Noah

Genesis 9:8-28 (NRSV)

Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, “As for me, I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark. I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.”

The sons of Noah who went out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Ham was the father of Canaan. These three were the sons of Noah; and from these the whole earth was peopled.

Noah, a man of the soil, was the first to plant a vineyard. He drank some of the wine and became drunk, and he lay uncovered in his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father; their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father’s nakedness. When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him, he said,

“Cursed be Canaan;
    lowest of slaves shall he be to his brothers.”

He also said,

“Blessed by the Lord my God be Shem;
    and let Canaan be his slave.
May God make space for Japheth,
    and let him live in the tents of Shem;
    and let Canaan be his slave.”

After the flood Noah lived three hundred fifty years. All the days of Noah were nine hundred fifty years; and he died.

I recently saw the new Hollywood production of "Noah."  I liked it both more and less than I thought I would:  I was pleasantly surprised by what I felt was a lot of attention to Biblical detail.  But I was also not entirely a fan of some of the details.  

But this is a reflection, not a review, and I should say that one of the objections I read in some reviews of the film was that Noah ends up drunk at the end of the film.  There seems to be a need in some Christian circles to sanitize Biblical characters.  

Well, here we have it.  God makes a covenant with Noah and Noah goes and gets drunk and the curses his grandson for his son seeing him naked.

For me, there is no need to sanitize Noah.  In the whole sweep of Biblical history the hope I keep clinging to is God's devotion to this imperfect people. God chooses - and uses - people of all stripes.

Through Noah God has renewed his creation and has promised never to destroy it again by flood.  Since the time of Noah, we have all gotten a lift in our hearts when we see a rainbow across the sky.

Noah has cursed his son and that curse will play out on the Biblical stage in the land of Canaan.  From Shem will come Abraham, whose descendants will be given Canaan as their Promised Land.

God made something out of Noah and through Noah made a promise to his creation.  God can make something out of anyone.  No need to sanitize it.

God all all creation, use us for your good will.  Even when we fall short, which happens more perhaps that we'd like to admit.  Amen.

Cain and Abel

Genesis 4:1-16 (NRSV)

Now the man knew his wife Eve, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have produced a man with the help of the Lord.” Next she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a tiller of the ground. In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel for his part brought of the firstlings of his flock, their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it.”

Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let us go out to the field.” And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” And the Lord said, “What have you done? Listen; your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground! And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you till the ground, it will no longer yield to you its strength; you will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.” Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear! Today you have driven me away from the soil, and I shall be hidden from your face; I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and anyone who meets me may kill me.” Then the Lord said to him, “Not so! Whoever kills Cain will suffer a sevenfold vengeance.” And the Lord put a mark on Cain, so that no one who came upon him would kill him. Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord, and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

The question that has always haunted me - even perhaps more than why did Cain kill Abel - is this:

Why did God prefer Abel and his offering?

Or maybe it is this: DID God prefer Abel and his offering?  I know the text says God had regard for Abel's and not for Cain's.  But there seems to be a big gaping hole here about why.

I've heard it said that God preferred Abel's because it was a blood offering.  You get into that whole sacrifice thing there.  Maybe. But that doesn't really fit with the God that I see over and over in scripture.

It's clear something is missing here.  Perhaps it has to do with Abel's generosity versus Cain's - it was the firstlings of the flock Abel brought: the desirable, fatty, portion.  Abel brought his best.

Cain brought fruit of the ground.  My hunch tells me there is something to that.

But whatever it is, in the end, despite being haunted by the question, I don't really any longer think this is a story so much about actual preference as a story about God knowing hearts.  God knowing where Abel's offering came from.  God knowing where Cain's came from.

God knowing that since that fall, that the human heart was vulnerable to selfishness and jealousy.

That as long as there were humans, there would be oppression and death and anger and hatred.  In this story after all we have the genesis of a darkness in humans that would lead to God's wanting to completely start over with the flood.

And all of that lurked in Cain's heart.

And he isn't alone.

Yet even here - even in the Old Testament that many bemoan is full of stories of an angry, wrathful God - God's grace completes the story. Cain is not killed for his transgressions.  God protects him.

But the movement of death has begun.  It's a dance that will continue through the Hebrew scriptures and into today.

You are the Lord of Life!  God, help me to live under your light shining in the darkness.  Heal me from the temptations of anger and vengeance and jealousy, knowing that they lead to death.  Lead me instead to generosity, grace, and compassion, knowing that that is where life is found.  Amen.

Adam and Eve

God's People: Adam and Eve

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!  I took some time during the past week to visit my aunt, who had been in the hospital until later in the week, and to think about what to do next with my daily devotional.  I think my time with the ELCA readings are spent for now.

So, I have come up with something new.  Let's take a look at God's people in Scripture.  Who they are, how they play a part further God's story, and what if anything we can learn from them.

First, since they were first, Adam and Eve.

Genesis 2:7-8 &15-24 (NRSV)

 7 then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being. 8 And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed.9 Out of the ground the Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.”

18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.” 19 So out of the ground the Lord God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. 20 The man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the air, and to every animal of the field; but for the man there was not found a helper as his partner. 21 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then he took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22 And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. 23 Then the man said,

“This at last is bone of my bones
    and flesh of my flesh;
this one shall be called Woman,
    for out of Man this one was taken.”

24 Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh. 25 And the man and his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed.

Adam's name literally means "dust from the ground."  He is, as I've heard other's call him, "Dustman" or "Dirtman."   But it isn't so much a name here, as it is a description of his creation - of his genesis.

The woman will not get a name until the next chapter.  Until after the fall. (We seem to know more about the fall then we do about life before the fall, don't we)?  

I have always seen this section of Genesis as somewhat comedic.  And it's important to note that it is a second view of the creation story.  Here God makes Adam before the animals, and then parades them in front of him to see if any would be good helpers or partners for him.

And the man names then.  Names them, perhaps, because they aren't indeed proper partners for him.  Instead, they are creatures for the man to watch over as part of his stewardship of creation.

But the woman - created from the man is part of the man.  And so, here, in this perfect creation, equal to the man.  He does not name her.  Instead, she is his partner and together they are one.

It is only after the fall that this all falls apart (pun intended).  After the fall is not God's intended view for creation.  After the fall is humankind asserting their own will.  Their own way.  God's grace protects them, but death and sin and disobedience have come into the world and are not God's will for the world.

It is only then that Adam names his wife.  With the advent of sin, the rules have changed. God's holistic creation has been turned upside down.  

The trajectory from here on out in the Bible will always be about God's continued desire to return the creation back to the hope of its promise.  It will be about God building relationship with his people in attempts to bring creation back to its intended place as a blessing.  The arc of God's relationships with the people in scripture will build and fall apart and grow and change and lead ultimately to God doing something new and bold and permanent and fixed in the person of Jesus.

So, I will spend some time with some of them that have stood out to me over the years as we move through the books in the Bible.

Gracious God, help us to remember that we are fragile.  We are dust.  We often trust too much our own strength and ignore the breath of life that you have implanted in us.  Bring us ever closer to you so that we may be partners of your continual blessing of creation.  Amen.

Preparing for something new....

Preparing for something new....

I've never considered myself to be artistic or even creative per se.  However, the writing process has always been the one place where I've felt creative juices going.  It's also the place where I practice disciple.  Strange bedfellows sometimes, creativity and discipline...

Commenting on the ELCA's daily devotional texts was a primary way to help me focus on the discipline of writing.  But I was beginning to feel my creative juices begin to wane with those texts.  I was longing, I think, for some kind of thread to tie the daily devotionals together, but also just for something different.  Reflecting on the seven last words of Christ fueled that desire.

I'm not feeling terribly inspired to go back to the daily readings.  So, I am taking this week off to think, pray, and look into something else to focus on.  I will begin again next week - or sooner if something strikes me sooner - and am open to any kind of suggestions.  Perhaps a book of the Bible?  Perhaps people of the Bible?  Perhaps concepts of the Bible?  Feel free to comment in the comment section.  (for those who get my devotionals via email, you can comment at the blog site here: http://wanderingaim-fully.blogspot.com)

In the meantime, here is a quote to ponder for the day.  I just finished reading this wonderful book by Rob Bell:  What We Talk About When We Talk About God.  I highly recommend it.

“What we see in these passages [in scripture] is God meeting people, tribes, and cultures right where they are and drawing and inviting and calling them forward, into greater and greater shalom and respect and rights and peace and dignity and equality. It's as if human history were progressing along a trajectory, an arc, a continuum; and sacred history is the capturing and recording of those moments when people became aware that they were being called and drawn and pulled forward by the divine force and power and energy that gives life to everything.” 

God of all creation, call us forward.  Inflame our hearts to love and serve you and our neighbors.  Move your creative process in and around us so that we may find who it is you long for us to be.  Amen.

Seven Last Words of Jesus: Seven

"Father, into your hands I commend my spirit." - Luke 23:46


The backdrop for these, Jesus' final words, is dramatic.  Darkness has come over the whole land.  The very light of the sun has failed in middle of the afternoon, and the temple curtain has torn in two.  It had to seem a setting of utter hopelessness.

And yet in this final moment Jesus displays complete and utter trust.

Again, we are getting a quote from a psalm.  This time, Psalm 31, a Psalm of David:

³ "You are indeed my rock and my fortress;
   for your name’s sake lead me and guide me, 
⁴ take me out of the net that is hidden for me,
   for you are my refuge. 
⁵ Into your hand I commit my spirit;
   you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God."

In life, Jesus perfectly displayed faith in God and now in death, it is not surprising that he does as well.  Despite the sorrow around him - sorrow displayed by the very world itself - Jesus lets go of life with the very calm and trust and assurance he always had.

This trust of God has a forward looking sense to it.  In Psalm 31, David tells God that he has been redeemed by God.  In these last moments of Jesus then, we can enter into that same hope.  

That death does not have the final word.

God of life, let our trust in you be complete.  Help us to let go and fall into your open arms with the same hope of Jesus, in whose perfect love and faith is our salvation.  Amen.

Seven Last Words of Jesus: Six

"It is finished." - John 19:30


I like superhero movies.  OK, not all superhero movies.  But I like many movies where the heroes set out on a mission to save the galaxy or the world - or at least New York City - and as the end nears, and it really looks like they aren't going to make it, they get the upper hand and save the day.

There are cheers then of "Mission Accomplished!" and everyone hugs and wipes their brow with a collective "whew!"

Batman saving Gotham City from the Joker.  Luke Skywalker letting go of that photon torpedo to destroy the Death Star.  Iron Man rescuing the little Afghani village.  Superman turning the earth backwards to save Lois Lane. Aragorn routing the forces of Sauron with the Army of the Dead.  

Big. Heroic. Moments.

Sometimes, however, the biggest of missions come to an end in what seem like small, intimate moments.

Sometimes the hero accomplishes the mission with a simple: "It is finished."

It's done.  Mission accomplished.

As Jesus closes his eyes for the last time in the Gospel of John, it is again with the assurance that he is in command of the situation.  Perhaps he is relieved also that the pain is over, but the Greek verb here "teleo" indicates completion. Jesus has finished what he set out to do.  From the moment right before Jesus' arrest, we know Jesus is in control as John tells us that Jesus was "knowing all that was going to happen to him" and went willingly to his fate.  

Scripture had been fulfilled and salvation had burst forth.  The cross revealed God's full love to a broken world.

Of course, we know that God was not quite done yet.

God of power and mystery, you saved us through an act of self-sacrificial love.  It is hard to understand why sometimes and hard to fathom it all, and yet we know one thing: your love for us is boundless and far reaching enough that there is nothing you would not do to show us.  Amen

Seven Last Words of Jesus: Five

"I am thirsty." - John 19:28

Yesterday, I said that while some thought that Jesus' cry to ask why God had forsaken him could be a quote from Psalm 22, I felt that likely it was more Mark's highlighting Jesus' humanity.

Here we have a similar situation.  Jesus is thirsty, and that very thirst reminds us of his very human reality.  However, we also again have Old Testament scriptures to call back to.  

Psalm 43: "My soul thirsts for God, the living God."

Psalm 69: "They gave me poison for food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink."  

Psalm 107:  "Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted within them."

Isaiah 21: "Bring water to the thirsty, meet the fugitive with bread."

Here I think John was very comfortable having Jesus' thirst be foremost a direct reference back to the the scriptures.  John as a gospel writer was all about showing Jesus as a the fulfillment of scripture.

In the Gospel of John, Jesus' march to the cross is very different than in the other gospels.  He is portrayed a much stronger and very much in control of the entire situation.  Was Jesus thirsty?  Undoubtedly.  Regardless of how strong he is in John's gospel, the reality of the crucifixion can't be denied.  He suffered and was no doubt thirsty.

But also in John, I can not help but remembering Jesus' encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well.  He came to her thirsty, asking for water.  Yet he came also as the antidote to her own thirst - one she did not even realize she had.  He came as living water, and is also the Bread of Life. Jesus is the antidote to our hunger and our thirst.

In the tale of the Samaritan woman ironically the woman never gives Jesus his water.  She drops her jug and goes to spread the news of who Jesus is. 

Now, Jesus is thirsty again.  The living water is thirsty.  Will we, like the Samaritan woman, be quenched of our own thirst and spread the news of where other can get that living water as well? 

Gracious Lord, you seek to satisfy the hunger and thirst of all your children.  You indeed hunger for our satisfaction.  Help us to satisfy the hunger and thirst of those who still need both the living water and bread of life you offer, but also food and drink to fill their empty bellies.  Amen.