the god character
The first two chapters of Job are our Old Testament reading for Sunday. I started to read the text with no small amount of dread. The Job story is a familiar one, the embodiement of theodicy, Kushner’s “Why do bad things happen to good people?” It’s filled with misery and unanswered sorrow.
So I was pleasantly surprised by our selection for this week which is the introduction to the ancient odyssey. The introduction is a conversation between God and the sons of God, one of whom is playing the role of adversary. God is celebrating that in God’s garden there exists one truly righteous man. God is bragging. The role of the adversary is to challenge the assertion. And so the story begins.
Amazingly in this tale there is no suggestion that the adversary (whom we know as Satan) is evil in intent. Even more shocking, the adversary acts with the full assent of the God character and is clearly functioning as a servant of God. There is no dualism, the God character is fully in charge. And there is no evil villian, just the gnawing question of where God fits into the human drama.
Can God really be responsible for tragedy? Can we hold the divine mystery accountable for not only blessing but also bane?
More importantly, can we let go of the notion of a Satan character? Can we let go of our need to scapegoat and blame in order to leave the God character looking clean?
Sadly this lection is not shared by the Lutherans, the Roman Catholics, or the Episcopalians. The “Revised Common Lectionary” (which includes Job 1-2) is the one that most denominations follow, but this is one of those Sundays where several folks have chosen optional readings. For them the dualism of God-Satan can remain unchallenged, but not for us.
And I can’t help but believe that we will be the better for it.
