Righteous Reality Hitting Home
READ: Job 31:29
CHALLENGE: Embrace the Right Way to Live
- ETHIC – LOVE YOUR ENEMY
Vv29- – “If I have rejoiced at my enemy’s misfortune or gloated over the trouble that came to him—
Jesus made a stunning statement in Matthew 5 when he said that we should love our enemy. Not just love your neighbor as yourself but love your enemy as well. Wow – that’s not easy! We should not gloat at or enemy’s misfortune.
Matthew 5:43-44 – “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
Love your enemies. Pray for those who persecute you. Job says, don’t be rejoicing at an enemy’s misfortune. As Jesus points out – anyone can love people who love them and we do! People like people who like them and do not like people who do not like them. Why don’t you like so and so? Because they don’t like me and if they don’t like me, I’m not liking them. It’s not complicated!
But that attitude can lead to what Job references here – gloating over an enemy’s downfall.
- Love Does Not Gloat
For goodness sake, what do you mean I shouldn’t gloat? And this enemy is someone who is hateful. Job wasn’t even happy when someone who hated him met calamity. A person who hates you is clearly considered your enemy. They were actually considered “odious” and “completely unappealing”. He’s not even gloating when people who hate him encounter problems.
But that arrogant trouble maker never stopped running their mouth and someone just shut it. KARMA, baby! Are we saying that you can’t be joyful when THE PERSON who most deserves to fall on their face, just fell flat on their face? Wouldn’t it be great if gloating were a godly ethic? I could be down with celebrating that the devil got his due!
Job did not rejoice when his enemy experienced misfortune. This means that wasn’t happy about it or popping the cork off a bottle of champagne. Their loss wasn’t a win for him. Some would celebrate your loss as their greatest win! Not Job because he is SO righteous but do we really need to be THAT “religious”? Yes! I’ll give you a few quick reasons why Job was on target here.
For one, focusing on the downfall of someone else is a complete waste of focus. Why are you thinking about your enemies and not the great people in your life? The person you dislike may not be thinking about you at all yet you’ll spend important time cultivating your bitterness like it’s an herb garden while you’re nowhere on the radar for them. You need to focus on making your life count and not on getting revenge on someone else.
I see and hear the critiques people make about others, but I have a simple question. What are you doing? And shouldn’t that be what the focus is? Stop being bitter about the rest of the world and make a contribution to your community.
To celebrate someone’s downfall would be a sign of bitterness and bitterness is toxic for your soul. Forgive and move on as there’s no sense giving someone free rent in your head.
Two, even God does not rejoice in the death of the wicked so neither should we. God wants all people to get it together and to come to a saving knowledge of the truth. Job is godly in that even an enemy’s downfall does not move the joy needle for him. He wasn’t that kind of person.
In the Bible, God’s salvation is the most common reason for man’s joy! That’s worth rejoicing over while celebrating someone’s fail is beneath us.
Three, if a person has done something truly awful then God will even that out. You don’t need to make someone pay because that’s God’s job.
Romans 12:9-21 – Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”[d] says the Lord. 20 On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”[e]21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
We’re told to return evil with good. Overcome evil, don’t be overcome by it. This is the way to battle through things and deal with hurtful situation. This is the path to healing. Just be nice and let God take care of the rest.
- Love Does Not Curse Others (v30)
30 I have not allowed my mouth to sin by invoking a curse against their life
This is a curse designed to end their life. You want them gone! It would include wishing that bad things would happen to them. I hope they get theirs! I wish they would …. Fill in the blank!
Like the famous song, pray for you by Jaron! I haven’t been to church since I don’t remember when. Things were going great ‘til they fell apart again. So I listened to the preacher as he told me what to do. He said, “You can’t go hatin’ others who have done wrong to you. Sometimes we get angry, but we must not condemn. Let the good Lord do His job and you just pray for them
I pray your brakes go out runnin’ down a hill. I pray a flower pot falls from a window sill and knocks you on the head like I’d like to. I pray your birthday comes and nobody calls. I pray you’re flying high when your engine stalls. I pray all your dreams never come true. Just know wherever you are, honey, I pray for you
I wouldn’t wish ill on people. Rather, as Jesus said, we should be praying that they get it together. Pray for your enemies as they may need revival!!
Romans 12:14 – Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.
(trans.) Why not do it?
- You’re Asking for Trouble
If you have no mercy, you’ll receive no mercy. Based on reaping and sowing, it’s a bad idea. I wouldn’t be breathing these things into the air without understanding that it could very well be a boomerang that’s heading right back for you. Jesus said that the measure that we use for others will be used on us as well. If I’m hard on other people and want them to get theirs, then I had better be perfect. And guess what? We’re not. Sure, you may not have been as horrible as THAT horrible person but you’re not perfect enough to take on the position of praying evil on others.
As Jesus said to those who wanted to stone the woman caught in adultery. How about the one without sin throw the first stone. If you’re perfect, then make your rock pile. But since you’re not, you throwing stones will only make you a target. It’s how it works.
Psalm 109:17-19 – He loved to pronounce a curse—may it come back on him. He found no pleasure in blessing— may it be far from him. 18 He wore cursing as his garment; it entered into his body like water, into his bones like oil. 19 May it be like a cloak wrapped about him, like a belt tied forever around him.
David had an enemy breathing curses and he prayed that it would ricochet back to the original sender of the curse. It did! It entered his body. He couldn’t escape his own wishes.
(trans.) Here’s a better play
- Let God Handle It
Jesus said nothing. He let God handle it. He did not revile or retaliate. He entrusted himself to God who judges justly. Cursing people is a playing God thing. We don’t exist to turn people into charcoal briquettes. I know that’s sad … but!
When insulted, he had the turn the other cheek mentality. Why should we get caught up in all of the back and forth. Let God handle it.
- ETHIC – LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR
- No one’s a stranger
There was true danger in allowing a traveler to sleep in the square. There was a day when everyone did what was right in their own eyes and it was open season on visitors to towns. And especially with sexual crimes of violence. It was staggering what humans would do to other humans with no compunction whatsoever. Remember the angels coming into Sodom and Lot would not allow them to spend the night in the square. Or the priest with his concubine and a man told him it wasn’t safe to be out there. They still came and raped the man’s wife so badly that she died!
Back in Job’s day, there were no hotels. If someone arrived in town and had to spend the night, they would camp out in the square. A righteous person would go and collect these innocent travelers who hoped to find a good meal and lodging for a night. Job did not allow travelers to be vulnerable to the worst of society. He watched out for others.
Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan who took care of a Jewish man. The story was told to answer the question, “Who is my neighbor” which then directs us as to whom we should love. Is my neighbor only a person I know or also a person I’ve never met. Jesus taught that it included those you meet along the way. The Samaritans and Jews were enemies but the good Samaritan helped a person he never met. He helped the stranger because it was a person that God put on his path.
This has some bearing on our lives, right? We certainly want to help people we know but there are times when God sends someone to us that we don’t know but they need our help nonetheless. They are the stranger in need. In Job’s case, the example would be that they needed lodging for the night. In our case, the stranger may need a prayer, or a ride, or a tire fixed, or have some other need that has now come to our doorstep. They might have come to the food pantry. Or we’re helping them through Compassion International.
It’s good to watch out for our opportunities to help other people. I remember being in New England and driving down an interstate. An older couple was flagging people down so we stopped. They had broken down and needed to make a phone call. They told me that we were the first to stop even though they have been signaling for help for 45 minutes straight.
Kindness to strangers is important. I remember hearing a story about how I gave pizza to someone coming through and it made an impact. It’s great. Glad I was able to help. It could be someone who walked out of Glenbeigh or someone broken down on the side of the road.
Just be mindful of it all.
- ETHIC – MORAL CONSISTENCY
Vv33-34 – if I have concealed my sin as people do, by hiding my guilt in my heart 34 because I so feared the crowd and so dreaded the contempt of the clans that I kept silent and would not go outside—
If I have concealed my sin as people do by hiding guilt in my heart. What he’s saying here in his own defense is that there was no hidden or secret sins that he had been doing. He wasn’t hiding sins. His slate is clean. And if he had sinned, he’d be the first to admit it. And since he’s not admitting it, that means he was clean. And that’s character too – when you’re wrong, just admit you’re wrong.
(trans.) A couple of take aways from this point.
- Live Authentically
How about we live so that we have nothing to hide. There is plenty that can happen under a person’s roof that no one would know about as it’s hidden from view. However, it’s not cool to have one life at home but another in public. It’s like when I heard the one man say that his holy life, which was public, was different from his private life. It shouldn’t be. There will be someone who will know that you’re fake, and that’s your family.
And your children want to see you be consistent. We don’t want to be mean to our children at home but nice to everyone else outside the home. That wouldn’t be real. Who you are at home is who you are.
At least for Job, he was not leading a double life at all. He was genuine. There was no dirt to get on him.
(trans.) Here’s another take away …
- Don’t Fear the Crowd
He’s saying, I’ve never hidden anything from view because I feared someone. It’s interesting that in Job’s day people feared what the world would say if you did something bad. Today, people fear what the world might say if you’re committed to righteousness.
Our society is rebellious enough that people hide good things and moral understanding because they’re afraid of what people will say. Jesus didn’t want us to deny him because we fear others. There were followers of Jesus who were afraid of the crowd, so they wouldn’t openly follow Jesus. The disciples clearly said that they were going to follow Jesus, not men. That was the battle fear of God or fear of men.
A great example was King Saul not obeying God because he was more interested in what the people thought. I knew what God said but I was afraid of the men. I was afraid of the cost of obedience.
Galatians 1:10 – Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.
Job didn’t have hidden sins and he didn’t hide things out of fear. If you need help, you need help. Never be afraid of the opinions of others. It doesn’t matter what we think and God already knows so the sooner you acknowledge it, the better.
- ETHIC – PAY YOUR BILLS
Vv38-40 – “if my land cries out against me and all its furrows are wet with tears, 39 if I have devoured its yield without payment or broken the spirit of its tenants, 40 then let briers come up instead of wheat and stinkweed instead of barley.” The words of Job are ended.
Job didn’t abuse his land or cause damage. We need to take care of the planet we live in, that’s for sure.
He didn’t take produce without paying for it. He wasn’t a “taker”! He paid his way. He never wanted something for nothing. I’m a big fan of earn everything because we shouldn’t expect it to be handed to us.
He didn’t devour it’s yield without payment. This would mean that he honored God with his tithe and he paid his workers. He didn’t want something for nothing.
He didn’t break the spirit of the tenants by withholding wagers or by charging excessive rent fees. He didn’t make their lives unlivable by constantly over working them either. We need to remember that people have families, so don’t drive them to excessive measures just to survive when you don’t have to.
I do remember working on a large crop farm and when it was time to bale hay, you went first thing in the morning until dark but you didn’t roll that way every day. Certain short seasons were all in – all day!
I like our church to be family friendly! Even in our sports – keep in mind, there are families involved and it’s good to allow time for them to be together. Church the same – we have to be considerate of how our decisions are impacting others. I never wanted to make families so busy that they weren’t together.
It’s a word for landlords too. There should be some consideration as to what others are going through. He couldn’t demand so much that there was nothing left over for them.
James talks about how the land owners didn’t pay their employees and they made it much harder on them to survive. They got rich off of the hard labor of others and they paid nothing for it. And that cried out to God.
James 5:3-5 – Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. 4 Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. 5 You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter.
And if we’re going to make our money by thieving like that, then we’re not going to harvest a very good crop. We’ll get stinkweed!
Sometimes we have enough for extras and then we get into tight times as well. We get into seasons that are difficult. And you just cannot absorb the higher costs that are all around us. Then we get creative and learn to be frugal. We might make our tea instead of buying bottles. I bought plants this year at a library sale from someone who dug them out of her own yard. For $65 – you might get 4-5 perrenials. I got probably 13 or 14 for that price. I’ll be able to fill holes in the gardens for a much more reasonable rate. I appreciate the friendlier buying opportunities around us.
Romans 13:7 – Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.
The Bible says that we’re supposed to give due to those to whom it belongs. On occasion I’ll hear of Christian not paying up and this is wrong. I firmly believe in paying my bills. I don’t want to stick anyone!! And I would hope that you all feel the exact same way!
Jesus said to give to God what is God’s and give to Caesar what is Caesar’s. And by the way, “God doesn’t ask for as much as what the federal government does”.
Ethics – Love your Enemy / Love Your Neighbor / Be Conistent / Pay Up