A sermon from November
It has been awhile. That means nothing new to share. However, I have a loving congregation that is willing tolerate a person that sounds drunk at times. I do print off my sermon so they can follow along. Here i sermon on Job. It seemed fitting at this time.
November 9, 2025 - 23rd Sunday after Pentecost – LCS
Job 19:23-27a
Pastor Alex Steward
Trevor Hudson shares the following story in In Search of God’s Will, “Michelangelo once pushed a massive block of marble down a street. His neighbor sat lazily in front of his house and watched him with much curiosity. Wondering why Michelangelo struggled with this rough piece of stone, he asked why he was sweating away at what seemed a senseless task. Michelangelo said, ‘Because there is an angel in this rock that is longing to be released.’” Michelangelo reveals a faith and perseverance that mirrors that of Job.
Despite the fact Job lost his wealth, family, health, and eventually friends, he perseveres and knows a God who he has not seen face to face. I do not know about you, but those are high standards to live up to. I would rather be angry and yell and scream at God when things do not go my way. Job does plenty of this, but he finds a lasting faith in God. The famous verses we hear this morning contain the central truth of the book of Job: In the darkness of suffering, Job affirms that he will see God – if not in this life, then in eternity. He refuses to give up on God, remaining in relationship even when no comfort comes and his questions are unanswered.
We desire to be remembered. We want to be remembered. Job has the same desire because he is human. What if I could write my words down and then they shall last forever?
Isn’t that the hope of many people with artistic ability? Think of Michelangelo to Elvis Presley, we know who they are and the legacy they left behind. What if we could write down all our words so that people knew what we did and who we were many years later? Sometimes we do not want the history reported, yet it can show how the people of God persevered.
Job found his hope in God, “For I know that my redeemer lives.” We too can live with the hope and promise we are not alone and rest in the fact that God is with us. Despite warfare around the world, the rights of our siblings in Christ being stripped away, our cities being inundated by armed forces, and much more, we can boldly proclaim with Job, “For I know that my redeemer lives.” Our lives could be invaded if we had faith and perseverance like Job. However, we quite often follow Jelly Roll’s theological insights, “I only talk to God when I need a favor, And I only pray when I ain’t got a prayer.” To have a constant dialogue going is the goal and though Job is angry, he has never stopped talking to God.
Our earthly bodies will be destroyed, but in Spirit we will meet the one we call the Holy Spirit. What we have around us now, and witness will no longer matter because “I know that my redeemer lives.” It is true that we all face challenges. This is part of being human and there is no way to avoid it. The question then becomes whether we face these challenges with Job, who emits faith and perseverance or an attitude of anger and denial? I leave you with this selection paraphrased by Michael Coffey:
If my words were acidic enough to etch a metal plate
I could weld it to a skyscraper antenna and each letter would soar
If my pen were iron and everything I wrote were inscribed
into the stone surface of this earth even after I’m beneath it
If the photons entering your eye just now could burn-in this line
and your cerebellum would remember me after I’m forgettable
But nothing I author into the universe will survive the curve
of the earth around the sun more than a time or two beyond me
And none of my juxtapositions will remain jux-ta-posed but toppled
and every insight I have known will spill into the black coffee swirl of time
All that will endure of me is the infinite already in me groping to find a way
through me into the small portal of this day or your eye or some soul’s wound
So let this liquid fountain pen or these soft flesh fingertips do their temporal work
and this erasable life rejoice in the one who writes me speechless and eternal
Thank you