Sermon 48, Job 12:17-25
I always want to hear God’s voice. I think that by that, I would value his direction. Probably, when I was younger, I wanted to hear a voice because it would have been faith affirming, cool, or even dramatic. But now, I’d just like to have a little direction and feel closer to him.
Calvin’s sermon today continues to deal with God’s providence. It is very helpful. Calvin says that God speaks to us everyday.
“…we do not profit well enough from the many teachings God gives us every day even though he performs such miracles that we ought to be deeply moved when we think about them, and yet we are still not affected.”
“He speaks to us, but we understand nothing. Why not? Because we are asleep.”
Everyday He speaks to us and in many ways. But how? Two things are of importance here.
There are no coincidences in life. “Let us realize that, whatever happens, God is governing all things in such a way that we must not be so mindless that we attribute anything to fortune.”
Small things count. Not just big things. Job uses big language to draw attention to God’s providence. Job says “God will bring the darkness of death into light”. Calvin says this bold language is to grab our attention and place it on God’s works. The language is necessary because alternative language like “the night runs its course and the day follows” ,although representing a “wondrous change”, is commonplace for us and we don’t think about it.
So how to hear God? Realize that everything is ordained by Him, even the small. If you really think about that you have to acknowledge that God is not silent.
Very minor side bar. In the sermon today I learned of Maximinus Thrax. A Roman ruler that Calvin often used (according to Gemini) to illustrate the worst of humanity. I will have to look him up.