In the first message of this series, I mentioned that Job’s story is intended to be a cautionary tale about how we understand God and life. Job’s understanding of God and life, “God gives, and God takes,” isn’t something we are supposed to accept as correct. We know this because Job repents of this understanding in Job 42:1-6. Yet, this false theology persists today to where a grieving father says at the funeral of his five murdered children, “The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away.”

This Sunday’s scripture begins with one of the most remarkable statements in the story of Job. It is found in 42:7, “After God had finished addressing Job, he turned to Eliphaz the Temanite and said, “I’ve had it with you and your two friends. I’m fed up! You haven’t been honest either with me or about me—not the way my friend Job has.” If Job’s theology was so messed up and not something to accept, what is it about Job that the Lord is honors?

God heard Job’s friends saying all the “right” religious statements and hated it. God heard Job saying all kinds of angry, judgmental, vile, almost blasphemous things and God loved it. Why? Because God knew that Job was speaking straight from his gut, from the rawness of having lost his family, his home, and his health. Job wasn’t pretending, and God adored that.

This reveals a God who loves honesty, above accuracy. Although accuracy is important, God wants most of all honesty. God wants an honest relationship with people who chose to be in a relationship with him. This is the beauty of God. The beauty of God is that God cares about our fears, our hurts, our angers, and he wants us to be honest with him about them.