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Day 14: Genesis 43-45
Day 14: Genesis 43-45
The Youngest is ALWAYS Spoiled
Okay, being the youngest child, I have to say that today’s passage makes me really think that something may be up with being the youngest child.
The other sons are afraid to return without their brother, and finally stand up to their father.
Even Joseph seems to focus on the youngest child. Joseph provides bigger portions to Benjamin. At first, Joseph also seems to provide Benjamin with more of a gift, the silver cup. Yet, with a twist of events, Joseph uses the silver cup as a way to keep Benjamin with him in
See, this shows us all that the youngest IS the best child. Joseph could have kept any of the brothers he wanted, but he chose Benjamin, the youngest. So the lesson to be learned is that we should honor the youngest child.
Okay, maybe not, but I can dream…wait, isn’t that what started this whole thing.
Drama Queen
During my past life as an elementary school counselor I thought I had some stories to tell about people with out of control emotions. I was wrong. Throughout our readings thus far we have read about people wailing and crying. One of my favorites is the whole imagery of “tearing of clothes.”
In today’s reading we see an Oscar-worthy performance by Joseph. Personally, I love verse 30 where Joseph has to run from the room before he cries at the site of his brother. The assigned three chapters today are filled with tears and crying out.
I can just picture Joseph’s confession to his bothers. For those of us with siblings or close relatives and friends, I am sure we all have stories in which we told a “tall tale” that never seemed to end. The excitement and anxiety grew each time we added to the story and each minute the story was believed by another. Here we have Joseph, surely filled with anxiety, a little revenge and a big “I told you so” in the near future.
No matter what stories we tell in our lives, or what tales we tell those close to us, we long for the unification that comes with honesty. Joseph, after much time, finally feels that rush of honesty. How about you? Have you been hiding something? Have you been telling a “tale tail” in your life?
What will it take for you to finally cry out and tell the truth? As we read today, only through truth can healing occur. Only through honesty can we be brought back together with our family, and I am not just talking about our family of origin.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Day 13: Genesis 40-42
Day 13: Genesis 40-42
All I have to do, is dream
The story of Joseph begins with a dream, and now we return to dreams. To this point we have heard Joseph’s dream that his brothers would bow down to him. This oddity made his brothers angry, thus leading to his bondage into slavery, and jail.
In today’s passage we are with Joseph in jail. The Pharaoh sends two others to be with Joseph in jail: a cupbearer and baker. Both of these men dream about their outcome, and both of them receive interpretation from Joseph. Joseph’s interpretations are correct and the cupbearer is returned to his station while the baker is killed.
Two years pass, the Pharaoh has two similar dreams in one night. The cupbearer, finally remembering what Joseph had done, tells the Pharaoh that there is a man that can interpret these dreams. Seeking out Joseph from jail, Pharaoh tells his dreams and Joseph provides insight about the future of
Pharaoh, finding Joseph’s interpretation insightful if not utterly disturbing, charges Joseph with organizing the land to survive the famine to come. Joseph rises to power in
I wonder how often we act like Joseph’s brothers. We are warned of something that is to come, something we may not like. Thinking we can change the path ahead we act. We forget that God continues to work in our lives no matter what we do. Now, I do not believe in predestination, which I feel this story almost alludes to, but I do believe that God works through everything in our lives. And when God is at work, there is no stopping forward movement.
So today, what is it that you are trying to overthrow? Don’t get me wrong. I do believe that there are things that we need to do to change our paths for the better, for nothing is written in stone. But we must realize that no matter what we do, God is there, working.
Young and Mighty
At this time, a 30-year old having power is as odd as a 10 year-old having power. Consider the Biblical story thus far. Abraham was over 90 before he had children. Noah was on the boat for 600 years before something changed. Yet Joseph, at the age of 30, is given tremendous power.
Even in today’s society we do not always value those considered young. The idea of a 30 year-old CEO or Senior Pastor is the exception and not the rule. In this story, however, we see the power of nations resting on the shoulders of someone many would deem as not experienced enough. And that is not even considering that Joseph has spent at least the last two years in jail.
Look around you at work, in the community and at home. Who are the “young” people who are the future leaders, or current leaders, in your life? Do you value them? Or, like Joseph’s brothers, do you laugh at the fact that someday you may bow down to them?
Friday, January 15, 2010
Day 12: Genesis 37-39
Day 12: Genesis 37-39
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
I am sure we all familiar with the music Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Well, at least the showtune queens and Donny Osmond fans of the group. Growing up I used to love performing numbers from Joseph, including Any Dream Would Do, One More Angel in Heaven and Close Every Door. Being such a fan, I was somewhat saddened by today’s reading.
Here we have Joseph, but there is no mention of “an amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.” Really? No mention at all? All we read in today’s passage is that Joseph has a “long robe with sleeves.” Wow, I thought I could identify with Joseph, but not in some boring robe.
Robe aside (get your mind out of the gutter), I think we often find ourselves in situations like Joseph. We may be the youngest in the crowd, or maybe even the least experienced, yet we dream that someday we will be the one calling the shots; the one everyone bows down to. You can’t tell me that all of Joseph’s brothers didn’t have a similar dream, except the oldest that already had everyone bowing down to him.
The “hate” that was felt toward Joseph is intense. Thus far in scripture the word “hate” has only been used three times (at least according to the NRSV). Interestingly, each time the emotion is used when the disgruntlement is between family members. Why haven’t other people in the Bible “hated” those who were oppressing them or treating them unfairly? Even if feelings were intensely negative, the Bible does not use the word “hate.”
Going back to my roots as a counselor, I wonder if the Bible is not on to something very important here, with this simple word. The word “hate” is only used in situations where “love,” at least how we define it, should be the norm. I wonder if this wording helps us to see how love and hate are connected, or how love and hate are not connected. I wonder if the hate and love are extremes. I am sure we all have stories of how love and hate have intersected in our lives (trust me, I don’t even want to open that can of worms, and neither would my exes).
Onan and the Homosexuals
Many of us, especially the gay men of the group, have heard the story of Onan spilling his seed, or semen, on the ground and being struck dead. Several of us have also heard this story as a way to promote abstinence before marriage, non-use of condoms or other birth control measures and even masturbation. Although the story is short, it seems to have become a favorite of the Moral Majority.
Oddly, this story is in the middle of Joseph’s strife. Prior to Onan’s casual spillage, Jacob, Joseph’s father, has been informed that his son has been killed by wild animals. Prior to Onan, we delve into the story of
This story gains another level of oddity after
There the chapter ends. But the sex exploits of the tribe of Jacob do not end there. In the next chapter we are back focused on Joseph. By now Joseph has been sold into slavery. The wife of his master finds Joseph to be attractive and tries to seduce him. *Cue the theme to The Graduate.* Joseph denies the woman and ends up in jail after she spins the story and makes him out to be a rapist.
Timing is everything to the Bible. These two stories of sex belong together. Our task is to find out why.
Are we to believe that Joseph is like Onan, opting to run out of the room naked or to spill his semen on the ground? Are we to believe that Joseph is like
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Day 11: Genesis 34-36
Day 11: Genesis 34-36
Someone’s in the Kitchen with Dinah
The story of Dinah in Genesis has been seen as a story of rape; however, I am not sure if the story is much different than any other sexual encounter that we have seen in the Bible thus far. With women being seen as property, I highly doubt that many of these women had a choice about who they slept with. In fact, the real issue that Jacob’s family faced was not that Dinah did not want to sleep with Shechem but that someone had taken power over their property.
Since the first mention of Dinah a few chapters previous, the song “I’ve been working on the railroad” has been going through my head. You know the song:
I've been working on the railroad
All the live-long day.
I've been working on the railroad
Just to pass the time away.
Don't you hear the whistle blowing,
Rise up so early in the morn;
Don't you hear the captain shouting,
"Dinah, blow your horn!"
Dinah, won't you blow,
Dinah, won't you blow your horn?
Dinah, won't you blow,
Dinah, won't you blow your horn?
Someone's in the kitchen with Dinah
Someone's in the kitchen I know
Someone's in the kitchen with Dinah
Strummin' on the old banjo!
Singin' fi, fie, fiddly-i-o
Fi, fie, fiddly-i-o-o-o-o
Fi, fie, fiddly-i-o
Strummin' on the old banjo.
Someone's makin' love to Dinah
Someone's making love I know.
Someone's making love to Dinah
'Cause I can't hear the old banjo
After reading today’s passage, I found this song take on a whole new meaning. In the song, Dinah reportedly refers to a common name for an enslaved African woman. In today’s passage, Dinah is the name of Jacob’s daughter. Both of these women would be considered slaves to some degree, at least in the modern terminology we throw around.
I wonder if the writer of “I’ve been working on the railroad” was familiar with the story of the Biblical Dinah. If so, what would the song mean to people of faith?
War and Peace
After the rape of Dinah, Jacob and his sons declare “war” against Shechem and his family. Shechem, however, tries to find favor with Jacob by asking for Dinah’s hand in marriage. In yet another manipulative technique, Jacob’s family convinces Shechem and his people that they will only give Dinah in marriage if they all become circumcised, which was a very painful process as an adult (and I am sure as a child at that time).
Shechem and his people agree to this painful procedure, insinuating that they are committed and willing to join Jacob’s people, and thus God’s people. Jacob’s sons have another idea in mind. While the men are in pain from their procedures, the sons of Jacob sneak into their city and kill all of the men. Now that is hitting below the belt…big pun intended.
Again God steps in to protect Jacob. Again we see that God does require us to be perfect in order to be loved. Again we see God protecting God’s children. Sure, we do only see God protecting Jacob’s family, but the story is being told from Jacob’s perspective. But the message is that God continues to be there even when we do not do what is “right” or “just.”
Earlier in this week’s reading we first encounter Jacob being renamed
I often wrestle with the characters of the Bible. I often wonder if the names that we read are not referring to a specific person but to communities of people. When Jacob is renamed
Genesis 35 concludes with the naming of the tribes and people that follow in the line of Abraham. This includes the twelve sons of Jacob and the sons and tribes of Esau. All in all a long list of names that I couldn’t pronounce if my life depended on it.
My mother and I have wrestled with the purpose of all of these names. Are they there because they are important names? Are they there to tell us about time? Are they there to confuse us and give us headaches? Are they there just for the people of that time or for all time? Sadly (well, not really), I do not have an answer. What do you think?
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Day 10: Genesis 31-33
Day 10: Genesis 31-33
Okay, so I understand why so many people never make it from cover to cover. We are ten days in and I think we have heard the same story eight times with four different people. Maybe it is just me, but I am getting over Genesis. The truth is, however, that Genesis holds some amazing stories, if, and I mean if, you can find them in all the inbreeding, bargaining and lists of names.
The Blame Game
In today’s passage we are still following the plot of Jacob. By this point we have seen him bargain for a wife, well, two wives, and even bargain for great wealth in the form of sheep. In Genesis 31 it seems that Jacob’s behavior is starting to catch up to him.
The sons of Laban, Jacob’s uncle whom he had taken the wealth from, had become upset about Jacob’s behavior. Scared, maybe even rightfully so, Jacob tells his two wives that their father was upset at him and that the time had come that they all leave. Jacob even goes so far as to tell his wives that their father had “cheated” him, which I think it may have been the other way around.
When Jacob and his family flee, Laban goes after them. Note that this was not because he felt that Jacob had stolen sheep or wealth but that Jacob had stolen away his daughters and grandchildren without allowing him to say goodbye. At the same time, Rachel, Laban’s youngest daughter, steals possessions from her father and hides them.
Sadly I am not sure what to take from this story. If we follow Jacob, or even Rachel, as our example we see that we are to steal and bargain our way out of trouble and into wealth. I think that is where we can really learn a valuable lesson from God, and maybe even from Laban. After all of this drama, all of the lies, all of the blame, God still favors Jacob and his family. We do not hear God say that there is no favor for others, but we do hear that God will protect Jacob.
If we are honest with ourselves, we are a lot like Jacob. We bargain our way to the things we want. We deceive, in little ways, to get the bigger things we desire. When confronted we point the finger another direction. However, no matter what we do, God still protects us, loves us and calls us to be in relationship.
Let’s Get Ready to Rumble
Another gem of a story is found in today’s reading. The story of Jacob wrestling with God. We all have heard this story. We all could tell this story. But have we all really read this story?
To set the stage, Jacob sends messengers to his brother Esau, the same brother he deceived and fled from just a few chapters earlier. These messengers bring news that Jacob is coming as a servant to his brother, and also mentions the wealth he has gained as an offering of forgiveness. Hearing the news, Esau and four hundred men venture out to meet Jacob and his family. Obviously scared, Jacob creates a plan to split his group, hoping to save at least part of his family.
Jacob sent ahead a gift to his brother. He also sent ahead his servants, wives and children. Left alone, on the bank of the stream, Jacob encounters a man. The passage simply says that Jacob wrestles with a man until daybreak. We don’t know if this man appeared before or after his family left his side. We don’t know if this man was bigger or stronger than Jacob. All we know is that they wrestled, and that Jacob did not prevail. After all of this, the man names Jacob Israel.
Some believe that this man was an angle, possibly even the guardian angel of Esau. This concept intrigues me. What if we all have an angle that looks over us? Maybe this could explain how someone, God, kept looking over Jacob in all that he did. Maybe this other man was doing the same for Esau, except we didn’t know that it was God in the same way that Jacob saw God in his life. Another idea is that this man was Jacob himself. The Jacob that needed to be wrestled down after all that he had done. In other words, this man was guilt.
No matter if the man was guilt or an angle, Jacob did not walk away untouched. When we wrestle with ourselves, or even with our understanding of God, we come away a different person. Our walk changes, our values change, we change. We have all been there. We have wrestled for hours and we have walked away with a limp. But in the end we are still loved and forgiven and welcomed back home.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Day 9: Genesis 29-30
Today we continue to follow Jacob as he flees from his home in fear of his older brother, who rightfully has some reason to be a little upset. Part of Jacob’s mission is to escape his past, that entire thing with taking his brother’s birthright and blessing. Another part of his mission is to find a wife. Not just any wife, but a wife that comes from his own tribe. That’s right, we are back to inbreeding.
Jacob travels back to the land of his family, the land that his family left years ago. Once again we find the story at a well, this time where Jacob meets his family, his tribe. Yesterday I spent time talking about the importance of wells to the people at this time. Here we see another interesting encounter at a well.
Three flocks of sheep wait at the well to be watered. Jacob asks why they do not open the well and begin to provide the sheep with water. In response, the shepherds say that they must wait until all the sheep are gathered around the well to begin to provide them with water.
Why is it so important that they wait? Are the afraid that there will not be enough water for all the sheep? Or, do they wait to share their experience with all the sheep and people in their community? I favor the second possibility. Much like how we gather as a community to worship God, for our thirst to be quenched, these people waited to share the experience together, with all the sheep present.
Yet, after seeing Rachel, Jacob runs to open the well and begins to water her flock. Excited and anxious, Jacob runs around like a chicken with its head cut off, weeping. Then he runs to Rachel and kisses her. I can only imagine how the other shepherds entertained this site.
Wife Swap
Now Jacob fell for Rachel the moment he laid eyes on her. After a month of staying and working with his extended family, Jacob asks Laban, father of Rachel, for her hand in marriage as payment for seven years of work. Laban agrees.
Seven years pass. The night has finally arrived for Rachel to be given to Jacob. Much like a wedding feast, the family gathers to celebrate and partake in a feast, which I am sure included some special beverages. After the feast Jacob returned to his bed to wait for his new wife to be brought to him. In the dark, Jacob went “in to” (I just love how they talk about sex in the Hebrew Bible) the woman brought to him.
The morning came and Jacob realized that he had been brought the wrong woman, Rachel’s older sister Leah. After seven years of work I can only imagine how Jacob felt. I mean, I get upset at a restaurant when I am brought the wrong meal, nevertheless the wrong partner. He goes to Laban and asks why he has been deceived. Laban explains that a younger daughter could not be given before the eldest.
Apparently this doesn’t bother Jacob, instead he works another seven years for Rachel to be his wife also. Then the trouble begins. Jacob loves Rachel, but not Leah. As it turns out, Leah is the one who could produce children. A jealous poker game ensues as each woman places more children into the pot, so to speak. Rachel, unable to bare a child, even gives her maid as a surrogate. This battle of births continues, even after Rachel is able to conceive her own children, until Jacob has bore children with four women, including Leah’s maid.
Bah, Bah Black Sheep
Jacob, having enough in-law time, asks to leave the
I find it interesting that Jacob chooses the striped, spotted and speckled. Throughout history we have deemed that in depicting good and bad we use the colors white and black. Even in old movies and cartoons we see the hero dressed in white and the villain dressed in black. White equals purity and righteousness, black equals bad or unworthy. Add spots and stripes to the mix and I am sure this differentiation becomes even more complex.
I think Jacob is a lot like God in this part of the story. God works through all of us, but at times, God seems to have a special place in ministry for those striped, spotted, and speckled. You know, those people who have been hurt, those who do not always fit in.
I saw this during a class project at Perkins School of Theology. Each class member was asked to map their spiritual journey. When we shared our maps we all saw times in our lives in which our spiritual path was black or distorted. In that time, and through that time, many of the future pastors and congregation leaders found God, their place in ministry and their call to be a prophetic voice for all those in need. Like Jacob, God takes the striped, spotted and speckled into the flock. Personally, I am very thankful for that.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Day 8: Genesis 26:28
Day 8: Genesis 26-28
Third Time’s a Charm
Just in case you haven’t learned the lesson from Abraham and Sarah, you know the whole claiming to be siblings rather than a couple, the story is once again repeated with Isaac and Rebekah. Once again, we see Isaac as an alien in a strange land. Once again, afraid his wife’s beauty would cause his death, Isaac lies that his wife, Rebekah, is his sister. At least this time the King figures it out before someone acts on their desires. This time, unlike the others, God did not have step with a plague or a dream. This time, the story was different.
As in previous stories, the outcome was similar. The King gives land and other prized possessions to the family of Isaac. However, this time Isaac is given too much. For the first time we see the community reject Isaac due to fear of his power. Even the King who gave Isaac gifts and land fears that this man has become too powerful.
I often wrestle with this very issue. I see this part of Isaac’s story as a reminder to those who have ever been oppressed. Isaac was an alien in the land, but once he was given power those around him feared what he would do. I think this is often what happens when those who were without power, those oppressed, are given power. Power can change people into what they had fought against.
A few weeks ago I saw the movie Invictus with Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon. A major part of the plot deals with Nelson Mandela, played by Freeman, rebuilding a country with a new power, a power in which those that had no power were suddenly granted power. During the movie, and throughout Mandela’s political career, the issue of reversed power was pervasive. Yet, even being a victim of hate and abused power, Mandela emerges able to see that his power is needed to protect all people.
I wonder if Isaac had such insight.
Wells of Life
Isaac’s story continues, once again as an alien. For fear of Isaac, the people of had filled in the wells dug by Abraham. After leaving the Philistines, Isaac re-dug the well his father had dug in Gerar. Hoping to claim this space as his own, Isaac was suddenly surrounded by turmoil. The herders of the land began to fight over the rights of the well. Isaac gives the well to these herders and moves to another location to once again dig a well. Again controversy occurs and Isaac again moves. Yet another well is dug, but no one quarreled.
Although a well was present, Isaac still moved on. This time God revised the promise of Abraham’s numerous decedents to Isaac. In that place, the place of God’s encounter, Isaac’s servants dug another well. At this place Isaac and his community begin to thrive. Seeing this, the people that once chased Isaac out for too much power came back to him for assistance. After the reconciliation of these people, including Isaac, the servants found water in the newly dug well.
In today’s reading I felt a new connection with the digging of the wells. Often in our lives we dig wells. When we meet a new person, either romantically or platonically, we dig a well that we hope will never run dry. Often the wells we dig dry up, cave in or never have water to begin with. Whether through controversy or an odd sense of not being where we belong, we move on to dig another well in another location.
Interestingly, the text never mentions water in the wells dug by Isaac until the very last well has been dug. This last well, dug after the reconciliation with those that Isaac had encountered in the past, harbors water, an amazing gift in the heart of the wilderness. I wonder what relationships we need to reconcile before we can find water. I wonder what we need to do in our church, in our community and in our personal lives to find the life-giving water in the wells we have dug.
Doubt
More to come later tonight…
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Day 7: Genesis 24-25
Day 7: Genesis 24-25
A Hefty Bargain
Chapter 24 focuses on Abraham’s errand to find his son a wife, most importantly a wife from his homeland, and not a Canaanite. Abraham sends his oldest servant to collect this woman for Isaac. Loaded down with gifts that took ten camels to carry, the servant traveled to the city of
Waiting by the well where the women would gather at night (I wonder if that is where the old term “watering hole” came to reference a single’s bar came from), the servant made a deal with God. The deal was simple, the servant would ask for a drink and the first woman who gave him the drink, and provided for his camels, would be the future wife of Isaac. Rebekah arrives, provides for his thirst and he follows her home to ask, or maybe more like bargain, for her to come with him back to Isaac as a wife. For now we will ignore the whole possible blood relationship between Isaac and his future wife.
Okay, I have to stop here. How often have we tried to make a deal with God? Like the servant, we tell God the terms. Like the servant, we tell God how we want things to go. However, in our lives we rarely get things that easy. I find it interesting that in this story we see God making such an easy deal with the servant, and provides.
Of course this passage has some other troubling issues for women, but as we know at this time the cultural norm was that women were considered property and had little to no rights to make their own decisions.
Sometimes I have to wonder how people can read these stories as a means to live in a modern world. People use these texts to teach about relationships, marriage, and families; yet, none of these families fit the “perfect” image of family that these Bible-thumping groups long for. So far, even just considering Abraham, we have adultery and incest, and I am not sure that is approved in most circles.
Baby-boom
Chapter 25 shares the genealogical history of Abraham’s family. First it outlines Abraham’s other children for his second wife. This is followed by Ishmael’s lineage of his twelve sons and their twelve villages. Then we get to Abraham and Sarah’s son, Isaac.
Isaac and Rebekak seem to have a similar problem to that of Sarah (maybe due to some inbreeding, just saying). When Rebekah conceives two children fight in her womb, causing her tremendous pain. Until birth, and beyond, the two children fight.
All I can imagine is the movie Twins with Danny DeVito and Arnold Schwarzenegger. You know, the movie where two obviously different men were born as twins due to a scientific experiment. If you have ever sent he movie you probably understand. Danny DeVito, as most of you know, is a rather short, plump man. Arnold, the Governator, is vastly different with rippling muscles. When they finally meet it, DeVito’s character is constantly scheming and plotting against his brother, even trying to leave him behind a time or two.
Here I see Esau and Jacob, Jacob being Danny DeVito. At the close of today’s reading, we find Jacob scheming to take Esau’s birthright, and succeed. Now if only they had a secret prototype fuel injector in the trunk of a stolen Cadillac, comedy would ensue. Alas, we will see tomorrow what is in store for Esau and Jacob.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Day 6: Genesis 20-23
Day 6: Genesis 20-23
Not again!
Okay, so a few chapters ago we have Abraham telling Sarah to clain that they are siblings and not husband and wife. The Pharaoh of Egypt then takes Sarah, at that time known as Sarai, as a captive. God sends message to Pharaoh through plagues and she is released. In today’s passage we see a very similar story. Again Abraham and Sarah claim to be siblings. Again Sarah is taken by a king, this time King Abimelech of Gerar. Again, God steps in to save the day. Wow, if I was God, I think I would be getting tired of this story.
I am also bothered by the continual reference to Abraham as an alien. Didn’t God promise land to Abraham, several times it seems? Yet again we have Abraham as an alien in the
Once this whole business of alienation and abduction is over, Abraham faces an angry wife, which we all know an angry partner is never a good thing. Hagar, the slave who bore Abraham’s son, is still in the picture. In fact, Ishmael, Hagar’s son, is even playing with the son of Sarah. After heading his wife, Abraham kicks out his son and Hagar, leaving them distressed. Again, what an interesting Lifetime mini-series this would make.
Distressed, without water in the wilderness, Hagar and Ishmael give up hope. Then, just as God always does for all of us, God steps in and makes a promise to raise the son to be a leader of a nation. And in water, a sign later to become a symbol of our connection to God in baptism, provides comfort and nourishment.
I have been lost and thirsty before. I have been thrown out of the house in which I thought I belonged. In fact, I bet many of us have. Maybe not our parent’s house, maybe not even the church house we grew up in, but we have all been there. We have all been lost and thirsty. In those moments God provides a well, the issue is if we take the time to see it and trust that it will always provide.
This is Only a Test
Abraham, the latest television drama, continues. This week we find Abraham being told by God to sacrifice his son, the son he loves and was given at an old age. Oh yeah, and the son that God had promised.
I wonder when Isaac knew he was in for trouble. In the story, at least in the NRSV version, Abraham responds to Isaac’s inquiry about the lack of a sacrificial lamb by saying, “God will provide the lamb for a burnt-offering, my son.” But knowing that punctuation was added during translation, I wonder if Abraham could have said something like, “God will provide the lamb for a burnt-offering…my son.” Or even, “a burnt-offering: my son,” indicating to Isaac that his fate was doomed, just as the soundtrack plays an ominous DUM DUM DUM!
In the account found in Genesis, no matter when Isaac discovers Abraham’s assignment, there is no struggle, no fighting. Abraham binds his son and lays him on the altar. Yet nothing is heard from Isaac. Lucky for Isaac, and the promised generations of Abraham, the angel of the Lord appears with a substitute, and all is well.
Wait a second, that’s it? What about Isaac? How did Isaac react? I mean really, if I was just tied up and thrown on a fire I would be rather upset. Oh wait, children are property. I am sure glad some things have changed. J
Friday, January 8, 2010
Day 5: Genesis 17-19
Day 5: Genesis 17-19
All in the wording
In today’s passage Abram again encounters God. This time, however, a transformation happens. Not a large transformation, but a significant transformation.
To review, Abram was told by God to leave his home and that he would have more descendants than the grains of sand. In fact, even his name, Abram, meant exalted ancestor. To many of us, and to Abram, to be an ancestor would involve the actual parenting of a person, or multiple people. In today’s passage, Abram’s encounter with God changes the definition, and his name. Abram becomes Abraham, which means ancestor of a multitude. Particularly, God says that Abraham would be an ancestor to a multitude of nations.
Often in our society we place value on being a parent, namely the actual people who gave birth to a child. Yet, even throughout history, the definition of parent has been redefined. Later in the Biblical text we will here of a child raised by a princess as his mother. Later in history, families will include step-parents, grandparents, adopted parents, and those special people in our lives that we call mom and dad even though they have no defined relationship. As nations we will speak of our ancestors as those who paved the way for our government. As cultural and ethnic groups we will talk about ancestors who gave their lives, raised their voices and made a difference.
The lesson to be learned, at least for me, is that words can limit our understanding. For instance, take the word God or even church. People define these words all the time to fit their needs, yet, many still harbor resentment from the words that have been defined by others. Such loaded words can influence our interest and ability to explore. God still works and redefines and renames, we just have to listen.
Let’s set the stage for this story. First, in Genesis 18 we see Abraham greet three guests that come to tell of the birth of a child (wow, does that sound like some other story we know). Abraham welcomes them, washes their feet, provides them food, treats them as honored guests.
To parallel this encounter, Genesis 19 brings us to
As gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people, we have heard this story told to us as a means to tell of God’s hatred for gay men. One line in the story reads that the crowd of men demands to “know” the male visitors, or rape them. Based on this one word, communities of faith have gleamed that this passage is about sex. Interesting how people focus on one word rather then the entire package of text, including the framing of Genesis 18.
Isn’t it interesting that our country suffers from the same hatred of “aliens” that we see in
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Day 4: Genesis 12-16
Day 4: Genesis 12-16
MyI am sure we have all heard that old saying “It’s my lot in life.” You know, that phrase used when things don’t go well and we seem to always have the same outcome. Our “lot” becomes the thing we deserve, the thing we always get, the outcome we always know waits for us.
For some reason, when I read today’s passages I kept thinking of “my lot in life.” Look at Abram. He is promised children to outnumber the stars, yet he has none in his old age. Yet he has his nephew
If I was Abram I would be thinking that my lot in life had a lot to do with
Luckily the story continues and we find a reason for
Waiting is the hardest part
Abram is promised children to outnumber the sand, yet his wife cannot bare a child. To our standards, and even to that of the time to some degree, Abram is getting old (you know, if you take his age literally). Yet there is no child to call his own.
Growing impatient with God, something I know we all relate to, Sarai offers a plan. The plan sounds easy enough. Abram will take his slave woman and bare a child. This may sound crazy to us, but consider the time and culture in which he lived. The difference between a slave and wife is not such a big difference. Woman had no real place in society. Even children belonged to their father.
Abram follows his wife’s suggestion and Sarai gets upset. For some reason I keep imagining a really bad television show. You know, one of those shows that has an average family dealing with average issues. Talk about ratings! We all love a good scandal. Yet through this God creates and works. A child is born, the child named Ishmael.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Day 3: Genesis 8-11
Day 3: Genesis 8-11
God of new beginnings, help us to hear Your words this day as we read. Guide us to feel your presence in this ancient words. AMEN
A new beginning, a new creation
Okay, God, we get it. You are really all about making a new creation, and we haven’t even passed the first part of Genesis.
While reading Genesis 8 I was struck by all of the numbers, 150 days here, 7 months there, 40 days here. But the more interesting number came with the image of Noah and the dove. When Noah sends out the dove the first time, after sending out another type of bird, the dove returns, finding nothing. Then in beautiful symmetry to the first telling of creation, Noah sends out the dove seven days later. The dove returns with an olive leaf. Then Noah, his family and all those animals have to wait ages before getting off the arc; in fact, they wait over six hundred years. That must have been some olive leaf to provide such hope.
After all of this; the building, the raining, the sea-sickness, the waiting, God makes a new covenant with Noah and the rest of the creation; the covenant that is remembered and seen to this day, a bow in the sky. During some past research I recall reading that the bow, which is also a symbol of war (i.e. bow and arrow), became a symbol of how God would take our fears and joys, much like the earth strapping them to an arrow and shooting them into the heavens. Although this seems like a fitting image of God turning the tides, no pun intended, I doubt that people at this time had a clue what a weapon version of a bow would even look like, but it makes for an interesting visual to “modern” people.
Somewhere over the rainbow
I have often wondered why lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people have clung to the image of a rainbow as a sign of pride. Working deeply in the LGBT community, and being gay myself, this reading took on a new meaning this morning. I am not sure why today, why this time. But today I felt a wave come over me as I read Genesis 9, the telling of God’s covenant in a rainbow.
Remembering my childhood and youth, the time in which I lived my life in a personal flood, a flood that covered who I really was, I remember the feeling of waited patiently for a sign of hope. Like Noah, I would send out birds to see if there was food and land, such as exploring websites of national LGBT organizations or meeting another “queer” kid that was sharing my experience.
Then, one day, I found my olive leaf. After going to college to major in music (yeah, my mother says she didn’t know I was gay, I don’t get it either), I met a group of people who had no fear of who they were and who they loved. Yet, like Noah, I waited to open the doors and set myself free. I didn’t wait six hundred years, but it felt like it. After all that time treading water, the colors and beauty of the rainbow was an amazing sight, and an amazing promise.
So I guess the rainbow makes perfect sense. A sign of hope, a new promise. Yet, as many LGBT people, and many other people in the world, have been hurt by people in the church we turn our back on this new promise given by God. We let people pour down rain on our lives. We let dogma flood our earth. Then a moment comes when we look up and see a reminder in the sky, a rainbow, that God is still there, loving us God’s promise remains.
All in the language
I often find myself arguing with people about the power of language. Whether talking about language barriers between people of different cultures or countries, or speaking about the many different meanings to so-called common words, language plays an important role in our lives. Genesis 11 has often been used as a means to teach that this language barrier is a curse from God.
If we take the story literally, we have a group of people, all the same. They speak the same language, and thus decide to spend their time focused staying as one and, to some degree, on finding THE God. God, seeing this, spreads the people throughout the world.
We’ve all been there. We find a group of people who we feel connected to, similar to. We forget about the rest of creation and focus on ourselves. Even in our churches we do the same. We build creeds and traditions, all the time in the best interest of finding THE God. But, when we focus on how things have always been or on only finding THE God, the God that apparently lives in the sky in this story, we forget that God is truly all around us, in each person we encounter.