The Fifth Sunday After Epiphany

SERMON

Text: Job 7:1-7

"Is there not a time of hard service for man on earth? Are not his days also like the days of a hired man? Like a servant who earnestly desires the shade, And like a hired man who eagerly looks for his wages, so I have been allotted months of futility, and wearisome nights have been appointed to me. When I lie down, I say, ‘When shall I arise, and the night be ended?’ For I have had my fill of tossing till dawn. My flesh is caked with worms and dust, my skin is cracked and breaks out afresh. My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, and are spent without hope. Oh, remember that my life is a breath! My eye will never again see good.

In Christ Jesus who knows we are dust and provides a way to life, dear fellow-redeemed:

My first summer job was in the pea fields of a canning company. It was a short-term job, just a few weeks to complete the season. My title was "utility man." One of the tasks in this job was to drive a tractor and trailers loaded with flammable liquid from one field to the next. One trailer held a large tank of liquid propane used to fuel the combines, another trailer had a large tank of diesel fuel for the tractors, and in between these trailers and the tractor was a small trailer carrying a large air compressor.

On the day of a move, the foreman told me to drive to the next field. What he didn’t know was that I was only thirteen years old, I had never driven a tractor on the road, and certainly not with three trailers behind it! I drove and I got lost. After this incident the foreman did some checking, discovered my age, and from that time forward had someone else drive the tractor and I rode in his truck.

It is important for employers, supervisors, and other leaders to know the abilities of those whom they are supervising so that they don’t place them in situations for which they are not equipped.

There can be times in which we might wonder if God really knows what we’re experiencing or how beaten down we are. If someone is lonely, he might wish to ask, "God, do you know how empty things are down here? Do you understand how I’m feeling right now?" If we are sick: "God, do you know the pain I’m experiencing? Do you know how long I’ve been in this misery. I don’t think I can take much more. Do you know that?" We might be in need of some earthly blessing, "God, my checkbook is empty, did you know that? How am I supposed to pay this bill?" Or it may be the all-around spiritual and physical weakness we feel: "God, I’m tired, weak, helpless, and don’t think I can go forward anymore."

In all of these situations and so many more like them, our sinfulness and human limitations are revealed. The answer to all of these situations is, "Yes, God knows." This morning, using Job’s life and words we are assured that THE LORD KNOWS WE ARE DUST. He knows that I. Life leaves us yearning for more; that our II. Days come to an end in futility, but He also reassures us that our III. Dust lies on the path to glory.

I.

The life and trials of Job are well known. We recall that through the God-allowed attacks of Satan, Job lost his children, all that he owned, and his health. At the end of the attacks, Job had his life—though only by a thread, and his wife—though she urged him to “curse God and die” (Job 2:9). Job’s suffering included the emotional—the loss of his family, and the physical—“My flesh is caked with worms and dust, my skin is cracked and breaks out afresh.” [v.5] In this all-encompassing state of misery and suffering, Job at times grew despondent, he questioned God, he challenged God, and loathed his condition.

Job compared his life to a worker who in the midst of hard labor longs to have his day end so he can go home and rest, who longs for relief from the hot sun and hard work. “Is there not a time of hard service for man on earth? Are not his days also like the days of a hired man? Like a servant who earnestly desires the shade, And like a hired man who eagerly looks for his wages.” [vv.1-2]

Though Job was suffering these things in the extreme, they are nonetheless part the ongoing effects of sin. A worker longs for rest because sin makes work burdensome and tiring. God told Adam, “In toil you shall eat of [the ground]...in the sweat of your face you shall eat bread” (Genesis 3:17f). Someone who is injured or ill suffers in the pain and misery while longing for healing and relief. Pain and misery are the result of sin as God told Eve, “…in pain you shall bring forth children” (Genesis 3:16). The trouble of this life need not be extreme to produce sadness and misery. At times, they may be less than extreme, but they continue and continue and continue. Sadness, pain, suffering, and earthly lack – whether extreme or not – leave us unfulfilled and longing for something more.

The guilt of sin itself also leaves us yearning for more. David writes in Psalm 32, “When I kept silent, my bones grew old through my groaning all the day long” (Psalm 32:3). Just as our bodies long for relief and something more than they have when in misery, so too our souls long for relief and something more when they are feeling guilt ridden and troubled by sin.

II.

Not only do sinners yearn for more as they live in the sorrows of this life, but we are also able to see the ultimate futility of everything we do. Job said, “I have been allotted months of futility, and wearisome nights have been appointed to me. When I lie down, I say, ‘When shall I arise, and the night be ended?’ For I have had my fill of tossing till dawn.” [vv.3-4]

Going to bed at night provided no relief for Job because when he lay down he would toss and turn until morning. He longed for the end of the night because it brought no peace and was just as miserable as the day. Day which was intended for profitable work was futile, night which was intended for profitable rest was futile. LIFE was filled with futility for Job!

Job concluded, “My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, and are spent without hope.” [v.6] Last weekend, the youth group held its annual winter camp. Enroute to the camp, we toured the Faribault Woolen Mills. The automated weaver’s shuttle moved so rapidly it was hard for the eye & mind to fully account for what was taking place. Though the manual weaver’s shuttle of Job’s day was much slower, yet it was something of rapid movement—just as the rapid passing of an individual’s life. What are 90 years in a world that has stood for over 6,000? They are days quickly gone and remembered no more.

King Solomon reached the same conclusion as did Job. Quite different from Job, Solomon had great wealth, wisdom, and prosperity. Still, Solomon had to conclude that all of the best accomplishments on earth are just that—earthly and futile.

Solomon writes in Ecclesiastes: “What profit has a man from all his labor in which he toils under the sun? One generation passes away, and another generation comes; but the earth abides forever. The sun also rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it arose. The wind goes toward the south, and turns around to the north; the wind whirls about continually, and comes again on its circuit. All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full; to the place from which the rivers come, there they return again…That which has been is what will be, that which is done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:3-9). The cycles of the earth just keep going and going. What was old becomes new again and repeats. Each individual life is in this cycle for a time and then gone—nothing new, just the same and futile.

Solomon continues: "I made my works great, I built myself houses, and planted myself vineyards. I made myself gardens and orchards, and I planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. I made myself water pools from which to water the growing trees of the grove. I acquired male and female servants, and had servants born in my house. Yes, I had greater possessions of herds and flocks than all who were in Jerusalem before me. I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the special treasures of kings and of the provinces. I acquired male and female singers, the delights of the sons of men, and musical instruments of all kinds. So I became great and excelled more than all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me. Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, for my heart rejoiced in all my labor; and this was my reward from all my labor. Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done and on the labor in which I had toiled; and indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind. There was no profit under the sun… (Ecclesiastes 2:4-11). Despite all that Solomon possessed and all that he accomplished, it ultimately meant nothing. All of the earthly success and prosperity did not give Solomon anything that would last beyond his death. He couldn’t grasp these things forever anymore than we can grasp the wind, and therefore, he concluded all these things were empty and futile.

Solomon concludes, “So I said in my heart, ‘As it happens to the fool, it also happens to me, and why was I then more wise?’ Then I said in my heart, ‘This also is vanity.’ For there is no more remembrance of the wise than of the fool forever, since all that now is will be forgotten in the days to come. And how does a wise man die? [Just] as the fool!” (Ecclesiastes 2:15-16). All of Solomon’s wisdom wouldn’t keep his earthly life from ending. In the end, the wise man and the fool both die and their bodies both return to the dust from which they were taken. Death is the great equalizer of all earthly differences.

There is no escaping the conclusions of Solomon and Job. Though our circumstances differ from both of these men and lie somewhere and lie between the two of them, the reality of all things earthly doesn’t change. Evidence abounds that we are dust! We are weak and frail human beings. We fail in this life, and even what we gain in earthly things is lost when we die. No matter what we do we cannot stop the ravages of sin and time on our bodies. We cannot prevent our fading as the grass, and in the end our days end in futility.

These are grim realizations and so we pray with Job, “Oh, remember that my life is a breath!” [v.7]

III.

The Lord does remember and provides help and a solution to the yearning for more and the futility of our days. When David expressed his soul’s yearning under the weight of sin, he continued by saying, “I acknowledged my sin to You…and You forgave the iniquity of my sin” (Psalm 32:5). There is "more" with the forgiveness of sins and life in Christ Jesus .

In Psalm 103, David confirms that we are a vapor, dust, and fleeting: “As for man, his days are like grass; as a flower of the field, so he flourishes. For the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more" (Psalm 103:15-16). "BUT," David continues, "the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting" (Psalm 103:17).

God’s mercy is not futile and it provides more. God’s mercy sent Jesus to die on the cross for our sins and buy us back from sin and earth’s futility—to give us a future and a hope (cf. Jeremiah 29:11). There is only one message that completely satisfies and takes all yearning away from us, and that is the message of full and free forgiveness and salvation through Christ Jesus! The Lord remembers that we are dust. He knows what our soul’s needs are and He has provided for those needs through Jesus. Through the work of Jesus, God has removed our sins as far away from us as the east is from the west. He has had compassion upon us and rescued us (cf. Psalm 103:11-14).

Because our sins are forgiven through Jesus’ death and resurrection, we are on a road to glory—the glory and eternal inheritance of life with God in heaven. Yes, our lives are still dust and in human terms, they are futile; but now that dust lies on the path to glory. Now, God uses our frailties for our benefit and to glorify Him.

Everything in this life that reminds us that we are dust are also reminders that we are nothing on our own. They are reminders that we need Jesus as our Savior and we need Him to provide and protect us in this life. We don’t need to worry about the supplies of life and earthly needs because, Jesus tells us, our heavenly Father knows we need those things and will provide according to His wisdom. “Seek first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added to you. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things” (Matthew 6:33-34).

The Lord knows and remembers that we are dust and that as weak sinners we need strength to withstand the temptations that will come upon our path. With everlasting mercy, the Lord uses the trials of this life to test us and to strengthen our faith so that as He brings us out of each trial we are stronger than before and better equipped to face the next attack of Satan. This works for both our benefit and God’s glory. Peter writes, “[you] are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:5-7).

Through the yearning and futility of life WE remember that we are dust and are taught not to put our trust in ourselves or in the world. God has entrusted the Gospel to us to share and proclaim to others. It is incredible that we who are dust should be so entrusted, but Paul tells us why, “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us” (2 Corinthians 4:7). By God’s grace and mercy, our "dustiness" works to His greater glory for when we consider our weaknesses and see what amazing things God has done for us and does through us, we cannot help but marvel and give Him the glory.

As grievous as this world and our frailties may at times be, we are not without hope (cf. Ephesians 2:12; 1 Thessalonians 4:13). In this matter Job was wrong. He concluded that his days were without hope (cf Job 7:6), but they were not. Job had the certain hope of his Redeemer (cf. Job 19:25ff) as do we. No matter how harsh our sufferings may become, no matter how much we may be tempted to question God’s wisdom or knowledge of our lives and affairs, we can be certain that whatever we face now as dust is not even comparable to what we will receive in the glories of heaven. Paul wrote, “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18).

Take heart! Yes, you are dust; but the Lord knows that and remembers that. He has give you rescue and salvation and will preserve you for His heavenly kingdom (cf. 2 Timothy 4:18). Amen.

—Pastor Wayne C. Eichstadt