Genesis 9
Here is another early story of God’s covenant. This is God’s remembering humanity according to who God is. God is love and justice and God acts by who God is. God makes a covenant with Noah to never destroy the earth again. This passage reminds me of God’s covenant of love and of Jesus’ promise to always be with us to the ends of the age. Everytime there is a baptism we remember Jesus promise – the fulfillment of God’s covenant. I love this promise and the remembering of God’s covenant is good news for me. This also makes me consider my own participation in God’s covenant through obedience. (Again remembering that it is Jesus who qualifies me so that I can participate).
I puzzled over the end of Chapter 9 where Noah cursed Canaan for covering his nakedness and telling his brothers. You might have thought that Canaan was doing Noah a favour but it didn’t seem so in the end. Now there might be some cultural nuances that I don’t understand here, but my thinking is that Noah cursed Canaan because he assumed it was his role to judge his Father’s behaviours where as it is only God who can truly judge each of us. This was a reminder to me to be careful in judging others and in particular in the taking of actions without conversation and communication with the person involved. Maybe Canaan should have left his Father in his state and then later go and talk to him about it (just a pondering?) This did remind me that God alone is the judge of people and that God’s ways are not mine/ours.
Psalm 9
This is a great Psalm about who God is for the poor and oppressed and how enemies of God will try there foolish ways, in the end their efforts will be in vain because God’s plans will not be frustrated by anyone or anything. I found particular encouragement in this as I feel that enemies of God (not people) are trying to confuse and isolate people in our community. But God is at the centre of everything and I believe God is is working to draw me into greater trust and obedience. This does make me sing praises to God!
Luke 1 & 2
I thank God for Luke. What a great job he did in carefully researching all of the events around Jesus’ life. He was obviously a person who studied life events politically, socially and spiritually. This was a good reminder of the importance of living out my faith in the real world, conscious that politics and society are as much the field of God’s work as is church and religion.
Everytime I read Luke 1 I am challenged by the difference between Zechariah’s and Mary’s response to God’s message via the angel Gabriel – Zechariah doubted and Mary trusted. Mary is an inspiration in her trust of God – I pray that I would always share her words, “I am the Lord’s servant! Let it happen as you have said.” God’s purposes will never be frustrated by our responses but joy and peace comes to us as we obey. Mary was told that suffering lay ahead of her but that even this would bring revelation to people about how we really are and who God really is.
Luke has opened the door to the greatest story ever told – a story that continues today…
