June 6, 2009

Readings:
Genesis 12 and 13
Matthew 5

Genesis:
Covenant was introduced in the Noah story, but this is the beginning of the Abrahamic covenant. Buckle your seatbelts for the rest of this Genesis ride, folks! Abram is sent by God to a new land. He will be a blessing. Abram is prototypical in this story, as are most characters in Genesis. This means that these characters stand for more than just themselves. The story of Abram is the story of the people of Israel. Throughout the rest of this narrative, listen for words of blessing, for providence, for promises being made and kept, and for God's faithfulness in the midst of human's humanness.

12:10 the NRSV translates a Hebrew word as "reside there as an alien". The other translation is "sojourner". Much of the story of Israel is of being "sojourners" or "strangers in a strange land". How does that, even today, shape the experience of the nation Israel?

Matthew:
This begins the Sermon on the Mount. There is actually a mount. It is very near Capernaum on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee.
Some translations differ from the NRSV on the word "blessed are..." in the beatitudes. The word could also mean "happy are..."
Notice the similarities and the differences between Matthew and Luke's account of the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew's account is much longer, to start with.
But there is very much a sense of radical realignment of how things are supposed to be. "Happy are you who mourn." Really? How?

I would argue that all people who advocate non-violence are influenced by Jesus' message here, because Jesus is forcing people to see the world differently. Where the world says "might makes right", Jesus says, "blessed are the peacemakers."

For example, look at 5:41--"and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile". It was practice for Roman soldiers to ask people to carry their baggage for them. But they could only ask you to carry it for one mile. So, if you voluntarily carry it the second mile, the Roman soldier would actually be in the position of begging you to stop carrying their luggage. In a culture of honor and shame, you would have much more honor from carrying something the second mile than you would in resisting to carry it in the first place.