Even if I were innocent, my mouth would condemn me; if I were blameless, it would pronounce me guilty. – Job 9:20

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 20, 2012): Job 9

I admit that I wage a daily battle with my tongue. I have often described Peter as having his mouth in gear while his brain is still in neutral, and it seems that I am continually trying to prove my affinity with him. Too often I seem to come to the end of the day wishing that I hadn’t said something. Daily it seems that words have betrayed me.

We have so many good plans, things that we want to do. We work hard at making a good impression. We work hard at being good people. And yet, we are also haunted by the ghosts of our past actions – and of our words. Our desire is that our good works would cover up for all the ways that we have failed. We dream that the good deeds of our hands would cover over the missteps of our lips. But the truth is something different. Even in the midst of all of the good that we do, there is a smell of death that covers us.

Job compares himself with God, but he seems to be fighting a battle with in himself. There is part of him that wants to proclaim that he is blameless. He has lived a good life. In fact, there is no evidence that he is wrong. Job worked hard to do what was good. And because of the life he had led, even God asks Satan “have you seen my servant, Job?” It is as if God is proud of all that Job had done. And if God was proud of Job, maybe Job had a right to believe that he was blameless before God.

And yet the battle still raged inside. Job knew that there was no way that he could win the comparison. Even if he was as righteous as he thought he might be, he would still be condemned by the words of his own mouth. The whole story of Job is that story. Job is a righteous man of whom God is proud, and yet even he is betrayed by his own words.

No matter how righteous we might think that we are, no matter how hard we work at being good, we still stand in the same place as Job. We know that our words betray us – and that our only hope is that God is willing to come and save us.

And the story of the Gospel is that God is willing. He has come to save.

  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Job 10


Note: The VantagePoint Sermon "The Price of Following - A Single Minded Obedience" is now available on the VantagePoint Website. You can find it here http://www.vantagepointcc.org/The_Price_of_Following___A_Single_Minded_Obedience.htm