Powerful OZ

The LORD addressed Job out of the storm and said: Have you ever in your lifetime commanded the morning and shown the dawn its place For taking hold of the ends of the earth, till the wicked are shaken from its surface? The earth is changed as is clay by the seal and dyed as though it were a garment; but from the wicked the light is withheld, and the arm of pride is shattered.

Have you entered into the sources of the sea, or walked about in the depths of the abyss? Have the gates of death been shown to you, or have you seen the gates of darkness? Have you comprehended the breadth of the earth? Tell me, if you know all: Which is the way to the dwelling place of light, and where is the abode of darkness, that you may take them to their boundaries and set them on their homeward paths? You know, because you were born before them, and the number of your years is great!

Then Job answered the LORD and said: Behold, I am of little account; what can I answer you? I put my hand over my mouth. Though I have spoken once, I will not do so again; though twice, I will do so no more. (Job 38:1, 12-21, 40:3-5)

Job spoke once to the LORD with his complaints, and the LORD said, “Shut up!” in so many words.  Speaking like the Great and Powerful Wizard of OZ from behind the curtain and telling Dorothy, the Lion, Scarecrow and Tin Man to go away, the LORD’s tone was braggadocio.  Job seemed to be beaten down and shamed for voicing his legitimate concerns.  What’s up LORD!?  Why encourage Job to put his hand over his mouth to be silent?   We know you are powerful.

With that said, then why if from the wicked light is withheld and the arm of pride is shattered, the wicked and proud often seem to suffer no immediate consequences for their behavior? Why God do you allow them to roam and prowl like marauding lions?  If you shake the wicked from the Earth’s surface, why is wickedness so prominent in public and private lives – in government and businesses or in communities plagued by racism?

Yes, God, you do mighty deeds, but can you spare a little time to combat evil?  God might say to us, “I’ll grant your wish if you bring me the broom of the Wicked Witch of the West.”  For OZ fans that was the task given to Dorothy, the Lion, Scarecrow, and Tin Man by the Wizard with the reward being return home to Kansas, courage, a brain, and a heart.  And they succeeded, but the Wizard could not comply.

However, the battle with the evil Witch for her broom revealed the Lion already had courage, the Scarecrow a brain, and the Tin Man a heart.  Dorothy discovered that to get home, all she had to was wish it and remember, “There’s no place like home.”  And that’s the message God has for us.

God knows we are powerful and expects us to do our part.  We are not to lower our eyes and believe we are of lower account.  We are to remove our hands from our mouths.  We are to use our brains, open our hearts, and show the courage God has given us to do God’s will that includes battling evil in all its many forms.

There’s no place like home, and that home for us is our residence as in the Body of Christ.  We don’t need to follow a yellow brick road to find it.  We are already there in the Emerald City we call the Kingdom of God.  

Deacon David Pierce