Living in Exile

When the oppressor is no more, and destruction has ceased, and marauders have vanished from the land, then a throne shall be established in steadfast love in the tent of David, and on it shall sit in faithfulness a ruler who seeks justice and is swift to do what is right. -Isaiah 16:4b-5

I'm not sure who all follows my blog and I have no way of knowing who gets my posts by email. I know there is at least one person who might read it that will strongly disagree with this post, but I feel how I feel and make no apology for that.

I can come across as very politically liberal. Really, I only lean further left when I feel the right-wing spiraling out of control.  I am actually usually pretty middle-of-the road with a left lean. I usually think it's a very good thing to have control of the country switch from democrats to republicans and back again. It generally keeps the country on an even keel.

But these days, I don't even recognize this country. I feel like Israel must have felt when they were exiled to Babylon. I feel like I live in a strange land ruled by a cruel and oppressive "king." And I long for the day that a new "throne" is established. In my lifetime, we have had presidents who have made bad mistakes and made policies I strongly disagree with. But I have still respected the president because it has always been obvious that these men loved their country and were in awe of the position that they held. I don't find this to be true under the present administration. It is a love of self. Love of self makes bad kings... and bad presidents.

My hope is that this is a temporary exile. The U.S. has never been perfect, but we used to strive to be.

God of All Nations,

Guide our world leaders. Refresh the hearts of all people. Help us to follow you. Amen.

The Well of Salvation

With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. -Isaiah 12:3

For me, the bible is that "well of salvation" from which to joyfully draw water. I am not a fan of picking random verses from the bible to bash others. Context is everything! But random verses for comfort? I don't usually have a problem with that. Sometimes you just need to hear that God has a plan for you; that God is with you wherever you go; that God is your shepherd; that you need not fear; that there is a season for everything; that those who mourn are blessed; that the very hairs of you head are numbered and on and on and on....

Sometimes we just need to feel God's arms around us and there are so many verses and passages in the bible that help us feel those comforting arms. It doesn't matter if the verse was meant for something different in a long-ago place and time and situation. It can also apply to us in the here and now. Maybe in different ways, but God is God and God is good. And reading about God's goodness to others makes us realize that he will be good to us too.

Good and Gracious God,

Thank you for this "well of salvation" you have given us. Help us to draw from it regularly, with joy. Amen.

THAT SAME SPIRIT!

The Spirit of the Lord will rest upon him - 

     the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,

     the Spirit of counsel and of might,

     the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord

-Isaiah 11:2

This is one of my favorite passages from Isaiah. I will probably say that many times as I study this book, because it contains so many of my favorite verses. This one I love because we hear it at baptisms and at confirmations. In Isaiah, this is a prophesy about Jesus.  The Spirit will rest upon Jesus.  Jesus will have the Spirit of wisdom and understanding and counsel and might and knowledge and fear of the Lord. At baptism, we receive THAT SAME SPIRIT!

The big difference is that Jesus knew how to use it (Him? Her?). We try. That wisdom and understanding stuff is especially hard. But we have the Spirit.  Our Christian lives should be spent learning how to stay in touch with the Holy Spirit and use his/her guidance and teaching in every area of our lives.

Come, Holy Spirit. Fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in us the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and we shall be created and you shall renew the face of the earth. O God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit instructs the hearts of your faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever rejoice in his consolations. Amen

Can You Still Believe?

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. -Isaiah 7:14

I remember Pastor John once telling me hat one of the first questions asked of a class at seminary was: "How much of the bible would have to be factually true for you to continue to believe?"

Back when my faith was fresh, finding out that some of my favorite bible stories probably didn't really happen or some of my favorite new testament books probably weren't really written by the author that was given credit really popped my spiritual balloon. If these things aren't real... is Jesus real? But I would deal with these little tidbits of new knowledge and come back to faith even stronger than before.

This morning as I was studying this well-loved verse from Isaiah, we find that most Jewish commentaries (remember, the Old Testament is Jewish scripture) don't consider this a messianic prophesy. The main argument (among others) is that the word translated as "virgin" simply means "a young woman of marrying age." They go on to explain why they believe this verse has nothing to do with Jesus and they have many fine arguments. But I also read Christian counterpoints which also have many good arguments.This is not the only sticky place in the bible... by a long shot. If it was extremely clear, wouldn't all Jews be Christian? 

In Rob Bell's book that I have previously talked about, there is an excellent chapter (Chapter 39, if you want to read it) called "Is It Inerrant?" This passage in particular was something I didn't know:

        

"It was believed that Emperor Caesar, at the end of his life, ascended to the heavens to sit at the right hand of the gods - is that why Luke ends his book with Jesus ascending? Where did Jesus go? Up into the sky? Because we've sent spaceships up there, ad no one saw him. We assume Luke is writing the actual details of what happened, but when you back up and realize that Luke wants his audience to see JESUS as Lord, not Caesar, then the way he describes Jesus ascending starts to make more sense. We moderns love history to be precise with times and dates and actual facts... But ancient writers had different agendas. Luke isn't trying to mislead - he's telling a story in the way people in his day told stories."

Grow in your faith. Don't just study the bible. Study HOW the bible was written. Exam the culture of the time, the life of the authors and the politics of the day. Find out WHY someone might write something that is of life-giving truth even though it might not be factual history.

God of Truth,

Help us in our faith when our spiritual balloons get popped. Amen.

A Timely Verse from Isaiah

Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless. -Isaiah 10:1

I think I will just leave this verse to speak for itself.

World-Weariness

Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.-Job 38:4

It's been hard to write a devotion this past week. I feel so world-weary. Innocent people dying at the hands of a crazy person with guns no private citizen should have; more innocent people dying or suffering from hurricanes, wild fires, earthquakes and floods here and around the world; leaders here and around the world who have no business leading nations and are bringing their countries to the brink of a war that will destroy everything. The Almighty Dollar has become more of a god to those in power than it ever has before. My heart aches.

Thank God for God! He is our hope and our sanctuary in these depressing times. I don't know what is going on or why God allows it to continue, but I trust him. Sometimes I am so afraid for what my grandchildren and their children are going to face, but then I hand my fear to the one who is in control. It's going to all be okay and perhaps it will be our grandchildren who will be God's hands and feet in the journey of making it all okay.

God of the Universe,

Comfort your children as we grieve. Help us to help those who can't feel your comfort right now. Amen.

God Who Sometimes Hides

If I go forward, [God] is not there; or backward, I cannot perceive him; on the left he hides, and I cannot behold him; I turn to the right, but I cannot see him. -Job 23:8-9

I've certainly been there. Sometimes, it is as if God is nowhere. Prayers bounce of the ceiling and clink hollowly to the floor. Worship is dry and communion is nothing more than a tasteless cracker and over-sweet wine. In small group, the question of where I saw God most clearly is a rote answer involving my grandchildren... more of a happy moment than a truly God moment.

Sometimes these dry spiritual experiences last only a day or so. But sometimes they go on for months. On those long ones, sometimes my good spiritual habits get left behind. After all, who wants to talk to emptiness? I'm not sure why these seasons of dryness come or why they can hang around so long. I've been told that God hasn't moved so it must be me. Maybe. But there have been those times when I really examine myself and can't find what I had done differently. I assure myself that I probably just didn't look in the right place.

The ending of the dry season usually appears as mysteriously as it started. It's not usually a VDC weekend or birth of a grandchild that does it. Maybe someone says something that really resonates in my soul or I pick up the bible and read something that makes me go deeper or a prayer finally feels like it's landing on listening ears. Then everything makes sense again.

The one thing I've noticed is that each time I get past a dry spell, my spirituality has moved to a different level and I experience God differently than I ever have before. Maybe those dry spells are supposed to be there.

God Who Sometimes Hides,

Open our hearts to experience you in new ways, always growing in our understanding of who you are. Amen

More Alike Than Different

One dies in full prosperity, being wholly at ease and secure, his loins full of milk and the marrow of his bones moist. Another dies in bitterness of soul, never having tasted of good. They lie down alike in the dust, and the worms covers them. - Job 21:23-26

We ALL bleed red. We ALL want to be respected. We ALL want good for our families. We ALL want to be healthy and fed and housed and clothed. We have forgotten that we all want the same things and I believe that is at the root of this petty, angry "controversy" that has been all over social media in the last few days. People are so angry about so much that they have found something relatively safe to argue about. In 100 years no one is going to remember or care about who stood, sat or knelt at a stupid football game. What they will remember (if there is anyone left to do the remembering) is if we engaged in nuclear war, or how we treated the poor, or if we listened to the cries of the oppressed. which things would Jesus care more about?

God of All,

If we could just remember how much we are alike, maybe we would treat each other better. Help us to remember. Amen. 

Misfortune

Those at ease have contempt for misfortune... -Job 12:5a

We hear it all the time... "If they would get a job, they wouldn't need my tax dollars)"; "God sent that hurricane to (insert city here) because they allow (insert "sin" here)".

We like to think misfortune cannot befall us because we are doing life right. But if you have life, you probably have experienced misfortune of one kind or another. It's easy to think that our own misfortune is no fault of our own, but that other person?... yeah... he's just not trying hard enough.

This is how Job's friends are reacting. I don't think it is because they really believe Job is that terrible, but I think they want to believe it can't happen to them. They are afraid. It reminds me of the scene in the Wizard of Oz where the friends are walking through the enchanted forest to rescue Dorothy from the witch. The scarecrow and tin man are trying to be brave saying, "Bah, there is no such thing as ghosts," when they are suddenly snatched up by an invisible force. The lion falls to his knees chanting, "I DO believe in ghosts! I DO believe in ghosts!" 

Many of us are like the Cowardly Lion chanting whatever mantra we need to in order to ward off misfortune. But the fact is, the rain falls on us all no matter what we say or do.

God of Our Fortunes,

Give us compassion for our neighbors' misfortunes. Amen.

Friend to the Grieving

[Job's three friends] sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great. -Job 2:13

Sometimes there just are no words. I always loved this first action that Job's friends take. They just sat with him for seven days without saying a word. As they will later show, the wrong words can sometimes deepen the wound. 

Here are some oft-use phrases that are probably better left unsaid:

• "I know how you feel" - Even if you have gone through a very similar experience, they need to have this experience be more about them than you. If you have some good pointers to help them through, at least wait until the shock wears off.
• "Your loved one is in a better place"- When someone is grieving the only "good" place for their loved one to be is beside them again.
• "God never gives us more than we can handle." - Uggghhh. 

That last one, and phrases like it (God must have needed an angel; This was God's plan; God will use this for good), though some might be true, are just bad timing. As Christians, we certainly want to offer the comfort of God, but it is just not the time to tell them how good it might be that this terrible stuff happened. Instead, tell them that God is grieving with them and will walk with them through the process.

I'm terrible at all this stuff. I have so many good intentions when it comes to the hardships my friends experience, but always feel like I would be just an added burden and end up not doing anything. I'm working on it...

God of the Grief-Stricken and Those Who Would Offer Comfort:

Help us just to be there. Amen.

Worship First

Then Job arose, tore his robe, shaved his head, and fell on the ground and worshiped. -Job 1:20

How interesting that Job's first reaction was to worship. In the worst moments of my life, my first reaction is to ask God to take it all away. It is so hard to just accept the difficulties in life and deal with them. We want them to just go away and are not above begging God to work a miracle.

We know, though, that hardship, pain and suffering are often good for us. Wouldn't it be great if we could learn all the life lessons and build character without going through all the bad stuff? Wouldn't it be great if when something not-so-pleasant befalls us our first reaction would be to worship?

God of Our Hardships,

Help us to first worship. Amen.

It's Not Always a Wonderful Life

There was once a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. That man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.- Job 1:1

I'm so glad to be done with the book of Joshua, even if it is to head over to probably the most depressing book in the Bible. Yes, Job. We've all been there... just when you think nothing worse can happen to you, it does.

The good news is that nearly all biblical scholars agree that Job is poetry; an ancient story told and retold through the millennia.  Really, you can tell it is a fictional story just by reading the first chapter. It sounds like the plot of a movie... God and Satan get together to discuss God's favorite person. It doesn't sound a lot different from "It's a Wonderful Life."

In "It's a Wonderful Life," there are a couple good lessons to be learned, but in the Book of Job, there are many. It's a treasure trove of valuable life lessons as well as spiritual lessons. Every story in the bible does not have to be completely factual history to be of important use. It is believed that Job is the oldest book in the bible, written even before Genesis. It talks about the human struggle of understanding why bad things happen to good people and good things happen to  bad people. We all know that struggle, so this is one story that speaks to all of us in every age.

God of Our Fortune and Misfortune,

Help us to praise you in the sunshine and in the storms. Amen.

Remembers

Then Joshua assembled all the tribes of Israel at Shechem..., and they presented themselves before God. Joshua said to all the people, "This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: "Long ago your ancestors, includig Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates River and worshiped other gods..." - Joshua 24:1a, 2

Again, the people of God are assembled to hear God's word. Time and again the people gathered to tell and hear the story of how they became who they are. "...remember Terah worshiped other gods, but through Abraham, that all changed." "...remember when God raised up a people through Isaac and Jacob." "...remember when God brought you out of Egypt and gave you signs and miracles."  "...remember.... remember.... remember...."

As Christians, we still do our "remembers."  Each time communion is blessed, we remember Jesus' last supper and his words that instruct us to "remember me." Each Holy Week, we remember Jesus' final days, sometimes even acting them out.

We have to remember our past in order to remember who we are now. Make remembering a practice in your spiritual life.

God of Remembering,

Keep us mindful of who we are by hearing and telling the story over and over again. Amen.

Opinions and Beliefs

When they came to Geliloth near the Jordan in the land of Canaan, the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh built an imposing altar there by the Jordan. And when the Israelites heard that they had built the altar on the border of Canaan at Geliloth near the Jordan on the Israelite side, the whole assembly of Israel gathered at Shiloh to go to war against them. -Joshua 22:10-12

In my reading today, the Israelites are spread out pretty far now. Three of the tribes are feeling particularly separated because they are on the other side of the Jordan River. In an effort to be sure the following generations realize that they are part of the family, they built an altar on the border, but the other tribes misunderstood and thought these three tribes had begun worshiping other gods and were prepared to go to war over it.  Thankfully they sent a group to go talk to them first to find out what was going on.

We have all but forgotten how to do that. Oh, we know how to talk and tell others how wrong they are, but we don't listen any more. There are people who are as confused over our opinions and beliefs as we are over theirs. But instead of trying to find out WHY they believe what they do, we only try to convince them of how wrong (and stupid) they are.

Read some news with a different political slant than what you usually read. Talk to someone with different religious beliefs. Maybe even attend a non-Christian worship service at least once in your life. Talk to those who vote differently than you about what their hopes and dreams for this country are.  And do all this with an open mind. It may not change your mind, but you might understand the other views and you might learn a lot.

God of All Causes,

Help us to understand those who have very different views and beliefs than ourselves. Help us to bridge the chasms between us with understanding, respect and love. Amen.

Sanctuary Cities

Then the Lord said to Joshua: "Tell the Israelites to designate the cities of refuge, as I instructed you through Moses, so that anyone who kills a person accidentally and unintentionally may flee there and find protection from the avenger of blood." -Joshua 20:1-3

The first sanctuary cities were thousands of years ago and commanded by God. Back in those days, it was perfectly okay to kill someone who killed your family member. But sometimes stuff happens and someone dies by your hand unintentionally. And his brother is coming to get you! God's law allowed for someone in these circumstances to go to a city of refuge.The avenger is not allowed to follow you there and you are safe until you stand trial.

Today, our sanctuary cities are for undocumented immigrants. They are cities who have decided to limit their cooperation with the national government effort to enforce immigration law. The reasoning behind this is to make it so the immigrant is not afraid to report crimes, use health and social services and enroll their children in school for fear of deportation.

Illegal immigration is a complicated issue. Walls, and summary round-ups and deportations are not the answer. Jesus made it clear that we are to treat the stranger in our land with the same kindness and respect that we would treat anyone else. Sanctuary cities make this possible.

No matter how you feel about our immigration problem, immigrants- whether undocumented or just plain "illegal"- deserve to be treated humanely.

God of Foreigners,

 Help us to find the right ways to bring in those who want to live here and make them productive members of society. Amen.

Don't Be Slack

There remained among the Israelites seven tribes whose inheritance had not yet been apportioned. So Joshua said to the Israelites, "how long will you be slack about going in and taking possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has given you?" -Joshua 18:2-3

That phrase "how long will you be slack?" tickled me.  We all get slack from time to time, but it was funny to be reminded that it happened even back then. The Israelites have been brought to the Promised Land and cleared it of all the civilizations living there. They were "at rest" from war and apathy has set in.

Our country has seen its share of apathy. After the civil uprisings of the 60's and 70's, we all just kind of let things go for a while. There have been issues here and there over the years that have stirred us up, but it is not until the last few years that we have seen some serious action. Some of it quite violent. 

We can look back on the things happening in the past and view it with a historical lens and see that it all needed to happen for change to happen. It's a lot harder when it is all going on in the present. Those that see an urgent need for change keep pushing their ideas. Those that just want the world to stay the same as they've always known it begin to push back. Sometimes it results in violence, but in a healthy nation, good change will win out. It usually doesn't go to the extreme that was being pushed, but we make baby steps of progress. Twenty years from now, the people that many now see as rabble rousers and instigators will be known as our national heroes.

God of the Past and of the Future,

Help us to imagine a world that loves; a world that is just. And then give us strength to not be slack in doing our part to create it. Amen.

Peace

And the land had rest from war. -Joshua 14:15

That sounds so good. That's what the U.S. needs... rest from war. That's what this whole world needs. I looked up world peace on the internet.  If it has ever happened, it certainly hasn't been in the last 200 years. There has always been at least one conflict major enough to have been given a name since at least 1792 which is as far as I checked.

With our country actively at war, recovering from two hurricanes and a major wild fire, and the terrible political climate with the violence it has created, we are all looking for rest. In my last devotion, I criticized the violence in the book of Joshua. But we really are not much better today. We may have "war laws" that try to keep civilians out of it, but civilians are hurt and killed in our wars anyway. We may have "war laws" about how we treat prisoners, but they change and/or are ignored. I don't think there could ever really be a "civilized" war.

Maybe our world is just set up for conflict, but it would be so nice to have a year or two of peace.

God of Peace, 

I pray that our world may taste that rest from war and violence and disaster. We may find that we like it and work harder to preserve it. Amen.

Brutal

So Joshua defeated the whole land, the hill country and the Negeb and the lowland and the slopes, and all their kings; he left no one remaining, but utterly destroyed all that breathed, as the LORD God of Israel commanded. -Joshua 10:40

I am having difficulty reading the book of Joshua. It is seriously brutal. And it is all done in God's name because God commanded it. Go ahead, read Joshua, chapter 10. This is not a god I would worship if this is all I knew about him.

This is the danger of thinking the Bible is a "how to" book on living. If we want to just point out examples of what God commanded in the Old Testament to defend actions of today, Christians could become terrorists. Hmmm... does that mean if some groups  become too fundamental and extremist about its holy writings, they may become terrorists?  We see it with extremist Muslims today.  We have seen it in the history of the Christian church.

As I ponder this brutal book of the history of God's people, I can't help but believe God could have certainly found a better way. Yes, maybe it had to do with the early time in history and how things were done. And it probably had a lot to do with how the author of the book of Joshua viewed that history. Joshua and his army could never be viewed as the "good guys" if they didn't blame their actions on God.

Thankfully, God can work through anything. God knew what would happen and how it would happen and he used it for the good of us all.  The bible is meant to be read as the sweeping story of God's love for all of us and for all creation.  There is a lot of mess in that story, and some of it is very hard to look at. But the whole point is that God is there among us and with us in the very nastiest places that we find ourselves.

God of Our Nastiest Messes,

Thank you for loving us no matter what. Amen.

Community

And afterward he read all the words of the law, blessings and curses, according to all that is written in the book of the law. There was not a word of all that Moses commanded that Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel, and the women, and the little ones, and the aliens who resided among them. -Joshua 8:34-35

Can you even remember when there wasn't an internet available to answer some stray question that crossed your mind? Whatever it is we want to know is available to us with a few key strokes, and for many of us, we don't even have to be home. We just whip out our smart phones. It is kind of funny how frustrated I can get when I want to know something and can't get a good internet connection. I have to wait. I used to have to wait until I got home and could use my computer on my dial-up modem.  Before that I used to have to wait until I could look it up in an encyclopedia at home or go to a library.

Can you imagine what it must have been like with no books anywhere and no one knew how to read anyway? Back before television or radio or even books, the only way to get important information out to the community was to gather them together and tell them. It had to have been a very special event to gather to hear God's word read to them. 

Wow! How spoiled we are! We hear God's word read to us every Sunday and we treat it so casually. But we have it available to us absolutely everywhere and in every version from King James to The Message and in any language you can think of. It is a very good thing. People need access to it and they need to read it for themselves instead of someone else telling them what it says, but we have also lost a lot in the process. We have lost the specialness of gathering as a community to hear it.

Some at Holy Cross are discouraged with the low turn out of adults for Sunday school.  I think this is a big part of the problem. It's not special to us anymore. We can get it anywhere and we can get it when we prefer to get it. I think things will turn again.  Not that we will feel we the need to hear God's word in Sunday school so much as feeling the need to be in community when we hear it.  I think we will circle back to that need eventually.

God of Community,

Help us to treasure the gift of our greater family you have given us... community. Amen.

Raising a Family is Hard

But the Israelites broke faith in regard to the devoted things... -Joshua 7:1a

So the Israelites are reveling in their defeat of Jericho. God told them to kill all of them except for Rahab and her family and to get rid of all their stuff.  Especially the "devoted things."  God was raising a new tribe to bless all other tribes... a family. The difficulty was that the new things God was trying to teach them were very weird in that time in history.  It was hard to get used to the ways of this new God, and whenever the people saw the way "other families" lived, they longed to be a part of that "old" way.

When Achan found some of the devoted things of Jericho he coveted them and took them home. This was so early in this new family's formation, it just could not be overlooked by God. It was too important to keep this young tribe pure from old habits. Achan was dealt with severely and brutally in typical old testament fashion.

I wonder if this new tribe learned anything? Raising a family is hard. Even for God.

God of Families,

Those of us who have raised families feel your pain. Help us to be good sons and daughters of the Perfect Father. Amen.

Because God Ordained It

Then they devoted to destruction by the edge of the sword all in the city, both men and women, young and old, oxen, sheep, and donkeys. -Joshua 6:21

Yes. Another "fun" children's bible story where they dress up and march in a circle to make the walls of Jericho fall. But what about what happens after the walls fall? Men and women, children, old people, every living thing... slaughtered. Because God gave them the land.

There is a lot of violence exactly like that in the Old Testament, most of which is said to be ordered by God. Rob Bell does a good job of talking about a lot of that violence in his book, What Is the Bible?  But what he addresses took place during the time of the Judges and Kings.  This earlier violence doesn't really work with what he talked about.

I would love to know the whole truth to these stories. Was it really God telling them to slaughter every living thing inside the cities? Or was it just the way of men to put their land lust at the feet of their gods? Didn't the same kind of thing happen thousands of years later when Europeans made their way across the Atlantic? And because the indigenous people were "heathens" they felt God was on the side of the white Christians. I can't help remembering that vision Joshua had of the Captain of the Army of the Lord who said he wasn't on either side.

However, if in fact God was making a place for a tribe to grow and develop into a tribe to bless all other tribes, perhaps we can just set it down to the ways of the world. It was how things were done and God works through whatever he has to work with. At that time, violence was the way. I wonder if we have really grown at all?

God of Peace,

Will we ever truly get it? Help us learn how to solve our problems peacefully and with love and respect for other cultures.

Amen.

The Next Chapter

Once when Joshua was by Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing before him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went to him and said to him, "Are you one of us, or one of our adversaries?" He replied, "neither; but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come." And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped, and he said to him, "What do you command your servant, my lord?" The commander of the army of the Lord said to Joshua, "Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy." And Joshua did so. -Joshua 5:13-15

This is an interesting passage. The only other passage that asks someone to remove their sandals because they were on holy ground was when Moses was in the presence of God. The scene is retold in Acts by Stephen before he was stoned, but it is the same story. So now Joshua is told to remove his sandals because he is on holy ground. However the person doesn't claim to be God, but the commander of the army of the Lord. Who would you think was the commander of the army of the Lord that would make the ground holy? Some Christian scholars believe it was Jesus.  It also symbolizes that this is an important new chapter beginning in the lives of God's people and shows that God is with Joshua every bit as much as he was with Moses.

One other thing I noticed was that when Joshua asked this person if he was "one of us or one of our adversaries," the man answered, "neither." Think about that.

God of Our Next Chapters,

As our children begin a new school year, as Houston and neighboring towns begin to rebuild after floods, as families begin new lives with the birth of babies, as families begin new lives missing those who have gone to be with you, as those inflicted with disease begin treatments that can save their lives; we ask to feel you sure presence with us, so much so that we feel compelled to remove our shoes on holy ground. Amen.

Rocks in the Jordan

[The Lord spoke to Joshua], "Select twelve men from the people, one from each tribe, and command them, 'Take twelve stones from here out of the middle of the Jordan, from the place where the priests' feet stood, carry them over with you, and lay them down in the place where you camp tonight.'" -Joshua 3-4

Joshua also set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests that bore the ark of the covenant stood; and they are there to this day.-Joshua 4:9

It wasn't unusual in the early days of God's people to set up memorials and altars to remember special events and miracles. The crossing of the Jordan was a huge deal.  It was a significant ending and beginning. They are entering the land that God promised all the way back in the day of Abraham. They have much work to do first and it won't be easy (or pretty). 

Setting up the 12 stones (one for each tribe) was a way of grounding and uniting them as a people set apart for God's purposes... a tribe to bless all other tribes. They were instructed to tell the story of this crossing of the Jordan whenever their children asked about the rocks.

But there was another set of rocks. 12 rocks that were laid at the feet of the priests holding the ark of the covenant in the middle of the river (while it was dry). After the crossing, the rocks were covered over by the river and - the author says - "are there to this day."

Perhaps this symbolizes the life they just left behind.  It's almost like a baptism... covered in water, the old life is washed away and the new life begins.

God of our lives,

Help us to remember the moments that shape us more into your image. Remind us to place our own "rocks" so we will tell our children how you have worked in our own lives. Amen.

Crossing the Jordan

While all Israel were crossing over on dry ground, the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, until the entire nation finished crossing over the Jordan. -Joshua 3:17

Did you know that God also parted the Jordan River for the Israelites?  It was very reminiscent of the crossing of the Red (or Reed) Sea. Only this time they were not being chased. There is much symbolism in this crossing.

• It shows that God was with Joshua in the same way that he was with Moses.
• The ark of the covenant was God's throne on earth. Literally, the Lord went into the dangerous river first, demonstrating his role as Israel''s protector.
• Almost none of the people who were crossing the Jordan witnessed the miracle at the Red Sea. The parting of the Jordan symbolized God's love for this new generation.
• Crossing the Jordan was highly symbolic of a break with Israel's past. God is "pushing them out of the nest" so to speak. No more manna. They must now conquer their enemies and subdue the land God intended for them.

God of our past, present and future,

May we always feel your presence in our daily struggles and joys.

Amen.

Rahab

Then Joshua son of Nun sent two men secretly from Shittim as spies, saying, "Go, view the land, especially Jericho." So they went, and entered the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab, and spent the night there. -Joshua 2:1

If you don't know the story... 

As the Israelites plan to take over the Promised Land by first conquering Jericho, Joshua sends spies in.  The spies enter the house of Rahab, a prostitute, for lodging, information, and probably sex. When the king of Jericho's men demand that Rahab give up the spies, she lies and defies. She hides the spies under the flax drying on her roof and sends the king's men on a wild goose chase. She later lets the spies out through her window and asks for protection for her and her family during the battle to come. The spies agree, telling her to hang a crimson thread from her window so the Israelites will know where they are.

Did you notice the parallels to the Exodus story? First, Rahab was like the midwives who lied and defied Pharaoh when they were ordered to kill all the boy babies they delivered. And second, that crimson thread is very reminiscent of the blood painted on the thresholds of the Hebrew households during the Passover.

Also, we find another unlikely biblical heroine in the fact that she was another marginalized person. Strike one: a Canaanite; Strike two: a woman; and Strike three: a prostitute. And Jesus is her most famous descendant.

God of the Marginalized,

It doesn't matter who we are, you love us and can use us for your good and perfect will. Amen.

Beginnings and New Beginnings

Then Jacob called his sons, and said: "Gather around, that I may tell you what will happen to you in days to come.-Genesis 49:1

The beginning is over and a NEW beginning has begun for the great grandsons of Abraham. Generations have been coming and going for---well---generations. In our youth, we may understand it, but we haven't really experienced it.  When we become the older generation, we see it all with new eyes. We see the younger generations struggle with many of the same things we did. We see them want to make the world a better place. We see them struggle with their own failings and rejoicing in their successes.

This has been a week of new beginnings.  New ministries are beginning at Holy Cross and old ministries are getting ready to begin anew.  We had a baptism Sunday... a new beginning like no other. Lily had her beginning at birth, but Sunday she began anew with her spiritual birth. Schools have started up with children beginning for the very first time or beginning anew in a higher grade or beginning anew in a different school.

All these beginnings and new beginnings are simply preparing us for more new beginnings.  Even as one generation dies out, there is another beginning.  There really is no end, for when even this old earth finally dies, there will be a new beginning... one we cannot even imagine in our wildest dreams.

God of New Beginnings,

Help us to embrace every new beginning you bring into our lives with excitement and joy. Amen.

God's Purposes

[Joseph said to his brothers] And now do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. -Genesis 45:5

Hindsight is certainly 20/20. Wouldn't it be great if we all got a peek at the beginning of our suffering of how our suffering would bless us or the world? We might have a whole different attitude about it.

I have never been one to believe that God causes us to suffer, but rather works in our suffering to bring about good. On the other hand, I think that perhaps on occasion, God just might intervene and bring suffering just as on occasion he will bring a miracle. Either way, God walks with us and uses it all, good and bad, for good. If we will allow the good to come.

Joseph could have given his brothers the big F-U. Who would have blamed him? And then his family would have died from the famine and God would have had to start all over with another family.  It makes me wonder if the line of Abraham was his first choice!

Bitterness will never bring about God's purposes. Whatever happens in our lives, we must search for God's good until we find it. God probably didn't cause your suffering, but he can use it for his good and graceful purposes.

God of those who suffer,

Help us to feel your presence even in our deepest grief and know that you have a plan.

Amen.

Manasseh and Ephraim

Before the years of famine came, Joseph had two sons, whom Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, bore to him. -Genesis 41:46

Here are more foreign children brought into the fold. More than that, these foreign children (Manasseh and Ephraim) were adopted by Jacob who claimed them as his own sons and were made tribes in their father's place. Although they were Egyptian by birth and by the genes of their mother, they were welcomed into the "exclusive" chosen race.  This "pure" and "exclusive" people of God seems to become less pure and exclusive with each generation. And yet many Christians still try to exclude people from God's love. If they would only read the bible instead of allowing others to tell them what singled out verses are important. Jumping ahead in the Genesis story, we also find that Jacob switches the blessings of the older and younger son.  Another theme that continues since Abraham.

The Jewish culture has an important ritual of blessing their children. Many of them do it weekly at the Sabbath meal. The boys are always blessed by saying, "May you be like Manasseh and Ephraim." Manasseh and Ephraim were raised in Egypt which was a very secular society with people not necessarily of high moral character. Yet they remained faithful to the morals and ideals of their paternal roots. In blessing their children this way, parents are asking God to help their sons keep their beliefs whenever challenged by their peers, society or their environment. That's a blessing we all could use.

God of Our Environments,

Even when faced with pressure to deny you, help us to stand strong. Amen.

A Little Easternism Never Hurt Anyone

And Joseph's master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king's prisoners were confined; he remained there in prison. But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love; he gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer. -Genesis 39:21-22

I've always found the story of Joseph to be very "Eastern."  His reaction to all the terrible things that befall him are very Buddhist-like.  He lives his life in the moment, good or bad. He does his work to the best of his abilities whether in servitude or in prison. He makes friends of those around him and serves them. He knows God is with him. Joseph acts like Jesus. 

I think most of the religions in the world are way more alike than different.  And I think a lot of western Christianity tries to separate themselves from other religions by changing Jesus to fit their own ideas.  We need only look back a few decades ago when images of Jesus in Western art and movies were always of a blond haired, blue eyed, light skinned person. It wasn't hard from their to replace biblical values with our own.

Jesus often tells us not to worry about tomorrow, forgive and forget yesterday... in other words: Live in the moment.  Walk with God. Serve others. It doesn't matter what's going on in your life, just live it the way God wants you to live. He's right there with you just as he was with Joseph.

God of Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Atheists and all others,

Help us to live in the moment, trusting you to walk with us. Amen.

Woo-hoo!!!

Praise him, sun and moon; praise him, all you shining stars! -Psalm 148:3

I want to take a break from Genesis today and jump to this verse from Psalms. I was not prepared for the emotional impact a total eclipse would have on me. As the eclipse began, Richard, Cecelia and I would use our eclipse glasses to watch.  And it was pretty cool to watch. But once the moon completely covered the sun, it immediately got dark and a few degrees cooler. We could take off our glasses and witness the glory of the sun's corona around the edges of the moon.   At that moment my eyes teared up and if my knees had been about 20 years younger, I would have hit them.  

It was a humbling sight. I at once felt my own insignificance as well as part of something so much bigger. This earth and sun and moon thing has been going on for millions of years. Even as people of faith, we have this notion of control. It's an illusion. If the earth stops turning or the moon drops from orbit or the sun ceases to shine, we are gone. If all bees succumb to pesticides, we are gone. If trees all become homes and furniture and paper, we are gone. If the polar ice caps melt to nothing, we are gone. So far, and in spite of mankind, it's all still running. 

In that minute of totality (the other minute and a half was obscured by clouds), all these feelings rushed through me, but the thought top-most in my mind was "Praise him, sun and moon; praise him, all you shining stars!" but for some reason, what came out of my mouth was, "Woo-hoo!!!!"  I think God knew what I meant.

God of Creation,

Woo-hoo!!! Amen.

One of Us

When the time of [Tamar's] delivery came, there were twins in her womb. While she was in labor, one put out a hand; and the midwife took and bound on his hand a crimson thread, saying "This one came out first." But just then he drew back his hand, and out came his brother; and she said, "What a breach you have made for yourself!" Therefore he was named Perez. -Genesis 3827-29

Here is another R-rated, soap-opera-y kind of story. Woman of that time were possessions that had to be tended to. Families were everything. A woman without a family was dead. So when Tamar's husband (first son of Judah) died, the way to tend to this "family possession" was to give her to the next son so she could have an heir for her dead husband. When that didn't work, she was to wait around for the youngest son to grow up... (ewww... think of your 10-year-old nephew!) When Judah skipped out on that promise, Tamar tricked Judah himself into impregnating her.

One thing we need to understand is that in that time and place, being the first born was the be-all and end-all. Murders and trickeries abounded in order to steal a birthright which was very evident with Jacob and Esau. If you weren't the first born, you were just another kid in the family, nearly as insignificant as the women. 

So here we are in Jesus line of ancestory: Abram (Abraham) was the first-born of Tehra; however, Isaac was NOT the first-born of Abraham and Jacob was NOT the first-born of Isaac and Judah was NOT the first-born of IsaacO and though Er was the first-born of Judah, he died without an heir and Judah himself fathered Er's heirs in which Perez was NOT, technically, the first-born. Jesus did not come from a line of "the first and best." This is one of the things I love most about the whole story from Genesis to Revelation. Jesus is wholly divine, but he is also wholly one of us.  

God of ALL People,

We praise you for all the ways you have made sure we can all feel included. Help us to root exclusivity out of our churches and out of our hearts. Amen.

The Curse of Possessions

Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his children, because he was the son of his old age; and he had made him a long robe with sleeves. -Genesis 37:3

Joseph's robe was a symbol. It was a symbol of Israel's favoritism. It was a symbol of Joseph's brothers' jealousy. It was even a symbol of all Joseph was to endure in Egypt. In the original Hebrew, an acronym for the coat would stand for the trials and tribulations that were to come for Joseph.

We can place a lot of emotions on our stuff. They can symbolize our successes or lack thereof. Our belongings can trigger envy from others, even to the point of anger. Some of our stuff may not have financial value, but a lot of emotional value. The more value we place on things whether monetary or emotional, the more things we accumulate. And before long we find that we no longer own things; they own us. They take up room. They must be cared for. They must be protected from those who would take them from us. Much of it must be insured and costs us more.

I used to wish I had a large, beautiful home. And maybe it would have been better when I was raising my family. But now that it is just me and Richard, I am so happy to have a small house. The upkeep costs less. I can clean it top to bottom in a couple of hours. It has very little storage space, so I have to purge all unnecessary stuff on a regular basis. It is very freeing. I don't spend so much time maintaining a lot of things.

Joseph's coat kind of came with a curse. I think any inanimate objects that we spend a lot of money and emotion and time on comes with a sort of curse. It uses up what we should be using on others... time, emotion, money. All possessions aren't bad. And some things are important to us for different reasons, and sometimes those things cost us. But we all have stuff that is taking up room in our lives, hearts and bank accounts that simply are not necessary to our joy. Those items are the real curses.

God of Our Things,

Help us to not be owned by what we own. Amen.

Other Gods

God said o Jacob, "Arise, go up to Bethel, and settle there. Make an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau." -Genesis 35:1

When I think about the biblical patriarchs, I think of them as people that might mess up a lot but always while acknowledging the One True God who seems to speak and even appear to them fairly often. But that is not so. In this passage, God had to remind Jacob about his experience at Bethel and to put away all his "foreign" gods that had accumulated among his family and workers. It seems that as Jacob wandered physically, he also wandered spiritually.

It's easy to do. We can get caught up in the spiritual dynamics of other groups we are involved in... our workplace, community groups and clubs, even family that may worship differently or not at all. We may still call God, "God," but it may not be the same version of God that first made himself known to us. This is not always a bad thing. Our knowledge of God does indeed change and shift according to our spiritual maturity, but there is a basic-ness to God's identity that needs to always be at the core of our belief. If we stray too far, God will find a way to remind us. And he usually does so by drawing us back to specific times when we knew God was acting on a very personal level in our lives... an unexpected and immediate answer to prayer, a form of comfort in grief that seems almost other-worldly, a healing, a sense of heavenly guidance when we are at an important crossroad. 

He always works to pull us back when we stray too far. We may get too occupied with those "foreign gods" and miss his urging, but he will be trying again and again. That's what he does. He did it with Jacob and he will do it for us. 

Father of Wandering Sheep,

We do have a tendency to wander and to find other gods to occupy our attention. Remind us of our promises to you. Thank you for being so patient and for coming back for us time and time again. Amen.

Dinah

Now Dinah, Leah's daughter whom she bore for Jacob, went out to look at the daughters of the land. When Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her, he took her and lay with her and raped her.-Genesis 34:1-2

Some of the stories in the bible need to have an R rating and this is certainly one of them. Crime, violence, vengeance, sex, deception,  greed.... it's all there. And most of it is done by God's chosen people. And really, it may have not even been a rape by our definition. Many scholars believe that it was consensual, but according to the moral law of Jacob's family, sex without marriage meant a defiled woman, or "raped."

Neither the son (Shechem) or his father (Hamor) spoke with any remorse or sense that any wrong had been done when they came to ask for permission for Shechem and Dinah to marry, leading the reader to believe that they didn't realize that something wrong had been done. But Dinah's brothers were completely overtaken with anger and deceived the father and son into believing they were going to all be one big happy family and all would share in Jacob's wealth... if only they would all prove their good intentions by circumcising themselves along with the whole city. Then while they were all still in pain, Dinah's two oldest brothers slaughtered every man in the city. Quite a repayment for a bit of premarital fun with the woman you love!  

All this violence because two different groups of people failed to learn the morals, laws and beliefs of the other. Perhaps if they had gotten to know each other they could have looked at their differences and learned to respect them. Maybe. Sometimes even when we know the moral beliefs of another group, we find them too different and we lash out at them for no real reason, except that they are different.

It's not always easy to love and respect people who have had very different life experiences than ours. We think that our view of the world must be everyone's. If you have never been poor it is difficult to understand the experiences of a poor person. If you have never experienced discrimination based on your skin color, you will never understand what it feels like to those who experience it daily. Before we lash out at people say and do things that don't make sense to us, we should consider their perspectives. If we don't, we run the risk of thinking that it's okay to fly nazi flags and kill people who don't think the way we think.

God of Love,

Help us. Help us to not repeat history by sitting idly by while atrocities are being committed. Show us what we can do right here and right now before things get worse. Amen.

Wrestling with God

The the man [whom Jacob wrestled] said, "You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans, and have prevailed. -Genesis 32:28

Who hasn't struggled with God? It's easy to simply worship, adore and commune with God when all is well. And even when life's bumps and upsets come along, we do our best to "praise him in the storm," and often succeed. But then there are the really bad things that we just don't, don't, don't understand. I don't even have to name any of them. You have them in your own life and you've seen them in the lives of others. That's when we struggle to even believe that there can be a god. A god who allows horrible things to happen to people. A god who turns his back to our most fervent prayers. A god who - perhaps - isn't really there at all.

In the story of Jacob's travel to return to his home, we feel his gut-wrenching fear of meeting up with Esau. Jacob makes elaborate plans to save at least a portion of his family and wealth and he is willing to give nearly all of it to Esau if he would just spare their lives. He goes to bed, but there is no sleep. His mind is filled with "what if" and "how can I" and "what will tomorrow bring". And he wonders if God cares that he is this afraid. And Jacob wrestles all night until he finally feels God's real and absolute presence.

Never be afraid to wrestle with God. Ask the deep down hard questions. Yell at him. Cry out your greatest pains and fears. When we get into the real nitty-gritty with God and wrestle right up until we wonder if He is even there, that is when you will know his presence the most deeply.

God Over Our Fears,
Thank you for being a God who doesn't mind our questions and anger and grief-ridden denial of you. Thank you for being steadfastly there when we need you the most even if we do not feel you. Amen.

One True God

"May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor" - the God of their father - "judge between us."... - Genesis 31:53

Whenever I read the story about Rachel stealing her father's household gods, the first thing that usually comes to mind is the book, The Red Tent. That really was a great book, but there are some other things to look at in this story as well.  For instance, once Jacob and Laban finally decide to part as friends and make a covenant between them, they swear their oaths by the God of Abraham AND the god of Nahor.

Nahor and Abraham were brothers, both sons of Terah, who descended from Noah. Nahor's son, Behuel, was the father of Laban. Apparently Abraham and Nahor took different spiritual paths. Abraham worshiping the One True God and Nahor worshiping other gods. But if there is but ONE true God, doesn't it follow that He is ALSO the God of Nahor?

I think we miss this in today's world. Although we may call God by different names and believe different traditions and recognize Him in different ways, there still is but One True God. This is especially true of Christians, Jews and Muslims. Our traditions all originate with Abraham.  But even other religions that search for the goodness of mankind and a merciful, loving god are truly worshiping the same God as well, even if we don't all agree on the details.

If we could grasp this idea, we would be so much more loving and tolerant of one another.  Jacob and Laban tolerated the notion of one another's gods in order to make a covenant between them. Would it be such a big deal then for a Muslim brother or sister of today to pray at a town council meeting?

God of All,

Help us to understand that no matter how we have been taught to perceive you, you are God... period. Amen.

Sisterly Rivalry

[After Jacob's wedding night that he believed was with Rachel] When morning came, it was Leah! And Jacob said to Laban, "What is this you have done to me? Did I not serve with you for Rachel? Why then have you deceived me?" - Genesis 29:25

I have three sisters. Sisterly rivalry is bad enough without throwing a husband into the mix! Leah wanted love and Rachel wanted children. I believe that each would have given up what the other wanted, if they could have.  Even way back then, the grass was always greener...

What do you desperately wish you had that you do not? What would you be willing to give up for it? Love? Children? I always wished that I had a beautiful singing voice. Would I give up my writing ability for it? Wow, I don't know. Maybe. Maybe I would get bored with singing and wish again that I could write. Can't I have both?? But then there would be something else I wished I had...

The key to ridding ourselves of this kind of envy is gratitude. We need to quit wishing for that which we lack and focus on what we have. We can hone our God-given talents and use them for God's glory and rejoice in them and be grateful for them.

Life should not consist of trying to get what everyone else has. We should only focus on making the very best of what we have been given, whether talents, love, children or even material possessions. Be grateful for everything you already have. Name those gifts. Start a list of 3 or more each day and really focus on what they mean to you and you will soon be surprised to find that you are happy for your sisters' (and brothers') gifts as well.

God of All Good Gifts,

Thank you for all you have given me. Help me to use all to your glory. Thank you also that you have blessed my brothers and sisters, often differently. Amen.

A Multi-Faceted Gem

Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, "Surely the LORD is in this place - and I did not know it. -Genesis 28:16

Surely we've all been there. We struggle through a difficult time and wonder where God is the whole time; why is he not helping? Why is he allowing this trial? Then when we finally get through it, we can look back and see, "Oh! He was there the whole time!"

That's one way to look at this verse. In Rob Bell's book, What Is the Bible? (yes, you need to read this), he explains that each passage of scripture is like a multifaceted gem.  Turn the gem and you see it from a whole new angle. There is a whole book about this scripture in particular; God Was in This Place & I, I Did Not Know, by Lawrence Kushner. The author offers a collection of many different interpretations of this verse from many different scholars.

For example, one claims that Jacob found God within himself, while another asserts that at that moment in this passage, Jacob emptied himself of ego to find God outside of himself. We can look at this ability for different people to look at the same verse so completely differently in several ways... another multi-faceted gem!

We could just give up. How can anybody know anything about God from the Bible? Apparently we just make it up as we go along! Or maybe we sometimes dig TOO deeply. Maybe it just means what it says. Or maybe the answer is found in scripture itself: Indeed, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. -Hebrews 4:12

This is my fourth time reading through the Bible. Each time has been a completely different journey. And each time, I see specific passages differently. Sometimes just a little differently; a product of maturing intellectually, emotionally, spiritually and just generally. Sometimes I see things in a whole different light and it brings an incredible "ah-ha" moment.

How we see scripture individually depends upon where we are in our lives and what's going on with us. It depends on our emotional maturity and spiritual maturity. It depends on our willingness to see something other than what we have been taught by our parents, pastors and Sunday school teachers. So many people miss out on the vital "aliveness" of the Bible, because they are afraid to disagree with those who taught them. For them it is no more alive than our school history books. What a shame!

When you read scripture, ask questions! Pray for answers, search for answers, find answers given by a wide variety of scholars. I find some of the best stuff for answering my Old Testament questions from Jewish rabbis. They have been struggling with these stories for a very long time and have some beautiful things to say. 

God of the living and active Word,

Open our hearts to understand what you have to say to us as a whole people as well as individually. Give us courage to question what we have been taught. Amen.

An Odd and Uncomfortable Blend

Esau went to Ishmael and took Mahalath daughter of Abraham's son Ishmael, and sister of Nebaioth, to be his wife in addition to the wives he had. -Genesis 28:9

I am stunned by the amount of new information and new connections I am getting from this new reading of Genesis; a book I have read many times. It seems we are connecting families again.  Esau knew that he had displeased his parents by marrying two Hittite women. Apparently the Hittite women were vain, impious, and idolators and adulteresses. To please his parents he married Ishmael's daughter, Mahalath. 

This marriage was a marriage of repentance on Esau's part.  He perhaps was still looking for "the" blessing that Jacob received.  He hoped to please his parents AND God with this marriage, but he still kept his Hittite wives.

That is so like we humans.  We sin and sin again. We confess and try to do good with our lives, and often succeed, but we don't let go of the sin. We confess, but we don't repent. Somehow we think our good works make up for our lack of repentance.

Yes, God still loves us! The repentance is for us, not Him. Our lives on this earth are hopefully spent in constant renewal... daily baptism. It's so hard to continue to move forward when there is sin that we have recognized in our life but refuse to give up.

What an odd blend of wives that was for Esau and how uncomfortable it must have been at the family dinner table; maybe not for the Hittites, because in their shallowness they probably did not notice, but for Esau's new wife and the rest of the family.  Is it not an equally odd and uncomfortable blend to let our good works and sin live together as if it were natural?

We are never going to be without sin, but that glaringly odd and uncomfortable stuff really needs to be dealt with before we can truly move on and grow and renew.

God of Our Baptism,

Help us to weed out the vain, impious, idolating sin in our lives that we may grow in our walk with you. Amen.

The Energy of Words

[Isaac said to Esau] "Your brother came deceitfully, and has taken away your blessing." -Genesis 27:35

I raised two boys.  The sibling rivalry was no picnic, though they are great friends now. I know there were times that I would blame one for something that was done by the other.  Once discovered, I would apologize to the one I blamed and then take it up with the other.  No problem. And this is how I always looked at this story of Jacob and Esau. When Isaac realized the mistake on his part and the deception of Jacob, why not just say, "Sorry Esau, your brother tricked me.  His blessing is null and void because of his deception.  Now here is your blessing...." No problem.

What we don't realize in this world where words are easily spoken and written and heard and thrown around, and emailed and texted and used in ways both good and bad is that words have power. There is even an energy to them. When I would accuse the wrong son of doing something wrong, that negative energy entered him. The power of the words of a parent's disappointment, no matter how small, even if not spoken harshly, has an impact. Those words, together with every other word spoken to him, helps to form the man he would one day become, each word impacting him to a lesser or greater extent. Blessings, especially in the age of Isaac, Jacob and Esau, were and are loaded with energy. You can't take back energy. If you bless someone, you can't unbless them.

Anything said to another person cannot be unsaid. All words have energy and exist long after they are spoken. Let the words you speak be filled with positive energy.

God of Our Words,

May we realize the power of our words and use them always to build and uplift. Amen

Family Reunion

(Abraham's) sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the ave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite, east of Mamre -Genesis 25:9

Here is another gem I have overlooked in previous readings.  Ishmael was at Abraham's funeral. What?! I thought Abraham sent him and his mother away? This is definitely worth looking into.

Verse 1 tells us that Abraham remarried after Sarah's death and he had 6 more children and several grandchildren by her. She was called Keturah. However, Old Testament and Torah scholars say that this was actually Hagar, Ishmael's mother!  It was typical in that day to have more than one name.  It is also speculated that her name was changed once Abraham released her from slavery to marry her.   It is probable that both Abraham and Isaac felt guilty about sending them away and went and brought them back after Sarah's death.

That sounds like our God! He is a God of reconciliation.  He unites instead of dividing. He wants us to repair our own relationships as well.  If there is someone in your family that has been cut off, or even has cut themselves off, keep reaching out. Funerals are generally sad, but they are made sadder each time we hear the well-worn phrase, "It's good to see you, but I wish it were under better circumstances." 

Reconciling God,

Help us to keep in contact with those you have given us to love.  Amen.

On Being Tactful

Ephron answered Abraham, "My lord, listen to me; a piece of land worth four hunddred shekels of silver - what is that between you and me? Bury your dead." - Genesis 23:14

No deep thoughts from me today.  I just thought this was an interesting exchange on the way they bartered in the days of Abraham.  Sarah has died and Abraham is grieving and since he is residing in an alien land, he needs somewhere to bury her. He speaks with the Hittites and Ephron offers to give him some land that he owns. Abraham says, "Oh, no...I will pay full price for it!"  Ephron answers, "Consider it a gift, but by the way, it's worth 400 shekels." So Abraham pays him 400 shekels.  

This was typical back then and was considered the polite way of bartering. How surprised would Ephron have been if Abraham said, "Why thank you, Ephron! I accept your gift!" It's kind of like when a wife asks her husband if he thinks she should buy that new couch or when a husband asks his wife if she minds if he goes out with the guys.  It's polite to ask, but we all know what answer is expected.

I'm not the most tactful person in the world and I've found that southerners are way more tactful than our friends up north. My feeling used to be, if everybody knows what's really being said, why dance around it?  After offending people on multiple occasions over the years, I've grown a bit more diplomatic, but I don't think I'll ever have the finesse of some of my life-long southerner friends.  I still have much to learn.

Loving God,

Help us to communicate in ways that show our love for one another, but also in a way that gets the point across.  Amen.

The Gods of Anxiety

(God spoke to Abraham) He said, "Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you." - Genesis 22:2

We cannot look at this story through the lens of 21st century people. This is a story that was meant to be told to an audience who would have understood what child sacrifice was all about.  Rob Bell covers it so well in his book, What Is the Bible? 

Ancient religion began with a need.  A need to know the One who doled out the rain and sun and controlled the floods and famine.  And then they needed to know how to appease that god.  There were offerings to entice the gods to give you good fortune and then there were offerings of thanks when you had good fortune.  As Rob Bell explains, this religion that welled up in the earliest of humankind had anxiety built into it.  You never knew when and if you offered enough.  Bell says, 

"Whether things went well or not, the answer was always: Sacrifice more. Give more. Offer more. Because you never knew where you stood with the gods.  What is the most valuable thing you could offer the gods to show them how serious you were about earning their favor? A child."

So Abraham is not shocked at this request.  And if you read carefully, there are clues that Abraham may have known all along what God was up to. The thing is, this is not a story about Abraham's willingness to kill his son for God.  It is God showing Abraham that he is not a god of anxiety.  He is not a god who demands human sacrifice.  Quite the opposite.  He is the God who provides.  And at this time in human history, this was a mind-blowing concept.  God did not require Abraham to sacrifice his son. God only required faith and belief. 

Giving God,

Thank you that we never have to wonder if we please you enough to earn your love.  We need not earn anything from you.  You simply give.  Amen.

Sinners and Colorful Characters

Then God rained brimstone and fire down on Sodom and Gomorrah - a river of lava from God out of the sky! - and destroyed these cities and the entire plain and everyone who lived in the cities and everything that grew from the ground.- Genesis 19-24-25 (The Message)

Here we go with "God the Destroyer" again.  It makes for some exciting reading and good movie material for sure.  But this story has also been used by Christians to hurt others.  It is used as "proof" that God hates homosexuals.  And every time a natural disaster brings a lot of destruction to a city or region, you will always hear someone saying that it was their fault because of their sin.  And still.... some of the most sin-filled cities in the world thrive.

Did this story happen just the way it said in the Genesis account?  Or maybe the story got embellished a bit as it was handed down generation to generation until it was finally written down.  Or maybe it was simply a natural disaster and, like what happens today, God got blamed.

However it happened, it should never be used to bash others.  The bible can certainly be our sword, but it is not intended to use to cut  our brothers and sisters. But that is what people do, even if it's not expressed in words.  When something terrible happens to someone else, we want to believe they brought it on themselves.  That way, we feel safe. We can think "God took that couple's child because they weren't good parents." Or, "God caused her husband to leave her because she's not a real Christian" or "God sent that earthquake/flood/tornado/hurricane/wildfire to that city because they legalized gambling (or were mean to Jim & Tammy Bakker! ;) )."

Just knowing that this is the tendency of people, I would bet that God has once again been blamed for a completely natural event.  Perhaps he did send his angels to bring Lot and his family out before it occurred.  God must have really need Lot, after all... he tried to give his daughters up to be raped, and then his daughters tricked their dad into having sex with them so they could get pregnant.  Wow... if God's purpose was to wipe out sin, I'm thinking he saved the wrong family!

But then I remember that the child of one of those daughters was Moab.  And Ruth was a Moabite and an ancestor of King David who was an ancestor of Jesus.  Wow!  Jesus had some pretty colorful characters in his lineage!  You gotta love it!

God of Crazy and Colorful Characters,

Help us to be less judgmental of others, both as groups and individuals.  No matter what kind of crazy or sinful things we have done, you can still use us to further your kingdom and for that, we rejoice.  Amen.

Laugh!

So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, "After I have grown old, and my husband is old, shall I have pleasure?" - Genesis 18:12

I love the story of Sarah laughing.  It makes her so human.  There are surprisingly few incidences of laughter in the bible and most of them are a derisive, sneering kind of laughter. Didn't they laugh in ancient times? Some of the mentions of laughter make it sound like a bad thing as in Ecclesiastes 7:3 which says, "Sorrow is better than laughter, for by sadness of countenance the heart is made glad."  And Sirach 27:13 (in the Apocrypha), "A fool raises his voice when he laughs, but the wise smile quietly." I wish there were more examples of joyful laughter in the bible.  They had to have laughed!  Some of our finest comedians are Jewish!!

Science says that laughter burns calories, lowers stress and improves memory. It gets that happy hormone called serotonin flowing and gives us increased energy. Who doesn't love to laugh? It's contagious and if you've ever had a case of the giggles, you know it can sometimes take over. My favorite portrait of Jesus is this one:

  

He looks so human and so approachable here. It makes me wonder what would make Jesus laugh with such joy?

We could all use a little laughter in our lives.  You have probably seen this video before and I know I have shared it before, but no matter how often I watch it, it always makes me laugh... enjoy: Laugh!

God of Joy,

Give us many reasons to burst out in joyful laughter today.  Thank you for this gift.  Amen.

More On Ishmael

"As for Ishmael, I have heard you; I will bless him and make him fruitful and exceedingly numerous; he shall be the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation."-Genesis 17:20

I have read that Ishmael is the father of Islam in the same way that Jacob is the father of Judaism. What I never saw in my previous readings of Genesis is that Ishmael fathered his own 12 sons just as Jacob did!  I'm not a biblical scholar, but that seems pretty significant to me.  I have found a couple of web sites that talk about this and if you are interested in reading more about the tribes of Ishmael you can check it out here. It talks about what happened to the different tribes and that they have mostly disappeared from history, but it really doesn't speak to any biblical significance.  It is discussed more as an aside to the story of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

12 is a significant number in the bible.  It is considered a perfect number and symbolizes God's power and authority.  It is also a symbol of completeness and can signify a perfect government foundation. As far as the history of Islam goes, though, there is not quite the same connect of the 12 tribes of Ishmael to Islam as there is of the 12 tribes of Israel to Judaism.  Many of the tribes of Ishmael splintered off or married into other nations and tribes.  There is just not as pure of a line to follow. This helps me to understand God's desire to keep Israel pure and all the laws and commandments dealing with mixing and marrying into other nationalities and religions.  The line of Israel needed to be kept somewhat pure until the birth of Jesus.  Some claim that Mohammed was a descendant of Ishmael, but I found no source showing a direct lineage as our bible gives for Jesus. 

Maybe one day I will dig deeper into this because I just think there must be more to it if God indeed blessed Ishmael and made him a great nation with 12 tribes.  But it looks like a pretty deep study that I'm not quite ready for.

God of All,

I believe that the bible only scratches the surface of what an amazing God you are. You cannot be contained to one collection of books.  Bless us in our pursuit of knowing you more deeply.  Amen.