Readers Guide: “The Word for Today” Sunday, September 30, 2012 Read – Genesis 47 & 48 The last few chapters of Genesis are really the “falling action” after the climax of the story which comes in chapter 45. Once again we need to rejoice that what we are dealing with is a really good story with all the right elements of a good story. Chapter 47 continues to tell the story that began in chapter 46 of how all of Jacob’s family has now moved to Egypt. As a part of the “big story” of God and God’s people, this story tells how it was that the children of Abraham ended up living in Egypt – the place from which they will be delivered in the next major saga, the Exodus. The children of Abraham are welcomed graciously by the Egyptians. They are given the best of the land – the Nile delta – because there is much grass there. Joseph tells them to tell Pharaoh that they are shepherds – knowing that Egyptian’s detest shepherds – the story has some humor in it. Once again God blesses his people as they grow exceedingly in number. But Egypt will not be the final dwelling place of God’s people. Already in the story their return to Canaan is foretold. Jacob makes them swear that they will return there one day. Reminiscent of Abraham blessing his sons Isaac and Ishmael (Isaac we remember got the better of the blessing), of Isaac in turn blessing his sons Jacob and Esau (Jacob getting the better blessing), now Jacob blesses Joseph’s sons, born to Joseph from an Egyptian mother, and the pattern continues. The younger son, Ephraim, gets the better blessing. We need to notice that Joseph’s wife is Egyptian. Purity is an important part of this story. But the pattern is broken here. We might have expected to hear a different story. What are we to make of this? It will not be the last time when that will happen. Perhaps the best thing for us to remember is that God cares for all people. We are back at that question again – what does it mean to be chosen? If being chosen is to be special at the expense of others then Joseph marrying an Egyptian is a problem. But if being chosen is to be used by God for the sake of others then the challenge is lessened – not fully removed but not as stringent. Perhaps God is more inclusive than we may have thought.

Readers Guide: “The Word for Today” Saturday, September 29, 2012 Read – Genesis 45 & 46 Finally the story comes to a climax as Joseph reveals himself to his brothers. The family is reunited and arrangements are made to bring Jacob down to Egypt. Two things are worth pondering in this climax. First of all Joseph is gracious to his brothers. He might have punished them severely for the way they treated him long ago. After all Joseph now has the power. But Joseph does not “get even” as we are so often tempted to do. In fact, Joseph sees something far more important in all that has happened to him. Joseph sees that it was really God who brought him to Egypt for God’s purposes – his brothers meant it for evil, but God was working good. In fact, we have noticed that this is a story in which what appears to be bad turns out for the good repeated over and over again. There is something for us to learn from that reality in our own lives. Or course, that does not mean that bad things are ultimately good. The actions of Joseph’s brothers were bad. But it does mean the God can work in the midst of bad things and bad actions. The first thing to ponder from this story is the wonder of how God is in the midst of all of it. God is in our lives too. The second thing to notice about this story has to do with the dreams. They are fulfilled. God keeps promises.

Readers Guide: “The Word for Today” Friday, September 28, 2012 Read – Genesis 43 & 44 The story continues adding suspense to the story as Joseph’s brothers – unaware of who Joseph is – need to return again because they are once again without food. They know they must bring Benjamin with them – but Benjamin, the only full-brother of Joseph and the favorite of their father just as Joseph was, is not easily released by his father Jacob. Playing favorites is still a part of this family story. But Joseph’s brothers have changed – just like Jacob was changed – and they are no longer jealous of the favorite – in fact they go to all ends to protect him. When they arrive in Egypt, Benjamin in tow, Joseph traps them by placing his “diviner’s cup” in Benjamin’s bag and demands that the thief be left behind. All the rest of the brothers can go. But they all volunteer to take Benjamin’s place – quite a change of heart from the heartless brothers who sold Joseph into slavery in the first place. Incidentally, we should stop to pause at the comments by the author of Joseph having a “diviner’s cup.” There are elements in this story that do not match well with what we might expect to hear and usually we just pass over them. Maybe the story is not as pure and simple as we might think. This is an incredibly creative story filled with suspense. Reading or hearing it for the first time leads us to hope for a good ending.

Readers Guide: “The Word for Today” Thursday, September 27, 2012 Read – Genesis 41 & 42 The story of Joseph is familiar to most of us. In fact it is such a popular story that animated movies have been made of Joseph – the “Prince of Egypt.” In today’s reading we are introduced to dreams once again – Joseph dreamed two dreams that got him into trouble, the butler and the baker dreamed dreams that got one out of prison and the other executed, and now it is Pharaoh who has the dreams. Dreams are an important part of this story. Writers of the gospels, particularly Matthew, picked up on the notion of dreams of another Joseph, the husband-to-be of Mary the mother of Jesus, in telling his story about Jesus. When we are reading Matthew’s story Matthew wants us to be remembering and thinking of this Old Testament story of Joseph and his dreams. The important part dreams play in the story we are now hearing is two-fold – first it is the dream of Pharaoh that finally gets Joseph out of prison and more importantly it is through the dream and Joseph’s ability given by God to interpret that dream that Egypt and the rest of the world is saved from famine. And there is one more function that the dream will ultimately have in the story – Joseph’s brothers will come down to Egypt to buy food and to be reacquainted with their brother they sold into slavery so long ago. When these brothers arrive in Egypt they bow down before Joseph – just as Joseph had said would happen in his dream. And Joseph does not let his brothers off easy – he accuses them of being spies and threatens to send them home empty handed. In the end Joseph demands that one of the brothers – it turns out to be Simeon – remain behind as a hostage until they return with his brother Benjamin. The brothers go home but the story is not over. This is a delightful story and we should not miss that. Its creativity is worth celebrating on its own apart from its role within the Bible.

October 2012 Echoes Newsletter

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Readers Guide: “The Word for Today” Wednesday, September 26, 2012 Read – Genesis 39 & 40 The story picks back up with Joseph sold on the auction block in Egypt. His buyer is Potiphar who was an Egyptian official, the captain of the guard. As we begin to listen to this story we need to recall that God had promised to bless Abraham and his descendants. Joseph is blessed and so is everything and everyone associated with him. That is the heart of the story at this point. So we might think that the story of Joseph is not going to turn out too bad after all. Unfortunately for Joseph, Egyptian families seem as plagued as Israelite ones. Potiphar’s wife seeks an elicit relationship with Joseph who will not give in to her wishes and Joseph finds himself in prison. The story turns out to be bad after all. But, soon we begin to hear that even in prison Joseph is blessed along with everything and everyone associated with him. Maybe the story will not turn out so bad after all. Soon dreams reenter the story. Fellow-prisoners have dreams and Joseph is given the interpretation of those dreams by God. These prisoners are not commoners – they are the chief baker and the chief butler of Pharaoh. Joseph’s interpretation comes true and it appears that he will soon be rescued by the butler who only needs to remember to tell Pharaoh about Joseph. Perhaps the story will turn out okay – but the butler forgets. Do you see that pattern in the story? This too must have been one of the favorite stories that Jewish people loved to tell. It’s a story we like too, isn’t it?

Readers Guide: “The Word for Today” Tuesday, September 25, 2012 Read – Genesis 37 & 38 The last saga in the long story of Genesis is about Joseph – the favorite son of Jacob – born to Rachel who was also his favorite. Once again the story tells a tale of less than appropriate behavior on the part of God’s chosen people. The story of Joseph is the longest continuous story in the book of Genesis. It’s the kind of story we really ought to read at one sitting – so if you have the time just read the whole story from beginning to end. The story starts with a couple of dreams that Joseph just can’t help telling his older brothers about. As the story begins Joseph is seventeen – that ought to tell us something – we were once seventeen too and we know some other seventeen year olds. Joseph is the hero of the story but we need to see the down-side of Joseph before we can appreciate the up-side. The dreams will end up coming true in the story – but getting there is quite a journey. This is another story of dysfunction – Joseph’s brothers threaten to kill him and finally sell him into slavery – a fate that may have been worse than being killed. They will have to live with their crime for many years and that too will come to rest as the story ends. The story is interrupted by another of those strange stories that place God’s people in a less than favorable light. Judah ends up getting his daughter-in-law pregnant. Not the kind of story we’d expect to hear or that we would really want any of our family to emulate. Why tell stories like this? Because they tell the truth about the creatures God made. And just maybe this story gives us a little time for the Joseph story to develop. After all Joseph had just been sold into slavery and it takes awhile for that story to unfold.

Readers Guide: “The Word for Today” Monday, September 24, 2012 Read – Genesis 34 & 35 We may be thinking that finally this story of the Bible is going to take a positive turn but it is not long before we are back in the middle of the mess once again. The story of the rape of Dinah – the only daughter of Jacob named in the Bible – is another of those dreadful stories. There is little grace in the story – only the harshness of revenge. This story is not one we want to use as a pattern for our lives either. Perhaps we have noticed by now that the biblical story is filled with mostly dreadful stories. Most cultures only tell of their heroes and depict their story as one filled with “good people.” That is not true of the biblical story – the dirty linen is all hung out for all to see. That is a remarkable thing about the Bible. The revenge gotten for the rape of Dinah means the Jacob will need to move again. That is the nature of existence for the first ancestors of God’s people. They are yet to receive a land of their own – a story that will come in time. One last son is born to Jacob back in the land of promise. The story of the birth of this son is marked by sadness – his mother Rachel, Jacob’s favorite wife, dies in childbirth. She is buried near the north end of Bethlehem – you can still go and see the place of her burial today. At this point the story contains another surprise – the death of Isaac is reported. We were led to believe that old Isaac was on his deathbed twenty years earlier when Jacob stole the blessing from Esau with the help of his mother. But here we are told that Isaac has died and that Jacob and Esau together bury their father. This story is reminiscent of the death of Abraham told earlier in the story when Isaac and Ishmael come together to bury their father. There is hope for estranged people – Jews, Christians, and Moslems.

Reader's Guide - "The Word for Today" Sunday, September 23, 2012 Read - Genesis 32 & 33 There is a poster outside the church office that reads, “The Road most challenging in best sooner begun” – a piece of good advice. I suppose from the day he left Jacob knew that he would need to make a journey back home to face his brother Esau – the brother he had deceived and cheated out of birthright and blessing. Jacob prepares for the worst – sending gifts to appease Esau – arranging for his family to encounter Esau in stages in hopes that somehow something might remain. We have been led to expect the worst of Esau too – after all Jacob is the biblical hero. But Esau displays an integrity and grace that outshines his younger brother. Esau is not a bad character. Perhaps we need to do some relearning about characters like Esau. In a story the sounds reminiscent of Jacob’s dream from earlier Jacob encounters the angel of the Lord as he wrestles with his “going home” journey. These stories function like “bookends” in the story – a technique that is used by other Biblical writers. The story comes full circle. One of the main features of the encounter is that Jacob receives a new name. The “cheater” has become one who “strives with God” – the meaning of his new name Israel. Jacob had been transformed by his experience with Laban. God’s grace prevails in the story. As was mentioned earlier the encounter with Esau concludes on a surprisingly good note. Esau welcomes his brother back home. There is hope that broken relationship can be healed.

Readers Guide: “The Word for Today” Saturday, September 22, 2012 Read – Genesis 30 & 31 As we read the story of the birth of Jacob’s children we are confronted with an incredibly dysfunctional family – not what we really expect to read in the Bible. We hear of wives who give their maids to their husband in order to have more children – of wives who need to bribe other wives in order to have sexual relations with their husband – of sons who deceive one another. It seems as if everyone is jealous of someone. Not the kind of story one would want to pattern one’s own family after. And the problem that confronted Abraham and Sarah – Sarah’s barrenness – pops up again in this story. Rachel, Jacob’s favorite wife is barren. Once again the story is about the deep threat that seeks to derail God’s promise. God had promised that he would bless Abraham in his descendants and create a great nation from them. That promise is being fulfilled in the multitude of children Jacob produces. In fact, everything that Jacob touches seems to expand – Laban’s herds multiply and in the end both Laban and Jacob are transformed from poverty to wealth. That’s a part of the story we need to hear as well. Finally, after long years of waiting, Rachel is able to conceive a son and with that conception the story can move forward. Twenty years have now passed and Jacob is ready to go back home. This is not the same Jacob who left. The “cheater” has been “cheated” and in the end Jacob has been transformed by the experience. But what will await him back home?

Readers Guide: “The Word for Today” Friday, September 21, 2012 Read – Genesis 28 & 29 It’s no wonder that Esau is peeved with his brother Jacob. And the story evolves into an action story of deadly magnitude. Will Esau kill Jacob? Have we come far from the story of “Cain and Abel”? Of course we know the outcome of the story but once again we ought to listen carefully to what is really a bad example of family dynamics. It’s no wonder that Jacob flees for his life. And right at that time God steps into the story. Up until that time God has been pretty silent – perhaps we might think of God as observing this messed up family from afar. But God has plans for Jacob. And in a story that is familiar to most of us God meets Jacob through a dream as Jacob flees for his life. One of the most important things to notice about the dream and the ladder is that it is a ladder that comes down from heaven and that it is God and the angels who are coming down to Jacob. Somewhere someone got it messed up and many of us learned to sing the song about how we are climbing Jacob’s ladder. It is difficult to get thoughts like that out of our heads once we have them there. But, the song “We Are Climbing Jacob’s Ladder” is one that we would best forget. This story is certainly not about something that Jacob is doing. It is all about what God is doing and about a God who promises. God intervenes in Jacob’s life and a transformation begins. Jacob’s arrival at the ancestral home is reminiscent of Abraham’s servant arriving there to find a wife for Isaac. Jacob is not looking for a wife but he finds one – actually as the story unfold he finds two wives and two concubines. As we begin reading this story we need to remember that Jacob has been a cheater in his life up to this point. In Laban he meets his match. I’m sure that the people of Israel loved to hear and tell this story – the story about how they got to be twelve tribes. It all begins when Jacob falls in love with Rachel and desires to marry her. Laban suggests that Jacob work seven years to earn her. Jacob has nothing but time on his hands and agrees. But on the wedding night the deceiver is deceived – Laban give Jacob Leah in place of Rachel. A deal is quickly worked out where Jacob can have them both – with the agreement to work an additional seven year. This is not a problem since Jacob is not in much of hurry to go home. Soon the family begins to grow as four sons are born to Leah.

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Readers Guide: “The Word for Today” Thursday, September 20, 2012 Read – Genesis 26 & 27 The story of Isaac and Rebekah is not told with much detail. In many ways they are “bridge characters” getting us from the story of Abraham and Sarah to the story of Jacob and his family. The small set of stories we hear about Isaac and Rebekah emphasize once again the threat to the promised covenant God made through Abraham. In a story that sound very much like stories we heard earlier about Abraham visiting a foreign land, the question is whether or not Isaac will survive. Like his father he lies about the true identity of his wife calling her his sister instead. In spite of Isaac’s deception God is faithful and Rebekah and Isaac are spared – more through God’s graciousness than their own cunning. Isaac’s encounter with the people among whom he must live is also marked by controversy. It is not easy for God to get a foothold from which to launch God’s venture to save his creatures. The real heart of the story surrounds the fate of Isaac’s sons. Almost from the beginning it becomes clear that Jacob is the one chosen. Actually this is a strange choice on God’s part since if we read the story closely it is often Esau who acts more wholesomely. The Jacob and Esau saga really began at the end of yesterday’s reading with the familiar story of Jacob conniving his brother Esau out of his birthright. Esau was the first born and should have had the benefit of those rights – a double portion of the inheritance and leadership of the family. But God has other plans – and so does Jacob. It is important in this story that we hear both sides of that story – a conniving Jacob and a God who chooses to use such a conniver. If we ever want to read a story about a dysfunctional family the story of Isaac, Rebekah, Esau, and Jacob is the story we need to read. This is not an example to follow. Parents play favorites. Children deceive and manipulate. The story is a real mess. But the wonder of it is that God uses that very story. Even the names of these two boys are important – especially the name Jacob. Jacob means “he grasps” – given as his name since Jacob came out of the womb grasping his brother’s heel. The name could also be translated “he cheats” – that is the kind of grasping that lies behind the word. Jacob comes out of the womb grasping for what does not rightly belong to him – just like “Adam and Eve” grasped at self-determination. What a strange and wonderful story for us to hear – God chooses to use a cheater, the more imperfect of the two brothers. The story of Jacob deceiving his own father with the help of his mother to claim the blessing that he is not entitled to receive is a sad and provoking story. It’s hard to make this into a nice story although many people who want to preserve Jacob as a hero have tried to do so. Is it not much better for us to hear stories like this one for what they really say? God will have lots of work to do with Jacob – but Jacob is God’s choice. If God can work with one like Jacob no one is beyond God’s reach.

Readers Guide: “The Word for Today” Wednesday, September 19, 2012 Read – Genesis 23; 24:1-33, 50-67; & 25:7-11, 19-34 The story of Abraham and Sarah has been a story of God making covenant with Abraham that through him and his descendants God would bring salvation to a wicked world and a story of threats to that covenant of promise. The story of Abraham comes to a conclusion in our reading for today but the theme continues. Way back in chapter 12 when God called Abraham and Sarah God promised that he would not only make a great nation out of them but that he would give them a land. So far in the story they have received no land but rather have wandered about on the property of others. In the first story in today’s reading we hear of Abraham purchasing a plot of land as a cemetery – a place to bury Sarah who has died. God promised a land and God keeps that promise. Could there be any significance in the thought that the first piece of the Land of Promise is a cemetery? Something to ponder. With the next story we are back to threats to the promise. When Abraham dies the promise will need to continue through Abraham’s son, Isaac. But what about finding a wife for Isaac? God’s command is clear. Abraham is not to find a wife among the people among whom he now lives. So the journey to find a wife for Isaac takes Abraham’s servant back to the place of Abraham’s roots. And the story that unfolds reveals God’s hand in the choice. Rebekah is chosen as the new mother of God’s people. The story of Abraham can now end in peace. Abraham dies and he is buried by both his sons, Isaac and Ishmael. This ought to be very surprising for us to hear – even startling! Had not Ishmael been banished? Yet Ishmael is there – included in this most sacred of events. Perhaps there is hope for these brothers and their descendants – Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Abraham and Sarah had been challenged by barrenness. Not so with Isaac and Rebekah. Almost immediately children are on the way – and not one but twins. The story of Jacob and Esau begins and it’s a story filled with conflict and intrigue. Can nothing go right? There are more challenges for God to encounter in the venture of saving the people God created.

Readers Guide: “The Word for Today” Tuesday, September 18, 2012 Read – Genesis 21 & 22 God is faithful. God keeps promises. Isaac is born to a 100 year old Abraham and 90 year old Sarah. It’s time to pause and rejoice. But our rejoicing does not last long. Almost immediately we hear a story of jealousy and even cruelty. We know this humanity too well. Hagar and Ishmael stand as stark reminder of that. Sarah, who has just been miraculously blessed with a child of her old age become jealous and Hagar and Ishmael are sent out into the desert to die. But God is gracious. Hagar and Ishmael are saved. Of course the world will bear some repercussion of that. We have already noted that it is through Ishmael that Islamic people trace their heritage. The fruit of Abraham and Sarah’s lack of faith does lay the groundwork for a challenge we still face today – can we live with those brothers and sisters who are so different from us – even threatening to us? The story grows even more challenging in the story of Abraham’s near sacrifice of his son Isaac – the son of God’s promise. The story of God commanding Abraham to sacrifice Isaac is a rich and challenging story. Why would God do this? What kind of God is God? We have been noticing the failure of Abraham’s faith often – here his deep faith shines. Abraham is faithful. And God is faithful too – Isaac is spared! It turns out that God’s command was really a test and that God never intended for Isaac to be killed. Does God still do this – test people by telling them to do something God does not intend just to see if they will listen? The story is complicated indeed. Christians, including the first writers of the gospel stories have long seen much more in this story. They have seen the contrast between Abraham and Isaac who was spared and God the Father and Jesus the Son who was not spared. Abraham was willing to give his only beloved son and God rescued Abraham and Isaac at the last minute. God gave his only beloved son and there was no rescuing of Jesus from death on the cross. The story gives us much to ponder.

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Reader's Guide - "The Word for Today" Monday, September 17, 2012 Read - Genesis 19 & 20 The story of Sodom and Gomorrah began at the tail end of our reading for yesterday. We have been listening to stories of covenant promise and threats to that covenant. This story is certainly a story of threat to the covenant of God given to all people through Abraham. The story actually sounds something like the wickedness we heard about in the flood story. The world has not changed – Abraham lives in that same world of wickedness – and so do we. As the story unfolds we are reminded of the challenge God faces in dealing with a rebellious world. The story of Sodom and Gomorrah is a terrible story filled with violence and abuse. In our time it becomes a controversial story because of its allusions to the homosexual rape perpetrated by the men of Sodom. It would be so easy to get caught up in that controversy that we lose the flow of the story as a whole. What happened at Sodom is wicked because human beings exert violent power over others. We need to hear it as part of the threat to God’s great covenant promise. The wickedness of humanity is continued in the story of Lot’s daughter’s incestuous behavior right after God had rescued them from Sodom. The point is that not only a select few are found guilty in these stories but all of humanity. Instead of hearing God’s judgment upon “them” it is better for us to realize that this story casts God’s judgment on all of humanity. We are reminded of the challenge that faces God in redeeming the people God has created. And the depravity of all humanity is carried forward in the very next story when Abraham himself is implicated. Abraham lies about his wife Sarah – I suppose we could say he stretches the truth to fit his needs but in the end that is still lying. Taken together the picture painted of all humanity within these stories is not a very good one. What a mess! What a challenge God faces! Unless we are able to embrace these awful stories of all humanity caught in the clutches of sin, ourselves included, then we will likely not be able to hear the miraculous grace of God who saves depraved humanity. Unless we can see ourselves in these stories we are likely not to feel the depth of God’s saving grace.

Reader's Guide: "The Word for Today" Sunday, September 16, 2012 Read - Genesis 17 & 18 How patient are we when it comes to trusting in God’s promises? As the story continues we hear once again about God coming to Abraham with the promise that he and Sarah will have a son through whom God will fulfill the promise of creating a people of promise. We might not notice it but at least thirteen years have passed since the encounter between God and Abraham when the covenant was made and Abraham was promised that his descendants would be as many as the stars of heaven. For thirteen years nothing has happened – Sarah remains barren and now Abraham is 99 and Sarah is 90. God comes promising again and it is no wonder that Abraham “fell on his face and laughed” at God’s bold promises. It is no wonder that when the angels of the Lord came visiting with the promise still one more time that Sarah laughed as she listened from within her tent. Who wouldn’t laugh at such foolishness? But God has the last word – a son is born and God says to name him “laughter” – the meaning of the Hebrew word Isaac. Who says that God does not have a sense of humor? Even before Isaac is born God adds a new wrinkle to the covenant – a sign of the covenant that all of God’s people from that time forward were to keep – the circumcision of every male. When we come to the New Testament story we will discover that this was one of the most difficult challenges the followers of Jesus needed to deal with. Is circumcision required or not? But we will need to wait until we come to that part of the story to encounter that challenge.

Readers Guide: “The Word for Today” Saturday, September 15, 2012 Read – Genesis 15 & 16 The idea of God making covenant with human beings is an important part of the biblical story. We have already heard of one covenant – the covenant God made with Noah and his descendants that God would never again destroy the earth as God had done in the flood. Here the covenant is with Abraham and his descendants that God would create a great people of promise out of Abraham through whom God will bless and redeem the whole world. But the covenant promise God makes seems always to be challenged and threatened. Here the threat is that Abraham has no children and the possibility that he will ever have children is unlikely since his wife Sarah is barren. Abraham is known as a man of faith; however, his humanity comes rushing to the forefront of the story in his and Sarah’s response to their childlessness. Abraham does not trust God’s promise. He and Sarah takes things into their own hands – similar to Adam and Eve’s choice – and a son named Ishmael is born. But Ishmael is not the son through whom God’s promise will be fulfilled. The struggle between God and a fallen humanity is pervasive in the story. God does not abandon Ishmael – God abandons no human beings on this earth, something worth our remembering. But it is also through Ishmael that a rival people will descend. Those who follow the Islamic faith trace their heritage through Ishmael. Human beings certainly do complicate the story don’t they?

Readers Guide: “The Word for Today” Friday, September 14, 2012 Read - Genesis 13 & 14 What does it mean to be chosen? That is the fundamental question that readers of the Bible will need to answer at this point in the story. Does being chosen mean being granted privilege? Or, does being chosen mean having a mission? Was Abraham chosen so that he and his descendants might gain the advantage of being blessed as God’s special people? Or, was Abraham chosen so that he and his descendants would be used by God on behalf of all the rest of the people? Getting the answer to this question right will determine how we hear the rest of the Bible story. I think that being chosen means the second alternative – being chosen means having a mission – being chosen is for the sake of the rest of the world’s people. To be sure God blesses Abraham. But that is not the main point in the story of Abraham being chosen by God. The first two stories proclaim that concept clearly – Abraham gives Lot the choice of the land – Abraham rescues Lot from captivity in the collateral damage that unfolds from the war of the kings in the territory Lot has chosen. Abraham has a mission. In return Abraham is blessed again by God in the peculiar encounter he has with Melchizedek – the priest of Salem. We will need to wait a long time to re-encounter Melchizedek. The wait will be worth it as we come to Jesus, the Messiah, one who comes in the order of Melchizedek.

Readers Guide: “The Word for Today” Thursday, September 13, 2012 Read - Genesis 11:1-9, 27-32 & 12 The last of the five-part story that began with the second creation story is the story of the “Tower of Babel”. This is probably the least familiar of these stories. In it the main theme of the “Adam and Eve” story is revisited. The people desire to be like God – in fact they attempt to build a tower to break into heaven which is God’s abode. The story is filled with irony. God looks down from heaven at their puny attempt – what human beings think is grand usually isn’t in God’s eyes. One should notice that the “Adam and Eve” story, the “Cain and Abel” story, the “Flood” story, and now the “Tower of Babel” story all follow a distinctive pattern. Each story begins with an offense on the part of human beings. This offense is followed by an investigation by God. Next comes a word of judgment by God. Finally each story ends with the proclamation of God’s grace. That pattern appears to be broken in the “Tower of Babel” story – no proclamation of grace is made. However, the “Tower of Babel” story creatively moves right into the historical story of Abraham and the people of God. The call of Abraham is the proclamation of God’s grace in answer to the “Tower of Babel” offense and judgment. The “Tower of Babel” story describes the confusion of languages and the beginning of nations – the end result of which is a world filled with conflict as we know today. God calls Abraham and in that call God is creating a nation of his own. The mission of that nation is to bring salvation to the world. All of the events in Genesis 1-11 lay in a misty past. History as we know it begins with Abraham – we can attach Abraham to other historical accounts. Genesis 1-11 is really a foundation story upon which to build the rest of the story of God and God’s people. We turn to that story now.

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Reader’s Guide – “The Word for Today” Wednesday, September 12, 2012 Read Genesis 8 & 9 If the flood story begins by proclaiming the awful truth that all of humankind – including us, of course – had become greatly wicked it ends with bold promises of God. God promises that never again will he destroy the earth. And God gives a sign in the clouds – the rainbow – to remind us and God of that promise. It is interesting to notice that God says he put the rainbow in the sky so that God will see it and not destroy the earth again. Perhaps even God needs reminders. The flood is a frightening story. And it does not take long before the washed earth is back in the depths of wickedness. Even Noah, who in one version of the story at least was described as righteous and walking with God, gets drunk on the wine of the earth. God has a huge problem to confront when it comes to dealing with the creatures God has made. Built upon the foundation of the second creation story, the fall of “Adam and Eve”, and the story of “Cain and Abel”, the story of the flood moves us almost onto the stage of human history. There is one more story that will complete the set of foundation stories we find in Genesis 1-11.

Readers Guide: “The Word for Today” Tuesday, September 11, 2012 Genesis 6 & 7 Tuesday, September 11th will be remembered by many of us as the day when our world changed forever. Hijacked airplanes crashed into the World Trade Towers in New York, the Pentagon in Washington, and in the fields of Pennsylvania while destined for our nation’s capital. The story of the great flood which begins with Genesis 6 proclaims to us that the whole world had become a place of evil. God saw that the wickedness of humankind was great and pervasive throughout the whole earth. Had the creation proclaimed in Genesis 1 & 2 ended in failure? What is God to do? In reality it is likely that at least two versions of the flood story have been merged together in our Bible story. On the one hand the story clearly proclaims that the wickedness of human beings is total. On the other hand the story proclaims that Noah was a righteous and blameless man. We should not be bothered by these contrasts – although it is good to notice them. Noticing this helps us to keep the Bible in a more proper perspective while making the Bible a more complex book. Regardless of this complexity the story we begin in Genesis 6 & 7 continues the themes begun with the second creation story and continuing with the stories of “Adam and Eve” and “Cain and Abel”. The story is of human rebellion which leads to death and of God who comes seeking humans to save. The story proclaims that God’s destruction, though it ought to be total, is mitigated by the sparing of Noah and his family. God provides a boat to travel over the destructive waters – a theme that will repeat itself throughout the story. God washes a filthy, sinful creation – another theme to remember. We are both fascinated and perhaps frightened by the story of the flood. The story proclaims the truth to us that we live in a world of evil – a world that deserves to be totally destroyed – and that God comes and will come to save. The flood story lays another foundation stone upon which the rest of the story will be built.

Reader's Guide “The Word for Today” Monday, September 10, 2012 Read Genesis 3 & 4 Continuing the themes begun in the second creation story, the stories of “Adam and Eve” and “Cain and Abel” center around two important questions – “Where are you?” and “Where is your brother?” If the world that God created is a good and orderly world why do we experience that world as a place of pain and suffering mingled with joy and wonder? We all know instinctively that the world is not always good. Reflecting back to that challenge laid down in the second creation story – “Will the creatures God has made be obedient or not?” – the “Adam and Eve” story proclaims to us the awful truth that human beings are not obedient. Tempted by the serpent who claims that if they eat of the tree that God forbade them to eat their eyes will be open and they will be like God, Adam and Eve eat and their eyes are opened all right but all they see is their nakedness – their exposure – and so they hide from the very God who gave them life. God had warned them that if they disobeyed they would die. It is not that God now will kill them – it is their act of disobedience that kills them – and kill them it does. But that is not the whole story. Here is where the question comes in – “Where are you?” God comes seeking his rebellious creatures. God out of love kills animals to provide skins to cover their nakedness and promises a redemption as the story unfolds. The story of Adam and Eve is not just a story about them – it is our story too! At the center of the story is our constant need to run our own lives – to grasp life on our own, to be like God, an act that always kills us too. A gracious God asks, “Where are you?” Once again the foundation is laid for the rest of the story – a story of God seeking his fallen creatures working to redeem them. The story of “Cain and Abel” adds a new twist to the story and another question. If the “Adam and Eve” story centers on the brokenness of the relationship between God and human beings the story of “Cain and Abel” centers on the brokenness of the relationship among people – even those as close as brothers or sisters. Human rebellion is a deadly thing indeed. At the depth of our being we know that we are divided from every other human being around us. We are broken. Into our brokenness God asks a second question like the first – “Where is your brother?” The “Cain and Abel” story proclaims to us the awful truth of our broken relationships and holds out the possibility of restored relationship with one another. Once again this story lays the foundation for what is to come.

Readers Guide: “The Word for Today” Sunday, September 9, 2012 Read – Genesis 1 & 2 Perhaps you’ve noticed that the Bible gives us two stories about Creation. The first story – Genesis 1:1-2:4a –proclaims some important things to us. First of all the story proclaims that God is the creator of everything that is and that God creates through the power of God’s Word – God speaks and it is so. We can make things out of other things but only God creates. Secondly the story proclaims that everything God creates is good. That’s worth remembering in a world where everything is not good. That’s a question we will need to ponder as the story unfolds. Finally the story proclaims that the world God created is orderly and dependable. The first creation story is a very orderly account. The world that God creates is a trustworthy place. The second creation story – Genesis 2:4b-25 – is really the first part of a five-part story that unfolds over the next few chapters of the book of Genesis. The parts of that story are: “Creation” – Genesis 2:4b-25; “Adam and Eve” – Genesis 3:1-24; “Cain and Abel” – Genesis 4:1-26; “The Flood” – Genesis 6:1-9:28; and “The Tower of Babel” – Genesis 11:1-9. Together these five stories seek to answer the question of what went wrong with God’s good creation and set the stage for God’s action to save that creation. The second creation story proclaims that God created human beings to be caretakers of the rest of God’s creation. At the center of the story stands the challenge of obedience – will the human beings God has created listen to God’s command to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and thus live – or will they disobey God, eat of the tree and die? Together these two creation stories form a foundation upon which all the rest of the story is built.

Weekly Announcements Sept 9 2012

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The Word for Today - Septebmer 6, 2012

Coming soon - The Word for Today! You are encouraged to read through the Bible story and some comments about it. The first post will being on Sunday, September 9th. Comments are welcomed! Pastor Gene Broughton

Weekly Announcements Sept 2 2012

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Sept 2012 Echoes Newsletter

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Sept 12 Calendar

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