Abraham and Sarah

July 27^th, 2014         “Abraham and Sarah”     Rev. Heather Jepsen

Sermon Series: Genesis: A Summer Sojourn

Genesis 18

          Today we continue our summer sermon series, Genesis: A Summer Sojourn, which is made up of sermons that you and I create together here in worship.  A shorter reading, today we are examining the material in chapter 18.  We have skipped ahead a bit after the story of Noah.  We have skipped the tower of Babel which concludes the stories of the earliest or pre-history narrative.  And we have moved into the unique story of the Israelites, which begins with the call of Abraham and the promise of a nation to come.

          God has made a covenant with Abraham and Sarah, promising that their descendants will be like the stars and be a special people, chosen by the Lord.  Already the two doubt the words of the Lord, since they remain childless.  Abraham considers having a servant, Eliezer be the heir to his house.  Sarah considers having a child for herself through the surrogate wife Hagar.  None of these plans work out and so the couple remain childless when we find them here in this story.

          Chapter 18 is neat, in that it acts like a diptych or one of those two sided pictures.  The mood is light and the feeling is one of great possibility.  In the first half, the Lord visits Abraham and Sarah along with two men, who are angels.  Abraham rushes to host them and they enjoy his hospitality.  They mention the promise that has been given, and that finally the time to have the child has come.  Sarah laughs at such a notion.  “Is anything too wonderful for the Lord?” God asks, and the question is not meant to be rhetorical.

          In the second part of the diptych, we find Abraham and God talking together.  The two angels have headed into the city of Sodom and Gomorrah, and Abraham is wondering about God’s justice.  Do the good outweigh the bad or is it the other way around?  In the story we read last week of Noah and the flood, the justice of God outweighs the goodness of any people.  Everyone is destroyed.  Abraham turns things around, as he encourages God to consider whether or not the goodness of some can save the lives of others. 

          Of course, we touch on the story of Sodom and Gomorrah today which is always a bit prickly.  It is interesting to note the historical date of the stories here in our Bible.  We have talked a bit about the work of the editor in Genesis, and today we find a newer story purposely placed before an older one.  The story of the destruction of the cities is an older narrative, and this chapter has been added in as a commentary on that one.  We are meant to interpret the stories in chapter 19, in light of the stories here in chapter 18.

          Contrary to the popular culture of the Bible in our own time, the story of Sodom and Gomorrah is not about gay people.  It has nothing to do with gays or sex; it has everything to do with hospitality.  Abraham demonstrates faithful behavior in showing hospitality to the angels who appear as strangers at his door.  So does Lot, when he meets them later on in the city.  The people of Sodom and Gomorrah neglect to show hospitality to strangers, and that is the sin they are condemned for.  Even the Bible itself supports this interpretation as we read in Ezekiel “This was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy.”  The issue is hospitality.

          We have two wonderful stories here in Genesis 18; the promise of new life for Abraham and Sarah, and the promise of new beginnings for our Lord when it comes to the definition of justice. 

So what do you think?

What do you see in this story?

What questions does this text raise for you?

What does the text say to you about the nature of God?

What does it say about the nature of humanity?

What is the sermon for us today?

(Follow the Link to our website to hear the conversation!)

Noah

July 20^th, 2014          “Noah”            Rev. Heather Jepsen

Sermon Series: Genesis: A Summer Sojourn

Genesis 6-9:17

          Today we continue our summer sermon series Genesis: A Summer Sojourn, which is made up of sermons that you and I create together here in worship.  Today we are talking about another story that we all know well, Noah and the Ark.  We have talked a bit this summer about the different authors whose work appears in Genesis and we see those two voices side by side in the Noah story.  This story contains some material from the Priestly or “P” tradition.  You might remember that the first creation story was from the P author and was concerned with orderliness and division which we will see here.  We also have Yahwistic or “J” material in the Noah story which is more concerned with relationship.  The two narratives are put together by an editor or sometimes called redactor to make one narrative.  This is why we have some inconsistences like whether animals came in sets of twos or sevens, and whether the flood was 40 or 150 days.

          The flood narrative is a very common story among early peoples.  There is a lot in the Noah story that mirrors a Babylonian story called The Epic of Gilgamesh.  There too we hear of a chosen survivor who builds a boat to house him and his family, an epic flood that destroys the earth, birds sent out to mark the receding waters, and a sacrifice offered at the end in thanksgiving of safety.  There is also a sign placed in the sky so that the gods will remember a promise to no longer destroy the earth by flood.

          While not a unique story in ancient history, the early Israelites’ version is unique in that it focuses on the heart of God.  What we often read as a story of punishment can come to be understood as a story about God’s love.  God was grieved and saddened over the results of creation.  The inclination of man’s heart is evil and that breaks the heart of God.  In grief, God lets go the waters of chaos.  Like having that one good cry, God releases the waters of the heavens and the waters under the earth and the creation returns to its original chaos state.

          Our theme of grace continues as God remembers Noah and the flood waters recede.  Once again God’s spirit wind, ruah, moves over the waters of chaos and things dry up and are once again habitable.  The results of this flood have not been a change in the hearts of men, which remain evil; but a change in the heart of God.  No more will God destroy the earth with flood.  Rather, God will remember creation with continual patience and love.  God hangs up his weapon, the bow, in the sky to remind himself that he is no longer at war with man.  Rather, this is a time and sign of peace.

          So what do you think?

What do you see in this story?

What questions does this text raise for you?

What does the text say to you about the nature of God?

What does it say about the nature of humanity?

What is the sermon for us today?

(Follow the link to our website to hear the discussion!)

Cain and Abel

July 13^th, 2014        “Cain and Abel”     Rev. Heather Jepsen

Sermon Series: Genesis: A Summer Sojourn

Genesis 4:1-26

          Today we continue our summer sermon series Genesis: A Summer Sojourn, which is made up of sermons that you and I create together here in worship.  This morning’s reading about Cain and Abel is a familiar story for many of us.  It is a scripture passage that I have not preached on before, because it never appears in the lectionary cycle of readings that I usually follow for my sermons.  I have a feeling that the early church fathers felt that murder was not an appropriate topic for Sunday morning conversations and so they purposely left this story out.

          Our story begins with the first birth.  Eve gives birth to her first born, Cain, and declares “I have produced a man with the help of the Lord” (produced being a word play on the name Cain).  Eve clearly acknowledges the blessing of the Lord, which played a major role in her ability to conceive and carry the child.  After Cain a second son, Abel is born.

          Cain works the earth like his father Adam, Abel is a tender of sheep.  Together they each bring an offering to the Lord and for some reason God chooses to accept Abel’s offering and not Cain’s.  Throughout history many reasons have been given for why this might be the case, but the text itself does not make it clear.  In fact, the text seems to emphasizes that there is no good reason for God’s behavior.

          We all know how the story goes.  Cain is upset with God, kills Abel, and then tries to hide from his problems; “Am I my brother’s keeper?”  God pronounces punishment, and Cain asks for mercy.  In a reflection of the God who sews garments for Adam and Eve, God relents and lessens the punishment for Cain.  While this is the first clear mention of sin in the Bible, the story of God’s grace continues.

          The story of Cain and Abel is a strange and troubling narrative.  We have discussed the influence of various writers in the book of Genesis, and the narrative here is a continuation of the “Yahwistic” or “J” tradition that we read from last week.  You can see the connection here as the story continues to hinge on relationships.  More specifically, the broken relationships that began in Eden, are now continuing and multiplying through the history of early peoples.

          At this early setting in the Biblical history we can see that life with each other and life with God will not be easy.  As the great theologian Walter Brueggemann puts it, “Life is not a garden party, but a harsh fellowship among watchful siblings, made harsher by the heavy ways of God.”

          So what do you think?

What do you see in this story?

What questions does this text raise for you?

What does the text say to you about the nature of God?

What does it say about the nature of humanity?

What is the sermon for us today?

(Clink the Link to our website to hear the conversation!)

The Fall

July 6^th, 2014               “The Fall”                   Rev. Heather Jepsen

Sermon Series: Genesis: A Summer Sojourn

Genesis 2:4b – 3:24

          Today we continue our summer sermon series on the Book of Genesis.  You may remember from a few weeks ago, that this summer series Genesis: A Summer Sojourn is made up of sermons that you and I create together.  I hope you brought some questions today, as I introduce and then together we discuss this interesting text.

          You may remember from our other discussion, that the book of Genesis is actually a collection of the works of several authors, rather than just one writer.  A few weeks ago we discussed the first creation narrative in Genesis, which was written in the Priestly tradition during the time that the Israelites were in Babylon.  This morning’s reading, the second account of creation and then the story of Adam and Eve in the garden, is thought to be written in the “Yahwistic” voice, or the “J” tradition.  Even though this story comes second in our Bible, scholars think that it is the older of the two narratives.

          Where the first creation story was about the power of God and the importance of order and organization; this story is much more focused on relationships.  God is a physical presence in this narrative; walking in the garden, creating with his hands and breath, talking one-on-one with people, and sewing garments for clothing.  This narrative presents God as tentative, learning, discerning.  Creation is a work in progress, rather than a “one and done” event.

          Humanity, too, is pictured differently in this narrative.  Man is created from the earth to care for the earth.  The Hebrew for dirt or earth is adamah from which the man adam is formed.  That’s how we get the name Adam.  It’s not a proper name, more of a term for one made from the earth.  God creates Adam with a purpose, to till and care for creation.  These words could also be translated to serve and protect.  Humanity was created with the specific purpose to care for the earth. 

          In that process of care, a helper is needed, and so woman is created to help man and to be his companion.  Everything is fine and good until the crafty serpent shows up and begins asking questions.   What happens after that has been interpreted in various ways for generations.  

So let’s talk about it . . .

What do you see in this story?

What questions does this text raise in you?

What does it say about God?

What does it say about the nature of humanity?

What is the sermon for us today?

(follow the link to our website to hear the conversation)