Weeping and Gnashing

The Rev. Nancy E. Gossling                       St. Cyprian's, Roxbury       
Job 23:1-9, 16-17         Psalm 22: 1-15         Hebrews 4: 12-16          Mark 10: 17-31

        My father, God bless and rest his soul, was a man of faith all his life. He often quoted scripture, although I didn’t know it when I was a child; and one of his favorite quotes was about being cast into the outer darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. He always said “gnashing” with a hard G. (gah-nashing) and his quoting to me was occasionally after I had misbehaved as an adult, when I could see the twinkle in his eye and the smile on his lips. Apparently Jesus said these words during his life as well, warning others that those who disobeyed God, would be thrown into the outer darkness, and in that place there would be weeping and gnashing of teeth. There in that darkness, their cries of sorrow, regret, and fear could be heard.
There has been a lot of weeping and gnashing of teeth lately in our country, and today’s lessons from scripture echo these very same sentiments. Indeed, we often mention Job as someone who embodies great despair, who was tempted and tormented by Satan in a game of proof - that Job would only praise God when life was good. If everything, and I mean everything - family, livestock, shelter, and health - was taken away from Job, then surely he would not remain faithful to God! Or so Satan argued. And his friends piled on. Certainly you must have done something wrong, they said to Job.
         And yet, Job remained adamant about his innocence. He demanded to know what he had done or left undone, what he had said or left unsaid, what laws and commandments he had broken. He remained faithful to God to the very bitter end, even asking God to take away his life and put him out of his misery, rather than deny God’s goodness. Surely, Job was in a dark place, weeping and gnashing his teeth.
Job’s complaint is bitter. We hear Job groan under the weight of God’s heavy hand. He wants a hearing with God in order to get some explanations. He is angry with God for being absent, for being missing in action. Despite Job’s cries to God for help, he hears only crickets from his Creator. Finally, after everything was lost, Job gets the opportunity to appear before God, and with his mouth filled with arguments, Job presents his case before God.
          At first, God didn’t argue with Job, but only listened to his plea and his complaints. “Where were you?” Job demanded. “And why didn’t you help me? If I am not innocent then tell me now, so that I can make amends. And If I am innocent, then defend me and help me against these false accusations by my friends and others. Take away the plagues on my body and in my life. Restore me to health,” Job said to God.
          Job was sure that he had been upright in his behavior, and he thought that he was being reasonable in presenting his case to God. He still trusted God as his judge, and despite all that he had endured, Job is confident that he will be acquitted. Unfortunately, it is when Job hit rock bottom, that God responded; and only then did Job understand more fully about his life as a creature, and his relationship with God and all creation. Sometimes, like Job, I too wonder about the games people play, the reality of evil spirits, and why God doesn’t intervene sooner. But then, I don’t have the perspective or knowledge of God.
           If you can temporarily imagine Job as both masculine and feminine, and each of them presenting their cases before God, I suspect that Justice Kavanaugh and Dr. Ford may have felt and may continue to feel these very same sentiments. Although Justice Kavanaugh claims he is not bitter, and we haven’t heard from Dr. Ford since the hearings, we can assume that both of their lives have been living hells. We also know that there are plenty of people on both sides that are bitter about the process and even the result.
           Like Jesus, who quoted psalm 22 from the cross, perhaps each of them felt forsaken by God, unjustly accused, deserted by friends, betrayed by their leaders, and innocent of all allegations. In their times of need, many people abandoned them, and seemed “far from their cries and words of distress.” In the public squares, people raised their voices in protest, or were silent in their defense. Perhaps they trusted in the Lord, if not their own judicial system and team of lawyers. I wonder if they heard only crickets from God, and began to waver in their faith.
          Like Job, I imagine they both fervently hoped to be rescued from their trials, from people who did not believe them, from harsh words and death threats, from unjust and merciless people. I imagine that there was much weeping and gnashing of teeth in their homes, and that they prayed for relief from their misery. I imagine they hoped and prayed that God would deliver them.
Psalm 22 acknowledges the desperate cries of people, who often turn to God for help, especially when all else fails. Our human pleas are often not answered in the daytime, nor do they offer us any rest at night. We look to our past and people who we trusted and now see only betrayal. We fight back with anger and bitterness. We weep and gnash our teeth, shaking our heads in disbelief, and beating our breasts with grief. And perhaps we hear only crickets from our Creator, while God’s creation responds with gale force winds and flooding waters.
          People are laughing us to scorn, curling their lips and wagging their heads, and saying, they trusted in the political system, or the judicial system, or the health care system, or the religious system, indeed even in the civil system, to deliver them and look what happened to them? In time likes these, like the psalmist and Job, we feel despised, poured out like water, with bones out of joint, hearts melting like wax, and mouths dried out from endless personal prayers that seemingly result in nothing. We hear only crickets from our Creator.
          Jesus said to the man who knelt before him, “You know the commandments. ‘You shall not bear false witness. You shall not defraud. You shall not murder.’” And although this man, unlike me, had kept all these things from his youth, he couldn’t respond to his request - to give up everything and follow Jesus. Truth be told, like Job, most if not all of us, would be like this man, unless of course, like Job, or the people in the wake of hurricane Michael, everything was taken away from us unwillingly.
           In his letter to the Hebrews, the author says that God’s word is “living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow. It is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Oh, that God would make sure that no creature is hidden from our sight. Oh, that God would speak to us now, living and active, with judicial clarity. Oh, that God, to whom we must all one day render an account, would show us mercy. Oh, that to God and others, our hearts would reveal only love.”
Our human words to each other are often sharper than two-edged swords, cutting people and political parties into pieces, dividing our houses, destroying our relationships, and undermining the trust we have between us all. To enter into the kingdom of God seems far easier to me than to run for public office, or to be believed as a survivor of sexual assault, or to be a faithful follower of Jesus. It’s a hard journey to walk the way of the cross, and to enter through that narrow gate. Oh, that Jesus would come again and show us the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
Clearly, according to scripture, Jesus is able to understand and sympathize with our weakness, not to mention our choices. He knows full well what we have done and left undone, what we have said and left unsaid, what our true intentions are. He too was tested in every respect, as Job was, and as we are; and yet Jesus did not sin. He did not lie. He did not falsely accuse. He did not assault anyone, neither in his words nor in his actions; rather he pointed to God, and assured everyone of God’s forgiveness and our salvation. He remained faithful, like Job, to the bitter end.
  Surprisingly, when Jesus was called “Good Teacher,” even Jesus denied his own goodness. For we believe that everything and everyone that God created is good. We just make poor choices from time to time. And yet, Jesus told this man that “only God is good.” And as we claim today, even in the midst of our own tragedies, God is good all the time. Therefore, if we are to enter into God’s kingdom, and inherit eternal life, it will not be because of our good names, our innocent testimonies, or even our good works. Rather, our eternal inheritance is a supreme court decision, and it remains solely up to God, who is our one and only Judge. With justice and mercy, God is good and God is good all the time.
            In truth, we are a people and a country of great wealth and yet there seems to be a spiritual deficit, bordering on bankruptcy at this time. Our house is divided and falling, and our scales of justice and mercy are tipping. We speak truth, and yet it is without the softening blows of love. Our voices spew hatred when they should be like crickets. It will be easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than political opponents to treat each other with dignity and respect.
In the opening collect, we begin our liturgy by praying to God - to “you our hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid. Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit that we may perfectly love you and worthily magnify your holy name.” Today I add my prayers. Please God, make it so. Answer us and be not far from us in this time of trouble. Save us from ourselves for what is impossible for mortals, Jesus tells us that it is possible with God. For what seemed total destruction to Job became resurrection and new life.
Jesus has joined God on the bench, and the author of Hebrews reminds us that Jesus became our great high priest, who was sacrificed for the sins of the whole world, who forgives and saves us, once and for all. In Him, we have a treasure in heaven; and through Him, we can know the everlasting mercy and grace of God. In Him, there is no more weeping and gnashing of teeth, and no more despair; for Jesus embodies faith, hope, and love, and the promise that God will save us.
           Jesus shows us the goodness of God, and that God is good all the time. He is our mediator, chief advocate, and Savior; for the dwelling place of God was among mortals, and in the high courts of heaven, we are acquitted forever. Therefore we can approach God’s throne with boldness and hope. The crickets are no longer silent, they are only singing a new song.