Sarai/Sarah

Alright today we are continuing our study of people of the Bible. Who did we talk about last week? [Abraham] And what did we learn about Abraham? [Let them answer.]

That’s right. We learned Abraham was a man who followed God and importantly made a covenant with God. Remember a covenant is a contract or promise, in this case between God and Abraham. Does anyone remember what was agreed upon in the covenant?

[Let them answer. In our class our memory verse Genesis 17:7 is literally written on the board, so some of them may just pick out the answer from that verse.]

That’s right. God promised Abraham to be the God of him and all his descendants. But at this point as far as we know does Abraham have any descendants? Nope. He does not.

The reason we are re-capping all of this is because it’s important to the person we’re going to be discussing today. Today we are discussing Sarah, Abraham’s wife.

Now when we first met Sarah, it was Abraham got his call to move, and back before either of them had their new names. Back then Sarah was called Sarai. Like Abraham, Sarah was very old. And she and Abraham had no children.

God had promised Abraham a child, particularly a son, many times in the sections we read last week. But we don’t know if Sarah was there when God spoke to Abraham, or what Abraham told her. In light of that, let’s read Genesis 16:1-3.

Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, bore him no children. She had an Egyptian slave-girl whose name was Hagar, 2 and Sarai said to Abram, “You see that the Lord has prevented me from bearing children; go in to my slave-girl; 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 slave-girl, and gave her to her husband Abram as a wife. 

Alright so here Sarah is like “I have no kids, and my husband needs kids, and obviously I can’t help him with that” so she gives one of her slaves to Abram. From Sarah’s perspective, she’s just looking out for her husband, trying to ensure his line. Like I said earlier, we don’t know that Abraham actually shared God’s promise with her, so I want to be clear, right here Sarah is not necessarily showing that she doesn’t trust in God. She may or may not know what God promised Abraham. She’s just trying to do what’s best for her family by her husband.

Now you may be concerned by this whole, giving a slave to your husband so he can have a baby with her thing. And yes, definitely to our modern sensibilities this is very disturbing. But back then, this wasn’t an uncommon practice. During this time period, if a woman couldn’t have children it was a huge shame. She was a failure not just to herself but her husband and her whole family. She was failing to do the one thing a wife back then was really 100% required to do, and that was continue the family line. In cases like this, it was not uncommon for wealthy women to have their husbands have children with their slave instead, and then the child of that slave would basically be considered the wealthy woman’s child.

I don’t think I can underscore to you guys enough how badly Sarah would have been looked down upon for being unable to conceive. Of course Abraham would still love and respect her, but society as a whole would have treated her very poorly and said some not nice things about her. It was considered disgraceful to not be able to have a child, for a woman back then—it still is a little in our modern society, though that’s only a fraction of the taste of what it would be like back then. In modern society people more look at you with pity. Back then you would have been looked down upon with scorn.

So Sarah was just acting in custom of the land, and so was Abraham. But the key difference between Sarah and Abraham here is that Abraham, by agreeing to going along with the plan, was showing a lack of faith in God. The Bible points out in verse three that they had lived in this land for 10 years. That means it’s been ten years since God made the promise that Abraham’s descendants would get all this land. Abraham is probably thinking, “Hey God, it’s been ten years. You promised me a son.” But God hasn’t delivered that on the time scale Abraham was thinking was appropriate. Abraham wanted a son now. So he probably thought to himself, “Well God didn’t necessarily say a son by my wife, maybe this is the way he meant.” So Abraham goes along with it.

Can someone read verses 4 through 6?

He went in to Hagar, and she conceived; and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress. 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my slave-girl 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, “Your slave-girl is in your power; do to her as you please.” Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she ran away from her.

So what’s happening here? Hagar, the slave gets pregnant. And because of that, she basically thinks she’s better than Sarah, which at least in this context she kind of is. Sarah couldn’t get pregnant and yet Hagar could. Remember what I said back then a woman who couldn’t have children was a huge shame, like practically a scarlet letter type situation. So Hagar feels like she is better than Sarah now and despite the fact Sarah is her mistress, she starts treating Sarah with contempt. Do you all know what contempt means? [If they don’t define it. Contempt: the feeling that a person or a thing is beneath consideration, worthless, or deserving of scorn.]

Sarah goes to Abraham to point out this situation, hoping I imagine for Abraham to intercede on her behalf, because Abraham is still the head of the household despite whoever is pregnant. But Abraham is basically like “Whatever, it’s your slave. Technically you own her. Do whatever you will.” Abraham completely washes his hands in this situation, which is not a good thing. And then Sarah does something worse. She responds to Hagar’s contempt with harshness. Instead of being kind and dealing with her well—because Hagar is only pregnant because that was Sarah's plan—Sarah is so mean to Hagar that Hagar does what? That’s right. She runs away.

Running away back then also wasn't as easy as going to the next village. It would have been practically a death sentence for Hagar. At best people would have viewed her as a pregnant widow, at worst they would have viewed her as a pregnant adulterer. None of these situations ended in her being wealthy or happy, but rather poor and destitute. So the situation would have to have been very very bad for Hagar to not just consider but actually run away.

I want to be clear that everyone in this story comes off poorly. Sometimes this story is told in a way where it’s just about women being “catty” and Abraham is not culpable at all. This is not the case. Sarah was doing what was best for her family. Hagar was doing what her mistress asked of her. Abraham was the one who didn’t trust God thus allowing all the bad behavior to follow. But yes, Hagar let her new position as the bearer of the child of Abraham get to her head. And yes, Sarah was very harsh with her because of that. No one comes off well in this story. It’s quite the family drama.

Alright now can someone read verses 7 – 16, this section is a little bit longer, but can someone read it?

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, slave-girl of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She said, “I am running away 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 so greatly multiply your offspring that they cannot be counted for multitude.” 11 And the angel of the Lord said to her,

“Now you have conceived and shall bear a son;
    you shall call him Ishmael,
    for the Lord has given heed to your affliction.
12 He shall be a wild ass of a man,
with his hand against everyone,
    and everyone’s hand against him;
and he shall live at odds with all his kin.”

13 So she named the Lord who spoke to her, “You are El-roi”; for she said, “Have I really seen God and remained alive after seeing him?” 14 Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; it lies between Kadesh and Bered.

15 Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram named his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.

So Hagar runs away. And you would think since Hagar having a baby wasn’t necessarily what God promised Abram, and wasn’t exactly part of the plan, this is the part where she goes out in the desert and just mysteriously disappears and is never heard from again. God just let’s her silently die in the desert so things can go perfectly according to his plan. But is that what he does? NEWP. Cuz God doesn’t work like that, does he?

So what does God do? He sends an angel after Hagar to provide her water and to tell her to go home, but also to make a promise to her. Her descendants would also be greatly multiplied and she too would have a son and his name would be Ishmael. Ishmael by the way means God hears. God heard Hagar’s cry and he came to them and saved them. So Hagar goes back to Sarah, but that is not the end of this story.

Alright let’s skip ahead to chapter 18. Remember how I said that God had promised Abraham a son but it was not clear if God had made that clear to Sarah? Well in Chapter 18, God appeared to Abraham in the form of three visitors. They were probably angels of God. But Abraham didn’t necessarily know that and I definitely don’t think Sarah did. Alright can someone read verses 9-14.

9 They said to him, “Where is your wife Sarah?” And he said, “There, in the tent.” 10 Then one said, “I will surely return to you in due season, and your wife Sarah shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent entrance behind him. 11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. 12 So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I have grown old, and my husband is old, shall I have pleasure?” 13 The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ 14 Is anything too wonderful for the Lord? At the set time I will return to you, in due season, and Sarah shall have a son.” 

So these strangers, who Sarah doesn’t necessarily know are angels of God, predict she is going to have a son and she laughs. Keep in mind she is like ninety years old or so here. So do you think it was crazy of her to laugh?

This is the Sarah who had given up so much on having a child of her own that she gave her slave to Abraham, so he could still have a child, just not with her. She’s old. Too old. After a certain age, women just can’t have babies, biologically. It was probably just as crazy for Sarah to get pregnant as it would be for a virgin.

Yet, as we studied at Christmas, a pregnant virgin is not impossible with God. Neither was a pregnant old Sarah.

Of course during Sarah’s time there was no story of Mary. She was the first—the first!!!—woman in the whole Bible that is talked about being unable to have a child who God gives a child too. She had none of the stories we had. All she had was the word of these men who she didn’t necessarily know were angels of God.

Even the Sarah wasn’t in the tent, God heard Sarah’s laughter and he commented on it. And reprimands them that basically all things are possible through God and then he doubles down on his promise. Not just that they will have a child, but basically soon.

So even though Sarah didn’t believe it, God reiterated his promise. And let’s see if God kept that promise, shall we? Please turn to Genesis 21:1-8

The Lord dealt with Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as he had promised. 2 Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the time of which God had spoken to him. 3 Abraham gave the name Isaac to his son whom Sarah bore him. 4 And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. 5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. 6 Now Sarah said, “God has brought laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me.” 7 And she said, “Who would ever have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”

God upheld his promise and Sarah had a son. Now let’s talk a moment about what Sarah says in verse six.  ”God has brought laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me.” These words have meanings on multiple layers. The name Isaac literally means laughter. So of course God brought her Isaac—he brought her laughter. And everyone who heard would know his name meant that. But whereas before Sarah was laughing with disbelief—how could a woman her age have a child—now she could laugh with joy. She finally did have a child. But maybe she was also a little laughing at herself, for having disbelieved before and now she knew better for God had given her a son.

I think one of the most important lessons of this story is perhaps that God doesn’t count on our good faith or necessarily even good behavior to bear out his promises. If God promises you something, he will not revoke it. Whether that is a child or salvation. God promised Abraham a son, and Abraham didn’t trust God to do it in the right time so he did his own thing. However, God didn’t punish him and not give him Isaac. God still gave him Isaac. Sarah treated Hagar—a slave Sarah had pulled into the family drama—so abominably that Hagar ran away. Sarah practically laughed in the face of the angels of the Lord when they told her she would have a son. And yet despite her bad behavior and disbelief, God still blessed her.

Because God doesn’t back down from his promises.

Donkeys, Parables, and Pop Culture

When Jesus preached, he used stories. Of course we call them parables now, but Google tells me the definition of a parable is simply thus:

“Parable, noun, a simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson, as told by Jesus in the Gospels.”

Yep, that’s right. Jesus told stories.

There is power in stories, which is why people have always told them. Even our parents telling us of memories and lessons from their own youth is them passing on their stories. Without these stories, we would be left completely on our own, and we know would know nothing beyond our own experience. We like telling stories and listening to them. We like being transported to lives that are not our own. But most importantly, stories allow us to experience things outside of our own lives. They teach us lessons we might never learn on our own.

Or they show us truths reflected back at ourselves like a mirror.

Despite this, growing up, I got the distinct impression while my fellow Christians thought we could be taught through stories truths about God, it was only certain kinds of stories. Stories written by Christians, for Christians, about Christian topics. You know the books I’m talking about. It’s your Left Behinds, Frank Peretti’s or Francine Rivers’ novels. Now I’m not saying those books can’t teach you about God. They certainly do. I learned a lot from those and other Christian writers. But I also learned a lot from the Jewish by birth, atheist by belief Isaac Asimov (I, Robot; Foundation), and the decidedly not Church approved J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter).

My parents never stopped or discouraged me from reading these books, but it was with the knowledge that if I was reading the book in the car on the way to church, I left it in the car when I got to church—even if I was just going to be wasting the next hour while my mother practices handbells with nothing to do but fidget in the pews.

The crazy thing to me in retrospect is that some of Jesus’ most powerful parables don’t even reference God. Stories of farmers and wheat (Matthew 13). Stories of men and their sons (Luke 15). The word “God” or even references to the religious establishment aren’t made. Yet it’s clear to everyone these stories are about God.

Which means stories don’t have to be explicitly about God to teach us something about God.

* * *

As a known Marvel fan, people often have a habit of asking me my favorite Marvel movie. I imagine they expect a certain answer, probably judging on the fact that I have a dog named Bucky and can often be found sporting a Winter Soldier hoodie. Needless to say it can be a little shocking when I answer, “Thor.” This is especially surprising to those who also love Marvel movies, since at best Thor is hailed as a “just okay” movie.

This inevitably leads to the question, “Why? How can that movie be your favorite one?”

The answer is both simple and complicated, so depending on the time I have with them it can range from anything from a simple truth “Loki is my favorite Marvel character” to the deepest truth: “God used the movie Thorto convict and change me, and since that day I have never been the same.”

It’s true, on a Saturday in May in 2012, I sat on the couch of my home crying as the movie went to its closing credits, knowing that through this merely okay movie about superheroes, God had spoken to me.

* * *

Balaam’s tale is told in the latter half of the book of Numbers—a book of the Bible that gets a bad rap because of the whole numbering everyone in Israel thing, but also has quite a few interesting tidbits. Like Balaam (Numbers 22).

Balaam was a sorcerer in Moab when the Israelites came to the Promised Land for the second time--that is after their wandering in the desert for 40 years. With their punishment over, they had the full power and authority of God behind them to reclaim the Promised Land—where people like the Moabites already lived. Needless to say as the Moabites watched the Israelites cut through other tribes like a hot knife through butter, they got a little nervous.

The king of Moab at the time—a dude named Balak—was getting a little worried the Moabites were going to be next, and after watching the Israelites kill everyone else, he decided his best bet was to call the number one sorcerer in the land: Balaam.

"Behold, a people came out of the Egypt; behold they cover the surface of the land, and they are living opposite of me. Now, therefore, please come, curse this people for me since they are too mighty for me; perhaps I may be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land. For I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed."

--Numbers 22:5-6 (NASB)

(I like in particular that the Israelites are so mighty that Balak really only thinks a curse might slow them down and give Balak a chance—just a chance—of defeating them. By no means does he talk like this curse will end them once and for all.)

Now, Balaam despite not being an Israelite and being a sorcerer, thought God was real. Granted, he thought of God as just one of many gods or powers at work in the land—he even tried to corrupt Israelites with this later (Numbers 31:16)—but in this case, he thought it might be a good idea to ask God what he should do (Numbers 22:8).

As one might expect, God said:

“Do not go with them; you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed"

--Numbers 22:12 (NASB)

Balaam, not being an idiot, decided to listen to God.

Unfortunately the king of Moab wasn’t taking no for an answer, so he sent more people to implore Balaam to come. Balaam responds to these people with:

Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything, either small or great, contrary to the command of the LORD my God.

--Numbers 22:18 (NASB)

In the Bible it seems at this point, Balaam was quite firmly in the “don’t cross God” camp, and he was just going to stay put where he was. Then that night God came to him and said:

"If the men have come to call you, rise up and go with them; but only the word which I speak to you shall you do."

--Numbers 22:20 (NASB)

So Balaam—once again not being an idiot—did what he was told. He went saddled his donkey and went with the Moabites.

Now in the very next verse (Numbers 22:22) it says that “But God was angry because he was going.” Which on my first read caused my head to turn and go “Huh? Didn’t God tell him to go?” I’m not a Bible-expert but the footnotes of my Bible say this:

God let Balaam go with Balak’s messengers, but he was angry about Balaam’s greedy attitude. Balaam claimed that he would not go against God just for the money, but his resolve was beginning to slip. His greed for wealth offered by the king blinded him so that he could not see how God was trying to stop him.

--Footnote from the Life Application Bible

Now, to me personally, that seems a little of a stretch of what the text actually says. Maybe Balaam’s will was growing weak. I’d need to seek out extra commentary on the fact. But reading through the next few passages I put forth a slightly different interpretation.

God was angry because Balaam had to go. After all, this Moabite king is trying to kill His chosen people. But He also wanted Balaam to go because He wanted Balaam to prophesy to the king of Moab, which he does in Numbers 23. However, maybe God knew that Balaam as he was right now—a sorcerer with no loyalty to God above any other “gods”—might not actually listen to Him and give His words to the king, which God wanted Balaam to do. So in order to scare the bejeezus out of him—to ensure that Balaam would in fact obey God, a strange experience happened to Balaam on his journey to the king.

God put an angel with his sword drawn—ready to kill Balaam—in his path.

Now Balaam couldn’t see this angel, but his donkey could. And the donkey rightly decided that this was not a creature she wanted to cross paths with (Numbers 22:23).

This pissed Balaam off because he couldn’t see the angel and he thought his donkey was just being stubborn. So he beat her. This repeated two more times on the journey, the angel would move, the donkey would be able to go ahead, then she would see the angel again, rightfully stop moving, and Balaam would beat her (Numbers 22:23-27).

Then something astounding happened.

And the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?"

--Numbers 22:28 (NASB)

The donkey spoke.

Now, if I was Balaam the next verse would read something like “And Balaam died of shock.” But that’s not what happens. Balaam converses with his donkey. He basically accuses the donkey of making him look like a fool (Numbers 22:29). The donkey responds by pointing out she had been trustworthy all her life to him before this and had never done anything like this before, so basically he should trust her now.

Then God opens Balaam’s eyes and he’s able to see the angel, and basically realizes the donkey saved his butt. Balaam immediately repents of going to see the king and says he’ll turn back, but the angel reiterates God’s earlier message.

"Go with the men, but you shall speak only the word which I tell you."

--Numbers 22:35 (NASB)

And guess what? That’s exactly what Balaam does. He goes to the king and prophecies and his prophecies take up the next two chapters (Numbers 23 & 24).

God spoke to Balaam through a donkey.

God spoke to Balak through a non-Hebrew, idolatrous sorcerer.

If God can speak through an animal and sorcerer, I’m pretty sure He can speak through and use anything to get his point across.

* * *

When I share with people that a Marvel movie changed my life, they are always surprised. Even the most Christian of friends, even my pastors, have looked at me with expressions that start somewhere around “oh really?” and end at “Are you insane???”

I believe God can speak to us through anything, and sure, the average Christian would nod their head along in agreement with that statement. But in my experience with the Church, when most people say “anything” what they really mean is: the Bible, our preacher, nature, and our families. No one bats an eye when a mother talks about the truth about love she learned from her infant child (and nor should they), but when I say I learned a truth of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob through a movie about pagan gods turned superheroes, people are usually skeptical at best.

Yet I was taught all my life—for good reason—the God can use anything. He can use the Bible, our preacher, nature, our families, donkeys, sorcerers, and even Marvel movies to speak to us.

And I think if the parables show us anything, it’s that sometimes we mere mortals need stories to help us understand. Because God is beyond what our brains can comprehend, but sometimes in stories we can glimpse a truth we might never have been able to find on our own.

So that’s the reason for this blog. For this series I’m calling “Modern Parables.” To explore different stories in pop culture—movies, books, musicals, TV shows, and even video games—and show how they’ve helped me understand better the Bible, my faith, and my God.

I can only hope that God can use something even more unlikely than Marvel movies and donkeys--that is me--to speak to you. 

January 2017 Memory Verse

“I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you.”

— Genesis 17:7

For our first lesson in January we were discussing Abraham, and how God made a covenant with him. For me this is a key verse in that covenant that I want them to remember that highlights a few things: 

1. It's a covenant not just with Abraham but all his descendants.
2. It's an everlasting covenant. 
3. Most impotrantly: The covenant establishes that God chose to be the God of Abraham and his descendants, and that from this point forth God will be their God.

It's one of the first longer verses I've required of them, but I think it has enough redundancy in it that they can get the hang of it. 

Note: Verses posted are from the NRSV version of the Bible since that is the version the Middle Schoolers are most familiar with.

Abram/Abraham

[Note: All Bible versus are in NRSV because that is the edition the Middle School Sunday School Bibles at my church are in.]

So today we're starting our study of People of the Bible. To make this easier and give you guys context I thought we'd start close to the beginning and go from there. So today we're going to talk about Abraham.

What do you guys know about Abraham? [Let them answer, see what they say. Write it on the board.]

Hmmm okay. Let's see if the story of Abraham reflects any of this. You guys go get your Bibles, and I want you to turn to Genesis 12.

So some context before we dive right in. The story of Abraham starts a long long long time ago. Like a long time ago. We're talking around 4,000 years ago. We're talking about a society that is extremely tribal and a large "city" might be say a thousand or two thousand people, which is a fraction of the size of Albuquerque. They couldn't even imagine anything this big. But the average person didn't live in a city. And this was the bronze age, so people had bronze and metal tools but still a lot of stone tools.

So Abraham when we first meet him is known as "Abram." Abram is not some poor dude eking out a living on a farm. Abram was quite wealthy--wealth he would have inherited from his father and wealth he expanded during his life. This wealthy Abram was living in a land called Ur which is modern day Iraq. When you guys think of modern Iraq's climate and environment, what do you think of?

[Let them answer. Probably gonna say something like hot, desert, maybe also some inappropriate comments based on their understanding of current events.]

Well back then Iraq wasn't a desert. It was an area of the world that your history teachers may refer to as Mesopotamia or the Fertile Crescent. It was great for crops and planting and raising animals. Which is pretty much what Abram did.

Alright can someone read Genesis 12: 1 - 9 (NRSV).

12 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. 5 Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother’s son Lot, and all the possessions that they had gathered, and the persons whom they had acquired in Haran; and they set forth to go to the land of Canaan. When they had come to the land of Canaan, 6 Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 Then the Lord appeared to Abram, and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. 8 From there he moved on to the hill country on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the Lord and invoked the name of the Lord. 9 And Abram journeyed on by stages toward the Negeb.

[Note: At this point in my class someone asked who Lot was, and I put a family tree for Abram on the whiteboard starting with Abram's father Terah and only showing down to Abram and Sarai and then Haran to Lot. But no further because we're not talking about Ishmael and Isaac this week.]

So God says "Hey Abram, I need you to move." And Abram says "yeah okay." I want you to think about that for a moment. How would you feel if God told you to move to a strange land? And this wouldn't just be like moving across New Mexico or even the USA. For Abram this would almost feel as crazy as God asking him to move to Mars. So let's say God came to you and said "Hey move to Mars." How would you feel?

[Let them answer.] 

[Note: one student was really excited about the prospect of moving to Mars--because Mars is cool--but the rest were more hesitant.]

And it wasn't just Abram who moved. It was him, his wife, his nephew, and all the "persons they acquired." This could be anything from slaves to just servants and employees whose livelihoods were dependent on the wealthy Abram. So let's say your boss came to you and said like "I need to move our whole company to Mars." And your choice was to stay and find a new job, which you may or may not be able to do depending on your skill-set, or go. What do you do? How do you feel?

[Let them answer.]

Basically this is a crazy move of faith, not just on Abrams behalf but on everyone who is following him. In Ur Abram is wealthy and well respected, but who says he can maintain that in an unknown land? What happens when you follow your boss to Mars and discover Mars is inhospitable? That wealth doesn't do you much good on Mars, does it? And to these people that's what it would have felt like. This is a crazy move of faith. Abram and everyone who followed him had to have some faith to make this move. For Abram that's faith in God. For everyone else that's faith in Abram, faith that he's not crazy and really is hearing what God commanded him.

So they travel to Canaan. Who knows what Canaan is known as today?

[Let them answer]

Israel. And what does God say in verse 7, "to your descendants I will give this land."

You guys this is so incredibly important I can't even begin to stress it to you. This is not just important for everything that happens in the Bible but this is important for modern current events happening in Israel and the middle east right now. And we're going to see why as we go forward, but I want you to remember this. God gave Israel to Abram.

Alright we're going to skip ahead a bit. There is some interesting context in these intervening versus that involve a famine, a journey to Egypt, a trip back to Canaan, and a war between a bunch of kings which Abram and his nephew Lot get caught up in. But for our purposes we're going to skip to Genesis 15. Can someone read Genesis 15: 1-7 (NRSV).

15 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, “Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” 2 But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “You have given me no offspring, and so a slave born in my house is to be my heir.” 4 But the word of the Lord came to him, “This man shall not be your heir; no one but your very own issue shall be your heir.” 5 He brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” 6 And he believed the Lord; and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness.

7 Then he said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess.”

So in this section God is promising Abram a son. Remember Abram is very old and he has no heir. He has a nephew Lot and he has men who work for him but he has no children. So if he dies his estate goes to someone sort of random. Sort of like...has anyone seen Downton Abbey? [If Yes]. It's like how the estate goes to Matthew a guy they didn't even know they were related to .{If No} well that's not important. (either way) What's important is, everything Abram owns would not go to his descendants because he has none.

But here God is promising he will have an child, and not only that but his descendants shall be as numerous as the stars in the heavens. That's...quite a lot when you think about it!

We're going to talk about next week the particulars of how that happens, who Abraham's children are and how everyone feels about it--when we talk about Abraham's wife, Sarah--but for now we're going to skip ahead a bit to Genesis 17: 1 -8. Can someone read these verses?

17 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless. 2 And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will make you exceedingly numerous.” 3 Then Abram fell on his face; and God said to him, 4 “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations. 5 No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations. 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. 7 I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. 8 And I will give to you, and to your offspring after you, the land where you are now an alien, all the land of Canaan, for a perpetual holding; and I will be their God.”

Have any of you ever heard at Church a reference to the idea of the "Old Covenant?" [Let them answer] Does anyone know what it is? [Let them answer.]

This is it. This is the old covenant. God spoke to Abram and made an agreement or contract with him. That's basically what covenant means. An agreement or contract between two parties, in this case the parties are God and Abram. In this covenant what does God promise Abram?

[Let them answer.]

Basically that his descendants will be numerous and he will be the father of many generations. And that God gives him the land of now Israel. And most importantly that God will be their God.

When people refer to Jewish people as God's chosen people this is what they mean. God chose Abram--whose name here he changes to Abraham. Why did he chose him? We may never know. Probably because God knew him to be a faithful and righteous man who would obey the call to move across the world when asked. But the Bible doesn't expressly say. But God did choose him and make this covenant with him. To establish his line, his offspring, and be the God to his people. This is what makes Jewish people God's chosen people.

And Abraham didn't have to do much in return. Does anyone know the one thing God required of Abraham? [Let them answer.]

He required that Abraham and all his men be circumcised--a  medical procedure that we're not going to talk about. You can read your Bibles or ask your parents if you want to know what it is. But basically it was an outwards physical show of the covenant. God didn't require Abraham have perfect faith or even follow a bunch of rules. Just this one thing--which is a one and done thing.

But the reason the story of Abraham is so important is that it is the basis for everything else to come. Abraham and his faith is the reason why the people of Israel, the Jewish people, are set apart, and the reason why they claim Israel as their land. But as we'll see next week Abraham and his family, namely his wife Sarah and Abraham's own sometimes wishy-washy nature, are also the reason why everything didn't go exactly according to plan.

Abraham wasn't a perfect man. But he was a man who literally followed God. Something we can strive for in our own lives as well.

Bumped by Meg McCafferty

Note: This review was originally posted on my blog "Shelf of Friends" on February 14, 2012.

Stats:
Title: Bumped
Author: Meg McCafferty
Pages: 336
Genre: Dystopian
Age Range: YA
Publication Date: 4/26/2011
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
 

What's it about?

In the future, a virus will sweep through mankind that will make nearly everyone infertile. Nearly everyone, except teenagers. In this future where procreation depends on the young, birth control has been allowed and being pregnant has become the latest fashion piece. No ensemble is complete unless a girl has a nice round bump of a baby growing inside.

Melody is a teenage girl who has contracted out her womb to a rich couple who want a child. Melody is pretty much a perfect choice being intelligent, beautiful, and athletic. But because she's on contract, she can only reproduce with a male selected by the rich couple. So while Melody waits for a guy to be picked, her friends are all on their second or third pregnancies. Being a virgin without any pregnancies to her name, Melody finds her popularity quickly slipping.

And it doesn't help when her twin, Harmony, suddenly shows up at her house. Harmony has grown up in a deeply religious society, one that is a cross between Amish and extremely conservative Christianity. Harmony has come to save Melody's soul, to bring her to God and to keep her from selling her body and her womb. But having grown up extremely sheltered, it is no surprise that Harmony is shell shocked by the world.

The two identical twin sisters have starkly different beliefs, but through a case of mistaken identity, the two come to question everything they've been taught and they begin to take their futures into their own hands.

It's YA. Tell me about the boys!

We have two girls, so of course there is more than one boy! Zen is Melody's best friend, but that's all he can ever be. Even if Melody didn't have to abstain in favor of some boy her rich benefactors are going to pick, Zen is not the sort of boy any girl would date. Despite his good looks and intelligence, he is much too short, making his genes not favorable.

Jondoe on the other hand is the most desired male stud (for lack of a better word). He's everything a couple could want in their kid's genes: beautiful, intelligent, and athletic. On the surface he seems like any other superstar: arrogant and extremely confident. But beneath the surface superstar Jondoe is a boy named Gabriel, whose personnel beliefs might seem odd for such a premier stud.

Ram is a shy quiet boy from the same sheltered community as Harmony, who follows Harmony from their community out into the world. He just wants to take her back and live a normal life, even though he has his own secret that means he can never truly fit in their religious community.

These three boys are vastly different. All three have varying beliefs and feelings about how the world has turned out and their role in it, helping to flesh out this controversial world.

Wait....what? Is this book glorifying teenage pregnancy?

No. In fact, I believe that's the point the author is trying to make with this book, that often in today's world teenage pregnancy has been glorified, whether it's Juno or Teen Moms. In the world presented, teenage pregnancy has been glorified: both in the secular world and the religious community. In Melody's world, being pregnant is the cool and fashionable thing to do; it's also a smart financial decision, and her parents are relying on the money her womb will bring. In Harmony's world, it's her religious duty, a role that she must fulfill in order to be viewed as an adult and a real woman. As we follow both girls through the story, we discover the danger of both views and of when this pressure is being put on such young girls. There is a world of adults who want children, and they're exploiting teenagers and even preteens--making them sacrifice their lives and their bodies to the cause of procreation.

I assure you it does not glorify pregnancy, if anything it argues for why teenagers should not get pregnant, and the dangers of a world where such extreme pressure is put on teenagers.

Does this book portray Christianity negatively and poorly?

This was a real worry for me in this book, being a Christian myself. I completely agree that in a scenario like this, societies like the one Harmony's from. I don't agree with her society, finding it highly judgmental and too much emphasis on becoming what they want you to be, but I think it would exist. Groups like that exist now.

The book also presents a different view of Christianity which probably aligns more with what I believe, except what they believe about allowing their kids to have sex for procreation and for money outside of marriage. Now I can generally get behind what these people said about children being the greatest gift of all and such, and how their kids are filling a need and showing love by having babies--but it left me wondering what happened to artificial insemination in this world. I could totally see what these parents were thinking and then letting their son's donate sperm and their daughters get artificially inseminated. I guess sex is cheaper and easier than artificial insemination, but still. I just don't see any Christians being cool with their kids sleeping around for money to produce kids for other people.

So basically this book presented two views of Christianity that I don't really agree with. But if you're a Christian it definitely makes you think--how would Christians react to this situation? What would be our response? And what is the right course of action when only teenagers can get pregnant?

If this was a movie, what would its rating be?

I can't recall any bad language, and there is pretty much no violence. But this book is pretty much all about sex and pregnancy, so yeah. I would definitely not have been comfortable reading this as a middle schooler or early high schooler, and probably wouldn't let my kids that age read it either. But for older teens, it can lead to really good discussion and thoughts about what would happen in this scenario and about the pressures around teens regarding sex. None of the descriptions of sex are graphic, it's very PG-13 fade to black, but there is some honest talk about pregnancy that can be disturbing for those of us who are squeamish, though there is no birth seen on screen in the book, so not graphic in those terms. But pregnancy is a way of life for the teens girls in this book, and it doesn't always end well for all of them.

Overall, how was it?

This book presents a very interesting world that can lead to a lot of interesting discussion. If you're looking for a dystopian about a pair of girls overthrowing an evil regime, this isn't that book. If you're looking for a world not that different from our own where one virus changes everything, this could be that book. It definitely leaves you waiting for the sequel, wondering what's going to happen next--how these girls are going to go on with their lives after the events of this book.

Middle School Sunday School

I teach Middle School Sunday School at my church. They’re an interesting bunch of sixth and seventh graders. (Eighth graders go to a separate Sunday School class as part of the confirmation process in the Presbyterian church).  

The thing about teaching Sunday School for Middle Schoolers is that it’s hard.  

I’m sure your mind immediately goes to behavior issues, and I’m not going to deny that isn’t a thing. Middle School is a weird time in life. You’re no longer a little kid but not as independent as a high schooler. They have just enough knowledge to be aware of what is happening in the world, but not enough context to fully understand it or prioritize it properly. There are weird social pressures at school, which in my experience have less to do with seeming cool to the opposite sex and more about seeming cool to their friends. They experience conflicting pressure from their parents: pressure to stay a baby to be cuddled forever and pressure to just grow up and act like a mature person already. To top it all off, they’re starting to question authority for the first time—realize parents and teachers don’t know everything. And a natural aspect of that questioning authority is that for the very first time they start questioning their faith. 

I don’t have studies or papers to back up what I’m about to say, but I honestly believe that middle school is where we lose the majority of Christian children. There always seems to be a lot of push and focus on high schoolers—to retain them and to impress upon them the importance of church so they don’t fall away in college. But my experience and the experience of my peers has indicated that it’s middle school where teens get set on the path that either pushes them away or keeps them near. 

Imagine you have all these questions, you just want to ask them and get an honest answer, and guess what? No one wants to teach you because everyone knows Middle Schoolers are awful. 

(Honestly we can’t get anyone to volunteer to cover when I can’t be there one Sunday, it’s heartbreaking. No one wants to sit with these kids who are just figuring themselves out. Because it’s the adults who believe middle schoolers are awful.) 

So how do we minister to them? How do we minister to these kids in a classroom where at least 25% of conversation is disrupted by their behavior? Where most of them won’t talk seriously about the subject for fear of being judged by their peers? Where most Bible studies are either over their head or beneath them?  

Because this is it, guys. Middle school. It’s the last chance we have to reach them while their parents still have the authority to make them go to church whether they want to or not. And we do desperately want them to want to come. 

Well, sadly, I don’t have the answers here, I can only provide what I have done with them, and different lessons I have learned. 

So my goal here is to post three types of posts: 

1. Lesson Plans: That is the actual lessons I have made and taught to my group of middle schoolers.  
2. Monthly Memory Verses: These will probably just be short post with the memory verse and why I chose that verse, with a date attached to it. More for my own record keeping than anything.  
3. Thoughts: That is, thoughts I’ve had as related to teaching Middle Schoolers (or at least this set) and how it might influence future lessons. 

It should be kept in mind when looking over the lessons, I currently attend a Presbyterian Church but I am Southern Baptist by upbringing. My husband who helps me out is Lutheran by faith. I generally know what the “party line” at my current church is and try to present with that in mind, even when I disagree with it. (I am not now, nor will I ever be, a Calvinist.) However, our different upbringings and beliefs are definitely going to affect how we present the material. 

I’m going to write up a separate post on how I deal with theologically controversial topics in a Middle School classroom, since obviously as someone with Baptist beliefs in a Presbyterian Church even what I believe sometimes is “controversial” (at least using the Presbyterian party line as a base line). (Also this is a perfect example of the “Thoughts: type post described above!) 

So if you’re a Middle School, upper elementary, or lower high school Sunday School teacher, I hope this can be helpful to you! And if not, at least it’s a way for me to organize my own lessons so when I cycle back through them when I have a new set of Middle Schoolers in two years, I have easy access to them!

Mary: The Mother of Jesus

So who knows what this month is called in the church calender?

Advent.

Does anyone know what advent means? It comes from a Latin word: Advenio, Advenire which basically means "to arrive." So why would we use an anglicized version of this word to describe the time of Christmas?

Well we're expecting the arrival of Jesus! Advent is the time when we prepare for Christmas, and the reminder of Christ's birth. Basically we're spending our time dwelling on what Jesus' birth means to us as Christians.

So in light of this today we're going to talk about the first person told about Jesus birth: Mary, the mother of Jesus. So before you get your Bibles, can you guys describe to me what you know of Mary?

[Write in on the white board, all the words and descriptors so they can see]

Interesting. Let's see if the Bible supports these different descriptors you guys have of her. Go get your Bibles and I want you guys to turn to the Gospel of Luke. That's the third book of the New Testament.

Alright specifically let's turn to Luke 1:26-29.

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” 29 But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.

So first question. Why do you think Mary was confused by Gabriel's statement?

Well let's look back at what the angel said to Mary. He called her what? [Favored One.] And said "The Lord is with you." Why would this bother her?

Well how would you feel if an angel of the Lord came to you and called you a "favored one." Would you feel that you deserved that?

Well Mary didn't seem to feel like she deserved such a favor.

Can someone keep reading Luke 1:30 - 33?

30 The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

Why do you think angels in the Bible are always telling people to not be afraid?

Yeah they're probably scary looking! I'm going to read to you a couple of Biblical descriptions of angels.

Matthew 28:3:

3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow.

Ezekiel 1: 4 – 12

4 As I looked, a stormy wind came out of the north: a great cloud with brightness around it and fire flashing forth continually, and in the middle of the fire, something like gleaming amber. 5 In the middle of it was something like four living creatures. This was their appearance: they were of human form. 6 Each had four faces, and each of them had four wings. 7 Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the sole of a calf’s foot; and they sparkled like burnished bronze. 8 Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. And the four had their faces and their wings thus: 9 their wings touched one another; each of them moved straight ahead, without turning as they moved. 10 As for the appearance of their faces: the four had the face of a human being, the face of a lion on the right side, the face of an ox on the left side, and the face of an eagle; 11 such were their faces. Their wings were spread out above; each creature had two wings, each of which touched the wing of another, while two covered their bodies. 12 Each moved straight ahead; wherever the spirit would go, they went, without turning as they went. 

None of these are really pleasant descriptions, are they?

There are also descriptions in the Bible of angels who look no different from men, which is why they don't get recognized initially. However, considering Mary was afraid, I think it's safe to say she recognized him as something other.

Alright can someone please read for me Luke 1:34 – 37

34 Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” 35 The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. 36 And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” 

Basically here Mary is saying it is impossible for her to be pregnant. She's a virgin! Virgins don't have babies--unless you're watching that CW show Jane the Virgin, but back then they didn't have things like artificial insemination or other sciency ways of getting women pregnant. Plus Mary would've known if she'd undergone those things too.

The angel basically tells her though that all things are possible with God, he can do whatever he wants. And he references her cousin Elizabeth as proof. Does anyone here know who Elizabeth is?

Other than Mary's cousin.

Let's flip back to Luke 1:5-17

5 In the days of King Herod of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly order of Abijah. His wife was a descendant of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6 Both of them were righteous before God, living blamelessly according to all the commandments and regulations of the Lord. 7 But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were getting on in years.

 8 Once when he was serving as priest before God and his section was on duty, 9 he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and offer incense. 10 Now at the time of the incense offering, the whole assembly of the people was praying outside. 11 Then there appeared to him an angel of the Lord, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. 12 When Zechariah saw him, he was terrified; and fear overwhelmed him. 13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John. 14 You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, 15 for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He must never drink wine or strong drink; even before his birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit. 16 He will turn many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. 17 With the spirit and power of Elijah he will go before him, to turn the hearts of parents to their children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” 

Elizabeth is John the Baptist's mother. And her pregnancy was also foretold by the angel Gabriel.

So hearing all of this, what would your response be if you were Mary? I want you to keep in mind that Mary was probably quite young. Probably around 15 or 16. She's about to get married to a really great guy who would be very upset to discover she's pregnant. And back then we're not talking like getting pregnant just means you have to take care of your baby and have people whisper behind your back because your a teenage bride. The punishment for adultry could be severe, like death. So Mary was risking death if Joseph didn't agree to go along with this, which she had no idea if she would .

So what would you say if you were in Mary's shoes?

[Let them answer]

Well let's see what Mary says, can someone read to me Luke 1:38

38 Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

Mary agrees, she says she's is the Lord's bondslave. The English Standard version of the Bible translates this as "let it be" and there is actually a really famous Beatle's song written abou this statement, if you guys know who the Beatles are.

"When I find myself in times of trouble
Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom
Let it be."

This was not an easy hand to be dealt, to be Jesus' mother. I mean think about all the terrible things Jesus had to endure, and Mary outlived him. She had to watch her son die and be tortured. She didn't know she was agreeing to that then, but she trusted God. And she wasn't just resigned to it, like the Beatles song might imply. Turn a little further to Luke 1:46 - 55. Can someone read that?

46 And Mary said,

“My soul magnifies the Lord,
47     and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.
    Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
    and holy is his name.
50 His mercy is for those who fear him
    from generation to generation.
51 He has shown strength with his arm;
    he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
52 He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
    and lifted up the lowly;
53 he has filled the hungry with good things,
    and sent the rich away empty.
54 He has helped his servant Israel,
    in remembrance of his mercy,
55 according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
    to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”

These versus are often refered to as "The Magnificat." I think it's called that because in the Latin translation of this prayer, the first word is "Magnificat" which is basically the verb in that first sentence there. "My soul exalts." Or in my ESV translation "My soul magnifies."

So this prayer, what is it saying?

She basically spends the entire prayer just talking about how awesome and wonderful God is. She does say one thing about herself in there, verse 48, if we re-read that "for he has looked on ths humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed." And I think that's only human. To marvel that God chose her and to be like "woah, people are going to remember my name like forever." Maybe even a little bit of pride, which I think we can allow her. But the other verses are all about how God is awesome. What do you think that says about Mary's character?

That maybe she put God first? And God knew that. That maybe that's why he chose her.

Alright but let's step back a moment here. Did God NEED Jesus to be born of a woman?

There are a few prophecies sure, that imply he'll be born and talk about it. But set that aside--cuz God wrote those prophecies. Could God just snap his fingers and instead have made a fully grown Jesus who went around calling disciples and doing the same thing? Or could God have just handed Mary a fully made baby with no pregnancy?

Yeah. So why do you think God chose Jesus to be born of a woman? Why was this part of his grand plan?

Obviously we can never know the mind of God, and we can't really know why he chose this path. But I think it's because if you look over the Old Testament women have sort of gotten a bad rap. Call it what you will--Eve's curse, the patriarchy, whatever--women in the Bible have not been treated the best. But here we have God telling a woman, the lowest of the low, that she has found favor from God. That she is the favored one.

Jesus was born male and that is important, I think, but I think by having this design, by having God be born of a woman, God is saying that the statement he's making by being incarnate in a male doesn't make women less. Mary was a critical part God chose to include in this story.

God chose to include women in the story, because he views women as important. And there may be times where boys--you're encouraged to devalue women, or girls you may think less of yourself because you are female. But in those times, I want you to remember Mary. Because she was the favored one, and God chose to use her. God views women as valuable, and therefore you should to.

Theology as a Rubik's Cube

Sometimes I think I should have been a Bible scholar.

I was raised fairly feminist for a Southern Baptist. My parents told me I could do anything I wanted and encouraged me in my path to become an engineer.

Yes, I could do anything…except go into the ministry. That was a thing for boys, boy who would walk confidently forward during the alter call and tell the pastor they had felt “the Call.”

The call to ministry was for men, unless I felt interested in leading children or women, which I did not, or practical things like feeding the hungry. All good and necessary things but what I hungered for was the esoteric—deep understanding of the Bible, history, and theology—a realm firmly and always for men. (It’s interesting to note that the only women I remember going forward for “the Call” were to be missionaries, never because they felt called into women or children’s ministry. I don’t know if you were even allowed to go forward for that.)

I’m not a Bible scholar. I am an engineer, and I love my job and my career path, so I don’t anticipate a job change. But one of the reasons for this blog is to ponder and study what I feel led to—whether it’s the practical or esoteric.

For those of us, though, who are not Bible scholars, I feel like we often fall into one of two camps about the deep esoteric theological discussions. (1) It doesn’t affect your day to day faith so why does it matter at all? (2) The deep questions trouble us so we avoid them lest we find out something that would make us contemplate God differently from how we want. (There is a third option—we think we know everything already and for us there is no mystery in God or the Word. This position is mind boggling to me, so I won’t address it.)

I get this. What does it matter if predestination or free-will is the truth in my day to day life? I still feel as if I have to pick out my own socks, so every day I will pick out my own socks. The answer to the question doesn’t affect how I live my life.

On the other hand, contemplating the question makes us uncertain and when simplified in the way those of us who are layman can understand, makes us afraid of what we might discover. If everything is predestined what does this say about God’s character? If everything is free-will what does this say about God’s sovereignty?

(It should be noted that the predestination/free will debate is merely an example and not all inclusive of the esoteric questions that exist. It should also be noted that these questions way over simplify this debate and complete ignore the concept that God is outside of time and space, but that is a post for another time.)

For some reason, when someone not Called into the ministry or academia starts asking these questions people immediately assume you’re “doubting.” They assume that either you are currently in doubt and seeking answers OR that seeking answers to esoteric questions will lead to doubt. (I find the latter particularly troubling since it seems to indicate our faith does not hold up in the face of study.)

For me at least this is not the case.

I always wanted to be an astrophysicist (which I'm not, I chose the more practical path of engineering, but that is neither here nor there). Two of my favorite classes in college focused on Planetary Science and Space Plasma Physics. I have a desire to see how things work, to understand the natural laws that govern our existence, to marvel at the beauty of the math that holds everything together.

Theology is no different.

For whatever reason God chose not to reveal Himself in a way that is crystal clear to our modern minds. Our Bible is a collection of books of different genres and not a clear and straightforward textbook on theology. Why is this? We can talk about the limitations God imposed on himself by using men to write his holy book. We can talk about Jesus and how he chose to reveal himself to the disciples, the way he couched his words. But I think God knows us, he knows our nature.

He gave us mysteries to be wrestled with because we are like puppies who need a bone to gnaw on to keep us occupied. Because we are by nature curious and seeking creatures, instead of giving us a straightforward toy, God gave us a Rubik’s Cube.

I think of the mystery of theology similarly to how I think of a Rubik’s Cube. I have never been able to solve one on my own. But I believe the cube has a solution. I have faith it can be solved. But I’m also not satisfied with someone showing me how to do it. I must figure it out for myself.

Does this sometimes lead to frustration? Yes. Does this sometimes to lead to doubt? Maybe, I know I’ve doubted that Rubik’s Cubes actually have solutions sometimes. But at my heart even when expressing frustrations and doubt, I believe there is a solution, and I believe God gave this cube to me so I can play and wrestle with it—not so I can put it on a shelf and ignore it.

My theology is not a porcelain doll which can only be looked at and never played with lest it break. It is a rough and tumble Rubik’s Cube that I can drop down the stairs, disassemble, reassemble, and still have the same toy that I know has a solution even if in my life I never find it.