Searching for Meaning

One of the marks of being human is our need to understand why something happens or why it even exists.  We are born to search for meaning.  Asking what, why, and how are essential questions and have everything to do with our identity, our values, and our perspective on reality.  They are philosophical and theological questions, and they are about our understanding of God.  Our search for meaning and understanding are matters of faith.

The Book of Job is a rich theological essay that explores a variety of perspectives.  It is a book about the human condition, and it’s been praised by Alfred, Lord Tennyson as “the greatest poem of ancient and modern times.”

In the passage we read today, God speaks to Job out of a whirlwind.  “I will question you, and you shall declare to me. Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?  Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements-- surely you know! Or who…

laid its cornerstone when the morning stars sang together and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy? "

A friend, Rabbi Jim Rosenberg, gave a paper a couple of years ago about the Book of Job.  In response to this passage Jim writes, “God goes on to browbeat Job with a long series of sarcastic questions: “Can you do this, Job?  Can you do that?  It is almost as if God is seeking to crush Job’s rebellious spirit with a manifestation of overwhelming might, to break him with a display of almost infinite creative energy.  But gradually the tone of God’s words softens.  Instead of continuing to intimidate Job, [in the following chapters] God begins to help Job see the world through Divine eyes, as it were:  “Take a look, Job, at all these animals living out their lives without ever coming into contact with a single human being: lion, mountain goat, ostrich, eagle.  They are part of My world, Job, just as you are.” 

Finally, God shows Job two of His most wondrous creatures: Behemoth, a hippopotamus-like giant with a “tail” as tall as a cedar tree; and Leviathan, a fearsome combination of crocodile and fire-breathing dragon.  At this Job speaks for the last time in the story, uttering ambiguous and mysterious words that have challenged generation after generation of commentators: “I know that You can do everything: That nothing You propose is impossible for You…I had heard of You with my ears, but now I see You with my eyes: therefore, I recant and take comfort, being but dust and ashes.” (42.2,5-6)

Job has never questioned God’s power; Job has openly and repeatedly acknowledged that God can do everything.  What Job has questioned all along is God’s justice.  As Job has maintained through his endless arguing with his so-called friends, “I am innocent; yet God continues to punish me for no reason. I demand my day in court.  Let God at least have the decency to tell me what He thinks I have done wrong.” 

The disciples in Mark’s gospel, similar in theme to the story of Job, display a total lack of understanding about Jesus' mission.  Their expectation of messiah and Jesus' fulfillment of that expectation were worlds apart.  What makes this point so prominent in the story is that Jesus is

consistent in carefully outlining his mission. 

James and John, two of Jesus’ disciples said to Jesus, "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you." And he said to them, "What is it you want me to do for you?" And they said to him, "Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory." But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking.

The very context of this story illustrates the disciples' self-serving and self-seeking.  James and John have their names attached to this story, but it does not mean they were different from the other disciples. 

Earlier in Mark's Gospel, Jesus began to teach the disciples about suffering: "Jesus was teaching his disciples, saying to them, 'The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.'  But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him."  The disciples didn’t seem to get the message.  Jesus told them, "The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many."

What are we to make of this?   We live in a secular age with the meaning of life tied to amassing wealth, yet much of the world lives in poverty.  We live in a technological age, yet one fraught with illiteracy and inadequate education.  This makes being "spiritual" or faithful in following Christ and the gospel a difficult task.  Mark's gospel dispels the myth that being close to Jesus gives a better grasp of the messiah.  In fact the opposite is true: those closest to Jesus often had great difficulty in understanding.

When James and John heard Jesus speak about his reign they naturally assumed he was going to wield absolute power and they wanted a piece of the action.  They failed to understand that Jesus was making the suffering of Job and the suffering servant prophecies of Isaiah his own.  The mission of the servant was his mission.  He was eager to help those who were poor in mind and spirit and earthly possessions. “Whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant….  For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.”

Jesus came to serve, and he invites us to join in that service.  He states clearly the conditions: we must be willing to drink from the cup of suffering, to empathize with the poor and the downtrodden, to heal the sick and wounded, and to eradicate the diseases and evils of this world.  To lead God's people one must serve. 

James and John, and the other disciples had to grow and change in their self-understanding of Jesus' ministry of service. The 12th Century monastic, Bernard of Clairvaux said, "There are many who seek knowledge for the sake of knowledge: that is curiosity.  There are others who desire to know in order that they may themselves be known: that is vanity.  But there are some who seek knowledge in order to serve and edify others: and that is love."

Jesus invites us to serve the God of our faith wherever we are -- at work, in our professional lives, in our families, and in our communities -- by giving of ourselves to others in their need.

May all of us continue to grow in accepting Christ’s invitation of service to those in need.  Amen.