Sunday Homily 2-5-12, 5th Ordinary Time
Readings: Job, 7, 1-7, Is not man's life on earth a drudgery? (I will expand this reading); Psalm 147,
Praise the Lord, who heals the broken hearted; 1 Corinthians, 9, 16-23; I have made myself a slave to all; Mark, 1, 29-39, They brought to him all who were ill.
Job:
Author: Unknown. No book in the OT or NT has less known about it. Called the most profound book of the OT. It deals with the problem of evil, personal justification, and why bad things happen to good people. Job himself could be historical, a literary creation, or a combination of the first two.
Date: It is guessed to be before the time of Moses and Egypt, i.e., earlier than 1300 BCE.
Structure: 3 poetic dialogs preceded by a prose introduction and ending with a prose conclusion.
Why do Bad Things Happen to Good People
I would like to talk this morning about why bad things happen to good people.
Once upon a time there was a good man named Job who lived in the land of Uz. He had 7 sons and 3 daughters, a sign that he was especially blessed. He not only had sons, but he had the special number of 7.
One day Yahweh was walking around heaven talking with his buddies when he ran into the devil. "What have you been doing?" he asked. "I have been walking around here and there," the devil responded.
"Have you noticed how good my man Job is?" "Yes,' says the devil, "but I bet he will curse you to your face if you stop protecting him and take away all his goodies." "It's a bet," says Yahweh, "Just don't hurt him."
So a few days later while all of Job's 7 sons and 3 daughters where having a feast with their families, a storm blew up killed them all. A messenger runs to tell Job of the horrible news.
Shortly after that, another messenger races in and says lightening has just killed all his sheep and the shepherds. Other messengers then run in saying Job's livestock have been rustled by robbers who killed all the farm hands.
Job is devastated, of course, but responds with the famous statement: "I was born with nothing, and I will die with nothing. The Lord gave, and now he has taken away. May his name be praised."
So Yahweh wins his bet. But, when Yahweh and the devil meet up to settle their bet, the devil pushes by saying that he bets Job will curse Yahweh if the devil is allowed to hurt his body. Not death, just hurt. "Bet," says Yahweh.
The next day Job comes down with sores all over his body, like leprosy, and he has to go outside of town where the lepers go. He sits in the town dump. His wife now comes and his friends. They all grieve. They also encourage Job to see what he has done bad. Has he cursed Yahweh? Confess and repent. Job proclaims his innocence. But he is depressed and discouraged.
(In East Africa I used to celebrate Mass for a small community of lepers.)
Finally, while not cursing Yahweh, he cries out his anguish saying (chapter 3):
"Oh, God, put a curse on the day I was born; put a curse on the night when I was conceived! Turn that day into darkness, God." (verses 2-4)
"I wish I had died in my mother's womb or died the moment I was born. Why did my mother hold me on her knees?" (verses 11-12)
"Why let men go on living in misery? Why give light to men in grief?" (verse 20)
"Everything I fear and dread comes true. I have no peace, no rest, and my troubles never end." (verses 25-26)
After some time in this situation, Yahweh comes along and speaks with him:
"Who are you to question my wisdom with your ignorant, empty words? Stand up now like a man and answer the questions I ask you. Were you there when I made the world?" (verses 2-3)
"Job, have you ever in all you life commanded a day to dawn?" (verse 12)
"Have you been to the springs in the depths of the sea? Have you walked on the floor of the ocean? "(verse 16)
"Have you been to the place where the sun comes up or the place where the east wind blows?" (verse 24)
After hearing all the numerous ways Yahweh reminds him of how insignificant he is, Job apologizes to Yahweh and promises to be a good boy from now on. Yahweh restores his wealth and gives him 7 more sons and 3 more beautiful daughters. He lives another 140 years a prosperous and happy man.
So does this answer the question why bad things happen to good people? Contemporary scripture scholars find evidence that the happy ending of Job's story was a late addition, that the story ended simply with Job apologizing. Not always is the Job story a happy ending.
For example, there is a kid, Timothy Cole, whose story still shakes me to this day. He was a freshman at Tech in '85. He was studying in his room in the apartment of his brother. There were other kids in the house. Timothy was accused of attacking a coed that same night and he was convicted. The girl mistakenly identified him from a picture. He was given a 25 year sentence.
He was finally acquitted of the attack by a DNA match and the confession of another prisoner who did the attack. The trouble was, the college freshman passed 14 years of his 25 year sentence. Moreover, he died before he was exonerated. Found dead in his cell. An asthma attack.
Pathetically the girl attacked repeatedly noted that the attacker smoked non stop and that she challenged him on it. Timothy, because of his asthma, never smoked. Moreover, when the guy who really did it tried to tell the local authorities in Lubbock, they did not even respond. The guy had to write to the family of Timothy. He said he heard Timothy crying in his cell and saying he never did it.
Timothy is a Job without a happy ending, a good kid who had a really bad thing happen to him. This happens every day, folks.
How do you answer the question?
Picture 1: Delgados & Elwells, Bernadette & Gilberto, Marianne & George
Picture 2: Jan & Geri
Picture 3: Leo & pillow ready for nap
Picture 4: Communion helpers, Mike & Rob & Beth
Picture 5: John & Denni & Patricia
Picture 6: The Kerns, Candy, Holly (on U.T. athletic scholarship, softball pitcher), Mike, Ben, Sam, & Stephen