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Preaching: Rev. Dr. Stephen M. Fearing

Text: Job 19:23-27a

What if the most faithful move in a season of suffering isn’t finding the right answer but recovering a sense of awe? We turn to Job’s defiant confession—my Redeemer lives—and follow it through hard questions, imperfect counsel, and the unsettling moment when God speaks from the whirlwind. Instead of a tidy explanation for pain, we receive a summons to amazement that reshapes how we see ourselves, our neighbors, and the world’s wounds.

We sit with the honest ache of “why do bad things happen to good people,” dismantling easy versions of retributive theology and naming how denial masquerades as faith. Job teaches us to keep praying and keep protesting, even to the point of “suing” God, because covenant can carry lament without breaking. A Holocaust account of believers who put God on trial and then rose to pray grounds this theme: faith can argue with God and still choose fidelity. Along the way, we hear from Walter Brueggemann on the limits of moral certitude, and we explore how being right often crowds out being amazed.

From there, the path turns practical. Wonder is not escapism; it is fuel. Attention leads to astonishment, astonishment to gratitude, and gratitude to generosity that feeds neighbors, confronts harmful ideologies, and builds repair in public life. Cultural touchpoints from Wicked help us picture how unlikely conversation partners can change us for good. If you’re weary of thin answers but hungry for a living hope, this conversation offers language, courage, and a sturdy practice of awe.

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