Genesis 3:1-24
I read this last year while looking at the Essential 100 passages (E100) and thought a lot about blaming others and not taking responsibility - and of course lying and conniving. This time as I read this all that is still there and yet there are more things that stand out to me today.
My husband has described Adam and Eve as teenagers - you've met teenagers, they always think they know what is best and that rules don't apply to them...interesting idea and well, not really at odds with our reading. The Garden is young, the world is young and Adam and Eve are young yet too. But, this is not what I am thinking about today.
I was stopped at the point where Eve says the serpent deceived her-and I just don't see it. The deception was in the serpent's mind but his words were clear and Eve found them appealing. What do we read here?
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.
The apple was all of those things - not inherently bad of its own, what was the stumbling block for her/them/us was that she chose to go against God's instructions, to do it her way, this was not a deception of the serpent, it was a choice on her part. What happened after that was just pointing fingers and not taking responsibility for her/their actions.
Last time I was writing about this I found the idea that Adam and Eve not only wished to be like God, what they really wished was to BE God they wanted to call the shots and direct their destiny, and what they found instead was the breaking of the relationship, a separation. When we put our will ahead of that of God, we step outside his providence, we deny the relationship that can be and change it into something all about ourselves. No wonder Adam and Eve found themselves naked-they no longer walked in Gods presence under his protection they were in fact alone -for the first time.
Up until that time there was no evil - they knew no evil because it wasn't there, once they conceived of it, it stayed with them. This self willed life outside of God's presence was not perfect it was not in God's will. It was hard work, sad and lonely work and it was a purposeful walking away from God. The only deception was that the outcome was hidden from Eve and Adam, they had no idea what their actions would lead to. No, they wouldn't be God, they wouldn't be like God, they would be alone and outside of his presence and the relationship would be strained because of it.
Once that happened it was not possible to get back in relationship by our own. We would need help.
Peace.
-see you tomorrow
(a link to last year's blog on this topic)
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Saturday, March 3, 2012
The Essential Jesus - Day 5 The Big Church
1 Peter 2:4-10
Why is today's reading entitled the big church? What is it that makes it 'big?'
This must be some of what we will discover as we go through the coming readings.
Today we read Peter's letter on what it means to be in ministry-to be building a community of life.
This Jesus is not a god made by people that needs to be carried about because it is made of stone or metal or wood, rather Jesus is alive and carries himself about doing those things which he recognizes as his father's will. What Peter does in this writing is let us know that we too are alive and have the task of being part of this life-giving ministry. That makes us a very 'big' church. We are many people spread over many countries, continents and centuries and yet we are built together into this one "spiritual house."
That is the difficulty for some - how can individuals disconnected hold together to over time and space never having met each other? How can something that happened more than 2000 years ago - this life of one man make such a difference in all of time? Yet when we read the writings of others before his time we see hints or what is coming and we see how this might happen. If we read carefully, we see why Jesus' life and sacrifice made all the difference for us-no matter when we lived.
This is what Peter says at the end of today's reading: But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
We are precious and our response can be-should be to tell people about the difference Jesus makes in our lives. A little further along Peter says we should always be prepared to "make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you." (1 Peter 3:15) This then is what I think he is working toward - be prepared to talk about why life is or can be different-and who makes that difference. Peace.
-see you tomorrow
Why is today's reading entitled the big church? What is it that makes it 'big?'
This must be some of what we will discover as we go through the coming readings.
Today we read Peter's letter on what it means to be in ministry-to be building a community of life.
This Jesus is not a god made by people that needs to be carried about because it is made of stone or metal or wood, rather Jesus is alive and carries himself about doing those things which he recognizes as his father's will. What Peter does in this writing is let us know that we too are alive and have the task of being part of this life-giving ministry. That makes us a very 'big' church. We are many people spread over many countries, continents and centuries and yet we are built together into this one "spiritual house."
That is the difficulty for some - how can individuals disconnected hold together to over time and space never having met each other? How can something that happened more than 2000 years ago - this life of one man make such a difference in all of time? Yet when we read the writings of others before his time we see hints or what is coming and we see how this might happen. If we read carefully, we see why Jesus' life and sacrifice made all the difference for us-no matter when we lived.
This is what Peter says at the end of today's reading: But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
We are precious and our response can be-should be to tell people about the difference Jesus makes in our lives. A little further along Peter says we should always be prepared to "make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you." (1 Peter 3:15) This then is what I think he is working toward - be prepared to talk about why life is or can be different-and who makes that difference. Peace.
-see you tomorrow
Friday, March 2, 2012
The Essential Jesus - Day 4 What is God like?
Hebrews 1:1-4
He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.
Jesus is the exact imprint of God's nature. I understand we are called to reflect-to show-to shine with the love that God has given us and extended toward us. This says, though that Jesus is the exact imprint. Like the joke about the two twins separated at birth Juan and Ahmal the punch line to the joke is 'once you've seen Juan, you've seen Ahmal.' But this seeing is not a joke it is a truth-Jesus is our way to see God. Our eyes can comprehend and take in the wholeness of God in Jesus. What is God like? Look to Jesus, and you'll know.
Jesus upholds the universe by the word of his power. In Genesis we read that God spoke - and the world was. This is a powerful word; this is more than Captain Picard's "Make it so," this word is alive, it doesn't create the action this word is the action. This same word that God spoke, we see here that Jesus upholds the universe by the power of his living word.
After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.
We read that Jesus sits down at the right hand of God having become superior to the other servants of God. He is not just a servant-because we see that he does serve-but it isn't the obedience of compulsion, it is obedience out of love, out of agreement. He is like-minded-he is of one mind with his father.
This picture of love and obedience is one worth recognizing, worth reflecting upon. That will be my job today. What is God like? Look to Jesus. How do we do that? We read what we have available, and we look around us for evidence of his work in the world-still continuing today all these years later from when Jesus was with the Hebrews in Bethlehem. Peace.
-see you tomorrow.
He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.
Jesus is the exact imprint of God's nature. I understand we are called to reflect-to show-to shine with the love that God has given us and extended toward us. This says, though that Jesus is the exact imprint. Like the joke about the two twins separated at birth Juan and Ahmal the punch line to the joke is 'once you've seen Juan, you've seen Ahmal.' But this seeing is not a joke it is a truth-Jesus is our way to see God. Our eyes can comprehend and take in the wholeness of God in Jesus. What is God like? Look to Jesus, and you'll know.
Jesus upholds the universe by the word of his power. In Genesis we read that God spoke - and the world was. This is a powerful word; this is more than Captain Picard's "Make it so," this word is alive, it doesn't create the action this word is the action. This same word that God spoke, we see here that Jesus upholds the universe by the power of his living word.
After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.
We read that Jesus sits down at the right hand of God having become superior to the other servants of God. He is not just a servant-because we see that he does serve-but it isn't the obedience of compulsion, it is obedience out of love, out of agreement. He is like-minded-he is of one mind with his father.
This picture of love and obedience is one worth recognizing, worth reflecting upon. That will be my job today. What is God like? Look to Jesus. How do we do that? We read what we have available, and we look around us for evidence of his work in the world-still continuing today all these years later from when Jesus was with the Hebrews in Bethlehem. Peace.
-see you tomorrow.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
The Essential Jesus - Day 3 It's All About Jesus
Colossians 1:15-23
I am struck by the phrase in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. How exactly does that work? ALL the fullness of God, was PLEASED to dwell. It must be possible since we read here that it has already happened. I wonder would the fullness of God be pleased to dwell in me? Would that be possible, even?
Today's title suggests that it is all about Jesus. We see from this reading that he was before everything, and everything was made through him, and he was/is the firstborn from the dead. This echos what we read yesterday in Paul's letter to the Christians in Philippi, and echos what we read from John's Gospel on day 1.
Now we see a little more: and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross...in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven...
I think it will be very good to read more about Jesus - and about the need for this reconciliation and how the cross accomplished this. I will be looking forward to hearing more about these topics. For now, I am willing to continue in the faith - to keep my eye on the Gospel and I really look forward to hearing what has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven.
A friend recently sent me some cartoons of Maxine talking about Jesus and the caption in one says God made the angels and Satan was one of them, so there was no way Satan was going to defeat God - so no worries. Somehow this concept of everything being made through Jesus, in whom the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, makes the rest of the world and all its worries seem much less significant, making it possible not to shift from the hope of the Gospel that we have heard. Tomorrow we read, what is God like. I'm looking forward to that. Peace.
-see you tomorrow
I am struck by the phrase in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. How exactly does that work? ALL the fullness of God, was PLEASED to dwell. It must be possible since we read here that it has already happened. I wonder would the fullness of God be pleased to dwell in me? Would that be possible, even?
Today's title suggests that it is all about Jesus. We see from this reading that he was before everything, and everything was made through him, and he was/is the firstborn from the dead. This echos what we read yesterday in Paul's letter to the Christians in Philippi, and echos what we read from John's Gospel on day 1.
Now we see a little more: and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross...in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven...
I think it will be very good to read more about Jesus - and about the need for this reconciliation and how the cross accomplished this. I will be looking forward to hearing more about these topics. For now, I am willing to continue in the faith - to keep my eye on the Gospel and I really look forward to hearing what has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven.
A friend recently sent me some cartoons of Maxine talking about Jesus and the caption in one says God made the angels and Satan was one of them, so there was no way Satan was going to defeat God - so no worries. Somehow this concept of everything being made through Jesus, in whom the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, makes the rest of the world and all its worries seem much less significant, making it possible not to shift from the hope of the Gospel that we have heard. Tomorrow we read, what is God like. I'm looking forward to that. Peace.
-see you tomorrow
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