Bible Study 9.5.11, 9.8.11. 9.11.11 for Worship 9.18.11

Posted: August 29, 2011 | Author: hurstrobert9402 | Filed under: Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Bible Study 9.5.11, 9.8.11, 9.11.11 For Worship 9.18.11

Genesis 6:8 – 9:17

Genesis 6:8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.

9 These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation; Noah walked with God.

10 And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence.

12 And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth.

13 And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh; for the earth is filled with violence through them; behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

14 Make yourself an ark of gopher wood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch.

15 This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits.

16 Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above; and set the door of the ark in its side; make it with lower, second, and third decks.

17 For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall die.

18 But I will establish my covenant with you; and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.

19 And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female.

20 Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground according to its kind, two of every sort shall come in to you, to keep them alive.

21 Also take with you every sort of food that is eaten, and store it up; and it shall serve as food for you and for them.”

22 Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.

7:1 Then the LORD said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation.

2 Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and his mate; and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and his mate;

3 and seven pairs of the birds of the air also, male and female, to keep their kind alive upon the face of all the earth.

4 For in seven days I will send rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living thing that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground.”

5 And Noah did all that the LORD had commanded him.

6 Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came upon the earth.

7 And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him went into the ark, to escape the waters of the flood.

8 Of clean animals, and of animals that are not clean, and of birds, and of everything that creeps on the ground,

9 two and two, male and female, went into the ark with Noah, as God had commanded Noah.

10 And after seven days the waters of the flood came upon the earth.

11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened.

12 And rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights.

13 On the very same day Noah and his sons, Shem and Ham and Japheth, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them entered the ark,

14 they and every beast according to its kind, and all the cattle according to their kinds, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth according to its kind, and every bird according to its kind, every bird of every sort.

15 They went into the ark with Noah, two and two of all flesh in which there was the breath of life.

16 And they that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him; and the LORD shut him in.

17 The flood continued forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth.

18 The waters prevailed and increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark floated on the face of the waters.

19 And the waters prevailed so mightily upon the earth that all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered;

20 the waters prevailed above the mountains, covering them fifteen cubits deep.

21 And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, birds, cattle, beasts, all swarming creatures that swarm upon the earth, and every man;

22 everything on the dry land in whose nostrils was the breath of life died.

23 He blotted out every living thing that was upon the face of the ground, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the air; they were blotted out from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those that were with him in the ark.

24 And the waters prevailed upon the earth a hundred and fifty days.

8:1 But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided;

2 the fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained,

3 and the waters receded from the earth continually. At the end of a hundred and fifty days the waters had abated;

4 and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest upon the mountains of Ararat.

5 And the waters continued to abate until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen.

6 At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made,

7 and sent forth a raven; and it went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth.

8 Then he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground;

9 but the dove found no place to set her foot, and she returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put forth his hand and took her and brought her into the ark with him.

10 He waited another seven days, and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark;

11 and the dove came back to him in the evening, and lo, in her mouth a freshly plucked olive leaf; so Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth.

12 Then he waited another seven days, and sent forth the dove; and she did not return to him any more.

13 In the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried from off the earth; and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and behold, the face of the ground was dry.

14 In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry.

15 Then God said to Noah,

16 “Go forth from the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons’ wives with you.

17 Bring forth with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh — birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth — that they may breed abundantly on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply upon the earth.”

18 So Noah went forth, and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him.

19 And every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves upon the earth, went forth by families out of the ark.

20 Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

21 And when the LORD smelled the pleasing odor, the LORD said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I ever again destroy every living creature as I have done.

22 While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.”

9:1 And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.

2 The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every bird of the air, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea; into your hand they are delivered.

3 Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you; and as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything.

4 Only you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.

5 For your lifeblood I will surely require a reckoning; of every beast I will require it and of man; of every man’s brother I will require the life of man.

6 Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for God made man in his own image.

7 And you, be fruitful and multiply, bring forth abundantly on the earth and multiply in it.”

8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him,

9 “Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your descendants after you,

10 and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark.

11 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.”

12 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations:

13 I set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.

14 When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds,

15 I will remember my covenant which 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.

16 When the bow is in the clouds, I will look upon it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.”

17 God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.”

COMMENTARY

Most cultures around the world have some kind of flood myth. The story of Noah seems to have been borrowed with distinctive Hebrew changes from the Epic of Gilgamesh. The existence of so many flood myths points to three possibilities. The first is a deep memory of a flood experience very early in the history of modern human existence, so that the memory recurs in many different cultures. The second possibility is floods occur all over the world, so many different cultures how developed flood myths independently. The third possibility is that the myth of a flood that wipes out most of the human race, in order to start over again, expresses deep wishful thinking in the human psyche. Starting over again is an attractive theme. Remember when we were kids playing games and everyone wanted a “do over?” Well in the Noah Story God wants a “do over.” That’s kind of hard on humans, but in a fanciful imagination maybe we would all like a “do over.” The problem with God’s “do over,” is the incredible suffering that results from God having a temper tantrum. Just imagine all the people pounding on the door of the Ark after it has been sealed, and then the eerie silence after the Ark begins to float.

The funniest modern retelling of the Noah Story was created by Bill Cosby:

I believe Cosby captured the issues of primary interest for modern folk. First, is the issue of how do we know when God is speaking? The UCC insists that God is still speaking, but how do we know and in what forms does God speak today? “Am I on Candid Camera?” Am I really hearing or seeing or communicating with God or is someone, maybe my own subconscious, playing a joke on me. We always have to be careful, when we think God is communicating with us.

So how can we discern God’s messages. First, when God communicates the message is often something we don’t want to hear. Think about most of the prophets. The messages they had to share were not things they or their listeners want to hear. Those messages didn’t make them popular or comfortable. People in the scriptures to whom God speaks almost never profit from God’s messages. This doesn’t mean that all of God’s messages are angry diatribes. Sometimes like in second Isaiah, or even the messages of Jesus there is a word of comfort. Although we should note that Jesus’ gospel is not very comforting for the rich and powerful. As a rule of thumb, God comforts the afflicted and afflicts the comfortable.

Scripture and prayer can be helpful in discerning God’s movements and messages in our lives. Spiritual Directors often advocate the Benedictine spiritual discipline of Lectio Divina that attempts to combine prayer and scripture in seeking God’s direction.

Good spiritual friends are also important in discerning God’s messages and direction in our lives. A Bible Study where the members have grown close enough to speak truth to one another. A spiritual director, who listens and reflects and offers direction. Fellow members of our congregation who have covenanted with us to pray with us and for us, all can play an important role in helping us to discern what God might be up to in our lives. A well developed sense of humility is also a good guard against presuming to know God’s intentions, when it is really the devices and desires of our hearts that are speaking.

The second issue Cosby addresses is whether or not God is vindictive. “How long can you tread water?” By treating the issue with laughter I think Cosby is poking fun at the image of a vindictive God. While many fundamentalists still believe in an angry vengeful God, I think most progressive Christians have moved beyond such a primitive image of God.

The third issue Cosby addresses is what does it mean to be faithful and obedient. God asks an awful lot of poor Noah. “Who’s gonna clean the bottom of that Ark?” And sometimes while we are waiting for God to move in history, we can become very impatient. Like Noah complaining about all he has had to do and there still isn’t a cloud in the sky. But once the rain begins, “you and me Lord, you and me.” We are encouraged to be patient in our waiting for God to move in history. Even when the forces of evil seem to be riding high, God is still unseen and at work, until suddenly everything changes. Who could have predicted the Arab Spring? No one. Who would have predicted the end of Gaddafi? God’s time is not our time. We are asked to be patient and faithful.

This is a long passage, but let’s take a few minutes to examine a few issues in the text. Noah is described as a “righteous” man in chapter 6:9. And yet again and again we see that Noah was not perfect. “Noah walked with God.” We too are allowed to make mistakes, we are simply called to daily “walk with God,” daily prayer and a consciousness of trying to choose goodness rather than evil.

Not to support a literal interpretation of the text, but the dimensions given for the ark in 6:15 would have been a very stable craft. We should also consider the concern to have all living things represented on the ark, even animals that humans might consider to be useless or even destructive. Every creature has its place in the balance of nature. In chapter 7:2 we do see the peculiar Hebrew concern to make sure that extra “clean animals” are included to propagate food for the humans.

In chapter 7:23 we have the image of the ark serving as a life boat. Indeed, the ark has sometimes been used as an image for the church. The church is the life boat that goes out to save people who get into trouble. Too often however, the church has used the image of the ark to imply that only those who are in the church are saved, thus consigning anyone outside the church, or your particular denomination even to hell. I think slowly we are coming to a different appreciation of a God whose mercy extends far beyond the boundaries that humans would draw.

In chapter 8:8-12 we have the lovely image of the dove. Noah sends forth the dove to determine whether the land has dried up. The dove has also been used as a sign of peace, and in the church the dove is a symbol of the Holy Spirit.

In chapter 9:9-17 we have the establishment of the covenant of the rainbow. God promises never to destroy all living things again. God gives up the option of the “do over.” Of course just because God has made that promise, humans should not be complacent. If humans continue to destroy our environment, weaponize the atom, ignore climate change, and overpopulate, we may create our own “do over.”

NEW FEATURE

While the story of Noah has often been considered a children’s story, probably because of the animals and the rainbow, Noah is probably even more problematical for children, especially younger children than the story of the snake and Adam and Eve. The god in the Noah story is positively vindictive. People behave badly, well wipe them all out, “how long can you tread water?” I think the vindictive part of the story can be finessed, by focusing on God “warning” Noah of the coming of a flood, so Noah could prepare to save the animals. This presentation could then lead to a discussion of endangered species and saving animals from extinction today. The rainbow covenant is also an appropriate focus in this scripture. This is the first covenant God makes with humans, and affirms that God even when natural disasters happen like Hurricanes, and tornadoes, and earthquakes, God does not want to destroy the earth.

LET’S ASK SOME QUESTIONS OF THE TEXT

1. What subtle differences are there between: found favor in the eyes of the Lord; righteous man; blameless in his generation; walked with God?

2. What behaviors of the humans particularly disappointed God?

3. What was God’s message to Noah?

4. How was Noah to waterproof the ark?

5. What humans are to be allowed on the ark?

6. How many animals are to be brought aboard the ark?

7. Are there any distinctions made between different animals brought onto the ark?

8. What two birds does Noah use to determine whether or not the waters of the flood have dried sufficiently to open the Ark?

9. What is one of the first things Noah does upon leaving the Ark?

10. What is God’s response to Noah’s action?

11. What does God promise?

12. What are the “terms” of the Rainbow Covenant?”

LET’S ALLOW THE TEXT TO ASK QUESTIONS OF US

1. What do you think it means to “walk with God?”

2. For you what does it mean to be “righteous?”

3. Do you think God would ever like to have a “do over?”

4. Would you ever like to have a “do over?”

5. Do you think it is possible that human could cause their own “do over?” How would we handle that theologically?

6. How do you process theologically the “vindictive” portrayal of God in this story?

7. What is your favorite part of this story?

8. How would you present this story to children?

9. Do you think there are ever times in life, when there are consequences? If so, how do you process those theologically?

10. Genesis 9:4 is a prescription for Kosher butchering. Why do you think fundamentalists ignore this verse?

11. Chapter 9 verses 5 and 6 are often cited as precedent for capital punishment. How do you feel about that?

12. What is your interpretation of the “Rainbow Covenant?”

Community

Posted: August 28, 2011 | Author: hurstrobert9402 | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

We cannot be Christians alone. Jesus calls us into the community of faith that follows the way of life he taught and lived. Last week we talked about how conforming our lives to the image of Christ for others is subversive of our consumerist me first culture. Jesus calls us to feed the poor, care for the widow and orphan, heal the sick, welcome everyone with open hospitality, forgive even our enemies and those who have hurt us, embrace self-sacrificing love. As we said last Sunday, we don’t conform ourselves to the image of Christ for others, rather it is God’s grace working in us and through us that can transform us into followers of the way of Jesus. And part of God’s grace working in us and through us is becoming part of the community faith, where we covenant to prayer with and for each other. The grace of God works through prayer, our prayers and the prayers of others. If the divine spark within us is to grow, we must take time each day to pray.

But here is a secret, when we ask other people to pray for us, and we covenant with others to pray for them, something miraculous happens. We become the Body of Christ in the world, and the power of our prayers is multiplied. As Jesus said, “if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

When we gather together as the community of faith and find common agreement through the core values of Jesus, miracles can begin to happen. The hungry can be fed. Strangers can be welcomed. The sick can be healed. The elderly, the mentally ill and the lonely can be cared for. When we come together in agreement on the core values of Jesus – love happens.

But how do we embrace the core values of Jesus in community? We use communal spiritual formation. There are many forums of communal spiritual formation: Sunday School, Prayer Meetings, Retreats, Worship, Small Groups, Bible Study, Communion. These are all familiar forms of Spiritual Formation. This morning I want to talk about an old form of communal spiritual formation that comes from the Quakers – “Listening Circles.”

Allow me to describe this form of community discernment. A small group of eight to ten people gathers. The session begins with ten to twenty minutes of silent listening to God. This prayer time is important, because we need to open the community up to God’s presence and God’s direction. Otherwise we’re just tempted to talk about what we want in our church, rather than where God may be leading us in our life together as a community. Then the “newest” member of the community is invited to offer his/her perception of the values he/she believes God is calling the community to embrace. Next people who have no official position within the community are invited to offer their perception of the values they perceive God is calling the community to embrace. Finally, everyone else is invited to share. The pastor doesn’t say anything, because he talks enough as it is.

The reason for beginning with the “newest” members and those who do not hold official positions is that God often speaks most clearly through the least likely members of the community. In all of this process the group does not discuss or comment until everyone has had an opportunity to share. We need to make sure that we listen attentively to everyone. As discussion unfolds we may discover misunderstandings or conflicts that need special attention in resolving. There will be time enough to discuss any areas of disagreement after everyone has been heard.

“Listening Circles” can help a community of people clarify their purpose and direction based upon the shared core values of the group. We use silent prayer as part of the process to insure that we remain open to God’s promptings, because we are a God centered Community of Faith. The core values of our church need to be aligned with the way of Jesus, rather than just what we want.

If we pray together and listen we might be able to sense the promptings of God calling us to more faithful life together in community. Of course we will encounter obstacles in our process of discerning God’s will. Our egos will get in the way. Many of us will be absolutely sure God wants us to embrace exactly what we want the church to look like. Some people will want to go back to the 1950’s, when life seemed to be better. Other people will have a particular project they want everyone else to embrace.

Ego and church remind me of a story. Captain Jones was finally given command of the biggest , fastest, grandest battle ships in the fleet. He took his new vessel out on a shakedown cruise. One night on the bridge he noticed a light to his starboard side that seemed to be closing fast with his ship, so he asked the signal man to send a message to the light alter your course 10 degrees starboard. The answer came back, alter your course 10 degrees to port. Captain Jones told the signal man to send the message again, and again the message came back alter your course 10 degrees to port.

Furious Captain Jones took the signal lamp and sent the message this is Captain Jones, and I order you to alter your course 10 degrees to starboard. The answer came back, this is seaman second class Smith alter your course 10 degrees to port. Captain Jones signaled back, “I am a battle ship.” The answer came back, “I am a light house.”

Sometimes in the life of the church we need to be quiet center down and seek God who is a light house, so we can discern our need to alter our course.

Before I close, let me point out how important communion is to our group spiritual formation. The bread and the wine, the body and blood of Christ are the symbols of the life of self-sacrificing love to which God is calling us. As we share these symbols together we pray that God’s grace will work a miracle within each of us and within our community of faith to help us to embrace the way of self-sacrificing love.

Bible Study 8.29.11, 9.1.11, 9.4.11 for Worship 9.11.11

Posted: August 22, 2011 | Author: hurstrobert9402 | Filed under: Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Bible Study 8.29.11, 9.1.11, 9.4.11 For Worship 9.11.11

Genesis 3:1-24

Genesis 3: 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtle than any other wild creature that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree of the garden’?”

2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden;

3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'”

4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not die.

5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

6 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, and he ate.

7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons.

8 And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.

9 But the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?”

10 And he said, “I heard the sound of thee in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.”

11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”

12 The man said, “The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.”

13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent beguiled me, and I ate.”

14 The LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all cattle, and above all wild animals; upon your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life.

15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

16 To the woman he said, “I will greatly multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children, yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.”

17 And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life;

18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth to you; and you shall eat the plants of the field.

19 In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

20 The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.

21 And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins, and clothed them.

22 Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever”–

23 therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken.

24 He drove out the man; and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.

COMMENTARY

Our scripture this week is a direct follow up to last week’s scripture. The snake is indeed subtle in this passage. “Did God say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree of the garden’?” What better way to entice a child or an adolescent into rebellion. Exaggerate the prohibition and excite the desire to disobey. The story teller in Genesis 3 was very wise and experienced in the ways of the world. Put me on a limited calorie diet and it is like telling me I can’t eat anything. That is why dieticians tell people, “if you really want it go ahead and eat it, just use moderation.” I have found with my diabetes that when I over eat, or eat sweet stuff, I just don’t feel good. That’s one way to curb an appetite. After years of abusing food, I may be learning something. But even then I still find myself over eating, when I am not being deliberately conscious of my food intake.

We should note in this story that the ultimate enticement offered by the snake in verse 5 is “you will be like God.” The sin of pride certainly haunts every human being who has ever lived. Especially in our “me” oriented culture, many, many people try to replace God with self. Idolatry of self is the most common form of worship – it is all about me.

Another point to note is that once humans rebel they become alienated from themselves, God and each other. In verse 7 they become aware of their nakedness in a way that alienates them from their bodies, and they try to sew together fig leaves to cover their nakedness. In verses 8 through 11 the awareness of their nakedness causes the humans to try to hide from God. And in verses 12 and 13 the blame game begins resulting in the man and the woman becoming alienated from one another. One of the consequences of their rebellion in verse 17 is that the humans become alienated from the earth, and they are doomed to toil to bring forth their food from the ground by the sweat of their brow.

There is a wonderful prose poem entitled Adam that speaks to the issues in this scripture:

Adam

On the third day I was dust.

Ordinary common dust like you see on a country road in a dry spell.

Nothing expected of me. Me expecting nothing neither.

On the sixth day he comes long and blows.

In my own image too he says like he was doing me a favor.

Sometimes I think if he had waited a billion years

By then I would’ve been tired of being dust,

But after two or three days, what can you expect?

I wasn’t used to being even dust, and he goes and makes me into man.

He could see right away from the expression on my face that I didn’t like it.

So he’s gonna butter me up. He puts me in this garden. Only I don’t butter.

He brings me all the animals, I should give them names. What do I know of names?

“Call it something,” he says, “anything you want.”

So I make up names like lion, tiger, elephant, giraffe. Crazy man, but that’s what he wants.

I’m naming animals since 5 a.m. In the evening I’m tired. I go to bed early.

In the morning I wake up and there she is sitting by a pool of water admiring herself.

Hello Adam, she says, I’m your mate, I’m Eve.

Please to meet you I tell her, and we shake hands.

Actually I’m not so pleased.

From time immemorial nothing, and now rush, rush, rush.

Two days ago I’m naming animals, today I’ve got a mate already.

Also I don’t like the way she looked at me or herself in the water. . .

Well you know what happened. I don’t have to tell you. There were all those fruit trees.

She took a bite, I took a bite, the snake took a bite, quick like a flash – out of the garden.

Now I’m not complaining, after all it’s his garden,

he don’t want nobody eating his apples, that’s his business.

What irritates me is the nerve of the guy. I don’t ask him to make me even dust.

He could have left me nothing like I was before.

And such a fuss over one lousy little apple not even ripe.

I didn’t ask for a mate, I didn’t ask for Cain, for Able.

I didn’t ask for nothing, but anything goes wrong, who’s to blame?

Sodom, Gomorrah, Babel, Arrat –

Me and my kids catch it – fire, flood, pillar of salt.

“Be patient, Eve said, “a little understanding. Look he made it. It was his idea.

It breaks down, so he’ll fix it.”

But I told him one day, “look you’re in too much of a hurry.

In six days you make everything there is, and you expect it will run smoothly?

Something’s always going to happen.

If you’d only thought first, conceived a plan, consulted a specialist,

You wouldn’t have so much trouble all the time.”

But you can’t tell him nothing,’ he knows all.

Like I say he means well, but he’s a meddler, and he’s careless.

He could have made that woman, so she wouldn’t eat that apple.

Alright, alright, so what’s done is done, but all the same,

He should have known better, or at least he could have blown on some other dust!

“At least he could have blown on some other dust.” When life is hard it is easy to blame God. Why did God make life so difficult? I remember one day complaining in Comparative Dogmatics Class, “surely God could have created a more perfect world – birth defects, tornados, hurricanes, even human nature for that matter. And Dr. Lindbeck looked at me squarely in the eye and said, “Mr. Hurst while it is true that God could have created a more perfect Universe, this is the most perfect Universe in which you exist.”

Chapter 3 of Genesis wrestles with the problem of trying to live in a broken world. Creation mythology fantasized a golden age, a perfect world, where the lion ate grass, and there was no death. We know now that the process of creation, while marvelous, also involves pain and death. Life preys upon life. The driving force behind evolution is the survival of the fittest. And while we occasionally see signs of benevolence in human behavior, there is also a dark side of human nature that includes fear of the other, and the willingness to even kill the other in the struggle to survive. Patterns of dominance have created hierarchies where some individuals thrive at the expense of others. We live in a broken world. In a sense God does need to assume responsibility for the darkness as well as the light in creation. But as much as we want to shake our fist at heaven and complain about the unfairness of creation, or make suggestions for how it might have been created better, the answer comes back, “this is the most perfect Universe in which you exist.” Blame doesn’t do anyone any good, nor does it improve the world in which we live.

The Sunday when we will be using this scripture will be the tenth anniversary of the tragedy of the 9/11 attack on the United States. There have been plenty of attempts to assess blame for that tragedy: resentment of the underdeveloped world toward the hegemony of the United States; the Imperialism of radical Islamist ideology that wants to bring the whole world under the rule of an Islamic Caliphate, the evil designs of a small group of Al Queda terrorists, the relative unpreparedness of America. Blame doesn’t do much good for anyone, and may actually get in the way of discovering the reasons for the event. Ultimately it was the snake, and the snake is never happier than when everyone is pointing fingers at everyone else.

In fairness to the story, after everyone gets done blaming everyone else, Adam gives his wife a name, Eve, as a tribute to her that she is the mother of all living. And God shows the humans how to make clothing. These are little reconciliations on what is hopefully a road to what some day the Hebrew story tellers would call shalom.

Actually this is not the most perfect Universe in which we could exist, because we have an ability to improve life on earth. We can make choices that will make life better for everyone around us, even for our environment. We can choose to care for other people, to take care of our ecosystem, we can share, welcome the stranger, feed the hungry, provide medical care for the sick, and take care of the elderly and disabled. Through acts of loving kindness we can make the world we live in a better place. A more livable world through acts of loving kindness was the vision of the Mosaic Law and the way of Jesus. Will life on earth ever be perfect? No, but through love life can be better

According to this story there was no death until the humans were driven out of the Garden of Eden. We know that the cycle of life and death has been a part of creation since the beginning. Therefore we might want to explore some midrash that extends the scripture to learn to see death as a necessary part of life, indeed, death can come as a friend after a long a productive life. Creation did not intend that any of us should last forever, and while we do not seek to end our lives before our time, we can learn to embrace the eventuality of death as a gift that makes life more precious.

Special Feature – Teaching Scripture to Children

Genesis Chapter three is the kind of story told around the campfire to explain some of the mysteries of life. Why is there pain, when women give birth to babies? Why do we have to work so hard for a living? Why is the world broken? Adam, Eve, and the snake provide a storyteller’s explanation for the brokenness of the world. Human beings rebelled against God’s rule, and we all ended up suffering for their disobedience. I think children are capable of seeing themselves in these characters. Even very young children can relate to disobeying a parent. Children learn fairly early in their lives that nakedness is embarrassing. Most children can probably relate to the impulse to hide, when they have done something wrong. We have to be careful with this scripture that children do not come away from the story with the picture of a punishing God. If somehow we can relate the idea of there being consequences when we disobey rather than punishment, the story can serve as a positive model for children.

LET’S ASK SOME QUESTIONS OF THE TEXT

How did the snake begin the process of enticing the humans to disobey God’s rules.

What misstatement does the woman make concerning God’s rule?

Did anyone in this story know what death was?

What promises did the snake make concerning those who eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil?

Did the humans like the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil?

What was the first consequence of eating the fruit?

How do the humans attempt to hide their nakedness?

What was God’s first clue that the humans had eaten the fruit?

Who all gets blamed for the human’s misbehavior?

What punishments does God hand out?

What gesture of mercy does God make toward the humans?

How does God prevent the humans from eating from the Tree of Life?

LET’S ALLOW THE TEXT TO ASK QUESTIONS OF US

What is the most difficult struggle you have with something you know you should or shouldn’t do?

What is the greatest temptation of wanting to be like God?

What’s the matter with wanting to be wise?

For you, what is the most difficult prospect of dying?

What do you think is the symbolic meaning that the humans became conscious of being naked.

What responsibility do you think God needs to take for the brokenness of creation?

What’s the problem with blame or blaming?

One author claims the story is about human alienation: Alienation from the earth, from other people, from God, from self. How do you see alienation working itself out in your own life?

How would you recast this story to talk about consequences rather than punishments?

What do you think of Dr. Lindbeck’s statement: while it is true that God could have created a more perfect Universe, this is the most perfect Universe in which you exist?

As the tenth anniversary of 9/11 approaches, how do you see terrorism as an example of living in a fallen world?

Changing Culture

Posted: August 21, 2011 | Author: hurstrobert9402 | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

While we were in Israel, we met with the Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb, who has been the Pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem since 1988. He is a person of faith with incredible vision and energy. He has built a school, a health and wellness center, a community center, a ministry for senior citizens and now the Dar Al-Kalima College.

We met with Pastor Raheb at the beautiful new campus of the college. The college has a most interesting curriculum focusing primarily in the Fine Arts, Multimedia, Film Making and Tourism. Given the town of Bethlehem the Tourism program is understandable, but why Fine Arts, Multimedia and Film Making?

Pastor Raheb says he has given up on the political leadership of the Palestinians and the Israelis. Neither side wants peace. The leadership of the Israelis and the Palestinians perpetuate the stand-off because continued hostility keeps them both in power. If the Israelis had a peace settlement, then they would have to deal with a myriad of explosive internal conflicts they postpone resolving, because they have an external conflict to focus upon. And if the Palestinians could stop fantasizing that Israel is just going to go away, and if they had a peace settlement, then they would have to get down to the hard work of building a nation. As it is they can blame all of their failures on the Israelis.

So since Pastor Raheb cannot foresee peace anytime in the near future, like fifty years, he has given up on politics and he is focusing on changing culture. He claims that the most powerful tools for changing culture are in the arts. In the modern world multi-media and film more than anything else shape the cultural images people use to define their reality. If you want to change reality, change the images people use to envision their reality. And today with Youtube, Vimeo, and social media the creation and distribution of images has been democratized. In the past people waited for Hollywood, Network Television and news media outlets to create images for them. Today ordinary people are creating and sharing metaphors on the internet, and sometimes those images go viral, meaning that millions upon millions of people see and share those metaphors, and their power in defining reality.

The most interesting project Dr. Mitri has initiated for changing culture is promoting women’s sports – soccer and volley ball. Now remember operating in Bethlehem is a primarily Muslim context for ministry. The Women’s Soccer Team of Dar Al-Kalima College is the Palestinian National Women’s Soccer Champions. Sixty percent of the team is Christian and 40% of the players are Muslim. Talk about culture changing images. Dr. Mitri’s soccer team is positively subversive. He is encouraging women to achieve and to be competitive. The Dar Al-Kalima Soccer Team has also proved that Christians and Muslims can work together and play together – culturally subversive.

Pastor Raheb may have given up on politics, but he is still working to change culture. Let me share with you the most memorable quotation from Dr. Mitri. “We have to move beyond victimhood both Israelis and Palestinians. We need to focus on a culture of life and hope. And so in the face of the senselessness of our situation today, the only option is to go out into the garden and plant a tree.”

I think there may be many of us who are feeling some sense of despair over the state of politics in America. Our electorate is polarized, our politicians are playing games of gotcha, while people are unemployed and the economy is in the toilet. I don’t know that there is anything we can do to change what is going on politically, but like Dr. Raheb, I think we can work to change our culture – go into the garden and plant a tree. So what am I proposing to do?

I don’t know if what I am going to talk about is coincidence or synergy, but I think the course in Spiritual Formation Jim Norris is sharing with us is potentially the most subversive culture changing opportunity we have. Jim describes Spiritual Formation as the process of becoming conformed to the image of Christ for others. Our journey in spiritual formation is to grow into the love of Christ, so that we reflect that love in practical ways to the people around us in the world. Galatians 5:13 For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love be servants of one another. 14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

The goal of spiritual formation is to follow in the way of Jesus and become like Christ. What does Christ like behavior look like? Feed the poor, care for the widow and orphan, heal the sick, welcome everyone with open hospitality. No matter who you are or where you are on life’s journey you are welcome – open inclusive hospitality. We are to forgive even our enemies and those who hurt us, embrace self-sacrificing love. In the words of Paul: Philippians 2:3-4 “Do nothing from selfishness or conceit, but in humility count others to be as important as ourselves. Let each of us look not only to our own interests, but also to the interests of others.”

Now let’s be honest forgiving enemies, even people who hurt us, and giving self-sacrificially, even to strangers, we’re not wired for that. We’re talking about transcending human nature. And while Christ like transformation is difficult, it can be accomplished. How do we do that? Jim makes the point that we don’t do that, we don’t conform ourselves to the image of Christ for others, rather it is God’s grace working in us and through us that can transform us into followers of the way of Jesus.

I believe that within each one of us is a spark of the divine. Remember God breathed into Adam the breath of life. God has breathed into each one of us the very spirit of God, a divine spark, that can grow and glow and illuminate our lives. In the second letter of Timothy the author says, “I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God that is within you. . .” Take that divine spark nurture it, and let it grow, and let it glow and allow that spark to become the flame of the Spirit. That is our goal in spiritual formation to let the light of Christ shine in our lives, so in the words of Jesus, we might become the light of the world.

Now while it is the grace of God working in us and through us that accomplishes our transformation, we become open to the working of God, through prayer. Get two feet on the floor, get grounded, and focus on our breathing. God breathed in to Adam, God breaths into us the breath of life, the very spirit of God. The divine spark that becomes the light of Christ within us is nurtured and nourished through prayer, and the prayerful meditation of the scriptures. One of the techniques Jim is teaching us is centering prayer that helps us to be still and know that God is God. (Sing: “Be still. Be still. And know I am God.) Be still and focus, so our minds find their center in Christ, rather than off chasing butterflies, or responding to all of those internal voices of the ego. Our minds and our hearts are lost until they find their center in God.

So we use the breath as part of centering prayer to help to focus our minds and our hearts in God, and bring us into God’s holy presence. Another technique Jim wants to help us to learn as part of our Spiritual Formation is Lectio Divina. By reading scripture and absorbing scripture devotionally, rather than analytically, we begin to allow the scripture to become part of our feelings and our unconscious thoughts. We begin to welcome the scripture into our imaginations, where God can help us to appreciate the personal messages and insights the scriptures might have for guidance in our lives. And all of the time we have to remember our journey is to conform to the image of Christ for others. How is my growth in Christ causing me to engage with others and be of service to others? Serving others is how we become the light of the world. Focus on the light. Be the light. Let your light shine.

In the words of Mahatma Gandhi, “be the change you want to see in the world.” We cannot change anyone else, so let’s start changing the world by changing ourselves, becoming conformed to the image of Christ for others.

Next week we will explore spiritual formation in community. What if beyond conforming to the image of Christ for others individually, our community of faith began to live out the image of Christ for others in community? Now that would be revolutionary and subversive of our culture. We may not be able to do anything about the politicians, but maybe we can go into the garden and plant a tree. “Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your minds, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Bible Study 8.22.11 For Worship 9.4.11 Genesis 2:1-25

Posted: August 15, 2011 | Author: hurstrobert9402 | Filed under: Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Genesis 2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.

2 And on the seventh day God finished his work which he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done.

3 So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all his work which he had done in creation.

4 These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created. In the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,

5 when no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up — for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no man to till the ground;

6 but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground–

7 then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and 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 And 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.

10 A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers.

11 The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one which flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold;

12 and the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there.

13 The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one which flows around the whole land of Cush.

14 And the name of the third river is Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

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, saying, “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 fit for him.”

19 So out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast 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 beast of the field; but for the man there was not found a helper fit for him.

21 So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh;

22 and the rib which 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; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”

24 Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh.

25 And the man and his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed.

COMMENTARY

The Hebrew Scriptures have at least four different creation stories: Genesis 1, Genesis 2, Psalm 104, Proverbs 8:22-31. Each story serves its own purpose and can be credited to a different author. None of the Creation Stories in the Hebrew Scriptures are intended to serve as a scientific explanation of the process of creation. They are instead metaphors intended to communicate deep wisdom about the nature of human beings, our relationship to our environment, and our relationship to God.

The second chapter of Genesis represents a Creation Story that developed around the camp fire. God carefully molds the human from the dust of the ground – deep wisdom – from dust we come and to dust we return. Adam means from the earth. We are made from the earth. But we are more than just dust, for the Creator breathes into the human the breath of life, the divine spark that is part of the Holy Spirit. God gives Adam a divine kiss, a loving intimate gesture that brings him to life. In this story human beings are not an after-thought or a mistake. Humans are created with intentionality, care and love – God don’t make junk.

In a folksy kind of way God notices that Adam is lonely. So the Creator sets about to provide a companion for the human. All of the animals are created, and the human is encouraged to name them. But there is not a “fit companion” found among the animals. So Eve is fashioned from Adam’s own flesh – flesh of my flesh and bone of my bone. We can discuss endlessly whether the Genesis Story contributes to Patriarchy and the domination of women, and perhaps it is time for a new story – midrash.

The portion of the story to which I want to call particular attention this week are the two trees in the middle of the Garden, the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and God’s admonition in verses 16 and 17: “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden;

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.”

Many commentators down through the ages have pointed to problems with these verses. First, God gives the command to Adam before Eve is created. The text never says that God told Eve about the prohibition. We can assume that someone told her, because in chapter 3 in response to a question from the snake she says: “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'” We do not know if Eve’s information came direct from God, or from Adam. We do not know if “neither shall you touch it,” was Eve’s invention, or was in misinformation passed on by Adam. (Remember all of the misinformation passed around about sex, when we were children and adolescents?)

Another problem raised by commentators is why did God create the trees in the first place? It’s like storing a loaded gun in an unlocked cabinet and then pointing out to a child, where the gun is stored. Is this really smart? Some commentators suggest that God intended all along that humans would have to know good and evil, they couldn’t become truly human and remain innocent. Other commentators have suggested that in Hebrew the word to know implies intimate knowledge (Adam knew Eve and she conceived). There are some forms of evil of which we don’t need to have intimate knowledge. Do I really need to know what it is like to kill another human being? Do I really need to know what it is like to shoot up with heroin, or cocaine, or even smoke a cigarette? I am reminded of a journalist who was interviewing a cannibal in New Guinea. The cannibal said, “I have eaten a man, and I have eaten a woman. They taste the same.” Some forms of experience maybe we don’t need to know.

If God intended for human beings to have knowledge of good and evil, then it hardly seems fair to blame them for accessing that knowledge. But this chapter isn’t really about blame. Rather the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is about knowledge, power and responsibility. God intended for human beings to have the power of knowledge – knowledge of the atom, knowledge of genetics, knowledge of science, but the challenge is for humanity to learn to use all knowledge responsibly. We now have learned some of the secrets of nuclear energy. Do we know enough to use it responsibly? What do Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima Daiichi say about our human ability to use the knowledge of nuclear energy responsibly?

The human race has now begun accessing knowledge of the genetic code. Are we wise enough, mature enough to use that knowledge responsibly? What are some of the ethical issues we humans must now grapple with because of our increased knowledge? Should we clone animals? Should we clone people? Scientists have discovered a frozen baby mammoth. Should we clone it? What might be the implications? “Jurassic Park,” explored the problem of cloning dinosaurs. Are we really ready to use our knowledge responsibly?

The Greek version of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is the story of Pandora’s Box. In developing our technology have we opened a Pandora’s Box of pollution and global warming? In an internet/information age, where knowledge grows and spreads exponentially what are the issues of using knowledge responsibly? What does it mean to share information equitably? Insider trading is an obvious example of an unethical use of knowledge. Are there other ethical issues involving the equitable sharing or access to information? One of the problems in our economy and our political system is that some people are able to achieve privileged positions of information and knowledge that allow them to amass power and wealth. Should there be a limitation or regulation of those forms of information or knowledge?

Humans wouldn’t be human without the knowledge of Good and Evil. I think God knew the people would go for that tree from the beginning, and that is why God has been working with us ever since to learn how to use knowledge responsibly. The Law of Moses was the beginning of ethics, and we need to continue learning refining our discernment of the ethics of using knowledge.

NEW FEATURE – NEW FEATURE

Each week we will feature thoughts about how our weekly passage might be taught to children. We hope this section will be particular helpful to folks volunteering to do Children’s Sermons and to Sunday School teachers. We invite everyone to make a contribution to this section by posting comments on the United Church Bible Study Facebook Page.

My comments about teaching this passage to children are to focus first on how carefully God forms the human from the dust. Maybe allow the children to play with some clay. Another important image is God breathing into Adam the breath of life. God brings Adam to life with a divine kiss. Sort of like a parent giving his/her child a kiss in the morning, or a kiss good night. Children will also relate to the human giving names to the animals. Very small children like naming things, and they can probably relate to Adam inventing names like elephant, giraffe, hippopotamus. Maybe ask children what names they would give to the creatures based upon how they look. There could be a children’s book in that concept. I would also make use of Blake’s pictures of Creation. They are very benign and I think potentially attractive for children. Google Blake pictures Creation under Google Images.

LET’S ASK SOME QUESTIONS OF THE TEXT

1. What did God do on the seventh day of creation?

2. What does God do in order to initiate living things on earth?

3. What does God use to make the human?

4. When God makes a special Garden for the humans, where does God place the garden?

5. What are the names of the Rivers mentioned in the second chapter of Genesis?

6. How many plants in the garden are forbidden for the humans to eat?

7. What does God say will be the consequence if this plant is eaten?

8. How did God attempt to find a helper for the human?

9. Does it appear from the story in Chapter 2 that God originally had procreation in mind?

10. How does God create the woman?

11. What is the physical and spiritual state of the man and the woman at the end of the passage?

LET’S ALLOW THE TEXT TO ASK SOME QUESTIONS OF US

1. If God can do anything, why do you think God rests on the seventh day?

2. How important is water? Does this have a message for us in our time?

3. For you what is the symbolism of Adam being formed from the dust and then God breathing in to him the breath of life?

4. For you what is the symbolism of the Garden?

5. What do you thinks is the symbolism of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil?

6. Why do you think God includes the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden?

7. What do you think was God’s purpose in pointing out the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil to the human?

8. Do you think God could have done it differently?

9. If you had been God, would you have created humans with the knowledge of Good and Evil, allowed them to discover Good and Evil for themselves, or prevent them from ever having the knowledge of Good and Evil?

10. Do you think the story of the creation of Eve has contributed to the oppression of women?

11. In truth humans have never been alone. What do you think the story teller was trying to accomplish in the naming of the animals story?

12. Do you think the original story teller meant to imply that in Eden there originally would have been no procreation?

13. Do you think it is possible to be human and remain innocent?

14. For you what is the meaning of the last verse: And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed?

St. Francis: Taking Care of the Earth

Posted: August 14, 2011 | Author: hurstrobert9402 | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

While we were visiting Rome we took a two 1/2 hour side trip Northeast into Umbria to the town of Assisi the home of St. Francis. The Italian countryside is beautiful, and Francis is one of the most attractive Saints of the Church. He grew up a couple of decades after the Waldensians had broken away from the Roman Catholic Church in Northern Italy, and he was inspired by some of the same ferment. The Church had grown rich and powerful, sort of an oxymoron, when we think about Jesus and his message. Jesus, the King without a crown or an army, who didn’t have two shekels to rub together and had to be buried in a borrowed tomb. Jesus, who embraced the way of poverty, enjoined his followers to sell all of their possessions and share with the poor.

Francis was the spoiled child of a well to do cloth merchant. As a young person he partied a lot, and he aspired to be a knight. His father bought him armor and weapons, and he went off to fight in a war with the neighboring town of Perugia. He wasn’t a very good knight. He was captured and held a year for ransom. His father finally paid for his release. Once again, Francis joined the army of Assisi and went forth to do battle but he returned a short time later confused and dejected. A statue in Assisi celebrates this moment of Francis’ awakening.

He wandered the fields of Assisi and one day he stopped in the little church of San Damiano, where he knelt to pray before a crucifix. As he was praying he heard God’s voice say to him: “Rebuild my church.” Francis took a look around and said, “you’re right this little church needs refurbishing.”

So Francis began working to clean and repair the little church of San Damiano. As a Friar we met said, “he got the message half right.” It was only after repairing the church that he realized he was being called to a much larger and more difficult task. The church had grown rich and powerful and no longer cared for the poor. Francis in a symbolic act went to his parents and gave them back all of his clothes. His father believing he had gone mad imprisoned him for three days, hoping he would come to his senses. But his mother finally let him out, and he went down into the valley and began living in the woods.

St. Francis is noted for his humility, his concern and care for the poor and his concern and care for the environment. We had an opportunity to visit with a Franciscan Brother in Assisi, Brother James, who was originally from West Haven, Connecticut. Brother James informed us that Franciscans tend to be somewhat impious and love humor. So he shared with us a Franciscan joke about poverty. A Jesuit, a Dominican and a Franciscan were walking along a road, debating the greatness of their orders. Suddenly, an apparition of the Holy Family appeared in front of them, with Jesus in a manger and Mary and Joseph praying over him. The Franciscan fell on his face, over come with awe at the sight of God born in such poverty. The Dominican fell to his knees, adoring the beautiful reflection of the Trinity and the Holy Family. The Jesuit walked up to Joseph, put his arm around his shoulder, and said, “So, where ya thinking of sending the kid for school?”

Brother James felt called to the Franciscan Order because of their informality, and their more fraternal relationship with one another. He initially decided to try it for a year, and figured he would get over it. But he has now been a friar for over 30 years. He finds that people are called to the Franciscans in many ways. Sometimes it is just the experience of being around other Franciscans and experiencing their sense of community and fraternity. Young people seem to be attracted to Francis’ humility, and authenticity, “now there’s a real Christian.” Young people are also drawn to his love and care for the environment. And this morning I would like to talk about St. Francis’ love and care for the environment.

St. Francis and his followers lived out of doors most of the time. He loved nature. Looking at the beauty of the Valley of Assisi I can understand his love of nature. He and his followers lived in a very rude shelter that has since had a big beautiful church built around it. I think St. Francis would be embarrassed by how ornate the church is that was constructed to honor him. He might be positively angry to find out they charge 80 cents to use the restroom.

St. Francis loved nature, and he even seemed to have an affinity for communicating with animals. He is credited for preaching to the birds and taming a wolf that was terrorizing the village of Gubbio. The secret of St. Francis’ love and care for the environment was his humility. Francis realized that he was a part of nature just like the birds, the flowers, the plants, the wolf. He did not indulge in the conceit that because he was human he was more important than other parts of nature. All things, including the insects in his path he would remove rather than step on them, were precious parts of God’s creation.

St. Francis saw God in everything. If God is the great Creator, then everything in the created world is part of God. As part of God’s creation, St. Francis did not view humans as above any other form of creation but rather, in partnership with the rest of creation. Saint Francis preferred to see humans as living in harmony with the rest of creation rather than trying to dominate nature. With this in mind, St. Francis referred to everything in creation as Brothers and Sisters. In the Canticle of St. Francis he speaks of Brother Sun and Sister Moon, Brother Fire and Sister Water. If we feel that kind of kinship with the rest of creation, how can we trash our environment, or dump poison on mother earth? Now I know there are some folks who would just say that St. Francis was an eco-wacko. But unless we can begin to embrace a similar sense of a kinship with creation, we will not survive. Unless we can cultivate a humility like Francis, respecting the world around us, then we will come to a point when the world cannot sustain us.

Slowly sometimes painfully we have learned the need to take care of our agricultural land – contour plowing, rotation of crops, allowing ground to lie fallow. But we have so much more to learn becoming more sparing in our use of fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, and irrigation. We are depleting the water in our aquifers faster than nature can replace it.

We are going to have to learn that we are all in this together. The earth is a community, and if we over use its resources, if we poison the air, the water, and the land, pretty soon none of us will be able to live. Recently someone was telling me how in Austin, Texas the water shortage is so severe, the City will give you a low flush toilet, if you will install it. In the coming years we will all need to learn to consume less, so there will be enough for all. And there will be people who will complain, “that’s socialism.” It’s not socialism, it’s just good sense, common decency, and following the way of Jesus. People used to tell me when I was a kid that following Jesus isn’t practical. People don’t want to love other people. People don’t want to share. We Americans are rugged individualists. Well we are coming to a time, when following Jesus may not be “practical,” in the ways of the world but it will be the only sane way to live. Love one another. Care for your neighbor. Share. And as unpopular as it may be at the moment, take care of the poor, and care for the earth. That was the message of both Jesus and St. Francis.

A couple of months ago we were talking about coincidence or synergy. And I don’t know if this was synergy, but my daughter Jennifer just took a group of college students on a back packing adventure to the Grand Tetons and Yellow Stone National Park. The students received credit for the course, because the study was designed to help them become more aware of their relationship to nature. Some of the comments the students wrote in their final projects I think are very important for beginning to understand how we might begin transmitting the faith to the millennial generation. Listen to some of the student’s comments.

“Just looking at animals scavenging around for food, or trees soaring 100 feet, or how magnificent the sunset can be, shows me nature is an amazing and awesome thing. How everything fit together in perfect harmony, no flaws. This, in my opinion, is evidence enough of a higher power. I have had religious experiences through nature, and nature has strengthened my beliefs. Just looking at the array of beautiful colors the sunset provides, or the awe-inspiring size of a mountain humbles my mind and soul…The humbleness I get from seeing these magnificent sights, I carry with me thought out my day and week. It has helped me to realize that I am a small part of a much larger picture and that if I plug myself into it, I feel like my mind is freed and that this is where I am suppose to be, in nature.”

　 Another student wrote: “I have never been a very religious person, but I use nature as a spiritual outlet. It is something I can see, touch and feel and impacts my life every day. Visiting Portland Oregon last year and hiking up Mount Hood was a humbling and emotional experience. It made me feel more blessed and fortunate than any Sunday morning mass ever has. The beauty of it all makes me sit back and think about just how lucky we all are to be here. Seeing the Grand Tetons up close during our Cascade Canyon hike was a very humbling experience. Times like that really enforce my belief that there has to be a greater power out there. Nature has truly taught me how fragile and special life is.”

Finally allow me to share a comment Jennifer made about her students: “Most of my students talked about the experience of being humbled in the presence of nature. Like no other experience I have ever had with students, being within these amazing environments did more to pull them out of their own selves and believe that there is something that is important beyond just them and worth paying attention to and learning about.”

I believe St. Francis can point the way to a more authentic faith caring for the poor and caring for the earth. I believe that authenticity of faith can connect with the younger generation, and helping them to experience nature, will bring them closer to God.

United Church of Huntsville Lectionary 2011 – 2012

Posted: August 10, 2011 | Author: hurstrobert9402 | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

United Church Lectionary 2011 – 2012

Bible Study 8.22.11, 8.25.11, 8.28.11 For Worship 9.4.11

Genesis 2:1-25