The Lord Be With You.
Response: And Also with You.
Let us pray: Dear God, we often like to think
that we are strong enough to go it alone, or smart enough
to go it alone, but we ask you now to show us the foolishness
of relying on our own cleverness. Help us to see
that your loving help is a free gift, given to us out
of your great love for each one of us. Help us
to accept that love, and live into the promise of your
companionship – every step of the way. It
is in gratitude for your constant presence that we pray, Amen.
I really
enjoy reading the rich stories of the Old Testament. They
have every kind of intrigue – and you get lots
of crazy scenarios just in the first book of the Bible – Genesis. We
read the creation story, the idyllic setting of the
Garden of Eden, but humanity gets too big for
its britches, and sin enters into the picture. Expulsion,
jealousy, murder.
God decides
to start again! Noah and his family are given
a great responsibility. Yet after they are saved, the
ark is parked, and Noah has a great yield in the vineyard – he
gets drunk, naked and curses his son for finding him
that way and covering him up! The stories are
bizarre, in many ways.
Then comes
another righteous man – Abraham. And in
the midst of his life, at the time when childbearing
is no longer an option, God shows another way, and he
becomes a parent. In another bizarre twist, God
calls Abraham to sacrifice that beloved son, and at
the last possible moment, knife up-lifted, provides
another sacrifice.
It is that
beloved son, who marries Rebekah, and she gives birth
to twin boys. Fighting before birth in her womb,
these boys are about as different as night and day. Esau,
the first born, is hairy and rugged. A hunter.
A manly-man, we might say.
Jacob – born
clutching his brother’s heel trying to stall him
in order to be born first – is a real mama’s
boy. Absolutely driven by his mother – who
has an insatiable desire to get the birthright for that
second boy.
Deception. Cunning,
Trickery. You name it. Within the first
27 chapters of the Bible, we’ve just about seen
it all.
In an attempt
to save Jacob from his murder-plotting brother, once
again Rebekah devises a plan to do what she believes
is best for her favorite son. Jacob is sent
away. And it is during this trip that our story
begins.
Reading
from Gen 28, verses 10-19.
Genesis 28:10 Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward
Haran. 11 He came to a certain place and stayed there
for the night, because the sun had set. Taking one of
the stones of the place, he put it under his head and
lay down in that place. 12 And he dreamed that there
was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching
to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and
descending on it. 13 And the LORD stood beside him and
said, "I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father
and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will
give to you and to your offspring; 14 and your offspring
shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread
abroad to the west and to the east and to the north
and to the south; and all the families of the earth
shall be blessed in you and in your offspring. 15 Know
that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go,
and will bring you back to this land; for I will not
leave you until I have done what I have promised you." 16
Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, "Surely the
LORD is in this place-- and I did not know it!" 17 And
he was afraid, and said, "How awesome is this place!
This is none other than the house of God, and this is
the gate of heaven." 18 So Jacob rose early in the morning,
and he took the stone that he had put under his head
and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top
of it. 19 He called that place Bethel (NRSV)
This is the Word of the Lord.
Response: Thanks be to God.
Last year
I was invited to be a part of a Pastor-Theologian Group
where we tackled the subject of science and religion. This
year we are going to talk about interpreting Scripture. The
first book we are reading is called Seized by Truth by
Joel B. Green.
Professor
Green starts out by positing that we must read the Bible
as Scripture. In other words, NOT like the novel
we are reading; NOT like the autobiography that we are
perusing; NOT like the Sunday paper – but as SCRIPTURE – God’s
Holy Word – God breathed – God inspired. We
MUST read the words as if they are indeed life-changing
and life-transforming. That while we must be
informed about the word – when it was written,
to whom it was written, the socio-economic and political
circumstances of when it was written – we MUST
transport that interpreted word to today, with all the
power of changing our lives as it did for those for
whom it was first written.
Big job.
So, I think
about today’s passage – a puppet manipulated
by his mother, leaving his home for his own safety after
deceiving dad and yanking the birthright rug out from
under his brother, and wonder, what do we get from this? What
is transforming about this word? What can we possibly
learn that will alter the way we go about our Sunday
afternoon, or Monday morning at the job, or playing
mahjongg, cards or dominoes with friends?
So, I started
looking at similarities in the Genesis stories. And
found one definite recurring theme.
When one
of these characters gets tempted,
or
there is a point where one succumbs to sin
the wilderness
brings them face-to-face with God.
Adam and
Eve – driven from the Garden – were cast
out into the wilderness
Abraham,
having seen Hagar with his son, Ishmael driven away,
is asked by God to go into the wild and sacrifice his
beloved son, Isaac;
Noah begins
life again in the wilderness of a water-drenched land;
and then
these brothers…
As Jacob
heads out into the wilderness – on a very long
journey from his home to Paddan-aram, he gets a good
days journey distance from his brother, and decides
to rest for the night. Falling asleep on the rock
beneath his head, Jacob has this dream.
During the
dream, the Lord God speaks to Jacob, wonderful words
of promise and comfort. Words such as:
“Know
that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go,
and will bring you back to this land; for I will not
leave you until I have done what I have promised you."
This is
the same kind of promise God made to Adam and Eve.
This is
the same kind of promise God made to Hagar and Ishmael.
This is
the same kind of promise God made to Noah.
This is
the same underlying promise Abraham had as he headed
up the mountain.
This is
the promise that is given to Jacob.
When we
recall these wilderness times, perhaps another Biblical
image comes to mind.
Immediately
following a baptism, when the spirit casts Jesus out
into the wilderness – and the angels tend to him.
Or perhaps,
the wilderness of a life without Jesus’ presence,
when after the resurrection and Jesus appears to his
disciples, he gives them the Great Commission, ending
with “but lo, I will be with you, to the end of
the age.”
At times
we will end up in the wilderness and think that we are
all on our own. I think Jacob’s example
is a good one for us. Even though we may be taking
off in one direction – perhaps we need to take
a break, rest, and relax upon the bedrock of our faith. Maybe,
just maybe, the next direction will make itself known
to us. Or, at the very least, we will know that
we are not alone.
In profound
moments, where we encounter God face-to-face, we want
to remember that moment – memorialize it in some
way. We, like Jacob, have the tendency to want
to memorialize the moment tangibly – like taking
that rock pillow and erecting a pillar to mark the Holy
Place, we take a piece of rock or a vial of dirt from
the spot we were on, or we write our experience immediately
down in a journal to read later. Though we might
long to have a tangible reminder, it is neither the
dirt nor stone which makes a place holy – it is
the work of the Holy Spirit alone which makes our moments
holy.
I’ve
often heard folks say that when they’ve stood
at the rim of the Grand Canyon, or in a forest of Giant
Redwoods, or at the seashore as the waves came pounding
in, or looking up at the sky in a dazzling display of
stars that they encountered God – that God was
revealed to them.
And I can
readily agree.
Creation
has a remarkable way of revealing God.
And I’ve
often heard folks say that they can’t believe
that anyone can look at those wonders of nature and
not believe in a creator God.
And I readily
agree.
But perhaps,
just like Jacob, in those moments when we gaze upon
such wonders, we who believe in the creator God, have
been so fully open to that God, that the Spirit has
literally invaded all our senses, and we nearly drop
to our knees with gratitude.
For us,
it wasn’t a dream about angels ascending and descending
a ladder.
It wasn’t
the voice of God thundering in and through the heavens
a message intended just for us.
It wasn’t
a heavenly chorus singing good news of great joy.
But the
Holy Spirit surrounding us and nodding along with us
that yes, indeed, the Lord God is here.
So, lets
look at Jacob. As he took rest that night, sleeping
on a rock, we might think he should just wake up with
a very bad neck ache or headache. He is only one
day’s journey from his home – the terrain
has not changed considerably at all. It is the same
as his home.
But it is
different in that he is alone.
Away from
the influence of his mom – who, though meaning
well, has maneuvered him through life.
Jacob, through
this slight change of environment, is now open to the
presence of God, when he was not before.
It occurs
to me that we can get rather complacent with our devotion
to God. We say the same old prayers, the same
old affirmation of faith, we sing the same responses
to the assurance of pardon and offering. Do we
feel the presence of God in these acts of worship?
We read
the same old stories in the Bible, in the same chair,
or desk or table. We have the same things around
us – some coffee in our favorite cup, a bowl of
cereal nearby, or the lamp on the bedside table with
a novel waiting to be read as soon as we finish our
devotional. Has our Bible reading become perfunctory
instead of revelatory?
Do we attend
to it with a sense of duty instead of visiting with
the Holy?
Perhaps
we do need a change of scenery…maybe just a change
from reading the Bible in bed to sitting on the porch
in the morning light. But, in the least, we need
a change of heart as we read scriptures. We need
to enter into reading the Bible as a sense of adventure – open
to new vistas, new revealing moments. Let ourselves
walk with Jacob, listening to the eerie sounds of the
desert when alone – no chatter of a brother and
parents around – of servants finishing the days
work. Let ourselves, along with Jacob, discover
the bedrock of our faith, looking for that particular
rock on which to lay our heads to rest. Let ourselves
discover, along with Jacob, God’s intentional
desire to reveal himself to us through the Spirit, and
let the Spirit guide us to our next discovery.
When I contemplate
on this passage, and Jacob’s dream, it occurs
to me that Jesus Christ as revealed in the Scriptures
is our “Jacob’s dream”. God
reached out to reveal himself to Jacob through a dream…we
have no need of that dream, because we have Scripture – that
is our guiding light. Jesus the Christ, as revealed
in the Scriptures, is to be the focus of our devotion. And,
as we read the scriptures, we should be having “Jacob’s
ladder” experiences!
And, as
Professor Joel B. Green puts it – we should
be ‘seized by the truth’ of these Scripture
passages. We should not wake up the same after
reading them.
We should be refocused
Revitalized
Reformed
Reinvigorated
Revived
And restored
in faith.
Unlike Jacob,
there is no need for us to erect memorials to God – we’ve
built enough empty cathedrals and churches to last several
lifetimes already.
Our memorials
to God, our responses to God, will be changed lives. Marked
changes in the ways we respond to our families and one
another. Marked changes in the way we live each
day. Changes that will influence others, and they
will wonder what has gotten into us?
And we can
tell them, that we’ve been searching the bedrock
of our faith – and introduce them to the way the
Bible and our openness to the Spirit can develop a very
real joy which helps us look differently at our situations
in life.
Yesterday
I attended the funeral of Bary Eagleson. He was
the beloved spouse of Rev. Guinn Blackwell-Eagleson
who I’ve worked with over the years and who has
visited with us and many others churches in our Presbytery. Bary
was 51 years old, father of two teenaged boys. The
church was packed – standing room only. Bary’s
twin brother, Gary, got up to speak about his brother. We
all know the very special relationship some twins have. Bary
and Gary had that kind of relationship. Up until
they were about 25, Bary and Gary did everything together. Even
moving from their home state of Pennsylvania to attend
Rice University together.
If it were
not for reading the promises in this Bible in the very
special way they were intended, Gary could not have
spoken about the hope of being reunited with his twin
brother someday. If it were not for reading the
promises in this Bible in the very special way they
were intended, yesterday’s service would have
been a hollow experience.
But the
promises are real. Even through the sadness of
losing Bary less than one week shy of their 29th wedding
anniversary, Guinn can believe that Bary has been redeemed
in a resurrection like our Lord’s.
Even through
the incredible sadness of losing their dad before they
could finish their education and many plans together,
his two boys could stand up there and read the 23rd
Psalm of walking through the valley of the shadow of
death and knowing that they will fear no evil for God
is with them like it was written for them and only them
at that very moment. And that one day, they, united
with their dad, will dwell in the house of the Lord
FOREVER.
That family
gathered yesterday standing firmly on the bedrock of
their faith…and even though they are in a wilderness
moment, they can see the vision represented in these
scriptures.
Let us be
challenged to harvest the grains of truth represented
in the odd and funny stories we encounter in scripture.
And may
those truths seize us, mold us, and send us out into
the world as living examples of God-with-us.
May it be
so.
In the name
of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen