Leviticus 21:16-24; 1 Cor 1:26-31; Deuteronomy 23:1-6

Peter Enns points out that in Proverbs 26:4-5 you find two very interesting, diametrically opposed verses which appear right next to each other…

They read as follows in the NIV Bible...

Proverbs 26:4-5

4 Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you yourself will be just like him.

5 Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes.

Isn’t that fascinating? Two verses right next to each other that give diametrically opposed advice.

Which verse is right? Which verse should we follow? If we follow the one verse, won’t we be going against the advice of the other, and vice-versa.

But Peter Enns suggests another approach: What if, under different circumstances, both verses are right. But it takes wisdom to know when to follow the advice in the one proverb, and when to follow the other proverb.

And this is the complexity of living with wisdom in the world. Sometimes under certain circumstances a set of actions may be right. But under different circumstances those same actions may in fact be wrong or inappropriate. In one situation it might be important to hold one’s tongue. But in another it might be important to speak. And it is only wisdom that will help to know the difference.

And so Peter Enns believes that in these two verses in Proverbs we get a micro-scopic view of the way the whole Bible works. Instead of providing simple and ready-made answers for living, learning to navigate the complexity of the Bible helps us to learn to humbly navigate the complexity of life itself where sometimes things are not as black and white as we would like them to be.

Take for example Jesus teaching in the sermon on the mount where Jesus says “Let your yes be yes and let your no be no.” It is a verse that seems pretty straightforward, encouraging us to conduct ourselves in the world with a clear and transparent honesty and not with duplicity.

But what would happen if you were transported back in time to Nazi Germany and your Jewish friend had come for refuge to you at your house because he or she was being hunted down by the Gestapo. When the Gestapo knock on your door and ask you are you hiding a Jew in your house, do you say “Yes, come right in and arrest him?” Or out of an attempt to protect the life of your Jewish friend, do you say “No! There is no Jew hiding in my house.”

It is a very extreme case, but it illustrates the point that while on the whole, it is wise and good in life to let your yes be yes and to let your no be no, there are shades of complexity that sometimes we need to navigate, when letting our yes be yes and our no be no, is not always the proper thing to do.

Reading the Bible invites us into a world of complexity that will over-time teach us how to navigate the complexity of the world with greater wisdom, and humility. And I use the word humility alongside the word wisdom, because to be truly wise is to acknowledge that I could also be wrong.

And so when you read the Bible in its entirety and take note of the detail, you will discover that rather than simply reading a completely uniform set of ideas, at times you are invited to enter a world of ancient Jewish debate.

One of the big debates that takes place across the New Testament is the relationship between faith and works. Paul had come to the conclusion that good works could not put you right with God, because human beings are incapable of consistently doing good works. And so Paul comes to the conclusion from his own life experience that we are not saved by good works, but rather by faith and trust in God’s saving grace made known in Jesus. As you can imagine, there is a danger in the position of Paul, and even Paul saw that some Christians used his argument to say that it no longer mattered how you acted as long as you had faith. Across the pages of the New Testament as a counter-balance to the words of the Apostle Paul, you hear the counter voice of the book of James that “Faith without works is dead.”

And one of the great debates that rages across the books of the Bible is the question: “Who can belong to the people of God?”

In Deuteronomy there are very clear instructions that certain people are to be excluded from among the people of God:

Eunuch’s, men who have been emasculated, may not be part of the people of God. Certain races and nationalities, the Moabites and the Ammonites are not to included within the people of God.

In Leviticus, there is a list of people excluded from the serving God as priests which includes people with defects of various kinds. People with skin defects, eye defects, crippled limbs, hunch-backs, dwarf’s, and the list goes on.

And yet across the pages of scripture, we find that in various places and in various ways, other writers have come to different conclusions about many of these exclusions that were enshrined in some of these very laws.

In the story of Ruth the Moabite, as she follows her mother-in-law Naomi with those moving words, “...your God will be my God, your people will be my people...”, it becomes apparent that detested Moabites in the laws of Deuteronomy can in fact be included in the people of God.

In Isaiah 56:3 Isaiah comes to the same conclusion, contrary to his own scripture in Deuteronomy: “Let no foreigner who is bound to the Lord say “The Lord will surely exclude me from his people.” And let no eunuch complain ‘I am only a dry tree’”. According to Isaiah, there is nothing to prevent a foreigner or a eunuch from being included in the people of God. This is reiterated in the books of Acts, where we discover that an Ethiopian eunuch can indeed be incorporated into the people of Jesus as he is baptised by Philip on the road from Jerusalem to Gaza.

What is interesting is that nowhere in Scripture do we find those laws excluding people with defects explicitly overturned in Scripture. We have had to come to that conclusion ourselves based on an intuitive sense of the spirit of Jesus who treated all people with equal dignity and respect.

Perhaps we find this supported also in the story of David 1 Samuel 16, where the author suggests to us that God does not judge by outward appearance, but rather God looks at the heart. Maybe, contrary to the perspective of the writer of Leviticus, God is not so concerned about our outward defects as the book of Leviticus suggests. Maybe God is really only truly concerned about what is happening in our hearts.

And so being a good Christian is not simply learning the Bible by heart and learning to quote selected verses to try and end the debate on contentious issues. but rather it is about learning to discern the spirit of Jesus. And to learn to discern the spirit in which Jesus lived, is an invitation to humbly enter into the complexity of the Bible and to seek to navigate that complexity with wisdom and humility as a way of training us to navigate the complexity of life with similar wisdom and humility.

In 1 Cor 1:30 The Apostle Paul speaks of Jesus as having become, for us, the Wisdom of God. In other words, Jesus is an embodiment of God’s Wisdom. In the humanity of Jesus, God’s Wisdom is made manifest within the complexity of human life and living. When we learn to navigate the complexity of the Bible and the complexity of life with humility and wisdom, we become followers of Jesus who became the Wisdom of God for us.

When In John’s Gospel we hear the words of Jesus: “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life,” we are being invited to see that the truth is not something that can be captured in words on a page. Instead, truth is ultimately something that is incarnated in a person. Truth needs to be embodied and lived in the world. It is a Way… that brings life. It is a Way of Living in the complexity of this world that brings life to ourselves and others. It is about learning to live courageously. honestly, compassionately and wisely. All qualities that we find in Jesus whose life was an embodiment of the Way, an embodiment of Truth, and an embodiment of Life. Jesus thus becomes for us the Wisdom of God incarnate that the Wisdom, the Way, the Truth and the Life of God might also become incarnate, or embodied, within us.

Deuteronomy 21:10-21
2 Corinthians 3:1-6

Last week I introduced some of Peter Enns’ thoughts on the Bible.  Having grown up in a very literalist and fundamentalist Biblical framework, the more he studied the Bible at university, the more that literal, fundamentalist framework didn't hold for him.  He came to see that rather than the Bible holding Simple, Obvious and Clear instruction for human life and living, he came to see that it as Ancient, Ambiguous and Diverse.  And rather than being a let-down, he said that this discovery is one that he celebrates. 

Why does he celebrate the fact that the Bible is Ancient, Ambiguous and Diverse without providing clear unambiguous answers. Because he says that it tells us that God is not a helicopter parent trying to direct every aspect of our lives, but rather, God is like a wise parent who is inviting us into a journey of becoming mature and wise adults, capable of navigating the complexity of life in this world by making mature and wise decisions. He believes that a Bible that is Ancient, Ambiguous and Diverse provides us space to ponder, to debate, to think deeply, and even to have the space to fail... all which are necessary if we are to grow in wisdom. 

So there you have last weeks sermon summarised in about a minute and a half. It makes you wonder why it took me close to 20 minutes last week to say essentially the same thing! 

Now last week I made reference to Deuteronomy 21 as a text that helped us to see first hand how the Bible is ancient, ambiguous and diverse.  But in last weeks sermon I felt like we only scratched the surface of this passage. And so today I had thought it might be helpful to dive in a little deeper and see if there are further insights that this passage might invite us into. 

There are three sections to the passage we read and so I would like to make a few brief comments on all three sections: 

In the first section, we have what I imagine most of us (and perhaps especially the woman here) would consider the horrifying laws about conquered woman being forced into marriages with their Israelite captors. 

The text says: If in a context of war, the Israelites conquer their enemies, and an Israelite warrior sees a captured woman who is beautiful and desirable, he has permission to take her as his wife. He must first let her grieve for a month. Next he must shave her head, clip her nails after which he shall be joined to her in marriage. If however she does not please him, he is not to make her into a slave. Rather he is to set her free to go where she wishes, because he has dishonoured her. 

From our modern Western perspective, it is quite a shocking scenario. Just as shocking as Boko Haram in Nigeria capturing 276 school girls in April 2014 and forcing them into marriage with their captors.  According to Wikipedia, 6 years later, there are still 112 girls missing who have never returned, still living probably in forced marriages. 

Like I suggested last week, there is something quite ancient, one might even say, barbaric, about this practice.  If this passage is part of our holy Bible, what are we to make of this passage? Is there any light that shines from this verse at all? Tim Mackie, a founder of what is called the Bible Project gives a very helpful perspective. He says that if you want to understand and evaluate the laws of the Old Testament, you need to understand them and evaluate them from within their own ancient context. You need to evaluate them according to some of the laws and practices of other ancient people. When you do that, you begin to see some faint glimmers of light even in this dark, barbaric and primitive text. 

Within this text you can begin to see the faint glimmerings of our modern day understanding of human rights.  Despite the horror of forced marriage that this passage represents, there is strangely and remarkably alongside it, some faint conception of the human feelings and human dignity of the captured woman. Firstly there is the acknowledgement of her human grief for her lost family. She is to be given a month to grieve for them. But secondly, what is remarable is that her captor is not given permission to do anything he likes with her.  If she does not please him and he does not wish to continue in the marriage with her, he is not to turn her into a slave. He is to give her her freedom, because according to the text, he will have dishonoured her. 

There are many ancient cultures where a captor would have been given free license to do anything he liked with this woman he had captured... Even western slave owners up to the 1800’s, largely had carte blanche when it came to the treatment of their slaves. But here in this ancient passage, we see the faint glimmers of a higher consciousness beginning to dawn.  What is remarkable about the laws of the Old Testament is not that they are timeless absolute laws emailed from heaven that are true and valid for all time. Rather what is remarkable about them is that they represent a significant shift and early growth in concepts of justice and fairness that form the basis for modern day human rights. Our task is not to treat OT laws as absolute, which they are clearly not, but rather to see the trajectory and the direction in which they are pointing. 

It is very easy for modern Western European like ourselves to judge a passage like this, but it probably also needs to be remembered that arranged and forced marriages were quite common amongst our own ancestors up until the early 1800’s when things began to change. Although it wasn't legal, but certainly fairly commonly practised, it is quite shocking to think that the selling of wives in England was still practised until 1901.  Slavery was only first abolished among European nations in 1834. And perhaps even more startling that the first clear and unambiguous statement on universal human rights was only first expressed after World War II in 1948 with the The Universal Declaration of Human Rights just after the formation of the United Nations. And what might be interesting is that 8 nations abstained, including, I am embarrassed to say, South Africa.   

The practice of justice and fairness and a concept of universal human rights is a very new concept in the history of the world. But here in this ancient Old Testament text, we see some of the earliest faint glimmerings of light faintly glimmering through a very dark and barbaric practice.

In the next section of our passage, we likewise are confronted with what from our perspective as Western Europeans is another seemingly ancient practice of polygamy. It seems ancient because it has been many centuries since it was last practised here in Europe. But in other parts of the world, the practice is not so ancient. In South Africa, it is not uncommon. Up until two years ago we had a president who was a polygamist with 6 wives. When Wendy and I were renting out a property a year before we came to Dromore, one of the applicants was for the second wife of a polygamous man who would be paying her rent. And just last week I saw on a South African news website an article asking the question how an inheritance should be divided in the case of a polygamous marriage where no will has been drawn up. 

In certain parts of the world, the advice in this passage is perhaps surprisingly contemporary. 

From our perspective as modern Westerners, we might easily get lost and caught up in the injustice of a man marrying two wives and one being loved while the other is unloved. But when read it in it’s ancient context, what is remarkable about this passage is that there are the early glimmering in human consciousness of a sense of justice and fairness that goes beyond simply the affections of the human heart. Even where someone might not be loved, this passage comes as a reminder that justice and fairness are important values. 

The passage from our perspective is ancient, and ambiguous, because it has stuff in it that we would disagree with, but within it are also the faint glimmerings of God’s spirit, seen in the faint glimmerings of concepts of fairness and justice. 

The fact that there is corruption and nepotism still in evidence in modern Western democracies shows that we have still not fully got to grips with the concepts of justice and fairness. 

Lastly, we come to the rather shocking passage that suggests that capital punishment by stoning is an acceptable method of dealing with a stubborn and rebellious son.  It is quite a horrific passage if one lets one’s imagination run with it. For me, there is very little in the way of redeeming light that shines from this passage. The best that i can do to understand it in it’s context.  The Hebrew people were a small and vulnerable nation. Their very existence would have been constantly under threat from surrounding nations. Within that context, stubborn and rebellious children would have been a threat not just to their own immediate family, but to the clan, tribe and nation.  Severe discipline like that of this passage was probably considered necessary for survival. And yet, even an explanation like that doesn't diminish the sense of the barbarism and brutality of this passage from our own holy scriptures. 

Maybe, sometimes, it is ok to disagree with our own scriptures. And it is clear that in his own way, Jesus disagreed with this particular passage. The evidence is to be found in the parable of the prodigal son.  The prodigal son in Luke 16 is also rebellious and stubborn. Like the son in Deuteronomy 21, he is also a drunkard and a glutton. The same words that are used to describe the rebellious son in Deuteronomy 21 and Luke 16. 

For any Jew who would have been listening to the parable of Jesus, they would immediately have made the connection with Deuteronomy 21. They might have wondered how the parable of Jesus was going to end.  Was the son in the parable going to be taken to the village elders? Were they going to gather around the son and stone him to death for his rebellious and stubborn behaviour? What a shocking twist to the parable it must have been to hear that instead of being stoned to death, as the law in Deuteronomy required, the rebellious son, on returning home, is received with love and affection.  The father in the parable, like a wise parent had given his son space to make mistakes, and to learn the painful lessons of life that would enable him to grow in true wisdom. 

The contrast between Deuteronomy 21 and Luke 16 shows us that the laws of the Old Testament are not simply to be accepted unchallenged.  At times, as we find in Jesus parable of the prodigal son, we can even challenge and disagree with them. In the end, God’s gift of the Bible does not force us into blind faith and blind obedience, but rather, invites us, to ponder, reflect, debate and above all to journey into a deeper wisdom, a journey that takes us beyond the written letters on a page, and into listening deeply for the spirit of God. For as Paul discovered in his own experience, the letter kills, but the spirit gives life. 

Baptism Sermon Matthew 3:13-17
Throughout the opening chapters of Matthew, Jesus is given a variety of different titles from different sources. In his Genealogy, he is spoke to as "son of David, son of Abraham" (1:1). When the angel visits Joseph in a dream, he is given the name "Jesus" (God Saves). Prophetically, he is called called "Emmanuel" (meaning God with us) (1:23), "Ruler" (2:6), "my son" (2:15), "a Nazorean" (2:23). By the Magi, he is "king of the Jews" (2:2), which leads to the term "Messiah" by Jewish religious leaders (2:4). John the Baptist calls him "the more powerful one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire" (3:11).

Now, in our text in the Baptism of Jesus, it is the turn of the Voice from Heaven that speaks and gives Jesus a new title: "My son, the Beloved.”

And I believe in this phrase, we discover the real identity of Jesus, and in discovering the real identity of Jesus, I believe that we discover our own true identity as well.

In the Gospels, Jesus is often called the Son of Man, another way of saying, a Son of Humanity, the Human One. In other words, he is a representation of our truest humanity. He represents humanity restored and made whole. Which means in Jesus, we discover who we really are, and who God has always intended us to be, “the Beloved One’s of God!” God’s beloved daughters and son’s.

As we reflect today on wee David’s baptism, and also in our story, on the baptism of Jesus, I believe that above all things, baptism is meant to be a declaration of God’s love for us, a declaration that each and everyone of us is the beloved of God.

We may not always feel like God’s Beloved. We may not always act or speak like the Beloved of God, but baptism unveils the truth of who we really The Beloved of God.

As I said last week, Alan Storey believes that at the heart of the Christian message is the truth that we are made By love, In Love, and For Love.

I would like to look briefly at each of those three statements: Made By Love, In Love and For Love.

Firstly, We are Made By Love.

This is a statement about who God is. Isn’t it interesting in the Gospel of Matthew, that the voice of God, the voice of Heaven is only spoken twice through the entire Gospel. The first time is here at Jesus Baptism. And the Second time is at the Transfiguration. On both occasions the words that are spoken from Heaven are words or affirmations of love. This is my Son, the beloved. This is my son whom I love.

In Matthew’s Gospel (as with Mark and Luke’s Gospels), God could be said to be one of few words, but when the Voice from Heaven does speak, the words that are spoken are words of love.

Matthew’s Gospel underlines this truth in Matthew chapter 5, where Jesus describes God in these words: "He makes his sun to shine on good and bad alike. He sends his rain upon the righteous and the unrighteous." God is indiscriminately loving. God is loving to those who deserve his love. God is loving to those who do not deserve his love.

The Rev. Ray Light under whose ministry I grew up used to say the following: “You can be the best person you know how to be and it make God love you any more than God loves you right now. And you can be the very worst person you know how to be, and it wont make God love you any less than God loves you right now.”

How we behave may determine the quality of life as we experience it, but it will not change God’s love for us.

Mystics of every faith and religion who have awoken to the Sacred Presence of the Divine in the end, all speak with one voice, that God, Ultimate Reality is to be experienced as Infinite Love.

On this Baptism Sunday we are reminded that the very essence of God is Love, and that each of us is made, By Love. Little David has been made by love.

Secondly, on a Baptism Sunday like today, we remember that we are all made not just By Love, but also made In Love.

It is a statement that reminds us that the Act of Creation itself is an act of love.

In the ancient Babylonian Creation Story, the creation of the world is described as an act of violence. After a great conflict between the gods, Marduk the great champion, fights and kills Tiamat. He shoots an arrow and splits her in two, and from her eyes flow the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, and from her body, Marduk creates the heavens and the earth. For the ancient Babylonians, creation was an act of violence. But by contrast, the Judeo-Christian tradition, says that the act of creation is in fact an act of love. We are made by love, and we are made in love.

Creation wasn't something that only happened somewhere way back then at the beginning of time. Creation is happening here and now today. Creation happens every time a seed begins to germinate under the ground and little shoots break through the soil and a plant or tree or flower begins to emerge. Creation unfolds every time the miracle of conception takes place and a little baby begins to grow in the womb, the work of creation happens all over again. And this act of creation is God’s great act of Love.

Not only are we made by Love, but we are also made In Love. It takes an enormous sacrifice of love to bring new life into this world.

Today, we acknowledge that little David who we have baptised today has been made By love, but also in love.

Lastly, in Baptism, we remember that as God’s Beloved Son’s and Daughters, we are also made for love.

And that can be interpreted in two ways...

Firstly it reminds us that the environment that is best suited to our growth as human beings is an environment of love. And anyone who has worked with little children can testify to that. Give a child a warm, secure, loving environment, and that child will begin to thrive and blossom. The more secure, stable and nurturing the home environment is, the more a child can thrive. But the converse is also true. The less secure, stable and nurturing a home environment is, the more a child will struggle and often those struggles will continue deep into adulthood.

We are made for love. We operate best in a loving environment.

But we are also made for love in another sense. We have been made for acts of love and kindness. It is part of our human purposes in this world. Our real fulfillment in life comes through acts of love. You will know that yourself. When you do something you love, it brings joy and fulfillment. Some of you will know that my brother was a professional tennis player. For most of his career my brother loved playing tennis, it brought him joy. But at the end of his career, the last year and a half, his love for tennis had begun to wane. For those last months he said he was playing only for the money, and it became burdensome and life-sapping for him.

But we are made for love also in the sense that when we engage in acts of love towards others, it makes us feel good about ourselves and about life. Haven’t we all experienced how when we have been rude, or unkind, even when we feel it is justified, it leaves us feeling empty and hollow, unfulfilled and sometimes even dirty or unclean.

If there is a God shaped hole inside every human being that only God can fill, and if it is true that God is Love, then it is equally true that there is a love shaped hole inside every human being, that only Love can fill.

Today, on his Baptism day, we affirm especially of little David, that he has been made by Love, in love and for love. And as we hear that it is true for David, we hear also that it is true for each and everyone of us: The voice from Heaven, in the story of Jesus Baptism whispers over each of us today saying: You too are My Beloved.

Genesis 3

A native American story teller used to begin his tribes creation story with the following words:  "I don’t know if it happened exactly like this, but I know this story is true."

There is great wisdom expressed in that line. It reminds us that for something to be true, doesn’t mean that it is historically true. Jesus told parables: A man was on a journey from Jerusalem to Jericho. On the way he was attacked by robbers and left for dead. A variety of religious leaders walked by on the other side of the road. A Samaritan stopped and took care of him.

In that parable, Jesus is teachings us certain truths about the nature of what it means to love one’s neighbour as oneself. But it is a fictional story. The truth of the story does not depend on the story being historically true. It is a reminder that truth is something bigger than fact.

When it comes to the story of Adam and Eve, like the story of Noah and the Ark that we looked at last week, it is possible to read the story in different ways.

One way is to read the story as a record of history, as literal historical facts about the creation and fall of the very first human beings.

But just like the Noah Story, we are soon confronted by some uncomfortable questions:

• If the Adam and Eve story is historically true, who did Cain and Abel marry? Did they have to marry their sisters? Would that not have been incest, which is later out-lawed in Leviticus?
• How did the snake talk to Eve? It takes a very particular kind of mouth and tongue that enables us to talk and pronounces words and sounds.
• Where is the garden of Eden today? Why can we not literally find the Garden of Eden somewhere on the earth that and angel is literally guarding with flaming swords so that we are unable to enter?

Another way to read it is to approach it as an ancient parable, designed to convey a different kind of truth. And so we might say like that native American story teller, “I don't know if it happened exactly like this, but I know this story is true." In other words, I know that there are truths within this story if we are willing to listen.

What then might some of the truths be that the story is seeking to communicate to us. In exploring this question, I rely on some of the interpretation given by the Rev. Alan Storey, who does a quite masterful job of exploring the depth of this ancient parable.

1) The first thing that the parable seeks to communicate to us is the sense of the generosity of God the Divine. The story begins with God providing abundantly for Adam and Eve.

And when we look at the world, we see that it is true. This world is filled with such abundance and variety. Everything that we need for a contented and happy human existence has been provided for us. The variety and abundance of the natural world is astounding.

The parable underlines the sense that God has generously provided by the richness and diversity of this beautiful world we live in.

In the little parable, God says: this whole garden is yours to enjoy, but just don’t eat of that one tree in the middle of the garden. We’ll come back to the tree in a moment.

2). Secondly, in this story, we encounter a snake that speaks.

Have you ever heard a snake talk? Well I guess probably not, because Holy St Patrick drove all the snakes out of Ireland! Anyway, for those who have seen a snake, live and in person, you will know that snakes don’t talk. Alan Storey, says, we may all be able to agree that snakes don’t talk, but that doesn mean that we don’t hear them speak.

His gives a few examples:

When he gets to a traffic light in a car, and a big 4X4 SUV pulls up next to him and he can hear it sort of rumbling and grunting, we know that motor cars don’t talk, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t hear them speak. And so when he sees that 4X4 SUV and he hears the rumbling of the engine, it begins to speak to him. And do you know what it says: “If you get yourself inside behind the wheel of this car, you will feel like a real man.”

I think it is true that different cars speak to different people. Maybe a 4X4 doesn’t speak to you. Maybe it is the latest Audi or BMW... if you sit behind this wheel, then you will have arrived.

Or perhaps when you are driving past a particular housing estate or a particular house that you have seen for sale. We know that bricks and mortar don’t talk, but if we are all honest, we have all heard them speaking to us at one time of another.... if you could just move into this house, then you will be truly happy. Houses don’t talk, but we hear them speak.

Or perhaps a pair of shoes... shoes don’t talk, but we hear them speak. Have you heard a pair of shoes speaking to you before?

Snakes don’t talk, but they do speak.

And in this ancient Jewish wisdom story, this parable, the snake speaks with all sorts of enticing promises. It is the voice of discontentment with the abundance we have received. The voice that makes us forget God’s abundant provision. The voice that begins to say: “Brian... if only you had that thing over there, then, Ah, then, you would be truly happy”.

We all know that snakes don’t talk, but we hear them speak. The snake in this story is true, it is anything and everything in life that makes us doubt the loving abundance of God.

Instead of finding happiness in the Divine gift of life that has been abundantly given, we begin to look for happiness in the wrong places. The snake tempts us to find happiness in things that are never able to fulfill our truest and deepest longings. Only God can do that. As St Augustine famously said, “O God you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until we find our rest in you.” Or as Pascal famously said, “There is a God-shaped hole in every human heart, that only God can fill.

3) Thirdly, This little ancient parable teaches us the truth that freedom is the air that love breathes.

Love, by definition must have the freedom not to love. The air that love breathes is freedom. If you remove oxygen from the air that you breathe, you will soon suffocate and die. If you remove freedom from love, then love too will soon suffocate and die.

Love is not something that can be forced. That is why controlling and manipulative relationships are so destructive. Love can never be forced. That is why abuse of various kinds is so destructive. Abuse robs another of their freedom. As soon as you rob another of their freedom, love begins to die.

Thich Nhat Hahn, the Vietnamese Zen monk writes that if we want our love to grow, we need to ask our beloved: “Is there space around your heart” In other words, do you have the freedom to be yourself.

Alan Storey believes that God has made us in love, by love, and for love. But for love to truly be love, it has to be free. Free to choose.

And that is one possible significance of the mythical tree of good and evil in the centre of the Garden. We read the story and wonder why God placed temptation in the way of Adam and Eve. Why did God make the snake in the first place. If God had not put the tree there, perhaps it all would not have gone wrong.

But if God had never made the snake to speak to us, and if God had never placed the forbidden fruit in front of us, we would never have had the opportunity to to truly love.

We might ask the question, why did God make us with freedom, and the ability to make really stupid and sometimes destructive decisions in life.

But if we were made with no freedom, we would all be robots with no capacity to truly love.

And so from this perspective, the perspective of love, the forbidden tree in the middle of the garden is a necessary part of life, because it creates the freedom to choose. And without that freedom to choose, there can be no real love, only pre-programmed robots.

When God created us with freedom, to love or not o love, Alan Storey suggests that God took an incredible risk. In fact, he says that love is spelled R.I.S.K. Whenever we love, we take a risk. You cannot have love without it. It is a risk, because when we start loving we feel vulnerable.

And so, May we cherish the abundance with which God has made this beautiful world. Truly, we live in the Garden of Eden, if we had the eyes to see. Secondly, may we become more aware the snakes that speak to us.... enticing us to find happiness where true happiness can never be found. And lastly, when we despair at the destructiveness of humanity, may we remember that freedom is a necessary gift, for without it there would be no real possibility to love. May we honour the freedom of our loved one’s, and may we always make sure that they have space around their hearts. And lastly, like God, may we be willing to make ourselves vulnerable, and be willing to take the risk of loving others. Amen.

Genesis 6:1-22 & Genesis 9:9-17

There are a number of ways of reading the story of Noah and the Flood. Today I would like to reflect on two possibilities.

One way is to read it as a literal historical account. When one does so, then all sorts of questions follow:

• Today we know of million of species. How did Noah fit all those animals into the ark? Even if one were to use a modern day cruise-liner, it would seem like a logistical impossibility.
• How would science explain a flood that covered every land mass on earth with water up to the highest mountain peaks. Scientifically speaking it is sounds like an impossible story.
• Perhaps the most important question of all... Is God really like that? Did God, in a flash-flood of anger, really wipe out the whole population of the earth. Is God really like that? If, as we learn from Jesus, God is essentially love, then how does a loving God in a moment of calculated anger wipe out the entire inhabited world. Is this a God you can trust? Because if truth be told, we all have our weaknesses and faults. None of us is without our problems and without our sins. Are any of us safe in the hands of such a ruthless and angry God?

Rev. Alan Storey says the following about this story:

“I am troubled by this story of the universal flood. I’m troubled by what it seems to suggest on the surface about the nature and character of God. I’m troubled by the horror of the text. The horror that is not recorded. The drowning. The screaming. The gasping. The fleeing to higher ground, but to no avail. The climbing of trees to higher branches but to no avail. The final embraces. The words of love. The letting go of children. The unanswered prayers. If it were a movie, it would be a horror movie. Age restricted and rightly so. The destruction of all of humanity? The destruction of creatures? Beautiful and innocent? The wickedness and violence of humanity seems to be answered with an even greater wickedness and violence from God, suggesting that there is no problem too big that violence cannot solve. This sounds like Terminator 3."

Isn't it interesting that probably the most popular image that is used on a children’s Bible is the image of Noah and the Ark.

And yet, Wendy shared with me that as a child, growing up with this story she found it quite traumatising. What if she were one of those who God chose to wipe out in a flood. What about all those innocent animals that were made to suffer for the sins of human beings?

Reading this story as a literal history raises an enormous amount of questions...

There is a second possible way to read this story is to read it as an example of ancient Jewish mythology, as a way of explaining and making sense of a world that especially for ancient people, must have often seemed unpredictable and chaotic.

Rob Bell puts it like this....

Imagine you had no pictures of earth from outer space, no weather reports, no Google images, no airplanes – imagine if you’d never been a few miles from where you were born. And then imagine a flash flood – massive, undulating, swirling, terrifying water – coming at you out of nowhere and wiping away your house and crops and animals and family members. Imagine how devastating that would be to your psyche.

You would do what people do whenever they suffer – you’d look for causes... an explanation. And in the ancient world, it was generally agreed upon that the forces that caused this were the gods who had had it up to here with humans and all their backstabbing, and depraved ways and had decided to unleash their wrath.

That’s how people saw the world. That’s how they explained floods.

What is probably of particular interest is that cultures all around the world have folk tales within their sacred mythologies of flood stories. Often the stories involve one or two people who are saved, and who have to begin all over again. Often, but not always, they involve a deity wanting to punish humanity for their misdeeds.

When the world seems like an unpredictable place with forces much greater than yourself, these forces become personified as the gods, or the ancestors, or as signs that the gods, the ancestors or the Supreme Being is sending a punishment. What other explanations were there for primitive, ancient people who had no other knowledge of the weather.

When read in this light, the story in Genesis 6-9 stands for us as an example of an ancient Jewish myth attributing the destructive forces of a great flood to the punishing will and actions of the Divine Being.

Is that the end of the story for us? Is there no further or deeper meaning that can be found in this story?

Some interpreters have suggested that while in many ways, this story needs to be regarded as part of a primitive ancient Jewish mythology, there is also something quite remarkable about this particular Flood Story. There are rays of light that shine through this ancient primitive myth that are worthy of our reflection today, thousands of years later.

What is perhaps particularly interesting in this Jewish version of the ancient Flood story is that we have an unexpected ending to the story... The God-figure does a strange thing. The God-figure in the story expresses regret over what has happened. Isn’t that an interesting twist in the tale. In most ancient mythologies the gods were not portrayed as really caring very much about human beings. But in this version of the story, this God-figure has a change of heart.

Part of the punchline of this ancient Jewish rendition of the flood mythology is that God forsakes what has been called the myth of redemptive violence. The myth of redemptive violence is the belief that somehow peace can be achieved in this through violence, through wiping out one’s enemies and the undesirables of this world by brute force.

At the beginning of this story the God-figure seems to be a believer in the myth of redemptive violence. If he can wipe out all the evil doers in this world with brute violence, with a divine act of mass genocide, only saving one righteous man and his family, then the problem of evil will be dealt with in this world, and things can go back to the original harmony that God had intended for this world.

But within just a few verses of the end of this story, it becomes apparent that the myth of redemptive violence is really just a myth, an illusion. It doesn’t work. Not even in the hands of an almighty God. No sooner has the flood receded and Noah and his family have begun to re-settle themselves and repopulate the earth, sin reappears and the whole downward cycle happens all over again.

Even though this ancient Jewish legend or myth is primitive and violent it carries with it a deep and a profound reflection on the nature of violence as a means to solve the problems of the world. How many of us, like the God-figure in this story haven’t at one time or another had the same desire: the desire to see the wicked of the earth wiped out with one final act of violence. But this ancient Jewish story conveys a profound message: the myth of redemptive violence doesn’t work, not even in the hands of an almighty God.

And so in this profound ancient and primitive story, the God-figure in the story regrets his actions. One can even say, God, repents. He turns his back on violence. Like an ancient warrior who has seen too much violence in his life-time, he hangs up his warrior's bow in sorrow. Some interpreters would say that that is the real significance of the rainbow in this story. It is taken as a symbol of God renouncing the way of violence, hanging up his warriors bow in the heaven’s as an eternal reminder that violence is not the answer.

And so by the end of the story, no longer does the God character believe that violence is the answer to the problems of this world. God must find another way.

And that brings us to the story of Jesus. In the story of Jesus, we find a new way to address the problems of this world. Not through redemptive violence. Put away your swords, Jesus says to Peter in the garden of Gethsemane when the Romans come to arrest him. Jesus seeks to express a different way of bringing peace on earth. Not by slaying his enemies with a sword or even a great flood, but rather breaking open their hearts in an act of supreme love and sacrifice. Instead of redemptive violence, Jesus invites us to become part of the story of redemptive love.

Genesis 1:1 – 2:3

As we stand at the beginning of 2020, the beginning of a new year and a new decade, what more appropriate way for us than by reflecting on the first chapter of the Bible that begins with the words: “In the beginning...”

Contrary to popular Christian opinion, most scholars would say that Genesis 1 is not a scientific paper giving a scientific explanation of the beginning of the universe. More appropriately, it could be considered to be a form of religious poetry that was designed to inspire those who first heard it.

The first indication that this is not a scientific exposition is that while darkness and light are created on day one, the sun moon and the stars are only created on the 4th day. Now we know that the measurement of time by days relies on the revolution of the earth around the sun, so the question remains, if the sun is only created on day four, how do we know how to count the first three days. As Rob Bell puts it: How do we know that the first three days are actually days. Most scientists would agree also that there is no vault or dome separating waters above the sky from those below. This is clearly not a scientific explanation of creation.

What then are the signs that Genesis chapter 1 is better categorised as a piece of poetry rather than a scientific exposition. The clearest sign is to be found in the rhythm’s of language created by repetitions and patterns.

The most obvious repetition is the phrases “Let there be...”

-Let there be light...

-Let there be a vault between the waters...

-Let there be water under the sky...

Another obvious repetition is the phrase:

• “And there was evening, and there was morning, the first day...”
• “And there was evening, and there was morning, the second...”

A further repetition is the phrase comes at the end of each day of creation as we hear these words: “And God saw that it was good...And God saw that it was good...”

But the repetitions and patterns are also more subtle than these...

The whole poem is set around the theme or the structure of seven days. For religious Jews, seven was the number of completeness and wholeness.

But what is interesting is that the number seven appears in multiple patterns throughout the poem:

• the phrases "and it was so" occurs 7 times.
  
  
• the phrase "God saw that it was good" occur 7 times.
• The very first sentence of the poem, interestingly, consists of seven Hebrew words,
• The second sentence of the poem consists of of fourteen Hebrew words which equals two lots of sevens.
• The word ‘earth’ appears 21 times: 7x3
• The word ‘heaven/firmament’ occurs 21 times: again 7x3
• The word Elohim, is the Hebrew name for God in this passage is mentioned 35 times, which equals 7x5.

And so there are sevens and patterns of seven all throughout this poem.


In addition, there are also a number of patterns of 10.

• The phrase ‘to make’ occurs 10 times
  
  
• The phrase ‘according to their kinds’ occurs 10 times
• The phrase ‘and God said’ occurs 10 times: 3 times in relation to people, 7 times in relation to other creatures.
• And the phrase ‘let there be’ occurs 10 times: 3 times for things in heaven and 7 times for things on earth.

As Rob Bell says: You begin to think that the writer had help.


But what does it all mean? That is the question that remains:

To understand meaning, it is always important to know the context. Who were these words first spoken to? And what might they have meant to them?

By examining the language of the poem, scholars suggest that it was written during the Jewish exile in Babylon.

The Babylonian army had invaded Palestine in about 587 BC and the majority of the population was marched off to Babylon. The Jewish people lost almost everything: their Temple, their land, their homes, for many of them, their family members who were left behind. Psalm 137 gives us an indication of what impact this had on them: “By the rivers of Babylon, we wept!”

Everything that was stable in their life was taken from them. Everything that was familiar. Everything that brought stability and order was gone. The Jewish exiles must have felt like life was out of control, like they were living on the edge of the abyss, living in the midst of chaos... like a darkness had come over them as a people.

And into this context of chaos, an inspired preacher or spiritual writer speaks these words:

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, Now the earth was formless and empty. Darkness was over the face of the abyss, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters of chaos.”

The phrase "formless and void" or “formless and empty” used in verse 1 is a translation of the Hebrew tohu wa-bohu. Tohu means "emptiness, futility"; it is used to describe the desert wilderness – unable to sustain human life. Wa-bohu has no particular meaning but seems to have been used to rhyme with tohu suggesting a lingering or an ongoing emptiness, futility and meaninglessness.

And so firstly, for a people who felt like they were living in darkness and chaos, whose lives in exile felt empty, futile and meaningless, this inspired religious poem in Genesis 1 reminded them that over the chaos and the darkness of their lives, the creative spirit of Elohim was hovering. Darkness and chaos are not the last words in life, because over the darkness and chaos hovers One who can bring forth new patterns of life and beauty. Hovering over their lives of darkness and chaos was a presence that created out of chaos in the very beginning, and who could bring something new out of the chaos and darkness of their lives once again.

This whole world is shot through with subtle order and patterns. When frost begins to set in over night, the deeper the frost sets in, the more the frozen water molecules begin to find order in beautiful and intricate patterns.

For anyone who has lived long enough in this world, it is very apparent that God does not save humanity from disasters that happen. This life is unpredictable. At times from our vantage point it can feel futile, empty, meaningless, dark and chaotic... but this poem reminds us that whenever we find ourselves in those dark and chaotic places, the creative, spirit of Elohim, is brooding and hovering, ready to bring forth new patterns, new meaning, and new creation in our lives.

Isn’t it interesting that while we normally speak of morning and evening, the poet who wrote this poem speaks of evening and morning. “And it was evening and it was morning, the first day.”

The day begins in darkness and proceeds to light. When our lives feel like they are in darkness, there is always the promise that light will come. As another Hebrew poet writes in Psalm 30:5 “Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning.”

Secondly, in the context of exile in Babylon, the exiled Jews were treated with disdain and with contempt by their Babylonian captors. In Psalm 137 one gets a sense of how Jewish exiles in Babylon were taunted: While they are weeping at the rivers of Babylon we read that their captors taunted them saying: sing us one of your songs from Jerusalem. And they reply: How can we sing the songs of Jerusalem in a foreign land.

In exile, they were a people stripped of their dignity and taunted taunted. But in this inspired poem in Genesis chapter 1 they are reminded that in fact, they have been made in the image of Elohim, and if they have been made in the image of Elohim, then their lives have supreme meaning, value and worth. They have been made for nobility.

Thirdly, the poem ends, culminates, climaxes with Elohim, the great creative force behind the entire universe resting. It is part of a healthy rhythm of life. A meaningful life requires both action and rest. It requires both breathing in and breathing out. Evening and Morning in this poem provide the basic rhythm of working and resting. But in addition to the rhythm of evening and morning, for good measure, a seventh day is created as a Sabbath. A day of rest. In addition to a six day cycle of evening and morning, working and rest, a seventh day is added purely for rest. Interesting that over a seven day cycle there is more time given to rest then to work.

When you are in exile and life feels chaotic and formless, the tendency might be there to get into a pattern of work work work, trying to bring order out of the chaos by ourselves. But in this poem they are reminded that creative strength is renewed and restored through rest. Human dignity is not enhanced by working without a break. Human dignity and the human spirit is fed by making time for rest.

And so, at the beginning of 2020, may we be reminded of the creative spirit of Elohim hovering over the chaos and darkness of our lives, waiting to bring forth new patterns of life and meaning for us. May we be reminded that we and all people who walk this planet have an inherent dignity as children of God, made to reflect God’s image. And lastly, may we be reminded that a healthy and a meaningful life comes from breathing in and breathing out, from working and resting, and may we especially be reminded that at least once a week we all need a sabbatical, to find time to be restored and renewed.

Amen.

The picture below represents the Hebrew understanding of the world according to Genesis 1