Genesis 13:1-18 Change, and the Promise of the Land

Observation: Right on the heals of the famine that drove them to Egypt, Abram and Sarai return to the Negeb (southern Israel). And the tide has turned: not only is Abram blessed with tons of livestock and possessions, his son Lot is as well, to the point where "the land could not support the two of them living together." It's fascinating to me that, even at the dawn of humanity, people recognized that the earth's resources need time to recover and it was possible to ruin the very land which gives you life. So Abram and Lot decide to part ways, so that their families can be at peace. 

Application: Goodbyes are hard. Change is hard. Sometimes we will stay in a familiar situation, just because it's familiar, even if it becomes unhealthy for everyone involved. I can relate to Abram and Lot, both of them knowing it's time to split up, but wondering who will have the courage to say it. 

I appreciate Abram's leadership in this moment, saying the hard thing: that it's time for change. Not only that, but allowing Lot, who is younger and less experienced, to have his pick of the land, so that he can thrive, was a mature decision. 

There have been times in my life when I've been in a comfortable place, and yet not growing as I should, or bearing the fruit God needs me to bear for the sake of God's Reign. Saying "goodbye" to comfort and "hello" to challenge and growth is excruciating, and the pain sometimes lasts for years. After Lot settled in....drumroll please....Sodom, I bet he had nights thinking back, saying, "Things weren't perfect with Abram, but I sure wish I could go back to that stability." But his path had moved on from there, and the same God who gave him abundance in the past, walks with him into the future. 

Prayer: God, change is hard. Help me bear it, and be there for others who are also grieving what was, so that we can find you in what is, and what is yet to be. Amen.   

Genesis 12:10-20 Abram and Sarai Immigrate to Egypt

Observation: Abram and Sarai Immigrate to Egypt because there is a famine in their own country. What Abram does seems ill-advised to me. He's worried about being killed, and having his wife Sarai stolen by the Egyptians. So he tells people she's his sister, which leads to Pharaoh marrying Sarai, and God sends a plague in retribution, and Abram and Sarai end up getting kicked out of Egypt when Pharaoh finds out the truth. To me it seems like Abram panicked and ruined a potentially good situation. But then, I've never had to pick up and go to a foreign country because of famine. In the ancient world, this happened often.

Application: One take-away I get from this is to just be honest and trust in God. God had already promised land to Abram's offspring. Why would God do that if Abram was about to get murdered in Egypt?

But another takeaway I get is that God's command to "welcome the stranger" comes right out of Abram's and Sarai's experience. God's people know what it's like to be immigrants, to have to leave home for an unfamiliar place, and hide a part of themselves for fear of rejection or worse. God's people are called to have compassion for immigrants because we all were immigrants once--even Abram and Sarai.

Prayer: God, remind me of my immigrant roots, and help me reach out in love to those new to my community and my country. Amen. 

Acts 19:28-41 Jesus Vs Profitable Gods

Observation: Another great story from the Book of Acts. Today's snippet comes from Ephesus, where Paul's preaching about Jesus has gotten him into trouble with some devotees of Ephesus' patron goddess: Artemis, the Greek goddess of the hunt. These fine, red-blooded patriotic local folks are in an uproar about Paul's preaching of this foreign god, and start chanting "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!" My favorite verse says that in the chaos, "some were shouting one thing, some another, and most of them did not know why they had come together." If that doesn't describe human behavior around controversial issues, I don't know what does. One thing our reading for today does not reveal: Paul's chief adversaries are those who make a bundle of money selling silver Artemis statues...

Application: After over a thousand years of Christianity being a dominant faith in Western society, it's hard to imagine what it would be like for Jesus to be a "foreign" god. What if you had never heard his name before? What if you had been raised to believe your nation had a special patron god, who bestowed blessings and favor only on your community, and looked with approval on all you did, so long as you made sacrifices to your national god? Suppose into the midst of your community walked a preacher, who had a bigger story to tell? The story of a God who loves, not just you and your town, but everyone? Even those who don't believe? Even your enemies? Suppose this God loved this world so much, that, rather than demanding our sacrifices, he sacrificed himself, to save us from our own worst, most hateful impulses? Suppose this God required no membership fee, no sacrifices, but only your trust?

I'll be honest: I think that this God, to many, remains a "foreign" God. Jesus will continue to be a "foreign" God, for as long as there is money to be made, and influence to be gained, by preaching a more exclusive, nationalistic, prejudiced "god". As long as there is someone out there saying God loves only who we love and hates who we hate, that God wants us to be rich and is okay with others living hand to mouth, that God blesses everything we already feel like doing, and absolves us from any responsibility to do more, Jesus of Nazareth will remain a foreign God.

Be assured: if we think preaching the real Jesus, who blessed the poor and the mourning, who healed and fed the crowds for free, who commanded us to love our enemies, couldn't cause a riot today, maybe Jesus is a little "foreign" to us, too.

Prayer: Jesus, may we live your way in this world, no matter the consequences. May I be a little more like you today, and a little more "foreign" to this world as it is. Amen.   

Psalm 64 Preserve my Life from the Dread Enemy

Observation: There is kind of an established genre of Psalms that cry for God's help from an earthly enemy. It seems from the language that this enemy is an insidious one, plotting in secret, laying snares and ambushing innocent people.

Application: Reflecting on my week so far, this psalm doesn't connect with for me any particular human enemy, but more the enemy within: addiction. Addictions are just like any living creature. They will do anything they can to survive. But unlike most living creatures, they have our own minds--our imaginations, our sense of reason, our capacity for deception--at their full disposal. Addictions do not distinguish rich from poor, right from wrong. They only want to survive, and for that, they need our substance or behavior of choice. They are a formidable enemy.

At the beginning of this week, I attended a training with Hope Not Handcuffs, to become a volunteer "Angel" on call to help individuals who have resolved to get clean from opioid addiction. Pictured above is my Naloxone kit, which every volunteer received. In the event of an opiate overdose, these kits can instantly reverse the effects of an opioid for 30 to 90 minutes while EMTs are on their way. Despite a lot of misinformation floating around, this is a one-time drug, it costs about $150 per dose, and it doesn't get anyone high or enable their habit. On the contrary, its sole purpose is to save the lives of people who would otherwise die of an overdose.

Another fact I learned is that on average, a person addicted to opioids tries to get clean at least seven times before successfully doing so. Facing that strong of an enemy, I'm glad to be enlisted as an ally. If you have any interest in this program, I'd encourage you to check out their website and see if you can be of help in your area.

As the psalmist says, "the human heart and mind are deep." We are too smart for our own good sometimes, and we have so much capacity to be our own worst enemy, to deceive and do harm to ourselves. But we are better together than alone, and we are best when we enlist God's help. We all have demons of some form. I'll gladly have your back as you fight yours, and I always appreciate prayers as I fight mine.

Prayer: God, be our help and our warrior as we struggle with strong enemies. Be our strength when we feel weak. Draw us together when we feel alone. Amen.

Proverbs 3:13-18 Woman Wisdom, the Treasure of God

Observation: In the book of Proverbs, God's wisdom is personified as a woman, inviting all people to a feast of knowledge. This section is like a love poem to her, saying she is worth more than any earthly treasure.

Application: I remember an old school camp song that was based on this passage,

"Lord, you are more precious than silver/ Lord, you are more costly than gold/ Lord, you are more beautiful than diamonds/ and nothing I desire compares with you."

It's a beautiful song, but I never knew that this original scripture passage described God's Wisdom, which is named as a woman.

When I think of God's wisdom this way, it helps me remember that God is beyond any one gender--God invented genders, after all--and it helps me remember all the wise women who have helped me grow. Teachers, camp counselors, church women, and most importantly my sisters, my Mom, my wife and my daughter, have all shown forth God's wisdom for me. When we only think of God as male, we tend not to notice so many of the ways God shows up to teach us in our lives. I'm grateful for God's wisdom, and the women who have helped me see it. It really is more precious than silver and gold.

Prayer: God, thank you for raising me, for teaching me, for loving and supporting me. Thanks for being a mother to me. Amen.

Joel 2:18-29 The Spirit of Life

Text: Joel 2:18-29

Observation: I notice in this text that God promises abundant rains, harvests, food, to the land and creatures, to make up for the desolation of locusts, which was punishment for human wrongdoing. I also notice that the promise to nourish the creation is directly followed up by the promise to "pour out my Spirit on all flesh," for all people regardless of social status. God promises to care for the whole people and the whole land, body and soul.  This reminds me of psalm 104 from yesterday, that God's Spirit "renews the face of the Earth".

Application: Sometimes I try to separate out physical, mental, and spiritual wellness. Maybe I'll go all out on diet & exercise (this rarely happens, but sometimes...) and then neglect prayer & devotions. Or I'll get into a routine talking with a counselor but let that old elliptical machine collect dust.

When this happens, some part of me knows something's off. God cares about the whole person, mind, body & spirit, and so should I. You can't just work on one at a time.

But the grace I see here, is that God's Spirit comes to help us as whole people. The Holy Spirit cares for me, mind, body and soul, and also cares for the land and creatures where I live. By my own work, I can't care for myself, much less my family, my congregation, my planet. But when the Spirit comes, I am able to do a little at a time, the next right thing, and that's enough.

Prayer: Lord, send forth your Spirit and renew the face of the Earth, and of my life too. Amen. 

Romans 12:9-16 The Rollercoaster of Compassion

Observation: It's typical as Paul is closing a letter to offer a series of moral imperatives. There are a lot of good ones in here. The one that stands out to me most today is "rejoice with those who rejoice. Weep with those who weep."

Application: The hardest part about being a Christian is that compassion is not optional. This is not advanced, senior-thesis stuff. It's the most basic introductory, 100-level teaching of Jesus: "do unto others as you would have done to you."

It doesn't matter how near or far away someone is, how similar to or different from me. We need not share the same religious views, or political convictions or moral values. We don't have to have the same sexual orientation, or gender identity, or even concept of what gender is. We don't have to have the same legal status in this country, or have an equally clean criminal record. We don't have to like each other, or even believe the other is doing more good than harm in this world. A person doesn't have to be sober, or in recovery, or even trying to get help to warrant my compassion.

 If I am serious about actually following Jesus, then I need to imitate his way of life, and that means if you are rejoicing, I have to rejoice with you, and if you are weeping, I have to weep with you. That doesn't mean sharing your views about what is worthy of rejoicing or weeping. It means being aware of your joy or pain, and treating it with as much reverence and seriousness as my own. It's exhausting, and it means I have to listen to the news and listen to my neighbor when I don't always feel like it. But I do it because I trust Jesus, and Paul whom he sent out, that this is ultimately the best way to live.

Pray: God, fill me with joy for those who have joys today. Help me to grieve with those who are grieving today. Amen.