Summer Reading: Exodus 1 and 2 Week 5 July 26th

Week 5 brings us to the beginning of the story of Moses.  But look carefully as you read--where is power thought to reside and where does it really show itself?   Who are the strong characters that are at work....obscure to empires and Pharaohs...but very visible to God?   If you like the Message Version than click here!

Exodus 1-2   New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

1 These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob, each with his household: ² Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, ³ Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, ⁴ Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. ⁵ The total number of people born to Jacob was seventy. Joseph was already in Egypt. ⁶ Then Joseph died, and all his brothers, and that whole generation. ⁷ But the Israelites were fruitful and prolific; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them.

The Israelites Are Oppressed

⁸ Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. ⁹ He said to his people, “Look, the Israelite people are more numerous and more powerful than we. ¹⁰ Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase and, in the event of war, join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.” ¹¹ Therefore they set taskmasters over them to oppress them with forced labor. They built supply cities, Pithom and Rameses, for Pharaoh. ¹² But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread, so that the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites. ¹³ The Egyptians became ruthless in imposing tasks on the Israelites, ¹⁴ and made their lives bitter with hard service in mortar and brick and in every kind of field labor. They were ruthless in all the tasks that they imposed on them.
¹⁵ The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, ¹⁶ “When you act as midwives to the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstool, if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, she shall live.” ¹⁷ But the midwives feared God; they did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but they let the boys live. ¹⁸ So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this, and allowed the boys to live?” ¹⁹ The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.” ²⁰ So God dealt well with the midwives; and the people multiplied and became very strong. ²¹ And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families. ²² Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, “Every boy that is born to the Hebrews^[a] you shall throw into the Nile, but you shall let every girl live.”

Birth and Youth of Moses

2 Now a man from the house of Levi went and married a Levite woman. ² The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw that he was a fine baby, she hid him three months. ³ When she could hide him no longer she got a papyrus basket for him, and plastered it with bitumen and pitch; she put the child in it and placed it among the reeds on the bank of the river. ⁴ His sister stood at a distance, to see what would happen to him.

⁵ The daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her attendants walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid to bring it. ⁶ When she opened it, she saw the child. He was crying, and she took pity on him. “This must be one of the Hebrews’ children,” she said. ⁷ Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?” ⁸ Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Yes.” So the girl went and called the child’s mother. ⁹ Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed it. ¹⁰ When the child grew up, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and she took him as her son. She named him Moses,^[b] “because,” she said, “I drew him out^[c] of the water.”

Moses Flees to Midian

¹¹ One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and saw their forced labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his kinsfolk. ¹² He looked this way and that, and seeing no one he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. ¹³ When he went out the next day, he saw two Hebrews fighting; and he said to the one who was in the wrong, “Why do you strike your fellow Hebrew?” ¹⁴ He answered, “Who made you a ruler and judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and thought, “Surely the thing is known.” ¹⁵ When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses.
But Moses fled from Pharaoh. He settled in the land of Midian, and sat down by a well. ¹⁶ The priest of Midian had seven daughters. They came to draw water, and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock. ¹⁷ But some shepherds came and drove them away. Moses got up and came to their defense and watered their flock. ¹⁸ When they returned to their father Reuel, he said, “How is it that you have come back so soon today?” ¹⁹ They said, “An Egyptian helped us against the shepherds; he even drew water for us and watered the flock.” ²⁰ He said to his daughters, “Where is he? Why did you leave the man? Invite him to break bread.” ²¹ Moses agreed to stay with the man, and he gave Moses his daughter Zipporah in marriage. ²² She bore a son, and he named him Gershom; for he said, “I have been an alien^[d] residing in a foreign land.”
²³ After a long time the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned under their slavery, and cried out. Out of the slavery their cry for help rose up to God. ²⁴ God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. ²⁵ God looked upon the Israelites, and God took notice of them.

Footnotes:

1. Exodus 1:22 Sam Gk Tg: Heb lacks to the Hebrews
2. Exodus 2:10 Heb Mosheh
3. Exodus 2:10 Heb mashah
4. Exodus 2:22 Heb ger

Some thoughts to ponder:
1. Now a new king came to power who did not know Joseph....What does this say about putting our trust in governments and empires?  
2. The strong Pharaoh was outdone by two women, Shiphrah and Puah.  What do you think about these two women?   What do you think they risked by lying to Pharaoh?   What do you think the narrator is trying to tell us about Pharaoh, if his plans can be so easily brought to ruins by two Hebrew midwives?
3.  Once again we have women, Moses' mother, Pharaoh's daughter and Miriam--Moses sister who are able to find a way around Pharaoh's plans.  Do you see any connection between this and what happened to Joseph last week?  
4.  Moses is living between two worlds, that of his Egyptian adoption and his Hebrew ancestry.  Do we as Christians live in between two worlds?   What conflicts come when we try to live in 'two' worlds?
5. What do you think about God using a murderer to save his people?   Be honest, would this bother you?  Do serious discretions follow folks their whole lives or can they become different people?
6.  What things do you wish God would remember?  What things do you wish God would forget?
7.  What is the big truth that these two chapters of scripture are trying to tell us?  Are there some little truths as well?

Summer Reading Week #4 July 19, 2015

Week Four in our Summer reading series.

This week we have what I find to be one of the most important narratives in the Old Testament, the story of Joseph and his brothers.  The basic plot is this:  A father favors one son over all the others, and this favoritism sparks ill-will in the ones who feel slighted, which in turn leads to wrongdoing and undeserved suffering.  The young favored Joseph is beaten up by his brothers and sold into slavery, while they tell a grieving father (Jacob or Israel) that his favorite has been consumed by a wild animal.   However, what the brothers meant for evil, God was able to turn around for the good!  Finally, following one confusing turn of events after another, including Joseph being elevated to the position of 'prime minister' for Egypt, the brothers are back in front of Joseph, yet they do not know it is him.   Chapter 44 seems to be one last opportunity for Joseph to repay evil for evil...but he instead will take the path of forgiveness.  The one truly important thing becomes the opportunity to forgive and forge new relationships based on the power of forgiveness.  

If you have liked using The Message, just click to find it!

Genesis 44-45New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Joseph Detains Benjamin

CORNELIUS, Peter, 1816, "Joseph receiving his brothers."

44 Then he commanded the steward of his house, “Fill the men’s sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put each man’s money in the top of his sack. ² Put my cup, the silver cup, in the top of the sack of the youngest, with his money for the grain.” And he did as Joseph told him. ³ As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away with their donkeys. ⁴ When they had gone only a short distance from the city, Joseph said to his steward, “Go, follow after the men; and when you overtake them, say to them, ‘Why have you returned evil for good? Why have you stolen my silver cup?^{[a] 5} Is it not from this that my lord drinks? Does he not indeed use it for divination? You have done wrong in doing this.’”

⁶ When he overtook them, he repeated these words to them. ⁷ They said to him, “Why does my lord speak such words as these? Far be it from your servants that they should do such a thing! ⁸ Look, the money that we found at the top of our sacks, we brought back to you from the land of Canaan; why then would we steal silver or gold from your lord’s house? ⁹ Should it be found with any one of your servants, let him die; moreover the rest of us will become my lord’s slaves.” ¹⁰ He said, “Even so; in accordance with your words, let it be: he with whom it is found shall become my slave, but the rest of you shall go free.” ¹¹ Then each one quickly lowered his sack to the ground, and each opened his sack. ¹² He searched, beginning with the eldest and ending with the youngest; and the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack. ¹³ At this they tore their clothes. Then each one loaded his donkey, and they returned to the city.
¹⁴ Judah and his brothers came to Joseph’s house while he was still there; and they fell to the ground before him. ¹⁵ Joseph said to them, “What deed is this that you have done? Do you not know that one such as I can practice divination?” ¹⁶ And Judah said, “What can we say to my lord? What can we speak? How can we clear ourselves? God has found out the guilt of your servants; here we are then, my lord’s slaves, both we and also the one in whose possession the cup has been found.” ¹⁷ But he said, “Far be it from me that I should do so! Only the one in whose possession the cup was found shall be my slave; but as for you, go up in peace to your father.”

Judah Pleads for Benjamin’s Release

¹⁸ Then Judah stepped up to him and said, “O my lord, let your servant please speak a word in my lord’s ears, and do not be angry with your servant; for you are like Pharaoh himself. ¹⁹ My lord asked his servants, saying, ‘Have you a father or a brother?’ ²⁰ And we said to my lord, ‘We have a father, an old man, and a young brother, the child of his old age. His brother is dead; he alone is left of his mother’s children, and his father loves him.’ ²¹ Then you said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me, so that I may set my eyes on him.’ ²² We said to my lord, ‘The boy cannot leave his father, for if he should leave his father, his father would die.’ ²³ Then you said to your servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you shall see my face no more.’ ²⁴ When we went back to your servant my father we told him the words of my lord. ²⁵ And when our father said, ‘Go again, buy us a little food,’ ²⁶ we said, ‘We cannot go down. Only if our youngest brother goes with us, will we go down; for we cannot see the man’s face unless our youngest brother is with us.’ ²⁷ Then your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons; ²⁸ one left me, and I said, Surely he has been torn to pieces; and I have never seen him since. ²⁹ If you take this one also from me, and harm comes to him, you will bring down my gray hairs in sorrow to Sheol.’ ³⁰ Now therefore, when I come to your servant my father and the boy is not with us, then, as his life is bound up in the boy’s life, ³¹ when he sees that the boy is not with us, he will die; and your servants will bring down the gray hairs of your servant our father with sorrow to Sheol. ³² For your servant became surety for the boy to my father, saying, ‘If I do not bring him back to you, then I will bear the blame in the sight of my father all my life.’ ³³ Now therefore, please let your servant remain as a slave to my lord in place of the boy; and let the boy go back with his brothers. ³⁴ For how can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? I fear to see the suffering that would come upon my father.”

Joseph Reveals Himself to His Brothers

45 Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried out, “Send everyone away from me.” So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. ² And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it. ³ Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, so dismayed were they at his presence.

⁴ Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come closer to me.” And they came closer. He said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. ⁵ And now do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. ⁶ For the famine has been in the land these two years; and there are five more years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. ⁷ God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. ⁸ So it was not you who sent me here, but God; he has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt. ⁹ Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not delay. ¹⁰ You shall settle in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children, as well as your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. ¹¹ I will provide for you there—since there are five more years of famine to come—so that you and your household, and all that you have, will not come to poverty.’ ¹² And now your eyes and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see that it is my own mouth that speaks to you. ¹³ You must tell my father how greatly I am honored in Egypt, and all that you have seen. Hurry and bring my father down here.” ¹⁴ Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, while Benjamin wept upon his neck. ¹⁵ And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them; and after that his brothers talked with him.
¹⁶ When the report was heard in Pharaoh’s house, “Joseph’s brothers have come,” Pharaoh and his servants were pleased. ¹⁷ Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Say to your brothers, ‘Do this: load your animals and go back to the land of Canaan. ¹⁸ Take your father and your households and come to me, so that I may give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you may enjoy the fat of the land.’ ¹⁹ You are further charged to say, ‘Do this: take wagons from the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives, and bring your father, and come. ²⁰ Give no thought to your possessions, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.’”
²¹ The sons of Israel did so. Joseph gave them wagons according to the instruction of Pharaoh, and he gave them provisions for the journey. ²² To each one of them he gave a set of garments; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five sets of garments. ²³ To his father he sent the following: ten donkeys loaded with the good things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain, bread, and provision for his father on the journey. ²⁴ Then he sent his brothers on their way, and as they were leaving he said to them, “Do not quarrel^[b] along the way.”
²⁵ So they went up out of Egypt and came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan. ²⁶ And they told him, “Joseph is still alive! He is even ruler over all the land of Egypt.” He was stunned; he could not believe them. ²⁷ But when they told him all the words of Joseph that he had said to them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived. ²⁸ Israel said, “Enough! My son Joseph is still alive. I must go and see him before I die.”

Footnotes:

1. Genesis 44:4 Gk Compare Vg: Heb lacks Why have you stolen my silver cup?
2. Genesis 45:24 Or be agitated

Some thoughts to ponder:

1. The brother's have lived for decades with their guilt (selling Joseph into slavery and lying to their father) do you think they still suffer from this?
2. Have you ever been "found out?"  What is the usual human reaction to having our guilt be exposed?
3. With Joseph hiding the silver cup in Benjamin's bag, what situation does he set up for Judah?
(44.32-34)
4. Do you think Joseph was also contemplating revenge on his older brothers?  What do you do when you have a choice to make between what you want to do and what you think God would have you do?
5. Do you think God can be at work through hateful, harmful things to make way for the good? 
6. Have you ever experienced this in your own life? 
7. What are the benefits of forgiveness in this story?  What things are restored?
8.  Is it easier to forgive or to accept that you've been forgiven?
9. Some have seen Joseph as a kind of 'prefigure of Christ.'  He was rejected, beaten, thrown down, rose to prominence and proclaimed forgiveness.  Do you see any connections between the story of Joseph and the Christian faith?
10. What is the big truth that God is showing us in this story of Joseph?

Summer reading #3 God will be faithful!

The first 11 chapters of Genesis prove that Human beings are not capable of being faithful to God.  So starting in Genesis 12 it will be God who is faithful. He picks Abram and Sarai  (their names will change latter) to be the means by which God will show and work out God's faithfulness to the world.  We know nothing about them as this is the first place they are mentioned!   If you are enjoying reading the lesson via The Message here is the link for that version as well!



Genesis 12-13New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

The Call of Abram

 LASTMAN, Pieter Pietersz. Abraham's Journey to Canaan
1614

12 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. ² I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. ³ I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”^[a]

⁴ So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. ⁵ Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother’s son Lot, and all the possessions that they had gathered, and the persons whom they had acquired in Haran; and they set forth to go to the land of Canaan. When they had come to the land of Canaan, ⁶ Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak^[b] of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. ⁷ Then the Lord appeared to Abram, and said, “To your offspring^[c] I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. ⁸ From there he moved on to the hill country on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the Lord and invoked the name of the Lord. ⁹ And Abram journeyed on by stages toward the Negeb.

Abram and Sarai in Egypt

¹⁰ Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to reside there as an alien, for the famine was severe in the land. ¹¹ When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “I know well that you are a woman beautiful in appearance; ¹² and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife’; then they will kill me, but they will let you live. ¹³ Say you are my sister, so that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared on your account.” ¹⁴ When Abram entered Egypt the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. ¹⁵ When the officials of Pharaoh saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house. ¹⁶ And for her sake he dealt well with Abram; and he had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male and female slaves, female donkeys, and camels.
¹⁷ But the Lord afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. ¹⁸ So Pharaoh called Abram, and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? ¹⁹ Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her for my wife? Now then, here is your wife, take her, and be gone.” ²⁰ And Pharaoh gave his men orders concerning him; and they set him on the way, with his wife and all that he had.

Abram and Lot Separate

13 So Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the Negeb.

² Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. ³ He journeyed on by stages from the Negeb as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, ⁴ to the place where he had made an altar at the first; and there Abram called on the name of the Lord. ⁵ Now Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents, ⁶ so that the land could not support both of them living together; for their possessions were so great that they could not live together, ⁷ and there was strife between the herders of Abram’s livestock and the herders of Lot’s livestock. At that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites lived in the land.
⁸ Then Abram said to Lot, “Let there be no strife between you and me, and between your herders and my herders; for we are kindred. ⁹ Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself from me. If you take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if you take the right hand, then I will go to the left.” ¹⁰ Lot looked about him, and saw that the plain of the Jordan was well watered everywhere like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, in the direction of Zoar; this was before the Lord had destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. ¹¹ So Lot chose for himself all the plain of the Jordan, and Lot journeyed eastward; thus they separated from each other. ¹² Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled among the cities of the Plain and moved his tent as far as Sodom. ¹³ Now the people of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the Lord.
¹⁴ The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Raise your eyes now, and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward; ¹⁵ for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring^[d] forever. ¹⁶ I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth; so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted. ¹⁷ Rise up, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to you.” ¹⁸ So Abram moved his tent, and came and settled by the oaks^[e] of Mamre, which are at Hebron; and there he built an altar to the Lord.

Footnotes:

1. Genesis 12:3 Or by you all the families of the earth shall bless themselves
2. Genesis 12:6 Or terebinth
3. Genesis 12:7 Heb seed
4. Genesis 13:15 Heb seed
5. Genesis 13:18 Or terebinths

Some things to ponder:
1. Think of all the objections---maybe even make a list--all the reasons why Abram should NOT obey God when God calls him to leave everything behind.
2. Have you ever felt that God has called you to leave something behind?  
3.  How important is obedience in the life of faith?
4.  Were the promises that God made conditional or unconditional?
5.  What do you think of Abram's behavior in Egypt?  Was he faithful...or fearful?
6.  What do you think about Abram's invitation to give whatever land he wants to Lot?
7.  How are you generous with the gifts that God has given you? 
8. What is the BIG truth in these chapters of Genesis? 

Summer Reading #2 The Second Week in July

Week #2  Summer 2015

This week we have what traditionally has been called the story of the fall.  Do yourself a favor...empty your mind of all the things you think you know about this passage and just let the words read out loud sink in.   For example, no where is the snake associated with Satan, it is merely called 'more crafty than any other wild animal that the LORD God had made.'   If you enjoyed using The Message last week, here is a link to this weeks reading as well.  (The Message, Genesis 3)

Genesis 3 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

The First Sin and Its Punishment

3 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God say, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden’?” ² The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; ³ but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.’” ⁴ But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not die; ⁵ for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God,^[a] knowing good and evil.” ⁶ So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. ⁷ Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.

Cranach, Lucas the Elder, 1510  Adam and Eve

⁸ They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. ⁹ But the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” ¹⁰ He said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.” ¹¹ He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” ¹² The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate.” ¹³ Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent tricked me, and I ate.” ¹⁴ The Lord God said to the serpent,

“Because you have done this,
    cursed are you among all animals
    and among all wild creatures;
upon your belly you shall go,
    and dust you shall eat
    all the days of your life.
¹⁵ I will put enmity between you and the woman,
    and between your offspring and hers;
he will strike your head,
    and you will strike his heel.”

¹⁶ To the woman he said,

“I will greatly increase your pangs in childbearing;
    in pain you shall bring forth children,
yet your desire shall be for your husband,
    and he shall rule over you.”

¹⁷ And to the man^[b] he said,

“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife,
    and have eaten of the tree
about which I commanded you,
    ‘You shall not eat of it,’
cursed is the ground because of you;
    in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
¹⁸ thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
    and you shall eat the plants of the field.
¹⁹ By the sweat of your face
    you shall eat bread
until you return to the ground,
    for out of it you were taken;
you are dust,
    and to dust you shall return.”

²⁰ The man named his wife Eve,^[c] because she was the mother of all living. ²¹ And the Lord God made garments of skins for the man^[d] and for his wife, and clothed them.
²² Then the Lord God said, “See, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— ²³ therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. ²⁴ He drove out the man; and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim, and a sword flaming and turning to guard the way to the tree of life.

Footnotes:

1. Genesis 3:5 Or gods
2. Genesis 3:17 Or to Adam
3. Genesis 3:20 In Heb Eve resembles the word for living
4. Genesis 3:21 Or for Adam

Questions to ponder:

1. Think about temptation for a moment. What is the source of temptation for Eve?  (the talking snake, the good looking fruit, the promise of wisdom, the command not to do something, the desire to be like God?)  What is the source of temptation for you?
2.  What truth do you think is being spoken about he two realizing they are naked and sewing fig leaves together?  I mean they've always been naked, nothing new here.  Do you think perhaps they now can 'see themselves' through a different/more unflattering lense?  
3.  I think verse 8 is one of the most deeply sad verses of the entire Bible.   What is different between God and Humanity after the eating of the fruit.   Fear has now been introduced.
4.  Thus the beginning of the "shame and blame" game!  What are the results of the blame/shame game?
5.  Think deeply about this:  What is the REAL sin (brokenness) in the story of Genesis 3?
6.  Is there anything heroic about Adam and Eve?
7.  What truth or truths do you think are being communicated in this story of Genesis 3?

Week 1 Summer Reading Genesis 1 (The First week of July)

Genesis 1

Here is our first reading for the Summer!  I recommend you also read this story from the Message version (follow link  The Message Version )

Six Days of Creation and the Sabbath

Pillars of Creation, Eagle Nebula, Hubble

1 In the beginning when God created^[a] the heavens and the earth, ² the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God^[b] swept over the face of the waters. ³ Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. ⁴ And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. ⁵ God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

⁶ And God said, “Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” ⁷ So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome. And it was so. ⁸ God called the dome Sky. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.
⁹ And God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. ¹⁰ God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. ¹¹ Then God said, “Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.” And it was so. ¹² The earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed of every kind, and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God saw that it was good. ¹³ And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.
¹⁴ And God said, “Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, ¹⁵ and let them be lights in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. ¹⁶ God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. ¹⁷ God set them in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth, ¹⁸ to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. ¹⁹ And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.
²⁰ And God said, “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky.” ²¹ So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, of every kind, with which the waters swarm, and every winged bird of every kind. And God saw that it was good. ²² God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” ²³ And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.
²⁴ And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind: cattle and creeping things and wild animals of the earth of every kind.” And it was so. ²⁵ God made the wild animals of the earth of every kind, and the cattle of every kind, and everything that creeps upon the ground of every kind. And God saw that it was good.
²⁶ Then God said, “Let us make humankind^[c] in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth,^[d] and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”

²⁷ So God created humankind^[e] in his image,
    in the image of God he created them;^[f]
    male and female he created them.

²⁸ God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” ²⁹ God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. ³⁰ And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. ³¹ God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Footnotes:

1. Genesis 1:1 Or when God began to create or In the beginning God created
2. Genesis 1:2 Or while the spirit of God or while a mighty wind
3. Genesis 1:26 Heb adam
4. Genesis 1:26 Syr: Heb and over all the earth
5. Genesis 1:27 Heb adam
6. Genesis 1:27 Heb him

Some thoughts to ponder:

1.  What does Genesis 1 reveal to you about God?
2.  What does Genesis 1 reveal to you about creation?
3.   What does Genesis 1 reveal to you about human being?
4.   Thinking only about Genesis 1, are you surprised by anything about God, about creation, about Human Beings?
5.  Is there a 'truth' that Genesis 1 is trying to help us understand? (or is there more than one?).
6. What do you think it means when Genesis 1 says: "God blessed them" in regards to human beings?
7.  What does 'blessing' mean to you? 

Summer Reading....

So here is a little exercise in some 'spiritual' summer reading.  For each week of summer starting this Sunday June 28th I'm going to give you a passage of scripture to read.  Take as long as you like to read it.  Read it once, twice, three times if you want!  But read the passage looking for the Good News of God.  Pray before you read asking for the Holy Spirit to be present and if you can, read out loud!  Faith comes by hearing---not by reading!   So if you have a significant other, take turns reading together from the weekly scripture. 

I'll post the reading and some thoughts and commentary every Sunday morning.   And please leave some comments to let me know how it's going!

 

Here’s my list of Bible stories for your summer reading!

July

Week 1: Genesis 1  --the liturgy of creation

Week 2: Genesis 3  --The issues of trust

Week 3: Genesis 12-13 –God will be faithful

Week 4: Genesis 44-45 – Forgiveness

Week 5:  Exodus 1-2 – The birth of Moses

 

August

Week 6:  Exodus 3-4 –Reluctant Prophet

Week 7:  1 Samuel 17 – Fear and Trust

Week 8:  2 Kings 5 – healing and pride

Week 9:  Jonah 1 – 3 – Depths of God’s love

Easter Monday....a word about the Harrowing of Hell

Easter Monday....musings on the Harrowing of Hell.

Descent into Hell, Duccio, 1308

Christian doctrine and belief asserts that Jesus Christ 'descended to hell' in order to preach and proclaim the good news of God's love and mercy to those who had lived and died before his incarnation.   Hell of course is an interesting discussion: and one that often carries with it a lot of personal baggage.   But here the understanding of the church is not that those who lived before Christ were somehow being tortured in the afterlife, or in any discomfort.  The assertion was that they simply waited, slept as it were until the light of Christ would be revealed to them.  

Below is an excerpt from an ancient sermon, where Christ is explaining his presence to Abraham about his purpose in "hell."   I find it quite beautiful and while it should have been posted on Saturday....I thought it a descent Easter Monday thought.

"Out of love for you and for your descendants I now by my own authority command all who are held in bondage to come forth, all who are in darkness to be enlightened, all who are sleeping to arise.  I order you, O sleeper, to awake.  I did not create you to be held a prisoner in hell.  Rise from the dead, for I am the life of the dead.  Rise up, work of my hands, you who were created in my image.  Rise, let us leave this place, for you are in me and I am in you; together we form only one person and we cannot be separated."

To this I can only say:  Amen!

EASTER SUNDAY---ALLELUIA!

“The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!” 
Luke 24.34















REMBRANDT Harmenszoon van Rijn The Ascension of Christ
1636

For all who wait.....Day 40 in Lent 2015 Saturday of Holy Week

Day 40 in Lent 2015  Saturday of Holy Week

"Be strong, and let your heart take courage,
    all you who wait for the Lord."  Psalm 31.24

Waiting is hard.  And yet waiting is so much a part of our culture that we even have rooms designated for this activity and lists that are generated solely for those who must wait.   This being said, I don't like to wait.  Maybe because I'm impatient--perhaps.  But I think the real reason I don't like to wait is that I'd rather be 'doing' something than just waiting.   Waiting sounds so, well, so passive.   It also means that I'm not in control of the situation and that is a whole other subject all together! 

GUERCINO The Dead Christ Mourned by Two Angels
1617-18

Here on the last day of Lent, situated between Good Friday and Easter Sunday all we can do is wait.   But our waiting need not be an invitation to do nothing.  No, this kind of waiting is ripe with expectation.  You see, we know that God will be faithful to God's promise.   We know that Jesus will rise from the dead and we know that tomorrow morning some women will go and find an empty tomb.   Knowing this our waiting is filled with preparation.  We are planning meals and worship schedules, we are getting out our Easter best and preparing for company that will join us to celebrate.   You see, when we wait with God, we wait with hope and that makes all the difference.

We who worship Christ are not naïve to pain, suffering and death.  We know that all these things exist and are the occasion for heartbreak and grief.  And yet, we also know that these things do not have the final word.  We are confident that even the deepest darkness will give way to the light of God's presence and that there is no denying the faithfulness of God.   So we wait....but we wait defiantly!  Our waiting is lived out not in rooms that make us comfortable but in lives that remain focused on what we know the outcome will be.  Our waiting stands by the old, old saying; It might be Friday (Saturday); but Sundays coming!   

A prayer for today:  "Dear Lord,  I ask that in all my waiting I might take courage that you are there and that nothing will be able to separate me from your love.  Amen"  

Behold the life giving cross.....Day 39 in Lent 2015 Good Friday

Day 39 in Lent 2015  Good Friday

"Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words."  Romans 8.26

Meditating on the cross of Christ can all to easily become a narcissistic enterprise into imagining that I can somehow feel what he felt or experience what he experienced.  The cross is awful--it's horrible.  It is public execution that is meant to shame and humiliate not only the offender but the family of the offender as well.  The mean spirit and mob morality of folks who have decided to scapegoat a particular individual are all well documented--it is unfortunately not rare in our day.  The cross is not meant for me to gaze upon and feel guilty; although this is what modern piety has turned it into.  No, the cross stands forever as a memorial to the triumph of God who through the cross shows a different way. 

What if love is ultimately the victor?  What if forgiveness is the answer to the plague of violence that we impose on each other?  What if Jesus truly is the King?  What if truth is found not in the power politics of Pilates expediency, but in the selfless giving of Jesus' life for the sake of the world?  

Come to this day in prayer.   But do me a favor, use your prayer time not to focus on you or your sin or your shortcomings....instead use this time of prayer to focus on God and what the cross reveals about God's nature.  May the Holy Spirit intercede for you as you contemplate the mysteries of faith. 

A prayer for today:   "Dear Lord may I see in your cross the love which you have for me and the whole world.  Amen."

In the business of feet....Day 38 Lent 2015 Maundy Thursday

Day 38 Lent 2015 Maundy Thursday

"For you are all children of light and children of the day;
we are not of the night or of darkness."     1 Thessalonians 5.5

On Maundy Thursday we remember Jesus giving us the sacrament of Holy Communion, the foot washing and the betrayal of Jesus.   John in his Gospel makes the point that as Judas was leaving to go and betray Jesus--it was night.  Night in John's Gospel especially is a vivid metaphor for all those things that run counter to God.   Judas of course goes out to betray Jesus at night, because he has been overcome by the darkness of this world.    This is not our lot!



BABUREN, Dirck van Christ Washing the Apostles Feet
c. 1616

Paul is convinced that we on the other hand are children of the light and children of the day!   This means that we are reflecting the life of Jesus in all that we do.  Since Jesus is the light of the world (John 8.12) so we are to reflect this light as we live in the fullness of his presence.  What does that mean.  First and foremost it means that we are to find the time to come to the family table.  To gather with the other people of God around the sacrament of Holy Communion and once again hear the words that this Jesus has been given for us!  Not just for our own salvation; but that we might participate in the salvation of the whole world through him!   

This happens when we follow his example of washing feet.  That is, to serve each other, and to find in service to the other the highest calling of the Christian life.  This reality gets shown in the parable of the Sheep and the Goats which suggests that the mystery of the incarnation (God come to us in Christ) continues to be lived out in the love that we show for one another.   Tonight at worship I'll undoubtedly talk about the sacrament and about what it means to come to the family table of our Lord; but I'll probably also call us back to the family business....we do feet.   That's what it means to be a child of the light. 

A prayer:  "Dear Lord, help us to let our light so shine before others that they might see you reflected in what we do.  Amen"

The Devil made me do it.....Day 37 Wednesday in Holy Week

Day 37 Wednesday in Holy Week

"And do not bring us to the time of trial,
        but rescue us from the evil one."   Matthew 6.13

Jesus offers us the Lord's prayer in two places, here in Matthew above and also in the Gospel of Luke.  The prayer is simple and to the point.  There is not a lot of fancy words or wasted window dressing; but Jesus invites us to get right to the heart and point of our communication: we give honor to God, we pray for God's Kingdom to come in our midst, we ask for our 'daily bread' which is those things we need for life and health, we ask for and pledge to live by the word of forgiveness and finally we ask to be saved from times of trial and to be rescued or delivered from the evil one (evil). 

GAUGUIN, Paul Words of the Devil (Parau Na Te Varaua Ino)
1892

I do believe that evil is real, and I'll also accommodate those who understand evil as being personified in a particular being; for it all points to the same reality that there are forces at work which are counter to the forces and intention of God.   In my experience these forces enter into the systems that manage our lives: politics, church, finance, industry, family and community.  They are subtle and often disguise themselves as a plea for some greater good.   But here is my test to see whether or not evil is a foot.  Does the solution, implication, direction counter the words of the Lord's prayer.  Does it take away the honor and sovereignty of God?  Does it work against the Kingdom of God as Jesus proclaimed it?  Does it keep others from receiving what should be their 'daily bread?'  Does it call for retribution rather than forgiveness?  

This is not perfect, but if things can't pass the "Lord's Prayer" test...well then I say to them, "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.  Amen.

A prayer for today:  "Our father who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name.  Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread.  And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.  Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.  Amen"