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Difficult Questions
MARCH 9, 2022
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The Collect:
O Lord God, you led your people through the wilderness and brought them to the promised land.
Guide us now, so that, following your Son, we may walk safely through the wilderness of this world
toward the life you alone can give, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 27
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The Assigned Readings:
Job 1:1-22
Psalm 17
Luke 21:34-22:6
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The assigned readings for this day present a composite picture of dire circumstances.
The Lukan Apocalypse, set immediately prior to the execution of Christ, advises spiritual vigilance for the return of the Son of Man, that is Jesus. (“Son of Man” is an apocalyptic term in the Bible.) Goodness does not spare Jesus from the betrayal by Judas Iscariot, however.
In the Book of Job God permits the titular character to suffer as part of a wager with the Adversary (the Satan), still one of God’s employees, according to the theology of the time. One might imagine that the author of Psalm 17 was thinking of Job when he wrote that short poem. Certainly the tone of Psalm 17 is consistent with Job’s speeches.
Hear my just cause, O Lord; consider my complaint;
listen to my prayer, which comes not from lying lips.
Let my vindication come forth from your presence;
let your eyes behold what is right.
–Psalm 17:1-2, Common Worship (2000)
Feel-good religion fails to deal properly with such circumstances. Easy answers prove inadequate when the questions are difficult. Human inadequacy becomes obvious and the need to rely on divine sufficiency becomes clear. But what if one understands God to be at least partially responsible for one’s troubles? I offer no easy answers, for the questions are difficult. I do, however, embrace the wonderful Jewish practice of arguing with God faithfully. It recurs throughout the Hebrew Bible, especially in the Book of Psalms.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
NOVEMBER 13, 2015 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF HENRY MARTYN DEXTER, U.S. CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER AND HISTORIAN
THE FEAST OF SAINT ABBO OF FLEURY, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT
THE FEAST OF SAINT BRICE OF TOURS, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP
THE FEAST OF SAINT NICHOLAS TAVELIC AND HIS COMPANIONS, ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYRS
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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2015/11/13/difficult-questions/
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