Today we look at Rebekah. She is a fascinating woman. In today's day and age she would probably be a successful business woman or academic. She is smart and creative and brave enough to take risks for what she believes. She was like Elizabeth Bennet in Pride & Prejudice, Like Jo in Little Women, Like Anne of Green Gables. She was the somewhat impestuous young woman who pushed the limits of her society. Back in her lifetime, in a patriarchal society she was limited in her options. She took the chance to travel - not often offered to unmarried women. She agreed to marry a man she had never met in order to have that chance. When she couldn't conceive, she prayed and trusted God to come through. When she did conceive and the pregnancy was difficult - She prayed.again - and ended up giving birth to healthy twins. If this was all we knew about her she would be held up as an example of what we should be like, as a paragon of faithful womanhood. But there is more.
There is the rest of the story. Rebekah favored her younger son. We don't know whether that was because she was remembering the prophecy that the younger would serve the older, or because her husband preferred her older son or if Esau was just too much a "man's man" with his enjoyment of hunting and his early marriages. She favored Jacob to the point of helping him cheat his older brother out of his birthright and then getting his father to send him out of range of his brother's murderous rage. This part of the story makes her seem manipulative, devious, and deceptive. Not exactly the ideal descriptors of a Christian.
So who was she? I guess we'll never know for sure. She was probably a regular woman - with strengths and weaknesses like us all. She seemed to do a lot of praying early in her marriage and even heard God speaking to her late in her pregnancy. She had a vision of Jacob succeeding and she did what she could to make sure it happened. It does seem, however, that she did not trust God to fulfill the prophecy of Jacob's success. She seemed to feel she had to make things happen. Maybe this is the lesson that we need to learn from Rebekah - that when we take things into our own hands we end up doing things that maybe we shouldn't do. We end up hurting other people, like Esau, and even ourselves. Rebekah ended up having to send Jacob away to save his life and so was stuck living with the son she had slighted and all his foreign wives. She also may have hurt Jacob, by making it so he had to leave on his own, make his own way and not return to the home of his childhood for a very long time. This does not seem to be an ideal situation.
It is a challenge knowing how to best serve God, how to help God's will be done. It does not seem right to sit back and do nothing. We are God's body on earth and, as Christians, want to help. But it also does not seem right to lie and steal and cheat to serve God, even if the end result promises to be good. Somehow we need to learn to pray and to listen. We need to allow God to guide us. To trust God to show us the right way to go, even if it doesn't feel right and to take care of things so they will turn out right. As the old cliche says - we need to let go and let God - let God lead us, let God take charge, let God make the decisions. God can handle the responsiblity.
Friday, 25 January 2013
Monday, 14 January 2013
Jan 14 - Lot's Wife
Today we looked at one of the many nameless women in the Bible, Lot's wife. All we know is that in Genesis19 she is mentioned as first being called with her husband to leave, and in verse 26 as having turned back and turned into a pillar of salt. There is so much we don't know about this woman - including her name, nationality, or beliefs. All we know is she was married to Lot and had two daughters. So far could be almost anyone.
Commentaries suggest that Mrs. Lot was probably a local - Lot seems to have been quite young when he left Haran with his uncle Abram and so probably didn't have a wife yet. Since they never went back, chances are good that Lot married either an Egyptian during their travels or a local girl once he settled down in Sodom. In the world back then women didn't travel much unless it was with their fathers or husbands, so she probably had lived in Sodom her whole life, or at least long enough for her daughters to grow up and become betrothed. This is all supposition - but could explain why it was so hard for her to leave. If her whole life and family was in Sodom it would be difficult to leave it behind. It seems Lot held a respected position - sitting at the gate of the city - some even suggest he was the mayor. It would imply that he and his family probably had a pretty nice life - in with the IN crowd. We don't know what she believed - had she taken on Lot's faith or had she kept whatever faith, if any, her family held as she grew up? Maybe she didn't believe the warnings of the two men/angels who were staying with them. All in all - even with the little we know - it seems they had a pretty nice life in Sodom. Nice enough even Lot didn't want to leave. The visitors had to physically pull Lot and his wife and daughters out of the city. And when they were almost out of range of the "fire & brimstone" - Lot's wife turns around. Was it to check on her daughters? Was it because she had parents or siblings left behind? Was it because Sodom was the only home she had ever known? Whatever it was, that hesitation, that break in momentum forward, cost her her life.
So what can we learn from this? Luke 17 (verse 32) uses this story to say we must be prepared to leave everything behind. But could we? I guess refugees have done it many times. From different countries in different eras people have been forced to leave behind comfortable lives because a change of government or other dominant circumstance like war, makes it a choice between life with discomfort and possible comfort combined with possible/probable death. People do it. Even people involved in a divorce can be forced to give up their home, thier status and, sometimes, even their support system. The prospect of losing all this has been known to keep unhappy people in marriages on occasion. It is hard to let go of so much. As I look around my house and think of my children growing up here and all the memories that it holds, let alone all the comforts we've accumulated through the years, I realize I would have trouble not looking back. I think I would want one more look at the place that has been central to my life and my children's lives for so long. I wonder if I would have the strength to just leave everything behind.
That's physically. What about emotional or spiritual baggage. Am I able to leave that behind? Do I find comfort in rites and rituals and beliefs that have been a part of my life for as long as I remember? Of course I do. If God tells me I need to look at things differently - will I be able to? Will I believe notice that I am no longer on the right track? Will I be open to God's leading to a new place spiritually? If I have to give up my dreams for my self and/or my children - will I be able to? Or will I have to be dragged to realization that I don't have much of a choice. I don't know - I wonder.
Another interesting thought was raised during our discussion. As the fire and sulphar consumed Lot's wife - turning her into a pillar of salt - so too sometimes we let things - competitiveness, jealousy, addictions - consume our thoughts and our time and our energy. As the salt stopped Lot's wife from running to safety so, too, our obsessions can stop us from reaching our full potential - from the life God has planned for us. So we need to free ourselves from obsessions, from things, from our attachment to home and focus on the future, on God's plan for us. Trust in God can help us let go of our old attachments and face the unknown with confidence. Then maybe we can run to the future without looking back.
In this week's passage I find a woman, not so different from me, who had trouble leaving her past life behind, even if it meant risking what seems to have been a horrible death. Our challenge this week is to be willing to let go of our securities and open up to new possibilities - to be thankful for the graces and gifts we have been given - but also to let go of them so they don't become what keeps us from living a full and faithful life.
Commentaries suggest that Mrs. Lot was probably a local - Lot seems to have been quite young when he left Haran with his uncle Abram and so probably didn't have a wife yet. Since they never went back, chances are good that Lot married either an Egyptian during their travels or a local girl once he settled down in Sodom. In the world back then women didn't travel much unless it was with their fathers or husbands, so she probably had lived in Sodom her whole life, or at least long enough for her daughters to grow up and become betrothed. This is all supposition - but could explain why it was so hard for her to leave. If her whole life and family was in Sodom it would be difficult to leave it behind. It seems Lot held a respected position - sitting at the gate of the city - some even suggest he was the mayor. It would imply that he and his family probably had a pretty nice life - in with the IN crowd. We don't know what she believed - had she taken on Lot's faith or had she kept whatever faith, if any, her family held as she grew up? Maybe she didn't believe the warnings of the two men/angels who were staying with them. All in all - even with the little we know - it seems they had a pretty nice life in Sodom. Nice enough even Lot didn't want to leave. The visitors had to physically pull Lot and his wife and daughters out of the city. And when they were almost out of range of the "fire & brimstone" - Lot's wife turns around. Was it to check on her daughters? Was it because she had parents or siblings left behind? Was it because Sodom was the only home she had ever known? Whatever it was, that hesitation, that break in momentum forward, cost her her life.
So what can we learn from this? Luke 17 (verse 32) uses this story to say we must be prepared to leave everything behind. But could we? I guess refugees have done it many times. From different countries in different eras people have been forced to leave behind comfortable lives because a change of government or other dominant circumstance like war, makes it a choice between life with discomfort and possible comfort combined with possible/probable death. People do it. Even people involved in a divorce can be forced to give up their home, thier status and, sometimes, even their support system. The prospect of losing all this has been known to keep unhappy people in marriages on occasion. It is hard to let go of so much. As I look around my house and think of my children growing up here and all the memories that it holds, let alone all the comforts we've accumulated through the years, I realize I would have trouble not looking back. I think I would want one more look at the place that has been central to my life and my children's lives for so long. I wonder if I would have the strength to just leave everything behind.
That's physically. What about emotional or spiritual baggage. Am I able to leave that behind? Do I find comfort in rites and rituals and beliefs that have been a part of my life for as long as I remember? Of course I do. If God tells me I need to look at things differently - will I be able to? Will I believe notice that I am no longer on the right track? Will I be open to God's leading to a new place spiritually? If I have to give up my dreams for my self and/or my children - will I be able to? Or will I have to be dragged to realization that I don't have much of a choice. I don't know - I wonder.
Another interesting thought was raised during our discussion. As the fire and sulphar consumed Lot's wife - turning her into a pillar of salt - so too sometimes we let things - competitiveness, jealousy, addictions - consume our thoughts and our time and our energy. As the salt stopped Lot's wife from running to safety so, too, our obsessions can stop us from reaching our full potential - from the life God has planned for us. So we need to free ourselves from obsessions, from things, from our attachment to home and focus on the future, on God's plan for us. Trust in God can help us let go of our old attachments and face the unknown with confidence. Then maybe we can run to the future without looking back.
In this week's passage I find a woman, not so different from me, who had trouble leaving her past life behind, even if it meant risking what seems to have been a horrible death. Our challenge this week is to be willing to let go of our securities and open up to new possibilities - to be thankful for the graces and gifts we have been given - but also to let go of them so they don't become what keeps us from living a full and faithful life.
Monday, 7 January 2013
Jan 7 - Eve
Today we started looking at the stories of some of the women in the Bible. Appropriately we began our new study by looking at Eve and the little bit we can tell about her from Genesis 1-3.
When the average person thinks of Eve we think of a beautiful young woman in the garden of Eden or of a sultry woman deliberately flaunting the rules by taking a bite of the forbidden fruit, causing the downfall of the human race. This is due to myths and artists' interpretations through the years. All we really know is that Eve was created to live in the Garden of Eden with Adam; to tend and care for it. From the little we are told she comes across as a contented young woman, intelligent enough to be aware of the rule surrounding the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and ready to talk about it, even with a snake. When the snake started asking questions, Eve's inquiring mind started to wonder. She looked at the fruit and it didn't look evil or deadly but quite lovely and delicious - so with the assurances of the snake and the attraction of the juicy fruit, she decided to give it a try. Since it tasted pretty good she decided to give some to her husband, who took it without question and ate it. Then they discovered it hadn't been a great idea. They discovered shame and fear. They also had to pay the consequences of their decision to eat the fruit by being kicked out of the garden. They found out the hard way that it would have been better to obey.
Barbara J. Essex, in her book Bad Girls of the Bible, suggests that Eve was smart and curious and "bold, courageous and brilliant." She suggests that Eve was like a child, unaware of how to make good decisions or that bad ones would have long term consequences. She pushed the boundaries like any child testing a parent. She took a risk. She was not evil, she was not bad in any way - just innocent and unaware. It is interesting that Adam, who appears to have been right there, did nothing to stop her from talking to the snake or from taking the fruit. It was Adam who had the direct word of God against eating the fruit yet he did not resist. Adam also ate the fruit. It really seems that the disobedience of eating the fruit was a joint effort even if tradition has placed the blame firmly on Eve's shoulders.
Essex also suggests that the maturity that comes from experiencing the consequences of such a bad decision may also have been necessary for Adam and Eve to learn to consider before making other choices. It could be what enables them to resist future temptations. In other words she suggests that Eve needed to make this collossal mistake in order to make better decisions in her future. I suppose it could also be said that the story is there so we can learn, too, to make better decisions and not disobey.
We also need to be careful about jumping to conclusions. Many people have unfairly convicted Eve, and all womankind, because of an interpretation of one small section of the creation story. While both Adam and Eve disobeyed and had to pay the price, God still took care of them, clothed them and protected them from making another, similar mistake. The serpent was cursed, but Adam and Eve weren't. They made their lives more difficult by their decision to eat the forbidden fruit, but they did not forever change their value. Both men and women are God's creation, God's children, and both men and women make mistakes. God continues to value and look after all of us. Women are not forever condemned to be submissive to men or to have less value. Men and women were created to be partners in the caretaking of God's creation and it make sense that, while the task is more difficult now because of Adam and Eve's disobedience, it is still God's plan.
Reading the creation stories should remind us that we are made in God's image. Male and female, we exist because God breathed life into us. Like Adam and Eve, we may make mistakes, but, just as God clothed Adam and Eve when they realized they were naked, God cares for us and will give us what we need even when we mess up. When we struggle with our self esteem - when we feel we just can't measure up - we need to remember God created us this way and loves us even when we make mistakes. We just make it harder on ourselves.
So go forth - be curious, be courageous, make mistakes - but know through it all that you are the person God created you to be God can use you to do amazing things and will love you and care for you no matter what.
When the average person thinks of Eve we think of a beautiful young woman in the garden of Eden or of a sultry woman deliberately flaunting the rules by taking a bite of the forbidden fruit, causing the downfall of the human race. This is due to myths and artists' interpretations through the years. All we really know is that Eve was created to live in the Garden of Eden with Adam; to tend and care for it. From the little we are told she comes across as a contented young woman, intelligent enough to be aware of the rule surrounding the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and ready to talk about it, even with a snake. When the snake started asking questions, Eve's inquiring mind started to wonder. She looked at the fruit and it didn't look evil or deadly but quite lovely and delicious - so with the assurances of the snake and the attraction of the juicy fruit, she decided to give it a try. Since it tasted pretty good she decided to give some to her husband, who took it without question and ate it. Then they discovered it hadn't been a great idea. They discovered shame and fear. They also had to pay the consequences of their decision to eat the fruit by being kicked out of the garden. They found out the hard way that it would have been better to obey.
Barbara J. Essex, in her book Bad Girls of the Bible, suggests that Eve was smart and curious and "bold, courageous and brilliant." She suggests that Eve was like a child, unaware of how to make good decisions or that bad ones would have long term consequences. She pushed the boundaries like any child testing a parent. She took a risk. She was not evil, she was not bad in any way - just innocent and unaware. It is interesting that Adam, who appears to have been right there, did nothing to stop her from talking to the snake or from taking the fruit. It was Adam who had the direct word of God against eating the fruit yet he did not resist. Adam also ate the fruit. It really seems that the disobedience of eating the fruit was a joint effort even if tradition has placed the blame firmly on Eve's shoulders.
Essex also suggests that the maturity that comes from experiencing the consequences of such a bad decision may also have been necessary for Adam and Eve to learn to consider before making other choices. It could be what enables them to resist future temptations. In other words she suggests that Eve needed to make this collossal mistake in order to make better decisions in her future. I suppose it could also be said that the story is there so we can learn, too, to make better decisions and not disobey.
We also need to be careful about jumping to conclusions. Many people have unfairly convicted Eve, and all womankind, because of an interpretation of one small section of the creation story. While both Adam and Eve disobeyed and had to pay the price, God still took care of them, clothed them and protected them from making another, similar mistake. The serpent was cursed, but Adam and Eve weren't. They made their lives more difficult by their decision to eat the forbidden fruit, but they did not forever change their value. Both men and women are God's creation, God's children, and both men and women make mistakes. God continues to value and look after all of us. Women are not forever condemned to be submissive to men or to have less value. Men and women were created to be partners in the caretaking of God's creation and it make sense that, while the task is more difficult now because of Adam and Eve's disobedience, it is still God's plan.
Reading the creation stories should remind us that we are made in God's image. Male and female, we exist because God breathed life into us. Like Adam and Eve, we may make mistakes, but, just as God clothed Adam and Eve when they realized they were naked, God cares for us and will give us what we need even when we mess up. When we struggle with our self esteem - when we feel we just can't measure up - we need to remember God created us this way and loves us even when we make mistakes. We just make it harder on ourselves.
So go forth - be curious, be courageous, make mistakes - but know through it all that you are the person God created you to be God can use you to do amazing things and will love you and care for you no matter what.
December 17 - Christmas Potluck
Today was a social time - great food, random conversation in a lovely, very Christmassy setting.
So how much is too much to give your kids? How do you answer questions about why other kids get bigger and better gifts? What do you tell your kids about Santa? What do you do about all the things they want/need just before Christmas? These are all questions that parents have to deal with at one time or another. But it is interesting that our discussion centred on the Gift giving part of Christmas.
The other day some of us had chatted about the service part of Christmas. They had traditions of "giving back" at Christmas time - serving a meal or distributing gifts or in some other way helping those less fortunate. Is this a part of your Christmas?
What we didn't talk about was what Christmas means to us - or about worship. Christmas is an interesting time - some people love it and feel all warm and fuzzy when they think about the Christmas season. Some people are rather neutral about it. Some people find it a very difficult time.
This year will be my first Christmas since my Dad died. Several of my friends have also lost parents - some just this past week or two. There is something about losing a parent that dulls the beauty of the story of new birth - that makes it harder to accept the hope, joy, and peace of the advent season. I hope and pray that, while we may feel sadness during this season, we may also feel hope - the hope of a new child, the hope of fulfilled promises, the hope of a loving God who is taking care of us and our loved ones.
Have a blessed and meaningful Christmas, everyone!
So how much is too much to give your kids? How do you answer questions about why other kids get bigger and better gifts? What do you tell your kids about Santa? What do you do about all the things they want/need just before Christmas? These are all questions that parents have to deal with at one time or another. But it is interesting that our discussion centred on the Gift giving part of Christmas.
The other day some of us had chatted about the service part of Christmas. They had traditions of "giving back" at Christmas time - serving a meal or distributing gifts or in some other way helping those less fortunate. Is this a part of your Christmas?
What we didn't talk about was what Christmas means to us - or about worship. Christmas is an interesting time - some people love it and feel all warm and fuzzy when they think about the Christmas season. Some people are rather neutral about it. Some people find it a very difficult time.
This year will be my first Christmas since my Dad died. Several of my friends have also lost parents - some just this past week or two. There is something about losing a parent that dulls the beauty of the story of new birth - that makes it harder to accept the hope, joy, and peace of the advent season. I hope and pray that, while we may feel sadness during this season, we may also feel hope - the hope of a new child, the hope of fulfilled promises, the hope of a loving God who is taking care of us and our loved ones.
Have a blessed and meaningful Christmas, everyone!
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