Companionship in Good & Bad Times

Seeking Christ, and to be his for others, regardless of the circumstance.

Surely someone(s) somewhere at some point have decided to read the Christmas-ness of Luke 1 and the depression of Job together before, right?

This is quite the task.

As I read the two passages for today, the companions rose to the surface. In Job, his wife is pretty terrible. I do want to acknowledge she has been through it, too. Those were her kids, her livelihood, her home. She’s lost a lot. But her response and “encouragement” to Job is pretty terrible. Who can blame her?

But that’s the point, isn’t it? When a situation is particularly difficult, our desire is to find out why. Who is to blame? What should have been done to prevent it all? While these questions aren’t completely unimportant, the grace of God is such that questions focus more on the present - the resulting pain, the consequential effects, and all the hurt. How will healing come? God is not ignorant of culpability. But God in Christ does not remain there.

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Job’s friends do really care about him. The cynical could say that they were likely benefactors of Job’s wealthy life. Maybe. Regardless, even after he’s lost everything, they came and showed deep concern for him. Other “friends” might see Job’s state and quietly acknowledge he has nothing left from which to benefit. But Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar sat with him and joined him in his state of silence. Yes, soon enough as they begin to rationalize what has happened, their understanding will become warped and their advice, poor. But it is certain that they care for Job. Their sincerity can’t be questioned.

This is a difficult thing - to stand in with a friend who has been wrecked.

Elizabeth’s neighbors and relatives have an easier role. Who doesn’t want to celebrate the birth of a baby? Even then, they have opinions (about his name). In good times, everyone wants to know, everyone wants to be a part, to have a role. It’s human nature to want to belong. This is when neighbors can become “nosy.”

The good news is not that suffering can be avoided or explained. It’s also not that joy can be controlled or manufactured. The good news is that God in Christ has entered both rooms - the room of silence and the room of celebration. As we walk through this Lenten season, perhaps the question is not whether life feels more like Job or Luke, but whether we are willing to follow Christ in whichever room we find ourselves.

Not unrelated: what is our Christ-like role for others in such spaces?

Luke 1:56-66

Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months, and then returned to her home.

When the time came for Elizabeth to have her child, she gave birth to a boy. Her neighbors and relatives celebrated with her because they had heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy. On the eighth day, it came time to circumcise the child. They wanted to name him Zechariah because that was his father’s name. But his mother replied, “No, his name will be John.”

They said to her, “None of your relatives have that name.” Then they began gesturing to his father to see what he wanted to call him.

After asking for a tablet, he surprised everyone by writing, “His name is John.” At that moment, Zechariah was able to speak again, and he began praising God.

All their neighbors were filled with awe, and everyone throughout the Judean highlands talked about what had happened. All who heard about this considered it carefully. They said, “What then will this child be?” Indeed, the Lord’s power was with him.

Job 2

One day the divine beings came to present themselves before the Lord. The Adversary also came among them to present himself before the Lord. The Lord said to the Adversary, “Where have you come from?”

The Adversary answered the Lord, “From wandering throughout the earth.”

The Lord said to the Adversary, “Have you thought about my servant Job, for there is no one like him on earth, a man who is honest, who is of absolute integrity, who reveres God and avoids evil? He still holds on to his integrity, even though you incited me to ruin him for no reason.”

The Adversary responded to the Lord, “Skin for skin—people will give up everything they have in exchange for their lives. But stretch out your hand and strike his bones and flesh. Then he will definitely curse you to your face.”

The Lord answered the Adversary, “There he is—within your power; only preserve his life.”

The Adversary departed from the Lord’s presence and struck Job with severe sores from the sole of his foot to the top of his head. Job took a piece of broken pottery to scratch himself and sat down on a mound of ashes. Job’s wife said to him, “Are you still clinging to your integrity? Curse God, and die.”

Job said to her, “You’re talking like a foolish woman. Will we receive good from God but not also receive bad?” In all this, Job didn’t sin with his lips.

When Job’s three friends heard about all this disaster that had happened to him, they came, each one from his home—Eliphaz from Teman, Bildad from Shuah, and Zophar from Naamah. They agreed to come so they could console and comfort him. When they looked up from a distance and didn’t recognize him, they wept loudly. Each one tore his garment and scattered dust above his head toward the sky. They sat with Job on the ground seven days and seven nights, not speaking a word to him, for they saw that he was in excruciating pain.

Prayer

God,

It snowed again last night. Not too much. Just enough to cover the spaces the sun had laid bare over the last few days. The trees and railings are now frosted. And I get to scrape the sidewalk once more.

Lord, help me be the companion that celebrates sincerely and offers space for healing compassionately, not forcefully. Make my desire to know things to be borne out of love.

Because I see your loving justice in Jesus of Nazareth. So make me more like him.

By your Spirit & in Christ,
Amen.