September 27, 2026
I want to talk about Job, from the Old Testament Book of Job. Most of us only know of Job’s many miseries and suffering. But listen to the first thing he says when everything is gone: “The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”
Notice the order. The Lord giveth. Job said that on the worst day of his life. So that must mean he also said it on all the good days of his life.
Later, when Job asks over and over, “Why me, Lord?” God answers him, not with reasons, but with a tour of all creation. He asks Job: Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Who sends the rain on a land where no one lives?
Think of that. God waters ground nobody farms, for people who will never thank him. God gives abundantly, whether he’s thanked or not.
Everything we have came the same way. Our homes, our work, our children, our years. God’s gifts to us are unearned, and we don’t really own them. We’re just stewards.
The only honest response to a gift is gratitude, and the only natural thing to do with a gift is share it.
Here’s what I’ve learned from Job.
He never stopped being grateful. Not on the good days, when it was easy. And not on the ash heap, when it wasn’t.
And his story doesn’t end on the ash heap. It ends at his own table, surrounded by his family and friends, with twice what he had before. His gratitude outlasted everything he lost.
Have you noticed that the happiest people are the ones busy helping others? We lost one of them last month: Dolly Parton. She may have been the most public woman in America, yet a great deal of her giving was done secretly. We all know she’s given over 300 million books for children, but did you realize that she also quietly paid for uniforms and instruments for high school bands across Tennessee? We may never know the half of what she gave. I suspect that’s how she wanted it.
Which brings me to this place. What brings you here to Trinity Church?
I know I’m grateful to be part of a Chorister Program that makes worship here sound the way I hope Heaven sounds.
Also how our Noon Lunch program hands a plate of food to the hungry and homeless without asking about their beliefs.
We love the many opportunities for fellowship here.
We are grateful to be part of the Trinity community. Thank you.
