BibleWorm

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This week we are reading the story of the manna in Exod 16:1-18. “Manna from heaven” is synonymous now with some kind of unexpected way that our needs are miraculously met. We all want manna from heaven. But in the story, this miracle looks so strange that the people see it on the ground and – what's that? This story made us wonder – what's the difference between moving away from something and moving toward something else? Could it be that a first step in drawing near to God is turning toward the wilderness, where there is no predictable path, and nothing will be quite like you were used to? And when exactly will God start providing program overviews with timestamps and blurbs?

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This week we’re reading the story of Moses’ encounter with God on Sinai as told in Exodus 2:23-25; 3:1-15; and 4:10-17. We notice that in this text, God responds to the cry of the Israelites by first saying, “I’ve come down to rescue the people from Egypt” but then saying, “So you get going. I’m sending you to Pharaoh.” The way God works in the world, it seems, is through people like Moses, who pay attention to the things that are on fire in the world and don’t ignore them or run away from them. But even Moses, one of the heroes of Scripture, is at first afraid to do what God asks of him, begging God to send someone else. Yet it turns out that this God of ours is an equipping God, who gives Moses what is needed for the task ahead of him, a staff, a partner, and even the divine name. “I am who I am,” says God. “I will be who I will be.” So who is God calling us toward today, we wonder, and how is God equipping us f the task ahead?

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This week we read stories about Jacob’s young adulthood in Gen 27:1-4 and 15-23, and Gen 28:10-17. We think a lot about the push and pull of driving toward our desired outcomes vs just letting things unfold. How is Rebecca SO sure of what she’s doing? Why does Isaac bless even when he knows he’s getting mixed signals? Why does Jacob first encounter God in a dream-state – and if he'd fallen asleep somewhere else, would God have met him there, too?  

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This week we’re reading one of the most difficult passages in all of scripture, the story of the near-sacrifice of Isaac in Genesis 21:1-3 and 22:1-14. After years of waiting, Sarah and Abraham have finally received Isaac, the child promised to them by God. But almost as soon the promise is fulfilled, God commands Abraham to take the boy up on a mountain and offer him as a sacrifice. We feel for Abraham, whose devotion to God sets him at odds with his devotion to his family, wondering how we might navigate the tensions between faith and family. And we wonder about this God, who demands sacrifice but relents in the end. Is this a moment where God chooses relationship over obedience, a new way of being God in the presence of the other? And seeing Abraham’s apparent willingness to offer Isaac on the mountain, we wonder: what exactly are we willing to sacrifice our children for?

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We are back to the beginning this week, reading Genesis 1:1-2:4-the very first Bible story, the story of creation in 7 days. But come on. Isn’t it really 6 days? In 6 days, God shows us a way of creating in “yes AND” mode–constantly making space for what is breathtakingly new without destroying or diluting what was there. A mode of creation that is exponential-where creatures themselves are meant to create, and life begets life, and every single life supports another. What does it mean for us to be made in the image of THIS kind of God? And seriously, with all the work there is to do in the world, how can rest be so important to creation that we count the 7th day in with the others?

In this replay from Summer 2024, BibleWorm concludes our summer series on creation care with Ezekiel’s vision of a river of life flowing from the temple as told in Ezekiel 47:1 –12. The prophet Ezekiel, writing from the devastation of the Babylonian exile, envisions a radical re-creation of the world that takes place when God’s glory returns to the Jerusalem temple. What begins as a tiny trickle of water emerging from under the altar becomes a mighty river that turns even the Dead Sea into a thriving ecosystem teeming with fish. Along the river’s banks grow fruit-bearing trees with healing leaves, transforming the desolate land of exilic Israel into a new Eden where both humans and the environment can thrive. What would happen, we wonder, if our communities of faith also became sources of God’s life-giving water for the world? How might our desolate lands be transformed if we boldly proclaimed the glory of God in relationship with creation? It doesn’t seem like much, we think. But even Ezekiel’s raging river of life began as a tiny trickle. What if our efforts could do the same?

In this replay from Summer 2024, BibleWorm continues our series on Creation Care, with Leviticus 26:3-22, 34-35, and 40-45.  It's a text that presses the question – what happens when we lose track of the fact that we are part of magnificently interconnected system, and begin to imagine that we can – or even that we must -- function on our own? How does the anxious productivity of humans impact the rest of creation? And once we realize the harm we have caused, how do we move toward healing? We wish this text didn’t feel as close to home as it does, but we are glad it’s here. 

In this replay from Summer 2024, BibleWorm continues our summer series on creation care with Psalm 104, a profound text celebrating the magnificence of creation, which brings joy not only to the human heart but also to all creatures, from the birds in the trees to Leviathan in the deeps of the sea. We even see the celebratory nature of God, who whisks about on the clouds, wearing a fabulous cloak made of light and rejoicing in all that God has created. The psalm also reminds us of the harmonious relationship God intends for humans and animals, with humans working during the day and animals prowling at night so we can each live our lives fully, without being a danger to one another. All of this, the psalmist reminds us, should make us sing throughout our lives at the incomparable glory of creation. Bless the LORD, O my soul!

In this replay from Summer 2024, BibleWorm continues our summer series on Creation Care with Psalm 65 and special attention to the water. This psalm brings together scenes of prayer and silence, of humans and of nature, and of a God who is the orientation point for all of it. It made us wonder: What if we could see ourselves, for a moment, as almost like a sibling to the water? Both of us oriented toward God, both of us in relationship to God, both calmed by God when we inevitably become a source of chaos? And it made us wonder: if we could quiet ourselves enough to offer silence as praise – if we could quiet our minds, and the voices of scarcity and acquisitiveness around us – what else in creation could be heard? What would it say – to us, and to our Maker? 

In this replay from Summer 2024, BibleWorm continues on in our summer series on creation care with Job 38:1-38 in which God speaks to Job from the whirlwind, reminding Job of the beauty, grandeur, and complexity of nature that is beyond human understanding. Where humans were said to have “dominion” over the world in Genesis 1, in Job 38 humans seem almost irrelevant—God guides the constellations; God nurtures the sea; God sends the lightning bolts on their courses, and they respond, “Here I am.” This text invites us to lean into our not-knowing, to relinquish our supposed mastery of the universe to revel in its complex beauty. More than that, it reminds us that, in a world often marked by suffering, we are not alone. There is a whole world before us and around us, alive with responsiveness to God. Truly a balm for the soul.