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Text:
Genesis 11-12 ● I
have noticed that both motivation levels and retention levels are always
significantly heightened as we understand context and relevance [i.e.
remember sitting in classes and wondering to yourself,
“When am I ever going to use this?”]
Context is fundamental.
Context provides the environment in which knowledge can ‘come to bear’
(relevant). “Grab the bat” means
one thing if you are wearing a baseball uniform and standing in Safeco
Field; it means something else entirely if you find yourself at ●
Have you ever heard a company or a
franchise or an institution referred to as a ‘storied company’, or ‘storied
franchise’? That means that it has a long and celebrated history--- a
story that has been preserved through all sorts of symbols and images and
through the lives of those who have
participated in the story.
Imagine an individual begin chosen to participate in one of these
storied institutions. Imagine as they enter the locker room or the
conference room for the first time. That person knows that they are entering
into a story that has been going on for a long time; a story initiated as
the result of one person’s dream, but now it’s the outcome of the
contributions of many through the years who have believed in that story and
chosen to live in that story. ● They
will now be identified with and by the story which will, no doubt, arouse
the best of their energies and commitments.
Eventually, not only will they be recognized for their contributions, but
more importantly, they will perpetuate the
glory of the franchise itself. ●
Something else happens when we enter the story: we find ourselves compelled
to
re-align and
re-arrange our lives in order
to make the pursuit of the new life possible (‘embody’). ● The
process will be one of “provision” (making room for) and “elimination”
(those things you remove to make room). Saying
‘no’ to certain things does not mean that I am being ‘rigid’ or
‘reactionary’, it simply means that there are certain things which will not
contribute the life that I now live. Conversely, I will say ‘yes’ to many
things I had not considered before because they will allow me to realize the
life that I desire. ● Ours
is just such a story, inaugurated and told by God and inclusive of such
familiar characters as Adam and Eve, Moses, Abraham and Sarah, David, Jesus,
Paul--- even Judas.
Having become familiar with the author and the story-line itself,
ours is now to allow the story to evoke a response that allows us to live
out the story in our particular context in a way that is moving the story
forward toward the final scene. In the process, our lives somehow become
memorable and ultimately reflect the glory of Creator.
►Transformation, rightly
understood, must be place in proper context.
Unfortunately, our approach has often been about ‘sound-bites’ and
‘trailers’, if you will. It’s been about extracting portions of the story,
moments removed from context, in order to piece together our own theology
(which is exactly what we end up with: ‘our own story’, which often has no
continuity and looks little like the real story), rather than allowing the
story to unfold before us in often strange and illogical ways and simply
seeing it as an
invitation to enter. ● If
this story is the account
of the way things really are, how they have been, and where the story is
going, the implications for knowing the story and responding to it are
enormous. ●
Pivotal to this story is the account of Abraham in Genesis 12, because
against the backdrop of human failure
and rebellion, we are introduced to ‘grace’.
Genesis 12 says, despite what happened in chapters 1-11, God is
committed to blessing all of humanity. The
rest of the story is the unfolding drama of how God chooses and blesses
Abram in response to the ‘curses’ of Genesis 3 and determines to set all of
creation right because of his trust in God.
For the sake of our discussion, let’s identify
“blessing” as the “orderly
life”--- the favorable outcome of a life centered in God, and
“curse”, as the distortion of
the good and the dysfunctional life it produces.
Gen.12:3
“All the families of the
earth will be blessed through you”
[This phrase is repeated
(6) times in Genesis alone]. ●
While the whole earth waits for God’s response, he does the unthinkable: he
chooses an impotent elderly couple and he covenants with them to use them to
reverse the effects of all that’s gone wrong.
Ironically, they live in
Genesis 11: the people have settled into the geographical region identified
in antiquity as ● If
you look close enough, you will discover that a new world is initiated in
this text. In fact, Paul says in Galatians 3:6-9 that this story is
“the gospel announced in advance to
Abraham”. This
new world is being birthed in barrenness and confusion, just as the original
order of creation was established from darkness and chaos.
►Abram will discover
that it will be only in the ‘going’ that will allow him to realize
blessing. The
blessing that will come can not come from within that world; within those
systems. Abram must abandon all connections and ties with those systems and
strategies in order to not only be blessed, but become the conduit of
blessing to the whole world [unconditional--- God initiated: conditional---
blessing only experienced through obedience]. ● ●
God’s word to Abram and his work through Abram will require an intentional
and radical departure from that world. It is the first ‘exodus’ of sorts.
Abram must adopt a radically new approach to life which will re-frame
reality for him. ●
Interestingly, the builders of the tower wanted to
‘make a name for themselves’.
Not an uncommon ancient practice, the ‘ziggurat’ was a type of
multi-level pyramid usually built for the city god and was a center of civic
pride; a monument to human ingenuity and self-determination.
Although the specific meaning is not spelled out here, the reader can
draw the connections: based on the unfolding Genesis story, they were to
find their identity and sense of meaning in relationship with God.
Building a tower seems harmless enough, but it was not just about impressive
architecture, it was an expression of their determination to resist
God’s intentions and develop a society/culture ‘free of the constraints of
God’. ● God
brings the human project to a halt [shouldn’t he just be happy that we’re
all ‘making nice’ after the whole flood ordeal?], not because he is worried
that they will succeed and eventually ‘rival’ him, but because he knows that
in their pursuit, it will strengthen their resolve, driving them further
from him and each other and eventually result in self-destruction. God
knows the nature of sin in the individual, but also the damaging effects of
sin in collaboration. Such distorted unity always puts God’s good creation
at risk. So, ironically, to Abram God says,
“I will make your name great”.
►So, ours is a story
‘steeped in grace’.
- The selection of YHWH,
the one true God who had personally revealed himself to them, is the unique
Creator-God of the universe, so that, what he had in mind for
- By choosing Exodus
19:4-6
“You have seen what I
did to the Egyptians. You know how I brought you to myself and carried you
on eagle’s wings. Now, if you will obey me and keep my covenant, you will be
my own special treasure from among all the nations of the earth; for all the
earth belongs to me. And you will be to me a kingdom of priests, my holy
nation. Give this message to the Israelites”. ● God
was calling a people to himself who would humbly recognize the futility of
human arrogance and willing abandon those strategies for trust in God and
his story.
-
Chosenness is about God’s incomprehensible love for his good
creation.
Isn’t this the essence of love… being chosen? We can not experience
love in isolation; it has to originate from outside of us.
Jesus asked the question, “Do
you love me? Then keep my commands.” (John 14:15) Only love is powerful
enough to capture the heart and produce the transformation that we desire. It has
to manifest itself as a ‘setting aside’ or ‘setting apart’, but it’s the
idea that we are loved despite ourselves that makes the setting apart
special.
- God’s
salvation is being worked out in the context of human cultures and
societies. It is not ‘other-worldly’ in the sense that it is ignores the
human dilemma or chooses to abandon it for some other type of reality; but,
it is ‘other-worldly’ in the sense that is originates in ‘God’s
dimension’--- his kingdom, his dreams, where what he desires is the rule of
the day. ‘What
now?’ Transformation is about producing…
- A people called for his own name and glory [that calling
would include the removal of any obstacles that would prevent restored
relationship]. - A
people who would not only find life in him, but learn
life from him
[which would require re-aligment/re-orientation]. - A
people who would willingly and routinely embody
the values of the
Kingdom right here and right now, for the good of the world [incarnational
presence].
-
A people who will find
that kind of life as they experience and interact with the personal and
empowering presence of Jesus in the person of the Holy Spirit [enablement]. It
must be pursued within this context of
returning to the kind of person that
I was created to be and
the kind of life that I was meant to
live, with God and with others. ● When
Jesus said, “Unless you deny
yourself…”, or “You can’t serve
two masters”, he was not saying,
“Unless you’ve got a death wish, you can’t follow me”, he was saying
that the life being made available to you can be realized in no other way.
He’s simply saying, “You can’t have it both ways; you can’t follow my agenda
for life and yours”. He’s not being harsh or exclusionary, but honest.
There’s no such thing as ‘partial allegiance’ or ‘selective devotion’.
►The story that
currently orders your life derives its power from your willingness to
believe it (trust; place confidence in) and your determination to pursue it
as reality.
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