The past week, people have been captivated by what is happening with the Prime Minister and the resignation of cabinet ministers. I’ve been a part of a few conversations this week, and feeling I didn’t know enough, I decided that I needed to dig a little deeper and find out what the talk was all about.
I was hearing all of this just before the first Sunday of Lent, which is when, in churches, we read the story of Jesus’ temptation in the desert. If you don't know the story, in each of the first three gospels, Mark, Matthew, and Luke, there is a story about Jesus going into the desert for forty days and nights and where he is tempted by Satan, with wealth, power, and glory. As I thought about this old story and the story in the news, I couldn't help but connect these two stories. I imagined top government officials with Wilson-Raybould, trying to influence her decision on this court case, tempting her to think their way, to follow their direction, to make their interests her interests. As far as I know, she did not give in to this temptation, and she believes for this reason, she was later removed from her position as Attorney General.
I'll state right away that I am not trying to paint Wilson-Raybould as the Jesus figure and the Prime Minister as satan; it’s a bit more complex than that, but it is a story with one party putting pressure on the other, government officials leaning on the Attorney General, attempting to lead her away from, what she sees as, the straight and narrow path.
This year, during the season of Lent, I have chosen to explore the biblical story of Job. Job is not an easy book to tackle but it’s worth tackling. It’s a brilliantly written book, full of beautifully written poetry. It’s a book that deals with the big questions, especially the question of theodicy, which is an exploration of why a loving God allows suffering and evil to persist in the world, a question we all seem to grapple with at one time or another.
The book of Job is part of the Wisdom Literature of the Bible, along with the Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs. Rachel Held Evans, in her book, “Inspired,” writes that “the aim of wisdom literature is to uncover something true about the nature of reality in a way that makes the reader or listener wiser” (pg 96) and that the book of Job “favours the wisdom of those who have actually suffered over those who merely speculate about it (pg 97).”
Because Satan appears in the Jesus story in the wilderness and in the story of Job, I thought it appropriate that we look at the role of Satan. Chapters 1, 2 and 42, the last chapter, of the book of Job tell a story that is believed to be older than the rest of the book, a story of folklore, passed down for many generations and even in different cultures. It’s a story in which God is influenced by Satan, causing harm to others, a story that makes us question who God is, and which is probably why we usually avoid this story.
In this story, God is very much like a king holding court and Satan is like an informer. This Satan roams the land, almost like a spy, keeping watch over the kingdom, and informing the king, or in this case, God, of what is happening, the general mood of the kingdom, where there might be any disobedience or unrest, or anyone disloyal to God. In this story, God doesn’t seem to know all, but needs the court to offer information. So, here we have God, surrounded by heavenly beings presenting themselves, and God is bragging about Job, the one person in the kingdom who is like no one else on earth, “a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil.”
Satan is one of these heavenly beings and sees an opportunity. Now, I’ve been saying the name Satan like it’s a proper name, but actually it’s a title or a job description, like the minister, the chef, the teacher. The satan. This word satan has a number of meanings. It might mean the tempter, the adversary, or the accuser. You can also see the satan as a persuader or an opportunist. In our gospel, after tempting Jesus in the desert, we read at the end of that passage that the satan leaves until a more opportune time. In the story from Job, this is the opportune time and God falls for the bait.
Upon hearing God brag about Job, the satan says, “Does Job fear God for nothing? 10 Have you not put a fence around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11 But stretch out your hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.” In other words, God has protected Job up to this point; God has not put up any obstacles to Job’s success. Only take away all that Job possesses, and Job will certainly curse God. So be it, says God. Let’s find out. All Job’s worldly possessions and success are then taken away, including his ten children, all in one fell swoop. Job is left with nothing, but, contrary to the satan’s expectation, says, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there; the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” God wins this wager.
But the satan is not finished and continues to taunt God by saying that people would give everything they have to save their own skin. Stretch out your hand, the satan says, and touch his bone and flesh, and he will certainly curse you. God takes the bait again and this time Job’s body is struck with horrible, itchy sores, from head to toe and still Job says, “Shall we receive the good at the hand of God, and not receive the bad?” Thus do we have the saying, “the patience of Job.”
As I said earlier, this is an old story, one in which God acts more like the gods of old, playing with human lives, than the one all powerful God we are used to reading about in our scripture. It’s also a story with easy answers and with Job seeming like a bit of a patsy, just accepting whatever comes his way as God’s will. The rest of the book of Job, turns this story on its head, but we’ll dig into that a little bit more in the following weeks.
The satan in this story and in our gospel story is a powerful presence. These stories use a powerful figure to personify the effects of temptation and influence in our own lives and how strong and powerful they can be and how difficult to ignore, similar to the animated figures we see of an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other, presenting both sides of an argument, but the devil always seems to have the better one, easier, more fun, more self-serving. The angel has to fight doubly hard if the right and true way is the more difficult direction or more of a sacrifice and more for the good of others.
I don’t judge people like Wilson-Raybould or Justin Trudeau because I know that politics is filled with temptation and influence. There are a number of stories on film, on TV, in books of politicians being seduced by power, of being caught between a rock and a hard place and having to choose a lesser of two evils, of people, good intentioned, who get into trouble.
Needless to say, I don’t usually hold up politicians as role-models. They too often disappoint. It’s a world that corrupts many. I think I’ll stick to a different role model. I’ll follow the one who resisted temptation, resisted and refused the satan in the desert who promised wealth, power, and glory. Jesus went into the desert after his baptism. The experience changed him, so that he felt ready to preach the word of God, to show a new way, and resist the current powers of the land. That’s a model I want to follow, even though it is the more difficult direction and may not always be in my own self-interests.
Jesus took the difficult road, he resisted the way of power and glory, and that journey, the one working towards God’s kingdom, healing, teaching, and leading, eventually led to the cross. How far are we willing to go? Would we resign our position, expressing our lack of confidence in our leaders? Would we go public with knowledge that might potentially cause a loss of reputation? Would we face down our tempters, those people encouraging us and influencing us to go in a direction we know is the wrong choice?
When I am tempted, I use Jesus as a role-model but I also rely on the strength I receive from my family, from my own inner integrity, and a supportive community. From where do you find your strength? How do you withstand temptation, the satan that always seems to be waiting on our shoulder?
May you find those spaces that give you strength, those people, places, or activities that keep you grounded and pointed in the direction of truth, compassion, and justice. May you find in Jesus a role model, one who has shown us a way to live, a way to die, and a way to live again. As we live in this complex world of multiple directions and decisions, a world full of seductive power and privilege, may the Spirit, that angel that resides on the other shoulder, be your guide and your wisdom. Thanks be to God for good role models and loving supports. Amen.
Has reading Job helped you to reconcile with the idea that God "gives" humans pain and suffering?
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