Read this week's text - Isaiah 64:1-9 Have you ever played hide n seek with a young child? They simply can't stand to be hidden for long. Give it less than five minutes of us asking, "Where could she be?" and the child is waving her hand saying, "I'm here, I'm over here." And then on the flipside, at about the same age, a child often believes if he can't see you then you can't see him. Years ago, during moving day, a box fell beside my three year old niece. We all rushed to see if she was alright. And there she stood in the middle of the living room with her eyes closed. She wouldn't respond to us saying it was alright. She wouldn't open her eyes to see what had happened. She was taking comfort in believing that as long as she couldn't see what happened, we couldn't either. Seeing and being seen is not so straight forward. The writer believes God has hidden in anger. In their sin, they had become like a filthy cloth. The best translation is a menstruation cloth. The writer is saying that their lives had become like the object that collects proof that there is no life. Ask any couple trying to conceive what the onset of menstruation means - there is no life. So, has God hidden then or is it that they're lives no longer cultivate life. What does it mean when it feels as though our lives are no longer a proper environment for life to grow? What happens to our relationship with God when our lives become arid? At what point does it feel God has hidden as opposed to we have ceased to support life? We begin our journey of Advent pointing the finger at ourselves not at God. And yet so often when we believe God is hidden we fault God. We focus on the hidden part of the equation and not our part. I wonder if we are not a little bit like a child with her eyes closed. Not willing to look at what's going on, perhaps frightened by loud sounds. If I can't see Gd, then God can't see me either. The writer, the prophet is asking us to open our eyes and look around. I can't help but wonder if when we open our eyes, we will find that God is not hidden at all. In fact, God is beside us saying, "I can see you." And perhaps that is why we keep our eyes closed.
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This week's text: Psalm 100 The most joyful noise I hear in my life right now is the sound of my grandson, Mateo's laugh. He's three months old and he has begun to laugh. My eldest son, Daniel, and his wife, Faith, adopted a little boy in August. We must wait until February to spread pictures electronically. But there was no wait in systematically falling more in love with him each day. One more sentence about our newest love? He's got these amazing chipmunk cheeks that are simply scrumptious! But the thing that has us in his grip right now is the giggle. It's buoyant and surprising. It's honest in the sense that it's so natural, physiological, as if reminding us that laughing is supposed to happen. When we laugh we our mind has been somehow jostled into clarity. When we smile, our muscles loosen and our mood lifts. When we laugh, we feel the physiological results of it. I love to laugh and I surround myself with funny people. For starters I'm married to one of the funniest people around - although don't tell him I said that because his jokes are so dry they make me thirsty. I can only take so much. I belong to a small group of women pastors who meet each week. They are hilarious and they think I am too, which is so generous. Here's my favorite story of late - We were talking about the kind of prayer requests we field on any given Sunday morning during the prayers of the people and one of them was asked "to pray for the people of Mallomar." I'm giggling as I write that - my eyes squint, my cheeks fill with something unknown and I am making repetitive throat sounds. (Indeed, we pray for the people of Mallomar and their fluffy friends, their rivers of chocolate...) And I can't imagine a Sunday worship service without laughter. The laughter usually begins with the worship team messing around with something before the service - a couple weeks ago, they greeted me by playing a song on the keyboard using a patch that sounded like someone yelping. Imaging yelping out the tune of a hymn. And my congregation generally speaking is completely fine laughing at me, whether I join them or not. I think that's healthy. Because I laugh at them, whether they join me or not too. "Make a joyful noise to the Lord," says the psalmist. "Serve the Lord with gladness," says the psalmist. Is laughter - in church, in conversation or even in private - a joyful noise unto the Lord? Without a disclaimer about how we ought not anthropomorphize God, I'd like to imagine God's response to our laughter quite similar to our response to little Mateo's. It sounds the same every time and yet we are just as thrilled with each note of his giggle song. We do the same things to get a laugh out of him and still we find delight in each responsive giggle. Here's the thing - to get a giggle out of us sometimes takes a lot of work. We are fortified against laughter sometimes, the fort built up by disappointment, disease, and daily news. Sometimes we think we must first get through the serious stuff before we can laugh - a pit that I fall into regularly with my husband always ready with the joke first and the answer second or third or fourth (for the love of God - I'm trying to ask a serious question here, can do you do me the favor of answering it first??!!) If you think about it, we as a culture are looking to satire to give us the news these days with the Daily Show, the Colbert Report and John Oliver's newish show "Last Week Tonight." We're starved for laughter amidst the disappointment, disease and daily news. Dr. Virginia Wiles, one of my beloved professors from New Brunswick Theological Seminary studied stand up comedy during her last sabbatical. Learn more in this article. I wonder if the psalmist would find his or her rank alongside these satirists? I wonder if the psalmist was surrounded by laughter? I wonder if the psalmist wished to be surrounded by laughter? I wonder if you wish to be surrounded by laughter? And I wonder what might happen if God attempted to get a giggle out of you sometime this week? But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, Years after having been raised in the Christian faith, years into bible studies with my peers, years into my own vocation as a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ, I heard this passage for the first time. It is the only place I can tell where requirement is used in relationship to God. What does the Lord require of you? And the kicker is that it gives us an answer. It's not a rhetorical question. The prophet MIcah asks it and answers it according to the word of the Lord he has received, in his context, for the people of God at the time. What does the Lord require of you? Do Justice Love Kindness Walk Humbly These three things are our requirements as people of God. There is no mention of believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. Of course Jesus hadn't been born yet. There is no mention of believing in Messiah. There is no mention of keeping the commandments or the law. There is no mention of going to church. What does the Lord require of you? Do Justice Love Kindness Walk Humbly Which of these three is most difficult for you today? For us Presbyterians, "doing justice" is something we talk about all the time. So, I'm playing around with the middle requirement - Love Kindness. What does it mean for us to love kindness? What kind of life would we lead is kindness was the backdrop of everything we did and said? How would our relationships change if we loved inserting kindness above all else? Would our perspective on life change, and in what way, if we sought out kindness?
It's always been God's kindness that leads us to repentance. It's always been God's steadfast love that continues to call us into right relationship. This was true for Micah; it is true for us. How might kindness draw us into right relationship one again with God? 1 Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man and in high favor with his master, because by him the Lord had given victory to Aram. The man, though a mighty warrior, suffered from leprosy. 2 Now the Arameans on one of their raids had taken a young girl captive from the land of Israel, and she served Naaman's wife. 3 She said to her mistress, "If only my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy." 4 So Naaman went in and told his lord just what the girl from the land of Israel had said. 5 And the king of Aram said, "Go then, and I will send along a letter to the king of Israel." He went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten sets of garments. 6 He brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, "When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you my servant Naaman, that you may cure him of his leprosy." 7 When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, "Am I God, to give death or life, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Just look and see how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me." 8 But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent a message to the king, "Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come to me, that he may learn that there is a prophet in Israel." 9 So Naaman came with his horses and chariots, and halted at the entrance of Elisha's house. 10 Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, "Go, wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean." 11 But Naaman became angry and went away, saying, "I thought that for me he would surely come out, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and would wave his hand over the spot, and cure the leprosy! 12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them, and be clean?" He turned and went away in a rage. 13 But his servants approached and said to him, "Father, if the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? How much more, when all he said to you was, "Wash, and be clean'?" 14 So he went down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; his flesh was restored like the flesh of a young boy, and he was clean. It's another nameless woman that has captured my attention this week. There are two of them in this story - Naaman's wife and her servant, a young woman from Israel. She was captured captured when Israel was at war with Aram and now she serves the wife of the commander of the army of Aram. She is an Israelite, which tribe? We don't know. Does she have family still living? Or did they die in the war? We don't know. We have dialogue... She said to her mistress, "If only my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy." And her words provoke action... "So Naaman went in and told his lord just what the girl from the land of Israel had said." What were the two women doing during this conversation with Naaman's wife? Were they friendly? Was it easy to share her knowledge of the prophet in Samaria? Or was she putting herself at risk by bringing up her homeland? How did she know of the prophet? Had she heard stories? Had she seen miraculous acts? Where did her faith come from? And why was it strong enough to assert when she had lost so much? What fueled or fed her faith? I would ask us those same last questions. Where does our faith come from? Why is it strong enough to assert (or is it) when we have lost things? What fuels or feeds our faith? Faith is listed as a fruit of the Spirit in Galatians. A fruit of the Spirit that is living and active within us, around us and through us. The Spirit lives within us and produces fruit - one of which is faith. The Spirit produces other fruit too - love, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, meekness, self-control. Some of those gifts are produced regularly from the Spirit growing within me and others are less "hearty." When is faith the strong crop in our lives? Under what circumstances is faith a hearty fruit of the Spirit? I believe this young servant woman has something to tell us about that. 4 The king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the principal high place; Solomon used to offer a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. 5 At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, "Ask what I should give you." 6 And Solomon said, "You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant my father David, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you; and you have kept for him this great and steadfast love, and have given him a son to sit on his throne today. 7 And now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David, although I am only a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. 8 And your servant is in the midst of the people whom you have chosen, a great people, so numerous they cannot be numbered or counted. 9 Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, able to discern between good and evil; for who can govern this your great people?" 10 It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this. 11 God said to him, "Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches, or for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, 12 I now do according to your word. Indeed I give you a wise and discerning mind; no one like you has been before you and no one like you shall arise after you. 13 I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor all your life; no other king shall compare with you. 14 If you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your life." 15 Then Solomon awoke; it had been a dream. He came to Jerusalem where he stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. He offered up burnt offerings and offerings of well-being, and provided a feast for all his servants. 16 Later, two women who were prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. 17 The one woman said, "Please, my lord, this woman and I live in the same house; and I gave birth while she was in the house. 18 Then on the third day after I gave birth, this woman also gave birth. We were together; there was no one else with us in the house, only the two of us were in the house. 19 Then this woman's son died in the night, because she lay on him. 20 She got up in the middle of the night and took my son from beside me while your servant slept. She laid him at her breast, and laid her dead son at my breast. 21 When I rose in the morning to nurse my son, I saw that he was dead; but when I looked at him closely in the morning, clearly it was not the son I had borne." 22 But the other woman said, "No, the living son is mine, and the dead son is yours." The first said, "No, the dead son is yours, and the living son is mine." So they argued before the king. 23 Then the king said, "The one says, "This is my son that is alive, and your son is dead'; while the other says, "Not so! Your son is dead, and my son is the living one.' " 24 So the king said, "Bring me a sword," and they brought a sword before the king. 25 The king said, "Divide the living boy in two; then give half to the one, and half to the other." 26 But the woman whose son was alive said to the king—because compassion for her son burned within her—"Please, my lord, give her the living boy; certainly do not kill him!" The other said, "It shall be neither mine nor yours; divide it." 27 Then the king responded: "Give the first woman the living boy; do not kill him. She is his mother." 28 All Israel heard of the judgment that the king had rendered; and they stood in awe of the king, because they perceived that the wisdom of God was in him, to execute justice. Solomon had a dream. Solomon had a dream that he would have an understanding mind. Solomon had a dream that he would have the ability to discern between good and evil. Solomon had a dream that his dreams were pleasing to God and therefore God blessed Solomon with riches and honor. Solomon had a dream that God would lengthen his life if he followed God's ways and follow God's statues and commandments. Solomon had a dream. What's your dream? Of course when I first read the text this time, I laughed at the line that says, "Solomon awoke, it had been a dream." As if the text is teasing us... it was only a dream. The dream is tested with this scene of the two mothers and two babies, one dead and one living. Mothers have dreams too. These dreams can be seen when their children are giggling on the playground. These dreams can be seen when their children are learning to read or write or make friends or face adversity or learn to love. Mothers have dreams too. And Solomon's wisdom sought to find the mother who wishes the child to remain whole, safe, living. This first test foreshadows the largest issue of Solomon's reign - the dividing of the kingdom of Israel. How does Solomon's wisdom fair with this task? Which mother, or ruler, or nurturer, or leader wishes the child to remain whole, safe and living. Solomon has been dream that he would have an understanding mind and be able to discern between good and evil. Mothers have dreams. Kingdoms have dreams. Churches have dreams. And long ago Israel had a dream. His name was Jacob at the time. He dreamed that there was a portal between heaven and earth. He dreamed angels moved back and forth between the realms of God's world. It's been a long time since Israel had that dream. Israel has moved to Egypt and then been delivered from Egypt. Israel has wandered in the desert. Israel has fought for the promised land. Israel has built homes and gardens and schools and places of worship in this promised land. Israel has formed a monarchy. Israel has come a long way since the dream of the portal between heaven and earth. Solomon has inherited this dream of Israel, along with promises made to Noah and Abram. Solomon had inherited the wandering and the fighting for the promised land. Solomon has inherited the monarchy. The young Solomon lives far away from Israel's dream the angels moving back and forth between the realms of God's world. And yet his dream is similar in its meaning - Dear God, give me an understanding mind to govern. Help me to discern between good and evil. Dear God, create in me a portal between heaven and earth that I might understand, that I might discern between good and evil. Solomon had a dream. Mothers have dreams. Israel had a dream. Kingdoms have dreams. Churches have dreams. What's your dream? Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel; and they presented themselves before God. And Joshua said to all the people, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Long ago your ancestors—Terah and his sons Abraham and Nahor—lived beyond the Euphrates and served other gods. Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River and led him through all the land of Canaan and made his offspring many. I gave him Isaac; and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. I gave Esau the hill country of Seir to possess, but Jacob and his children went down to Egypt. Then I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt with what I did in its midst; and afterwards I brought you out. When I brought your ancestors out of Egypt, you came to the sea; and the Egyptians pursued your ancestors with chariots and horsemen to the Red Sea. When they cried out to the Lord, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and made the sea come upon them and cover them; and your eyes saw what I did to Egypt. Afterwards you lived in the wilderness for a long time. Then I brought you to the land of the Amorites, who lived on the other side of the Jordan; they fought with you, and I handed them over to you, and you took possession of their land, and I destroyed them before you. Then King Balak, son of Zippor of Moab, set out to fight against Israel. He sent and invited Balaam son of Beor to curse you, but I would not listen to Balaam; therefore he blessed you; so I rescued you out of his hand. When you went over the Jordan and came to Jericho, the citizens of Jericho fought against you, and also the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; and I handed them over to you. I sent the hornet ahead of you, which drove out before you the two kings of the Amorites; it was not by your sword or by your bow. I gave you a land on which you had not laboured, and towns that you had not built, and you live in them; you eat the fruit of vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant. ‘Now therefore revere the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.’ I preached my first sermon at a Sunday night college ministry at an Assembly of God church. My mentor at the time was the college pastor. He offered a variety of hints and suggestions I'm sure but one has always stuck with me - When you're preaching, he said, answer the question that the smartest person in the room is asking. I remembered his hint this week because I'm stuck with a question from the text that may be the "question the smartest person in the room is asking." (I don't know if I like that distinction because it claims that I know what someone else is thinking and it assumes that I am so smart that I'm assuming what the smart people are thinking. Anyway....) The question: Of the wealth in our lives, where is privilege and what role has God played in it? God says to the people in the text, "I gave you a land on which you had not laboured, and towns that you had not built, and you live in them; you eat the fruit of vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant." It's true - in my professional life, I am receiving the benefits of the hard work of others who have followed God before me in faithfulness and generosity. It's true - in my personal life, I am experiencing the reward of my parent's hard earned money that put me through college, the confidence of colleagues and the constant presence of the Holy Spirit who has sustained me. It's true - I am "eating the fruit" that I did not plant. But it's also true - that we, through the work of the Spirit, are planting fruit faithfully. Can we honestly say that none of the "fruit" we are eating is a result of our hands? None of it? My understanding of privilege tells me that the very fact that I am able to deal in fruit at all, planting, reaping, harvesting, saving seeds and replanting, imagining new vineyards, selling and buying product is a result of privilege. The jobs we have landed, the money in our bank accounts, the food in our refrigerators, the stuff in our closets - the natural result of something having been planted in our lives. But... But... it's also true that we manage that which is cultivated in our lives. We are responsible for tending that which has been planted within us. We have been faithful at the jobs we have landed. We have saved when we could have spent. We have shopped righteously. What is the result of privilege and what is the result of hard work? And what -- honestly, what is the role God has played in our wealth? This is where I can feel the passion of Joshua as he admonishes the people, "Choose who you will serve." When Joshua looks back at the work of his hands, at the courage to take the land, at the destruction of Jericho, as the people changed from wanderers to settlers, Joshua clearly saw the work of the God. Joshua had a long view of history and he must've known that it is so often our propensity as humans to have the short view. We see the here and now, the meal to come and the meal that has just gone. We see the people in our lives today and the news stories that just hit the headlines. The long view and the short view tell different tales and they call for different choices it seems as well. Exodus 19:3 Then Moses went up to God; the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, "Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the Israelites: 4 You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now therefore, if you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession out of all the peoples. Indeed, the whole earth is mine, 6 but you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the Israelites." 7 So Moses came, summoned the elders of the people, and set before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him. 20:1 Then God spoke all these words: 2 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; 3 you shall have no other gods before me. 4 You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, 6 but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments. 7 You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name. 8 Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work. 10 But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it. 12 Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. 13 You shall not murder. 14 You shall not commit adultery. 15 You shall not steal. 16 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. 17 You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor. Are you familiar with Tuckman's stages of group development? "Teams go through stages of development. The most commonly used framework for a team's stages of development was developed in the mid-1960s by Bruce W. Tuckman, now a psychology professor at Ohio State University. Although many authors have written variations and enhancements to Tuckman's work, his descriptions of Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing provide a useful framework for looking at your own team." I hear the 10 commandments as the "norming" phase of group development. The people are formed as slaves in Egypt. They have stormed their way out of slavery and over the sea. It is time for them to "norm." If they are to be a blessing, as Abraham's promise has indicated, they must continue their development as a group so that they can move into the final phase, performing. And honestly, these "norms" are fairly universal. Besides the first four that are particular to their relationship with the LORD, these guidelines provide a safe environment in which the people can settle. As simple as this take might be, what are the norms of your community of faith? I'm in the process of writing a letter to my congregation. They are a recently merged congregation. They have been in the process of "storming" for the last year. It is time to determine what our "norms" will be. Like I said, I'm still in the process of writing the letter but some of the main sections so far are:
And if I take cues from this text, I would include a section about:
This list is much more rich than mine. Honestly, wouldn't our communities of faith be more stable if our allegiance to God came first? Wouldn't we have all the volunteers we need if we got rid of the idols that keep us too busy to be together? How would we be different if we were rested? And if we stopped gossiping, or if we didn't covet one another - our cars, homes, gadgets, jobs - what kind of community might we become? I truly believe community life is better than an isolated life. But community life is hard. I often call it "advanced citizenship." You have to want to live in community because it doesn't come naturally; we have to work at community. And important part of working at it is living by norms. As Pharaoh drew near, the Israelites looked back, and there were the Egyptians advancing on them. In great fear the Israelites cried out to the Lord. They said to Moses, ‘Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us, bringing us out of Egypt? Is this not the very thing we told you in Egypt, “Let us alone and let us serve the Egyptians”? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.’ But Moses said to the people, ‘Do not be afraid, stand firm, and see the deliverance that the Lord will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you see today you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to keep still.’ Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Why do you cry out to me? Tell the Israelites to go forward. But you lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the Israelites may go into the sea on dry ground. Then I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them; and so I will gain glory for myself over Pharaoh and all his army, his chariots, and his chariot drivers. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gained glory for myself over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his chariot drivers.’ "The Egyptians who you see today, you will never see again." Not only will the Hebrew people be free from slavery, they will never have to face their oppressors again. Never see them on the way to the market. Never deal with them at PTA meetings. Never hear of them in the news. Never have them move into their new neighborhood in the promised land. The liberated people of God never have to see their oppressors again. My husband and I have embarked on some radical life changes lately. After a summer spent recovering from major surgery, I realized that I no longer want to be enslaved to sugar. Is slavery to sugar the same thing as slavery to the Egyptians. Of course not; it's not the same thing. But slavery is slavery. And the primary story of the scriptures is nothing if not a story of a liberating God and a liberated people. And if I can underline my point once more, I turn to the apostle Paul who says it is for freedom that Christ set us free. (Galatians 5:1) Freedom, liberation, salvation - this is what our story is all about. And so back to my sugar addiction. I asked my husband if he wouldn't try (once again) to rid our diet of things that I believe are not adding to our health, physical and mental and perhaps spiritual too. Starting August 3, we systematically went off sugar, gluten, dairy and caffeine. By August 18, all of those products were out of our house. We haven't eaten processed food since then. I have spent close to 2 hours in the kitchen each day preparing, cooking and cleaning. My first complaint was that I was used to thinking about dinner but now I had to think about breakfast and lunch too. It takes a lot of work to be healthy. The other thing it takes is to not see the unhealthy things we can't eat. There are a few foods that aren't necessarily bad for me that I still do not let in the house. Why? Because if I purchased peanut butter, I may cuddle with it and a spoon while I watch tv at night. I don't buy gluten free cookies or other snacks from the gluten free aisle because I don't want to eat it. If I have it in the house, I will eat it. Instead I have fruit. I have coconut milk for smoothies. I've learned how to make pudding with chia seeds. And because I can name for you my go to food for when I simply must eat something, I am reminded that I am still quite enslaved to food. Yes, I used the word enslaved. Addiction is slavery. Addiction to anything, alcohol, drugs, attention, facebook, my smartphone, food and work. Addiction is slavery. And this foundational story from the scriptures reveals to us God's ultimate hope for us - liberation. The people were not partially liberated. They were wholly liberated - so that they would never see their oppressors again. When the oppressor is completely gone from the picture, then the oppressed are no longer running away from slavery. When the oppressor is no longer in the review mirror, the liberated are free to live. Now Joseph was taken down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there. The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man; he was in the house of his Egyptian master. His master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord caused all that he did to prosper in his hands. So Joseph found favour in his sight and attended him; he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had. From the time that he made him overseer in his house and over all that he had, the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had, in house and field. So he left all that he had in Joseph’s charge; and, with him there, he had no concern for anything but the food that he ate.Now Joseph was handsome and good-looking. And after a time his master’s wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, ‘Lie with me.’ But he refused and said to his master’s wife, ‘Look, with me here, my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my hand. He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except yourself, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?’ And although she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not consent to lie beside her or to be with her. One day, however, when he went into the house to do his work, and while no one else was in the house, she caught hold of his garment, saying, ‘Lie with me!’ But he left his garment in her hand, and fled and ran outside. When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled outside, she called out to the members of her household and said to them, ‘See, my husband has brought among us a Hebrew to insult us! He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice; and when he heard me raise my voice and cry out, he left his garment beside me, and fled outside.’ Then she kept his garment by her until his master came home, and she told him the same story, saying, ‘The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought among us, came in to me to insult me; but as soon as I raised my voice and cried out, he left his garment beside me, and fled outside.’ Everything Joseph did prospered. And yet I can't imagine it felt that way to Joseph. After all, his brothers kidnapped him and threw him in a pit. They sold him into slavery. He's living as a slave in Potiphar's house. How is that flourishing? Rejected and abused by his family. Alone and enslaved in a foreign land. Potiphar trusts Joseph and rewards him with more responsibility. Trust plus responsibility equals more work. More work equals prosperity? Again, I can't imagine that Joseph was interpreting his life as prosperous. And if he was, he was quickly brought back to reality when Potiphar's wife calls him "this servant." He is wrongfully accused of sexual abuse and thrown in prison where the Lord was with Joseph, showing him favor and again "making all that he did prosper." Did Joseph consider his life prosperous? The 11th son of a woman who has since died giving birth to his baby brother. The favorite son of his father, loathed by his 10 older brothers. Joseph could be understood as a bit of a brat, certainly someone who lacks social cues perhaps. Was Joseph entitled? Was he expecting that Potiphar like his father would favor him above the other servants? Did Joseph believe the dreams of the previous chapter? Did he believe that one day others would bow down to him? Did he hold onto it? Maybe he was somehow able to see his daily life through the lens of those dreams. Or maybe it was simply having the dreams in the first place that caused Joseph to be prosperous. It's interesting - this third week in the narrative lectionary - Noah had a promise. Abram had a promise. Joseph had a dream. Genesis 12:1-9 ~ Now the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother’s son Lot, and all the possessions that they had gathered, and the persons whom they had acquired in Haran; and they set forth to go to the land of Canaan. When they had come to the land of Canaan, Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. Then the Lord appeared to Abram, and said, ‘To your offspring I will give this land.’ So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. From there he moved on to the hill country on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the Lord and invoked the name of the Lord. And Abram journeyed on by stages towards the Negeb. We have what I cynically call the "device altar" in the corner of our home office. You've seen them I'm sure, a special box usually covered in leather or a faux suede that holds the many chargers we need for our various devices. The box has a hidden space for a power cord that hosts four electrical outlets There are four holes in the top of the box where the wires from our chargers can connect but hide the cluttery wires. Each night, the devices go to bed on the "device altar" until the next day when they are charged and ready to serve us again. Do you have one of them? In almost every nail spa I know, there is an altar to Buddha, usually near the cash register. Around the figurine of the Buddha, there is flowers and fruit and coins. Living in the interfaith world of central Jersey, I respond to these altars by pausing and recognizing the beauty of the Buddhist philosophy. An altar in Buddhism is quite different than an altar for Christianity. It is not about the Buddha outside of us, the one who lived long ago. The altar is about the Buddha within us. We are in the process of designing a new sanctuary and the architect keeps writing the word "altar" on the communion table. I'm a firm believer in picking my battles and with the myriad issues around designing and building a new sanctuary, making a big deal out the calling the table an altar seemed to be one battle I did not want to begin. However, I eventually found a way to lovingly add it in conversation. As Presbyterians we don't have altars. We have a communion table. Altars are used for sacrifice. The Roman church has an altar, I explained, because on Sunday there is mass, a sacrifice is made. Our table isn't the same. Now, do I care that the architectural plans say "altar?" No, not at all. And to be honest, I'm wondering what we have lost by ridding ourselves of the "altar." Abraham built two altars in this short text. Both times the altars served as part of the ritual, first for recognizing God's revelation and second for invoking the name of the Lord. The act of building an altar takes time. Abraham stopped to build an altar - stopped his journey, changed his pace, interrupted his flow - to recognize God and to interact with God. As Christians without a specific altar, how do we stop our journey? When do we change our pace? What do we do that might interrupt our flow? |
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