Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Oct. 3, 2021

First Reading (Track One): Job 1:1; 2:1-10

“Oh, no, a month of Job!” A lot of people find the story of Job and his troubles disheartening. A careless reading might leave the impression that God sent terrible suffering on Job because, well, Satan talked him into it.

Job on the Ash Heap (c.1630), oil painting on canvas by Jusepe de Ribera (1591-1652).. Sotheby’s, New York. (Click image to enlarge.)

But let’s be positive: The Book of Job is a fascinating short story and an important part of the Bible’s “wisdom literature,” the books that teach us about life and God. Why do bad things happen to good people? Known as theodicy, this is one of theology’s most difficult question. Listen and ponder as we go through Job in our Track One first readings during the next four weeks. We hear the beginning of Job today, and it starts like an ancient folk tale. Bear in mind, though, that Satan here was not a red devil with horns, but a sort of prosecutor, an advisor to God within the heavenly order.

First Reading (Track Two): Genesis 2:18-24

Sunday’s Track Two readings aren’t easy. We begin in the first reading with a portion of the creation narrative that some have interpreted to diminish the status of women. Mark’s Gospel reflects those words in a rejection of divorce so strict that it has been invoked to hold people in abusive relationships. How can we hear these reading faithfully yet generously? Perhaps they speak more broadly of creation and the universal call to men and women to take responsibility for our relationships with plants, animals and each other. This is a good thought to hold as many congregations celebrate St. Francis’ feast day this week with a blessing of companion animals.

Psalm (Track One): Psalm 26

Just as Job, we are told, was “blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil,” Psalm 26 declares before God that the Psalmist has lived with integrity and trusted in God without faltering. Considering the trials of Job, we might wonder if the author of this psalm is tempting fate when he invites God to “test me … and try me.” We may also hear a hint of Pharisaical self-satisfaction in the writer’s desire not to be counted among the evildoers or to suffer their punishment. But in the end this plea is humble. It promises integrity and asks only for God’s pity and redemption.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 8

This beautiful psalm begins as a hymn of praise, then becomes a praiseful catalog of the glories of God’s creation. In lyrical poetry it celebrates the beauty of the universe and all that populates it as testimony to God’s majesty: The heavens, the moon, the stars, all the work of God’s hands, are so great that mere humanity seems small in comparison. Yet we are given charge of all the wild and domestic animals and creatures of the sea. Surely we are called to exercise the same careful and loving stewardship over creation as we count on God to provide for us.

Second Reading: Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5-12

Why does God care for mere mortals so much that he sent a son and savior, the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s being, to become “lower than the angels” to live and die among us? This letter is thought to have been written to coax back Jewish Christians who had returned to Judaism in the face of persecution late in the first century. While it is fervently pro-Christian, we should take care not to see it through modern eyes as anti-Jewish. In this passage we hear that Jesus tasted death for all humankind, raising us all up through his suffering as his brothers and sisters.

Gospel: Mark 10:2-16

This is one of those difficult gospels that makes it hard to find the love. In our modern society divorce has become acceptable, if unhappy; a difficult end to a relationship. In the patriarchal culture of Jesus’ time, though, it was even worse: A man could set aside his marriage for any reason, in a world where a woman alone had no option but to beg, risking homelessness and starvation. Of course Jesus came down hard on that. We find him arguing with the Pharisees again, outwitting their plan to trap him! He turns the argument back on them by pointing out that their “hardness of heart” should earn them a stricter rule. It’s no coincidence, then, that Jesus smiles and turns to the innocent children.