But it is the spirit in a person, the breath of the Almighty, that gives them understanding. – Job 32:8

Today’s Scripture Reading (June 21, 2018): Job 32

“I believe what really happens in history is this: the old man is always wrong; and the young people are always wrong about what is wrong with him. The practical form it takes is this: that, while the old man may stand by some stupid custom, the young man always attacks it with some theory that turns out to be equally stupid.” It is in this way that G. K. Chesterton describes the battle of the generations. And in the end, everyone is wrong. In my society, the effect is often reversed. We have lost the respect for age. It is the young voice that is sought after and valued. I listened as one young pastor complained to me about the great age of his board. He had hoped that I could help him figure out a way to replace the aging voices with younger ones. Chesterton would argue that the result would be exchanging one wrong voice for another. And so the answer continues to elude us

As Elihu attempts to enter the conversation between Job and his friends, but he needs to find a way to justify his voice. In a world that values age, he is young. He has sat quietly by as the older men discussed the situation, but at least to Elihu, the conversation has been unfulfilling. There is no doubt that in the mind of Elihu, there have been arguments that were not being raised. There were things that he would say if he were just given a chance. But no one invites him to speak; age would seem to have no respect for his youth.

And so Elihu decides to force his way into the conversation without an invitation. And his justification for his voice is that it is the spirit inside of us, that which God has breathed into each of us, that brings true wisdom. Elihu, like Job, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, possesses that breath of God. Therefore, at least in the mind of Elihu, that gives him a right to give voice to the thoughts that are carrying on inside of his head. The older ones, bound by tradition, are wrong. Elihu will speak the voice of youth, but the problem is that the voice of youth will be no more correct than that of age. Elihu will simply be wrong for different reasons.

However, Elihu, like the others, has stumbled onto a truth. The breath of God does bring wisdom, and that wisdom is in all of the participants of the conversation. The problem is that it is the conversation that is important. In all of our interactions, truth and wisdom are found somewhere in the midst of our communication. Much like the story of Job, when we commit ourselves to speak with each other, God eventually appears – even though sometimes we don’t recognize him.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Job 33