DAY 7

SODOM, GOMORRAH & THE LORD’S PRAYER

Genesis 18 & 19 and Matthew 6:1 – 18

I feel like we are in the thick of it. Sarah laughing at God, Abraham negotiating with him, the entire episode of Sodom, Gomorrah, Lot and his family…there is much to ponder and think about.

Genesis 18 starts not with Abram & Sarai, but with Abraham and Sarah, two people whose standing with God is different. God has made his covenant with Abraham and Abraham has circumcised all the males. And so God “stops by.” Not that this is a normal event, but it does seem somewhat matter-of-fact. Amid the hurried preparations for the surprise guests we find God promising Abraham a son, and Sarah being quite tickled with God. Have you ever laughed at God? The next interaction is startling. Not Sarah’s lying; she is embarrassed and doesn’t know what to say. Rather, God’s reaction, which is basically His pointing out that she did in fact lie to Him and then no more of this matter is discussed: Remarkable.

Abraham’s negotiation with God makes me nervous. As I read I am thinking, “Really Abraham you are going to keep pushing this point?” I also find the verse in Romans 3:10 coming to my mind, “there is no one righteous, not even one.” I understand that verse to point out the reality that none of us is perfect. Why then is Abraham pursuing this line of questioning, and with God! The answer to my way of thinking is Lot. I think Abraham is probably the kind of uncle you would want. We read in an earlier chapter that he lets you, the nephew, choose the best land. After he has just been told he is going to have a son, his concern is with a nephew. I on the other hand would probably want to talk more to God about this promised son. Abraham apparently doesn’t need to. My sense is that God sees Abraham’s real motivation, the motivation of an uncle for a nephew; not bad really.

As I think about God in these interactions, my image is not one of cruelness. He doesn’t react to Sarah’s laughing (mocking even), nor to her bold-faced lie. Nor does he grow tired of Abraham’s bargaining: read it closely, it is more than bargaining, it is a challenge. In verse 25 we read “Far be it from you to do such a thing…” I also wonder did you read the entire section as Abraham counted down by five. Did you? Did you begin to skip ahead and not read Abraham’s plea word-for-word because you knew where it was going. I did. I skipped ahead. I didn’t have the patience first time through to completely read it. Then I realized God had the patience to listen to Abraham’s count down. As I am on the verge of reading how God will destroy a city, it would be easy for me to skip over this bit of narrative, of how amazingly patient God is, and only “hear” that God is somehow capricious and quick to destroy – anything could be further from the truth…for the Lord is slow to anger…Numbers 14:18.

Genesis 19 Yet this amazingly patient God seems to have a limit. I (and maybe you) struggle with reading a text about when God reaches His limit. Before I judge God I have to admit I also struggle when I read about when humanity has gone completely off-the-ranch. When I read about a country killing its own people, or when I read about a child or woman begin battered by a man. It is not just reading about it, I can still remember touring the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C.; it was more than unsettling. There are limits aren’t there? When humanity won’t stop what must God do? Reflect back on the Genesis 19 reading, did it seem like the people of Sodom were going to stop? Even after they were blinded they continued groping for the door to Lot’s home. What Genesis 19 seems to be describing is a society with no limits.

Then there is Lot, what is up with him? He doesn’t want to leave, it seems as his sons-in-law actually didn’t leave, and his wife looked back. What do those actions communicate? To me they communicate a deep emotional investment in this place. Lot was rescued. While Lot wasn’t perfect, God was willing to spare him. Might that imply that we can be people for God, yet who at times can get emotionally invested in things which are not of God? The Good News is that God will spare us, in fact might deliver us, even when we really don’t want to leave it. It says in verse 16 that the Angels seized them and basically dragged them out. A prayer flows from this, “Lord, deliver me from that which is not of you, even when I am not so inclined; seize me and drag me from it.”

After all that we have this situation with Lot and his daughters; this just seems to be more of a confused family, and it leaves me just amazed. Before I judge Lot, I think I need to look at myself – are there episodes where God has clearly delivered me, but I return to actions that are not of God?

Matthew 6:1-18: if Genesis 18 shows God’s amazing patience and love for those he cares about, and if Genesis 19 shows that God has limits, then how might we interact with this God. The Gospel text brings us to a moment where Jesus, who is one with the Father, instructs his followers about some specific behaviors. They all make sense to me. Do not show off, pray in private, give to the needy in secret, and when you fast don’t walk around all gloomy.

Then there is the Lord’s Prayer. I have really spent my time on the Old Testament today, and I am finding it hard to comment on this part of the New Testament except to share a story. This past Christmas Eve at the 4 pm Service I was sitting close to our Sunday School kids who had a part of the service. As we began I could hear their voices praying the “Our Father”. I lowered my voice and let them lead me. It was more than cute. My thought then and now was about God hearing their prayer, innocent and offered simply.

DAY 6 – NO HIDING

HAGAR & CIRCUMCISION AND LUST & DIVORCE

Genesis 16 & 17 and Matthew 5:27 - 48

While yesterday at the outset I could see a theme of blessing, as I began today’s I saw no such theme. It would be wrong to try each day to find a theme. I would end up falsely forcing the text into some idea rather than just letting the text speak for itself…yet by the end I found God saying that He doesn’t want us hiding any part of ourselves from him.

Genesis 16 brings us to a story that follows on the heels of God just having made this amazing covenant with Abram, a covenant where God has walked the blood trail. Abram and Sarai are getting impatient (I know what that is like). Sarai suggests they take matters into their own hands. After they carry out their plan Sarai is immediately upset. She is so upset that it leads to sending Hagar and the child away in essence to die. God not only hears the cry of those suffering, but He see and he intervenes – the “God of seeing” is literally what we read in the Scripture. What is interesting is that Ishmael is born when Abram is 86 years old, which would mean he would be 13 or 14 years old when Isaac is born and it would seem is in the camp and circumcised.  Like earlier stories we have read I have more questions than answers around some of the specifics of Ishmael and what his future holds. I have to pull myself up and look at the bigger picture. The Big Picture is God has a plan that through Abram He is going to make himself known to the world. He will do it through an impotent man and a barren woman. Yet they get ahead of God. God’s reaction? He sends an angel, intervenes in the matter of one being treated unjustly in this plan, and re-engages Abram…but only until 14 years go by…I imagine just to let him think about it more.

Genesis 17 Opens at this point, Abram is 99 years old, and God connects again. Abram walks before God, is renamed Abraham, and God re-states His Promise. I find the text interesting: “…walk before me, and be blameless, that I may make my covenant between me and you, and multiply you greatly…” The words “be blameless” and “that I may make my covenant” catch my eyes. What is God driving at here? Abraham won’t be blameless, nor will I? Will God keep his part of the Covenant even though Abraham won’t be blameless? This is where I believe circumcision comes into the story.

The procedure to circumcise someone seems like an odd choice. Might God have come up with something else? Yet it asks the person to demonstrate a depth of intimacy. The procedure requires the removal of the foreskin, the uncovering of the most hidden parts. Only under the most intimate of relationships, marriage, is this openness expressed.

In Deuteronomy 10:16 we are told to circumcise the foreskin of our hearts, and in Jeremiah 4:4 the same is commanded. There is a complete, unhindered desire on God’s part to completely know us. This perspective leads me back to God’s command to be blameless. God’s Word to Abraham is an invitation to a relationship. Not just any kind of relationship, not a casual relationship, but a relationship where God asks, indeed commands, complete intimacy. In the end He knows the thoughts of our hearts, He doesn’t need the circumcision…we do. That is why all, male and female, must circumcise their hearts. No Hiding.

Matthew 5:27-44 might be Jesus telling us “no hiding” behind the Law. (He has come to fulfill it, but even more Matthew 5:17). There is a repeating phrase, “You have heard it said…” What is it we have heard said; the Law. Here are the rules: no adultery, no divorce, no false oaths, and no excessive vengeance. All of these laws were well established, and all of them were rather progressive by the surrounding cultural standards of the day. Jesus however finds not the Law lacking, but those who practice it. Too much hiding behind it and too much looking for loopholes (Mark 7:11 is one of the big loopholes Jesus calls out). Matthew 5:27-44 seems to be saying be blameless…don’t lust, don’t look, don’t touch… and love your enemy. It ends with “be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (verse 44).

We are not perfect though. So what is the point? To me it seems the point is we don’t pretend to be perfect. Please do not misunderstand, we should try to live our lives in accordance with God’s Word, but when we don’t…no hiding. When we don’t we need to go God to our Heavenly Father who sees all things as Hagar proclaimed (and elsewhere, e.g. Psalm 33:13-19 & Hebrews 4:13) and forgives all things (2 Chronicles 7:14, Psalm 103:3 & 1 John 1:9). We need to go to him with circumcised hearts.

It takes courage to be open and honest with God. It takes faith that His love does not waiver. It takes patience and waiting on Him. I find these hard things to do, and apart from God I cannot do them. The Scriptures today speaks truth through an ancient story and an timeless God.

DAY 5 – BLESSINGS AND BLESSEDNESS

Genesis 13, 14 & 15 and Matthew 5:1 - 26

There seem to be a lot of blessings going around today. Abram is blessed by a new to the scene priest, Melchizedek, Abram is blessed by God with a Covenant, and Jesus tells people that those who do certain things are blessed!

I am not sure I feel blessed today. I certainly feel busy, at times bothered, but blessed…that is going to take some considering.

Genesis 13-15 covers a fair amount of ground. In chapter 13 Abram and Lot divide up the land, with Abram allowing Lot the first choice. God sees Abrams lack of concern and promises him a great deal of land, and Abram’s response is to build an altar thanking God. If I pause right here would I respond that way. Would I, after making a sacrifice to another human, pause and remember all that God has given me, ending with me worshiping God? There is a lesson here for me.

Chapter 14 we enter and intriguing yet seemingly disconnected piece of history. There is a war, Lot gets captured, Abram rescues him, doesn't want any of the spoils of war, and then is blessed by a King and Priest named Melchizedek. My Archaeology Study Bible has a short write up about the goings on in Mesopotamia during this time frame  but I don’t think that is the point. The point is Abram. A godly man, going to rescue Lot, not taking any plunder, and then…don’t miss this…when Melchizedek blesses Abram by “God Most High” we really aren't sure which God (god) Melchizedek is referring to. Abram in verse 22 quickly cites that he worships only one God and has raised his hand and taken an oath to Him. After a powerful victory it would be tempting for Abram to join this group of kings (indeed they seem to be encouraging him to do so) yet instead he remains separate for God. How about me? Do I to easily join the culture of the day, or do I remain separate, holy unto, God? (Is that where the blessing resides?)

Chapter 15 is the wonderful Covenant of God with Abram; count the stars if you can, your offspring will so be. Yet what of the animals being cut in half? There is a Bible video series titled That the World May Know which unpacks this ritual. The short explanation is that what is taking place is how two kings made a treaty or covenant. The animals are split in half and the lesser of the two kings walks through the blood symbolically saying, “may this happen to me (be torn in two) if I do not hold up my end of the treaty.” Remarkably the “smoking pot and blazing torch” symbolize God. God is saying may this happen to me if you do not keep up your end of the treaty. I trust your mind has quickly gone to that terrible hill of Calvary, where God Incarnate was stretched out on a Cross, as if being torn in two, for exactly this reason. From a hill where animals were cut in half to a hill called Golgotha – all because this God that we are merely 15 chapters into reading about is Faithful – we truly are blessed to be one of His stars.

Matthew 5:1-26 contain much to ponder and for me I need to break it apart a bit. First of all Jesus is not describing some philosophical view of the world. If he is then he is wrong. Mourners go un-comforted. I met someone this week exactly in that condition. The merciful are not shown mercy, and so what is Jesus describing? Look closer at Matthew’s story. Jesus has begun his ministry, crowds are following him, and now he begins to teach…to teach them about the Kingdom of Heaven. The Beatitudes’ describe the situation where God’s Kingdom is.

It is why he goes to then tell us we are the “salt of the earth” and the “light of the world.” We are to be people who bring the Kingdom of Heaven to a lost and dark world. The Kingdom of Heaven is not is some far off place, it is rather where the Love of Christ breaks into the world. He is clear that we do this by embracing not only the letter of the Law, but the Spirit of it. When we do, then a part of His Kingdom breaks into this world. His words about anger hit me squarely in the eye. When I am angry am I bringing His Light, or darkness? His words about persecution hit me as well.

Do not expect it to be easy; in fact expect to be persecuted. I often read “blessed” and “blessing” as “God will make it easy” – that is a silly notion, but one that somehow is in my head. I need to get it out of head and have my brain rewired. Abram was blessed; he just finished a war. The Prophets were blessed; they didn't have it easy. We just celebrated Christmas, Mary and Joseph were blessed; yet we all know that telling a woman delivering a baby that is it easy is beyond foolish – and Mary in a stable no less.

What then of “blessed”, I started the blog by saying “I don’t feel blessed today.” The readings today seem to tell us that those who seek to do and live in the Will of God are blessed. Today I am running around, but if I am doing His Will, then I am blessed. If we do it long enough we can move from expecting that it will all be fair, and all be easy, to a place of inner peace amid the difficulty that often comes with living in God’s Will.

DAY 4 - DRIFTING

Genesis 9, 10, 11 & 12

No New Testament today, tomorrow we will be back to following the internet plan.

If yesterday was about how far God would go and how far we will go, then today might be about a question, “How does God act when we continue to drift away, does He give up on us?”

These four chapters complete the Noah narrative and get us to Abram. It would be easy to overlook them. Abram (soon to be Abraham) is the central figure that the Jewish people will identify with. Yet we must slow ourselves down a bit and look at what is going on in Genesis 9-12.

Beginning in chapter 9 we read of God making a Covenant. It will be the first of several and we should pause and ponder what it means to be “in Covenant with God”, a God who is faithful, a God who keeps His Promises. I am moved by God’s sentiment. A few chapters ago He was sorry that He had created humans, and now He is so moved with the result of the flood that He promises to never do it again! Our God is not mechanical, but a Living, Loving God.

We then come across the first sign of Noah’s genetic human heritage; that of sin. It is the first we read of Noah erring. Has all his working the land distracted him and caused him to drift? We are given but a scant thumbnail sketch of what took place and so I suggest we not judge Noah’s actions; his cursing of Ham.

Genesis 10 & 11: Another genealogy list. We read of a great multiplication of people (cf. 10:5). Within a few generations the few humans who were squeezed into the Ark have multiplied and spread out. Not only that, they have drifted, they seem to have forgotten God.

In Genesis 11:4 we read that they want to make a Tower that goes up into the heavens so they can make a name for themselves. What has happened since the Ark? Noah’s focus was a focus on obeying and serving God; it seems to have been lost. The focus of humanity is on humanity. We know how this will turn out, don’t we? When we turn inward on ourselves the outcome is always disastrous. How does God act when we “drift away”? This will happen over and over (it happens in my life over and over). God in His mercy doesn't walk away and abandon. Rather He thwarts the doomed plan, scattering the people.

Genesis 12: Years pass, generations come and go, and then God speaks. We might ask where he had been. We know the answer, He has been present and He picks the time to engage. He speaks to Abram. At age 75 God calls Abram and tells him to “go” and Abram does. I usually joke around that in this day and age, if someone 75 said God had spoken to them and told them to “go”, that person would have a hard time not being locked away in an institution. The point of the story is that God is in many ways starting again. He started with Adam and Eve in the Garden and we compromised that situation. He started again with Noah, promising to never to flood the earth again, and we see how within a few generations humans began to build the Tower of Babel. Now, after generations have gone by, he starts with someone a bit past his prime.

Abram’s response of faith to step up and trust God is immediately rewarded with God promising Abram land (verse 7). Yet Abram falls victim to human fear and rather than trust God, lies to the Egyptians. Abram has drifted. God’s response? Abandonment, no. God engages the Egyptians to call out Abram and bring the truth to light. This must have been a defining moment for Abram. He, after responding to God’s call, behaves poorly. Yet God does not abandon, God draws him closer.

The point for me in today’s reading is that when we “drift” away God does not. He engages. Sometimes He intervenes and thwarts our attempts as in the Tower of Babel, sometimes He engages immediately using others such as the Egyptians, and sometimes He waits until the right moment as in the call of Abram.

I am wondering today, “Where am I drifting, and can I sense God’s hand?”

DAY 3 - HOW FAR WILL GOD, WILL YOU...GO?

Genesis 5, 6, 7 & 8

No New Testament today: The first two days I modified slightly the reading plan from the internet link. I felt modifying the plan allowed me to set side-by-side the Old and New Testaments. Today and tomorrow we will read the Old Testament and then on day 5 I will be back on track. If you are using the internet plan, then my blog from Days 1 & 2 contain comments about those New Testament readings.

How far will God go, to what lengths will He extend himself for His Creation? How far will we go, humanity to follow this God? What cost will we bear?

These four chapters primarily provide us the story of Noah’s Ark and the Flood. God is beginning again. Beginning in chapter 6 we read of humanities abandonment of God, and as we end chapter 8 we read of God’s promise to humanity: Before we jump to the story, just a quick word on the lists of people.

Genesis 5: Another genealogy list. The Bible has many of them; why? In part to emphasize this is a real story about real people. These people have all the same traits you and I possess as humans and…these people all descend from God’s first creation. Here again the narrative is not meant to start a fight with the evolutionists. Rather it is to make a point: you and I, all of humanity, are created by and in the image of God. I cannot overstate the importance of this point. The idea that human beings, each and every one, have value is a Judeo-Christian idea. Other cultures from around the world treat humans as property, and many cultures treat our brothers and sisters as having no value. The Bible therefore goes to great lengths to show that we are all connected back to the Garden.

Genesis 6: And not just the Garden, but the Fall. Genesis 6 points out a reality that you and I see every day: apart from God the world gets evil very quickly. We give in to our selfish desires and we end up putting ourselves at the center. When we do that as individuals we hurt one another. When we do that as towns, cities, nations and cultures, the damage is much more severe. Does it pain you to read in verse 6, “The Lord was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved his heart.” It pains me. It also shows us an attribute of God; He has feelings and not just random feelings, but feeling about us.

Genesis 6 also reveals God’s faithfulness. You might be surprised at that statement because God is about to destroy the world. There is one man who is not corrupt and who seeks to please God and God therefore spares him. Only one man out of how many; thousands, or tens of thousands, or more; and God shows his justness by not only sparing him, but by starting over through him.

As much as the verse in 6:6 bothered me there is another verse, 6:22 that I think is the point of today for me. Verse 6:22, “Noah…did all that God commanded him.” I am struck by how Noah did everything. We will read tomorrow about how Noah is not perfect, but for now would you like God to say that about you? Doing everything meant building the Ark. The 2007 film Evan Almighty is a religious comedy based on this passage of Scripture and it gives you a visual image of how big the Ark is. A cubit is estimate at approximately 18 inches which puts the Ark at 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high – enough to get your neighbors attention.

In the middle of this epic story sits a man, going to great lengths, doing what seems to be ridiculous because he is being obedient to God. Above this epic story is God, going to great lengths, being faithful, to encourage humanity to stay connected to Him. These two themes: our obedience and God’s faithfulness we play out over and over again in the next 362 days, and I will have more to say about each, but for today the question I will be pondering is, “How far will I go to be obedient to God?” I already know how far He has gone for me.

DAY 2

Genesis 3 & 4 and Matthew 3 & 4

From the beauty of creation and the birth of Jesus we now run smack into the Fall and Jesus’ Temptation. In some ways I want to cry out, “wait, can’t I linger a bit longer at day 1”? Yet isn't this what life can be like on some days, we a forced to move faster than we want to face the dark realities.

Genesis 3: We typically refer to this passage as The Fall. When people ask “Why is there pain and suffering and evil in the world?” We quickly respond, “The Fall.” Linger in the Garden a moment longer. Ponder Adam and Eve’s actions. Look for yourself; I see too much of myself. In verses 1-5 there is a basic dialog going on about doing what God has said not to do. How often do I do this? The answer is an uncomfortable one. In verse six we see Eve looking at the fruit enough to see it was a delight to the eyes. In the Letter to James, God cautions us to not stay long in the presence of temptation, it lures us and our desire grows and takes root and then we sin (cf. Jas 1:14-15). Rob Bell, a Seattle based pastor, produced a video series titled Nooma. One of his videos talks about this moment. He makes a simple point. It isn't that someone ate a piece fruit long ago; it is that I choose to eat it every day. The point of Genesis 3 is that I disobey God. Now I am an Episcopalian and Anglican, and one of our contributions to the world of Christianity is our prayer book: we literally call it the Book of Common Prayer. It is steeped in the reality that I (we) fall short each day. It is filled with prayers that invite me to return to the Lord, and it shares in beautiful English prose the certitude of God’s Love for me (and you) in Jesus Christ. Our Prayer Book invites us to “say our prayers” morning, noon and night. We even have them all written out for people. Each day I am invited to confess my sins. Each day I am reminded that I live Genesis 3, but each day I am also reminded of the Good News of God in Christ.

A few other random Genesis 3 thoughts: God was looking for Adam and Eve. To me this is one of those moments where we see God’s desire to have fellowship with us. Not that he needs to – he is God, but that he wants to! I wonder, did God kill the animals to give Adam and Eve clothes?

Genesis 4:  Be honest: do you think Cain got an unfair deal from God? It looks like he brought an offering to God and God didn’t like it. Here is one of those moments: don’t read the Bible linearly. If God chooses to be displeased with one of my offerings, then what should my response be? I think my response should be, “He is God, I am not” and I should ask God for forgiveness and insight. What is Cain’s reaction? Anger! What does Cain’s anger lead him to do? Kill Able!! We see his character emerge as the story unfolds. God saws Cain’s heart long before. Indeed He sees the hearts of each of us long before we bring our offering to him. It is hard sometimes for us to read the violence in the Bible. It is hard sometimes for us to have it seem like something was unfair. Yet as we read the Scriptures let me encourage you to, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5). Not blind trust, but a willingness to seek understanding. This theme of trusting God will come up over and over again in the next 363 days of reading as we wrestle with what we read. We must learn to trust. The story of Cain and Abel is in part another step for us to do so.

It is interesting that God does not allow Cain to be killed. Here is a point for us to ponder. While there is much violence in the Old Testament, what I believe you will always find is God limiting it, as if to say to humanity, “Enough”! After God spares Cain’s life, it is amazing to me that Cain goes and builds a city. Then we have the lists of people, yet in the middle of those lists it seems as if Lamech (v.23) is playing God, and that people had stopped calling on the Name of the Lord. Why do I say this? In verse 26 it says at that time people began to call on the name of the Lord. It is completely spelled out, but we have moved from Cain who brought his offering to the Lord in person, and now only a few generations from Cain, people who seemed to have drifted from God.

Matthew 3 and 4: Genesis 3 and 4 are sobering, and if you have ever read the Bible you know we will continue to read about how humans, male and female, seem to play God. The gift of free will means we are allowed to love, fully love. The gift of free will means we are allowed to not love, to become self-centered to the point where the world suffers. Yet in Matthew 3 and 4 we read more Good News. John the Baptist is proclaiming that someone is coming to “put right” all that is wrong. People receive his message and ask, “What shall we do?” Simple: repent, turn from your evil ways, repent. Don’t overcharge people, share extra clothes, and be baptized. I love John the Baptist’s directness; it seems pretty straightforward.

Before I get too excited I am quickly reminded in Matthew 4 that this is not going to be easy. Here I read of God come to earth, Jesus, facing the devil. He wins – masterfully. Encouragingly Jesus uses God’s Word (glad we are reading it!). Yet the text says that Satan withdrew for a more opportune time. Can you believe it? The audacity of Satan: to actually challenge God! There is a point here for you and me, and it is huge: Satan does not give up easily, and, he is arrogant enough about himself to keep trying. We must not think our walk will be easy.

There is much more in Matthew, but I am over a thousand words and if you have already read the four chapters, and now you are reading this, I want to be mindful of your time. In that latter part of Matthew 4 Jesus is beginning his ministry. He is teaching and healing; it says he healed ALL who came to him. Let us come to him today to seek His forgiveness and receive His love. 

DAY 1- GOD ON THE MOVE...TOWARD US

Genesis 1 & 2 and Matthew 1 & 2

The post for today might be a bit longer, most likely because this is a new adventure, but also because there is so much that God is saying to me. I also added a New Testament chapter and subtracted an Old Testament chapter.

HAPPY NEW YEAR: We start anew and so here we go in this new adventure.

Matthew 1 – 2: It is January 1^st. You no doubt have been immersed in Christmas. I pray not the Christmas of the malls, but the Christmas of the Bible. On Christmas we often hear read Luke’s version of Jesus’ birth. It is Luke who gives us the Angel Gabriel visiting Zechariah and then Mary. It is Luke who gives us the manger, the shepherds, and the wise men. We have romanticized (and sanitized) these images. At the Cathedral our young girls flittered about as the most adorable angels; I am sure Gabriel would have enjoyed it and I am sure Gabriel looked nothing like our sweet little cherubs. I like our human sentimentality. It means we have taken hold of the story (or perhaps the story has taken hold of us). The story still seeks to communicate the supernatural truth that God has come to earth – Immanuel – God with us.

But what of Matthew’s version, Gabriel is there again, this time with Joseph. Yet the version is scant with details and therefore what is it telling us? Chapter One of Matthew with its long genealogy reveals something very important. It demonstrates the connection of the New Testament to the Hebrew Scriptures (which Christians call the Old Testament). It communicates to us that the Bible is not a mass of unconnected stories and other bits of writing. Rather the story of Israel is connected with the story of Jesus. Note how Matthew includes two quotes from Old Testament prophets; he will continue to do this throughout his account. The point? It is God’s story: From Creation to New Creation, culminating in the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus the Christ. The Bible is indeed the Word of God, about God, and about how we can find our place in Him through Jesus. It is therefore fitting that we turn to Genesis.

Genesis 1 – 2:4: I love these early Genesis texts. I could write and write about them. “In the beginning…God.” There it is, our starting point. In the beginning God; God is at the center, humankind is not meant for that position. Without God chaos, and as God spoke, creation and order emerge. Ten times God speaks and seven times he says it is (very) good.

I don’t know about you, but I am tired of how people use this text and immediately jump to “creation versus evolution.” They end up jumping over so many important truths that we hold by faith:

·         Truth such as there is a God.

·         Truth that God is the creator and sustainer of the cosmos.

·         Truth that God’s world is one of order, not disorder.

·         Truth that God’s creation began as good, very good.

Might God have created all this in “seven days”? Science suggests no. Is that a problem? Not really, Genesis is written as prose with poetic overtones (cf. HTRB p. 27-28) and we know that it is our poets who often communicate truths which science can never present. Do you turn to science, or poets and musicians when pondering love? Francis Collins (past head of the human genome project) says the Bible is primarily not about “how things happened”, but “why they did”. Science might be able to explain the “how”, but it will never explain the “why”, it is not suppose to.  

So why, why did God create the cosmos, why did God create human beings? I don’t presume to know the mind of God. There is however in the Bible recurring themes. We see God “doing things” and then saying he is doing them to reveal his glory and/or his holiness (cf. Exodus 14:4, Ezekiel 36, Revelation 22). My sense is God has done all this in order to reveal himself, and his character, to us his creatures. Don’t misunderstand. God is not some egotist. Yet all He created reveals who He is, including us. Consider one of the things He reveals:

“Let us make humankind in our image.” It is important that I don’t, at this moment, put myself in the center. However it is significant to note our position in God’s created world. The first thing God does after he creates humankind is…bless us (cf. 1:24). After blessing us, he gives us his creation and tells us to care for it. It is as if after God has created all this, he has tossed the keys of his best car to us, sixteen year old's who just got our license. Again why? The answer is a little ahead of us in Genesis. Right now I am basking in the knowledge that I am not some random event in some random universe. There is order. I have a place and a purpose. And even more than that, there is this God who considers humanity as his crowning achievement.

Two side thoughts: God spoke – from a science point of view sound is a wave, but we know at a quantum level that waves are particles – the point? From nothing God speaks and now there is the cosmos (cf. John 1:1). Lastly, I don’t think God created the cosmos in seven days – I do think he is BIG enough that if he wanted to, then he could have!

Genesis 2:5 to the end: I feel like I have written way too much in the first entry. In chapter two though there is much more about God. In verse seven I picture God on his hands and knees making a man out of the earth; a mud pie! Then he breathes life into us. I can remember learning CPR. Nobody wanted to breathe into the mannequins that were provided, it was too yucky. Now I know the language here is poetic, but the poetic language communicates an intimate connection of God with humankind – he bends down, puts his lips to yours/mine, and breathes his very breath, his very Spirit*, into us. Why (again don’t fall in the “how hole”), why? Because He loves us! God’s work goes on, he plants a garden (v.8), he brings the animals to Adam, (v.19), and finally he makes Eve. The chapter closes with innocent bliss; they were both naked and were not ashamed, because it was good – very good.

*The Hebrew word for wind, breath and wind in this section of Genesis is the same, Ruach.

Genesis 1 & 2 tells us who we are at our core; the image bearers of God. It tells us that God created all of this to reveal who He is, and how he desires a relationship with us. Of course we will soon read how we complicate it, but the Good News is there is a way back.

All four chapters – Genesis 1, Genesis 2, Matthew 1, and Matthew 2 – all reveal God moving towards us. It is God who is the first to act. It is God who is the first to step towards us. It is God who after creating this beautiful world, continues to seek us out.

C.S. Lewis in Miracles writes, “No philosophical theory which I have yet come across is a radical improvement on the word of Genesis, that “In the beginning God made Heaven and Earth.””

As I close this first day of blogging, that is my prayer, that God will break through into your conscious. That His Word, some part of it, has touched you and linked to some deep part of your soul.