Disciple Cycle 2005 Israel's Covenant
2nd Sunday in May (Week 19) Israel’s Covenant
This is the 19th week in 2005. The entire Disciple Cycle begins with the first story line (“Israel’s Covenant”), and with the stories of Creation in Genesis. This year the calendar happens to provide only four Sundays in April and five Sundays in May … so we begin on the 2nd Sunday of May.
In the Northern Hemisphere, spring almost naturally leads one to think of creation. It is a time of new beginnings and the anticipation of new life. Sprouting seeds and budding leaves have always carried a symbolic power beyond the revitalization of the earth. These symbols suggest hope for human life. It is time for a fresh perspective, innovative experiments, and radical curiosity. Many Christians will sing the very well known hymn For the Beauty of the Earth and praise God for physical, relational, and spiritual rebirth.
The stories of creation are not the primary focus of Genesis. They are a kind of preface to the real story. They set the stage, and create an environment, in which the rest of the story is to be understood. Before anything else happens, the Bible says, you’ve got to understand this: God created the world, and God created the world GOOD. Grace is the first word that was ever spoken … and grace will be the last word that is ever spoken. Whatever happens in between, God’s love, grace, generosity, and absolute power will always remains absolute. Once we understand this, we can get on with the story of God’s covenant with Abraham and Sarah, with Israel, with the Christian Church, and with each one of us personally.
Worship Team Meditation (1 Corinthians 15:20 – 25 and 35-49)
1 Corinthians 15:20-22 20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
The experience of Jesus Christ can be many things, but here the relevance of Christ is that he represents a “New Adam”. In the story of creation, Adam and Eve represent the very origins of humankind. They did not know death, corruption, sin, or evil … at least, not originally. Their pride led them to aspire to be God … to know what God knew, to control life as God controlled life, to pretend to be God in person. The point of the story is not to assign blame to the woman first or to the man, or even to assign blame to the serpent, or to excuse Adam and Eve for being duped, tempted, or deceived. The point of the story is to hold human beings themselves accountable for their own downfall and their own alienation from grace. God did not intend it to be that way.
Just as the creation of the world is not really a matter of the right nucleotides combining in the primordial murk, so also the fall of humanity is not really a matter of poor eating choices. God’s radical love created the world; but radical love sets the world free to determine its own course. Love hopes for love in return … but it cannot manipulate that love to be returned without losing the essence of love. What parent could love a child without setting that child free? What parent could be satisfied with receiving love, unless that love is freely given?
Christ’s position is as unique in the story of human destiny as that of Adam. Adam is the paradigm of what it means to be fallen; Jesus is the paradigm of what it means to be saved. Adam stands for pride; Jesus stands for humility. Adam caused a chain reaction of death; Jesus causes a chain reaction of life. Adam fell out of Eden into history; Jesus broke out of history to lead the way back to Eden. Adam is what humanity was created to be and rejected; Jesus is what humanity is supposed to be and becomes.
The creation story and the redemption story are book ends to the same history. The painful part of that history is that it is ultimately beyond our control. No matter what we do, we cannot recover from Adam’s fall and return to Eden. No matter what we do, we cannot by our own efforts be perfect. Christ does what Adam failed to do, and so he is described in the New Testament as the “New Adam”. He is the perfect human. He is the only perfect human. He is the way it was supposed to be.
Worship Theme (Genesis 1:1-31)
“Why is there anything, rather than nothing?” Notice the question is not “How is there anything, rather than nothing?” All of the modern debates between evolutionism and creationism are really irrelevant to the meaning of Genesis and the story of God’s covenant with humanity. The issue is not how the world came to be. Whether it happened 4000 years ago or a zillion years ago; whether it all happened with a big bang or a gradual change; or through a single decision, a major mistake, or a probability equation; is irrelevant to Biblical people. Certainly Abraham and Sarah didn’t care, and they are the leading protagonists in the story line of Genesis. You will not find Abraham and Sarah speculating late into the night about how the world was created; nor are there any records of them debating with the local Babylonian scientists about natural selection. It doesn’t matter.
What does matter is that God caused it all. However it happened, God is behind it. Moreover, God did it out of love. It was a good thing. It was perfect. And more than this, it had a purpose. It was all supposed to end in a perfect harmony between Creator and Creation. God chose to love the world absolutely; the world would love God absolutely. Everything would be Eden. Later we read that it didn’t turn out that way. Love unconditionally created freedom; and freedom decided not to love unconditionally back again.
It makes you wonder if God regretted his decision to create the world. Was God disappointed? Was God sorrowful? Was God angry? It must be hard to create something so perfect that it is literally and truly a living, decision-making being in its own right, and then have that being decide not to love you back.
It would be easier, perhaps, if God had created the perfect world, and then experienced a competitor of equal power, jealous of God’s work, who sabotaged that perfect world. At least it would have been understandable. God could go to war with that adversary. The world would be the battleground, and the final victory uncertain. But it would be understandable.
But that is not what the Bible says. There was no competitor of equal power to God. God created something perfect. And whether it was temptation or delusion, that perfect world rejected God. There is no sense in that. There is no reason for such selfishness. Will God trash the world and start over? Or will God invest millennia into the redemption and perfection of his original good work?
Small Group Discussion (Genesis 1-3 and 7-8)
There are, in fact, three distinct stories of creation in Genesis. The small group should discuss each one
- The first version is in chapter 1, and it is the most general and broadly encompassing. The point of this story is that God was the cause of everything, and because God is good, all creation was good.
- The second version is in chapter 2 and 3, and it is more specific about the original purpose and ultimate fall of humanity. The point of this story is that God’s purpose went awry, not because God failed, but because God built into creation the potential for its own decision to fail.
- The third version is in chapter 7 and 8, and it tells the story of God’s second thoughts. God gives humanity a chance; becomes fed up; destroys the earth; but then becomes convinced that humanity might just return to grace because of the obedient example of Noah.
The story of the creation and the fall provide the necessary background with which to understand the first “covenant” between God and humanity. Perhaps it is fitting that the sign of the covenant be a rainbow … stretching from horizon to horizon … from the east to the west … from the beginning of time to the end of time. It’s a kind of “umbrella” covenant. Whatever happens in history, no matter how bad, God will not again destroy the earth in frustration. And whatever happens in history, no matter how hopeless, humanity will not totally abandon the search to return to God.
The spiritual yearning of the public is a sign that this covenant is still in effect. No matter how outrageous, silly, misguided, or evil ordinary people might be, there remains within them a spark of hope, a deep seated yearning, which leads them beyond selfishness to something else. Call it a “higher power”. Call it “wishful thinking”. I call it the fruit of Noah’s covenant. God will not give up; God will not allow humanity to fail utterly. There is hope.
3rd Sunday in May (Week 20) Israel’s Covenant (Genesis 17:1-21; John 8:39-58; Genesis 15; 17:1-18; 21:1-7; 22:1-19)
Although the covenant with Abraham and Sarah is the centerpiece of Genesis, and the foundation for all the rest of the Biblical story, the chapters about creation have been a necessary preface. Later, in New Testament times, the experience of Jesus as the “Promised One” and the “Fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets” will transform the meaning of the covenant.
Remember the old American Christian slogan? The Christian slogan is “What would Jesus do?” and the ancient slogan was “What would Abraham have done?” The difference in tense reveals the huge transformation of the covenant in the context of Jesus. The one looks to the past … the other looks to the present and future.
John 8:58 58 Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am."
Christ took the place of Abraham as the primary reference for the Chosen People for daily behavior and purposeful action. There are two parties to the covenant: God and Abraham. For centuries, the main focus was on the human partner. Now the main focus is on the divine partner. For the mysterious, all powerful God who created all things, and who made the covenant with Abraham, has now appeared “in person” to demonstrate the radical faithfulness God expects from His chosen people. Abraham demonstrated this, but all too few really listened. Now Jesus will demonstrate this one again, once and for all.
Worship Team Meditation (John 8:39-58)
The relationship of Jesus to Abraham was an exceedingly important question in ancient times … and also today. Only when we begin to understand this relationship can we understand how the original covenant between God and the world has been transformed … and the true nature of our hope for the future is revealed. The focus of worship is really about faith … radical faith. To be sure, there are many historical and religious details to understand, but the real concern here is not that we understand history, but that we discern the true meaning of faith. Two key issues are important.
At the end of the 20th century, a popular western Christian slogan was “What would Jesus do?” Translated into ancient times, this question would be: “What would Abraham have done?”
John 8:39-40 39 They answered him, "Abraham is our father." Jesus said to them, "If you were Abraham's children, you would do what Abraham did, 40 but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth which I heard from God; this is not what Abraham did.
What Abraham did was to demonstrate absolute and radical faithfulness. When promised a son when he was well into old age, he believed. Later, when told to sacrifice that same son (Isaac) to please God, he believed. Faith is the utter dependence of a person’s life and hope on the will of God. It is the readiness to do what is rationally contradictory, and even self-destructive and seemingly suicidal, because one is convinced of God’s call.
This is not really “blind faith”. The “eyes” may not be able to see the sense or purpose of the call, but the “heart” sees with extraordinary clarity the goodness and power of God. It is absolute trust. Remember the old relationship-building exercise when one person closes their eyes, falls backwards, and expects their partner to catch them? Absolute trust is when the close their eyes, fall backwards, hit the floor hard … and still believe in the good will and love of the partner whose failure to catch them must have some hidden purpose.
Worship Theme (Genesis 17:1-21)
The original covenant with Abraham is a promise that he and Sarah will become the father and mother of “many nations”, and that one people in particular will become a blessing to all those nations. Their son Ishmael will father the nations, and their son Isaac will father the people that will become a blessing to all nations. There are two visible signs of this covenant: circumcision (a way of marking the body so that in the very act of procreation a loving couple will be reminded of this promise from God), and possession of the land of Canaan as a perpetual home.
There is a condition, however. Abraham’s descendants (the “chosen people” multiplying through Isaac) must remain absolutely faithful to God. Only God can be God … and no other priority, distraction, yearning, desire, or self-interest can replace God as the ultimate concern of the people.
A “covenant” sounds like a “contract”, but is more than a “contract”. A contract is an agreement between two relatively equal parties to fulfill specific obligations to one another, leaving the rest of their time and resources to be invested as each individual partner sees fit. A covenant is a promise of honor between two unequal parties in which abundant life is guaranteed by the greater power and absolute obedience is guaranteed by the lesser power. There is no separation between the time and resources invested in the agreement, and the time and resources kept to oneself. All the time and all the resources are invested in God, just as God promises to provide all of life, vitality, hope, and joy to the chosen people.
A “contract” is relative. One can imagine endless negotiations as each party haggles over the details with the other party, trying to gain the maximum benefit to themselves without breaching the agreement. A “covenant” is absolute. There can be no haggling, because the greater power is promising everything (literally), and the lesser power is promising everything (literally).
The story of what happens to this covenant is the whole story of the Bible. Indeed, how this covenant comes to be interpreted is the whole story of 20th century history … the racism, the violence, the wars, the economic disasters, as well as the hopes and dreams of many peoples. From Christian perspective, the “covenant” will eventually be redefined. The sign of circumcision will become the sign of baptism; the promise of Canaan will become the promise of heaven. The role of Abraham will be replaced by the role of Jesus.
The original covenant began with a miracle of birth. Abraham and Sarah became pregnant again at a very old age and gave birth to Isaac. The new covenant will also begin with a double miracle of birth. Elizabeth and Zechariah will become pregnant at a very old age and give birth to John the Baptist … and then, most miraculous of all, Mary will become pregnant while still a virgin and give birth to Jesus.
Worship Design
Remember that the Disciple Cycle Worship is significantly different than the Seeker Cycle. This worship service is designed for those who are actively "going deep" through small group discipleship and hands-on ministry in the mission field. The message time will be longer, more teaching/training focused, and focused on transformation through committed discipleship and accountability.
Genesis 17:1-21
Stepping Out in Faith. In the church's vernacular, the term faith has generally emerged as a watered-down noun. Having faith has become synonymous with "assenting to the facts." Thus, a person of faith is anyone virtually anyone who shows up at church (or doesn't show up, but keeps their name on the membership rolls). But the covenantal faith we read about in this passage has more to do with radical faithfulness than assent to a couple of facts.
Radical faith is one of those problematic practices in the North American church. We put a higher value on what "makes sense" than in what God's purpose might be. Tom's "blind faith" description in the Team Meditation just doesn't make sense. Our sensibilities cry out, "Yeah, but what about those crazies who 'hear the voice of God' to go out and kill their parents?" You gotta wonder what Joshua was thinking when he "heard" God's command at <city w:st="on">Jericho</city>…no, not the marching around seven times, but what to do about all of <place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Jericho</city></place>'s army. And the non-combatant men. And the women. And the children. And all the animals. We don't want to talk about that. We want to look away - to explain it away. To relegate the Old Testament. Anything but deal with it.
God calls the body of Christ to radical faith, not just assenting faith. To get up and go when God says march. It's right there in the covenant.
This week, there are a number of ways to help bring this home. Of course, there's the ever popular, if too-often used, clip from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade where Indy has to take the "leap of faith" into nothingness. A clip that's more enigmatic and does a nice job of dealing with the ambiguities of faithfulness is from I, Robot. The clip is towards the end of the movie when Del Spooner (Will Smith) is explaining why Dr. Alfred Lanning had to commit suicide in order to foil the plot of V.I.K.I., the super computer.
One of the activities you might want to consider in this process is to discuss the difference between a contract and a covenant. Find the most complicated, CYA performance contract you can find and make copies of it for the congregation in table groups. Have them look at some of the various clauses designed to protect personal interests - and compare that the covenant made to Abraham. You might also want to consider opening a discussion about the difference between being a blessing to the nations as opposed to being one of the nations - and our role as the Body of Christ as a visible covenant in the world today.
-Bill T-B
Small Group Discussion (Genesis 15; 17:1-18; 21:1-7; 22:1-19)
Participants are expected to have read all of the passages before gathering together in small groups.
There are four parts to this week's discussion, all dealing with the covenant with Abraham:
Genesis 15 - The Promise to Abram
17:1-21 - The Covenant
21:1-7 - The Covenant Fulfilled
22:1-19 - Radical Faith Tested
Intro: The story of the covenant with Abraham is the story of radical faith revealed and tested. God shows up in Abraham's life and promises him the earth. Abraham, who is childless and married to a wife who's past childbearing age, is promised descendents beyond measure. He was promised that he'd be a father to the nations. He's promised that his progeny would be kings. He was promised that his inheritance would bring him peace and great wealth. All he had to do was remain faithful to the covenant.
Faithfulness. It's more than simple belief. There are lots of believers in North America - <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Gallup</place></city> says that more than 90% believe in God. But faithfulness is more than assent. Lots more. Imagine being Abraham. God's just made this promise that you're going to have lots of descendents and then tells you the other side of the deal - you have to be faithful to the covenant. And what's the "first part of the first part" of this covenant? You have to be circumcised. Not as an eight-day old child, but right now. As an adult. And all of your male kin and all of your male servants. And later all those eight-day old boys. And you. Now. Ouch.
Faithfulness. It's more than simple belief. God came through with his end and Isaac was born. But then God tells Abraham to do the unthinkable - to offer his own child as a sacrifice.
Radical faithfulness.
Discussion Questions:
- The promises God made to Abram included a difficult and even uncertain future. How does this square with what you believe about the promises associated with being a faithful disciple of Jesus?
- The mark of the covenant with Noah was a rainbow - a mark to remind creation that God would never again flood the world. The mark of the covenant with Abraham is circumcision - a mark that reminds loving couples that the very act of procreation is part of God's promise for the future. What are the marks of the New Covenant and how does it/do they relate to the promises of God?
- After Isaac was born, God asked the unthinkable: to offer him as a burnt offering. Using Modern rationalism, we would dismiss such a "command" as unthinkable and very un-Godlike. And yet, there we are - radical faithfulness is demanded. Discuss: Is there a litmus test to help us decide whether or not what we "hear" from God is a call to radical faithfulness or our own imaginations? In your discussion, you might want to reference other "odd" commands of God (the massacre of <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Jericho</place></city>; the nakedness of Ezekiel; the sacrifice of Jesus).
- What might God be calling you and your church to do/be in radical faithfulness?
Bill T-B
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4TH Sunday in May (Week 21) Israel’s Covenant (Genesis 28:10-22, 32:22-32, 33:1-11; Hebrews 11:1, 8-39 and 12:1-14; Genesis 25:19-34; 27;28:10-22; 32:3-33:16)
I have always believed that Jacob’s story is told as a flashback. It is as if there is a screenplay written for a movie, in which the opening scene portrays the leading character (Jacob) as an aging man sitting beside the Nile in Egypt. A stranger sits down to enjoy the shade; a conversation begins; the stranger recognizes an odd accent; he asks Jacob where he comes from. Jacob heaves a long sigh and replies, “It’s a long story.” And so it is. Jacob’s story is a life story, and as the screenplay for the movie progresses we begin to discover that his story is not just personal history. His story anticipates and epitomizes the national story of the Israelites for the next thousand years.
Jacob’s story reads like Hollywood movie script. There is character development, violence, tenderness, heartbreak, sex, sibling rivalry, and high drama. Today it would be rated “Parental Guidance” at the very least. We are only seeing the highlights. The meanings of the events have only become clear in retrospect. At any given minute, however, Jacob was one very confused and somewhat shady character.
Team Meditation (Hebrews 11:1, 8-39 and 12:1-14)
Hebrews 12:1-2 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Jesus is the promise-keeper who is the “pioneer and perfecter” of our faith. If the story of Jacob symbolizes the story of Israel as a whole, then Jacob’s experience points toward the fulfillment of God’s covenant in the experience of Jesus as the Christ. The Letter to the Hebrews emphasizes repeatedly that the great leaders of history acted “in faith”. They did not act primarily from knowledge or understanding. At times, God’s commands seemed paradoxical, and even perilously contradictory. Yet they did not doubt God’s hidden wisdom and authority and acted “in faith”.
Jesus own example emphasizes his absolute obedience to God. His death on the cross may have seemed paradoxical and self-defeating … a surprising way to fulfill the promised victory of God. Yet his obedience was part of a great tradition of “faithfulness” from the very time of Abraham. Yet there is more to Jesus as the “pioneer and perfecter” of faith than simply his example of obedience.
Jesus is the faith. The very experience of faith is the presence of Jesus. Someone greater than Jacob is here, because by dying and rising again Jesus has reunited longing humanity with the original promise of perfection. The sin that ultimately caused the turmoil and tragedy of Jacob’s family life has been removed, and the possibility of restoration to a purer, absolutely joyous relationship with God has been restored. We no longer simply hope to be remembered. Now we hope to live forever.
Worship Theme (Genesis 28:10-22, 32:22-32, 33:1-11)
In all the trials and tribulations of Jacob’s life … a life in which he wrestled with God, received a new name (Israel), and gave birth to the twelve tribes that would shape Jewish and Christian futures … there were two defining moments. In a sense, these are also Jesus’ defining moments … and they are our defining moments.
The first defining moment is the vision of the ladder coming down from heave, with angels ascending and descending upon it. Jesus will have such a heavenly experience when he is transfigured on the mountaintop, and perceived by the disciples to be talking with Moses and Elijah. On each occasion the life mission of a hero is revealed. God is revealed.
Genesis 28:13-14 13 And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, "I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your descendants; 14 and your descendants shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and by you and your descendants shall all the families of the earth bless themselves.
The covenant with Abraham is not extended to include a multitude of descendants that will bless all families on earth. When Jesus is revealed, he will eventually command his disciples to go unto all peoples.
The second defining moment comes from the first. Jacob has been fleeing from Esau for years, and finally Esau catches up with him. Jacob fears it is all over … that the covenant with God has come to a bitter end. Instead, Esau comes in loving reconciliation. Jacob and his worst enemy are once again united.
Genesis 33:10-11 10 Jacob said, "No, I pray you, if I have found favor in your sight, then accept my present from my hand; for truly to see your face is like seeing the face of God, with such favor have you received me. 11 Accept, I pray you, my gift that is brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough.
In the same way, the revelation of the full divinity of Christ leads to the same end. It leads to reconciliation and forgiveness, even with one’s worse enemies. God’s visions are always that way. Indeed, this is the test of authentic experiences of Christ. No matter how inspiring, emotional, supernatural, transforming, or awesome our experiences might be, the one sure way to be certain that this is “of God” and not simply our vivid imagination is that it will lead to peace. It will lead to forgiveness, and reconciliation even with our most feared enemies. That’s what it means to be a “blessing” to all humankind.
Worship Design
Defining moments. Everybody has them, but we don't often identify them. Socrates asserted that the unexamined life is not worth living and if he was correct, there are droves of pointless people wandering around in our culture - and "stuck" in our churches. Self-examination and reflection are not particularly valued characteristics in the North American ethos. The unexamined life is one of the reasons why many of us keep making the same mistake over and over again. This week's worship would be an excellent time for the community of faith to take time to think through the defining moments of their lives - to celebrate them, commemorate them, and to learn from them.
By definition, defining moments are events in our lives that have molded us into who we are today. Defining moments change us at our very core. In the reading we get to experience Jacob's first defining moment when he experiences the vision of his role as a blessing to the nations. The moment so moves him that he sets up a memorial to remind him of this "place of God." This site Jacob calls the House of God (Beth-El) - a place where generations of the faithful will hear the story again and again. Up until this moment in his life, Jacob had been a "heel-grabber" (think trickster or deceiver - as in "one who pulls your leg). He has tricked his brother out of his inheritance and deceived his father in order to receive the patriarchal blessing. From this moment on, however, his life changes. He becomes the deceived and the tricked and in spite of it all, he emerges as the honorable one. Defining moments change us.
Jacob's second defining moment comes on the eve of his return to his homeland. There he faces what seems to him to be near-certain death as he embarks on the honorable quest to reconcile with his brother. During the night, Jacob once again has a vision - only this time it must have seemed a little too real and it leaves him with a new name and a permanent limp. Defining moments also humble us by putting our lives into perspective - we may realize we're not the one in the ultimate driver's seat.
Helping disciples of Jesus recognize their own defining moments - and celebrating and memorializing them so their stories can be remembered - will be a defining moment of its own. As you design the weekly gathering consider some of the following possibilities in helping people reflect on their faith journeys and discover some of those "defining moments" of their own.
Field of Dreams deals with both parts of Tom's observations - defining moments and reconciliation. Ray Kinsella's (Kevin Costner) vision to construct a baseball field in order to fulfill a haunting vision. As he does, he comes to understand that the fulfillment of the vision will reconcile him with his father. There are so many worthy clips in this movie that I don't even know where to start. I'd suggest you choose one of the "Build it and they will come" or one of the "Build it and HE will come" scenes (a veiled reference to Ray's father). An additional scene to consider is the one where Ray reconciles with his father and they play catch. Of course, Ray's life is totally changed, both because of the vision (and his positive response) and because of the reconciliation with his father.
You will almost certainly want to leave time during this week's worship for reflection - and perhaps even discussion - on what the key defining moments may be in participant's lives. Assuming they have all been a part of the weekly small group, they will already have some sense of what some of their own defining moments are.
Bill T-B
Small Group Discussion (Genesis 25:19-34; 27:1 - 28:22; 32:3 - 33:16)
Before the small group meets, each participant should have read and studied this week's Scripture passages.
They say that confession is good for the soul, and if anyone needed to spend some time with a confessor, it was Jacob. First, he duped his older brother out of his inheritance. Then deceived his father and robbed his brother of the family blessing reserved for the eldest. Getting everything he could, he moved on. What do you do with a guy like that? Hunt him down? Plot and plan? Call down Divine wrath? Perhaps not. It seems God had other plans. Two visions later, visions that left Jacob with a new purpose, a new name, and a permanent limp, Jacob returns home with no little intrepidation.
What happened? What transformed Jacob's heart and changed him to <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Israel</place></country-region>, the father of a nation that would bless the world? A defining moment. A Divine appointment. The intersection of God and the heart of a person. And when the presence of God meets the empty, yearning heart of the guilt and shame-ridden, it makes an impression - a "defining moment" in someone's life.
We don't always recognize those defining moments in our lives. Socrates once said that the unexamined life isn't worth living, and yet in our reactionary, burn-the-candle-at-both-ends, too-much-on-our-plate world, we so seldom take the time to look back on our lives with a thoughtful appraisal. This week, take some time in your small groups to examine Jacob's life, and then to examine yours. Look for those defining moments in your life - and then allow yourself to consider where God might be leading you.
A helpful exercise to uncover potential defining moments is to make a life map. To do this, invite each group member to create a timeline of significant events in their lives. Begin by having each person tape two pieces of blank legal paper end-to-end and then drawing a line horizontally across them (about two-thirds down). Label the left end "Birth" and the right end "Today." Next, divide the line by decades and label them. Now, have them make a mark at the age in which significant events took place in their lives and have them briefly label each of these below the line. These events are not necessarily "faith" events (though they may be), but events that they remember as significant. It might be helpful to remind them of possible rites of passage that may have happened in each decade - high school, college, marriage, birth of children, career changes, moves, significant deaths, and so on.
Once they've completed this task, have them create a colored line graph by providing each participant with two differently colored pencils or markers. Tell them that they are going to measure their emotional and spiritual response to each event. They will make two different colored "dots" above each event, the higher the placement of the dot on the paper, the higher the emotional response (one color) and spiritual meaningfulness (the second color). Have them do this for each event. As they make their timeline, they may recall additional significant events. Invite them to add these events as they are reminded of them and to graph their emotional response and spiritual meaningfulness to each. As they work on the timeline, the results may offer some insights as to their defining moments. Make sure to allow enough time for group members to share their insights before the end of the group time.
-Bill T-B
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5TH Sunday in May (Week 22) Israel’s Covenant (Genesis 45:1-28; Mark 3:7-19, 31-35; and Genesis 37 and 39-50)
Joseph’s story is the classic “rags to riches” tale. None of the characters in the story look very good. Joseph brothers appear small, selfish, and mean. Joseph’s father Jacob appears blind, biased, and shallow. And Joseph himself appears helpless, manipulative, and proud. Now if all that sounds too much like real people, real families, and real life, then you have begun to get the point. God does not choose people because they are good; God’s choice even of bad people makes them good. The story of Joseph is really a story about how God is really in control of history, whether it seems so to us or not, and about how God accomplishes His purposes whether we obey him or not. God is going to get His Way, and the demonstration of his power is that he can do it with worst sort of people. This basic story will be repeated over and over again in the Bible, with different characters, in different countries, in different situations, but the point will always be the same. God always wins. History will always get to where God wants it to be.
Team Meditation (Mark 3:7-19, 31-35)
It is no accident that Jacob had twelve sons, and that Jesus chose twelve disciples. The number twelve intentionally recalls the twelve tribes of Israel (originally named Jacob), who were destined to fulfill God’s covenant promise to make Jacob’s offspring both numerous and a blessing to all the nations on earth. It’s probably no accident that Judas was the brother who was meanest to Joseph; and that Judas Iscariot was the disciple whose betrayal of Jesus was the worst. Although Christians have never forgiven Judas Iscariot for his betrayal, Joseph certainly did forgive his brother Judas for his betrayal, and there is every reason to imagine that Jesus would forgive even Judas Iscariot as well. It fits too well into the pattern of God’s love throughout the Bible. God always seems to be forgiving people who do unforgivable things.
The big leap in the New Testament is that the family of God is extended beyond the twelve tribes of Israel. When Jesus was confronted with his genetic parents and siblings, he clearly announced that his real family consisted of anyone who does the will of God.
This is as big a challenge to the established church as it was to the established Judaism of ancient times. We talk all the time of the church as a “family”. We intend that to sound inclusive, but in fact we apply this to be exclusive. Established churches, like ancient synagogues, tend to say: “We’re family … and you’re not.” Jesus says anyone who does God’s will is family, no matter how different they are from us. And the forgiveness we offer that extended family should match the forgiveness Joseph extended to his brothers and Jesus extended to his disciples.
Worship Theme (Genesis 45:1-28)
The whole story of Joseph – his favored childhood, betrayal by his brothers, slavery and suffering, miraculous recovery, elevation to power, and reconciliation to his family – is one of the great Old Testament “soap operas”. It would be hard to produce a better plot for daytime television. The revelation of Joseph’s true identity, however, and the unexpected joy of his father Jacob (Israel) is one of the most tearful and moving stories of the Bible. As moving as the story is, what is the relevance to our contemporary situation?
Understanding begins to dawn when we read this simple verse:
Genesis 45:24 24 Then [Joseph] sent his brothers away, and as they departed, he said to them, "Do not quarrel on the way."
After all that had happened, Joseph’s brothers will still the selfish sinners they always had been, and Joseph knew it. The temptation is still there. The humanness is still there. History will repeat itself over, and over, and over again. You gotta know that one day Joseph’s brothers will quarrel again … or their descendants will quarrel again. Once again some innocent will suffer for it. Once again some father will grieve for it. Once again there will be a necessity for forgiveness. It will happen when Jesus is betrayed by Judas Iscariot. It will happen when you are disappointed by the church … or when you disappoint the church. It will happen when you are betrayed by your friend … or when you betray your friend. It will happen again.
We all love happy endings, but the story of Joseph is only an ambiguously happy ending. You are left the feeling that disaster looms on the horizon … and that grace had better loom even larger.
Worship Design
Déjà Vu
There's an axiom that says if we aren't students of history, we are destined to repeat it. The paradox of this week's reminder is that history is going to repeat itself regardless. It's not fatalism at play here; instead, it's a spiritual reality based in the hope of redemption and reconciliation. As Tom reminds us, we're going to quarrel; some innocent will suffer; there will be grief; and there will be need for forgiveness. And each of us will play each role at different times. Sometimes we'll instigate the quarrel. Sometimes we'll be the hurting innocent. Sometimes we'll be the grief-stricken parent (pastor, mentor, friend). Sometimes we'll need forgiveness, while at other times we'll need to offer forgiveness. It's all going to happen again. And again. It's not so much what we learn from history, but how we are a part of the history we're making today.
Joseph didn't look back into history when he made his decision to open his arms to his brothers. He didn’t have the luxury of hindsight to get it right. Instead, the decisions he made came from a spiritual center that had been polished by the suffering he'd experienced. Both James and Paul remind us that our spirit is polished by suffering that produces perseverance and character and hope (Romans 5:3-4; James 1:2-4).
"Selling hope" to disciples in a culture that's been embattled from virtually every side might be a bit like selling hope to Joseph while he sat forgotten in a jail cell for two years. The question of God's ultimate control can seem like the ultimate question when the rest of the world seems stacked against you and your faith.
Helping committed disciples experience the hope even in the never-ending circle sin, suffering, sorrow, and the need for salvation is the objective for this week. Consider beginning with the classic clip from the movie Groundhog Day. You will want to use the clip where Phil Connors (Bill Murray) is in the bar "trying to get it right" with Rita, his producer. Each day he learns something new and adds it to his repertoire of patter until he seems to get it right (the clip can be found at chapter 18 timestamp 46.10). The point of this clip is found in the word seems. In this particular clip Phil is more concerned about getting his desires met than in being the kind of person Rita can trust. And it's not until this rough edge is polished off that he finally finds release.
Build the rest of the service on the theme of suffering that produces polish. Consider using a rock tumbler as an example of how our rough edges are smoothed, and how our polished spirits not only allow us to be a part of history that reconciles those experiencing a spiritual drought, but helps us to rise above the never-ending quarrels in the world.
Bill T-B
Small Group Discussion (Genesis 37 and 39-50)
Before the small group meets, each participant should have read and studied this week's Scripture passages.
Pretend you've been tapped to become the creator and writer for a new daytime soap opera. You're told that you'll need to develop classic plots, and develop interesting and dynamic characters. But more than that, you've been reminded that the longevity of your soap will correlate to how you create the circle of conflict, resolution, conflict.
Where would you begin? The fact is, you probably couldn't start at any better place than with the readings this week. Joseph and his family are the Ryan's Hope of the Bible. Indeed, you don't even need to look very closely to discern the never-ending plotline of quarreling (sin), suffering, sorrow, and the need for salvation and reconciliation. The classic plot in this story will be repeated again and again for the next millennia and beyond - talk about job security for a soap opera writer! We'll see this same plot in with Samson, Esther, Saul, David, Jeremiah, and Jesus. And it didn't end there - the plotline continues today.
Joseph's Hope is found in the statement he made to his brothers:
"You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives" (Gen 50:20 NIV). And that's the ultimate hope. God is in control - even when others intend harm. It makes the too often used platitude "All things work for good" into a statement of ultimate hope.
During your small group this week, discuss the following questions:
- Why was Joseph initially unsuccessful in gaining his family's support for his God-given vision? (Gen. 37)
- What circumstances helped Joseph to grow into the leader he became? (Gen. 39-41)
- How did Joseph and his family experience the cycle of sin, suffering, sorrow, and the need for salvation and reconciliation? Who sinned; who suffered; who grieved; and who was in need of salvation and reconciliation?
- How is this cycle a foreshadowing of Jesus' story? What are some of the parallels?
- Share how you have experienced the cycle of sin, suffering, sorrow, and the need for salvation and reconciliation.
Bill T-B