warning and encouragement

Good afternoon sisters and brothers,
Jesus continues his description of the troubles to come that will mark the end of the world. There's always the temptation to predict when this might happen, but Jesus tells us even he doesn't know when the end will come. Instead we should hear his warning that things will be rough before the end and that there will be many who try to deceive us. We know what we need to know to face the trouble that will come. We know Christ loves us and will bring us safely home in the end. In the meantime, we know our calling: to love God and love our neighbor. Anything that tries to pull us away from that calling is not from God. We have the Holy Spirit and the community to strengthen and guide us, so let us keep the faith.

God bless,
Sam

Mark 13:14-23

¹⁴“But when you see the desolating sacrilege set up where it ought not to be (let the reader understand), then those in Judea must flee to the mountains; ¹⁵the one on the housetop must not go down or enter the house to take anything away; ¹⁶the one in the field must not turn back to get a coat. ¹⁷Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing infants in those days! ¹⁸Pray that it may not be in winter. ¹⁹For in those days there will be suffering, such as has not been from the beginning of the creation that God created until now, no, and never will be. ²⁰And if the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would be saved; but for the sake of the elect, whom he chose, he has cut short those days.

²¹And if anyone says to you at that time, ‘Look! Here is the Messiah!’ or ‘Look! There he is!’ —do not believe it. ²²False messiahs and false prophets will appear and produce signs and omens, to lead astray, if possible, the elect. ²³But be alert; I have already told you everything.

the trickster tricked

Good morning (or evening) friends,
We saw that when Jacob and Laban agreed that Joseph's wages would be the speckled animals from Laban's flock, Laban separated out those animals at night and sent them away with his sons. Jacob adapts to turn the situation to his favor. Jacob's craftiness can be ethically challenging, but it often makes for good stories.

Blessings on your weekend,
Sam

Genesis 30:37-43

37Then Jacob took fresh rods of poplar and almond and plane, and peeled white streaks in them, exposing the white of the rods. 38He set the rods that he had peeled in front of the flocks in the troughs, that is, the watering places, where the flocks came to drink. And since they bred when they came to drink, 39the flocks bred in front of the rods, and so the flocks produced young that were striped, speckled, and spotted. 40Jacob separated the lambs, and set the faces of the flocks toward the striped and the completely black animals in the flock of Laban; and he put his own droves apart, and did not put them with Laban’s flock. 41Whenever the stronger of the flock were breeding, Jacob laid the rods in the troughs before the eyes of the flock, that they might breed among the rods, 42but for the feebler of the flock he did not lay them there; so the feebler were Laban’s, and the stronger Jacob’s. 43Thus the man grew exceedingly rich, and had large flocks, and male and female slaves, and camels and donkeys.

wages and family

Good morning sisters and brothers,
As he now has a large family, Jacob becomes more concerned about providing for himself and his family. For this reason he goes to Laban to renegotiate the terms of his employment. They agree to give Jacob the spotted and speckled animals as his wages, but Laban takes them away at night and sends them off with his sons. We’ll see that Jacob isn’t that easy to put one over on, but has craft of his own. May God protect us from the dishonesty of others and our own willingness to take advantage of others.

God bless,
Sam

Genesis 30:25-36
25When Rachel had borne Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, that I may go to my own home and country. 26Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me go; for you know very well the service I have given you.” 27But Laban said to him, “If you will allow me to say so, I have learned by divination that the Lord has blessed me because of you; 28name your wages, and I will give it.”

29Jacob said to him, “You yourself know how I have served you, and how your cattle have fared with me. 30For you had little before I came, and it has increased abundantly; and the Lord has blessed you wherever I turned. But now when shall I provide for my own household also?” 31He said, “What shall I give you?” Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything; if you will do this for me, I will again feed your flock and keep it: 32let me pass through all your flock today, removing from it every speckled and spotted sheep and every black lamb, and the spotted and speckled among the goats; and such shall be my wages. 33So my honesty will answer for me later, when you come to look into my wages with you. Every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats and black among the lambs, if found with me, shall be counted stolen.” 34Laban said, “Good! Let it be as you have said.”

35But that day Laban removed the male goats that were striped and spotted, and all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had white on it, and every lamb that was black, and put them in charge of his sons; 36and he set a distance of three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, while Jacob was pasturing the rest of Laban’s flock.

Jacob's new family

Good morning friends,
Jacob's arrival at Laban's house was happy, but not everything with that relationship is going to prove easy. After a month Laban suggests paying Jacob and Jacob wants to marry Laban's daughter Rachel in exchange for his work. The irony in this story is that Laban deceives Jacob, since Jacob is used to deceiving other people. The passage as a whole is tragically funny; it's not hard to imagine the scene as a bit from a goofy comedic play. At the same time we sense that there may be trouble in the future for this family. Even in the twists and turns of our lives, God is with us.

Blessings on your week,
Sam

Genesis 29:15-30

15Then Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my kinsman, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?” 16Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. 17Leah’s eyes were lovely, and Rachel was graceful and beautiful. 18Jacob loved Rachel; so he said, “I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.” 19Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to any other man; stay with me.” 20So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her. 21Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife that I may go in to her, for my time is completed.” 22So Laban gathered together all the people of the place, and made a feast. 23But in the evening he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob; and he went in to her. 24(Laban gave his maid Zilpah to his daughter Leah to be her maid.) 25When morning came, it was Leah!



And Jacob said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Did I not serve with you for Rachel? Why then have you deceived me?” 26Laban said, “This is not done in our country—giving the younger before the firstborn. 27Complete the week of this one, and we will give you the other also in return for serving me another seven years.” 28Jacob did so, and completed her week; then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel as a wife. 29(Laban gave his maid Bilhah to his daughter Rachel to be her maid.) 30So Jacob went in to Rachel also, and he loved Rachel more than Leah. He served Laban for another seven years.

stolen blessing

Good morning brothers and sisters,
Tonight we begin vacation Bible school at Laurelton. We have opportunities for all ages, so come on over at 6:30 this evening. Whether you're taking part in the adult or kid's learning opportunities, helping out with the program, or not I hope you'll pray for us and for the participants. Pray that God would work through us to touch hearts during these five weeks.

The story of Jacob and Esau comes to a climax in this reading. Esau returns from hunting to find his blessing stolen. All that is left for him is the blessing of eventually rising up against his brother's yoke. Esau and Isaac both weep about Jacob's deception, but the damage is already done. May we always seek to build peace where people are in conflict and look out for the interests of others as well as ourselves.

God bless,
Sam

Genesis 27:30-40

30As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, when Jacob had scarcely gone out from the presence of his father Isaac, his brother Esau came in from his hunting. 31He also prepared savory food, and brought it to his father. And he said to his father, “Let my father sit up and eat of his son’s game, so that you may bless me.” 32His father Isaac said to him, “Who are you?” He answered, “I am your firstborn son, Esau.”



33Then Isaac trembled violently, and said, “Who was it then that hunted game and brought it to me, and I ate it all before you came, and I have blessed him? —yes, and blessed he shall be!” 34When Esau heard his father’s words, he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, “Bless me, me also, father!” 35But he said, “Your brother came deceitfully, and he has taken away your blessing.” 36Esau said, “Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright; and look, now he has taken away my blessing.”



Then he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?” 37Isaac answered Esau, “I have already made him your lord, and I have given him all his brothers as servants, and with grain and wine I have sustained him. What then can I do for you, my son?” 38Esau said to his father, “Have you only one blessing, father? Bless me, me also, father!” And Esau lifted up his voice and wept. 39Then his father Isaac answered him: “See, away from the fatness of the earth shall your home be, and away from the dew of heaven on high. 40By your sword you shall live, and you shall serve your brother; but when you break loose, you shall break his yoke from your neck.”

more family dysfunction

Good morning friends,
Yesterday Isaac send his son Esau to hunt him some game so he could eat it and give him a blessing. Isaac's wife Rebekah overheard the conversation and told her favorite son, Jacob, to bring animals from the flock so he could pretend to be Esau and steal the blessing. Today we see just how elaborate the plot becomes and how it plays out.

Blessings on your day,
Sam

Genesis 27:14-29

14So he went and got them and brought them to his mother; and his mother prepared savory food, such as his father loved. 15Then Rebekah took the best garments of her elder son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob; 16and she put the skins of the kids on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. 17Then she handed the savory food, and the bread that she had prepared, to her son Jacob.



18So he went in to his father, and said, “My father”; and he said, “Here I am; who are you, my son?” 19Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me; now sit up and eat of my game, so that you may bless me.” 20But Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?” He answered, “Because the Lord your God granted me success.”



21Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near, that I may feel you, my son, to know whether you are really my son Esau or not.” 22So Jacob went up to his father Isaac, who felt him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” 23He did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands; so he blessed him. 24He said, “Are you really my son Esau?” He answered, “I am.” 25Then he said, “Bring it to me, that I may eat of my son’s game and bless you.” So he brought it to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine, and he drank.



26Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come near and kiss me, my son.” 27So he came near and kissed him; and he smelled the smell of his garments, and blessed him, and said, “Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed. 28May God give you of the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of the earth, and plenty of grain and wine. 29Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be everyone who blesses you!”

crafty snake

Good morning brothers and sisters,
Today's story is familiar to most of us and also quite strange. As often as I have read it there are parts of the story that don't make sense to me. I don't understand why God didn't want the man and woman to eat from the tree, for instance. The serpent uses the fact that the man and woman are unsuspecting, as Susan D. pointed out, they wouldn't even know there was such a thing as deception. He makes them feel like God is holding something good back from them. With that angle he tries to pry the people away from their natural trust in God. The saddest part of the passage to me is that God strolls in the garden in the evening. Where the man and woman perhaps used to run out to greet their maker; now they hide from God. We still feel that distance, sometimes even that fear of God. But in Christ, God welcomes all of us back home with open arms.

God bless,
Sam

Genesis 3:1-8

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God say, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; 3but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.’“ 4But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not die; 5for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”



6So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. 7Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves. 8They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

Getting our heart right

Good morning friends,
Today's reading from Jeremiah could come right out of the Psalms. Through Jeremiah, God compares trusting God to trusting in human things. The foolish trust in themselves, in wealth, or in other material things. The wise put their trust in God, and because of that they thrive even when things get rough or go wrong. Jeremiah's words are beautiful, with striking images that almost show the lesson he is trying to communicate. I particularly like the image of the heart being perverse and devious. Sometimes our desires fool us or make us see the world in twisted ways. No matter how we fool ourselves, God is not fooled. God sees what is really in our hearts and through God we too can unwind the lies that make us do what our better part doesn't want to do. May we seek God with all our heart and mind and soul and strength, and may we come to be like a deeply rooted tree beside the living waters.

God bless,
Sam

Jeremiah 17:5-11

5Thus says the Lord: Cursed are those who trust in mere mortals and make mere flesh their strength, whose hearts turn away from the Lord. 6They shall be like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see when relief comes. They shall live in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land.



7Blessed are those who trust in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. 8They shall be like a tree planted by water, sending out its roots by the stream. It shall not fear when heat comes, and its leaves shall stay green; in the year of drought it is not anxious, and it does not cease to bear fruit.



9The heart is devious above all else; it is perverse— who can understand it? 10I the Lord test the mind and search the heart, to give to all according to their ways, according to the fruit of their doings. 11Like the partridge hatching what it did not lay, so are all who amass wealth unjustly; in mid-life it will leave them, and at their end they will prove to be fools.