New location

 You can find posts starting in 2026 @cindyfootprints on Substack. 

Starting on Ash Wednesday, I'll be posting there about Imagining Hope

“Over Lent, I am going to explore imagining a richer image for myself, in the hope I can carry God’s light into the hurting world. I will post the prompts I use and my own reflections. Perhaps they will be a starting point for others…I invite you to join my Lent journey using our sacred imagination to rediscover God’s love. I’ll be posting prompts and my meditations on them each week during Lent.”

Deborah: Moving on in Faith

 We’ve seen how Deborah in the Book of Judges rescued the children of Israel from the oppression of the Canaanites by her leadership. Over this Pentecost series, we have seen how many Bible women and men lived their lives of faith. We have seen how each of them was fallible and yet loved by God. They, like us, struggled to make sense of the events in their lives—both personally and in the world of their time. Each of them met life's challenges with faith, however faltering. 

Their witness across the centuries can inspire us to live closer to God.

In the story of Elizabeth and Zechariah we see that God uses our talents no matter what our age is, and that our core ministry of living the Love of God doesn’t change, even if the appearance does.

Abraham and Sarah offer the hope of new birth in our lives and ministry, even when we are physically old. They discovered that God’s promise is always true.

The dysfunction of the family of Jacob, Leah and Rachel can help us look beyond comparisons and differences to find common ground.

The relationship of Naomi and Ruth teaches us that our seemingly insignificant decisions and actions can have ripple effects far beyond what we might imagine.

Simeon and Anna’s long wait for Messiah can inspire us in our darkest and loneliest times of waiting. Even if it doesn’t feel like it, God is acting.

The failings and sins of David and Bathsheba offer encouragement for our lives because despite their flaws, God loved the couple and blessed them.

Deborah, as we have seen, offers courage to those who might hesitate to take a stand against evil, violence, division, oppression or any other action that is counter to the Love of God.

Psalm 71 offers the reminder that God holds us at all ages. As for me, I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more. My mouth will tell of your righteous deeds, of your saving acts all day long—…Since my youth, God, you have taught me, and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds. Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, my God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your mighty acts to all who are to come.

How might you and I respond to the witness of these men and women?

Is there a way you can share this encouragement with others of all ages?

 Next week is Thanksgiving. I hope you can take time to rejoice in the blessings God has provided you and yours. Advent 1 on Nov. 30 starts a new church year as we anticipate the Incarnation of God in the Infant Jesus.

I have been doing this blog for nearly 20 years. A lot has changed in the world, and in my life and ministry over that time. God has called me to write over a dozen books, to present retreats, and to take the leadership of some women’s ministries. I have retired from my ‘day job’. Grandchildren have blessed my life and surprisingly, they are almost all adults themselves, now. In some ways, I am not the same woman I was two decades ago when I started this blog as a way to share what I hoped were helpful prayer and worship practices drawn from many diverse resources. My first series was about Spiritual Scrapbooking—a fun practice, but one that is not as popular anymore. God has worked in my soul as I’ve written these posts and made me aware of my own failing and privileges. A priest once told me that the sermon he preached was the one he needed to hear. I think that has been true of these posts. I hope they have inspired someone in the wider world, too.

All this is to say, I will not be doing an Advent series this year. Whether I resume posting, on a monthly basis, in 2026 is still in God’s hands. This Pentecost series about some of the older and less known men and women of the Bible has assured me that age is no barrier to what God has in store for each of us. I trust that there is something God is preparing me for and I wait to see what that may be.

May God bless the lives of each who reads any of these words of mine. 

Deborah: God is in charge

Last week, we saw how Deborah, a female judge of the Israelites led them to defeat their enemy, the king of Canaan. Only about 150 years after the Exodus and conquest of Israel, the people had slipped into the habits of their neighbors and the Bible tells us that when that happened, God “gave them into the hand of their enemies.” When they repent, God raises up a leader (judge) to defeat their oppressors.

It is tempting to think that God should intervene directly in our problems. We have enemies (or at least people we disagree with)—why doesn’t God vanquish them like in the “good old days”? Perhaps we need to consider if we need to repent of how we have slipped into ways of acting and living that are not in alignment with God. Like the people of Israel, it is easy to start acting like everyone else. We may not worship carved idols, which was always a slipping point for the ancient Israelites. What are some of the idols we do put ahead of God? Or we may just find we aren’t living the Golden Rule as well as we could.

Deborah was a judge of Israel. That doesn’t mean she was a legal authority. The judges of this period of Israel were leaders, called by God, to remind the people of their failings and lead them back to God and to defeat the current oppressing forces. Some of the Judges, like Gideon, who was Judge after Deborah, take physical action against the idolatries of the people. Gideon tears down the altar of Baal and erects an altar to God in its place. (Judges 6:25-27)

Deborah’s action was to summon Barak and tell him to raise an army against the Canaanites. In this, not so subtle way, she reminded the people of the power of God and how God delivered them in the past and continued to deliver them.

In the Song of Deborah (Judges 5) she reminds the people who God is: When you, Lord, went out from Seir, when you marched from the land of Edom, the earth shook, the heavens poured, the clouds poured down water. The mountains quaked before the Lord, the One of Sinai, before the Lord, the God of Israel (Judges 5:4)

She then tells of her own call by God. Villagers in Israel would not fight; they held back until I, Deborah, arose, until I arose, a mother in Israel. God chose new leaders when war came to the city gates, but not a shield or spear was seen among forty thousand in Israel. My heart is with Israel’s princes, with the willing volunteers among the people. Praise the Lord! (Judges 6:7-9)

The Song ends with the exclamation, So may all your enemies perish, Lord! But may all who love you be like the sun when it rises in its strength. (Judges 6:31) Returning to the theme at the start, Deborah gives glory to God.

Deborah sees her ministry as being a mother in Israel. Like a mother she is willing to defend her children. She says her heart was with the princes and the people. Isn’t that a lovely image for someone in leadership? As a mother does, as God does, she sees her leadership as nurturing and protecting and defending the people of Israel. In this case, that leadership leads to war. The result is freedom.

Through the leadership of Deborah and Barak, God acted. The Song of Deborah gives all the credit to God. God used the human hands and feet, words and weapons of Deborah and Barak to bring that victory. When we offer our lives to God, God can do great things. Like Deborah, we need to remember that it IS God acting through us and that we don’t do anything in our own strength. We need to be available to God through prayer, including listening, so that God can act in and through us in response to oppression and hatred and division. And, that action may start with us repenting our own role in holding onto privilege or our own power (whatever that may be).

Deborah: A stand against evil

 For our final series of women (and men) in the Bible who can inspire and inform the living of our faith, we meet Deborah, a judge of the Hebrew scriptures. How might her wisdom and courageous actions inspire us in our own faith walks?

Deborah is introduced “under the palm tree” in Judges 4-5. This is the period after the people return to Israel from the Exodus. There are still foreign tribes in the land and stronger nations on the borders. The children of Israel backslide again and again into worshipping like their neighbors and then, it seems, God punishes them by letting them be invaded and conquered by their enemies. After suffering foreign domination, the people repent and a leader (judge) leads them to defeat their foes.

At the beginning of chapter 4 we hear the familiar drumbeat that repeats throughout the Book of Judges: the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord…And the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan... and twenty years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel.

There is the tiniest glimmer of hope in Judges 4:4. We meet Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time. And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in mount Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment.

This woman, known to be wise and caring, and is honor enough that the people come to her for justice and advice. Before her (in Judges 3), we hear of Othniel and Ehud who as warriors delivered the children of Israel from various conquerors. Now about 150 years after the Israelites returned to the land, they are no longer a free people. They are under the rule of Jabin king of Canaan, that reigned in Hazor; the captain of whose host was Sisera, which dwelt in Harosheth of the Gentiles.

Deborah’s heart was sad for her people and God directed her to call Barak the son of Abinoam to lead the people to defeat the Canaanites. She tells him Go and draw toward mount Tabor, and take ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun…I will deliver [Sisera] into your hand.

Barak, however, hesitates to do this alone and insists that Deborah go with him. Because of his hesitation, she tells him that the Lord shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.

Deborah goes with Barak and his troops as they meet Sisera who has a forbidding force of 900 chariots of iron. In this early Iron Age time frame (ca 1100BC), having iron weapons of any kind, esp. chariots, would have seemed to give the army of Sisera an incredible advantage. 

However, Deborah encourages Barak saying, this is the day in which the Lord has delivered Sisera into your hand… So Barak went down from mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after him.

As Deborah had said, the armies of Israel defeat Sisera and his men. Sisera…fled away on his feet… to the tent of Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite… Then Jael Heber's wife took a nail of the tent, and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the nail into his temples, and fastened it into the ground: for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died. When Barak arrives, Jael shows him that Sisera lay dead, and the nail was in his temples.

Further the hand of the children of Israel prospered, and prevailed against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan. Deborah and Barak sing a song of praise to God that takes up most of chapter 5. At the very end we hear the land had rest forty years.

Deborah as prophetess and judge of Israel brought them freedom from their enemies, the Canaanites. She leads them in this peace. But after she dies, immediately we hear the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and for seven years he gave them into the hand of the Midianites. (Judges 6:1)

It took courage for Deborah to be the leader and judge of the people. As a woman, she had less influence than men, yet they followed her willingly. She must have had an assurance and faith that showed so that people were willing to listen to her. The time she spent hearing and judging complaints “under the palm tree” gave her wisdom to act when the time was right.

Sometimes we have to wait until the time is right before we can step into the fullness of our ministry or calling. That may be an uncomfortable ministry if it means we have to name evil and take action against it. Yet, we can be assured that God is with us, like with Barak and Deborah, to accomplish what we are called to do.

David and Bathsheba: God loves, no matter what

 As we complete our look at David and Bathsheba and God’s love for them, we realize that our relationship with God is never a straight path. David is a perfect example of someone who takes 2 steps forward and one step back. Sometimes it’s one step forward and two back.

This graphic illustrates our expectation of any relationship or goal or plan. We think it should be a nice straight line, but the truth as we live it out is much more convoluted. That is true of our faith. Some days our faith is very strong and others, we may have to struggle to say ‘I believe’ or ‘I trust You’.

What a consolation it might be for us all, if we admitted that even though we have walked the Faith Journey for a few (or many) years, we still don’t have all the answers. Instead, we try to bluff our way through and insist that we DO have faith and love every moment of every day.

As I mentioned last week, that attitude can lead us to shame ourselves when we have a day when we don’t feel that faith-filled. Would it not be better to allow God to love us? This poem, Oh Human, by Steve Garnass-Holmes encapsulates how God feels about us—love!

There is no reason to laugh, other than to laugh.
And you laugh. Oh, human, I love you.
You pray to me and have no idea what you’re doing,
but I love it.
When things matter you turn to flowers and songs.
When you are sad, you weep oceans.
You express grief with beauty.
You tell stories that become people, eventually yourself.
You invent things that are silly and lovely and useless
and impossible not to like.
You struggle, and fail, and don’t give up,
as if there is something of the stars in you.
You laugh at yourself, especially when it hurts.
When you are small, wonder carries you around,
and when you are older, you trade places.
Even when you do terrible things—
especially when you do terrible things—
you are a small precious child just trying to survive.
And you survive.
I lavish my delight on you.
Of course you object: “But I’m so messed up!”
Darling, you are more messed up than you know.
But you’re mine. And I’m so glad I have you.

Garnass-Holmes reminds us that we are more messed up than you know but that God delights in us anyway. What a joy and relief. 

In November, we'll start our final Pentecost series by looking at Deborah, a judge of the Hebrew scriptures. How might her wisdom and courageous actions inspire us in our own faith walks?

David and Bathsheba: Still Beloved

 Last week we looked at the story of David and his flawed response to lust and family life. There is another side to David, just like with each of us. There is the faith-filled, faith-full side that we see in the Psalms, in his rejoicing when the ark is returned to Jerusalem (2 Samuel 6) and in his desire to build a temple for God. (2 Samuel 7)

David, said to be a man after God's heart, offered vulnerable prayers like, Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. (Psalm 139:23–24). He was believed that God knew him deeply and that despite being imperfect, believed that God was still with him.

How often do we let our guilty conscious keep us from accepting God’s love? We let the ‘shame’ messages in our past and present influence our response to the hand of God held out in love. We think, ‘I have to get it all together before I go to church or pray.’ That is simply not what the Bible teaches. The Bible, over and over, says God loves us no matter what we do or don’t do.

A few verses to help you remember how beloved you are: Paul reminds the Romans: God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8) and a few chapters later proclaims, I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)

The great promise found in the Gospel of John: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

The Psalmist reminds us to Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever. (Psalm 136:1)

To the Israelites Isaiah shares God’s promise, When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze (Isaiah 43:2) and Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed. (Isaiah 54:10)

Jeremiah comforts the Israelites in exile with the reminder, The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.' (Jeremiah 31:3)

Paul tells the Corinthians that despite an unspecified difficulty, God told him, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. (2 Corinthians 12:9)

Because we are, indeed, the Beloved daughters and sons of God, just like David and Bathsheba we can lean into God’s love. This is a daily (and perhaps moment by moment) action. Because we are human and fallible, it’s never a one-time thing to say, “I know I am Beloved and I’ll live in a loving fashion.” The temptations and stresses of life can cause us to slip. Like David, we can then repent and know that God’s love never fails.

Find and post a favorite affirmation from the Bible to remind you that you are truly a beloved child of God and NOTHING can change that. Above is one of mine. 

David and Bathsheba: Despite Failings

 So far in this Pentecost (Ordinary Time) series of blog posts, we’ve looked at many women and men in the Bible who aligned with God, in their own fallible ways, to be God’s stewards in their time and place. Despite dysfunctional family dynamics, years of waiting, and tragedy these people were blessed by God in their lives. They struggled with their personal problems, just like we do, and discovered in the end that God is greater than any problem. Last week I posted an image of a list of Biblical characters and their 'flaws' because no one is perfect. They were not perfect. They were loved by God. They were important parts and instruments in God’s kingdom. 

This month, we look at another deeply flawed, yet deeply loved man and woman. David—the shepherd boy who became king of Israel was certainly not perfect. Even in his sinfulness, God worked in David’s life. In one very famous incident, he is found to be an abuser of a woman, and yet God accepts his repentence. Most people know the outline of the story of David and Bathsheba. It is found in 2 Samuel chapters 11-12. The summary of the event is found in 2 Samuel 11:2-5.

One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (Now she was purifying herself from her monthly uncleanness.) Then she went back home. The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.”

David has insomnia and sees a woman bathing in her own yard. He discovers that she is an Israelite woman (daughter of Eliam) married to a Hittite warrior—one of his own soldiers. Despite this, he orders her to come to him and sleeps with her. Bathsheba would not have been allowed to say ‘no.’ This was the king, after all, and she was a woman married to a foreigner. When she lets him know that she is pregnant, David makes some rash decisions. In an attempt to conceal his actions, He sends for Uriah.

After asking about the campaign tells him “Go down to your house and wash your feet”… But Uriah slept at the entrance to the palace with all his master’s servants and did not go down to his house.  David was told, “Uriah did not go home.” So he asked Uriah, “Haven’t you just come from a military campaign? Why didn’t you go home?” Uriah’s response shows that he is a man of honor. “The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in tents, and my commander Joab and my lord’s men are camped in the open country. How could I go to my house to eat and drink and make love to my wife? As surely as you live, I will not do such a thing!” (2 Samuel 11:8-11)

David tries again, and when Uriah still doesn’t go home to his wife, the king sends him back to the battle front with a letter essentially ordering his execution. “Put Uriah out in front where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die.” So while Joab had the city under siege, he put Uriah at a place where he knew the strongest defenders were. When the men of the city came out and fought against Joab, some of the men in David’s army fell; moreover, Uriah the Hittite died. (2 Samuel 11:16-17) He then moves Bathsheba into his harem. (Imagine the gossip!)

Chapter 12 of 2 Samuel tells of the prophet Nathan chastising David (as in this image) through the story of a rich man, a poor man, and a lamb. (2 Samuel 12:1-12) David repents and Nathan tells him, “The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die.  But because by doing this you have shown utter contempt for the Lord, the son born to you will die.” (2 Samuel 12:13-14)

Just as Nathan foretold, the infant sickens and dies, despite David’s desperate fasting and prayers. (2 Samuel 12:15-23) Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and he went to her and made love to her. She gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. (2 Samuel 12:24-25)

God brought good from David’s bad actions. Despite their relationship starting with rape, Bathsheba becomes a favored wife. Much later, as David is dying, we see her conspire with Nathan to ensure that Solomon is king after David. In 1 Kings 1, we learn the son of another wife, Adonijah, has named himself king even though David is still alive. Starting in verse 11 we hear Nathan’s advice to Bathsheba so that Solomon is proclaimed king.  

Nathan asked Bathsheba…“Have you not heard that Adonijah, the son of Haggith, has become king, and our lord David knows nothing about it? Now then, let me advise you how you can save your own life and the life of your son Solomon. Go in to King David and say to him, ‘My lord the king, did you not swear to me your servant: “Surely Solomon your son shall be king after me, and he will sit on my throne”? Why then has Adonijah become king? While you are still there talking to the king, I will come in and add my word to what you have said.”…[Bathsheba does as advised with Nathan supporting her]…Then King David said, “Call in Bathsheba.” So she came into the king’s presence and stood before him. The king then took an oath: “As surely as the Lord lives, who has delivered me out of every trouble,^…Solomon your son shall be king after me, and he will sit on my throne in my place.” [David then says] “Call in Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet and Benaiah son of Jehoiada…Take your lord’s servants with you and have Solomon my son mount my own mule and take him down to Gihon…Blow the trumpet and shout, ‘Long live King Solomon! Then you are to go up with him, and he is to come and sit on my throne and reign in my place. I have appointed him ruler over Israel and Judah.” (1 Kings 1:11-35)

In this story of David and Bathsheba, we see God acting through the foibles and mistakes of David and other human actors. Like us, Bathsheba and David acted based on their own ideas of what is best. Even though David lusted for Bathsheba and God punished him for his actions through the death of the infant, God also provided a blessing through the second son of the couple. Solomon was to become the wise leader of Israel after David died. Bathsheba acted to protect her honor when she told David she was pregnant after his rape, and despite his initial response of trying to trick Uriah, he does not ignore her rights. He acknowledges his promises at the end of his life, as well, and acts to ensure Solomon’s kingship.

How has God acted in your life despite your failures and mistakes? I can think of times when what I thought I wanted ended up being not so good. Then, God showed me a new path or a new ministry direction that was better than what I planned.

Anna and Simeon: Patience

 For the past couple weeks, we’ve been looking at the story of Anna and Simeon in the Gospel of Luke. This elderly pair spent decades of their lives waiting to see the fulfillment of God’s Promise to the people of Israel of a Messiah. What they got was an infant who they recognized as God Incarnate and the fulfillment of that promise.

We often get impatient (at least I do) when our plans don’t fall into place right away or in the way we planned. Waiting on God to act is sometime difficult.

What if we are looking in the wrong places for the fulfillment of God’s dream in our lives? What if we think that success is found in the number of people who attend an event we plan, or in the amount of money in our bank account? What if we fall into the trap of thinking we are successful when our name is on the office door of a high-power business or when we are recognized when we walk down the street?

Maybe that’s not how God measures success. Maybe God’s success is the heart transformed by a sentence in a blog post. Maybe God measures success in the kind acts we do. Maybe God is pleased with us when we take time to sit with a friend or smile at a stranger.

Simeon and Anna spent their time in prayer in the Temple waiting for the fulfillment of God’s promised Messiah. We aren’t told what else they did during those years, but probably they became unofficial greeters and helped many visitors to the Temple find their way. Then when a confused couple from Nazareth arrived with their baby to do as Mosaic Law ordered, Simeon knew the truth. Then, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, “Lord, now let your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation which you have prepared for all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to Israel.”

Anna as well recognized God’s truth and proclaimed thanks to God and spoke of him to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.

It is easy to get caught up in the messages of our society and forget that God very often, throughout history has worked in the lives of the least likely of people. There is the reoccurring post on social media that reminds us that “God doesn’t call the qualified, God qualifies the called.” In face, as this graphic reminds me, God uses people I might not have considered 'good enough' at all:

None of us are perfect. We are each simply loved by God and in that love, we are able to act and love others. What if we each just quietly lived as if the Kingdom of God’s love was in our world and lives now? 

Brian McLaren notes, in The Secret Message of Jesus, that we are all secret agents of the Kingdom, “Your job is to discover how [you] can align and participate in the Kingdom of God…help fulfill God’s will…you work each day not just for a paycheck but also for the kingdom of God to come more and more fully.” McClaren asks “What would happen if you saw your job as one component—large or small, enjoyable or depressing—of your larger, deeper, grander calling as a participant in the kingdom of God?” (The Secret Message of Jesus, Brian McClaren, W Publishing Group, 2006)

Simeon and Anna were participants in the Kingdom of God by their faithful waiting and witness. In their prayer and dedication they were agents that helped the kingdom grow. We can do the same.

Anna and Simeon: Waiting with God

 Simeon and Anna, whose story is in the Gospel of Luke (chapter 2) give us insight into waiting for God’s plan to come to fulfillment. I would think that each of them had had many conversations with God, praying again and again for the fulfillment of the promise. As they got older, each prayer perhaps became more desperate. “Will I see your Messiah?” “Hey, God, I’m not getting any younger.”

There may be plans in your heart that you are sure God placed there. However, they don’t seem to be coming to fruition. When you try to move forward, there are closed doors. You keep looking around for the open door or open window. After all, there’s the saying that ‘when God closes a door, God opens a window.’ But that window doesn’t seem to be open, either.

This image captured from Facebook by “The Letterer” is a reminder that God is always present and always working.

As a society, we are not good at waiting. Instant gratification is the name of the game. We can download a new game to our phone and start playing in an instant. We can zap our dinner in the microwave and not wait for it to cook in the oven. We can travel across the country in just hours compared to our ancestors who needed weeks or even months to make the trek. Communication with friends and family is just a text away.

God’s timing is often much more deliberate. God works in our hearts and souls to prepare the soil for the next thing. God worked in Simeon and Anna as they waited and worshipped in the Temple two thousand years ago. Perhaps they learned patience. Perhaps they learned to trust in God’s timing. Perhaps they found their faith deepening despite the waiting for the fulfillment of God’s plan. Perhaps they came to an understanding that God’s way does not always look like we expect.

Imagine the surprise of the two elders when God’s promised Messiah showed up as the infant son of a poor family from Nazareth. Because of their time of waiting and preparing and being prepared, they were able to recognize in the Babe, God’s fulfillment.

God’s gift is always better than we can imagine. It’s like waiting for a stuffed dog for your birthday and getting a real puppy. Or expecting a bowl of ice cream and getting gelato. It’s waiting for decades for the One spoken of by the prophets and holding that Child in your arms as an infant full of God and full of possibility.

Then you break into song! “My eyes have seen the salvation you have prepared for all people!” proclaims Simeon. Holding the fulfillment of God’s promise, he recognizes that this is not just for the Hebrew nation, but for ALL.

God does not delay gratification, rather, God prepares us for the best that can be. In 2 Peter 3:9, we are reminded, The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. God loves each of us too much to give us second best. God waits until we are ready and prepared, then we receive the gift of God’s love.

It is not easy to wait when we think we have a great idea or ministry. Maybe you aren’t as ready as you think. Perhaps you need to learn something that will make your ministry even more effective. Perhaps waiting will help you grow in faith. God is in the waiting, too. So, as Proverbs 3:5-6 says, Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

Next week we will finish our visit with Anna and Simeon.

Anna and Simeon: Waiting

 Today we start looking at the story of Anna and Simeon, who welcomed the Infant Christ in the Temple as inspiration for ways we might welcome Christ. Their story is in the Gospel of Luke. After the familiar Christmas story about shepherds and angels visiting the manger, we hear, “at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. And when the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.” (Luke 2:21-24) The purification rite would have been forty days after Jesus’ birth. Women were required to be ‘purified’ after childbirth and a first-born son was ‘redeemed’ by an offering.

In the next verse we meet Simeon who was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. (Luke 2:25-26) When Mary and Joseph arrive, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, “Lord, now let your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation which you have prepared for all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to Israel.” (Luke 2:27-29) This Song of Simeon is commonly said during Evening Prayer from the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer.

We don’t get the rest of the story if we just stop at his song of praise. Simeon continues to prophecy and tells Mary, “Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed.” (Luke 2:34-35) Imagine for a moment the turmoil of thoughts that must have gone through Mary’s mind as she hears Simeon’s words.

The day of surprises isn’t over yet. The 84-year-old prophetess, Anna, daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher came up to the pair. Apparently, she lived in the Temple grounds worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. And coming up at that very hour she gave thanks to God and spoke of him to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem. (Luke 2:36-38)

Rembrandt’s painting of the scene (ca 1627) shows Anna giving praise while Simeon counsels Mary and Joseph.

Unlike Simeon, we do not have Anna’s words recorded, only that she gave thanks and spoke of the redemption of Jerusalem. This affirmation of her son’s role in life must have been another one of those things that Mary “pondered in her heart.”

Simeon and Anna were waiting and prepared for the coming of Messiah, the Christ of God. They had been waiting years and years. Perhaps there were times when they thought God had forgotten their faithfulness. I’m sure we’ve all had times when we prayed for something and prayed and prayed, but nothing seemed to be happening. God didn’t seem to be listening.

Waiting for ‘God’s timing’ can be difficult. We can get inspiration from Simeon and Anna who waited their lives for God’s revelation. When it came, that revelation was in the form of a helpless infant. Were they surprised by that, or did they understand that God acts in ways we don’t expect?

Has there been a time when you have been surprised by how God responded to a prayer?  

Sit with the image and imagine yourself in the scene. What if you were a bystander? What if you were one of the participants? Feel the emotions of Anna and Simeon as they welcome the One they had been waiting and hoping for.

As an aside: In the Gospel of Luke, the family returns to Nazareth where Jesus grows up. It is in the Gospel of Matthew that we hear of the visit of the Magi and the escape to Egypt.

Naomi and Ruth: Reaction or Prayer

 Last week we considered the idea that every person makes choices based on the information they have and the truths they believe. This information or truth may be false in the view of many people. It is, however, what the person believes. Of course, not everything we believe is true, either, to someone else… Something to pause and think about perhaps.

Because our truths are different from each other, we find ourselves in conflict with one another. We no longer take time to listen to each other. Too often, we simply react to a statement or to news or to an action. How, in this tumultuous and divisive time, might we meet with grace those whose ideology differs from ours? How can we accept and love one another as we are commanded by our Lord? How can we even face the daily news with its toll of death and destruction?

Listening instead of reacting is a start. It is not easy to stop and listen, though. We often need help to pause, help to listen, help to seek understanding and common ground. That’s where God is present. And we connect to God in prayer.

Looking at the story of Ruth and Naomi, we don’t hear that they prayed. In fact, there isn’t any overt mention of God in the entire book. However, we sense God working in and through the choices of the women. God honors the decision to go to Moab by giving the family a home and a community, including wives for the sons. God is with Ruth and Naomi as they return to Bethlehem. Despite Naomi’s assertion that the Almighty has made my life very bitter (Ruth 1:20), God provides a protector and husband for Ruth. The faithful choices made by the women lead to blessings. The women of Bethlehem note this and say, “Praise be to the Lord, who this day has not left you without a guardian-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel!” (Ruth 4:14)

It is easy to look back, after the fact, and see blessing. When you are in the middle of a troubling time in your personal life, or are concerned about external events, it is harder to see blessings. We can always, as the song says, “Take it to the Lord in prayer.” The hymn What a Friend we have in Jesus, by Joseph Scriven (1885) reminds us that it’s a “privilege to carry everything to God in prayer”! Scriven reminds us that we forfeit peace and needlessly bear pain because we forget to give our concerns to God. Even when there are “trials and temptations…[and] trouble anywhere” or when we are “weak and heavy-laden, cumbered with a load of care” we can “take it to the Lord in prayer.” The hymn ends with the promise from our “Blessed Savior, Thou hast promised Thou wilt all our burdens bear.” You can hear the hymn sung by Alan Jackson here.  

Ruth and Naomi probably didn’t see the hand of God while struggling to survive on the journey to Bethlehem or when seeking food in the edges of the fields, but God was every present. We often have trouble identifying God in our own troubles. We can trust however that God IS there and loving us through anything. Also, though it can be more difficult to identify, God is loving and working through the lives of those we don’t agree with.

Maybe this prayer by Rabbi Irwin Keller from 2016 can be of help when watching troubling news stories. Remembering that our soul, that each soul, is “pure and vulnerable” may open us to seeking healing for the “wounds of the world.”

Next week, we’ll look at the story of Anna and Simeon, who welcomed the Infant Christ in the Temple as inspiration for ways we might welcome Christ.

Naomi and Ruth: Decisions

In August, we began to look at the story of Ruth and Naomi from the Book of Ruth in the Hebrew Scriptures. We noticed how each decision and action had a ripple effect on the people and communities they were in. It is the same with us. Last week, we thought about the choices men and women made to confront workplace safety and inequity, and the results of those decisions. 

Ruth and Naomi made many seemingly small decisions which changed the dynamic of their family and the community they were in. The decision to leave Bethlehem caused sorrow to their friends and other family members who remained. Deciding to cast their lot with the people of Moab by marriage was a big ripple that resonated among the local community. Death always causes many changes. The loss of her husband and both sons made Naomi rethink her life and decide to return to the familiarity of Bethlehem. The different decisions by Orpah and Ruth made differing impacts on their family and friends. Arriving in Bethlehem as destitute widows brings dramatic changes to the people in the town and to Ruth and Naomi. Ruth’s obedience to Naomi and Boaz’ response to her courage and faithfulness made a huge difference in the dynamic of the town. Their descendants continued to impact the history of Israel and the world generation after generation.

Every day we make choices that we don’t think make much difference to anyone but ourselves. We may decide to go to the grocery store or to the farmer’s market. One choice helps local growers, the other helps big business. We respond in haste to a Facebook post we disagree with or we scroll past without responding or perhaps take time to respond thoughtfully.  

The decision we make is neither right nor wrong. It is how we respond to the information we have. With slightly different information, we might make a different decision. Ruth and Naomi made the best decisions they could within the framework of their lives. God honored the choices. God honors our choices, too. We are given free will by our loving God, so God doesn’t force us to do this or that. If we make what seems, in hindsight, to be a poor decision, God still honors our action—even if we may have to live with the results.

In the news every night we see the results of decisions individuals and leaders make. Some are choices that lead to death and destruction. Others are actions that provide hope and joy. Each person or group makes their decision using the information they have and believe is true. Our perspective is often very different from the person who decides to start a fire or someone who has an idea to walk across the country to raise money and awareness for some cause. Neither may be something we would do. Yet, these are the choices made by those individuals and they result in consequences.

Might it make a difference to how you view the news if you remembered that each story is activated by someone’s decision, which is based on their information? We might not understand a mass shooter any better, but we might pause to consider that he was motivated by the truths he believed. 

Every decision we make has results. May we ask God to help us make helpful choices that will benefit those we are in contact with.

Labor Day Decisions

 A little pause from our visit to Naomi and Ruth and their decisions to remember Labor Day, and why we have a day off from work. Mostly, now, the day is simply an occasion to get together for end-of-summer picnics or to go camping “one last time this year”. The roots run much deeper and are important to remember. The roots of the holiday are set amid the choices made by business leaders at the end of the 19^th century, by laborers and other workers. The decisions each side made at this pivotal moment, changed the appearance of working conditions in factories, mines, and elsewhere and gave the normal working man rights they did not previously have.

Labor Day originated in the midst of a time of upheaval and turmoil in America. A lot of change was happening in the workforce because of the Industrial Revolution and the movement of workers from farms to factories. We may not remember that we learned in school how the late 1800s was a time of oppression for these workers. The average workday was 12 hours and most worked seven days a week to earn enough. Children as young as 5 worked alongside the adults to help bring home enough to sustain their family. Not only that, conditions were unsafe. Factories and mines were especially unsafe and offered little in the way of fresh air, restrooms, or breaks. In some cases, workers were locked into the workrooms for their shift.

In response to conditions, labor unions formed and gradually became more vocal and powerful. The leadership organized strikes to protest conditions and pay. There were riots in many places. Often people were killed on all sides. Police, striking workers, the replacement workers brought in by management to keep the factories and mines going all fell victim.

On September 5, 1882, 10,000 workers marched from City Hall to Union Square in NYC to protest conditions (see picture). Slowly the idea of a “workingmen’s holiday” gained momentum in many states. It wasn’t until the employees of the Pullman Car company went on strike on May 11, 1894, that it became truly a national issue. By June 26, a boycott of all Pullman cars caused railroad traffic to come to a standstill. This was catastrophic because people and goods moved nearly entirely on the railroads. The federal government sent troops to Chicago, which led to riots and deaths. Congress then passed an act making Labor Day an official holiday and President Grover Cleveland signed it on June 28, 1894.

The choices and actions of the unions and the decisions by the striking workers who were willing to risk their lives to protest conditions ultimately led to legislation mandating shorter work days as well as improved working conditions. It is still a work in progress as, too often, the business bottom line and not the workers get the priority. Recently, Air Canada flight attendants went on strike for better wages causing massive airline disruptions. They, like many workers before, made the decision to stand up for their rights.

If your working conditions are good, give thanks for the decisions and choices of the brave men and women who marched and spoke up and challenged those in power. However, there are also still groups of workers who are ignored and mistreated because of their poverty, education, ethnicity, or immigration status. What choices will we make to stand with and for these groups?

Naomi and Ruth: Ripples

 For the next couple weeks, we’ll look at the story of Naomi and Ruth as found in the Book of Ruth in the Hebrew Scriptures. In this tale, we’ll see how supporting one another encourages the entire community, like ripples from a pebble in the water.

The story begins with Naomi and her husband Elimelek moving to Moab with their two sons during a famine time in Bethlehem. They settle in Moab which starts one set of ripples as the foreigners from Bethlehem learn to interact and live with the Moabite community. The boys grow up and marry Moabite girls: Ruth and Orpah. This is a new ripple in the pond caused by the integration of the foreigners more deeply into the community. Then tragedy strikes as Elimelek and his sons all die. This leaves the three women vulnerable as widows with no man to care for them. For Naomi and her daughters-in-law this is like a stone into the pond with huge ripples of consequences.

Naomi decides on the drastic step of returning to Bethlehem, telling her daughters-in-law to remain and find new husbands in Moab. Her decision resonates with multiple ripples. There is the goodbye and return to her family by Orpah. And there is the massive ripple when Ruth famously responds, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.” (Ruth 1:16-17) Ruth is willing to leave all she knows to remain in relationship with Naomi. This choice ripples across the ages.

The pair sets out on a long trek of somewhere between 60 and 100 miles. They must cross the Jordan River and traverse desert and hills. It is possible, even probable, that they would have joined a caravan heading in the right direction. It would be rare and very unsafe for two women to travel alone, but the Bible doesn’t say. We are simply told, the two women went on until they came to Bethlehem. When they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them, and the women exclaimed, “Can this be Naomi?” “Don’t call me Naomi, she told them. “Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter…” [arrived] in Bethlehem as the barley harvest was beginning. (Ruth 1:19-20, 22) The return of Naomi with her Moabite daughter-in-law made ripples among the tight-knit community of Bethlehem.

The timing of getting to Bethlehem at the time of the harvest was fortuitous because the Law of Moses allowed widows and other destitute people to gather the grain from the edges of the field. Ruth offers to do this for herself and Naomi. She luckily entered a field and began to glean behind the harvesters….in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelek. (Ruth 2:3)

Boaz is impressed by Ruth’s support of her mother-in-law and tells her to stay with his workers throughout the barley harvest and into the next harvest as well. Naomi sees the opportunity in this and suggests a risky ploy to Ruth. She says, “Tonight [Boaz] will be winnowing barley on the threshing floor… note the place where he is lying. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down. He will tell you what to do.” (Ruth 3:2-4)

Ruth’s decision to glean and then to follow Naomi’s advice are intersecting ripples in the story. Her action results in Boaz meets with the elders, and another relative, at the city gate. As was the custom, he offers the other man a chance to buy land and wed Ruth. When he declines, Boaz announced to the elders and all the people, “Today you are witnesses that I have bought from Naomi all the property of Elimelek, Kilion and Mahlon. I have also acquired Ruth the Moabite, Mahlon’s widow, as my wife, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property, so that his name will not disappear from among his family or from his hometown.” (Ruth 4:9-10)

Boaz marries the foreign woman leaving ripples of change in the wake. Ruth has a son. The Book of Ruth ends with the statement they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David. (Ruth 4:17) The great King David of Israel is descended from the son of a foreign woman (Rahab) and the immigrant Moabite, Ruth. Because of her faithfulness, Ruth was welcomed into the community. Naomi supported Ruth just as Ruth supported Naomi. Together their courage and faithfulness led to the strengthening of the nation of Israel two generations later. Ruth’s insistence on going with Naomi dropped a pebble into the water. That pebble continued to eddy outward until it reached a stable in Bethlehem 1000+ years later.

Every choice we make and action we do has a ripple effect. These intersect with the actions and choices of others. Some actions cause large ripples or even waves and they join with other ripples. Some are barely noticeable. We never know where the ripples from our actions may lead.

Think about how your actions cause ripples that meet and cancel or build on other ripples around you. We’ll look more deeply at that next week.

Leah, Rachel, Jacob: Learning a new way

 For the past couple weeks, we’ve been looking at the family dynamics in the lives of Jacob, Rachel and Leah from the Hebrew Scriptures. Leah and Rachel had a competition over the number of children and the status that provided in the tribal culture. Their antagonism trickled down to their sons. This caused the sons of Leah to hate their half-brother, Joseph.

As the proud, and seemingly oblivious, father, Jacob doesn’t help the situation. Jacob loved Joseph more than all his other sons, because he had been born to him when he was old. He made a long robe with full sleeves for him. When his brothers saw that their father loved Joseph more than he loved them, they hated their brother so much that they would not speak to him in a friendly manner. (Genesis 37:3-4)

The sons of Rachel band together to throw Joseph into a pit to die, then decide to sell him into slavery. “What will we gain by killing our brother and covering up the murder? Let's sell him to these Ishmaelites. Then we won't have to hurt him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood.” His brothers agreed, and when some Midianite traders came by, the brothers pulled Joseph out of the well and sold him for twenty pieces of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt. (Genesis 37:26-28)

As we look at our own tendencies to dislike or even hate someone (or some culture) because they are different, how might living as Christ taught change our response?

Jesus says, You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5:43-48)

Jesus expands the meaning of neighbor in the Parable of the Good Samaritan, where it is the unexpected (hated) Samaritan who helps the wounded man. Jesus, on the cross, cries out Father, forgive them. Jesus calls us to go beyond the personal and cultural norms to build relationships and bridges instead of burning them.

What can I do in my life today and this week to create a healing opportunity in my family or in another relationship? Maybe all I can do is start to pray for someone I dislike or fear. Maybe, like this cat and dog, I can find a common ground of agreement.

Leah, Rachel, Jacob: Truth and Lies

 Last week we met Jacob and Leah and Rachel, one of the many dysfunctional families in the Bible. While this family lived over four thousand years ago, the dynamic of competition and rivalry is still present and active in our lives. It drives our divisions and disagreements. It manifests in hate and war.

How can we combat this tendency in our lives? For Leah and Rachel their rivalry was fostered by Rachel’s inability to have children. She even bartered with her sister for some mandrake root (a supposed aphrodisiac) by offering Leah a chance to sleep with Jacob.

Our own self-importance or our perceived lack of power can make us do unhealthy things, too. At first glance these two things seem opposite. Yet, it is our desire for control that causes us to think we are wonderful, or it can cause us to think we have no control over anything.

Rachel needed to have (or thought she needed) children, especially sons. Being barren made her feel like a failure. She started to see her fertile sister as being better and having more power in the family. That led to feelings of anger, even against Jacob, and insecurity. She confronts him, When Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob any children, she became jealous of her sister. So she said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I’ll die!” (Genesis 30:1)

His reply probably didn’t help the situation. Jacob snarls, “Am I God?” he asked. “He’s the one who has kept you from having children!” (Genesis 30:2)

Leah’s ability to have children seems to have given her pride. It did give her status in the family unit. When she stopped having children, she offered her maid to Jacob as a surrogate wife to keep up with Rachel’s maid. Leah realized that she wasn’t getting pregnant anymore, so she took her servant, Zilpah, and gave her to Jacob as a wife. (Genesis 30: 9)

Each of the women told themselves a lie and came to believe it deeply. Rachel believed she was no good because she was childless. Leah felt that she was, if not loved, at least honored for having many sons. The truth was that God loved both women, and Jacob tried to do so as well.

Within our own families and other relationships, we may not start a birthing competition. However, don’t we all know families where siblings try to outdo each other with better cars or houses or jobs? Don’t we all know people whose only goal in life is to have the newest and best thing on the market even if it means destroying a relationship? Aren’t there people we know who sneer at other family members because their lifestyle is different from the family norm and therefore “wrong”.

This comparison doesn’t stop with family members. Neighbors and cultures and countries that have different customs and norms from our personal ones, may be deemed ‘barbarian’ or ‘evil’ or ‘stupid’. That designation, untrue though it is, historically has lead to genocide, wars, and inquisitions among other evils.

What are the lies we tell ourselves about our families and other relationships?

Think about your own personal norms. How do they differ from other members of your family or community? Do you find yourself labeling those who think differently as ‘bad’?

What might you do to change that mindset and be more understanding of neighbors and family members who are different from you?

Leah, Rachel, Jacob: Family Dynamics

 This summer, and into the fall, we are looking at men and women in the Bible who can inspire us to remember that God uses even flawed and fumbling humanity to build the Kingdom of God. We have already looked at Elizabeth and Zechariah from the New Testament in June, and Sarah with her husband Abraham from Genesis in July. We now move forward a couple generations to look at Leah and Jacob (Abraham’s grandson). Theirs was a troubled relationship, and yet God was present and active in their lives.

Isaac, the miraculous son of Abraham and Sarah’s old age, marries Rebecca. She bears him twin sons: Jacob and Esau. (Genesis 25:19-26) We hear that Rebecca receives a prophecy stating, The sons in your womb will become two nations. From the very beginning, the two nations will be rivals. One nation will be stronger than the other; and your older son will serve your younger son. As the boys grow, the sibling rivalry seems to be fostered by the parents. We learn that Isaac loved Esau because he enjoyed eating the wild game Esau brought home, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

Jacob seems to take advantage of this by tricking his brother out of his birthright with lentil stew. When Isaac is old and blind, he wants to bless his sons. Rebecca convinces Jacob to trick the old man into giving him the blessing of the first-born son. (Genesis 27:1-40). Esau is, understandably, enraged and Jacob flees to Haran where he meets his mother’s brother Laban and his two daughters. In Genesis 29, we read how Jacob loves Rachel, the younger daughter, but is tricked into marrying the elder one, Leah.

When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, he enabled her to have children, but Rachel could not conceive. Bearing children was important in tribal cultures because it ensured the lineage. Because she cannot conceive, Rachel starts a sort of ‘birthing competition’ by giving her maid to Jacob to bear children she can claim. Leah, even though she has four children, responds by offering her own maid to Jacob. (Genesis 29:40-30:24)

Finally, God remembered Rachel’s plight and answered her prayers by enabling her to have children. She became pregnant and gave birth to a son. “God has removed my disgrace,” she said. And she named him Joseph, for she said, “May the Lord add yet another son to my family.”

The family rivalry continues to manifest and multiply between the sons of Rachel and Leah, until his brothers sell Joseph to slave traders going to Egypt, then claim he was killed by wild animals. (Genesis 37:18-36)

What can we learn from all this dysfunctional family dynamics from four millennia ago?

It would be easy to stand apart and say, ‘that’s awful and the parents should have known better.’ Then we might be self-convicted by realizing that we have our own competitive tendencies. Perhaps not amongst our families (although every family likely has some dysfunction and competition). There are other ways we can compete and try to outdo each other. Or we simply think we are better than someone else because we can do a task better, or because we are lucky enough to have more privilege.

Think about your life and relationships. Where do you find yourself in competition with co-workers, family members, or even the trap of ‘keeping up with the Jones.’ Next week we’ll delve into that idea more deeply. 

Sarah and Abraham: Mentoring the next generation

 For the past couple weeks, we have been considering the story of Abraham and Sarah found in Genesis 18. They had waited and hoped for a child for years and now they were (they thought) too old, being almost 100. God visits the couple and promises a child despite their age.

Put yourself in the sandals of Sarah and Abraham. What would you have done if three strangers appeared to you and announced something like ‘you will have a child’? Abraham is astonished, and Sarah chuckles to herself, seeming to think it’s a joke.

God works in just the right time and right way. We don’t know why it was the perfect time for Isaac to be born when Sarah was so old. It certainly is a reminder that God’s work isn’t constrained by appearances or age. Those of us who have had children may sympathize with Sarah and how difficult it must have been to bear and care for a child at that age. In Genesis 23:1 we hear that Sarah lived to be 127, so she was able to see her son grow to adulthood. (Abraham was 175 when he died.)

There have been times in my life when I thought I was too old, or young, or not experienced enough to do the work God seemed to be putting in my path. When I was a young mother, I was asked to teach preschool Sunday School in the small church we attended. There was no curriculum for that age, and I felt a little overwhelmed. However, years of reading Bible stories as a child came to my help. I was able to develop my own curriculum using felt cutouts and flannel boards. (It was a long time ago.) That small beginning evolved into teaching and helping write preschool curriculum in a larger church. Then I was Director of Christian Ed and really felt out of my depth even as I initiated VBS and ecumenical events. That all eventually led to writing books and speaking about Bible persons. God was in each step of the way and provided mentors and helpers along the way.

Everyone has a story like that—of ways and times you have felt unprepared for what God has in store. It was not the right time for me to write books and speak to women when I first started teaching Sunday School. That only came as I matured and walked the faith journey further. I would not have gotten there if there hadn’t been women and men along the way who encouraged me.

We don’t hear about the people who encouraged Abraham and Sarah, although in the tribal setting, there would have been many other women to help Sarah with the child. Sarah and Abraham, too, would have been leaders and mentors to the younger women and men in the tribal unit. All worked together for the good of all-- most of the time, although we know that Sarah had her issues with Hagar and Ishmael. 

The key to acting in faith is to have a community of support. We are not meant to be alone, so there are always friends and companions to help and give advice. Whether it’s just answering questions or showing a young person how to do woodwork, we can all mentor someone.

Who have been the mentors that helped you progress along the path God laid out before you? If any are still alive, you might consider saying ‘thank you’.  

How can you tell the story of the way(s) God has acted in your life to encourage others on their journey?

Sarah & Abraham: Unexpected results

 Last week we met Abraham and Sarah, an elderly couple in the Book of Genesis. In a surprising turn of events, they had a child (Isaac) when they were around 100. Read Genesis 18:1-15 and Genesis 21:1-7 in a couple translations to get a picture of the whole Biblical story of this event.You might want to read it in a couple of versions to see if slight differences in wording and translation spark a new insight. BibleGateway.com is a good resource for looking up multiple versions. 

What surprised you in the story? What did you see that perhaps you never noticed before?

As I noted last week, we are often invited to participate in “new birth” in our lives. This can be an unexpected and new thing or an expansion of something we are already doing. I suggested that you think of a time when God presented you with a surprising opportunity that challenged the way you planned your life.

Did you see God’s hand in the new birth right away? Or is it more in looking back that you realize that God’s hand was present in what happened?

When I look at my married life, I see many times when God’s hand was in what happened. There have been times, especially in early married life, when money to pay bills was short and then, at just the right time and in the right amount, a special job would come up and all would be well.

For Abraham and Sarah, the right time for a son was when they were nearing the century mark of their lives. That may seem like a rather late time to start parenting, but it was God’s timing and it was perfect.

It is often a temptation to try and rush God’s hand when we want something to happen. Abraham and Sarah did this by using Hagar (Sarah’s maid) as a surrogate mother earlier in the story. (Genesis 16) That did not work out well. Even though Hagar bore a child, Ishmael, it caused hard feelings between Sarah and Hagar that resulted in the servant being evicted from the camp twice. She ran away before her baby was born and then after Isaac was born Sarah jealously sends her away. (Genesis 21)

God is in even our disastrous missteps and mistakes. God meets Hagar and provides water and guidance both times. Despite Sarah’s actions, God’s grace was present. God is also active in our personal failing and fumbling. When we do wait on God’s timing, the result is always more than we could have expected.

Birthing a new ministry or career or retirement or any change requires patience. It requires prayer and listening to God. It may demand that we set aside our personal timeline and agenda to align with God’s plan. And sometimes, like Sarah and Abraham, we may give up hope before the desired outcome happens. Then, God is able to surprise us with an unexpected outcome!

Next week we’ll consider how we might walk with one another in our discerning and waiting. 

Sarah and Abraham: New birth-Old age

 We looked at one old couple for the past few weeks as we considered the reactions and fulfillment of hope in the lives of Zechariah and Elizabeth. For the next three weeks, we’ll think about an elderly couple in the Hebrew Scriptures. Sarah and Abraham were, we are told, old when the three men visited them and promised a child.

In our own lives, we might ask ‘what can I birth’ in my old age (or my youth or middle age)? God’s work is not constrained by human measurements. David was a youngster when he killed Goliath in the name of the Living God. Samuel started his ministry with Eli when he was a child. Joseph was a grown man when he became second in command in Egypt. Sarah and Abraham, though elderly, had a part to play in God’s salvation story. And so do we.

The announcement of a child for Abraham and Sarah has a miraculous element to it, similar to the story of Elizabeth and Zechariah we looked at last month. In Genesis 18 we hear the Lord appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.

I always like to have an idea of where the Biblical events happened. Scholars and archeologists believe that the “Oaks of Mamre” were near present-day Hebron. This is about 20 miles south of Jerusalem in what is now known as the West Bank. There is a Russian Orthodox monastery on the supposed site of the actual oaks. This well known icon interprets the three visitors in a way that helps us enter the event. 

With traditional nomadic hospitality, Abraham greets the trio of visitors. He says, Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree. Let me get you something to eat, so you can be refreshed and then go on your way… In a desert land, the offering of water and food to anyone passing through was (and is) a sacred calling.

Abraham tells Sarah to prepare bread and has a servant prepare a calf with curds and milk for the guests. After the meal, one of them said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.”

This was a rather surprising statement for a (seeming) stranger to make. Indeed, Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?”

We do not hear that Abraham has doubts, although the visitor, who is, of course, God, rebukes the couple, Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.

The narrative is then interrupted with the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, and with the interlude of Abraham with Abimelech. Then in chapter 21, we hear, Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised. Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him. Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore him.

The name Isaac comes from the Hebrew יִצְחָק (Yitsḥaq), which means "he will laugh" or "he will rejoice". Sarah reinterprets her earlier doubtful laughter by stating, God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.

In their old age, Sarah and Abraham have a new life to rejoice and laugh with. At any season of our life, God may step in and point us to a new birth. A different ministry opportunity, or a change of location, or a surprising career move may pop up unexpectedly, just like the three visitors who suddenly appeared at Abraham’s tent.

Perhaps we don’t recognize God’s hand at first, and it is only in looking back that we see God’s hand. Maybe, like Sarah, we chuckle a little and ask ‘really, can this be happening now?’ Any new birth of an idea or a child or an opportunity causes change and challenges. If we get stuck looking at the potential differences and difficulties, we can miss the fact that challenge really equates with opportunity.

Has there been a time when you faced an unexpected opportunity that was also a challenge to the way you expected your life to go?

Next week we’ll look at that question more deeply.