November 2012 Echoes Newsletter

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Nov 2012 Calendar

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Readers Guide: “The Word for Today” Wednesday, October 31, 2012 Read – 1 Samuel 17 & 18 Chapter 17 tells a story that is familiar to most of us – the story of David and Goliath. The point of the story is clear – David trusts God and that makes all the difference. If ever David was a hero it is in this story – and we need to remember that and give David his due. His story will become far more complicated later. So, this is a great story with a great message for us. But in the context of the Bible this is not a story without its challenges. We had just heard that David was brought to bring soothing harp music to Saul as he suffered from evil spirits. But in the telling of this story it seems that Saul has no idea who David is – nor does anything in the David and Goliath story lend us to think that David knows anything about his harp playing. The stories are only “roughly” brought together. This is more evidence that the Bible as we have it today is the weaving together of several sources and stories. That may finally not be very important but for those who really want to plumb the depths of the Bible noticing these things is helpful. What all of this does is to move us to a far more complex understanding of the Bible as the Word of God. The evidence seems to indicate that “inspiration of scripture” is not the pouring of information into a blank vessel – the human writer – but rather that human beings have a part to play in the message itself. Of course that makes it more complex. But, is it not better to face these things head-on than to seek to avoid or resolve them through some preconceived notions that may not stand up to analysis? God’s Word is powerful and God can take care of getting his Word proclaimed – we don’t need to try to protect God’s Word. The story of David and Goliath is not the only story told here. There are more actions and events centering around the emerging David and ultimately the story evolves into a story of jealousy on the part of Saul. David is better than Saul. An intense rivalry develops. In the coming chapters, that rivalry will be at the center of the story. And chapter 18 adds spice to the conflict – Saul’s own son, Jonathan, sides with David. Part of this story will be the true friendship between David and Jonathan. This is a story filled with intrigue – and a few dicey stories to boot. The story about David’s winning the hand of Saul’s daughter Michal leaves most commentators scratching their heads. What kind of brutal character is Saul? What kind of brutal character is David? So we are reading a story that is both intriguing and troubling. Once again the dark side of the story is told for all to see. This is not a sanitized story. One wonders what God is thinking through it all. The marvel is that God has committed himself to work with these very human characters and God does not give up – of course God is stuck with the same kinds of characters throughout the story. But God will find a way. And lest we think we are better than they – God is still committed to working with characters like us. That is the wonder and the marvel of it all.

Chili/Oyster Stew Supper this Friday 5-7pm

 It's cool.  It's soup weather. Have we got a deal for you!

 

The OSL Men's group is having their annual Chili/Oyster Stew supper Friday, November 2, from 5:00 to 7:00 pm.  Tickets, available in the church office or at the door,  are only $6.00 for adults, $3.00 for ages 12 and under, and those under 3 eat free. Menu consists of chili, oyster stew, maidrites, hot dogs, and homemade bars. Take out will be available.

Readers Guide: “The Word for Today” Tuesday, October 30, 2012 Read – 1 Samuel 15 & 16 The troubles for Saul only intensify. Samuel has given the order to completely annihilate the Amalekites because they had made war against the people of God as they were coming out of Egypt. Saul follows Samuel’s direction – but not as fully as he should have. He kills everyone except the Amalekite king, Agag, and some of the best sheep and cattle which he says he has brought home as a special sacrifice to God. Of course it is possible that Saul had other designs and is simply trying to cover his tracks by lying – but we don’t know that for sure. If we take Saul at his word we might understand his motives – that he was only trying to bring more glory to God. Regardless of how we view Saul’s motives his plan backfires and Samuel speaks words of condemnation. The kingdom will be taking away from Saul and given to a more worthy king. There are a few things that are difficult for me and probably for many about this story. First of all why would God call for the complete slaughter of everyone – men, women, children, and all the animals? That troubles me. This is one of the places in the Old Testament that many people run into trouble. This does not seem like the God we meet in Jesus. And this is not the only place where we run into this kind of slaughter. What are we to make of it? Secondly, if we take Saul at this word – that he was trying to follow Samuel’s directive but erred only in bring the king back to kill him and that he saved the best of the animals for a grand sacrifice celebration back home in honor of God – then why was Saul judged so harshly? Personally I have always had a measure of sympathy for Saul in this story. He seems doomed no matter what he does. Finally, and more frighteningly, Saul does try to repent – but repentance is not possible. There is nothing Saul can do. Does God really reject the repentance of some? Are we to assume that Saul’s repentance was insincere? There is nothing in the story that would support that thought. This is a challenging story and we will not easily resolve it. As a result of Saul’s disobedience the kingdom is torn from him and David is secretly anointed as the next king. That story is familiar to many of us and is a story we enjoy hearing. As chapter 16 concludes Saul and David are brought together. Saul is tormented by “evil spirits” and someone remembers that there is a young boy named David who plays the harp in a soothing fashion. Of course no one in Saul’s court has any idea about the fact that Samuel has already anointed David to be the next king.

Readers Guide: “The Word for Today” Monday, October 29, 2012 Read – 1 Samuel 13 & 14 It does not take Saul long to get into trouble. In the words of the Muppet, Kermit, “It’s not easy being “king”.” Action is needed. Saul is waiting for Samuel to appear and provide the sacrifice that will bring blessing and assure victory. Samuel, who now represents the priestly office is slow in arriving. What is Saul to do? People are jumping ship. So, in desperation Saul oversteps his role – Saul performs the sacrifice. And just as he does Samuel arrives on the scene. There are at least a couple of things we should notice about this story. First, do any of you feel just a little bit uneasy about needing a sacrifice to assure a victory? Sounds a little “magical” again doesn’t it. The truth of the matter is that God’s Old Testament people sometimes looked a lot like the people around them – they did sacrifice, probably looked at animal livers, and other sorts of things to make sure things would go well. We don’t expect that from God’s people and in the end the Bible will make clear that such behavior is not proper. But it does appear to happen and this is one of those stories that seem to reflect that. Secondly, and more importantly, the story marks the pronounced distinction between the office of king and the office of priest. These two offices are most often at tension with one another in the Old Testament. In a way they counter-balance one another. Saul’s real violation was not to resort to “magical” actions to assure a victory but rather to overstep the boundary between the king and the priest. This distinction is an interesting one to ponder in the Old Testament story – especially in light of the reality that Jesus acts both as priest and king.

Readers Guide: “The Word for Today” Sunday, October 28, 2012 Read – 1 Samuel 11 & 12 Chapter 11 relates one more story attempting to establish King Saul on a firm foundation. Taken together all of these stories point to the ambiguity involved in the establishment of kingship within Israel. Saul needs to be renewed in his kingship. Samuel is the character that bridges the gap. He was clearly the last of the Judges but he is also the anointer of kings. Saul will not be just another in the long line of Judges. Circumstances have changed. Chapter 12 presents us with the farewell address of Samuel. We might expect Samuel to move off the stage and not be heard from again as this chapter comes to a conclusion. That will not be the case.

Readers Guide: “The Word for Today” Saturday, October 27, 2012 Read – 1 Samuel 9 & 10 Chapter 8 told us the story of the people’s desire for a king, contrary to God’s wishes. Chapters 9 and 10 tell the story of the anointing of the first king, Saul. And it is a strange story that betrays the weaving together of a couple of versions. Again humor plays a part in the story. Saul is gone so long looking for his father’s donkeys that he becomes the object of the search. The one who will be king is portrayed in a somewhat less than competent light. And in another version, Saul is found hiding amongst the baggage trying desperately to avoid being anointed king. The point of each of these stories is that kingship does not get off to a very good start.

Readers Guide: “The Word for Today” Friday, October 26, 2012 Read – 1 Samuel 7 & 8 The eighth chapter of 1 Samuel leads us to the heart of the issue – Israel desires a king like the other nations. The reason for their desire is that it seems Judges, who arise from time to time in times of need, are not sufficient to guarantee the safety of the nation and the people. So, they want a king. It is crucially important that we hear in this story that having a king was not God’s design. In fact the desire for a king is an insult to God who alone is King. Much of the remainder of the Old Testament story will revolve around the king. David will be remembered as the greatest king and at least by some as the greatest Old Testament character. What are we to make of this inauspicious beginning? Would things have worked out better if there never was a king? Of course we can’t answer the last question because there were kings. But it is important for us to hear that the Old Testament has mixed feelings about kings. Remembering that will help us to avoid being wrapped up in the plight of the kings. As we have noticed before the Old Testament bears witness to characters who were less than heroes. In fact there are no heroes – only faulty human being that God must work with. Remembering that both helps us to keep a proper perspective and removes from us the excuse that we are not like biblical character – the truth is that we are all alike. That’s a comfort and a challenge.

Weekly Announcements Oct 28 2012

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Readers Guide: “The Word for Today” Thursday, October 25, 2012 Read – 1 Samuel 5 & 6 Chapters 5 & 6 continue the story of the capture of the Ark of the Covenant by the Philistines. What the Philistines discover is that the control of the Ark does not bring blessing but curse to them, so they arrange to have the Ark returned. Once again the story is filled with a kind of “magical” telling of the story that may make us feel uncomfortable. Did this story really happen just as it is told? Of course we can’t finally answer that question. When we were talking about the battle against the Egyptian gods centered in Pharaoh who thought of himself as a god we were faced with the same challenge. As we said then I think we need to repeat now – in the end we are probably unable to reconcile the telling of the story with the “scientific” world-view that shapes us. In that “scientific” world-view we take everything “literally” – there is no other way for us to operate within our world-view. Perhaps the people who heard these stories long ago were not as troubled as we are. They did not think of “facts” as being verifiable in only a “scientific” way. Again the point of the stories is clear – God is stronger than all other so-called gods. God’s enemies are helpless before God. God’s people can take comfort in such a great and powerful God. We also should not miss the humor in the story. God’s people poke fun at their, and God’s, adversaries in stories like these. We ought to enjoy the humor too.

Readers Guide: “The Word for Today” Wednesday, October 24, 2012 Read – 1 Samuel 3 & 4 The call of Samuel is a story familiar to most of us. It is the story along with the call of Isaiah that inspired the writing of the hymn, “Here I am, Lord.” In the story God signals the end of the priesthood of Eli. Chapter 4 tells that story of the Ark of the Covenant being captured by the Philistines. For those who think that God will somehow always protect his people, this story cuts to the reality that failure to follow God will end in disaster. The story of the Ark has an almost “magical” touch within it – at least the people seem to think there is “magic” in the Ark. But it does not save them. Perhaps we are somewhat troubled by this strange story – and the story that follows in the next chapter. Once again our scientific way of thinking gets in our way. This story does not fit well with our world-view. But the message in it is at least somewhat clear – God takes seriously the failure of his people and God brings judgment – “magical” Arks will not prevent those consequences.

Readers Guide: “The Word for Today” Tuesday, October 23, 2012 Read – 1 Samuel 1 & 2 The book of 1 Samuel begins with the recurrence of a challenge that has been featured in the story before. Like Abraham and Sarah, Jacob and Rachel, and the parents of Samson, Hannah, the wife of Elkanah, is barren. Hannah brings her problem to God in prayer and God responds by giving her a son. The surprising thing in this story is that Hannah promises to give her son back to God – and she keeps her promise. The opening story in 1 Samuel signals that something new is about to happen in the story of God and God’s people. Hannah sings a song that sums up this new beginning. God will raise up the lowly and bring down the mighty. God is doing a new thing. We need to notice that this story in 1 Samuel serves as the template for Luke’s gospel story of the birth of John the Baptist and the birth of Jesus. As we are reading Luke’s story Luke wants us to be remembering this story. So the story is important not only for its own sake but for the sake of the gospel story.

Weekly Announcements Oct 21 2012

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Readers Guide: “The Word for Today” Monday, October 22, 2012 Read – Joshua 6 & Judges 2:6-33 The only story of the giving of the land by God that we are going to read is the familiar story of the battle of Jericho. The story is well known by most of us. In many ways the telling of the story sounds more like a ritual re-enactment of an event than the event itself. In some ways there really isn’t a battle at all – God simply gives the city into the hands of the people. The point of telling the story in this way is obvious. The point is that the giving of the land was God’s gift and not the result of human achievement. The people did not conquer the land – God gave it to them. The rest of the stories of the giving of the land are similar and are very worthy of reading – we just don’t have time to look at everything. The last 12 chapters of Joshua are more of those chapters that are likely to bog us down as readers. The dividing of the land among the tribes is not really very interesting reading so we can let them go. The second half of our reading today comes from the book of Judges. Actually the book of Judges is wonderful reading for the most part. I always tell confirmation students that if they want to read some scandalous stories Judges is a good place to turn. But, again time prevents reading these interesting stories. If we were to take the time – and you surely may do that if you are able – what we would discover is that the story follows a pattern. God’s people forget about God and wind up being ruled but outsiders. Those people cry out to God for a deliverer. God sends them a Judge – really more of a war hero – who brings the delivery the people long for. And the people know a time of peace only to fall back into the pattern all over again. That is the message of chapter 2 – a cycle in four parts. Perhaps one of the values of this chapter and of the story of the Judges is that our life so often follows the same pattern. One wonders if human beings will ever learn.

Readers Guide: “The Word for Today” Sunday, October 21, 2012 Read – Joshua 3 & 4 The more familiar story of God’s people “passing through the waters on dry land” is the story of God freeing them from bondage in Egypt and their escape through the Red Sea. The story told in these chapters is a reprise of that story. Both stories are about significant events in the life of God’s people and come at strategic moments. There are similarities in the stories as well as differences. The similarity is that an object in the hands of God’s representative is the power through which the waters are parted – Moses’ staff at the Red Sea and the Ark of the Covenant carried by the priests here. The point of both stories is that it is God who does the acting. In a story that sounds like the earlier calls in Deuteronomy to be sure to tell the children about the mighty acts of God here the people are to take twelve stones from the center of the river and make a monument of them to remind those who come along in later times about this miraculous crossing. Each of these stories reinforces the main idea which is to help people remember that the land is a gift from the hand of God – the people do not earn it or achieve it. We have not read chapter 5 but it has one interesting thing worth noting – apparently circumcision was suspended during the wilderness journey. That is surprising given the seriousness given to the keeping of the circumcision practice in Genesis. This will not be the only surprise we will encounter regarding sacred practice. As we read the stories of the kingdom we will discover that Passover was not celebrated for hundreds of years as well.

Readers Guide: “The Word for Today” Saturday, October 20, 2012 Read – Joshua 1 & 2 The book of Joshua continues that narrative that has been told in the book of Deuteronomy. We are going to read only the first few chapters of Joshua to get a flavor of the story of how God gave the land to his people. Sometimes this story is spoken of as the conquest – as if the people had conquered someone to take a land for themselves. Nothing could be further from the truth as the story itself makes clear – God gave them the land. The land is a gift not an achievement. The story is one of grace. It might be important for us to stop a moment and think about the material that we have been reading up to now. You may well have noticed that there are subtle differences in the style of writing of the different books. Reading Deuteronomy has a different “feel” than reading Genesis or Exodus. Reading Joshua is not quite the same as reading Deuteronomy – though the same theology seems to be present in both books. What this most likely means is that different human hands are involved in each of the different books. Biblical scholars have pointed out the while there are some differences in “feel” between Deuteronomy and Joshua – and the book of Judges, the books of Samuel, and the books of Kings for that matter – it is most likely that the authors who put together Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings were influenced by the writer of Deuteronomy. These later books are sometimes called the “Deuteronomistic History” of the kingdom. We are not going to read 1 & 2 Chronicles because they essentially tell the story of Samuel and Kings but from a very different perspective – not much like Deuteronomy and more like Leviticus and Numbers. All of this may not seem important but knowing these differences helps us to understand the Old Testament which can be a difficult book for us to follow. Chapters 1 and 2 of Joshua tell the story of the passing on of leadership to Joshua and another story of sending out spies – this time into Jericho which will be the first city God delivers into the hands of his people. The story of the sending of the spies reminds us of the earlier sending of spies into the Promised Land – a story of spies who were not faithful. Will history repeat itself?

Readers Guide: “The Word for Today” Friday, October 19, 2012 Read – Deuteronomy 31 & 34 The life of Moses, the greatest leader of God’s people in the Old Testament is about to come to an end. Chapter 31 tells the story of the passing on of the torch of leadership to Joshua. Joshua has been an important person in the story of Moses – something of an apprentice to Moses. We are not surprised to learn that Joshua will be Moses’ successor. As this story moves further in time it is important to notice that, unlike Moses, Joshua has no apprentice that he is preparing for leadership. That may well have been part of the reason for the demise of the people in the years after Joshua’s death. But that is getting ahead of the story. Chapters 32 and 33 are two more “songs” that tell the story in a poetic way. We are going to skip them in our reading. Chapter 34 tells the story of Moses’ death. The story is surrounded with mystery – no one knows where Moses is buried – no one actually witnesses his death. It is for that reason that Moses, like Enoch, whose death is also mysterious since “God took him”, and Elijah, who was taken into heaven on the wings of a chariot of fire are often used by later writers as pseudonyms for their writings at a much later time. Some of that same idea might be in the background of the story of Jesus with Moses and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration.

Readers Guide: “The Word for Today” Thursday, October 18, 2012 Read – Deuteronomy 29 & 30 Chapters 29 and 30 provide us a good summary of the wilderness journey – a journey that came as a result of disobedience but has nonetheless known the blessing and provision of God. The clothes on the backs of the people and the shoes on their feet have not worn out. Once again it is important to notice that the whole story is told in such a fashion that the current Israelites are written into the story even though most of them probably were not present during the time when God did battle with Pharaoh in Egypt. The story is not just the story of people who have lived before them but it is about them – and it important for us as we read this story to know that it is our story too. The point of the retelling of the story is to renew the covenant that God made with his people when he brought them out of Egypt. Now the covenant is renewed and the people are called to choose life and not death. Living within the covenant relationship is the only source of life for these people as it is for us too.

Readers Guide: “The Word for Today” Wednesday, October 17, 2012 Read – Deuteronomy 10 & 11 A second telling of Moses receiving the 10 Commandments for a second time leads to Deuteronomy’s purpose for the commandments – God gave them in order to bless his people. Keeping the commandments leads to blessing. Disobedience leads to the loss of blessing. This is one of the main themes of Deuteronomy. The book of Deuteronomy now moves into a long and sometimes tedious description of the law – sometimes known as the “Holiness Code”. We are going to pass over this part, not because it is not important but because it will more than likely bog us down as readers. Those who desire to plunge through are welcome to do so. We move now to the ending of Deuteronomy.

Readers Guide: “The Word for Today” Tuesday, October 16, 2012 Read – Deuteronomy 8 & 9 There is much to hear in these chapters. Of special note is the way in which Jesus used chapter 8 in his response to Satan during the temptation in the wilderness – you shall not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. You shall not put the Lord to the test. You shall worship only God. This is the message of Deuteronomy. And it is backed up with the proclamation and the promise that it is God who provides. It is God who gives and will give the land. That is not the achievement of human beings. They did not gain it or earn it. Everything is gift. We sometimes think that the Old Testament is all law – the proclamation of the book of Deuteronomy is mostly gospel. It is good for us to remember that as well. Chapter 9 retells the story of the rebellion at the foot of Mount Horeb (Sinai) when the people made the calves for worship. Once again this story reflects on the story of the calves used in worship in the Northern Kingdom at Bethel and Dan.

Readers Guide: “The Word for Today” Monday, October 15, 2012 Read – Deuteronomy 6 & 7 You may have noticed that I am suggesting skipping Deuteronomy 5. That chapter is simply the repeating of the 10 Commandments which we have read earlier. There are minor differences between the listings which make for some interesting thoughts about why that is so. Once again these things lead us to a fuller and more complex understanding of the nature of the Bible as the Word of God. They point to the presence of human hands in the story – something that is not a hindrance but a help to how we think about the Bible. As I mentioned earlier, chapter 5 begins a second start within the story. Chapter 6 is one of the most important chapters in the book. Chapter 6 begins with what is often thought of as the Hebrew Confession of Faith – something like our Apostles’ Creed. God is one. God is the only one worthy of worship and love. Our whole being is called to love God. When Jesus was pressed to tell his questioners what the most important commandment in the law is this is where Jesus turned. In doing that Jesus placed himself squarely in the center of Judaism. Paul also summed up the law with this commandment. So what we read in chapter 6 is primary material. Both Jesus and Paul join this commandment to love God with heart, soul, and might with a commandment from Leviticus to love our neighbor as we love our self. That combination was not first suggested by Jesus or Paul – it was firmly embedded in Judaism. Its origin is here.

Readers Guide: “The Word for Today” Sunday, October 14, 2012 Read – Deuteronomy 3 & 4 Of the two chapters read for today chapter 4 is the more important. The chapter is a call to faithfulness. One of the important and neat things about the way in which the book of Deuteronomy tells the story is to write the current recipients into the story – “You were at Horeb. You were in the desert….” The story of the Bible is not just about other people it is about us. Incidentally, the use of Horeb for the name of the mountain does not mean that the book of Deuteronomy understands the giving of the 10 Commandments to have taken place at a location different from in the book of Exodus. Horeb is simply a different name for Mount Sinai. Though it may not always hold true, the use of Horeb usually reflects the Northern tribes which became the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Elijah and Elisha worked there in the north and they use Horeb. This also probably means that the book of Deuteronomy has its origins in the Northern Kingdom or at least from those who came from the Northern Kingdom. More about that much later when we get to the story of Josiah. You may have notices that we are falling behind the lessons we are reading on Sundays at this time. Eventually we will catch up with our Sunday readings but there is much to cover in a survey of the Old Testament. So hang in there until the Sunday texts meet our daily reading a few weeks from now.

Readers Guide: “The Word for Today” Saturday, October 13, 2012 Read – Deuteronomy 1 & 2 The book of Deuteronomy is one of the more important books in the Old Testament for Christians to read and understand. Jesus and the gospel writers quoted often from this book. The book of Deuteronomy is also important for the Old Testament and the people whose story is told there. The word “Deuteronomy” means “second law.” That is the character of a good deal of this book – it tells again the story related in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. It is for that reason that we can omit those books in favor of the more condensed version in Deuteronomy. The book of Deuteronomy also makes adjustments in what was written earlier and reflects a slightly different theological perspective – a perspective actually more in tune with Christianity. The book of Deuteronomy casts itself as a sermon of Moses given just before his death when the people of God were on the east bank of the Jordan River about to enter the Promised Land. Those who have studied this book in detail have noticed that the book is actually at least two sermons. The first four chapters form the first sermon. It is actually doubtful that Moses actually preached these sermons on the banks of the Jordan. As I mentioned it contains a great deal of material that is also included in Leviticus and Numbers. That material would have made for a long and rather boring sermon. We are going to omit much of Deuteronomy, not because it is not important but because it contains legal material that would be cumbersome for us to wade through. The chapters we have read for today and chapter 3 which is assigned for tomorrow take us on a quick trip from Mount Sinai to the land east of the Jordan River. The primary story to focus on in these chapters is the story of the sending out of the spies to survey the land. They come back and most of them have lost their nerve – only two are willing to trust God, Joshua and Caleb, and only those two will finally enter the Promised Land. This story provides the basis for the 40 years of wilderness wandering – a theme that is picked up especially in the story of Jesus being tempted for 40 days in the wilderness at the beginning of his ministry.

Readers Guide: “The Word for Today” Friday, October 12, 2012 Read – Exodus 32:1-33:6 The story of the golden calf is probably familiar to most of us. The story is important for a few reasons. First of all it demonstrates how quickly and easily God’s people forget. We are not going to read the books of Leviticus and Numbers because they are books that simply bog down readers. But they do tell a story of people who are continually “stiff-necked” and rebellious. God has a big task in trying to lead and teach the creature God created. The human story is not a pretty one. We can let one story – the golden calf – suffice to illustrate the depth of human rebellion. The golden calf is also important because of its allusion to some calves that will play an important part in the story later – the calves that King Jeroboam placed and Bethel and Dan when the kingdom divided. When we read that story we will need to remember this one. Finally, the golden calf story illustrates how challenging it is to worship a God we cannot see. The people ask Aaron to make them a god they can see. We want things we can see too. Most of the time we do not see – at least not much – but God calls us to faith that is not about seeing. Faith is about trusting God.

Weekly Announcements Oct 14 2012

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Readers Guide: “The Word for Today” Thursday, October 11, 2012 Read – Exodus 19 & 20 Chapter 19 reveals to us the destiny of God for the people he has delivered from bondage in Egypt – they arrive at Mount Sinai. God’s purpose in bringing them to Mount Sinai was to give them the 10 Commandments. They are cited in Exodus 20 – another very similar version is provided in Deuteronomy 5. As we listen to the story it is good for us to reflect upon a few things – Why did God give the 10 Commandments? To what sort of people did God give them? How are the Commandments useful for us? The answers to those questions move us beyond the text but that’s okay. Perhaps it is better to think about the second question first. God gave the commandments to people God had just freed from bondage. It seems that at least one of the purposes of the commandments was therefore to help free people stay free. God did not give the commandments as a means of achieving some sort of status with God. Old Testament people never thought of them in that way. So, the commandments are first and foremost a gift to free people to help them stay free. They still function in that way for us – they provide the possibility of life. Especially among us Lutherans the commandments have taken on another function – they do point out our need. They drive us to the mercy of God. I’m not sure the Old Testament people ever would have thought of them in that way. But it is okay for us to go beyond them in our understanding. In fact it is the Apostle Paul who pushes us in that direction. We are now going to leave the story in the book of Exodus behind except for one brief story about the golden calf. Actually the story of Moses on the mountain receiving the commandments and the giving of instructions for the building of the tabernacle is worth reading – it’s just an easy place to get bogged down. We are also not going to spend time with either the book of Leviticus or Numbers, not because they are not important, but they are also books that tend to bog down readers – even to lead them to quit reading.

Interesting Article on Faith in US

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/10/us/study-finds-that-the-number-of-protestant-americans-is-declining.html?_r=1&src=me&ref=general

Readers Guide: “The Word for Today” Wednesday, October 10, 2012 Read – Exodus 17 & 18 Chapter 17 continues the story with more complaining and more providing. It is going to take God some time to train these people. Is it any wonder that it takes God a long time to train us too? Chapter 18 brings us back in touch with Moses’ father-in-law who we met earlier. I didn’t mention anything about him back there but Jethro proves to be an interesting character in this story. Jethro seems to understand things better than the people God is freeing from Egypt and perhaps even Moses at times. Just who is this Jethro character? Unfortunately we don’t have enough information to say much. In this story and in other places Jethro, who is also known as Ruel, seems to be a worshipper of Yahweh, even before Moses’ encounter at the burning bush. The Bible does leave a few loose ends for us to simply observe and ponder. Jethro/Ruel is one of them.

OSL Church Ladies Oct 2012

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5LhagjExSM

Readers Guide: “The Word for Today” Tuesday, October 9, 2012 Read – Exodus 15 & 16 As we noticed at the end of the book of Genesis the story now breaks forth into song – chapter 15 is a poetic retelling of the event of passing through the sea. It is one thing to read a story about an event – it is another to sing the event. Both are useful – however the singing and telling of the story in poetic language often works better for worship. Chapter 15 may well have been the liturgical telling of the story of the passing through the seas used in worship – so chapter 15 acts something like many of the Psalms. In fact we might categorize it as a Psalm. As the song concludes, we hear of a turn of events that ought to be surprising to us – at least at first. The people have no more than left the land of bondage than they begin to complain about their circumstances. The water is bad. Are these people so ungrateful? Apparently that is part of the human story. Chapter 16 is critically important both for the Old Testament people and for Christians. The story centers on the bread of life that God provides. The story is rich with allusions to Holy Communion and to Jesus as the Bread of Life. We need to read and digest this chapter carefully. God provides – even for ungrateful people. God provides – but just enough of one day. God provides – and in the providing God teaches. God teaches dependence upon him. God commands Sabbath to be observed even though that Sabbath risks trusting God to have given enough for the day of rest. Chapter 16 begins what has sometimes been called the “Wilderness Tradition” which we will only touch on in our reading. The wilderness is a place of testing and a place of provision.

Readers Guide: “The Word for Today” Monday, October 8, 2012 Read – Exodus 13 & 14 At the center of chapters 13 & 14 and chapter 15 which we will read tomorrow is the story of God’s miraculous deliverance of the people through the sea. This story is told almost as if it were an eleventh plague. Pharaoh eventually reacts to the tenth plague in much the same way as he had reacted to the others – he chooses to pursue the people and put them once again under bondage. The battle with the gods of Egypt does not end easily. But God is victorious. And in the process another great theme, related to the flood story and the saving of Moses in the “ark”, unfolds. God delivers his people through the water. As the people enter the Promised Land they will once again pass through the waters on dry land. Elijah and Elisha will part the same Jordan River. Christians will see these stories reflected in the sacrament of Baptism. Simply on the historical level this story is important as the final act of liberation God enacts for his people. On a theological level this story is rich with its allusions to God’s salvation of his people – not only from bondage in Egypt but from the bondage to sin and death. The whole salvation event can be described as “passing through the waters” – not so much in a literal sense but spiritually.

Readers Guide: “The Word for Today” Sunday, October 7, 2012 Read – Exodus 11 & 12 The story of the plagues has been marching toward the tenth and final plague which is really the climax of the whole story and the most important part of the story. The tenth plague is the death of the firstborn. All of the previous plagues blend into the background in comparison to this plague which is transformed into the most important “Festival Event” in Judaism – the Passover – and subsequently into the Christian understanding of Holy Communion which finds its roots in the Passover Jesus celebrated with his disciples on the night before his crucifixion. If one were to comment just on the telling of the story one would need to conclude that it unfolds “raggedly.” Chapter 11 begins with similar language in the telling of each of the other plagues but it interrupted by chapter 12 which describes the religious, ritualized description of how the Passover is to be celebrated. At the end of chapter 12 the actual description of the plagued is picked up again. While that makes for an “uneven” reading of the story it also highlights the importance of Passover which is the reason why the story is told in this way. The Festival of Passover which is to be celebrated yearly is placed in the center of the plague of the death of the firstborn from which the Passover springs. Taken by itself, the story of the death of the firstborn as the tenth plague does not mention the sacrifice of the lambs and the putting of blood on the doorposts of the house. If chapter 12 were omitted one might view the tenth plague as simply one among the others. God had already been sparing the Israelites in the plagues just ahead of this one. The instruction regarding Passover is what makes all the difference! And it is the Passover that lends meaning to the whole event of the plagues, especially the tenth plague of the death of the firstborn. The Passover and the freeing of God’s people from bondage in Egypt is the central, crucial event of the Old Testament. Everything relates back to the Passover and passage through the sea as God’s inauguration of the nation – God’s mighty act of deliverance. We cannot overestimate the importance of the Passover in the story. The whole sacrificial system hinges on the message contained in the story of God commanding his people to sacrifice a lamb and put its blood on the doorposts of the house in remembrance of God deliverance of his people. Christians have seen much more in the Passover than Jewish people. Jesus is the “lamb of God” the “Passover lamb” whose blood is shed for the salvation of the world. Just as the people of the Old Testament were delivered from bondage in the Passover, Christians understand themselves as being delivered from bondage in the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Readers Guide: “The Word for Today” Saturday, October 6, 2012 Read –Exodus 9 & 10 Chapters 9 & 10 continue the story of the plagues. There are some things we should notice about the telling of this story. As the plagues proceed, more and more God’s people are singled out and spared from the plagues. They are called to gather in Goshen where they will be safe and even the Egyptians are given warning that might mitigate the effect of the plagues for them. The plagues are God’s tool of deliverance. God is acting. God is doing battle against Egyptian gods represented by Pharaoh. And God will achieve God’s purposes. At the beginning of the story of the plagues Pharaoh says he does not know who this “Yahweh” is – by the end he will know who “Yahweh” is and he will beg the Israelites to leave. The Egyptian gods represented by Pharaoh are completely defeated by the end of this story.

Readers Guide: “The Word for Today” Friday, October 5, 2012 Read – Exodus 7 & 8 Chapters 7 & 8 begin the story of the plagues through which God will deliver his people. The story is really a contest between the power of God and the power of Egyptian gods represented by Pharaoh who was thought of as a god by many – probably himself included. That may be helpful for us in dealing with that troubling business of Pharaoh’s hardened heart. This is not merely a human struggle. That kind of language is somewhat foreign to most of us and perhaps challenging to our “scientific” world view. We are who we are – but maybe we need to look beyond what shapes us to think “outside the box” in these stories. If we attempt to see them through the lens of our “scientific” world they will be troublesome for us. Of course we can insist that God can do anything which is true but in our “scientific” world view we will then need to claim that most of what happens here is purely an exception to everything else that is knowable in our “scientific” understanding. In the end I don’t think we can reconcile these stories with our “scientific” way of thinking. They are from a different world and we will need to suspend our way of reasoning to hear and understand the story. It does little good to try to explain any of these stories “scientifically.” Of course the question the looms up for us is “did they really happen?” I would say yes but probably not in the way our “scientific” mind forces us to understand them. God did bring plagues through which God did do battle against the forces of Egyptian gods represented by Pharaoh and God did miraculously set his people free from Egyptian bondage. We can confess that – God’s people always have – but after that we simply need to admit that our “scientific” world view comes up short for us.

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Readers Guide: “The Word for Today” Thursday, October 4, 2012 Read – Exodus 5 & 6 The next few chapters of Exodus unfold for us the intense struggle though which the people of God are set free from bondage in Egypt. This story of the freeing of God’s people is at the very heart of the Old Testament message – it is the most important story of God’s Old Testament people! There are also many things in this story that are hard for us to understand – rods turning into snakes, plagues of a strange nature, and maybe most troubling of all, talk of the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart. Chapters 5 & 6 introduce us to the drama. The freeing of God’s people will be no small task. The Egyptians certainly will not give up easily. And the very people who are being freed will offer resistance. Moses will be tested and so will God. But God prevails.

Readers Guide: “The Word for Today” Wednesday, October 3, 2012 Read – Exodus 3 & 4 Chapter 2 ended by telling us of the trouble that Moses experienced when he “remembered” his people the Israelites and needed to flee into the wilderness. Another 40 years had gone by since God first “remembered” until Moses had to flee and now another 40 years have passed until God calls Moses. 40 years is a long time – 80 years is a lifetime for many of us. I don’t know about you but I’m more impatient then God appears to be in this story – and in most of the rest of the Bible story for that matter. How are we to understand these delays? Chapters 3 & 4 tell about the call of Moses as the deliverer God wants to use. Moses will emerge as one of the few dominant characters in the Bible – maybe the most dominant next to Jesus in the New Testament. But his call reveals once again the very humanness of Bible characters. Moses has a whole handful of excuses. God persists and God wins out. How many excuses do we have? Are we in Moses’ company – both in the resisting and finally in the responding? A very important part of the story of the call of Moses is the revealing of God’s name. You may have noticed in the story of Genesis that sometimes God is simply referred to as “God” and at other times God is referred to as “the LORD”, or “the LORD God”. When we see LORD (all in capital letters) in the text what we really need to see is that the word LORD is the name of God revealed in the call of Moses. The Hebrew letters for that name were YHWH which is most likely pronounced Yahweh. In this story of the call of Moses God chooses to reveal to Moses that his name is Yahweh and the implication is that up until that time God’s people had not known that Yahweh was God’s name. What are we to do with all the earlier references in the book of Genesis? The best explanation is to recognize that the stories in Genesis come from a variety of sources – at least two. Remember we had two stories of the creation and two versions of the flood story. The call of Moses belongs to that source which used “God” alone in the earlier story and not to the source that used LORD. All of this is probably not that important but for those who truly want to hear what the Bible says – these questions are important. Knowing these things helps us to understand the Bible better and also to understand that the Bible is both a human and divine book – not just divine as we tend to think. Human beings have a part in the creation of the “Word of God” and that is an amazing and wonderful thing to remember. There is one more thing that is important to know about this name, Yahweh. I have said that in the call of Moses God chooses to reveal his name. But as it turns out this revealing is as much a hiding of the name of God. The word YHWH in Hebrew is a verb – the verb “TO BE” or “IS.” God is a verb. So it turns out not to be a name in the usual way in which we think of a name. Names are nouns that define things. God cannot finally be defined. So God tells Moses to tell the people “I Am” – “Is” – sends you. All of this has implications of course for Christians who will come to know that Jesus is “I am” in the gospel story – and it is this claim that gets Jesus crucified.

Readers Guide: “The Word for Today” Tuesday, October 2, 2012 Read – Exodus 1 & 2 The first thing that is important to recognize as we begin to read the book of Exodus is that about 400 years have gone by – 400 years is a long time! The Bible is completely silent about those years. I don’t know about you but that is surprising to me – maybe even troubling. Did nothing of any importance happen during those years? Was the “covenant relationship” silent too? What was God doing? Of course there is no way to answer any of those questions – and they are not earth-shattering questions but they do give us something to ponder. When we do pick up the story, which is skillfully linked to the story in Genesis, we find out that much has changed. The Egyptians who mourned with the Israelites the deaths of Jacob and Joseph have now forgotten all about them – they do not know Joseph, and his contribution to save the nation from famine. And we also learn that the Israelites, small in number at the beginning, have grown into quite a group of people – by the end of the story we will learn that there are 600,000 men plus women and children. That is no small number! One of the marvels in the story is that they have maintained their identity as children of Abraham. Something must have been happening during those 400 years after all – we just don’t have the story. The tensions in the story are immediately lifted up – the Egyptians find the Israelites to be a threat and are seeking to exterminate them. This is the first “holocaust” but unfortunately it will not be the last. As Christians what we need to hear in this story is first of all the threat to God’s people – but secondly this story is mirrored in Matthew’s telling of the story of the birth of Jesus. As Matthew tells us about Jesus and Herod and the killing of children of Bethlehem and even the dreaming Joseph and the flight to Egypt he wants us to be thinking about this story. Perhaps the most important words in the story that unfolds are written in the final verses of chapter 2 – “God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” God remembered! God raised up Moses who birth story is told just before we are told of this remembering of God. That story has connection with the stories in Genesis too – the “ark” that brought Moses to safety upon the water is reminiscent of the “ark” that rescued Noah and his family in the flood. A powerful theme is beginning to emerge.

Readers Guide: “The Word for Today” Monday, October 1, 2012 Read – Genesis 49 & 50 The first thing we need to notice about chapter 49 is that it is poetic writing – not narrative prose. Most Bibles demonstrate this by putting the text into “verse.” What are we to make of this? Perhaps you have already noticed that the story we are reading is sometimes not “seamless” but occasionally a little “ragged” – that is, the sequence is sometimes broken. What this most likely reflects is that the finished product we have in the Bible is really the weaving together of a number of “sources” of material. Chapter 49 is one of those sources – actually a poetic song of the ancestors. Was it older material or more a recent summary? We don’t know for sure, but the point is that it is beneficial for us to recognize that the Bible as we have it is a compilation – a blending of sources. Recognizing this helps us to understand the message – or is it really messages? – better. Of course it does make listening to the Bible a bit more complicated. I suppose we think we really would like a Bible that was delivered to us “right from the hand of God.” But the truth is that what we have in the Bible is a reflection of the relationship between God and human beings – both have a hand in the story. I for one think that is far better. God takes us seriously and we can take God and one another more seriously too. And with this attitude we do the Bible more justice. Chapter 49 does have a couple of things to reveal to us. The two tribes highlighted are Judah and Joseph. The tribe of Joseph is known to us in the rest of the story by the name of Ephraim, one of Joseph’s sons, and it does seem that these two are dominant in the story. Perhaps it is best to listen to this chapter as a “song” meant to tell the people something of their heritage – long since slipped into history’s past – something like our stories of “ancient” American history – things like George Washington and the cherry tree. They function also as Jacob’s way of summarizing the story and “blessing” all his sons – though some of the declarations don’t sound much like “blessings.” The end of chapter 49 and on into chapter 50 bring the story of the “patriarchs” to a fitting end. We ought to notice the intense mourning of the Egyptians in this story – as well as the Israelites. The story reflects a positive connection between Israel and Egypt – that will end soon enough and the next time we listen to this story it will be one of intense hatred between Egypt and Israel. But for now we need to ponder the harmony. Does such a reality provide us any hope as we think about enemies in our world? I am struck by the surprises of Ishmael and Isaac burying their father, Abraham; of Jacob and Esau burying their father, Isaac; and Egyptians and Israelites mourning together at the burial of Jacob – and it gives me hope. As we leave the book of Genesis a few comments about the whole book might be helpful. First of all we can now see that this book falls into four cycles of stories. Chapters 1-11 stand apart as stories about the origins of all things and they are foundational to the rest of the story and some of the most important chapters in the Bible. Chapter 12-25 are a cycle of stories about Abraham, the father of the nation of Israel and the first truly historical character in the story. Chapters 26-36 are a cycle of stories about Jacob and the establishment of the twelve tribes who will play such an important part in the rest of the story. And Chapters 37-50 are really one “short story” about Joseph and how God’s people found themselves in Egypt. There is purpose in how this story has been weaved together. Those who gave us the story that we now have are really brilliant in their work. And in the end it is the story as we have it now that really matters.