February 4, 2018 Text: Job 7:1-7
Dear Friends in Christ,
Have you ever had the experience of the wind being knocked out of you? When I was a freshman running back a pass pattern was called one day in practice where I was to drag across the middle. I ran the route but before the pass could arrive I was lit up by a sophomore linebacker. The breath in my body was sent twenty yards down the field and that moment of panic set in where you can’t catch your breath. I still remember that hit.
Has something similar happened to you? Maybe not a hit in football or a hard fall to the ground but it is asthma you suffer from. The air is restricted from getting to your lungs and you need an inhaler or nebulizer or medication. If you have struggled to breathe or have watched someone with this condition it can cause you discomfort and an uneasy feeling.
In our text for this morning Job is literally knocked breathless. He speaks the words we can all speak . . .
“MY LIFE IS BUT A BREATH”
The life test that Job experiences has laid him flat. His children have all died, interestingly enough as we will see by wind that knocked down the house they were all in. His property has been destroyed and Job has been afflicted with sores from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. Job is “short of breath” as he tries to deal with what is before him. In our text he uses words like “futility”, “night drags on”, “toss till dawn”, “clothed with worms and scabs”, “skin is broken and festering”, “an end without hope.”
What experiences in our lives may bring similar feelings? A loved one with a terminal disease. The loss of a job and income. We also share experiences as a congregation. A family that we see goes through one challenge after another. The sudden death of a member or the death of children. It’s a punch to the gut or running into a wall. Breath literally leaves our body.
Even deeper than the physical wounds and tragedies is the breathlessness of our spirit. These are the times when the people of God are gasping for breath in the temptations of this world, the hopelessness that surrounds us in our sin and guilt and the big squeeze of Satan, who is looking to knock both breath and life from our very soul.
God remembers our need while we may have our focus on our troubles. God is not aloof in heaven. He established a connection with us in Baptism. In these grace-giving waters He breathed into our body and soul the life breath of eternity. By His Spirit he enlivened our being and grew our faith. He allows us in this life to breathe in His life, to breathe in His forgiveness, and to breathe in His Gospel.
God also remembers our need. Look at how He interacted with Job. In our total breathlessness He speaks to us and breathes life into our whole being.
Christ is our life-breath. He took the breath of the air of this world into his holy and perfect lungs. It was a stagnant, sinful, and toxic air. The Lord of life went to the cross and exhaled life itself. Then in His resurrection He offered to us mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to breathe forgiveness and life into our soul.
We are privileged to reside in the iron lung of our Lord God – the church – receiving in His Word and Sacraments his very breath of life. Our Lord speaks clearly, “out with the bad and in with the good.”
Remember earlier when I mentioned Job’s children were destroyed by the wind? There are other instances in Scripture where air and wind caused problems but have you ever thought how many times breath-wind-spirit was used in a positive God-ordained way in the Holy Bible?
The breath of life into the lifeless clay of man at creation. The wind that brings salvation at the banks of the Red Sea. The wind and spirit that brings life to dead bones in the vision of Ezekiel. The Spirit breathing on the disciples as they are sent by Jesus. The breath of divine forgiveness in a world of sin. The Spirit-wind that rushed through the dwelling. The apostles themselves on the first Pentecost bursting forth from the exhalation.
Job thought he would never see happiness again but that is not the case. He was blessed with double property and joy returned as seven sons and three daughters were born. His life like ours is but a breath. Breathe deeply the life-breath of our Lord and Savior. Breathe deeply, for so many want to squeeze the life from you. Breathe deeply the breath of the almighty and life-giving God. A risen and breathing Savior Jesus Christ, who by his Spirit has breathed into our being the breath of life for all eternity.
Amen.