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My heart beats for love. I want to be different. I want to be who I am called to be. WORTHY and LOVED!

Sunday, August 25, 2013

Love and Marriage - Gen 2: 18-25


This has been a hard sermon for me to write. Its difficult because we are going to be talking about a type of relationship that I’ve never been a part of - marriage. And it is difficult because I know some among us have not had happy marriages and their marriages had to end, or are now widowed and without their life parter. 
Yet even as difficult as this sermon has been to prepare and preach, I feel that it is a relationship that we have to talk about. For near the start of our Holy Scriptures we are told that God looked for a helper and a partner for the first man, Adam, but could not find one amongst the wild animals. So God caused Adam to fall into a deep sleep and he fashioned a woman, Eve, for the man from his very flesh and bone. 
God created a helper for Adam. Over the years in ministry I have had the opportunity to hear many stories of marriages that have thrived over decades as well as those that have crumbled. Those that have weathered the test of time, those marriage relationship in which the love in palpable, get this idea that they were created for each other. Get that they are each other’s helpers. And some translators don’t think that word is even strong enough. Really it is closer translated to mean sustainer beside. Adam needed a sustainer beside him. Someone to talk to and go through the days with. Someone whom he could understand and who understood him, To surround his life. To uphold him and be strong for. 
There is one particular couple that I always think of when I hear the word marriage. This couple had been together over sixty years when I met them. They had been through many hardships, including being displaced by the storm. But whenever the gentleman talked about his wife, his eyes lit up. And whenever she spoke about her husband it was with endearing and tender terms. They always said they were more in love with each passing day then the day that came before. They were each other’s helpers and strength. And everyone around them could see it. Best friends. Partners on the journey.
If we are lucky we have couples in our lives like this. If we are really lucky, we find ourself being part of such a couple and recognizing what a gift it is. Adam realized the gift that he was given. For when he saw Eve for the first time he said this beautiful thing, a statement that we often repeat at weddings that, “This at last is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called woman, for out of man she was created.” A poem. A love song. Adam expressed his deepest longing for connection and gratitude for God supplying his need.
This is not to say that marriage and love is all rainbows and kisses. Marriage is hard. It requires dedication and work. And not ever moment is romantic, or even desirable. But Eve wasn’t created to give Adam the perfect life. Eve was created to help Adam journey through life. She was created because God realized that something was missing. And God wanted to fill that void for Adam. 
But often when we fill that void for each other, even in the most ideal of situations, we bring in our sin, our emotional garbage, our baggage. Because of this, relationships require hard work and prayer. And they require God’s presence. For even though Eve was given to Adam as a gift, neither could replace God for the other. In fact, this is one of the most vital mistakes that we can make in any of our relationships, looking for the other person to be God instead of pursuing God both as individuals and a couple.
For those of you who are married - how is your marriage doing? Is God at its center? Do you listen to and respect each other? Is your marriage a place where you are authentically alive and challenged to grow? Do you see your spouse as your partner and helpmate? If you answer yes to these questions - what a blessing! Thank you for cherishing the gift that you have been given. But know that the work is not over. God has given you each other for a lifetime, how ever long that may be. Continue to set aside time to be with each other and to listen to each other. Not simply to exist with one another, but to surround each other in love and support. 
If you are struggling in your marriage this morning, be not dismayed! Have you invited God into the hurting and broken parts of your relationship? Are you looking to God to renew you? I would challenge you to commit yourself to making each other a priority and to grow in love. Seek out other Godly couples who you feel can help support you and be examples in your life. 
Unfortunately, we cannot talk about love and marriage without talking about the dissolving of relationships. Divorce may not be God’s plan but it still happens for many different reasons. That is part of what makes todays scripture so painful - because some people have entered into marriages where such poetry and songs are not expressed to them. Where they are not treated with respect or like a helpmate. Marriages that were not the blessing that God created them to be. But know that God’s grace and love can penetrate our life, even in the darkest spaces, if only we invite in the light of God.
God knew what Adam needed - do you not think that God knows what each of us need? And that God’s timing for each of us in perfect if only we submit ourselves? I have often been asked when I plan on getting married. And my response is generally, when God sees it to be right. God knows what I need. Brothers and sisters God knows what each of you needs as well. Whether it be healing from past hurts, help in current trials in your relationships, or continued growth in love.
Many of you know that currently both of my brothers are engaged to lovely women and will be wed within months of each other. As they prepare to enter into this holy union and the chaos on the wedding builds up, the phrase that we keep repeating around the household is that a wedding is not a marriage. And that is certainly true. Love is a decision each and every day to be committed to each other, especially when things get hard. Love is about being in a balanced relationship where neither person is diminished or lacking dignity and worth. And Love within marriage should help us grow in holiness and grace.
Lastly, marriages are created to be an expression of God’s deep, unconditional, and never-failing love for us. However, we know that our human love, being broken and flawed, often can only reflect a glimpse of God’s love for us. But friends it is still a glimpse! Still a glimpse at glory! A place where we know that we are worthy and valued. A place where we let grace sink into our hearts and transform us! A place where we learn to trust one another and learn how to trust God more fully. 
Brothers and sisters, we have been given each other in loving marriage relationships to grow with God. And for those of us not in such relationships, we are reminded that we are given the church that is called the Bride of Christ. But we are not given each other to replace God, but rather to catch a glimpse of God. To feel the love of God around us. May we look to grow with God in all of our relationships, this coming week, and may we commit to supporting each other in loving ways. Amen. 

Sunday, August 18, 2013

My Brothers Keeper - Gen 4: 1-16


Relationships. What gives our life purpose and meaning. Define who we are and what we believe in. Relationships are our connection with other people and with God. The Book of Genesis speaks about such complex and meaningful relationships. Two weeks ago we talked about our most important relationship - our relationship with the God who created us and knows us intimately. This week we will be focusing on our relationships with each other, specifically looking at the question Cain posed to God, “Am I my brother’s keeper?”
Adam and Eve left the Garden of Eden, the place of deep joy, delight, and connection with God. After they knew each other, Eve conceived and bore a son named Cain, exclaiming that she had produced a man with the help of God. Remember that this was the first child to be bore naturally, as Adam was created from the dust and Eve from his rib. Eve performed what has become the every day miracle of birth. But by the second child the nostalgia had worn off, and she named this child Abel, which can be translated as nothingness or futility. The brothers took different vocations, keeping the ground and watching the flock.
At some point Cain had the idea to give back to the God who had given them so much. Perhaps his dad had instructed him about offerings. Perhaps he came up with the idea all on his own. Whatever the case may be, Cain took God an offering of the fruits of the ground. The first public act of worship that we hear about in Genesis. Abel also brought an offering, the firstling of his flock.
But God did not act the way that Cain expected. God was pleased by Abel’s offering and not by his! Instead of God consoling Cain and telling him that his intentions were good, but his offering was not, God told Cain to try again. To do well. And then his offering would be accepted.
Cain’s response was one that we have probably all felt from time to time. Jealousy. And anger. He was jealous that Abel’s offering was accepted by God and that his wasn’t. Angry at God for essentially saying, what’s the problem. Do better and you will be forgiven. Its not about comparing your offering to Abel’s - its about your heart. But instead of accepting his blame for the situation, instead of doing as God instructed, Cain called Abel out to the field and killed him. 
Then God appeared and asked Cain, where is your brothers? And Cain replied that he did not know. In fact, it wasn’t his job to keep track of his brother, for is he really his brother’s keeper? And God asked him what he had done. 
The depth of Cain’s question is profound. Am I my brother’s keeper? And the answer is one that we each know, but sometimes fail to claim. Yes. Yes we are each other’s keepers. But how exactly do we do that, especially on days that we barely seem to have it together ourselves? 
First, we take responsibility for our own short-comings. Cain couldn’t believe that God had rejected his offering. Perhaps he knew that he hadn’t given his very best or had his heart in the right place. But he could not take take responsibility for his part in the situation. Instead he looked to everyone else. Which is connected to part two of how we watch out for one another. We do not blame our brothers and sisters for our problems. We do not blame God for our problems. We take responsibility for the part that we have played. This frees us to celebrate with our brothers and sisters instead of subcoming to jealously. 
Have you ever noticed that you can’t become jealous of someone who isn’t like you at all - someone who’s situation is so different from yours that it isn’t even comprehendible? We become jealous of people who are like us, in the same profession, the same family. People who we have a relationship with. In Cain’s case he wanted to know why his offering wasn’t accepted, but his brothers was. He than blamed God for not accepting it, and his brother Abel for being better than him. That lead to a sense of shame and fury that built up inside of him until he acted out in a brutal way.
Of course Cain was neither the first nor last person to blame everyone else for their problems. His parents blamed each other and blame the serpent for their disobedience. Young children blame their actions on the fact that they don’t perceive the  situation to be fair. And adults can often let their jealousy wash over them until it becomes a gentle rage.
Thirdly, we become our brothers and sisters keeper by seeking to do good for them instead of harm. Abel did nothing wrong in this story, in fact he did everything right. He offered God his very best, and he was killed for it. How could the story had ended differently if Cain sought to learn from Abel, asking him about how to share one’s very best with God? What if Cain would have celebrated with Abel instead of blaming him? What if, what if? Often what if’s get us caught into a never ending cycle of confusion and worry, but in this care, I think the what if’s demand for us to consider acting a different way. Call us from a life of sin, to a life of relationship that blesses others instead of blames them. Calls for us to become our best selves in the context of relationships with God and one another. 
But what if we have harmed another person? What if we have denied their dignity and have not protected their worth? Then we are given a second chance. God did not kill Cain for his action against Abel, even though this would have been justice. Instead, God gives Cain a chance to redeem himself, while still wrestling with the guilt of what he had done. To be driven from the only way of life that he had ever known - farming, and the only land he had ever known - his home, to wonder the earth and contemplate what he had done. 
It may not seem fair - the murderer wasn’t murdered. The one who didn’t protect his brother, who didn’t keep him, was protected by the mark he bore. But friends, the grace and love and justice of God are not about being fair. For God does not respond as we may have been lead to respond. God wanted to stop the violence that could have went on, if he would have killed Cain or allowed someone else to kill Cain. He was giving Cain a chance at a better way, even if Cain didn’t see it that way. Part of keeping our brother is stepping out of the cycle of violence, not doing unto others what they may have done unto us.
Perhaps when we heard this story growing up we were taught “don’t kill one another”, and that is a very important lesson to learn, but there is so much more behind being our brothers keeper. Being our brother and sisters keeper is not about being perfect, rather it is about trying our best to watch out for the best interest of another, and admitting when we fail. Asking for forgiveness for our shortcomings instead of blaming others and harming them. Asking for forgiveness when we have harmed one another. 
Being about brothers and sisters is about acknowledging that we come from the same substance, the same stuff of the Earth, the same love of God. We do not create our brothers and sisters, so we have no right to destroy them. When we harm one another, when we seek to destroy or diminish another person in any way, their spirit cries out to the one who created them - God. May we seek to watch out for one another, be each others keeper. Trusting that as we look out for others, others will look out for us, and that such tender compassion and care will lead us into deeper relationships with God and with each other. Amen. 

Saturday, August 17, 2013

Responding to Criticism

    I recently told a friend that my perfect day off is one where I can hide from people, which isn't exactly true. My perfect day off is drama and surprise free, mostly because so much of the rest of my week and energy are spent attending to people's criticisms.
   Recently, we celebrated communion using a liturgy a dear friend wrote about seeking the Shalom of the City. It is one that means a lot to me, both as a pastor and faith-based community organizer. I had some people come up to me after worship and speak about how much the liturgy meant to them. But this week I received a letter from a woman who was deeply offended by the liturgy and wrote a four pages about how it isn't Biblical and asked me if I even knew who God was and if I am firm in my faith walk? Side note: this was actually not the craziest thing said to me this week, and certainly not the worst of the month.
   As harshly worded as her criticism was it made me go back and explore the liturgy. One thing she kept writing was that "Shalom" is not in her Bible, so its not Biblical. Oh dear. How do we address words like Shalom that are so poorly translated in our English Bibles? Further, as much as the word peace is not necessarily the most accurate translation, the liturgy starts out by explaining that God's shalom is the deep peace for all people.
    As to the liturgy not being Biblical: Peace is mentioned over 340 times in scriptures. The key verse is Jeremiah 29:7 Seek the peace and the prosperity of the city where I sent you into exile. But as the story goes on, as told through the prophet Nehemiah, when the people returned to Jerusalem they forgot to seek out peace for their neighbor. When we failed to seek peace for each other, God sent Jesus to show us the way. To be the living embodiment of peace for all people, and even when people tried to use violence to stop him, his peace was victorious and conquered the grave.
    Am I sorry I used the liturgy? Not at all. If it made this woman react in such a visceral way their is a reason. If it touched someones heart, there was a reason. It is also a reminder that God's love for us is throughout all scriptures, woven together, and all speaks of our salvation. (Also the standard liturgy in the Book of Worship also incorporates both poetic imagery and Hebrew Scriptures).
    Along with this, a fellow pastor had a powerful post on facebook this week about how churches complain their aren't any young people, yet they are being driven away because we treat everything new like its blasphemy. It may be different words, but different words make us pause and consider what the words we love, the words that have become rote, truly mean.

God as Mother

   Names for God is such a tricky thing. Even though God is genderless, church folk ofter resort to thinking as God as male, even if their are both masculine and feminine images for God in the Bible. When I was little I had this storybook about a little boy that went to church with his mom and dad. One of the illustrations was of the family walking into church and above their was an image in the cloud of a young man, with brown hair, wearing a white shirt and tie, smiling down on them. It took me years to realize that was a though cloud of the what the dad looked like when he walked into church, and that the little boys mother is behind him in the cloud, albeit more hidden. That illustration has stuck with me and has been my primary image of God for a long time.
    When I was in Australia, friends and I went to a coral concert where the 23rd Psalm was sung with female pronouns. I was offended. I emailed my professor and asked if that was Biblically correct. Thankfully, he never answered me back. Because a few years later, in seminary, I approached female imagery for God again, specifically God as mother, and was deeply touched by it.
    When it comes to language for God, are we as pastors talking about how God is genderless, and really cannot be defined in words? Or do we just not go there. Do we take the power of the pulpit to push our own view of and relationship with God or do we nurture people however they may relate to the Divine?
    The United Methodist Church has been on the fringes of this conversation for years, but is now making an intentional effort to collect information around the names for God. Please take time to look over this survey and honestly participate: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/names4God

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Wild Goose

   When people ask me what Wild Goose is, I often find it difficult to describe. Sort of like my previous post about home, I can tell people about the physical location of the Goose or some of the details, but at its very core its something one must experience for themselves. But I did want to share some of my personally powerful moments from this year's Wild Goose Festival, knowing full well that others had different powerful experiences all of their own.
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   Phyllis Tickle welcomed the team leaders by blessing us. Not praying over us, for this would happen later by someone else's hand, but speaking words to guide us through the week. She reminded us that we are to become a bigger community of faith, across denominational lines, all for the Kingdom of God. And that the first thing God requires of us with such an endeavor is our sweat and blood.
    As she was speaking I was thinking - is that not usually what our God requires of us - sweat and blood? And what most people back away from. For when we are that invested, that connected, it can seem difficult. But if we are called to this task, the work we put in will seem light.
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    We were then invited to ponder two questions with deeply personal answers that I would invite you to ponder as well. Think about them. Write about them. Talk about them with someone you trust.
* What is a lie about yourself that you believe to be true?
* What is a truth about yourself that you are afraid to claim?
      These questions followed me throughout the festival and have settled into my heart in the days after.
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    The band The Collection opened up the festival. Two lyrics/ sentiments that struck me where:
* Instead of making us all your own, you set us free.
* Up among the dirt and rust is where the Kingdom breathes.
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    One of the speakers I was able to hear was Phillip Yancey. He told a powerful story/ analogy of a high school orchestra attempting a song by Mozart that is beyond their level. You do not blame Mozart for their mistakes. Similarly, you do not blame God when the church does not live up to the image and work of the Kingdom.
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   Part of what makes the Goose so hard to capture in words is its spirit of hospitality. I've been to different Christian festivals in the past where people treated each other very poorly - fighting over space and mistreating each other in general. That does not fly at the Goose. We are about intergenerational spirituality where all are welcomed as they are, and where we can shine part of the light of the Kingdom through our actions and words.
             

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Women of Valor!

    While on vacation in June I had the opportunity to read Rachel Held Evans' A Year of Biblical Womanhood. There were a lot of wonderful thoughts and quotes in it, but the one that has stuck with me almost two months later is living as a woman of valor.
    I spent time in high school and college with women who worked hard to be a Proverbs 31 woman. I have even taught Bible studies on the topic. However, when we drop Proverbs 31 into evangelical Christianity it loses some of, if not all, of its original meaning. What has been translated as a good wife (in all of its derivatives) actually means a valorous woman. A woman who makes the most of everyday. A woman who takes risk. Who tries new things. Above all a woman to be honored.
    Honored so much so that Proverbs 31 was meant to be sung by a husband in front of guests to honor his wife. To brag about his wife. To express his love and care and affection. Not as a standard to have her live into, but celebrating who she already was - worthy to be loved. It is not an ideal, but who we are inside.
     Ladies, we are women of valor. We need to stop trying to change who we are and embrace who we are. In a profession that is relatively recent for women, women normally are more critical of each other than men. In fact, we are described as just being plain mean or catty. We need to celebrate each other as women of valor, not try to knock each other down - the world is trying to do enough of that.
    Men, who are the women you celebrate in your life? Who are the women of valor?
    This, my friends, is a blessing we need to pass on to the women in our lives. A reminder that we are all loved and worthy and to be honored for who we are. Who do you need to bless today with the reminder that she is a woman of valor?

Home

    While at Wild Goose this past week, we were continually told "Welcome Home". For the Goose, home is not a place, for we were in a new location this year. And home isn't even necessarily about people, for we are a community in transition, with some old faces along with lots of new ones. So what is home?
   In the Book of Jeremiah the message that God gives the prophet for the people in exile was to build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat of their bounty; multiple their families and settle their households. To seek the good of this foreign land, for when it was at peace, they would be at peace. A hard task for people longing to go back to where they came from. Longing for what they thought home was. It was as if God was reminding them that home is not about the physical location, rather where they felt whole and safe.
    In many ways I feel like a nomad, often spending more time in my car than any where else. Yet, I know where home is. And in the words Alice sings in the musical Wonderland, "home is not a place or an address you memorize. Its more than seven flights to apartment 8A. Its where you never feel lonely, even when you're alone." Home.
   For too many people they never had home. They made have had a house and a family, but never a place to feel safe and whole. A place where they were never lonely even when they were alone. A place to sink their roots into, like the prophet Jeremiah is declaring. It is for these folks and so many others that the Wild Goose's cry of "Welcome Home" is triumphant. Welcome to the place where you will not be judged. Welcome to a place of nurture. Welcome to a place of wholeness.
   We all need places like this. Places that restore our souls. Where is your home?

Limitations

   Its hard for me to admit my limitations - mostly because we live in a society that equates limitations with shortcomings or weaknesses that need to be pushed past in order to be considered whole and successful. One of my limitations has to do with back pain. There are certain things that I know are not wise for me to do - camping and driving long distances among them. Yet, I wanted to try to push past said limitation in order to go and work at a festival this past week. It only took one day of driving to realize what a foolish plan that was. I know that normally I should only drive six hours in a day (if I'm the driver, I can go longer if I am a passenger) and take many breaks at that, but I decided to attempt seven and a half hours on the way to the festival in order to be better positioned for the drive the following day. Poor, poor choice. By seven hours my back was spasming, my right foot was spasming, and my legs had cramped. I had never had the later two happen before. So on the way home I decided to go at a much slower pace, only doing what I truly could do and taking lots of breaks along the way. The result was feeling much better.
   While on vacation, I stopped at two caverns, both of which warned you not to enter if you had certain physical limitations. Yet people in both of my tour groups pushed through, one definitely going past his healthy limit. What makes us choose to harm our bodies and not honor our limitations? How can we reframe them as something to be embraced instead of something to be conquered?


Respect

   My generation (millennials) are often described by those older than us as "disrespectful". This weekend I stopped a few places on the way back from vacation that really challenged that perception. While in Virginia I explored two different caverns. The first was at the natural bridge, where tour groups departed every 30 minutes for a 45 minute tour. As one would guess, that meant that one group was coming back up the up and down path, as a another was going down, making the walkways a bit tight. To remedy this problem, one group was asked to step up on a platform so the other could get by. It was a free for all when it came to getting off the platform, so I stopped and moved to the side so two elderly couples and a family with an infant could go first. But the middle aged couple behind me, who could see what I was doing, became impatient and pushed past, almost jarring the baby. The second instance was at the Luray Caverns where a middle aged man decided that the rules did not apply to him, so he touched as many of the rock formations as he could.
   Such actions of impatience and indifference gave me pause as I realized that this was the generation that was supposed to have taught mine to be respectful. If there is no one to raise up the next generation what will happen?
   Over the past few weeks I have also heard horrible things come out of people's mouths. Racist comments. Ignorance. Bigotry. My first reaction was pain, followed quickly by anger, for loved ones who would be targeted by such awful comments. But then I started to grieve for my generation and generations to come, for hate is also taught.
    We are all role models for respect or disrespect. There is no way to get around it - someone is watching us and learning from us. So how will we choose to act and what lessons will we intentionally pass on to those who come after us? For we cannot simply blame others for not having the habits and core values that we failed to teach them.

Monday, August 5, 2013

Cross Stitch

 There is something beautiful about working with your hands - creating something. When I was in elementary school the Girl Scouts learned to cross-stitch. I wasn't very good at it, but the Christmas ornaments we made are still some of my favorites that hang on the family tree.
   In high school I learned how to knit and it was completely different from the cross-stitch. Once I got the hang of it I could knit and pearl without much thought until the yarn rans out. But cross-stitches are different - colors and thread counts and stitches change. You have to pay attention.
   With counted cross-stitches, one without patterns printed on fabrics, you have to pay even more attention. Pay attention to each stitch, but for me it is becoming a form of prayer. A discipline of praying for the person who will receive the finished product, for I rarely keep them. The months of work that go into the canvas, representing hours of prayer. Intentional thought. Time in the presence of God. The ones who receive may never know of the prayers that are prayed, but they are in ever stitch, ever thread, every knot. Prayers of blessing, hope, and peace. Amen.

Sometimes Its Hard

    Sometimes I get frustrated with being a pastor. Not because I don't love my job. And not because I don't feel called. But sometimes it becomes hard when everyone thinks they are your boss (instead of God) with their different expectations. And it becomes almost heartbreaking when people think it is their right to be nasty to you as the pastor, to your face if you're lucky, but more often then not behind your back creating drama. Its times like these that I need to remember that the church is a community of broken people and that all of the stuff going on and being said, really has very little to do with me, and much more reflects what people are going through at any given moment. It would have just been nice to be warned that as a pastor you become people's emotional punching bag.

Sunday, August 4, 2013

The Genesis of Relationships - Gen 2: 4-17


Family. Relationships. Love. Drama. Death. Commandments. Consequences. The Book of Genesis seems to have it all. In fact, the book of Genesis is one of my favorite books of the Bible because it is so very human - speaking about how we are created, who we are in relationship to the God who dreamed us into being, the messes we get into and how God redeems us. Its all in this book about our beginnings. And it really is beginnings, isn’t it? God continually making a way out of no way and reclaiming humanity when we stray. The book is just so earthy and raw.
For the next several weeks we are going to be exploring what the book of Genesis reveals about the relationships that we find ourselves in. And those we choose to be in. And those relationships that choose us, like our relationship to God. Relationships help define and shape who we are and what we believe in, which is why I think they are the very beginning of our holy scriptures.
Genesis is a book of stories that are told in Sunday School, but there are some pieces that are often left out, simply because they are not memorable for kids or attention capturing for adults. The genealogies. I don’t know about you, but genealogies fascinate some of my family members. This past week I had a few different family gatherings and during one them, my cousin (or second cousin- once removed as she introduced herself) was talking about sifting through reams of paper worth of family documents to trace her husband’s lineage. My grandfather has been working for years to trace our family roots through all of its twist and turns. Yet, we skip right over genealogies in the Bible thinking they are just a list of names, instead of remembering they are part of history, our history, the history of relationships.
In verse four of today’s scripture we read that “these are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created”. The generations and lineage of Adam, Noah, Jacob. All part of God’s plan, connected together and connected to us. We were created for relationships - to others and to God. And even when the humans in the narrative screw up because they are broken by sin, God still beckons them back into relationship with the Holy One and with others. Because this is what we were created for. So for the next several weeks we are going to be talking about relationships.
This week we are invited to think about the start of all relationships, our primary relationship, the relationship we need to be paying attention too and working on, but sometimes push to the side. Our relationship with God.
Our relationship with God is primary because it is God who created us. The God who made the Heavens and the Earth. Who thought up every herb that springs in the field and crafted them into being, created humans out of the dust of the ground. God formed man as a potter forms something out of slab of clay - seeing the potential that humans could have and then bringing shape to us. When the shell was formed, God breathed life into us and made us a living soul. Take a moment and marvel in that. God loved us into being. God created us out of nothing, not on a whim, but because God has a purpose for humans. God wanted to be in relationship with us, not in an abstract way, but intimately. God is the god of relationships. God is deeply connected to us and we are deeply connected to God, both in a simple and complex way, just like our family relationships.
After God created Adam, the first human from the dust, Adam was placed in the Garden of Eden. Eden can be translated as joy or delight. And in Eden Adam was given a purpose, a vocation, to till and keep the land. Along with these specific duties came instructions, “to eat freely from the garden’s produce, except for that of the tree of knowledge of good and evil”. At the very beginning of humanity’s relationship with the Divine, we were given the capacity for obedience and disobedience. The ability to be in relationship to good as it is defined by our Creator or to be in a relationship with evil, that which is contrary to God. 
Of course the story goes on beyond today’s scripture passage into Genesis 3 where the story is told how sin enters into our lives. How Adam and Eve chose what is contrary to God and thus the generations that followed struggle to remain in right relationship with God, each other, and the world around them. Sin entered the picture and we lost the joy and delight of Eden. The joy and delight of relationships, which sometimes can get messy. Its not how God envisioned relationships or created them to be, but is the reality of the world we live in - a world marred by sin.
As a pastor I have often heard people say that they wish God wouldn’t have given us the capacity for free will, the capacity to be obedient or disobedient. But Pastor Mike Slaughter states that it is out of this free will that we get what defines all of our relationships - trust and integrity. God trusted Adam and Eve to obey the command they were given, and for a while it worked so well. But then the seperant entered the picture and made the couple doubt that God could be trusted, so they strayed from the only instruction they were given, and the relationship was broken. So broken that Adam and Eve hid from God in shame.
Notice that when they strayed from God, it was Adam and Eve who hid from God in the garden. Brothers and sisters, do we not do the same today? When we stray from this relationship that is primary to our very being, when we don’t trust God, or act in a way that doesn’t reflect integrity, we hide from the Lord who made us for relationship with the Divine. Instead of turning to God and restoring the relationship, we hide and isolate ourselves. And when we hide from God, cutting ourselves off from this first relationship, chaos will follow in all of our other relationships. 
All relationships are important, but when we cut ourselves off from our relationship with God, then we are going to be searching for other relationships to fill the place of our first relationship, our primary relationship, the genesis of all relationships, and its not going to work. We are going to be separated from the joy of the relationship we were created for. 
Brothers and sisters, where are you in your relationship with God today? Is it your primary relationship? Do you spend as much time in God’s presence as you do in the presence of others? Do you find your joy and purpose in God’s love for you? Or do you feel that your relationship with God is broken or you are hiding from your Creator? How can you work on your relationship with God over the coming weeks - growing it as you would with any of your relationships with each other? How can your relationship with God be one marked by trust and integrity?
Friends, your Creator and the author of relationships, yearns to love us. Yearns to be in relationship with us. May we seek to truly make our relationship with God a priority in our lives. Amen.