Bible Tuesday for Lent II, 2016

Genesis 15:1-18

After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, “Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.”

2But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3And Abram said, “You have given me no offspring, and so a slave born in my house is to be my heir.” 4But the word of the Lord came to him, “This man shall not be your heir; no one but your very own issue shall be your heir.” 5He brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” 6And he believed the Lord; and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness.

7Then he said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess.” 8But he said, “O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” 9He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10He brought him all these and cut them in two, laying each half over against the other; but he did not cut the birds in two. 11And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

12As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a deep and terrifying darkness descended upon him. 13Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know this for certain, that your offspring shall be aliens in a land that is not theirs, and shall be slaves there, and they shall be oppressed for four hundred years; 14but I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions.15As for yourself, you shall go to your ancestors in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. 16And they shall come back here in the fourth generation; for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

17When the sun had gone down and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. 18On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates,

“After all these things”…so this pericope begins. In order to understand the passage, we need to know what “all these things” are. Abram’s nephew, Lot, and his family, had been captured. Abram raised his “men of fighting age” and set out with some allies to conquer those to held Lot and his family captive. Abram defeated these and allowed his men to take plunder. Upon returning from battle, Abram and his men came upon King Melchizadek, who was a priest of the Most High God, who blessed Abram. Abram gave one tenth of his wealth and then returned to his home/camp.

So Abram is at the pinnacle of his personal success. He is married to a lovely women. He is so wealthy that he has more than 1000 men of fighting age in his “household”, and can give away 1/10th of everything and still have plenty. And, Abram and his fighting men just won a decisive military victory. But Abram is grieving that his estate will fall, not to a son, or even a male family member (since Lot is not living as a member of Abram’s household) but rather a son born to one of Abram’s slaves is his closest heir. And not only does Abram not have the heir that God promised, but he doesn’t possess any land that God promised either. To both of these problems, once again God states the covenant He has made with Abram. Abram doubts. “You promised that a while ago and it still hasn’t come to pass. When will you make good on your word? How do I know you will keep your promise?!”

So, God instructs Abram to set up a blood covenant. Abram is to take five specific animals of specific ages and cut them in half from nose to tail. Abram is to lay them one half on one side and one half on the other side of a culvert-like land formation, so that the blood of the halves of the animals flows together in the bottom of the culvert. This is traditional practice for several Middle Eastern ancient cultures when bonding parties in a covenant. The animals are cut in half stem to stern and laid with one half on one side and one half on the other side of a culvert to symbolize the two parties entering into the covenant. The two parties then walk through the blood in the bottom of the culvert, sealing their deal. In addition, the halved animals and bloody mess indicated what each party was permitted to do to the other if the other breaks the covenant.

So Abram halved the animals, but then just sits and a great darkness comes upon him. Abram is entering into a covenant with GOD! And GOD can do this to Abram if he doesn’t keep his end of the covenant? How can Abram possibly keep his end of the covenant with God as well as God can keep his end? And does Abram trust God enough to enter into such a potentially deadly covenant? But suddenly a smoldering pot and a flaming torch passes through the blood! Abram doesn’t ever dip a toe in the stream of blood. God signs for both Abram and God’s self. Abram need do nothing to inherit the land and have his own children. God will bring it all to pass!

Psalm 27

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

2When evildoers assail me to devour my flesh— my adversaries and foes— they shall stumble and fall.

3Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war rise up against me, yet I will be confident.

4One thing I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple.

5For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will set me high on a rock.

6Now my head is lifted up above my enemies all around me, and I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing and make melody to the Lord.

7Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud, be gracious to me and answer me!

8“Come,” my heart says, “seek his face!” Your face, Lord, do I seek.

9Do not hide your face from me. Do not turn your servant away in anger, you who have been my help. Do not cast me off, do not forsake me, O God of my salvation!

10If my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will take me up.

11Teach me your way, O Lord, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies.

12Do not give me up to the will of my adversaries, for false witnesses have risen against me, and they are breathing out violence.

13I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

14Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!

This psalm is attributed to King David and is used liturgically by Jews in preparation for Rosh Hashanah, the day of confession and pleading for mercy.

“To live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life” and “to frequent His temple”-Throughout Hebrew scriptures, included the Genesis pericope for today, “house” means “household and family” as well as “ancestors” and “lineage”. In this passage, it is possible that psalmist is asking God to not only visit the Temple regularly, but also be counted among God’s household, God’s people, his whole life long.

Philippians 3:17-4:1

Brothers and sisters, join in imitating me, and observe those who live according to the example you have in us. 18For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ; I have often told you of them, and now I tell you even with tears. 19Their end is destruction; their god is the belly; and their glory is in their shame; their minds are set on earthly things. 20But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. 21He will transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself.

4Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved.

I doubt that anyone has ever accused the Apostle, Paul, of being a humble person, as the first verse of this passage illustrates. In this passage, he posits two models: himself and his colleagues exemplifying Godly behavior, and those in the Church who still live in self-absorbed, self-serving ways.

To live life as a human among humans is to either focus on your appearance and lifestyle, or face ridicule. In the Middle Eastern cultures, where honor and shame is much more culturally central than it is here, avoidance of ridicule is HUGE. Yet Paul lambastes those who focus on themselves in order to maintain uprightness in society. Paul calls Christians to a life which will alienate them from the rest of society. Instead, Paul says that Jesus, “will transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of his glory.” Paul adjures the faithful to “stand firm in the Lord” because it is through Jesus’ shame and death that humanity, and all creation, are truly given dignity and worth.

Luke 13:31-35

1At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” 32He said to them, “Go and tell that fox for me, ‘Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. 33Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem.’ 34Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! 35See, your house is left to you. And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’”

“At that very hour”-Immediately prior to this passage, Jesus teaches the crowds in a town about the difficulty of entering “through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able.” It is a very difficult teaching which indicates that some of those who assume they will “be saved” will not, but “people will come from east and west, from north and south, [from outside the boundaries of Israel] and will eat in the kingdom of God.” This is exactly the kind of teaching which drove a wedge between Jesus and the Jewish and Temple authorities of his day and brought about his arrest and execution.

Politically, Jesus and John the Baptist teach more closely to the beliefs of the Pharisees than any other group. Jesus teaches that the dead will resurrect, and actually raises some people from the dead. The Sadducees completely reject this teaching and these miracles, but the Pharisees agree with this teaching and are filled with wonder by what Jesus does. The Pharisees are thought to be more merciful and more charitable, interpreting scriptures more in favor of the needy than the Sadducees and the ruling families. Certainly that draws the Pharisees closer to Jesus’ and John’s camp than any other. So it is little surprise that the Pharisees come to warn Jesus of King Herod’s plot.

While we have many artistic renderings of Jesus snuggling children or sheep, or the elderly, there really aren’t many actual biblical stories of Jesus acting like that. Sure, there is the “suffer the children to come unto Me” story which, in one gospel, actually has Jesus taking a child up in his arms. But other than that, the above lament is really the only biblical account of Jesus mothering/snuggling/protecting.

While Jerusalem was made to be the capitol city and center of worship for Israel under King David, it quickly developed a reputation for being the center of execution for any who were not acceptable to the monarchy or religious purists. All of the prophets sent by God to Israel fell into this category, and many of them were executed in Jerusalem, mostly by stoning.

In this lament, Jesus seems to be voicing a yearning he has had for much longer than his earthy 30+ years. The people of Jerusalem refuse to come under “Thy Holy Wings”. Do we?