Genesis 21:8-21

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Genesis 21:8-21

 

8 The child grew and was weaned, and on the day Isaac was weaned Abraham held a great feast. 9 But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking, 10 and she said to Abraham, “Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac.”

11 The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son. 12 But God said to him, “Do not be so distressed about the boy and your slave woman. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspringwill be reckoned. 13 I will make the son of the slave into a nation also, because he is your offspring.”

14 Early the next morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He set them on her shoulders and then sent her off with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in the Desert of Beersheba.

15 When the water in the skin was gone, she put the boy under one of the bushes. 16 Then she went off and sat down about a bowshot away, for she thought, “I cannot watch the boy die.” And as she sat there, shebegan to sob.

17 God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. 18 Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”

19 Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.

20 God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became an archer. 21 While he was living in the Desert of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from Egypt.

Why Family Matters

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Justice League of Heaven – Genesis 18:16-33

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Justice_League_of_America_(FOUNDERS)Did you ever read comic books or enjoy watching one of the recent Avengers movies? If so you are probably also familiar with The Justice League of America. The Justice League was made up of all the DC Comic Books greats: Wonder Woman, Batman, Green Lantern, Superman and others. Their whole mission was about bringing justice and righteousness into the world. With some modifications the same can be said of the Church of Jesus Christ, the seed of Abraham – we are the Justice League of Heaven.

As those who know that they are secured a home in the new heavens and earth by grace through faith in Jesus we may wonder how living lives of justice and righteousness fits into the life of the Church. Maybe we are even tempted to think that justice and righteousness are for people caught up with being self-righteous. Certainly humans, in their rebellion against God, have shown the propensity for using their good works to turn their nose up at the world. But, when understood in the right way we see that justice and righteousness are simply the right response to  God’s mercy towards us. Living lives of justice and righteousness, God says, is what God called Abraham to do so that all the nations would be blessed. For you and I who have trusted in Jesus Christ, the Offspring of Abraham, we too have been ingrafted into the people of Abraham; through faith in Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection on our behalf we have been given redemptive roles. As God says in Genesis 18:17-19, the nations will be blessed when Abraham and his household live up to their calling – to live lives of justice and righteousness.

So, suit up Wonder Woman! Get your tights on Green Lantern! The Just and Righteous Lord of Heaven has forgiven you, adopted you and gifted you with his Holy Spirit so that you can help further the work of the greatest bunch of superheros ever – the Justice League of Heaven.

Questions for Conversation

– We learned about how God displays justice and righteousness through being non-prejudiced in his judgments of others, through hearing out the oppressed and correcting the oppressor, and by being more concerned to bless the world than to condemn. Which of these makes you admire God most? Why?

– Who were your heros growing up? Why? Did they display aspects of justice and righteousness?

– Where have you experienced injustice in life? Does that motivate you to want to address that injustice in life?

– We learned that Abraham demonstrated the way of the Lord by interceding for Sodom and Gomorrah. Who do you have a hard time loving but need to begin praying for their good?

Gods Mysterious Ways

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Communion Diet Plan – John 6

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take-and-eatYou’ve got to eat to live, and some diets promote life better than others. For example, the all-fried-chicken-and-cake diet isn’t going to leave you as fresh and healthy as the all-cabbage-and-low-fat diet (although you may be happier on the other). For as long as I can remember there has been a yearly frenzy about one new diet or another. Our hope at Crossroads is to be part of a movement to make a different diet all the frenzy: the Communion Diet.

Jesus advocates this diet plan in John 6. Here is a short breakdown:

  • The meal plan consists of Jesus’ flesh and blood.
  • The food is absolutely free, provided at the expense of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
  • The food never goes bad – it is imperishable.
  • The benefits are eternal life beginning now and a perfect body at the resurrection.
  • It energizes you to live life for the right reasons.
  • 100% satisfaction is guaranteed.

The reason it is called the “communion” diet plan is because of the relational nature of it. It is actually a feeding upon Jesus in the deepest of intimate relations. Or, to put it in other terms, by trusting in Jesus, we enter into a moment-by-moment daily transaction of receiving life from the Father through the Son and by the Holy Spirit. This is what it means to feed on Jesus.

Of course, if you have been around church long enough, you are thinking of the Lord’s Supper or Communion. You should. Those who first read the sixth chapter of the Gospel of John would’ve been thinking of it also. During our faithful participation in the Lord’s Supper, we actually are fed the living and resurrected Christ by the mysterious power of the Holy Spirit. Although God’s people are always in union with Jesus Christ, there is a special way in which the Church communes with Jesus at the Table. Maybe it’s something like living in your family’s home all year but really deeply relating with everyone over Thanksgiving dinner.

Not only do we deeply commune with the Triune God at the Lord’s Table, eucharistbut we also keep the main thing the main thing. A church can easily become centered around lots of peripheral issues, but the Communion Diet keeps us focused on what’s important: the Trinity, the Incarnation, the atonement and forgiveness, the resurrection and eternal life, salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone to the glory of God alone.

QUESTIONS FOR CONVERSATION

  • Have you ever become bored with diets you’ve been on? Why?
  • Can one become bored with God’s Diet Plan? How come?
  • What kinds of emotions well up when you hear Jesus say that you must eat his flesh and blood (John 6:53)?
  • Put in your own words what Jesus means by feeding upon his flesh and blood based on 6:56-57.
  • Think of a neighbor, co-worker, or family member who is not on this Diet Plan. If you were to tell them about how to get on this Diet Plan, what would be the most important element to emphasize for them?

2 Corinthians 1:1-11

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corinth-copyright1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God that is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia: 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. 6 If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. 7 Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.

8 For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. 10 He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. 11 You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.

You Can Trust These Guys – He’s Risen! – John 20:24-28

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Incredulity of Saint Thomas by Caravaggio, c. 1602

     24 Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”

     26 Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” 28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

     30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

Mediating Covenant – Genesis 17

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god-s-promises-to-abram

“God’s Promises to Abraham” by James Tissot, c. 1896-1902

This past Sunday we learned of how God has assigned Jesus as the Mediator between God and man. As mediator Jesus takes what he knows of God’s covenant promises and makes them known to us (see Matthew 11:27). This role as covenant mediator was held for a time by Abraham (Genesis 17) (and others like Noah, Moses and David) but fully owned by Jesus.

So what is this covenant that Abraham mediated between God and his people? You can call it the covenant for the renewal of creation. God promises to renew all of creation through the family of Abraham (Genesis 17:4-8). Abraham was given the sign of entrance into the covenant – the sign of circumcision (Genesis 17:9-14, 22-27). Circumcision pointed to the promise of an offspring who would come to stomp out the head of the serpentine evil that pervades the earth (Genesis 3:15).

Later God instructed his people to make sacrifices through the covenant mediator Moses. Some of those sacrifices, like the peace offerings (Leviticus 3) and Passover (Exodus 12:1-28), were meant to be eaten by the people too.

Jesus came to more fully and finally mediate the same ancient covenant for the renewal of creation (i.e., the Kingdom of God). He was the promised offspring, so the sign of circumcision was no longer needed. Instead, he mediated to us his Father’s wish that we now practice baptism as the entryway into the covenant family.  And the night before he was sacrificed, he mediated a new sacrificial meal for us – communion.

last-supper.jpg!Blog

“The Last Supper” by Andy Warhol, 1986

Communion is a gift of God to us through the mediator Jesus. And it was mediated to us on this day – Maundy Thursday – some 2000 years ago. It was this very day some two thousand years ago that Jesus communicated to us his Father’s wish that we partake of this meal regularly. We are to do so in order that we remember and commune with the Father through the Son by the power of the Holy Spirit.

“Maundy” comes from the Latin “mandatum novum” or “new commandment.” It has to do with Jesus’ new commandment that we “love one another” in John 13:34, which also took place at his last Passover meal. The love which he commands us to live is baked and aged into the bread and wine which we are to partake of in communion. It is his love, displayed in his crucifixion for us, that is then communicated to us at Communion. It is through receiving his love at his table that we are able to live lives of love like his.

Questions for Conversation

  • What is your earliest memory of Easter celebrations?
  • Did your family go to Maundy Thursday service? Good Friday? Easter?
  • What were those services like?
  • When did you first enjoy Communion?
  • How are the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit involved in the celebration of Communion?
  • What Scripture passages would you use to explain your answer?

Flesh or Spirit? – Genesis 16

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Sarah Leading Hagar to Abraham, Matthias Stom, 1637

Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. 2 And Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. 3 So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife. 4 And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress. 5 And Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my servant to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May the LORD judge between you and me!” 6 But Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your servant is in your power; do to her as you please.” Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her.

7 The angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. 8 And he said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai.” 9 The angel of the LORD said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her.” 10 The angel of the LORD also said to her, “I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.” 11 And the angel of the LORD said to her,

 

“Behold, you are pregnant

and shall bear a son.

You shall call his name Ishmael,

because the LORD has listened to your affliction.

12 He shall be a wild donkey of a man,

his hand against everyone

and everyone’s hand against him,

and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.”

 

13 So she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,” for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.” 14 Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; it lies between Kadesh and Bered.

15 And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.