Sermon 33, Job 9:1-6
The sermon today covers Job’s first response to Bildad and focuses on one particular line “I know for a truth that man will not be justified toward God.” (9:1).
Feeling pretty good about yourself? How so? I’d bet it’s either because (a) you just did a good thing, (or didn’t do a bad thing), Or (b) you know of people doing worse things than you are/have.
Nope. Michael Wilson on PTI calls this feeling “smelling yourself”. Haha.
Using this verse, Calvin gets rid of this feeling. If I just did a good thing, great, but don’t forget that I have a bazillion other sins, many of which I don’t even know about. Ok, but at least I’m better than so and so. Maybe I am, but that isn’t the bar. Wrong metric. What is the bar? God’s perfect righteousness. How do I stack up using that bar? Very badly.
Isn’t this super depressing? I am so bad and Calvin is shining a light continually on that.
So what do I do, and why should I do it?
Calvin has a three step suggestion for what to do:
Don’t try and “dispute or plead” with God. Be “silent and not grumble” then just acknowledge my sin. It’s there arguing is to not be aware of God’s attributes, and/or to be worldly.
Be reflective. Try to find your sins. I wonder if a “sin journal” is a thing? Calvin says “if men examine themselves carefully without hypocrisy, they will find themselves engulfed in so many evils that they will be ashamed and completely dejected”. And, further “each person must enter into himself and sort out his vices so that he will know how to recognize them.” So, sin meditation seems to be a good idea. I guess we become more like God if we can do better and understanding and distinguishing our sins.
Be reflective. I am aware that I’ve written that twice. But this time I should reflect on punishments I’ve received. These would be afflictions and hardships. If I think about the punishments then I must conclude “It is justly done. I have indeed deserved it.”
Why should I do this? Well, I think the answer is two-fold.
If I buy into Christianity, and I mean really buy into it, then I have to accept an objective reality. What I mean is, I have to accept that I am sinful in God’s eyes and it doesn’t matter what I think about that. Again, why go through the three step process above? Because this is all true and it doesn’t matter what I think about it. God is more righteous than I can ever possibly imagine - I have to deal with that whether I want to or understand it.
It might not seem like it, but this is the way to happiness. While I am awful and helpless, God is good and loving. He has provided the way to restoration of how I should really be. That way is not any other way but the three step plan above and then knowing that God has fixed the problem by handing out his righteous, lawful, contractual punishment onto His own son in my place. I am a sinner, God is righteous and must punish sin, I’m going to hell. These are facts, the reality. But wait! The punishment was given to his Son. There is happiness to be found here. It’s not a worldly happiness, but it’s real happiness. In short, out of sin-discovery comes gratitude to God. What a journey I am on!