On the Way to Wonder

         Next week we will celebrate Thanksgiving in the United States.  By Presidential decree, we stop work and are encouraged to go to our places of worship and thank our deity for provisions this last year and to commit the coming year to him.  

         The historical context to the words add texture to our reflections today as we finish a week pondering a hero of the faith, Abraham, and as we ponder our blessings today.  The hymn was written by an unknown Dutch author at the end of the 17^th century to celebrate their final freedom over their Spanish overloads.  Holland had been scourged and Antwerp sacked by the Spanish in 1576.  It was recaptured in 1585 and Protestants exiled.  In the post Reformation culture, Holland recovered though and was able to shake off the Spanish control.  This hymn was written. 

         As we reflect on our faith this Thanksgiving we might think of the fears and problems that seek to control us.  As we have said this week though, faith is trusting in an unseen God to bring about a blessed future we have yet to experience.  He is to be praised for the growth and freedoms we have.  Enjoy the song and ponder the verses!  Blessings.

1 We gather together to ask the Lord’s blessing;
He chastens and hastens His will to make known;
the wicked oppressing now cease from distressing.
Sing praises to His name, He forgets not His own.

2 Beside us to guide us, our God with us joining,
ordaining, maintaining His kingdom divine;
so from the beginning the fight we were winning:
the Lord was at our side- the glory be Thine!

3 We all do extol Thee, Thou leader triumphant,
and pray that Thou still our defender wilt be.
Let Thy congregation escape tribulation;
Thy name be ever praised! O Lord, make us free!

²⁰ By faith Isaac invoked blessings for the future on Jacob and Esau. ²¹ By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, ‘bowing in worship over the top of his staff.’ ²² By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave instructions about his burial. (Hebrews 11:20-21)

         Most of the hero’s and heroines of the faith in Hebrews 11 die.  Yesterday Isaac faced death, as his father, Abraham, feels led to sacrifice him.  God stops the “test” and provides a ram caught in the bush nearby.  As Isaac, now an old man, faces his approaching death, he sends his son Esau, the oldest twin and the first-born son, to hunt for fresh food so Isaac can bless him.  In a turn of history, Jacob deceives his father and receives the spiritual and material blessing of the first-born son.  The blessing of land and children like the stars in the sky goes to Jacob.  Like Hebrews points out at the beginning of chapter 11 goes to the son of faith like Abel and not the eldest son, Cain.  Hebrews continues the parallel by referring to the deathbed blessing of Jacob while in Egypt.  He crosses his arms, repeating the reversal for Joseph’s sons.  Joseph also dies in Egypt predicting the return to the Promised Land, God’s rescue of his people, and God’s faithfulness.  Joseph gives instructions for carrying his bones back to the land of promise.

         We have almost finished the Abraham epoch of our hero’s’ reflection.  As we think today about the end of our lives and the blessing and hope we want to pass on to the next generation, let us ponder.  Who would you like to bless?  Genesis 49 tells of Jacob blessing his 12 sons.  He does not do just a generic sort of prayer but looks at the personality of each child and molds a blessing appropriate to each one.  So let’s try and name a dominant characteristic of the person we would like to bless and then craft a blessing that reflects the future and the hope of that person’s blessing in our lives.  Now pray that blessing and perhaps keep that piece of paper in a place you can return to periodically and continue to pray.  Blessings.

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¹⁷ By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac. He who had received the promises was ready to offer up his only son, ¹⁸ of whom he had been told, ‘It is through Isaac that descendants shall be named after you.’ ¹⁹ He considered the fact that God is able even to raise someone from the dead—and figuratively speaking, he did receive him back. (Hebrews 11:17-19)

         After the mountain top experience comes the valley as we step back into reality.  By the end of the wedding and honeymoon, we had had our first big fight.  After signing my first job post college, teaching contract, came a low-level seventh grade math class with hyperactive students.  After all the celebration of being sent to the mission field came life in a famine relief camp with starving people lined up at my door begging for food.  In our litany of heroes and heroines, we have come to Abraham, known as “Father of the Faith.”  At age 100 he has the son of the promise from God but then Hebrews tells us that God put Abraham to the “test.”  Ouch.

         We don’t like to think of God testing us.  But the truth is that faith is not an automatic solution to the problems of life and many days we look out at a universe that seems like God is hiding beyond the stratosphere.  Living faith in the grey margins of life is a challenge.  Abraham feels called to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice.  He travels three days to the mountain and leaving the servant and going with Isaac who is carrying the wood for the sacrifice, the father and son climb the mountain. It would seem that Isaac trusted his father’s faith and allowed himself to be bound and put on the altar.  Whew. Tests are so hard.

         I suspect we have all gone through times when our faith felt tested.  Perhaps we were not offering our child on an altar but we had to make choices between cultural expectations and our internal faith convictions.  I do not know what that looked like for you but we do know that God had not abandoned Abraham and had a ram in the bush to sacrifice.  Isaac walked through this near death experience, trusting his father, not unlike Jesus walking through death at the cross, trusting God for resurrection.  God was there.  God is with us as we walk through disease, disaster and danger.  Let us pray today for those that are walking through “the dark night of the soul” testing.  May they stay focused on the promises and presence of a God who always leads, guides us and is present even when we cannot see him.  Blessings.

¹¹ By faith he received power of procreation, even though he was too old—and Sarah herself was barren—because he considered him faithful who had promised.

 ¹² Therefore from one person, and this one as good as dead, descendants were born, ‘as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.’

 (Hebrews 11:11-12)

         The writer of Hebrews 11 has set his thesis to be that heroes and heroines of the faith believed in a God they could not see to bring about a future they had yet to live.  The writer now makes to jump from Cain and Abel, Enoch, and Noah to Abraham leaving his homeland in obedience to an unseen God and traveling to a foreign country. Today’s text talks about Abraham fathering Isaac.  The writer does not tell of the trip to Egypt because of famine or of Sarah being chosen to be in the Pharaoh’s harem nor about their return to their promised land with Hagar, Sarah’s maid who sires Abraham’s first son, Ishmael.  There’s more to the story than meets the eye and so our world religions split.  Hebrews is not tracing a bloodline but a faith line.  At age 100, Abraham who was too old to father children sires Isaac by Sarah who is too old to have children.  Impossible.  The writer is tracing the impossible, the Ark and now a baby.

         God made a promise to Abraham to bless him in Genesis 12 when he calls him.  God renews the promise in Genesis 15.  Isaac is born in Genesis 21.  A lot of water has goes under the bridge.  May I note the subtheme in these chapters of God’s faithfulness to and through Sarah?

         Today I think of the many people who pray for dreams that seem never to be arriving, children we think are wandering in the wilderness, and governments that seem so corrupt.  Many live in places of relative comfort but most of the world does not.  Life is hard and it is easy to think God is busy elsewhere.  Let us pray today for people who hold on to their faith and to promises of what seems impossible for an unseen God to achieve.  Believing in a God who is true to his promises to bring about an impossible future is living life with hope!  He is able.  I am not.  Praise be to God.

⁹ By faith he stayed for a time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. ¹⁰ For he looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.  Hebrews 11:9-10

         Today we mention a touchy subject in our world today that is involved in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  Loyalties are split about the Middle East and what belongs to whom.  Yesterday we looked at Abraham along with his wife Sarah and his nephew Lot setting out to some “promised land” by faith.  We admitted that for many of us, we are on a journey to an unknown destination defined by our faith.  So it seems to me that as I read today in Hebrews that the crew “stayed for a time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land…” that it is kind of like a motel stay.  My friends on a recent trip came down with Covid and had to stay in a motel for several unexpected days and readjust their travel plans.  Some motels are designed for “extended stays.”  Hebrews mentions Isaac and Jacob, who were Abraham’s son and grandson.  We also know that because of a famine the family traveled to Egypt more than once and those trips impacted the trajectory of their story.

         I think we often think of God’s promises like permanent gifts that are ours forever but I suspect our verses today remind us that we are blessed to be a blessing.  We are blessed and can pass the blessing along.  It is not ours to clutch as a permant possession.  We are to share.  Also our blessings impact the nature of our descendants’ lives.  Israel and Jacob inherited the journey their ancestor Abraham started.  Our decisions impact the context of our kids’ lives.  Regardless of these impacts, Abraham was “looking forward to a city whose architect and builder was God.”

         So what are you looking forward to?  Does the “city” you look forward to look like Revelation’s New Jerusalem or more like the bigger and better subburbs?  Just askin.  It’s worth thinking about where I am anticipating God is leading me.  Write a brief description of your dreams in your journal! 

⁸ By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going.  (Hebrews 11:8)

         I love the nursery song, “Going on a lion hunt.”  The song leader encourages the class to put on their hats, put on their jackets and take their guns.  But as they tromp along with their feet, they meet tall grass.  “Can’t go over it, can’t go under it, can’t go around it so guess we’ll have to go through.”  Swish, swish as the leader pretends to part grass and wade through.  Next they meet a river.  Finally they come to the cave that is scary and causes retreat.  Often life feels like we are on a journey to an unknown destination, a new place.  We feel “called to set out for a place….” It is in this adventure we anticipate a blessing.  The safari might be marriage, child rearing, a new job, or a move across country.  For me the journey is to walk into widowhood.  I don’t know where I’m going much more than Abraham knew.  This is the Genesis account by Moses centuries before. 

12 Now the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. ² I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. ³ I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’

⁴ So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.

(Genesis 12:1-5)

         I’m 77 and this story feels somehow familiar except I no longer have my spouse but friends on the journey with me.  Abraham’s journey and our journey into the unknown are journeys of faith.  We are trusting an unseen God for a yet to be experienced future.  We do not go alone though.  Abraham took Sarah and Lot and we take our friends with us and we take a history of seeking to recognize God’s faithfulness in our lives.  Can you think of another time when you faced into an uncertain future?  Name one of the factors that scared you.  Now name a blessing or two that came out of that experience.  Blessings as you step forward.

First Reading: Amos 5:18-24

 ¹⁸Alas for you who desire the day of the Lord!
  Why do you want the day of the Lord?
 It is darkness, not light;
  ¹⁹as if someone fled from a lion,
  and was met by a bear;
 or went into the house and rested a hand against the wall,
  and was bitten by a snake.
 ²⁰Is not the day of the Lord darkness, not light,
  and gloom with no brightness in it?

 ²¹I hate, I despise your festivals,
  and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
 ²²Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings,
  I will not accept them;
 and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals
  I will not look upon.
 ²³Take away from me the noise of your songs;
  I will not listen to the melody of your harps.
 ²⁴But let justice roll down like waters,
  and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

Psalm: Psalm 70

You are my helper and my deliverer; O Lord, do not tarry. (Ps. 70:5)

 ¹Be pleased, O God, to deliver me;
  O Lord, make haste to help me.
 ²Let those who seek my life be put to shame and confounded;
  let those who take pleasure in my misfortune draw back and be         disgraced.
 ³Let those who say to me “Aha!” and gloat over me
  turn back because of their shame.
 ⁴Let all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you;
  let those who love your salvation say forever, “Great is    the Lord!”
 ⁵But as for me, I am poor and needy; come to me quickly, O God.
  You are my helper and my deliverer; O Lord, do not tarry.

Second Reading: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

¹³We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. ¹⁴For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died. ¹⁵For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died. ¹⁶For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call and with the sound of God’s trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord forever. ¹⁸Therefore encourage one another with these words.

Gospel: Matthew 25:1-13

[Jesus said to the disciples:] ¹“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. ²Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. ³When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; ⁴but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. ⁵As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept. ⁶But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ ⁷Then all those bridesmaids got up and trimmed their lamps. ⁸The foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ ⁹But the wise replied, ‘No! there will not be enough for you and for us; you had better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’ ¹⁰And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went with him into the wedding banquet; and the door was shut. ¹¹Later the other bridesmaids came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ ¹²But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I do not know you.’ ¹³Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”

CHILDREN’S SERMON:  We are about ready to turn the page on the church calendar as the Pentecost season ends in two weeks and the Advent season starts on December 3.  Our world is jumping from Halloween to Thanksgiving to Christmas. One of the Christmas toons that is going to fill the radio and be played in the videos is  “Santa Claus is Coming to Town!”  We all know Macy’s Parade. Let’s see how well we know this song that welcomes Santa.  The song starts with a warning:

[Chorus]
You better … (fill in the blank – watch out)
You better not … (cry)
You better not … (pout)
I’m telling you why, (Santa Claus is coming to town.)

So what does Santa Claus do to prepare for his arrival?

He’s making a … (list)
And checking it … (twice)
He’s going to find out
Who’s naughty and nice, Santa Claus is coming
Santa Claus is coming, Santa Claus is coming to town

Why are we warned?

He sees you when you’re … (sleeping)
He knows when … (you’re awake)
He knows when you’ve been … (bad or good)
So … (be good for goodness sake)

Santa Claus is coming to town!

Let’s pray.  Lord may the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, my Rock and my Redeemer.

SERMON

         Today’s text responds to the question the disciples asked at the beginning of the previous chapter of Matthew, “When will this happen and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age.”  They are asking if the Temple will truly be destroyed and what will be the signs?  How do we know when Jesus is “coming to town” and do we need to “watch out”?  Jesus answers by drawing a parallel between these final events and a bridegroom arriving for his wedding.

“Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.” 

         Most agree that the bridegroom is Jesus. Jesus will return to claim his bride, the Church, believers.  Not just Lutherans.  Not just USA but the universal church worldwide.  The ten women represent those anticipating his arrival.  Ten is not a random number and reminds us of the Ten Commandments, perhaps speaking to the many who are seeking to please an unseen god.  At the beginning of the parable, there is no way to differentiate the women waiting except we have a clue that half were foolish and half were wise.  All have lamps. The problem does not seem to be that they are women nor that they have various talents.  They are not like the resistant tenants in the previous parables that resent the landowner and want to take over.  These bridesmaids are waiting for the coming of the groom. The problem is that the bridegroom delays.  “⁵As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept.” All the women are waiting and all became drowsy and slept.  So far the women are alike. 

         We know Jesus is coming and like our Christmas song the day or the hour are not mentioned.  When hospice declared my husband’s condition was “terminal” I knew I needed to prepare myself for his death but the “when” was not so defined.  When the pregnancy was confirmed, a baby was expected in nine months, give or take a little and all things going well.  We know the Super Bowl will most likely be played but just which team will be there is still being determined.  We know Christmas is coming and there is an atmosphere of anticipation as well as the realization that we may not get everything on our wish list and not all of us will live to see that day.  The song warns us to behave properly, no crying or pouting.

         So the first thing I see is that we are all waiting.  We do not know when Christ will return, the hour or the day, but we know he is coming.  Persecution, hard times, problems often raise the question – will the end come now?  I love the line near the end in Fiddler on the Roof when the Jewish community receives news that they must leave their village.  A man asks, “Rabbi, would this not be a good time for the Messiah to come?”  The Rabbi answers, “We will have to wait for him elsewhere.”  The disciples and we wonder how will we know the end is coming when Jesus will return. Would this not be a good time for the Lord to return? Today we wait like those bridesmaids.  The angels at the ascension told us Jesus will return, he is coming to town.             

         Waiting impacts our way of life and thinking. I remember waiting to turn 21 because then I could go out for a drink and I started surveying my friends for who would go with me.  I remember waiting for Malcolm to propose because then I would belong.  I spent hours at night debriefing with roommates after a date.   I remember waiting for those babies to arrive.  We debated names.  We prepared furniture.  Perhaps we identify with waiting for the paycheck to be deposited so we can pay our bills.  Waiting is not easy.  Waiting raises questions and doubts about our future.  Some events we know to prepare for and others we just enjoy the thrill of anticipation. 

         The bridesmaids tire in waiting and become drowsy.  Are we tired waiting for Jesus to return? Maybe we have pushed those thoughts to the back of our minds and heart. We might turn on the TV or call a friend or do whatever.  ALL the bridesmaids became drowsy.  This is not good-guys, bad-guys criteria.  It is not that some are doing hard work preparing for the wedding while others lazy about.  All the women became drowsy.  We might identify this as crying and pouting.  We want “now,” not some unidentified future.  But waiting is the name of the game.

         So how are we waiting?  I would suppose the bridesmaids could have spent their time swapping stories (let’s not call it gossip), playing cell-phone games to entertain themselves, or dodging out to do a task while their friend holds a spot in line.  In other words they focus on the more immediate issues of life.  It is so easy to become sloppy in our spiritual disciplines and perhaps this parable confronts us to ask if we have become drowsy in waiting for Jesus to return.  Is there a spiritual discipline we need to stir up today: prayer, journaling, praise, church going, tithing, or perhaps just calling a friend to encourage?

⁶But at midnight there was a shout,

 ‘Look! Here is the bridegroom!

  Come out to meet him.”

         Now the difference in the bridesmaids becomes apparent.  We think of midnight as referring to the last minute, the end of time, as we know it. We now see that half the women have come prepared to trim their wicks and light their lamps and half are unprepared.  Half have been wise and half have been foolish.  All were invited to be bridesmaids.  All of them are together.  All have lamps. None wants to miss the party.  But not all are prepared.

         In Proverbs 1:20 we read that “wisdom calls aloud, she raises her voice in the public square.”  Wisdom calls to all, but not everyone listens.  We are all called and salvation is offered to all but human choice is also acknowledged in this parable.  The serious reality of life is that being in church does not save us, getting baptized does not save us, nor does going through confirmation save us.  “By grace we are saved through faith and that not of ourselves.”  Sitting and waiting for the bridegroom is only part of reality.  We are people made in the image of God, made for relationship, invited to the banquet but we have a choice. And we can become drowsy.

         Usually today we think of oil in the New Testament as referring to the Holy Spirit.  If we make that connection, we have a problem.  The Holy Spirit is not something we keep in a flask for special moments.  The Holy Spirit’s presence is not something we can run out of nor something we can buy at the local market.  The Holy Spirit is part of the Godhead.  Jesus is speaking into the world of the disciples, pre-crucifixion and pre-awareness of the ongoing presence of the Spirit of God within the believer.  As I pondered this, two thoughts came to mind.

         First I thought about the sower who throws his seeds on four types of soil: the hardened pathway, the rocky soil, the thorny soil, and the good soil.  All four soils are part of the owner’s garden.  All have the potential to be planted. When the owner comes to plant, he throws seed to all but the word does not even phase the hardened path.  Seeds thrown on rocky and thorny ground sprout but are choked by the cares of life.  Not all seed that is sown and that appears to sprout comes to fruition.  This tells me that faith is a journey, not some magical moment when I am overwhelmed with the awareness that Jesus is the Christ, the living God.  Our faith is something we must nurture and tend to and cherish, not a date of some experience acknowledging Jesus.  Christ died for all, all are invited to the wedding feast but not all are prepared to follow through on the invitation.

         Secondly I thought of the Luke parable about a man building a tower who first counts the cost before starting to build or the king who evaluates his enemy to decide if he can win before going into battle.  Many evangelists sell Jesus as “Try it, you’ll like it.”  Jesus is presented as the cure all for life’s problems.  With enough faith, mountains can be moved and when they don’t, it is hinted that the problem is the person’s lack of faith.  A possible explanation of the difference between the bridesmaids is that some are prepared with resources in reserve for rough times when God answers prayers with a “no” or “wait” while others come just to enjoy the party and can’t cope when it is not fun. Some have counted the cost and prepare. To apply it to our song, we might say the prepared bridesmaids are the ones who know God is watching when we sleep and when we are awake, waiting for the right time to return, and they live in that faith.

         But let’s ask ourselves, what resources do we have in reserve?  What oil feeds our lamps, our faith?  Are we collapsible or can we persevere?  Our internal resources are not something we can get from another, bottle up and give away to our children, husband or beloved friend.  We can share about our experience but we cannot make someone believe or make their choices for them.  We must read the word for ourselves and make choices that grow our faith.  That sounds harsh but the wise dig deep and fill their lamps and the foolish run away from the groom, to town in the middle of the night when shops are closed.

         If this text challenges about how we are waiting, it also challenges us about the depth of our spiritual life.  When tough times come, do we collapse and fall to pieces or do we have a coping strategy and know verses, songs, friends we can turn to??  Do we have oil to draw from or are we just here for the party?

¹⁰And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came,

 and those who were ready went with him into the wedding banquet;

 and the door was shut.

         The bridegroom does arrive and welcomes the bridesmaids who have trimmed their lamps and stand ready.  Then the door is closed.  It reminds me of the story of Noah and the Ark.  Noah is told the flood is coming.  He prepares an ark.  He warns and invites his neighbors.  But the moment comes for the flood and the door is closed.  I reflect on the story of Moses and Pharaoh.  Moses tells Pharaoh he is not god and warns him.  “Let my people go.”  God sends ten plagues and still pharaoh does not prepare.  His confidence remains in himself and not God.  The Red Sea closes and the door is shut.  Jesus tells the story of Lazarus and the rich man.  Lazarus dies and goes to the bosom of Abraham while the rich man goes to the place of torment and asks for a fingertip of water.  Lazarus, whom he did not recognize in life, cannot cross the chasm to comfort the rich man in death.  I see no way to sugar coat the Biblical message.  Some day Christ returns and the door will be closed.

         I suppose for many, the return of Jesus is pictured like Santa Claus coming with his bag of goodies.  Many think in terms of going to heaven.  For the oppressed and abused, a final judgment offers comfort of a lump of coal to the unjust for the wrongs they have caused others to suffer in life.  Like Santa Claus, Jesus sees when we are sleeping and when we are awake and he knows the truth about when we have had to persevere in the face of injustice and we know he promises to revenge.  He says, “Vengeance is mine.  I will repay.”

         Jesus tells his disciples he will return.  It will seem like he is delaying and we will look around at a world that seems out of God’s control.  Our faith in Christ will be tried and stretched.  We will need to be prepared for those times that drain our lamps.  But Jesus will return.

         ¹³Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”

All the bridesmaids want to go to the wedding, to heaven.  Christ died for all.  Santa Claus loves all children and watches all. All the bridesmaids have lamps.  All of the bridesmaids grew drowsy.  Waiting is hard.  The difference is that the wise are prepared for those days when faith is hard work and life is challenging. The foolish bridesmaids run away from the groom to town in the middle of the night when the crisis comes and shops are closed. The kingdom of heaven will be a place of welcome and rejoicing.  We are warned to stay awake and be prepared for we do not know when Christ will return.  But return he will.  We can count on the outcome of that event.  Lord, help us keep awake and alert.

Let the people of God say, “Amen!”

         One of the artists I have been enjoying this year is Don Moen.  One of the reoccuring themes that has come up this week as we have looked at the lives of a couple heroes from the beginning of the Old Testament was that they were people who “walked with God.”  They were  people who recognized the hand of the invisible God working in their lives to bring about a future they had yet to experience.  I have been so deeply impressed by the realization that what is seen is really the product of the creativity from God in art, nature, construction, music and so many other  ways.  Recognizing that invisible God, active in our world is the challenge of faith.  Lord, help me see!

1 When we walk with the Lord 
in the light of his word, 
what a glory he sheds on our way! 
While we do his good will, 
he abides with us still, 
and with all who will trust and obey. 

Refrain:
Trust and obey, for there’s no other way 
to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey. 

2 Not a burden we bear, 
not a sorrow we share, 
but our toil he doth richly repay; 
not a grief or a loss, 
not a frown or a cross, 
but is blest if we trust and obey. [Refrain]

3 But we never can prove 
the delights of his love 
until all on the altar we lay; 
for the favor he shows, 
for the joy he bestows, 
are for them who will trust and obey. [Refrain]

4 Then in fellowship sweet 
we will sit at his feet, 
or we’ll walk by his side in the way; 
what he says we will do, 
where he sends we will go; 
never fear, only trust and obey. [Refrain]

United Methodist HymnalM, 1989

⁷ By faith Noah, warned by God about events as yet unseen,

 respected the warning and built an ark to save his household;

 by this he condemned the world and became an heir to the righteousness that is in accordance with faith.

Hebrews 11:7-8

            We are going through a litany of heroes and heroines of the Christian faith, listed in Hebrews 11 in the New Testament.  The writer started with creation, though, and today we touch the flood, thus finishing a review of the heroes of that first epoch of the Jewish, Christian, and Islamic scriptures.  We all agree on the basics of the story of Abel and Cain sons of Adam, Enoch and Noah.  Noah was the grandson of Enoch whom we pondered yesterday.  According to the time lines given in Genesis, whether you consider years or rainy seasons or whatever, would indicate all these men could have potentially lived concurrently.  We see from the murder by Cain of his brother Abel, a widening gulf though between the life styles of their descendants.  Seth, the son after Abel who was killed seems to be the grandfather of those who sought God and Cain’s descendants were the people who drifted more and more into godless lifestyles involving murder and all kinds of abuse.

¹³ And God said to Noah, ‘I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence because of them; now I am going to destroy them along with the earth. ¹⁴ Make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch.

Genesis 6:13-14

         Hebrews picks up the theme that Noah believed God when he spoke of something Noah had never seen. Noah created a never-before-seen Ark for a never-before-seen flood for a never-before-seen new world.  Noah believed and acted on this faith against the cultural norms of the day.  Verse 9 in Genesis 6 “says Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation; Noah walked with God.”  Again we do not hear about a lifestyle that trusted God and “walked with God.”

         Our faith may lead us today to stand against cultural norms as astounding as at Noah’s time.  Forgiving enemies is not in vogue.  Tithing is always a touchy subject.  Affirming being a small, caring church community is contra to our “bigger is better” mentality.  Better programs that attract seem like the way forward rather than prayer.  Certainly we believe the gifted are the blessed and the hope for the future. Do we chase popularity or faithfulness?  Lord, help my heart’s desire be to walk with you today and trust you.

⁵ By faith Enoch was taken so that he did not experience death; and ‘he was not found, because God had taken him.’ For it was attested before he was taken away that ‘he had pleased God.’ ⁶ And without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever would approach him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Hebrews 11:5-6

Fools say in their hearts, ‘There is no God.’
    They are corrupt, they commit abominable acts;
    there is no one who does good.

² God looks down from heaven on humankind
    to see if there are any who are wise,
    who seek after God.

Psalm 53:1-2

         The writer of Hebrews expounds on the life of Enoch that “pleased God.”  Enoch believed that “God existed” and that God rewards those who “seek him.”  So let us reflect for a moment about the existence of God.       When we think about God, what do we think?   Is he some sort of being sitting above the Universe and peering down on us?  Perhaps he is more like the Force in Star Wars.  Given all the gender discussions today, we might consider any god gender neutral even though the English language has traditionally identified God with male pronouns.  As a Christian, I find the life of the Incarnated Word, Jesus Christ, found in the Gospels, gives texture and depth to my image of God.  So when I am discouraged and dispairing I turn to the Gospels and not the explanations of the Epistles that seem one step removed.  Stope and jot five adjectives that describe to you the nature of the existence of God.

         Secondly, the writers says that Enoch sought God.  I suspect it is not a game of “Hide and Seek” where one party delibertly becomes inconspicuous and evasive in order to test the skills of the searcher.  I suspect “seeking” affirms the wholly otherness of God, his invisibility and differentness from life as we know it.  Seeking may be like tuning into the right frequency on the radio.  I just watched the Netflix “All the Light We Cannot See” feature from WW11 where “the voice” appeared on frequency 1310 that guided a blind girl and a German boy soldier to truth.  All parties are reaching out to communicate and “touch” each other, if only auditorially.          How do you seek to develop relationship and communication with a God-being who is invisible but who creates that which we see to bring about a future we pray about and give us hope?

         Blessings as you grow in your understanding of the existence of God and seek him in your life.