By Rev. Gusti Linnea Newquist
Job 42: 10-17
Two Sundays ago, as our Stewardship Season officially began, we encountered in our Scriptures a rich man approaching Jesus, asking, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” We imagined together what it might mean for us at Madison Square to do just as Jesus recommends: to sell off everything we might think we depend on. The endowment, the mineral rights, the building and the property. And to see what the Spirit might have to teach us in their place.
It was not my intent to make us gasp in horror, although that might have been a legitimate response. It was my intent to prepare us spiritually for the lesson of the Book of Job that came before us last Sunday, about a man who did not have the choice to sell his possessions like the rich man in the Gospel of Mark did. Who instead lost it all in one great tragic moment through absolutely no fault of his own.
It was my intent on both Sundays, as we have entered this Season of Stewardship, to start by instilling within us a heart of compassion for anyone in our midst who may have also lost it all. Who may have nowhere else to turn. Who might even one day be our very selves. In spite of our careful planning or our great education or our fabulous family. Because Job had all of that, too. But he had to learn the hard way that he could not place his faith in those things.
It was also my intent on both Sundays, as we have entered this Season of Stewardship, to instill in us a heart of compassion for our Job-like neighbors right across the street. Who have every right to feast at the same table of grace that we do once a month. Who may, in fact, have a thing or two to teach us about the grace of God. Which is why we are going to follow Jesus out to the park on the first Sunday in December for our Sacrament of Communion. And open our hearts to learn from our neighbors. And just see what opportunities—and maybe even challenges—the goodness of our God opens up for us.
And it has been my bottom line intent, in all of this preaching and teaching and singing and praying in this Season of Stewardship, that we might encounter for just a brief moment—in the shuddering thought of losing it all—the depth of divine grace that really has been with us from the dawn of creation. Just because we exist. Just because God exists. And will not ever let us go. Not ever.
This is, of course, what Job learned last Sunday. And what I think he tries to convey to his family and friends this Sunday, as we return to the very last chapter of his Book and discover that he gets it all back in the end.
In double portion.
Now before I go any further I should warn us that we could read the first two chapters of Job and the last chapter of Job and learn the exact opposite lesson of what the book is trying to teach. We could think that the point of the book is that we should suffer patiently through trial and tribulation. Never questioning God. Believing God will give us back what we think we “deserve” materially in the end.
That isn’t the point of the book at all!
Job has not forgotten everything that happens in between the second chapter and the forty-second chapter. And neither has God. The supposedly happy ending only comes after Job has defiantly declared his innocence, wept in despair, shaken his fist at God in fierce anger and frustration, and learned the hard way that it’s not “all about him.” The happy ending only comes after Job is transformed by what he has endured!
He has learned the gift of compassion for anyone else going through what he has gone through. He has learned the gift of praying for the very same friends who had patronized him so profusely with their self-righteous spirituality and utter lack of compassion for him. And he has learned to pay attention to those in his midst who never had a hope for the kind of great wealth—the kind of great inheritance—he had taken for granted all along. Meaning his daughters. Whom he acknowledges by name:
Jemimah . . . meaning “with God.”
Keziah . . . meaning “God’s fragrance.”
Keren-happuch . . . meaning, loosely translated, “the beautifier.”
It may not seem like a big deal to us in the 21st century United States of America for a man like Job to pass on his inheritance to his daughters as well as his sons. But it is a huge deal for the Bible! It only happens one other time that I am aware of, in the Book of Numbers, from a father who has no sons to claim his inheritance and needs to keep his land “in the family.”
But here in Job sharing the inheritance with his daughters is not about carrying on the family name. He has enough sons for that. Sharing the inheritance with his daughters is about justice. It is about the fact that Job has learned through his own brief dramatic loss what his daughters have been experiencing all along. Without an inheritance of their own. Without a name of their own. Completely dependent on the whims of the powerful for their own fortune or famine. Job’s experience of learning he cannot depend on his wealth to save him has heightened his sensitivity toward others who never had wealth of their own in the first place.
This is what I think Jesus was hoping the rich man in Mark’s Gospel would learn, too, by giving it all away on purpose. Thisis what I think God might be asking us to re-learn in this intentional Season of Stewardship at Madison Square.
Who in our midst is like the daughters of Job? In need of an inheritance that doesn’t just come naturally by cultural imperative. With whom might God be inviting us at Madison Square to share our great inheritance? The ones who wouldn’t get any inheritance otherwise?
We only have to look as far as our own Madison Square Child Development Center for an answer. It began as a mission of this church in 1974 for the specific purpose of educating children with few other options. Even today, as we look toward 2013, the Madison Square Child Development Center is the only Four-Star Texas Rising Star Early Childhood Education Provider in downtown San Antonio that accepts children whose tuition is covered through the Child Care Services of San Antonio. About half of the students are covered by CCS, and they sit right alongside children of judges and educators and business professionals in receiving an inheritance of grace and learning and opportunity that would not be available to them if we were not here, following the teaching of Job to make sure the inheritance goes to all of God’s children and not just some.
Their names, because they matter, are Jeremiha, Zoe, Sophia, Laela, Benjamin, Nathaniel, Rebekah, Sebastian and Nora. Jake, Salomon, Avianna, and Pistol. Malakai, Thomas, Vanity, Neveah, Michael, Nadalline, Shalom, Jesus, Ariealla, and Maya. Jayden, James, Dominick, Madisyn, Sofie, Abigail, Savannah, Joshua, Jordynn, Isayah, and Conner. Simon, Caleb, Cash, Ruthie, Marisa, Daniel, Nola, Aryanna, Ezekiel, Michael, and Noah.
And they are beautiful!
It is not inexpensive to educate these children. The church subsidizes many of the CDC expenses through our building and grounds and personnel budget lines. Up to $40,000 per year. Which may sound like a lot of money until we remember that a healthy 5% annual draw on the Madison Square Primary Investment Fund—the one I encouraged you to consider “giving away” two Sundays ago—just so happens to total $40,621.
May I suggest this is a perfect way to pass on the Madison Square inheritance? At least according to the Book of Job.
I’ll even take it one step further. What if—just asking what if—Madison Square Presbyterian Church set a goal within the next five years to give away all of the inheritance that comes to this congregation from the Primary Investment Fund and the mineral rights gifts to mission projects for those who have no other hope for an inheritance? Like Job’s daughters.
I haven’t run this by the session or the stewardship committee. And it may take longer than five years to do it. But imagine what kind of stewardship of God’s grace this congregation could offer if every dime of the church’s operating expenses came from the pledges within this worshiping community and every dime of the inheritance went directly to mission?
I think it could happen! I know it can happen! I am convinced there is an enormous wealth of untapped talent and time and treasure in this congregation just waiting for a chance to break forth for the good of God! It may require us to spend a little less in other areas of our lives. Skip our Starbucks once in a while for the sake of the kingdom of God. But wouldn’t it feel fabulous! For us and for God?
Just think about it. We, too, could be like Job. Transformed by God’s grace. Blessed beyond measure. In order to be a blessing beyond measure. And shouting Alleluia for the inheritance we get to pass on.
Just think about it.
Amen.
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