Acceptance

Acceptance

Grace, mercy and peace be unto you from God who is Creator, Christ and Comforter.  Amen

We are coming to the end of our series on Job.  I have loved this time digging into the story of this man and his life!  In today’s lesson God continues the conversation with Job, knowing full-well that his “friends” are there listening in.  And, quite frankly, I think those friends need to hear God’s words even more than Job! 

How often, though, in our own life, do we think when tragic things happen to us that God has somehow turned away from us and no longer cares?  How often, if we are honest, does it feel like our prayers go no higher than the ceiling and then bounce right back to us – and we feel for sure that God has not heard?  How many times have we either said out loud, or to ourselves, “What did I ever do to deserve this?” 

It brings to mind the teachings of the first Buddha and the basis of Buddhism yet today: 1) suffering exists; 2) suffering has a cause; 3) suffering has an end; and 4) suffering has a cause to bring about its end. 

For Job, and for us as well, we are keenly aware that suffering exists!  You can’t tune into a news program and not see suffering on a global scale.  It can make us feel helpless and hopeless and victimized.  Until we remember something that God is saying to Job in our texts. 

God is reminding Job, that God is in control!  God knows the things that are happening to us, many times because of our own choices, and many times…seemingly random events that just happen because we are alive!  God knows, God hears, and God answers…

…probably not too often in direct language like Job and his companions heard…but God answers…and often, not without a great deal of both time and pain in the process. 

God mentions Leviathan.  One of the many pictures is hopefully on the screen.  This sea creature is mentioned only 4 times in the Bible.  For people who are contemporaries of this story, Leviathan represents all of the chaos in the world – those deep, dark, unknowns, that can haunt our dreams and invade our realities.  God reminds Job (and us) that God has control even of the chaos! 

And then, at long last, Job came to acceptance.  He realized the truth of God’s hand in this whole process all the while.  God does not stop our suffering, God is with us in our suffering – even when it doesn’t feel like it!  Job acknowledges God with these words, “I know you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.” 

For me, in my life, coming to acceptance brings a peace that I didn’t have before.  Acceptance doesn’t negate the horror, the pain, the confusion or the reality of what I had experienced.  Acceptance means those events, those pain-filled realities, no longer have control of my being! 

Acceptance means embracing what is, rather than wishing for what is not. When we accept difficult realities, we are able to discover whatever positive feelings and experiences may be possible in that situation. We find ourselves more at peace and able to experience life more deeply. Even so, acceptance must be guided by discernment – learning how to tell the difference between what we can change and what we cannot.

Job came to this acceptance in the presence of his friends who took many days from their lives to be with him in his pain.  Though their reflections may not have been useful for Job in his life, they were there and not off talking about him behind his back! 

The story goes that in ancient Greece, Socrates was reputed to hold knowledge in high esteem. One day an acquaintance met the great philosopher and said, “Do you know what I just heard about your friend?” “Hold on a minute,” Socrates replied. “Before telling me anything I’d like you to pass a little test. It’s called the Triple Filter Test.” “Triple filter?” “That’s right,” Socrates continued. “Before you talk to me about my friend, it might be a good idea to take a moment and filter what you’re going to say. That’s why I call it the triple filter test. The first filter is Truth. Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true?”  “No,” the man said, “Actually I just heard about it and ...” “All right,” said Socrates. “So you don’t really know if it’s true or not. Now let’s try the second filter, the filter of Goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about my friend something good?” “No, on the contrary…” “So,” Socrates continued, “you want to tell me something bad about him, but you’re not certain it’s true. You may still pass the test though, because there’s one filter left: the filter of Usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about my friend going to be useful to me?” “No, not really …” “Well,” concluded Socrates, “if what you want to tell me is neither true nor good nor even useful, why tell it to me at all?”

J R R Tolkein said, “Some believe that it is only great power that can hold evil in check, but that is not what I have found.  I found that it is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay by small acts of kindness and love.

Acceptance.  God gave the world carte blanche acceptance when God allowed Jesus to die – for you and for me.  Acceptance.  As we move through this week, I pray that I will be more accepting of God’s grace, and of the sisters and brothers I interact with this week. 

Will you join me? 

In the name of the Father, and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen