We have another chunk of Job to work through this week as we come to Job 20-24.  By this point, you can probably guess what Job’s friends and Job will say.  Something along the lines of wicked people get whacked, you’re wicked Job, and repent Job from the friends.  Then for Job, something along the lines of this isn’t fair, the wicked prosper while the righteous don’t, and my life stinks.  Guess what?  We basically get all of that again in our passage this week.  Since we have 5 chapters to cover, I encouage you to read it ahead of time since I won’t be able to read everything on Sunday morning.  Again, listening to the passage is encouraged since this is a dialogue, meant to be spoken to each party.

There is a danger this week to simply zone out.  We’ve heard this all before.  But as we look at both the friends and Job, we’re going to find that they functionally expect far too little from God.  They have gotten stuck in what they think ought to be and are unable or unwilling to face the realities of a fallen and broken world with faith.  They’d rather rail against the realities they face than act with compassion for those who they think are wrong and to live in tension with them, meeting them where they are.

Obviously, that approach is not a Gospel approach.  Jesus knew exactly where we are sinful, knew exactly the worst parts of us, and He stepped into the mire with us that He might redeem us by His blood.  And so this week, to change things up, I’d like to examine how we are like Job’s friends.  We’ve spent most of this series looking at Job and empathizing with him while throwing the friends under the bus.  But the rule of thumb is to identify with the worst person in the story, and that’s not Job.  That’s his friends.  So as we prepare to come to worship, let us examine how we get stuck in the way we think things ought to be, how we refuse to meet people where they are in their brokenness, and how the Gospel both calls us to live like Jesus and enables us to step into uncomfortable, broken, sinful lives with grace.  See you Sunday!