Reflexion Connexion

A World of Weirdness

“Now behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have magnified your lovingkindness, which you have shown me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, for the disaster will overtake me and I will die; now behold, this town is near enough to flee to, and it is small. Please, let me escape there (is it not small?) that my life may be saved.” Genesis 19:19-20

INTRO: This is another flood-type story – an act of divine judgment that “cleans the slate”

In fact, specific details link the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah to the earlier flood event
– these don’t make for best-selling stories or sermons in our culture
• they remind us of the ugliest expressions of judgmental religion
– but if we’re going to take scripture seriously we have to must look at them
• acts of divine judgment tell us:
○ it does matter to God how we treat him and others
○ there are consequences to human choices and actions

Nevertheless, only a believer with a sick mind could relish the anguish of people who are punished by God
– God certainly doesn’t enjoy it, “I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked . . .” (Ezekiel 33:11)
– in fact, he has placed his people in the world to prevent its decay into judgment
• that’s what it is to be the “salt of earth” and “light of the world” (Matthew 5:13-16)
• so the way we want to approach stories like this, is with great humility

These events are a continuation of last week’s story read more…

Now As For You . . .

Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him,
“I am God Almighty;
Walk before Me, and be blameless.
I will establish My covenant between Me and you;
And I will multiply you exceedingly.”

Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him saying,
“As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you
And you will be the father of a multitude of nations.
No longer shall your name be called Abram,
But your name shall be Abraham;
For I will make you the father of a multitude of nations . . .” Genesis 17:1-6

INTRO: I wonder if, at ninety-nine, Abram was ready for this

I imagine him responding,
“Walk before You, Lord? Could I just sit in a chair and rock before You?”

Last week Dad was in the hospital for a surgical procedure
– I spent three sleepless nights with him
• the most difficult part was watching him cough
• the most encouraging part was watching him work at his recovery
– at eighty-six, nothing is easy for him
• in early June, when I spent a week with my folks, both of them at different times said to me,
“Chuck, don’t get old”
– Yesterday morning, I sat by the window waiting for Dad to wake up
• I was in Psalm 150 and the words, “Let everything that has breath . . .” hit hard
• the purpose of Dad’s surgery was to help increase the volume of air he inhales with each breath
○ I wrote in my notebook:
“I have to say, regarding Dad’s attitude and fight, he is an excellent example for me. ‘More like Dad . . .’”

So Abram was old, but his journey wasn’t over
– and I think that’s all I want to say today read more…

Desperate Decisions

Now Sarai, Abram’s wife had borne him no children, and she had an Egyptian maid whose name was Hagar. So Sarai said to Abram, “Now behold, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Please go in to my maid; perhaps I will obtain children through her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.

So Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar had bore, Ishmael. Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to him. Genesis 16:1-2, 15-16

INTRO: Reading the first and last sentences of chapter 16 could give us the wrong idea about this story

It begins, “problem stated” and ends, “problem solved”
– but the brilliance of the story is what goes on in between
• brewing within is the tension that drives plot — otherwise, there is no story, only details
• the tension erupts between the two women who are associated with Abram

Vv. 1-3, The storyteller provides no moral commentary regarding their actions

Whether what they did was right or wrong, sinful or righteous, there’s no clue

“Pious” commentators can’t stand this
– so they provide titles for this type of story like, “Abram and Sarai’s Sin” or “Abram’s Lapse of Faith”
• they feel it’s necessary for them to tell Bible readers, “This is not how we solve our problems”
○ as if anyone reading this story would draw that conclusion
○ it’s obvious, this was a different time and culture, and these were unusual circumstances
• the storyteller has no problem adding moral commentary when it is called for
○ Adam and Eve, Cain, Tower of Babel, etc.
○ but there’s none given in this instance and we don’t need to insert any

Here we simply have normal people trying to understand God’s will read more…

Reducing the Stress of Strife

Now Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents. And the land could not sustain them while dwelling together, for their possessions were so great that they were not able to remain together. And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. Genesis 13:5-7

INTRO: Why is the term “spiritual journey” a good metaphor for the Christian life?

. . . .

There’s an important lesson in Genesis 13 about how spiritual growth occurs
– the word translated “journey” in verse 2 means “starting point” or “stage” (of journey)
• Abram’s journey took him “from the Negev . . . to the place where his tent had been”
The lesson: we grow by leaving one place and arriving at another
– or leaving one thing to take up another

When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things (1 Cor. 13:11)

Notice that Abram returned to “place [he] had been at the beginning”
-it’s as if he made a wrong move and had to start over
• so he returned to the “place of the altar” – that’s where we go to start over
• we return to that vital connection with God
– so sometimes our progress is backward, before resuming our forward movement

Vv. 5-7, God’s blessings put a strain on their relationship

Literally, “the land could not bear them to dwell together”
– they became a drain on the land’s limited resources
– so the unpleasant interaction between their hired hands began to erupt read more…

Abram Journeyed On

Now the LORD said to Abram,
“Go forth from your country,
And from your relatives,
And from your father’s house,
To the land which I will show you . . . Genesis 12:1-2

INTRO: When and where do you exercise your creativity?

Some of us sketch or write poems, others are creative in the kitchen or garden

Dorothy Sayers, famous author of mystery novels, asked, What is the image of God in humans?
– she said arguments could be made to support “rationality . . . self-consciousness . . . free choice”
– but Genesis had not given us detailed information about God before it says we were made in His image

Sayers, “ . . . we find the only single assertion, ‘God created.’ The characteristic common to God and [humans] is apparently that: the desire and the ability to make things.”

Our bodies have certain basic needs, that if not met, they die
– the same is true of our souls – “soul” — that is to say, our essential self
– one of its basic needs is to creatively express itself
• if it doesn’t do this, or if it isn’t allowed to, it atrophies

To know our truest form of creative self-expression, we have to know who we are
– you and I must each know our own soul
• that’s what we’ll consider here – how Abram discovered himself
• to be clear on where this will take us, always in scripture to know God is to discover one’s self

I will highlight key words that indicate the process of Abram’s self-discovery read more…

Of Covenants and Autonomy

Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying, “Now behold, I Myself do establish My covenant with you, and with your descendants after you; and with every living creature that is with you . . . Genesis 9:8-10

INTRO: We’re ready to move on in the Genesis story, but we need to tie up a few loose ends

God is re-starting creation with Noah and his family
– so he repeats his original blessing and instructions (cf. Ge. 1:28 & 9:1)
• only, at this point God adds something to their diet (9:3)
• eating meat raises an issue regarding blood and its sacredness (9:4-7)
○ we discern a flashback to Abel’s innocent blood
• they are to propagate human life, not take it
○ God’s stamp on the human person–his own image
○ this means that in all the universe nothing is of greater value than a human person

God then made a universal covenant (9:-17)
– “covenant” is one of the Bible’s central themes
• in fact, our whole Bible is divided according to the “Old” covenant (“testament”) and the “New”
• the purpose of a covenant is to strengthen trust and give assurance – it is a guarantee
○ it is tangible evidence of a promise
• a covenant creates a bond between the parties involved
– some sort of physical evidence is agreed on as “a sign” (like the wedding ring)
• bread and wine representing the body and blood of Jesus are the signs of the new covenant (Lk. 22:20)
• to form a rainbow, there must be a cloud, rain, and sunlight
○ this would a great place for Noah’s story to end, underneath the shimmering bow

Epilogue: Noah’s farming experiment (9:20-27)
– this lapse of character  occurred after the flood (previously he was “blameless”)
• the temptations most difficult to resist do not always come to us during the crisis
– but why does Noah’s story have to end on this unpleasant note? read more…