Riding the Turtle - Job 42:1-6, 10-17, 1 Corinthians 3:10-11

I grew up getting my hair cut at an old fashioned barber shop;
one with the red striped pole out front
where the only decent style of cut for a boy was a crew cut.
I would go with my Dad on Saturday morning and wait my turn
until the barber would slap the leather chair with a towel,
and invite me to climb up.
It took no time at all to cut my hair,
because all it required was a few passes with the number three guard clippers.
When he was done I’d get a whisk of talcum powder
and a squirt of compressed air and I was good to go.
As I climbed down, the barber would give me two items:
a lollipop and a dime to “go ride the turtle.”

The turtle was a large plastic reptile with a seat in the shell that they kept in back.
I would climb into the seat and carefully slip my dime in the slot,
and for a couple of minutes I would gyrate slowly on the animal’s back.
Looking back, I realize that turtle was interminably slow.
Still, there was something about it that gave me comfort.
No trip to the barber shop was complete without that ride.

I don’t remember when I stopped riding the turtle –
if the barber quit offering the dime or if I quit accepting it.
It was inevitable, however, that would let my hair grow longer
and graduate on to faster rides.

I haven’t thought about that turtle for a long time,
but it all came back to me when I found the picture of the engraving
that you have on your bulletin today.
The title of the engraving is “The Triumph of Job” by Maerten van Heemskerck
a 16th century Dutch artist.

As you can see, Job is depicted in the engraving
as one who has come through his ordeal intact.
In fact, he has overcome all who either intentionally or unintentionally
caused him to suffer.
That includes Mrs. Job who told him early on that he should just curse God and die,
It includes his three visitors who kept insisting that Job was hiding a dark sin
and deserved his punishment.
And it includes old Satan himself, or as I’ve been calling him, the Accuser,
who is responsible for talking God into letting him test Job in the first place.
In the picture, Job is leading these five figures on what look like leashes.
He carries a banner of victory and he is riding on the back of a turtle, of all things!

I consulted Roger Elliott, our resident art historian,
and he told me that van Heemskerck was one of the northern Renaissance artists
who often used scriptural references in their art
and they were known to imbue everyday objects with hidden symbolic meaning.
So we can be pretty sure of the fact that Job riding a turtle means something.
We just don’t know what.

I looked it up on line and while I found no explanation of van Heemskerck’s work
but I did find references to the symbolism of the turtle in general.
In Hindu mythology, it is believed that the world is supported
by four elephants standing on a giant turtle’s back.
For Native Americans, the turtle is part of their creation myth.
Many cultures see the turtle as a symbol of a long life
and that would fit Job’s story since, after all he had lost was restored,
it is written that Job lived 140 years and died, “old and full of days.”
Of course, Aesop, the Greek writer who lived in 600 B.C.
had his famous fable of the race between the tortoise and the hare
which ends with the moral “Slow and steady wins the race.”
Maybe it’s the famous “patience of Job” that van Heemskerck had in mind
when he created this picture and put Job on the turtle’s back.

We’ve come to the end of our four week journey through Job.
We decided at the beginning not to look for answers in the story
but instead to allow Job to help us come up with some good questions.
The first week our question was this:
“Can there be a human being of such integrity toward God and people
that not even the worst imaginable experiences of life
are capable of destroying that person?”

The second week the question was:
“Is there anywhere so dark or so distant that God is not present there?”

Last week it was:
“What would it mean for me if I were to accept that I am not the center of the universe,
that God gives the gift of life, but does not make every move
base on whether I deserve to be rewarded or punished?

This last week we come back around to the question I told you I would get to.
Everyone who’s ever heard of Job assumes that Job’s story addresses the question
“Why do bad things happen to good people?”
Or, the corollary, “Why do good things happen to bad people.”

We come to Job’s story wanting it to tell us the reasons behind
the injustices we experience or hear about.
We want to shake Job and say “Come on man, tell us who to blame here!”
But in the end, the only wisdom Job can give us is found in his last address to God
when he says, “I have uttered what I do not understand,
things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.”

In the end Job survives with his integrity intact.
He stands before God still convinced that his friends are wrong,
that what has befallen him is not a punishment for some unconfessed sin.
But in the end he is moved to repentance anyway because he understands
that he has overstepped his bounds;
that he has assumed he could know the mind of God.
He has acted as though he was entitled to a backstage pass to creation.

So, as much as we would like it to be so,
we do not find in Job the answer to the question,
“Why do bad things happen to good people.”
Instead, we are invited to ask the question,
“HOW (not why) but HOW can we continue on with our lives
when bad things DO happen to good people (and vice versa)?”
“HOW do we pick up the pieces and continue on
when we witness or experience a terrible injustice?”

This is where I think the turtle needs to make an entrance.
I don’t know what was in Maerten van Heemskerck’s mind
when he created “The Triumph of Job.”
But for me the “Slow and Steady Wins the Race” allusion makes the most sense.
I’m sure it was probably me who quit taking the dimes for the turtle ride at the barber
because at some point I wasn’t content with a “baby” ride.
I wanted something faster, something with more of a thrill,
something that would give me the illusion that I was making progress,
I could get things done,
I could make it happen,
I could be in charge and keep on an onward and upward path all the way.

But then a child is born with a disability.
A diagnosis of cancer comes out of the blue.
A poor decision leads to a split second crash leads to sudden paralysis.
Bad things happen. They’re not punishment, they just happen.

If you’ve been thinking you’ve crossed all the “t’s” and dotted all the “I’s”
and that you’re too smart or too good looking or too religious
to face difficulty or hardship;
If you’re under the illusion that you’re in charge, you’ve lived a healthy lifestyle,
and that if you just move fast enough trouble can’t hit a moving target,
well, then, good luck with that.

But when bad things happen, and they will happen,
the key to overcoming the bad things,
the key to finding meaning even in the most difficult circumstances,
is putting your dime in the slot and riding the turtle.
You’ve heard it so much it’s seems trite, but it’s true.
Slow and steady wins the race.
One day at a time.
Easy does it.
Keep on plugging.
Don’t look ten years ahead or even two years or even two months if you can help it.
Just resolve to live this day, this hour, this moment as fully as you can,
and keep plodding along.

And know this: God is with you on that ash heap –
not to make your pain vanish,
not to trade healing for some promise that you’ll do better.
God is there with you on the ash heap, offering God’s presence,
offering God’s assurance that you are not alone.

Now, here’s a side note: If you have a friend who’s sitting on the ash heap
the best thing you can do is sit there with them –
don’t offer advice, just sit.

I remembered when I got to this point in my sermon preparation
that I was supposed to make this a stewardship sermon
since our Commitment Sunday is next Sunday and we’d like you to be generous.
So far I’ve not said a thing about making a pledge.
As I think about it though,
It would be tempting to draw an easy parallel from this last chapter of Job;
say something superficial like, “See, Job was faithful in his obedience
and God gave him even more stuff than before!”
But I think you’d be insulted by that.

Instead, I simply want to say that when it comes to being a good steward
of what God has given you,
it makes sense to again use the image of riding the turtle.
Rockfish Presbyterian Church is 260 years old this year.
There were times in this church’s history that were lean indeed.
I’m guessing there were even times when somebody said,
“What’s the use? We ought to just close up and go worship with the Methodists.”
When Hurricane Hazel blew the roof off,
or the minister went for months without being paid,
surely somebody said, “Enough’s enough. God has deserted us. Why fight it?”

But through the dark times and through the good times,
the faithful in this church have kept putting one foot in front of the other.
They’ve stepped out in faith without fanfare or show and kept the doors open.
Because they knew what you and I know.
They knew that these are the people who will sit on the ash heap with us
when the days get dark.
These are the people who will not let us give up,
but will keep us moving forward inch by inch.

I do hope you will be generous in your pledge,
that sometime in the coming week you will acknowledge
that Jesus is Lord of your bank account as well as your Sunday mornings.
I hope you will commit yourself next Sunday to crawl up on the turtle’s back.
It’s not always the most thrill-packed ride,
but the turtle’s back is broad and there’s room for us all.