Proper 7: First Reading, Job 38:1-11                                       

Job 38:1-11

The office is currently quiet. One staff member is at lunch and one other is down the hall. No phones ringing, no chatting between appointments. It’s nearly silent. Truth be told, it’s kind of nice. We don’t get that much around here. You might think that a church office cluster Monday through Friday would be a quiet place. But you clearly haven’t stopped in lately.

I find the truth that whether its phones ringing or online programs or music or zoom meetings, there is a lot of chatter in the world. I’ve often thought it would be a scary thing to measure how much of what is said and what we take in on any given day is actually valuable, actually helpful. Scary because I think we would find precious little is really worth hanging onto at all.

It’s that way when we read the book of Job, thought to be the first written book of Scripture. And from the outset, mankind thinks it knows a whole lot about God. The opposite is true. And it shows in all the conversations Job has with his “friends.” Clamor, clatter, chatter and boasting are all a part of the dialogue. Not everything spoken in chapters 1-37 is out of place. But when God finally enters the fray in chapter 38, the sudden silence of all the others is simply stunning. And probably good for general health, if you get my “drift.”

God finally has His say. I’m not going to ruin it for you by just starting and leaving out what might be most critical for you, so your assignment is to read and do some pondering on Job 38:1-11. And don’t feel you have to stop there. Heavens no. Go on and read to the end of the book.

It might get quiet around you. And you might find that’s worth more than all the chatter you’ve heard today. Enjoy the silence.