It's amazing to me how God can speak to us through scripture. Yesterday, I mused about how, like Cain, our attitude controls so much about our lives. Well, yesterday afternoon, I had myself a little pity-party over something totally small and out of my control. Blessed am I, however, that it didn't last very long because I heard the whispers of the Holy Spirit in my heart reminding me about my attitude. I was able to dust myself off, as it were, and move on. Praise God!
Today's readings were Genesis 7-9 and Matthew 3.
Genesis 7-9
I decided to take an extra fine point black pin and put a little star beside things I didn't know in what is supposed to be a familiar story. Today's reading is about the flood. Everyone knows this story, right? We've heard it in Sunday School, sang songs about it as small children, and heard everything about it as adults, right? Well, wrong-o in my case.
I'm going to quote directly from my NLT translation of the Bible here. The bold print is my own emphasis.
"When everything was ready, the Lord said to Noah, "Go into the boat with all your family, for among all the people of the earth, I can see that you alone are righteous. Take with you seven pairs - male and female - of each animal I have approved for eating and for sacrifice, and take one pair of each of the others. Also take seven pairs of every kind of bird." Genesis 7:1-3a
What what? Seven pairs? I never knew anything about seven pairs. I guess they did need to eat. If they ate the only two on the boat, that species would die out. It makes sense. I just never thought about it before. Mind blown, again!
So, the story goes like this. It floods; they float.
The first verse of Chapter 8 starts with this: "But God remembered Noah." I like the footnote that accompanies it. "This structural and theological center of the flood story does not mean that God had at any point forgotten Noah. This is covenant language reflecting God's faithfulness to his promise to ensure the safety of his covenant partner." Wow! Covenant partner! I love that. Later in the Bible, God makes a covenant with His people that makes access to Him more intimate, like what we know today. That makes ME a covenant partner with God! That is very intimate, is it not? I love covenant language; it just shows even more that I am an adopted daughter of God, that He loves me and wants only the best for me. Praise Him!
I think it's pretty great that after Noah gets his family and all the animals off the boat, the first thing he does is offer a sacrifice to God. He doesn't relax; he doesn't go for a walk to exercise his legs or breathe in the fresh air. Nope, he pays tribute to God. I bet being on that boat was not any fun; it wasn't a cruise ship, people! No doubt that it was difficult for him. However, the first thing he does coming out of a difficult circumstance is to praise God. What an example for us! No wonder Noah found favor with the Lord.
Of course, later, God makes the covenant with Noah that he will never destroy the earth by flood again. The sign? A rainbow. How sweet. What's not so sweet, though, is the footnote that accompanies this part of the story. "This promise does not prohibit worldwide judgment, but it restricts the means by which God will do it." Gulp. And there you have it.
Later on, after the covenant-making and the command to be fruitful and multiply, Noah had some wine (which the footnotes say is a gift from God), but... he had to much, became drunk, and passed out naked inside his tent. (The footnotes say though wine is as gift from God, drunkenness is a sin.) The scriptures never label Noah as perfect; they describe him as finding favor with God. We are all subject to sin, are we not?
So anyway, here's Noah, laid out naked and drunk, and one of his sons, Ham, walks in and sees him this way. Instead of covering him up to preserve his dignity, he runs and tells his brothers! They walk in and cover him up since Ham didn't.
When Noah awakes, he curses Ham, but blesses his other sons, Shem and Japheth. Ham's descendants will serve the descendants of Shem and Japheth. Specifically, Noah curses Ham's son, Canaan. "May Canaan be cursed! May he be the lowest of servants to his relatives." (Genesis 9:25) The footnote tells us here that "Noah's curse foresaw Ham's actions as morally representative of Ham's descendants through Canaan."
What suck out most to me, however, was that Ham was cursed because he chose to gossip first instead of provide aid. This makes me think about gossip with friends and family, in workplaces, even at church. Why do people, in general, rush to gossip instead of provide help for someone? Is it hardwired in our sinful nature? This story makes me want to reevaluate what I say about others instead of offering help to them. I don't go out of my way to be a gossip, but I do confess that I can get caught up in it. Sometimes I even start it, though I don't plot ways to be malicious. This is something that I can focus on in the start of a new year.
Matthew 3
This is the story of John the Baptist, or as we at our Presbyterian church call him, John the Baptizer.
I love that John knows his place in God's will, that he is subordinate to Christ the Messiah. He paves the way, preaching about what and who is to come. John gets people to repent of their sins and be baptized, helping to prepare their hearts to receive the message that the Messiah brings to them. He even calls out the Pharisees, telling them that basically, they better get their hearts "right" or that they will be cut away from the believers when Jesus comes.
John knows that he is unworthy to baptize Jesus. He says he's not even worthy enough to carry his sandals. The footnotes tell us that servants didn't even carry their masters' sandals; that was a job relegated to the lowest of the low - the slaves. John puts all his focus and all the glory on God and the Messiah. He's another great example for us to follow. He does God's will, he does good things, but every single bit of the recognition and glory to God. Amen!
When Jesus asks to be baptized, John doesn't even want to do it. "Lord," he cries, "it should be the other way! You should be baptizing me instead!" But Jesus knows that he has been commanded to be baptized, and John baptizes Jesus in the river. I would have loved to have been there for that.
Then the heavens opened up, a dove descended, and God called out to Jesus, giving him the title of Son. "This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy." (Matthew 3:17) I know I'm not Jesus. I know I'm not perfect. I know I'm a sinner. But I look forward to going to heaven one day, standing in front of God, the Father Almighty, and I want to live my life in a way that when I get there, he can say that I have brought him great joy.
In Christ,
Dallas
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