The Closet Professor

The hope of the righteous will be gladness, but the expectation of the wicked will perish.

—Proverbs 10:28

 The Book of Job addresses why God permits evil in the world, through the experiences of Job, a wealthy and God-fearing man with a comfortable life and a large family. God asked Satan for his opinion of Job’s piety and decides to take away Job’s wealth, family, and material comforts, following Satan’s accusation that if Job were rendered penniless and without his family, he would turn away from God. The story of Job teaches us that we can have steadfast hope in God no matter what happens to us. In the life of Job, we see the breadth and depth of human suffering. We see suffering in health (Job 2:7), suffering in the loss of property (1:14–17), and suffering in the tragic death of family members (1:18–19). Ultimately, because of Job’s faith his is restored to health, riches and family, and lives to see his children to the fourth generation. Like the parables of Jesus in the New Testament, the story is less about “Did it really happen?” than it is about the message.

The Book of Job shows us that suffering is universal. We all suffer at one time or another, though it differs from circumstance to circumstance. What may cause one person’s suffering may not cause another’s. Then there is what we might call “common suffering.” This is suffering that affects all people without distinction. It is simply the result of living. It includes health problems from colds to cancer. It includes bad weather, earthquakes, and typhoons. It includes financial struggles, and even death itself. Each tragic incident in Job’s life includes an element of this common suffering.

Eliphaz the Temanite, one of the friends or comforters of Job who tries to convince Job that his suffering is because of his sins, asks him in Job 4:6, “Is not your reverence your confidence? And the integrity of your ways your hope?” It made sense to Eliphaz that suffering was the consequence of sin and that, if a person suffered, he was being punished by God. However, Eliphaz was wrong. Job’s life is a clear example of how sometimes the innocent suffer. I cannot answer the question of why God lets us suffer. It is one of the divine mysteries that I cannot explain, but I do know that I, nor anyone else, suffer because of our sins.  The answer may be in Romans 5:3-5 which says, “And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

In this Notes from the Underground, Fr. Donald Cozzens writes, “We don’t suffer for our sins; we suffer from our sins. That’s the message Jesus taught when he told the scandalous story of the prodigal son. We’re loved already, saved already, redeemed already- before we can ever merit God’s love, or be saved by Jesus’ passion, or be redeemed by our entering into the Paschal Mystery.” (Note: The Paschal Mystery is one of the central concepts of Catholic faith relating to the history of salvation.) Some Christians say that God himself directly chastises his followers for their sins, and therefore, we suffer because of our own sin. I was never taught this. I was taught that any punishment would come in the afterlife, though I have always believed that you must be truly evil down to your soul for God to send you to Hell. Job’s friends assume that his suffering is a direct result of disobedience (Job 8:4). Their comfort of Job angered God because suffering is never divine punishment for specific sins. 

If we look at the recent floods in Vermont, we will see that while there is great suffering in the destruction it caused, the state is recovering. People are working hard to restore the areas most affected. Some Christians may claim that Vermont suffered the floods because they are too “woke” as the Republicans might say. However, if you look at the flooding in Vermont, only two people died of it. The message is not that Vermont suffered because of what some perceive as it’s sinful ways because it helps the poor, protects the environment, lifts the downtrodden, i.e., all the things that make a good Christian. The message is that we must stop destroying the earth with pollution. If we don’t staunch the tide of global warming and take care of the environment, then we will all be doomed. Global warming is a consequence of greed and is very real.

Despite its focus on challenges and sufferings, the book of Job speaks a message of great hope to the world. The physician Habib Sadeghi wrote, “Hope believes there are greater forces against you but that there’s a chance you might win out. Hope is wishing. Faith is knowing. The universe is listening.” We live in a world longing for comfort and hope, and such hope is found in faith in God. We are loved faithfully and passionately by God who works all things for our good (Rom. 8:28). James 5:11 tells us “Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.”

We can give people hope by doing God’s work. Job 5:16 says, “So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts their mouths.” Many of us are beaten down by the injustices of the world, and for some it causes them to shrink back, to “shut their mouths.” Injustice perpetrated by people is meant to silence. However, we are to intercede for the world, both in prayer and in life. Second Corinthians 1:3-4 tells us that Gods is out comfort and we should share that comfort: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” The comfort we are commanded to give must be shown in our actions to others. It allows us to spread hope. 

We must not only have hope ourselves but give that hope to others. However, we cannot do that if we do not have hope ourselves. In The Beatrice Letters, the fictional character Lemony Snicket says, “Strange as it may seem, I still hope for the best, even though the best, like an interesting piece of mail, so rarely arrives, and even when it does it can be lost so easily.” I will end with the words of Stephen King, “Remember, Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.”