of pain, suffering, and loss? Should God really dedicate attention to utilizing the power structures of this world to advance the Reign of Christ? Jesus used completely different means to advance God’s will. He lived the character of the gospel he preached. What gospel do our lives proclaim—that of Christ, or of worldly advancement?

—©2006 Christopher B. Harbin