October 9, 2011
Genesis 1:1-2:4a
Introduction to Narrative Lectionary
I’ll be honest with you. There are a lot of aspects of my job for which I have no specific training. Things I have to do as a pastor even though I don’t know what I’m doing. Like leading the church through discernment about space issues. Like arranging transportation to conferences. Like knowing when to keep my mouth shut and when to open it at said conferences. Like being nice to people who call the church office and want me to send all of the men of the church to a big arena event involving football players, etc. These are things I kind of have to figure out on my own. Find my own resources. Make my own way.
But this morning . . . this morning my friends . . . this morning I get to put my three years of English graduate work and four years of seminary to good use. Because this morning we are beginning our first segment of the narrative lectionary.
–goes through “overarching biblical story” in 9 month period
–7-week segment–between now and Advent; creation through Solomon building the temple
As we begin this journey through the Bible, it makes sense to talk a little bit about how to read the Bible.
How to read, in general, and how to read the Bible, in particular–this is something I am actually trained in. This is a very exciting moment for me. I could spend all morning talking about how to read the Bible, but I won’t. I’ll just hit the highlights–four points.
First, approach the Bible with prayer and as prayer. If we understand prayer to be our communication with the Divine, reading the scriptures is the primary way that we listen to our conversation partner. I find it helpful to say a prayer before reading the Bible; and we should also recognize the act of reading itself as prayer.
Second, know the context of what you are reading. This is one reason the Worship Committee wanted to use the Narrative Lectionary. We believe it will help us to get a better understanding of the big Biblical picture; the larger context of this story of God’s life with God’s people.
Of course, it’s not possible to read the entire Bible every time you want to look at a few verses. It is usually not even practical to read the entire book in which the passage occurs. But glance at what comes before what you are reading and what comes after. Read the passage in light of what you already know about the biblical story–and especially about the life of Christ.
It is also helpful, when possible, to think about the historical context in which the text was written. A good study Bible can help with this.
Third–and I’ll warn you now, this comes from the English nerd deep within me–think about the genre of the passage you are reading. For example, many people read the creation story from Genesis 1 as if it were in the genre of a scientific report. It’s not. It’s in the genre of a creation story–a story that seeks to answer ultimate questions of who and why, rather than scientific questions of how.
There are lots of genres in the Bible, including poetry, biography (of a sort), history (of a sort), parable, genealogy, apocalypse, and letters. I believe the genre mattered to the original writers of the texts, and that it therefore matters in how we interpret the text today.
And fourth, my last point this morning about how to read the Bible–we should receive the scriptures as a gift. The scriptures are God’s gift to us; the Word of God for the people of God. The Good News of God’s ongoing relationship with us.
Sometimes when we read the Bible, we simply receive the gift. “For God so loved the world . . . “. Good News!
And I know that sometimes when we read the Bible, what we read does not seem like a gift; it doesn’t feel like Good News. And then it is our job to wrestle the blessing from the text–like Jacob wrestling with the mysterious stranger.
I am excited to begin this journey through scripture with you, and I hope that our time with the Narrative Lectionary will help us all to understand God’s Word more deeply and to read it with more joy.
Sermon
The Scripture is a gift for us. And if we read faithfully, we read to discover the Good News that God has for us and for our world within this sacred text.
This sort of faithful reading is what I take as my job every week that I preach: to wrestle the blessing from the text–not just for me, but for you, for the whole community.
The creation story in Genesis 1–which, just FYI, was written after the creation story of Genesis 2–is not hard to read as Good News. Especially when we’ve had weeks of warm, sunny weather. God created the world . . . and it was good. Amen.
There are many good and challenging words to be found in this text. Words about God’s sovereignty. Words about people created as equals–every one in the image of God. Words about our responsibility to care for creation.
All of these good words–all of this Good News–can be found in this morning’s reading from Genesis. But what, I asked myself this past week, what is the particular gift of this passage for these people at this time?
This week, I was drawn to consider what this creation story has to say about work. And I wonder if the work that God does in creation might serve as a model for us as we engage in the work of our lives.
Whenever I think of this story of creation, I think of God speaking things into being. God says, “Let there be light,” and boom–there’s light. And it’s true. Part of God’s work of creation involves words, language, speech. These are important aspects of the work that many of us do. We use the power of words as best we can toward Good. This is Godly work.
The English translations do not make as evident what any Hebrew hearers or readers would quickly pick up on–God does a lot of manual labor in Genesis 1 as well. In verse 6, the Hebrew word that gets translated as “dome” or “vault” literally means a beaten sheet of metal, hammered flat. Notice that God doesn’t say, “let the vault appear.” We are told that God made the vault. And God made the sun and the moon and the stars. God created the sea creatures and the wild animals and the male and female. The term we translate as “image” means something that is carved out.
God is hard at work in creation. Not just speaking and “boom” watching things appear. God is hammering and chiseling–God is making things. God as blacksmith; God as sculptor.
I think we all need a balance of types of work in our life. We need mental and physical work. We need to use words and we need to use hammers, or shovels, or scissors.
I was able to have lunch with Cindy a couple of weeks ago, and that was a rare opportunity for me to engage in my work physically–helping her to eat, supporting her as we walked. Many of us have jobs that entail mostly one type of work. We need to find opportunities for other types of work as well.
Something else that’s hard to miss about God’s work here in Genesis 1 is that it is very organized. Certain things are made on certain days. Things are made according to their kind. And it strikes me that God had a great deal of foresight to create seed-bearing plants. Think of all the trouble that saved!While people can go overboard on this point, there is something to be said for working smart. For having a plan.
But God is not just concerned with efficiency. There is a great deal of extravagance in creation as well. God doesn’t do the bare minimum required. God makes the waters “teem”‘ with living creatures. God creates all kinds of birds and fish and wild animals and livestock and plants. So many kinds. So much life. God gives more than what is necessary. God is extravagant in creation.
I think this extravagance is the point of joy in our work as well. Doing the bare minimum can be drudgery. Choosing to do more. Choosing to create something beautiful rather than simply functional. Choosing to listen to someone rather than just deal with them. These little extravagances can transform work from drudgery to joy.
And finally, God shows appreciation for the work that is done. “God saw all that he had made. And it was very good.”
Now I hope, I pray, that you each have people who express appreciation for the work that you do. That you have clients, bosses, students, teachers, children, spouses, who say, “Thank you. Thank you. It’s wonderful. What you did is wonderful, and I appreciate it.” I hope you have those people in your life.
Whether you do or you don’t, you can stop and appreciate your own work. This may not sound very Mennonite, but it is biblical. It is godly. When you work hard on something, take the time to appreciate what you did. Tell yourself, “it is good.” And offer your efforts to God.
I really think we can learn a lot from this story about how to work well. But God does not just work in this passage. One of the greatest gifts of this passage is God’s establishment of the rhythms of work and rest. Our work–whether we get paid for it or not–is a central part of our lives. And rest should be as well.
The passage we read this morning was rather long, but abridgments loose the beautiful sense of rhythm that is established–“there was evening and there was morning.” There is a daily cycle of work and rest; day and night. And there is a weekly cycle of work and rest; work week and Sabbath.
We all need good, meaningful work to do. And we all need rest. Sabbath was and remains a very important concept for people who practice the Jewish faith. It is one of the ten commandments, you know. “Honor the Sabbath and keep it holy.”
I read someone reflecting once about how she and several of her school teacher friends would often complain/brag about who had done the most work on Sunday night to get ready for Monday. And it suddenly hit her that they were all in a competition to see who had broken that particular commandment the most thoroughly. She couldn’t imagine them arguing about who had lied the most or who had slept around on their husband the most. But week after week they relished their Sabbath-breaking.
I heard another story once about an Orthodox Jewish couple who wanted to attend a big hockey game–but it was on the Sabbath. Watching hockey on the Sabbath was not prohibited, but driving or riding in a car was. They were convinced that if they broke this Sabbath rule, their favorite team would loose. So they walked. They walked miles and miles in nasty weather along busy roads. They made it to the game, and their team lost.
I would like to challenge you to find a happy middle in your Sabbath-keeping. Somewhere between congratulating yourself for over-work and torturing yourself with prohibitions.
Take some time this week–maybe today–to think about what is restful for you. What gives you life and energy? What helps you feel connected with God? What helps you feel connected to the important people in your life?
And think about what drains your life and energy. What feels hard? What wears you out?
What would it look like for you to practice Sabbath? What would it look like for you to spend 24 hours–or at least the waking part of those hours–doing what gives you life and avoiding what drains you?
My Sabbath starts when I get home from church on Sundays–this timing is one of the challenges of being a pastor. For me, Sabbath means no shopping, no email or Facebook or internet news. It means playing games or doing crafts with my kids, making art in my studio, reading a good book–or a bad one for that matter.
I do not keep the Sabbath perfectly. Sometimes I shop. Sometimes I check the computer. But I have been richly blessed over the last few years as I have made efforts toward honoring the Sabbath. I have found Sabbath to be a time that God cares for me and gives me the energy I need for the work of pastoring and parenting that faces me in the coming week.
Sabbath, as modeled by God in this Bible passage, has been and continues to be a gift in my life. If you do not already observe Sabbath, I hope you will consider it.
In the coming week, I pray you will feel the Divine rhythms of work and rest echoing in your own life. I pray you will fully receive the gifts God offers. Amen.
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