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is is texting social media does that count as
social media
did someone say no
well here goes my opening
we'll get right to the scripture
okay well two weeks ago
I got a text which I consider social media because
I am socializing and using media
and and it said
uh...
the message was simply this
what's up with Genesis 12:
13-20 call me
and I gotta tell ya that is about the excitement level my
when i considered social media like
that is how
uncool I am
out very excited because this is one of the great
stories in the Bible
and I knew what the complaint was going to be
and it was Joe's brother actually
who I encouraged to read the Bible start to finish
and he did I figured he'd be calling me around the time of Leviticus
or Numbers but boom still in Genesis
and he got to the point
where uh...
well what's happened is God has called a Abraham and Sarai
and God says
follow me trust me
I will lead you
I will make a great nation of you
but almost at the second
they leave the launch pad
they start
approaching Egypt
and Abram gets nervous
his faith waivers
how we're going to get through this because if we go there Sarai what
they're going to see that you're married to me and they're gonna want you from me
and want you for them
and they'll kill me
now whether this is true or not I don't know
so what happens is he says look but this is going to seem weird but I want you to go
along
with it
when we go in there
say you're my sister
and then they won't kill me
seemed like a good idea at the time turned out to be a very bad idea
God was upset
the king who almost married Sarai
was upset they got kicked out of Egypt
and yelled at
and behind all this was a woman
a great figures of the Bible
was going to allow his wife to be married
to somebody else just to save his life
and Bill is a plain speaker
he's from South Dakota
he doesn't mince words and so I have to paraphrase his question
because we are in a church and he said
what kind of
difficult
person
would do is such a
messed up thing
to his wife
and I love this story
and I said
this same person
who like you and I get to a point in that gray area
that gray space
between trusting God
and trying to figure out where we have to be clever where we have to take
things on
ourselves
in order to affect
that trust
and it's a difficult
difficult line
to negotiate
how do we be still and know God
is God
especially in times of turmoil and
time's of family crisis
and times world crisis
I think today's reading addresses that
somewhat
but it's not been perfect
because
we never hear what God would've done
God never says Abram if you would have given me five minutes
I would've made it alright
we just have to believe that God would have made it alright
one of the more challenging
aspects of working in the hospital this past year
was when I would get called in to talk to families
who are having to make end of life decisions
for family members
who had not left their directions clear or had
not communicated them to the family and
had a sudden
illnesses or accident that left them unconscious
and the medical staff could say look here are the chances here are the odds
you know what we can do
but the decision is yours
how scary it was for them
because we don't know medicine
most of us
and so there was always a question of
so should we just
let them go
peacefully
or is there a chance that one
more treatment
or even one more day may make things better
what a difficult place for them to be in
to put that much control
in the hands of people
usually or a lot of times once that decision had been made
people felt a little bit more relieved and relaxed
but by and large
not because again where there was sudden illness or accidents and this
happens a lot
there was still for them
a lot of unfinished business
unfinished business between spouses
partners
unfinished business between sons
and daughters and their parents
and they didn't know how
to reconcile
what they needed to do
when there was no way of
of communicating having a mutual conversation with their loved
one
and so many of them needed to say
I love you
I know you loved me
I forgive you
forgive me
I'm going to miss you goodbye
so much control
to put in the hands
of a human being
to try
and effectuate the work we need to do in relationships
in a time
where neutral conversation
is impossible
Jesus said
come to me
all you
that are weary
and in that are carrying heavy burdens
and I will give you rest
take may yoke upon you and learned form me for I am gentle and humble in heart
and you will find rest for your souls
for my yoke is easy and my burden
is light
notice Jesus doesn't say
I will take that burden from you
instead Jesus says look
for those of you who imagine
a world without God
the children playing
in the marketplace
Abram
suddenly feeling on his own on the border of
Egypt
for those of you it's a different
kind of yoke than the one that slaves you to this world
instead it's a yoke
based on the things that
God has been trying to tell you
that John was trying to tell you
that I'm trying to tell you
and it's one that encourages you
that you have this capacity
within you
and that if I can relieve
the sense of control and needing to make things the way you see them
you can exercise
these more ephemeral
skills
that God has woven into each of us
and so it was
these families did just fine
they would take time to talk
even without response to their loved one there's a belief
People in the colma can still hear
and so they would talk to you would say the things
I love you
I'll miss you thank you
for giving me
and then just rest in the knowledge that somehow
that God was affecting that reconciliation that closure
with the person who was passing away
Jesus said
thank you for hiding
these things from the wise
and the intelligent
and have revealed them to infants
I watched
infants
adults
who understood
that just being present
to another person
even if they did not seem to be aware of it meant something
to hear that voice
meant something
to feel that care
meant something
it counters
the urge to reach in and save
and so our lives each of us may not be dealing with
illness like this
but we have our lives are
a set of concentric circles of influence
and the further we go out from
to family and friends
to community to state
nation
to world
the influence remains
we have a voice each of us that our sense of control
may diminish
we have exceptions to this there are people who have changed the world
all on their own
but for the rest of us
just one voice
and that can be very scary indeed
it can heighten our anxiety
it can decrease our effectiveness
as we become
bound with this idea that I have to change a person
have to change a circumstance beyond
what is in our capacity so how do we
deal with this
tough element of our lives this tough learning
I love when Jesus followers said
this is a tough learning and they fell away
there are some people for some people
that couldn't take it
twelve-step programs
encourage us to work on
improving conscious contact with God
on a daily basis
improve conscious
contact with God
on a daily basis
and seek in that context
to learn how to live
but then also
how to act
in this world
Jesus said
my yoke is light
but it is still a yoke
and here's what God has put in you
the capacity
to love
the capacity to forgive
the capacity
to show compassion
capacity
to
do justice to be humble
love your neighbor to love your enemy
this is what you carry
this is your yoke
and they run counter to the world idea
of how to operate
and so we love
we forgive
we think of others we love others
but then at some point released
we simply have to
be still
and know that God
is God
Amen