Job in Surrender: Blessed Be the Name of Lord

And then Eloha speaks, and the father raises the son because death does not win. Sin does not win. Satan does not win. Christ wins, which means if you surrender, you're when you surrender to him, you're not just surrendering into a void or into the darkness or into randomness. You're surrendering into nail scarred hands that you can trust because he knows the way home. [00:14:46] (29 seconds)

It's not pretending the loss doesn't hurt. Oh, it does. It's simply admitting this. I'm not driving. I'm not driving. Yahweh is compassionate. El Shaddai is almighty. Aloha is raising the dead. And in Jesus Christ, those names now have a face. [00:16:51] (31 seconds)

They are utterly and completely vulnerable. And yet at the same time, they are utterly and completely safe. Why? Because someone else is driving. Someone else is driving. Someone else knows the way home, and they don't have to worry about it. That's what surrender looks like for a follower of Jesus. It's not pretending the road isn't dark. It is. It's not pretending the storm isn't real. It is. [00:16:05] (46 seconds)

But we have to remember, Satan is not God's equal. Don't give him that power. He is not some kind of dark force that balances out the universe. He's a defeated fallen angel, defeated by the God who, on Easter morning, raised beauty from ashes as he raises a dead carpenter from Nazareth to be the risen king. This means that the end is not the end. Sadness doesn't get the final word. Sickness doesn't get the final word. Grief does not get the final word. And friends, hear me clearly. Death does not get the final word. Aloha does. [00:12:00] (39 seconds)

It doesn't give a tidy answer to the question why that keeps staring you on the ceiling at 2AM that you're looking for an answer to. But Job does give us one word. One word in the midst of the struggles, in the terrible, the horrible, the no good, very bad days, and that word is surrender. See, somehow, by God's grace, surrender is what begins to begins to shape us. [00:05:10] (29 seconds)

And that's surrender, Not resignation, not defeat. Surrender and trust. Job surrenders in the ashes of his suffering, but Jesus Jesus surrenders into suffering for you. He takes your rebellion. He takes your refusal to surrender. He takes your bitterness. He takes your running. He takes your self medication. He takes your hard heart. And you know what he does with all of it? He dies with it. [00:14:13] (34 seconds)

And it's an understandable reaction. But the thing is the thing is it doesn't actually help. Not at all. Running from god doesn't heal a broken heart. Somehow, by god's grace, we have to learn to to worship again. It's what Job does in the ashes, in the shock, in the grief. He says, blessed be the name of the Lord. Surrender through worship. [00:07:20] (39 seconds)

That name shows up 31 times in the book of Job. Job Job clings to El Shaddai because when cat when when catastrophe hits, our first reaction can sometimes be denial. Right? No. No. No. This can't be happening. This isn't real. This won't last. This is a nightmare. I'm gonna wake up, and it's gonna be over. But acceptance. Acceptance doesn't mean I stop caring. I care. I will always care that what happened was not good. It wasn't good. It was awful. It was a nightmare. But acceptance simply means I can't change it. El Shaddai calls the shots. I do not. [00:09:28] (45 seconds)

kids fall asleep in the car, they're like this. You're like, how can they be sleeping? There's maybe drool running down their face. Right? They have no control. They have no awareness of where they're at or where they're going. They are utterly and completely vulnerable. And yet at the same time, they are utterly and completely safe. Why? Because someone else is driving. Someone else is driving. Someone else knows the way home, and they don't have to worry about it. That's what surrender looks like for a follower of Jesus. It's not pretending the road isn't dark. It is. It's not pretending the storm isn't real. It is. It's not pretending the loss doesn't hurt. Oh, it does. It's simply admitting this. I'm not driving. I'm not driving. Yahweh is compassionate. El Shaddai is almighty. Aloha is raising the dead. And in Jesus Christ, those names now have a face. [00:15:48] (93 seconds)

It's not pretending the loss doesn't hurt. Oh, it does. It's simply admitting this. I'm not driving. I'm not driving. Yahweh is compassionate. El Shaddai is almighty. Aloha is raising the dead. And in Jesus Christ, those names now have a face. Where does that surrender happen for you? What happened first and foremost in the water and the word of your baptism, where you were washed and connected to the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, named a beloved son, a chosen daughter. It happens here at communion, where Christ, the risen lord, puts in your very hands and his mouth and your mouth his very body and blood for the forgiveness of sins because he knows the road's hard and needing strength for the journey ahead. [00:16:51] (62 seconds)

loss doesn't hurt. Oh, it does. It's simply admitting this. I'm not driving. I'm not driving. Yahweh is compassionate. El Shaddai is almighty. Aloha is raising the dead. And in Jesus Christ, those names now have a face. Where does that surrender happen for you? What happened first and foremost in the water and the word of your baptism, where you were washed and connected to the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, named a beloved son, a chosen daughter. It happens here at communion, where Christ, the risen lord, puts in your very hands and his mouth and your mouth his very body and blood for the forgiveness of sins because he knows the road's hard and needing strength for the journey ahead. [00:16:52] (61 seconds)