life stories

G2A #7: "Adventures in New Worlds" – 1 Kings - Nehemiah

Most of our favorite stories are set in a new world. Not just a new world for the reader, but a new world for the characters of the story. The new and strange location drives the plot as the protagonist learns about the new world (and learn about him or herself) while trying to find their way back home.

Think of your favorite books, movies, or television shows. Chances are they follow this pattern.

Perhaps it is a story about a little girl who journeyed down a rabbit hole and found herself in Wonderland; or a story about survivors of a zombie-apocalypse world where the rules of survival and the ethics of human behavior have changed; or a story about children who walk into a wardrobe and end up in a land called Narnia; or a story about a young woman sealed in an arena and fighting for survival in a competition called “The Hunger Games.”

A new world is a great plot element because it introduces tension (what are the secrets and differences in this new place?), suspense (will the character make it home?), and adventure.

And yet, as wonderful as the stories often are, in real life we rarely embrace new worlds; precisely because they introduce those elements of tension, suspense (aka. stress), and adventure.

When we do find ourselves in a new world, we make every effort to transform it into something familiar. The most obvious example of this is the historical context of our Thanksgiving celebrations - the occupation, genocide, and transformation of this New World into settlements and territories strikingly similar to the cities in England from which the settlers departed.

Humans are people of routine who prefer to write the story of our lives ourselves, leaving very little to chance. Often our adventures in “new worlds” are limited to trying a new recipe or buying new clothes. Most people, not just Lutherans, have trouble dealing with change.

Our inability to deal with change is ironic because the overarching Biblical narrative–our focus over the last seven weeks–is essentially a story about explorations in new worlds:

  • new world created in the first two chapters of Genesis,
  • the new world that emerged after the flood,
  • the new world promised to Abraham,
  • the new world of slavery in Egypt,
  • the new world in the wilderness,
  • and the new world of living in a kingdom.

Which brings us to today’s scripture:

Generations after King David united the twelve tribes into one kingdom, the kingdom has split into two kingdoms, Israel in the north and Judah in the south. Following Israel’s defeat at the hands of the Assyrians, the people were scattered and lost into the mist of human history. They are referred to as the lost tribes of Israel. One century later, Judah was conquered by Babylon and after refusing to pay their taxes the people were exiled. This is what is referred to as “The Babylonian Captivity.”

In these periods, God gave messages to prophets including Amos, Isaiah, Micah, and Jeremiah. Over and over again, these prophets bring God’s message to those living in the new world of exile; a message that seems to have no obvious anchor in the lived human experience; a message that is hard to believe. Jeremiah’s message is “God is in control, God is present, God will bring us home.”

God is in control. One of the unsettling elements of the Old Testament is that God is portrayed as constantly pulling the strings of human history, even in acts of violence. Something good happens? It’s a blessing from God. Something bad happens? It’s a punishment from God. God’s excessive control of every situation can seem manipulative, judgmental, and harsh. Certainly it should give us pause to hear God’s words: “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.” God initiates and takes responsibility for the misfortune of the Hebrew people. And yet there is a sense of beauty, reassurance, and grace in the claim that God was the one who exiled the Hebrews. This means that even though the people have been defeated, God has not been defeated.

God is in control and God is present. God’s promised triumph throughout history means that God is present with the Hebrew people even in their new world. God, through the prophets, instructs the people to settle in their new location–to build gardens, raise families, pay taxes, and avoid those false prophets who claim there is an easy way or a quick fix to get back to the way things were. God is present, even in the city of the enemy.

God is in control, God is present, and God will bring us home. God’s plan includes both exile and restoration; punishment and salvation.

Surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. I will let you find me, says the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.
— Jeremiah 29: 11, 13-14

God continues to make promises when no future seems possible, despite the peoples’ inability to trust and believe. Despite all evidence to the contrary, God will give them a future with hope and will bring them home again.

This text and context speaks to those of us today who feel as though we are living in a new world where...

  • neighbors don’t know one another,
  • relationships are facilitated through social media,
  • religion is viewed as an option,
  • planes crash into skyscrapers,
  • self-worth is based on the busyness of your schedules, and so on…

The text speaks to those of us who lament the way things used to be. The text speaks to our feelings of fear, oppression, isolation, and resentment. The text offers us hope, trust, and peace in the midst of a world which at times feels so foreign and misaligned.

Every time we gather as a Christian church we are called to proclaim a message that speaks directly to these feelings of fear, oppression, isolation, and resentment; we are called to proclaim a message originally given to the prophets– the message that God is sovereign and reigning in the midst of a world where it doesn’t look like God is sovereign or reigning.

If you feel as though you are a stranger in a new world, take solace in the truth that God is God even in places of exile. God is at work in the world; in places we would never expect and in ways we would never expect. This is grace. This is cause for hope, optimism, selfless giving, and extravagant praise.

Plus, it makes for an incredible story!

Much like the protagonists of our favorite stories, we are on a journey in what can seem like a strange and unfamiliar world. Yet no matter how much things change, this truth will always remain: God is in control, God is present, and God will bring us home.

As our summer journey through the Hebrew Scriptures winds up, I would like to fast-forward a bit and leave you with words from the coming King, Jesus Christ, who, as he was journeying toward the cross, spoke to his disciples - people who were about to find themselves in a new world:

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.
— John 14:27

Amen.

G2A #4: "The Story of Our Life" – Exodus 1-15

What’s the story that defines your life?

What is the story that that most accurately represents or most completely informs your life?

Perhaps it’s a story stemming from the immigration of your ancestors? Many of us are quite conscious of the path our previous generations journeyed to bring the family to America–stories of precarious escape, fortunate assistance, and ceaseless hard work to make a better life for future generations.

Perhaps it’s a story about your children…or lack thereof.

Perhaps it’s a story of success from your own life: a chance encounter, a stroke of luck, an “in the right place at the right time” circumstance, or a hard-won achievement that opened up a world of possibilities.

Perhaps it’s a story of failure from your own life: a squandered opportunity, an “in the wrong place at the wrong time” circumstance, a door slammed in your face.

Perhaps it’s a story rooted in your physical well-being. Maybe you were part of a high school sports team that won the state championship. Maybe you have adopted a physical activity that gives order and structure to your world, such as jogging, weight-lifting, or yoga.

Perhaps its’ a story rooted in your physical ailments such as a devastating medical diagnosis, an addiction, or mental illness.

Or, perhaps it’s a story rooted in your affinity for a sports team. Have ever seen the remarkable encounter whenever two strangers meet and learn they are both Chicago Cubs fans? It’s an instant bond of solidarity rooted in understanding, suffering, and the optimistic motto: “Wait ’til next year.”

We define our lives by the stories not only of our lives but also the stories of the lives of those before us, beside us, and after us. The stories that define our lives can either enslave us or set us free.

My goal in these twelve weeks of exploring the scripture from Genesis to Acts is to uncover a greater understanding about the stories of faith that define God (and ultimately, ourselves). So far we have heard stories that would define God as a creator, destroyer, forgiver, promise-giver, and promise-keeper. While each of these labels point to some truth about God, it is the story of the exodus that becomes the primary way that God (and eventually Jesus) comes to be understood. The story of the exodus is the story that defines God’s life. It is, therefore, the story that defines our lives. It is the story of freedom.

A lot of narrative has taken place since we left off last week with Abraham, Sarah, and Isaac. Isaac went on to have two sons: Esau and Jacob. Jacob teamed up with his mom to trick his father into giving him the blessing meant for his older brother. Jacob ran away from home only to find himself engaged in a wrestling match with an angel. The angel changed Jacob’s name to Israel and proceeded to brake his leg – laying the foundation for the idea that when you wrestle with God you end up walking away limping.

Jacob had many sons, but he favored Joseph; thus, Joseph was despised by his brothers. They plotted ways to get rid of him, eventually selling him to some nomads. While imprisoned in Egypt, Joseph’s ability to decipher dreams and foresee a devastating famine eventually led him to a privileged position in the Pharaoh’s cabinet. The whole family immigrated to Egypt seeking food, and there were reunited with and forgiven by Joseph. They chose to stay in Egpyt, instead of returning to the promised land.

The immigrant Hebrew people obeyed God’s original commandment to “be fruitful and multiply." Their prosperity in Egypt was so great that it threatened the Pharaoh. The Pharaoh had no tolerance for people who didn’t speak the native language or worship their gods (of which he considered himself one); he was threatened by the immigrant’s prosperity; and he was convinced that in the event of war, the immigrants would show their true colors and join forces against the Egyptians from the inside.

So, the Pharaoh decided to murder all the Hebrew male children. Politically, this was a guaranteed check-mate. The remaining Hebrews men and women would continue to be enslaved, thus contributing to the national economy. And the girls would be unprotected from sexual assault from Egyptian men, meaning that any children born would not only be future slaves, but more importantly, only be half-Hebrew.

The act of faithfulness that initiates the story of the Hebrew freedom is the faith-filled refusal of the Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah, to murder the Hebrew male newborns. We can’t ignore the radical nature of this story: God uses the actions of two women who were very low on the cultural pecking order to initiate the freedom of God’s chosen people.

It is so incredible, it makes you wonder what other radical and unlikely people God will employ to see the exodus to completion I mean, what’s next––a stuttering murderer on the run, exiled from both his nation and his people, hiding out among a flock of stinky dirty sheep?

Well, yes, that is exactly the guy God chooses to see the exodus to completion! His name is Moses.

What ensues is this incredible story of God using the unlikeliest of heroes to convey God’s presence in a world of oppression, scarcity, and fear. The entire story establishes the timeless conflict between two types of ruling over people:

On the one hand is Pharaoh–whose leadership is about diminishing life, limiting growth, possessing, keeping people enslaved, and killing when one is threatened. On the other hand is the Lord–whose leadership is about multiplying life, being fruitful, setting people free, being in relationship, and who only resorts to killing as a way last resort in order to free those who have been enslaved.
— Rolf Jacobson

In the end, it is God’s life-giving version of lordship that proves more powerful than the Pharaoh’s life-taking version of lordship. Freedom is brought about by faithfulness, not force; patience, not political power. In the end,

The exodus is seen to be a sign of hope that poverty and oppression are not the last word, for God is at work on behalf of a different future.
— Terrence Fretheim

The exodus is the story that defines God’s life. From this point on in scripture, God is referred to as “The one who brought us up out of the house of slavery.”

The exodus is also the story that defines the lives of God’s chosen people. From this point on in scripture, God’s chosen people are referred to as “Those whom God brought up out of the house of slavery.”

There are many stories we can use to define our own lives––stories of success, failure, achievement, luck, ancestry, occupation, or family system.

But above it all, there is a story that unites us with each other, those who have come before, and those will come after. Above it all, we are “those whom God brought up out of the house of slavery.”

God has set us free from the stories that drag us down as well as the stories that puff us up. We are not slaves to our successes, failures, achievements, luck, ancestry, occupation or family system. We are the ones who have been set free for one single reason: that God would use us to set others free.

May we always remember that we are slaves who have been set free. May we keep our eyes open to those who are suffering in the world today. May we see them with the eyes of Moses, for even though we may be reluctant or doubtful that God can accomplish such great good through us, God most certainly can and will. That is true freedom.

Amen.

 

 

 

 

Rolf Jacobson quote from the online article “Commentary on Exodus 1:6-22; 15:20–6:8” at www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id-1086

Terrence Fretheim quote from Exodus (Interpretation commentary series), page 18.