Series: Growing Up Into Christ
#6: The Wall
Job 30:15-27; 38:1-7; 40:1-9; 42:1-3,5-6 (NLT)
By John Gill ~ February 5, 2023

If you have been attending worship since the beginning of the year, or watching online, you know that we are in the midst of a sermon series focusing on the spiritual journey each of us are on, as we go – from our first inkling of faith when we first recognize that God exists and wants a relationship with us – through pursuing that relationship by claiming Jesus as our Savior – then becoming a “disciple” by learning all we can about the Bible and faith – and then seeking ways to be productive for God as we live out our new faith. Up to this point our faith journey has been an exciting time of growth and satisfaction. It feels like finally we have a firm foundation of faith below us. Life is good.

But at some point, that ‘firm foundation’ begins to crumble - or, as it has been said, “Into every life, a little rain must fall” – or sometimes a hurricane – that threatens to destroy our faith. It’s just as Jesus described in one of his parables; we discover that the “house” of our faith was not built on solid rock, but instead, on sinking sand. Our baby immature faith is no longer adequate to make sense of the challenges we face. That unsettling awareness was the subject of last Sunday’s message, “The Journey Inward.” This inward journey is a time of spiritual confusion and vulnerability. When that happens, as it inevitably will, we experience a crisis of faith that causes us to question what we thought we had believed. We begin to pull back from our labors for the Kingdom of God, or even pull away from our congregation, as we focus all our spiritual energy in trying to figure out why our faith has proven so inadequate to address the realities and challenges life has thrown at us.

This “Journey Inward” stage can last for years, or even decades. St. John of the Cross, a Christian mystic who lived in the 16th century, described this bleak spiritual season as “the dark night of the soul.”1 Dissatisfied with the faith we were taught, we may seek out other denominations, or even different religions or philosophies of life, hoping we will find “The Answer” to the nagging questions we are experiencing, only to find them just as inadequate. We may even abandon all attempts to make sense of life – rejecting God and religion altogether and become an atheist or agnostic. Yes, many people’s faith journey gets bogged down as we spend our spiritual energies on this inward “navel-gazing,” and grasp for panaceas that will finally “fix” our brokenness and anxiety. Somehow, we manage to go on with life - until we hit the wall.

That is the subject of this morning’s message: The Wall.

Hagberg and Guelich, authors of the book, The Critical Journey,2 on which this sermon series is based, wrote about the “Inward Journey” and hitting the “Wall” like this:

“When this stage comes, many feel propelled into it by an event outside themselves. It's usually a crisis that turns their world upside down. If we have been people of strong faith, our life, though not necessarily easy, has fit nicely into our faith framework. Then the event or crisis often takes on major proportions. It often strikes close to our core, for example, our children, spouse, work, or health.

For the first time our faith does not seem to work. We feel remote, immobilized, unsuccessful, hurt, ashamed, or reprehensible. Neither our faith nor God provides what we need to soothe us, heal us, answer our prayers, fulfill our wishes, change our circumstances, or solve our problems. Our formula of faith, whatever that may have been, does not work anymore, or so it appears. We are stumped, hurting, angry, betrayed, abandoned, unheard, or unloved. Many simply want to give up. Their life of faith may even seem to have been a fraud at worst, a mirage at best.”2

Sooner or later, we are all there, staring at The Wall. Maybe you are standing before that Wall right now.

Richard Rohr, in his book, A Spring Within Us 3, also describes this critical stage in our faith development. He writes: “Sooner or later, if you are on any classic spiritual ‘schedule,’ some event, person, death, idea, or relationship will enter your life, with which you simply cannot cope, using your present skill-set, your acquired knowledge, or your strong willpower… Until we are led to the limits of our present game plan, and find it to be insufficient, we will not search out or find the real source, the deep well, or the constantly flowing stream…. Jesus calls this ‘Ultimate Source’ the ‘living water’ at the bottom of the well (see John 4:10-14).” Instead, our faith is dried up and withering away.

In thinking about what scripture or biblical character to include in our reflection on this stage of our spiritual journey, many characters came to mind. In fact, the more I thought about it, no major biblical figure escaped their own “Wall.” And it was precisely their Wall and their struggle to get beyond it, that propelled them into spiritual greatness. Abraham had to be willing to

sacrifice his son to prove his faith. Jacob had to wrestle with God himself, and walk away with a limp. David created his own Wall by his sin with Bathsheba and murder of her husband, ultimately learning humility through repentance. Jonah survived the belly of a whale, and learned that it was foolish to try to flee from God. Joseph struggled with what to do with a fiancé he believed was unfaithful, and trusting the word of God, displayed great character by marrying her anyway. Saul experienced a crisis of faith on the Road to Damascus, and was transformed into Paul, a passionate advocate for the Christ he had been persecuting. It is pretty clear from the biblical record: No one achieves real spiritual maturity without passing through The Wall.

But I didn’t choose any of them. I chose the Old Testament character, Job. No biblical figure hit a more profound Wall than Job. In fact, the entire book of Job, all 42 chapters, is a study on what it means to hit the Wall – the ultimate crisis of faith. The Book of Job is like an onion which seems to have gone through several revisions and retellings over the millennia before it appeared as it does our Holy Scripture. As scholars have pealed back the layers of the onion to get to the core, they now believe that this folk-tale may well be the most ancient of all stories in the entire Bible. But as ancient as it is, it is timeless and current for all generations. The story of Job deals with the most basic theological conundrum in all of religion – why do the good suffer?

You heard Darleen read excerpts that capture only a small portion from this profound writing – just enough to give you a feel for the book – but I encourage you to go back and read the entire book. If you do, you will discover that this book of the Bible actually appears to be written as a “drama” – like a theatrical production, with characters and dialogue of various actors – Job and God, of course, but also well-meaning friends who come to visit Job and commiserate with him about the terrible fate that has befallen him.

Who is Job? You probably know that Job was a righteous man who suffered terrible loss. Or, you may only remember him from the expression, “The patience of Job.” (By the way, Job actually isn’t very patient – in fact he vent his anger at God.) If so, let me give you the crib note version of what we believe to be the original folktale the drama is based upon. In his famous book, When Bad Things Happen to Good People, 4 Harold Kushner summarizes the story of Job this way:

Who was Job, and what is the book that bears his name? A long, long time ago, scholars believe, there must have been a well-known folk story, a kind of morality-fable told to reinforce people's religious sentiments, about a pious man named Job. Job was so good, so perfect, that you realize at once that you are not reading about a real-life person. This is a Once-Upon-a-Time story about a good man who suffered. One day, the story goes, Satan appears before God to tell him about all the sinful things people were doing on earth. God says to Satan, “Did you notice my servant, Job? There is no one on earth like him, a thoroughly good man who never sins.” Satan answers God, “Of course Job is pious and obedient. You make it worth his while, showering riches and blessings on him. Take away those blessings and see how long he remains your obedient servant.”

God accepts Satan’s challenge. Without in any way telling Job what is going on, God [allows Satan to destroy] Job’s house and cattle and kill his children. He afflicts Job with boils all over his body, so that his every moment becomes physical torture. Job’s wife urges him to curse God, even if that means God's striking him dead. He can't do anything worse to Job than he already has done. Three friends come to console Job, and they too urge him to give up his piety, if this is the reward it brings him. But according to the most ancient telling of this tale, Job remained steadfast in his faith, defending God’s honor. Nothing that happens to him can make him give up his devotion to God. At the end, God appears, scolds the friends for their advice, and rewards Job for his faithfulness. God gives him a new home, a new fortune, and new children.

The moral of the original story is: when hard times befall you, don't be tempted to give up your faith in God. He has his reasons for what he is doing, and if you hold on to your faith long enough, he will compensate you for your suffering.”

Kushner goes on: “Over the generations, many people have been told that old folk-story. Some, no doubt, were comforted by it. Others were shamed into keeping their doubts and complaints to themselves after hearing Job’s example.

Our anonymous author of the final version of the story as we find it in our Bibles was bothered by [the message of the original morality-play. What kind of God would that ancient folk tale have us believe in, who would kill innocent children and visit unbearable anguish on his most devoted follower in order to prove a point, in order, we almost feel, to win a bet with Satan? What kind of religion is the story urging on us which delights in blind obedience and calls it sinful to protest against injustice? In fact, [the writer] Is so upset with this moral of the pious old fable that he took it, turned it inside out, and recast it as a philosophical poem in which the characters positions are completely reversed!

In the version we have in our Bible, instead of defending God’s honor, Job complains bitterly against God, and now - it is the friends who uphold the conventional theology, the idea that ‘no ills befall the righteous’ and so, if we suffer, it must be a punishment for our sin. In their effort to comfort Job, the three friends say all the traditional, pious things you and I say when someone experience

tragedy or loss – pat answers we assume to be true. In essence, the friends preach the problematic point-of-view contained in the original Job fable – which seemed to be: ‘Don't lose faith despite these calamities. We have a loving Father in heaven, and he will see to it the good people prosper and the wicked are punished,’ even though the evidence all around us says otherwise.

In the version of the tale we find in our Bible, there are three cycles of dialogue in which we alternately witness Job voicing his complaints and the friends defending God. Only then does the book finally comes to its thundering climax.

The author brilliantly has Job make use of a principle of biblical criminal law: if a man is accused of wrongdoing without proof he may take an oath swearing his innocence. At that point, the accuser must either come up with evidence against him or drop the charges….

And Job swears to his innocence! He claims that he never neglected the poor, he never took anything that did not belong to him, he never boasted of his wealth or rejoiced in his enemies misfortune. He challenges God to appear with evidence, or to admit that Job is right and has suffered wrongly. He challenges God!

And in this final version of the story we have in the Bible, God DOES appear! There comes a terrible windstorm out of the desert, and God answers Job out of the whirlwind. Job’s case is so compelling, his challenge so forceful, that God himself comes down to earth to answer him.

But God's answer is hard to understand. He doesn't talk about Job’s case at all – neither to detail Job’s sins (what his has supposedly doe), nor to explain-away his suffering. He never answers Job’s accusations. Instead, he says – in a long tirade, really – a speech over several chapters, God says to Job, in effect, ‘What do you know about how to run the world?’”

And in our scripture reading this morning, you heard part of Job’s response: He surrendered his will to God’s will; In doing so, he discovered a new level of trusting in God’s divine authority; and most importantly, he accepted that life and faith are ultimately profound mysteries we cannot fully understand this side of the grave. Maybe not the best or most satisfying answer, but there’s truth in that – right?

In the biblical version of this tale, Job faced his Wall – he struggled mightily with God through it, and he emerged on the other side with a more mature, more profound, more honest level of faith. No longer did he seek answers to the unanswerable question of why “bad things happen to good people.” Instead, Job came to the conclusion that it is enough that God promises to always be with us. That’s enough. We can depend upon God – the God who made the universe – created it all; the God who loves us through it all. We can depend on God even when we can’t understand the mystery of the sufferings in our lives. In the end, God is God, and we are not. And our new faith say, “that is enough.”

That is the moral of the story as it appears in our Bible. That’s the take-away.

Friends, this morning are you confronting a “Wall” that is a roadblock on your spiritual journey? Is it blocking your way to God? Well, you can’t avoid it or circumvent it. You can’t borough under it , you can’t leap over it, you can’t even ignore it – if you hope to move toward the destination that is - “growing up into Christ,” the Life of Love , the heart of God. No, you have to wrestle through it.

Hagberg and Guelich explain what is involved in confronting the Wall that blocks our faith:

“Wrestling with the wall plays a vital role in the process of our spiritual healing. The wall represents the place where another layer of transformation occurs, and a renewed life of faith begins for those who feel called and have the courage to move into it. The wall represents our will meeting God's will face to face. We decide anew whether we are willing to surrender and let God direct our lives.

We enter the wall with fear and trepidation, but we become less afraid of being afraid because of God’s leading. We are on holy ground. We are experiencing a pivotal moment when we feel drawn to surrender, knowing it will not be easy, but it will be worthwhile. We are dying to self and waiting to be reborn…

Our experience of God at the Wall takes on different nuances based on our personal needs for healing and renewal. This wall experience differs for everyone. And mentally, it has to do with slowly breaking through the barriers we have built between our will and a newer awareness of God in our lives. We have spent our own energy; we have come to the end of our ropes. We are ready to

learn about freedom - the liberty of living without grasping at things. In a more profound sense than ever before, we have to let God be God, and allow God direct our lives.” 5

It's all about trust, isn’t it? Ultimate trust. Or as the olds saying goes, we have finally “Let God, and Let God.” That’s what we learn from our Wall experiences, right? We learn it’s not about us – ultimately. We learn to trust God – no matter what. When you get to that place, you’re in a much more mature place spiritually. You’re much farther down the path. And when you look back on your faith that you had before the Wall, and you say, “Wow! I was so immature in my faith!” It’s why people when they’ve gone through cancer and came out on the other side, or they have a tragic loss in life and they come on the other side, they are so much deeper in their spiritual life than they were before And they can even give thanks for what happened in their life before the Wall, the cancer, the tragedy, the loss – whatever it was – because it’s what drew you deeper into the well.

Brother Charles de Foucauld, wrote a Prayer of Abandonment,6 expresses how essential it is for us to transcend our Wall by surrender and giving up control to God. Now, this was written in the 19th century, but could have been written by Job himself, as he finally surrendered his will to God’s will for his life:

Father,

I abandon myself into your hands;

do with me what you will.

Whatever you may do, I thank you:

I am ready for all, I accept all.

Let only your will be done in me

and in all your creatures—

I wish no more than this, O Lord.

Into your hands I commend my soul:

I offer it to you with all the love of my heart,

for I love you, Lord, and so need to give myself,

to surrender myself into your hands without reserve,

and with boundless confidence,

for you are my Father.

Isn’t that beautiful? Now, THAT’S mature spirituality!

Friends, if you are confronting a Wall today, you are not alone. God, the creator of the Universe, is on your side. Trust in God to love you, and that God will help you move through your darkness to the light beyond. Then you will be one step closer to the very heart of God!

And so, my prayer for each of you this morning is that you will come to the same conclusion as Job did: that, in spite of the Walls we face, we will be able to leave behind our childish immature faith – and learn with simplicity – to trust totally in God.

If we can do that, then we will able to pass through the Wall, and come out on the other side. We will finally declare with confidence, along with Job: “I know that my Redeemer lives, and he will stand upon the earth at last. And after my body has decayed, yet in my body I will see God! I will see him for myself.” (Job 19:25-27)