What Made Noah Righteous - Genesis 7:1

 Noah's righteousness. Noah's righteousness was qualified. His righteousness was greater than those around him but not perfect. His righteousness was explained--he did all that the Lord commanded (5). Righteousness comes to us as we obey; righteousness is not within us, not even Noah. Only in connection to the Lord are we made and counted and seen as righteous. Our moments of obedience are just moments. None of us is always obedient and in right standing with the Lord. Only God's grace which we see in Christ provides the assurance of a right relationship to God, even for Noah.

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SBC Meetings are being held this month in California. As almost always there is controversy on the agenda. SBC leadership and the messengers at the convention will keep working on the challenge of how to put into the structure of the denomination a means of helping churches address sexual abuse. The controversy on this matter has arisen from past failures. It is good to face the issues, hold people accountable and to come together to find a way to be faithful as churches in protecting people from abuse.

Past controversies in the SBC remind me of a professor I had in seminary whom I consider, now, many decades later as an influence for good on my life that only grows. He was a teacher in a time when professors in SBC seminaries were being challenged on their faithfulness to Scripture; many were dismissed based on these challenges. The professor who meant so much to me was, in my mind, a candidate for challenge and dismissal because he simply did not use the acceptable language of the day in describing the Christian life, Scripture, church, ethics or much of anything else. He was a mystery to students and faculty alike. He was different in tone and language--even body language. He moved in a calm that made one slow down and think and in my case become more prayerful and I hope, more faithful. When I became a pastor in San Francisco I would visit him from time to time just to talk. Always, I left our conversations puzzled but invigorated in ways I could not explain. On one occasion I simply asked him, "How have you survived? You are so different from everyone else! I would think they (the challengers) would have you on their list." Quoting from Shakespeare's "King Lear," he told me, "I am one of God's spies." I am still trying to understand what he meant. I have thoughts about his comment that make me believe, I too, would do well to be one of "God's spies."

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Grandchildren, a Theological Conversation. The "Littles" (aged four and six) had a "sleep over" with us on Saturday evening last. At breakfast on Sunday morning (when I say morning, I mean early morning. The six year old woke us at 4am asking when the sun would come up. Judy got him back to bed, but both boys were up at 6am putting on their "fancy" clothes for church)--so, at our early morning breakfast of pancakes, the question of death came up. The youngest asked if my parents, Maw Maw and Paw Paw, were dead. We replied, yes. The youngest asked if we buried them, again yes. Judy told them that these loved ones were in heaven, so the six year old asked, "Is heaven under the ground?" Talking theology with children reminds me how little I know and how difficult it is to share what I believe I do know. We talked about body and spirit. The body is buried and the spirit is with God. (I know theologians dispute this picture, but I find it in the New Testament). The six year old said, "That's right, the spirit leaves and God catches it--like a football!"  

I love all our grandchildren for being who they are individually and as a part of the family, and I love the fact that they keep me thinking and hopefully, growing. My professor friend, mentioned above, once said that he hoped his last words would be, "what will I be when I grow up?" Stay close to children and youth. They are a blessing. They challenge you intellectually as in all the other ways that youth have always challenged their elders. 

I am sure that I do not always give the right answers to my grandchildren, and from time to time, I remember my faulty attempts at parenting my three sons. Like Noah I need God's grace. Occasionally, I am obedient--for a moment--but all my moments of obedience are far less than children, grandchildren, friends, all I love, need from me. I cast them and myself upon the grace of God.

Any They Chose - Genesis 6:2

 A sexual perversion arose.

It was some form of behavior that contradicted the purposes of God, the ideal for male-female relationships, for marriage, for child bearing. This behavior typified the "wickedness" of humanity. In the midst of the wickedness, the man Noah stood out as one who refused to participate in the wickedness which had become widespread in his community. God chose, called and instructed Noah to build an ark that would provide safety to him and all within the ark as the flood of God's judgment came upon humankind.

The ark that Noah built has become a symbol of the church. The flood in Noah's day cleansed the earth of mankind's sinful behavior. In the New Testament the baptism of water symbolizes death to sin, the cleansing of God's grace through Christ's death on the cross and resurrection to a new life. As the ark brought Noah safely into a new world, so baptism into the church brings the believer into a new life.

Here is an experiment in thought: what if there had been multiple ark builders in the days of Noah? What if some folks had believed that judgment was coming, and they decided to create their own vessel of salvation? Would the arks that they built have survived the flood that brought God's judgment? To carry the experiment in thought forward: what if there are churches today that are built to the specifications of someone other than God? Will those churches be a safe place?

Escape from judgment was not the basis for building the ark.  Noah received his call because he "walked with God" (Genesis 6:9). He was not escaping. He was being saved. Sexual perversion or any other kind of sin--violence is mentioned in Genesis in particular--will result in judgment. No amount of ark building on one's own will offer an escape from the flood. Only the call of God brings salvation. In history the ark has become a symbol of the church, but the ark is a safe place only when God calls his people to take refuge. An ark built for escape or pleasure or pride or social service or cultural acceptance or any other reason will not survive the flood.

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"It's Unlikely"

"It's unlikely," said the four year old.

He was serious, seeming almost old.

We stifled a laugh as he left for home.

We'd asked for a hug from out little gnome.

Hug yes, but to ask for a smile was bold.

So, we asked him, "a hug without so cold

and mean a face?" Once again we were told

and his stern face made him seem almost grown:

"It's unlikely."

We closed the door so our laugh we could hold

and not show humor at what we'd been told.

For we both knew,  a good night's sleep at home

with us tomorrow he'd be not so grown.

Withhold hug and smile? One another we told,

"It's unlikely."

Male and Female He Created Them-Genesis 5:2

" He Created Them and Called their Name Adam"

  The world descended from Adam, that is, Adam and Eve--one couple--two halves of humanity, male and female. Equal but not identical. The mystery of human gender is like the mystery of Christ and the church (Ephesians 5). The church is the body of Christ, but the church is not divine--so Adam and Eve are united, but they are not the same; however, each is present in the union.

Trip to the UK and Ireland

    Judy has put photographs on Facebook. I am writing a few words of comment. The tour guide for our trip was Mike Smith and his wife Sharon. I have known them both from childhood or youth. I don't remember when I met Mike; he was just always there in church and in school. He was a college roommate and the one who introduced me to Judy. Sharon I met in Junior High School before Mike and Sharon became an item. Mike and I entered ministry at the same time and have had the blessing of serving the church for many years. He with his gift of music and me as a pastor. In retirement Mike transferred his experience in mission and choir travels to become a travel expert for trips like the one we took. He also continues to do mission trips, particularly leading choir ministries. We were eager to spend time with him and Sharon on this tour.  

    The trip was inspirational, as any trip with Mike would be (check out Crosskeys). We saw the Olney Church where John Newton wrote "Amazing Grace." We saw Coventry Cathedral which proclaimed in the ruins from WWII and in its re-building the theme of forgiveness. 

    In Scotland we walked Edinburgh and St. Andrews. We met friends Scott and Leslie McHaney for lunch. They live in Crief and drove in to see us. The country side was magnificent in Scotland and Ireland. The Gorse against the Barley was dramatic in its beauty.

    Of course, much more could be said. The trip was filled with sights and experiences I have not mentioned, including Judy's wrenching the hand off a knight's armor. We made new friends and heard marvelous music from Mike and other musicians in our group. I did not have to sing (I did give one devotional), but I basked in the wonder of music and laughter and hills of gold and green. 

A Poem for Children and Grandchildren

Puddle Jumper

Puddle jumper loves to cuddle,

melting my heart into a muddle.

A hug for every greeting,

a hug for every parting.

In between, many a snuggle.

Whenever it rains a puddle

I remember Jumper's cuddle.

My heart burgled, a tear flowing.

Puddle Jumper

Puddle Jumper grew to settle 

somewhere else; still I see a puddle

and it comes again, the melting.

Hugs and cuddles I am remembering.

Being far away, still in a muddle,

Puddle Jumper

What Have You Done?

 

The Lord asked Cain, “What have you done? The question, of course, was not for information. The Lord was asking Cain to face the reality of his evil, the anger and the subsequent sin in his heart. Had Cain thought about the consequences of his act of rage? People who commit crimes of passion do not think of consequences. Passion is ruled best ahead of time. The Lord had warned Cain to beware, “Sin is crouching at the door” (verse 7). There is a ripple effect to sin, and it often begins by putting ourselves or our thinking in the wrong place. The way to keep passion controlling us is to move ourselves and our thinking to a better place. Cain remained in the wrong place. He did not heed the Lord’s warning, and his feeling of rejection moved to anger and to hate and to violence. 

The parental warning many of us have heard in childhood—“Keep the right company” is a form of the Lord’s warning. Think where you are emotionally. Where are your thoughts and words residing? Find the right company. Get your passions under control or they will rule you with consequences that do injury to yourself and others, sometimes, deadly consequences.

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    75th Anniversary of Memorial Baptist Church. Judy and I returned to Memorial in Arlington on Sunday May 1 to participate in the anniversary service. We enjoyed Sunday School,  the Worship Service, the Fellowship and the Dinner afterwards. The anniversary committee, pastor and church staff put together a wonderful day including communion, inspiring music, scripture and prayers, a mission emphasis, photos from church history  a memorial time for those who had died in recent years and time for people in attendance to visit and take pictures and catch up on the ways our children have grown. Our family was represented by Justin, Mairin and the Grands. Justin sang for the service a song that he wrote many years ago which is entitled "Benediction," and is used that way by Memorial regularly. Luke was not able to attend because he was preaching at Linden Heights, but he was ordained at Memorial and has a close connection. Jason is in California and could not make the trip. He was, also, a part of the church as a young adult. So, the people at Memorial where I served as pastor for almost twenty years know us and our family well. I am grateful to God for this ongoing connection to folks there. I am grateful for the pastor, Dr. Drew Hill, who leads them so well now.

    Our membership now is at Memorial Baptist Church in Staunton. We love this church, too, and are grateful that the Lord has given us this family of faith to share our lives and pastors who care for us. Judy and I have decided that we will only join Baptist churches that are named "Memorial." We couldn't do better!

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    Grandchildren. Stone, our four year old grandson, is learning the skill of negotiation. At a family gathering Saturday night we were celebrating Stone's Uncle Sean's birthday. Each person received a cupcake. When Stone got his cupcake he told his mother, "I want two cupcakes." She gently and firmly said "just one." Stone was immediately incensed and declared, "If I don't get two cupcakes I will never ever eat a cupcake again!" His negotiating technique reminds me of a story from the childhood of U. S. Grant. The father of the future general and president sent his son to purchase a horse. Grant wanted the horse badly. When he arrived to negotiate the purchase he told the owner, "Papa says I may offer you twenty dollars for the colt, but if you won't take that I am to offer twenty-two and a half, and if you won't take that, to give you twenty-five." Grant was eight years old. I'm sure that Stone will have improved his negotiating skills beyond the  president's technique by the time he turns eight years old, but for now his negotiating "threat" only sent the group into an uproarious laugh

Where Are You?

 "Where Are You?"

Genesis 3:9

God's question could have created in Adam and Eve a moment of self-reflection. "Where are you" could have been understood to mean, "what have you done," or "what were you thinking," or "what sense does it make to hide from God?"

Shame, guilt, blaming--these struggles all flow from disobedience. We don't want to be seen in our nakedness, that is, we don't want to be seen as we are. Exposure of sin and the destruction of innocence cause us to hide from the One who can clothe us, give us a future that accommodates our sin, and prepares a way for us to be forgiven and restored.

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I like reading mysteries. Occasionally, I come upon a sentence or two that strikes me as an insight to life. Anne Perry, speaking through the character, Elena, wrote, "You do not need to believe evil, only to use its methods. You will get accustomed to them, until eventually they are not your last choice, but your first. For a while you can justify it to yourself, and then eventually you will not bother. You have forgotten what you are fighting for; now winning is the only objective! And the more you win, the more you justify it, until the whole idea of right and wrong disappears and only winning matters."

Anne Perry wrote the words above in the 21st century. Here is another insight on the subject of evil from the 17the century. Jacob Spener, called the father of pietism, wrote, "The evil circumstances of our time are . . .to be borne with compassion rather than bewailed with anger."

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Grandchildren. Today our four-year-old grandson came for a visit. He, like all the four year old siblings before him--except Mr. Happy--struggles or have struggled with disequilibrium, a nice way of saying, his anger can get the best of him. I continue to be amazed at the parenting skills of my son and daughter-in-law. They have found a way to help with disequilibrium. Today our grandson brought with him a timing clock and a book mark and a series of stickers. He told us that we should time him for fifteen minutes. If he managed, he said,  "to go without shouting or hitting or saying bad words or making a mean face," he was to receive a sticker to put on his bookmark. We dutifully timed him, and he went more than three hours! He got stickers every fifteen minutes for the whole time he was with us.

 

Genesis Two - One Flesh

Genesis 2:24

". . . and they shall become one flesh."

History has unfolded in ways that separate men and women so that they often seem to have competing interests. Men and women are meant to work together; what's good for one is good for the other. Because of size and strength men have been able to dominate women, but this domination is not God's will. Theories abound on relationships between men and women, but only occasionally does one hear the message of Genesis 2:24 celebrated. It is essential to start with this teaching: we are one flesh. In that message is the unity God intended. 

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Perhaps, you've had the same experience I've had when visiting friends and family. I feel closer to my loved ones when I've made the commitment to travel to them in person. The hugs we share and sitting together for a meal make for an intimacy that a phone call or email message cannot create. To laugh or cry with the ups and downs of our lives gives perspective that enriches and strengthens my life. 

Judy and I have visited in North Carolina and South Carolina. We have visited in Greensboro, the Myrtle Beach area, Beaufort, Columbia, Black Mountain and Asheville. Now we are in Cookeville, Tennessee and plan to stop tomorrow in Marion, Virginia on our way back to Charlottesville. In over a thousand miles of travel we have seen the landscape change. Each place has beauty of its own: ocean, marshland, farmland and mountains, as well as towns and cities. These sights bring blessings when I pause to appreciate them. Trees and birds and weather are different in one area from those in another. The housing is different. The stores--if you look for the local offerings--are different, too. The exploration delights me.

It pleases me to meet people in the regions we've traveled.  Friendliness abounds. A dulcimer player sitting on a sidewalk in Asheville entered into a conversation with Judy about the joys of music and moved into encouragement for her to pull her dulcimer down from the wall. On occasion casual conversations have moved to discussions of faith, but whether the conversations move deeper or not I have a sense of the humanity we share with others, even strangers, when I travel. 

The Billy Graham Training Center at the Cove near Black Mountain North Carolina was on our itinerary. We attended a concert, spent the night at Pilgrim's Inn and toured the Chapel. The retreat was brief but meaningful. We plan to return soon for a stay that includes a seminar and time for hiking and  a visit to the Ruth Graham prayer garden. 

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Congratulations to the John Leland Center for Theological Studies! This week a team from the Association for Theological Schools visited Leland. In the coming weeks Leland will receive a report from the ATS team that visited. I am hopeful the report will lead to re-accreditation for Leland. I am grateful to God for all the team that prepared for this visit from ATS. To complete the self study and go through the visit from ATS is an accomplishment that came as a result of the faculty, staff, administration, board, students and alumni all working together. I know it was an accomplishment that required sacrifice by many. I am grateful that Leland has completed its study and accreditation visit. I am confident God will continue to bless Leland. Congratulations to the new president of Leland, Dr. Kenneth Pruitt. He will do the work with excellence and lead Leland into a new era of growth and impact for the work of the kingdom.

 In the Beginning God

Genesis 1

“In the Beginning God”

This picture in words gives us a place to start as we meditate on what it means to know God. Earth, our human dwelling place, had a temporal beginning; it is not eternal. God has provided it as a place for the purpose of bringing forth human life. The earth was made beautiful, orderly and good. The creation was to be a place of time. The creation was to be a place of continued flourishing. The creation was to be a place in which human beings—male and female—were meant to take responsibility. This dominion over the earth was a trust, and this stewardship from God helps us understand that what we do with life on earth—how we treat this place—gives us insight to our relationship with God. To be human—in the image of God—means, in part, to be responsible to God for creation given and creation continued.

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Readers of this blog will be generous, I hope, in excusing my “hit and miss” publishing. If I expect people to read what I have written I know that I have a responsibility to publish something on a regular basis. Thank you for reading my blog. I hope it is interesting and helpful. My resolution for this year is to write and publish consistently. 

The entries I make about the Bible for this blog will be at the top of each page. They are comments I have recorded in a journaling Bible.  I have a collection of comments for every chapter of the Bible. They are not meant to be explanatory as one finds in a typical commentary on the Bible. Those commentaries are helpful. My comments, I hope, will be helpful, too, but in a different way. I intend them to be devotional and theological ideas that have come to me morning by morning as I have read the Scripture. Perhaps, they are an insight to how a preacher—as I have been for decades—comes to an idea for a sermon. I would hope that for preachers and teachers who read this blog the entries could become a “starter,” that is they would lead you to your own musings about the text and would give you ideas for a lesson or a sermon. Of course, I pray each day as I read and write. You will, too, if you hope to be guided by the Spirit to an insight that God has for you.

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In the past I have often included a report from the antics or the sayings of my grandchildren. Today’s entry is an observation on the skill I admire in our daughter-in-law’s parenting. One of the children cannot abide the different foods on his plate touching, so Mairin carefully separated the foods that the restaurant had placed too close to each on the plate served to our grandson. As she did this work of love she told the child, “turn your eyes away, please.” Maybe it is her training as a doctor who tells a child who is about to receive an injection, “look away.” I don’t know how she came to the technique, but it worked. Our grandson looked away until his Mom had finished, and he was pleased to see everything arranged properly when he turned back to the plate. Yesterday was Mairin’s birthday. I am grateful she was born, that she married Justin and that she brings to her children and to all of us her love and patience.