Ep 125 | Cover to Cover 4 | Pastor Chris Ryan | Jan 25, 2025

Hello, this is Pastor Ryan Clark.

You are listening to a message from St.

John's Lutheran Church in Buffalo, Minnesota.

Oh Lord, open my lips and my mouth shall declare your praises in the name of Jesus, Amen.

Well, I don't think I've ever said this from up here before, but I've always been a pretty big enjoyer of game shows.

Growing up, we would watch who Wants to Be a Millionaire and Deal or No Deal, and of course $10,000 Pyramid, but my absolute favorite has always been Jeopardy.

Any Jeopardy fans out there? Surefire Sign of intelligence, if you like this show, all right.

Well, a few years ago there was a particularly interesting episode of Jeopardy.

It featured a naval officer from Lacey, Washington, Manny Abel, and if you watch this episode, things started off so well for Manny.

He's acquiring quite a bit of money in his Jeopardy bank account.

But midway through that first round, the wheels really start to come off for poor Manny.

Things take a turn for the worse.

He's totally stumped by what the Roman numeral is for the number 500.

He says, C.

Come on, Manny, the answer was D; not even close right? He's baffled by what the second most abundant mineral in the earth's crust is.

He says, marble, and sadly the answer was quartz.

And by the time he gets to Final Jeopardy, Manny only has $1,000 left to his name.

He's well behind his two opponents.

They both have $12,300.

This game is over.

It's a blood bath.

And in final Jeopardy featuring the category of Asian geography, things go from bad to worse for Manny.

He truly goes out of the frying pan into the fire.

He's once again stumped by a question, "The only country that borders both the Caspian Sea and the Persian Gulf."

Sadly, he says Iraq, and the answer was, of course, Iran.

Manny wager $999 on himself getting this question right in Final Jeopardy, leaving him with just $1 at the end of the show.

Can you imagine going on Jeopardy, winning just $1, and then having to face your friends and family and neighbors after that; kind of embarrassing, right? And Manny, he hangs his head in shame.

But then the craziest thing happens: both of Manny's opponents get Final Jeopardy wrong as well.

One says, Azerbaijan, one says Tibet and they both bet $12,300 on themselves getting this question correct, leaving them both with $0, and Manny declared Jeopardy champion winning just $1.

At the end of the day, Manny did not know the answer to very many questions that he was asked.

But he truly only needed to know the answer to one question.

He needed just $1 to walk away a winner.

And this reminds me an awful lot of a story we've been going through over the past couple weeks in our two-year Bible read through as a St.

John's family.

Over the last two weeks, we were introduced to a wealthy landowner from Oz, Job.

And if you've been following along in that story, things started off so well for Job, didn't they? He's acquiring quite a bit in his account, wealth property, right? Lots of land, friends, family, reputation.

But then midway through that first chapter of Job, the wheels really start to come off for poor Job.

Things take a turn for the worst, he loses it all.

But at the end of the day, he is going to walk away a winner from this story simply by knowing the answer to one question.

And we are of course going to talk about what that question and answer is in this message.

But before we do that, let's review where we've been so far in Job's story.

From Job 1, it says, Job had seven sons and three daughters, and he owned 7,000 sheep, 3000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 donkeys and had a large number of servants.

And oh, by the way, he was the greatest man among all the people in the east.

Not bad Job, right? And frankly, it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy in Job 1:1, we read that Job was blameless, he was upright, he feared God and shunned evil.

Job 1:1

But like I said, midway through the first chapter of Job, things take a turn for the worse for poor Job.

His life.

It becomes a real gong show, if you will.

And it's seemingly all because of this game of let's make a deal that goes down in the Heavenly Throne room.

We see that deal made in Job 1 8:12.

It says, then the Lord said to Satan, have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him.

He is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.

Does Job fear God for nothing? Satan replied.

You have blessed the work of his hands so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land, but now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has and he will surely curse you to your face.

The Lord said to Satan very well then everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself, do not lay a finger.

God removes his protection from Joel.

And from that point on Job's, life truly becomes a wheel of misfortune.

Every door he looks behind, it's another zonk.

He looks behind door number one, zonk his wealth, it's gone.

He loses all his sheep, camels, oxen, donkeys, servants, and property.

They're destroyed or taken from him just like that.

He looks behind door number two.

What does he want? It's another zonk.

He loses his children.

A windstorm kills all 10 of his children in one day.

He looks behind door number three.

Surely this has to go better, but no, it's another zonk, his health, it's gone.

He's afflicted with severe, painful sores covering his whole body.

And then he looks behind that final door.

Don't open that door Job.

It's another zonk, his support system.

It's gone.

In fact, his wife is entirely done with him, isn't she? She says, Job just curse God and die already.

Truly a family feud, if there ever was one.

And Job's friends, they come to him and declare Job to be the weakest link.

They don't offer support.

They don't offer comfort.

They offer him condemnation and accusations.

They blame Job for everything that he's going through.

And at the end of the day, as Job experiences loss, after loss, after loss, he has a lot of questions as to why all of this is happening.

In fact, the Book of Job truly is a book of questions.

There are 330 questions in this book and Job himself asked 122 of them.

And as I said, he doesn't have a whole lot of answers to any of these questions, especially the ones, by the way, that God is going to ask him, but more on that next week.

But as I said, Job is going to walk away a winner from this situation simply by knowing the answer to one question.

It's a question that is implied throughout the first 19 chapters of this story.

Is there any hope beyond the suffering and death we face on earth? Job is looking around.

His life has entirely fallen apart.

He has lost everything, and he has to answer that question.

Is there any hope beyond the suffering and death we face on earth? And Joe, he confidently answers, yes there is.

And he does so in what's going to be our highlighted verses of the day.

Open your Bibles to Job 19 25:27.

These verses are well worth highlighting.

Job.

Is there any hope beyond the suffering and death we face on earth? And he says, yes there is.

I know.

I know that my redeemer lives and that in the end he will stand on the earth.

And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh, I will see God.

I myself will see him with my own eyes.

I and not another, how my heart yearns within me.

Once again, Job, is there any hope beyond the suffering and death we face on earth? And to paraphrase, he says, yes, yes there is, because I have a redeemer, a living kinsman redeemer, by the way, who I can fully rely on and who gives me hope in this life as I look forward to the next.

It is an amazing proclamation of faith considering what Job is going through, made all the more amazing if you understand what a kinsman redeemer truly is.

Which of course begs the question, what exactly is a kinsman redeemer and why does Job knowing he has one, give him such hope? There's a couple of questions we can answer right here, right now.

My bible dictionary said a Kinsman Redeemer was a close male relative who had the privilege or responsibility to act on behalf of a relative who was in danger, trouble, or in need.

And Job, my friends, he's in trouble.

He's in danger.

He is in need.

Basically, a kinsman redeemer was something that was practiced in ancient Israel before it was even known as ancient Israel, actually.

If you had lost everything, and by the way, I truly mean everything.

You couldn't make ends meet, so you sold all your possessions and you still couldn't make ends meet.

So you sold all your land and you still couldn't make ends meet.

So you had to sell yourself into slavery.

Everything you had is gone.

Even your reputation is in shams.

You could appeal to your kinsman redeemer to come to your rescue.

And if they were able and willing, they would come to your rescue.

They would buy back your possessions, they would buy back your land.

They would buy you out of slavery and restore you to your community reputation back intact.

We see an absolutely wonderful example of a kinsman redeemer, by the way, in the Book of Ruth, it's probably the second best example of a kinsman redeemer I could find in the Bible.

In Ruth 1, we're introduced to a woman from Moab, Ruth, and her story, it starts off pretty well.

There's a marriage, she gets married to an Israel night named Mahlon, but not too long after their marriage, he dies, as does his brother Killian.

And Ruth is left with no children, no descendants to take care of her one day.

She's trying to take care of herself.

She's penniless, and she's also trying to take care of her mother-in-law, Naomi.

And as women in the ancient world, they truly didn't have many ways to provide for themselves.

They basically had to rely on the charity of others.

Ruth needs a rescuer.

She needs a vindicator.

She needs a kinsman redeemer.

And God, our good and gracious God is going to sender one.

He plays a bit of the match game, if you will.

He sends a wealthy landowner from Bethlehem Boaz.

And Boaz is going to meet all three of the standards necessary to be a kinsman redeemer to Ruth and her family.

In ancient Israel, to be a kinsman redeemer, you must meet these three standards: you had to be a close blood relative, check.

Boaz is a very close blood relative to Ruth's mother-in-law, Naomi.

You had to be able to perform the responsibility.

You could be really well intentioned, you could really want to buy someone out of slavery, to restore all their possessions and land.

But if you didn't have the wealth, it didn't matter what was in your heart, right? You had to be able to perform the responsibility.

Boaz is very wealthy check.

And finally, you had to be willing to actually perform the responsibility.

And Ruth 4 we're introduced to somebody who's actually a closer relative to Naomi than Boaz.

He's first in line to be a kinsman redeemer to Ruth and her family, and he's very wealthy.

But he wants nothing to do with Naomi and this situation.

But Boaz, he is more than willing to perform this responsibility.

And the Book of Ruth ends with Boaz and Ruth getting married.

Boaz buying back the ancestral land of Ruth's first husband, Mahlan, and they work together to secure a future for Ruth and a family line.

In fact, through the marriage of Ruth and Boaz, one day, a couple generations later, we're going to get King David.

And eventually through that family we're going to get King Jesus, right? It's an incredible story of a kinsman redeemer.

Of course, this is not a sermon on Ruth now, is it? It's a sermon on Job.

And back on the farm, we were trying to answer these questions.

What exactly is a kinsman redeemer and why does Job knowing he has one, give him such hope? I hope that you can see the answer to those two questions through that explanation that I just gave, but those two questions as far as I'm concerned, beg a third and maybe bigger question than all that.

How could Job still hope for a kinsman redeemer? How could Job not have lost faith and hope that God would send him a kinsman redeemer considering all that he had experienced? Didn't Job feel like God had abandoned him.

How could he still expect that God was going to come through for him? And the truth is, if you've been following along in those readings to Job's eyes, as he looks around, he can't see God anywhere in his situation.

He absolutely feels like God has abandoned him.

So why does he still have hope? Frankly, the only conclusion I can come to is this: Job hasn't lost hope because he got to know God and his character before the storms of life struck.

It's clear that Job had a relationship with God.

Job 1:1, once again, he was blameless and upright.

Job 1:1

He feared God and shunned evil.

You don't fear God.

You don't have an awe for him, a respect of him, a reverence for him, and you don't shun evil without having a relationship with God.

In Job 1:5, we find that Job regularly offered burnt offerings for his children.

Job 1:5

He demonstrated his awareness of God's Holiness over and over again, and he absolutely had a desire to maintain a right relationship with God.

Job knew God's character before the storms of life struck, and because Job had gotten to know God's character, even when it seemed like he was so far off and it abandoned him, Job still believed.

He still believed that God would rescue him and vindicate him.

Job had what I would call, and even though I know kind of faith, even though all these things are going on around me, even though it seems like God is nowhere to be seen because he knew God's character, he knew that his redeemer lived, that God was coming to his rescue and because Job knows God's character, he hasn't lost his hope.

He hasn't lost his faith in God to redeem him.

And because of that, because he's putting his faith where it belongs, he's not looking to himself to be his rescuer.

He's certainly not looking to his friends or his wife to be his rescuer.

He's not looking for some winning lottery ticket to rescue.

He's looking to God, and because of that, he is going to walk away from this situation a winner and a whole lot more on this next week, by the way.

But God restores Job's life in many senses.

He truly does.

He gets back a family and property and he is vindicated in front of his accusers.

Those friends, but better yet, far better than all of that Job, will one day get to experience an eternal redemption because of his redeemer, his living kinsman redeemer.

Like I said, much more on that and next week's sermon.

But before we finish this week's sermon, there's one more thing that I want to address.

It is actually that question that Job faced throughout the first 19 chapters of this book.

It's a question that everyone has to face at some point in their life.

Is there any hope beyond this suffering and death that we face on earth.

As we look around at the suffering of others or our own suffering, as we experience our body decaying, we're going to have to answer that question.

Is there any hope beyond this suffering and death we face on earth? And as I look at God's word, which is 100% truth, the answer that I've got to come to is yes.

And just like Job, we can say, I know that my redeemer lives and even better than Job, we know who that living kinsman redeemer is.

We know that our rescuer, our redeemer, our vindicator is Jesus Christ who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness.

And to purify for himself a people that are his very own.

Let me paraphrase that verse for you.

You, yes, you have a kinsman redeemer, and oh, by the way, you really, really needed one.

Without a kinsman redeemer, we were all facing a situation much worse than even Job faced.

Because of our wickedness, because we go against God's law.

Every time we do that, we're selling ourselves away from God and we're selling ourselves to sin, death, and the devil.

And if you are not bought away from that slavery, that you have to sin, death, and the devil, if you are not rescued from that, like I said, you face a fate worse than what Job faced you face eternal separation from God.

That is quite literally hell to pay.

But thanks be to God.

Like I said, you have a kinsman redeemer.

It's Christ Jesus.

And in Galatians 3 it says: Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.

For it is written curse is everyone who is hung on a pole.

On that cross, Jesus met all three standards necessary to be a kinsman redeemer to you.

He was a close blood relative check.

That's why Jesus comes in the flesh so that he can be a close blood relative to you.

He was willing, he was able, right? In fact, he was able to meet this standard by paying the price with his perfect sinless life on the cross.

He could pay the price.

He had that kind of wealth to buy you back.

And he was more than willing, in fact, he had just you in mind when he died on the cross.

And as he dies on the cross, God looks down and declares that the price is right, that your sins have been forgiven, that you have been bought back.

You have a kinsman redeemer.

And who is that kinsman redeemer? It is Jesus Christ.

And if you understand the answer to that most important question you will ever be asked.

If you understand that Jesus is your kinsman redeemer, that he died just for you, you're going to go through the door that is Jesus Christ to your Father in heaven.

And when you go through that door, let me show you what you've won, or better yet, what Jesus won for you.

You receive an eternal relationship with God, one that starts now and lasts forever.

One where he's with you each and every day.

You get someone who defends you and your reputation against Satan's accusations.

And by the way, you get a heavenly inheritance.

All the riches, wonder, splendor, and glory of heaven spending eternity with your redeemer face to face with Jesus Christ.

I hope you realize that Jesus is your living kinsman redeemer, that you have one that he died just for you.

And finally, I hope you realize that spending regular time with your redeemer is absolutely essential to having that, even though I know that kind of faith.

In fact, as we close out, this is my Very Important Point of the day.

Job has, and even though I know faith and he has it because he spent regular time with God, even when bad things happen to him and he doesn't understand why he has no idea why any of this stuff is happening to him.

He doesn't give up what he knows because of what he doesn't know.

He knows God's character and that God is good and that he is with him rescuing him and redeeming him, even if Job can't see it at all at that moment.

And by the way, we get an, even though I know kind of faith by doing the same thing, by spending regular time with our Lord and Savior in prayer, in worship, in his word, doing that Bible read through like you're doing right now.

And when you've spent regular time with your living kinsman redeemer, even when the storms of life strike and you look around and say, I don't know why this is happening to me.

I don't know where God is in this situation.

Even though this is happening, I know that my redeemer lives and that he's coming to my rescue and that he has already rescued me, and that redeemer is Jesus Christ.

St.

John's family.

My prayer for you this week is this.

May God fill you with that, even though I know kind of faith thanks to Jesus.

In Jesus name, Amen.

You've been listening to a sermon from St.

John's Lutheran Church in Buffalo, Minnesota.

If you would like more information about St.

John's and any of our ministries to our community and beyond, you can go to our website, www.

stjohnsbuffalo.

org.

Thank you and God bless you.