“Why?” (From Oz to Uz.) 7-28-24
Overview
From Oz to Uz: Living with the Question "Why?"
The fictional Land of Oz is governed by the question how? How does Dorothy get back to Kansas? How does the Scarecrow get a brain, the Tin Man a heart, the Lion courage? Follow the yellow brick road, and the great and powerful Oz will solve it. The answers come tied up neatly, and the whole thing turns out to be a dream with a small man behind a curtain. The Land of Uz is different. Uz is real, and there the dominant question is not how? but why?
Job 1:1 introduces us to Job, "blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil." Blameless does not mean morally perfect—Job, like all of us, was a sinner—but complete, wholehearted in his devotion to the Lord. Yet in Job 1:6-12, Satan accuses Job of serving God only for the blessings, and God permits him to be tested—though always on a leash, with God remaining sovereign. The disasters that follow in Job 1:13-19 are staggering: oxen, sheep, camels, servants, and finally Job's own children, all gone. Echoing this prowling adversary, Peter warns us in 1 Peter 5:8 to stay alert, "for your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion."
Job's friends sit with him in silence for seven days Job 2:13—and then they open their mouths. Eliphaz says bad things happen to bad people. Bildad says you get what you deserve. Zophar says try harder. This is bad counsel. The biblical counsel is different: God can bring good out of suffering, sometimes uses it to refine us, but there is no neat correlation between the measure of someone's sin and the measure of their suffering. God does not punish us for our sin, because the wrath for sin was laid on Jesus. He took the punishment in our place. That theology is true and good and necessary—and yet, when we step back from it, the personal cry of Job often remains: Why me?
When God finally answers in Job 38—"Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?"—he never actually answers Job's why. Instead, question after question, God essentially says: You know who I am. You can trust me. That is enough. Like Job, our whys may go unanswered; our minds cannot fathom the ways of God. But God is not a small figure behind a curtain pulling levers. He is God Almighty, who tore the temple curtain at the cross of Jesus so that we now have direct access to him through the blood of Christ. You are forgiven. You are redeemed. You are reconciled. You have been claimed in the waters of baptism. And amid every why we carry, God says, "I am with you always. You know who I am. Trust me." In the land of Uz, that is enough.
Transcript
Would you open up your Bibles, please, for our time and God's Word today to the very first chapter of the Book of Job. 3s
If you're using a Pulidish and of Holy Scripture, you're going to find that in the Old Testament page 400 and 16. 11s
Page 416. 18s
Job the first chapter. 20s
Dorothy 24s
NTM 28s
Ruby Slippers 31s
The Scaracrow, a Tin Man, a Lion 35s
The Emerald City 40s
Toto, two 43s
Those are all descriptors, of course, of that great fictitious tale 47s
The Wizard of Oz 51s
And in that tale, Oz, the Land of Oz is portrayed as a beautiful place, but it's also a place with lions and tigers and bears. 55s
Oh my, oh my. 68s
We're going to get in the car today as we continue our Sunday drives. 72s
We're going to go from Egypt where we were last week. 76s
We're going to go to Jordan. 79s
But we're going to take a little bit of a circuitous circuitous route here. 81s
Because we're going to go to a place that sounds like Oz, but it's not. 87s
We're going to go to a place that sounds like Oz, but it was very much real. 92s
So, hop in the car, would you? 100s
Maybe take a book with you, perhaps with a picture of Judy Garlet on the cover. 104s
And let's do some travels today from Oz to Oz. 111s
In the Land of Oz, the Land of Oz, there was really a dominant question. 124s
Wasn't there? 131s
And it was the question of how? 131s
How? 134s
Because of a cyclone, Dorothy winds up in Oz. 136s
And so the question is, how can she return to Kansas? 140s
In her travels, she comes across a scarecrow. 146s
And the question was the question of how? 151s
How can I have a brain? 153s
Then there's a tenement. 156s
How can I have a heart? 157s
Then there was the lion. 159s
How can I have courage? 160s
In the Land of Oz, the dominant question, the dominant question was, how? 163s
And in Oz, look when they place, at verse 1 of Job 1. 174s
There was once a man in the Land of Oz, whose name was Job. 185s
That man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil. 190s
Where it says that he was blameless, that's not saying that he was morally perfect. 197s
None of us are morally perfect. 203s
We're all sinners. 205s
Job was a sinner. 206s
But that word there means complete. 208s
In other words, Job didn't have a half-hearted commitment to the Lord. 210s
Job was all in with regard to the Lord. 216s
He was complete. 220s
All in in terms of his commitment to the Lord. 223s
But then a question would arise. 226s
Drop down, please, to verse 6. 232s
One day the heavenly beings came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. 236s
The Lord said to Satan, where have you come from? 243s
Satan answered the Lord from going to and fro on the earth, from walking up and down on it. 246s
That's so reminiscent, isn't it? 254s
Of what Peter writes in first Peter 5, when he records, 256s
Discipline yourselves, keep alert, like a roaring lion, you're at the seri, the devil prowls around, 260s
looking for someone to devour. 268s
We pick up in verse 8. 271s
The Lord said to Satan, have you considered my servant, Job, there's no one like him on the earth, 275s
the blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil. 279s
Then Satan answered the Lord, does Job fear God for nothing? 286s
Have you not put a fence around him in his house, and all that he has, on every side, 292s
you've blessed the work of his hands and his possessions, have increased in the land. 297s
But stretch out your hand now and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face. 303s
Satan maintained. 313s
That the only reason why Job was all in for the Lord was because of the blessings that he could get. 315s
Satan maintained. 322s
That if God would simply take away all of the blessings that Job would curse him to his face. 325s
Look, please, at verse 12, the Lord said to Satan very well, 336s
all of the heises in your power only do not stretch out your hand against him. 341s
So Satan went out from the presence of Lord. 347s
God is going to test Job and the instrument of the testing is going to be Satan. 354s
But notice here, and God does not lose the sovereignty. 362s
God is still very much in control because it says in verse 12, 365s
that the Lord says only do not stretch out your hand against him. 369s
In other words, Satan is on a leash here. 376s
There's only so far. 380s
Then we read. 385s
Verse 13. 388s
One day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the eldest brother's house, 391s
a messenger came to Job and said, 396s
the oxen were plowing and the donkeys were feeding beside them and the sabians fell on them 399s
and carried them off and killed the servants with the edge of the sword. 404s
I alone have escaped to tell you. 408s
While they were still speaking in other camemen and said the fire of God fell from heaven and 413s
burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them. 418s
I alone have escaped to tell you. 421s
While he was still speaking in other camemen and said, 425s
the Caldeans formed three columns made a raid on the camels and carried them off 428s
and killed the servants with the edge of the sword. 434s
I alone have escaped to tell you. 436s
While he was still speaking, another camemen said, 440s
your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house. 444s
Suddenly, a great wind came across the desert, 453s
struck the four corners of the house and it fell on the young people. 459s
And they're dead. 464s
I alone have escaped to tell you. 467s
And the question that arises, 475s
the question in the land of us is why. 480s
Why? 491s
Chapter after chapter after chapter. 495s
Job says, this is not fair. 498s
Chapter after chapter after chapter, 503s
Job says, I did not deserve this. 505s
And Job is asking for an ex-exclimation from God in terms of what it is that a curse. 510s
The question, the dominant question in us, 519s
why? 532s
The situation is so much easier, isn't it? 540s
And the question in fact, tishus, 545s
azz, 547s
for there the seeking of the answer to the how. 550s
Well, it's rather clear. 555s
You just get on the yellow brick road 558s
and you follow the yellow brick road 561s
and it will take you to the great and powerful azz. 563s
And the how is will be answered. 568s
Azz will get you back to Kansas, Dorsey. 572s
Scared Crow. 578s
Scared Crow. 580s
You're going to get what's at your heart 582s
a wanting of a brain, tin man. 584s
Azz can get you the heart. 587s
Why? 590s
Why azz can get you. 591s
Curse. 594s
It's so much simpler. 597s
In the fictitious land of azz. 602s
But in azz. 611s
Three of Job's friends come. 617s
Look, please, at chapter two, verse 13. 621s
They sat with him on the ground 625s
in seven days and seven nights. 629s
No one spoke a word to him for they saw 632s
that his suffering was very great. 635s
For seven days and seven nights, 640s
they absolutely said nothing. 642s
They just sat with their friend 644s
undergoing this incredible suffering. 646s
And then they opened their mouths. 650s
Friend number one turns to Job and says, 655s
Job. 661s
Bad people have bad things that happened to. 663s
Friend number two, build that, turn to Job and says, 669s
You get what you deserve in life. 674s
You get what you deserve in life. 678s
So what did you do, Job? 680s
The third friend, Zofar. 685s
This Job, you just have to try harder. 688s
If you just try harder. 694s
So that's the council. 697s
That's the council of the friends when they open up their mouths. 698s
Bad things happen to bad people. 702s
Yeah, get what you deserve. 708s
You just have to try harder. 711s
Just try harder. 715s
But the biblical council, 718s
the biblical council tells us that God can bring 721s
God out of suffering. 725s
The biblical council tells us that sometimes God 728s
uses suffering to refine us. 731s
The biblical council says that there is not repeat, 736s
not a correlation between the amount of suffering 740s
that you go through and the amount of refinement that you need. 744s
The biblical council tells us that there is not repeat, 749s
not a correlation between the amount of sin in your life 754s
and the suffering that you will therefore endure because of it. 759s
The Bible tells us that the biblical council tells us that God 766s
doesn't punish us for our sin, 772s
because the wrath of God for sin was laid upon Jesus. 779s
Jesus took the punishment. 785s
It's the biblical council and it is good council. 791s
And it is council that we need to hear, 795s
but also what can remain in the one who suffers in their life. 799s
What can remain is that personal question. 804s
It's the personal question of Job. 808s
It's that personal question when you step back from the theology 811s
as good as it is in terms of suffering in the Scripture. 816s
When you step back, it's the personal question of Job 821s
when he says, 825s
But why me? 827s
Why me? 835s
God? 839s
Why me? 842s
Do you ever feel that way? 850s
Do you ever ask that question in all seriousness? 854s
Don't you feel like sometimes you need a new brain to try and figure it out? 866s
Or a new heart? 875s
Because your heart's just broken. 880s
Or you just need some courage. 887s
Because you're really, really scared. 892s
You know, how is it? 897s
In all of us, they just link arms and sing a song 905s
and follow the yellow brick road. 910s
But in us, in us, 918s
we're going to be a good one. 923s
Remember when I was a boy, 927s
there was an annual event in our family. 931s
CBS would air the Wizard of Oz. 936s
So we'd all get our pajamas on and we'd pop some popcorn 940s
and we would watch it every single year. 943s
But I also remember that there was a part of that movie I didn't like. 949s
It scared me. 956s
It's when they combed before Oz and it's that face that ghost-like figure 959s
and this voice that sounds eerie. 969s
When that would come on, I would shut my eyes. 975s
Or I would, I'd leave the room. 980s
I'd like it. 984s
I'd like it. 985s
Turns out. 989s
Turns out, that Oz was just a man behind a curtain. 992s
Behind a curtain pulling levers and speaking into the speaker system 997s
that changed his voice and turns out 1003s
that the whole story was just a dream that Dorothy had. 1008s
But in us, in us, 1020s
it's not a dream. 1027s
In us, you don't just wake up. 1031s
God comes and answers, Joe. 1044s
And God responds to all the questions that Joe was asking 1049s
the heart of it, the why. 1054s
But it's interesting. 1058s
God's response. 1058s
In chapter 38, the scripture says, 1061s
then the Lord answered Joe by the world wind 1063s
and this starts a whole series of questions, 1066s
and all series of questions. 1069s
And God turns to Joe and says, 1071s
where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? 1074s
Tell me if you have understanding? 1078s
Who determined its measurements? 1082s
Surely you know? 1085s
Or who stretched the line upon it? 1087s
Or what were its bases sunk? 1090s
Or who laid its cornerstone when the morning stars 1092s
sang together, and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy? 1095s
Question after question after question, 1100s
God just keeps coming to Joe. 1104s
And there comes a point where Joe, 1108s
he repents, he repents of his lack of trust 1111s
in God amidst the suffering. 1116s
But notice in the book, 1122s
God never ever answers, 1126s
Joe's question. 1128s
He never answers it. 1132s
His answer to Joe, 1136s
to summarize, 1138s
his answer to Joe is, 1139s
you know who I am, 1141s
you can trust me, 1144s
you know who I am, 1147s
and that's enough. 1151s
That's enough. 1153s
You see, like, Joe, 1157s
our wise can go unanswered. 1159s
Like, Joe, our minds can't fathom the ways of God. 1164s
Like, Joe, God does not come to us, 1173s
giving us his self-justifying answer of why he does, 1177s
what he does or why he doesn't do, 1181s
what he doesn't do. 1185s
Why, like, Joe, 1188s
the response that we get from God is, 1190s
I'm with you, 1196s
you know who I am, 1200s
and that's enough. 1205s
For you see, 1209s
God is not some little man behind the curtain, 1211s
pulling the levers, 1215s
but God is God Almighty, 1217s
who tears the curtain of the temple 1220s
at the crucifixion of Jesus signifying 1224s
that we now have direct access 1228s
into the presence of God through the blood of Jesus Christ. 1230s
You are forgiven. 1236s
You have been redeemed. 1239s
You have been reconciled. 1241s
You have been claimed in the waters of baptism. 1244s
God has opened up for you all of eternity, 1248s
and God Almighty says to you, 1253s
you are mine, 1256s
and I am with you always. 1258s
Always. 1262s
And I'm amidst all of our wise, 1268s
God comes and says, 1276s
I'm with you, 1281s
you know who I am, 1285s
trust me. 1291s
And that's enough 1297s
as we live in the land of us. 1303s
Thank you. 1321s