Lapis Lazuli

This week as I was reading through Exodus, a passage jumped out at me. I have been reading the Bible for as long as I have known how to read and I have always enjoyed the Pentateuch. Some find it tedious or unnecessarily detailed, but I have always found it interesting. All of the descriptions of the laws and the garments. The instructions for building, for partying, for creating a life together between God and God's people.
But this week as I read Exodus 24, when I got to verses 9 - 11, I felt like I had never read those verses before! I'm sure I have, but I don't remember them. When this happens, it always feels like a portal has opened up, a secret passageway that I could have sworn wasn't there before.
Here the verses are in the New Living Translation:
^"Then Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel climbed up the mountain. There they saw the God of Israel. Under his feet there seemed to be a surface of brilliant blue lapis lazuli, as clear as the sky itself. And though these nobles of Israel gazed upon God, he did not destroy them. In fact, they ate a covenant meal, eating and drinking in his presence!"
I love this picture of a party to celebrate the peace/covenant made between God and God's people. There is so little description and I want to know so much more!
What did they eat? Did God serve them food? Why do they only mention God's feet? Did the surface separate them or were they all on it together? 
When I was little, my family went to see the King Tut exhibit at the Field Museum here in Chicago. It was 1977 and I remember waiting and waiting to get into the exhibit. I'm not sure what 7 year old me thought was behind those doors, but the waiting heightened my expectations. 
It was late by the time we went into the exhibit and the hush and the darkness were palpable. There were glass cases containing treasures, each one lit from inside - the majority of the light in the room came from these magical boxes. Traveling back in time to ancient Egypt, touching a bit of history. Mummies and pharaohs were mysterious figures, one from cartoons and the other from bible stories. I don't remember much of what I saw that night, but I do remember seeing lapis lazuli for the first time. The blue was so stunning and I loved the sounds of the words together. So luxurious. So kingly. 
This passage's mention of lapis lazuli transported me back to that night for a moment, and some of the emotions from that experience seem apropos - the awe and wonder in the presence of a king, the timelessness, the inability to describe what I saw. 
Whatever Moses and his family and the elders saw that day, I am sure it was full of these same emotions. Sometimes the telling of it doesn't measure up, so it seems better to treasure it instead. 
Lately I find myself doing this. Instead of taking pictures of gatherings with friends, I find that the times I don't post on social media or document it in any way are more precious to me. A time to treasure and not to broadcast. A private moment. A hidden event. Just a sentence in my journal or a ticket stub. 
Whatever happened that day on the mountain was just such a moment. A time to bolster these leaders as they prepared for their wilderness journey. A reminder that God was with them and would feed and provide. A seal on the covenant that they were making together. 
Throughout the wilderness wanderings and the making and keeping of the tabernacle, the color blue will be a major theme. Blue threads, blue cloths to cover the most holy instruments of worship.
The surface was also described as "clear as the sky" - did they look up on a clear day and reminisce about that time at God's table? Built into creation and commandments, there are these reminders of God's presence and provision.
This story is an example of God breaking through in a tangible way. The blue surface seems to be the most vibrant memory from that day. In my life, the times that I have felt closest to God sometimes have these types of touchstones: a smell, a touch, a sound, a feeling. Then when I see that color or touch that ticket stub in my pocket, or whatever it is, I am reminded of God's faithfulness. And just for a moment, I am transported to my hidden life with God and I feast on God's presence. 

Good News for All People

This week in our scripture readings, the people of Israel made it into Egypt. It is a story of redemption and reconnection. A resurrection story - this son that Jacob thought was dead is alive, the son that was lost is found. The family moves to the land of Goshen and settles separately from the Egyptians because of their agrarian way of life.

Fast forward hundreds of years and the Israelites have become numerous and the new rulers in the land fear them and enslave them. God’s desire is to fulfill God’s promise to the people of Israel that they would live in the land of Canaan - the land promised to Abraham.

God calls to Moses from the burning bush to get his attention. The beginning of many strange wonders, but Moses has a hard time trusting God. In order to show Moses that God desires a collaboration, God gives Moses a partner - his brother Aaron - to accompany him. Through a series of devastating plagues, God demonstrates sovereignty over the gods of Egypt and provision for the people of Israel. Before each one, God gives Pharaoh a chance to avoid the oncoming plague.

This has always been presented to me as a story of good guys and bad guys. God’s chosen people and those destined for destruction. It’s easier that way. Clear winners and losers. But I am trying to listen better to the good news for all, so I tried to see how this story could possibly be good news for Pharaoh and the Egyptians. 

In the specific context of Egypt, they worshiped many gods - even Pharaoh was considered a god in human form - often as Horus, the son of Ra. Each of the plagues dismantled the power of the Egyptian gods in increasing measure of importance and power. The last two plagues, darkness and death of the first born, attack Ra, the Sun god, and Pharaoh as the son of Ra.

That’s part of the good news for the oppressors.. A chance to see that the gods that they depend on for their safety and dominance are nothing compared to the God of the universe. God dismantles the systems little by little, giving Pharaoh a chance to change - to repent.

The redemption for the enslaved people was physical freedom, but the redemption for the oppressors was breaking down the systems that made enslavement possible. Israel will be on the receiving end of this type of redemption several hundreds of years later when they find themselves conquered and in exile. It can’t be good news for Judah and Israel later if it is not also good news for Pharaoh and Egypt now.

As I was praying about how this story could possibly be good for all parties in the story, the picture of the end scene of The Lord of the Flies flashed into my mind.

If you haven’t read it or seen any of the film adaptations, the basic story is of a group of boys who find themselves without adult supervision on a deserted island after their plane is shot down and the pilot (the only adult!) is killed in the crash. They start to develop some rules of order and leadership, but things start to disintegrate quickly as one of the boys, Jack, sets himself against Ralph. He leads most of the others to accidentally kill a boy named Simon during a frenzied violent “dance” and mistreat and eventually kill another boy whom they nicknamed Piggy.

At the end of the book, Jack is leading all of the other boys to hunt down and kill Ralph. They can’t find him in the thick jungle of the island and so they decide to smoke him out. This large fire attracts the attention of a nearby ship who comes to the island to see what is happening.

As Ralph emerges from the cover of the jungle onto the beach where he is vulnerable and exposed to his attackers, he finds himself at the feet of a soldier. As the other boys emerge from the jungle, screaming and covered with war paint and wielding homemade weapons, they too see the soldier and they are stopped in their tracks.

In the 90s film version, the soldier says to the boys, “What are you guys doing?” In the book, it is even more profound and deeply layered: “What have you been doing? Having a war or something?” This interruption provides salvation for not just Ralph but also for the boys who were about to do something unthinkable and destructive. This type of violent behavior affects the perpetrators as trauma.

In this article on the Inclusion Solution’s website, this type of trauma is described:

• Mark Charles, a Native American (Navajo) pastor and activist, contends that white people who have perpetrated injustices against people of color over generations also experience trauma, not as victims but as perpetrators. Perpetration Induced Traumatic Stress (PITS), a term coined by peace psychologist Rachel MacNair, describes incidents of PTSD resulting from the trauma of having committed violence, as contrasted with trauma caused by witnessing or being the recipient of a violent act. Charles says that a nation built on 500 years of perpetuating injustices must also be experiencing historical trauma. He quotes Socrates: “The doer of injustice is more miserable than the sufferer. “ 

This act of the Egyptians giving up their wealth to the formerly enslaved people, this example of reparations, is part of their redemption story. The good news for the oppressors (and we’ll see this later when Nehemiah goes back to rebuild) is that they can participate in the restoration of the oppressed. 

This concept is part of the messianic song which we see in Isaiah and then again in Luke:

Every valley shall be raised up,
every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level,
the rugged places a plain.
And the glory of the Lord will be revealed,
and all people will see it together.
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

The good news for the oppressors is different from the good news for the oppressed. For those of us experiencing relative privilege in the world, the words of John the Baptist provide a simple path to this type of redemption: “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.”

And of course, Jesus Himself gives us instructions along these same lines when He describes the sheep and goats: “I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me,” (more on this here).

At Uptown Church yesterday, Pastor Jeremy gave a similar message. In our sermon series on the Lord’s Prayer, the focus was on the first words, “Our Father.” This inclusive, plural pronoun packs a punch. It shows that God is the God of all! In the practice of faith in this country, this has not been the case. He reminded us of the words of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “the most segregated hour of Christian America is 11 o'clock on Sunday morning.” He then outlined racial injustices in the history of the church, in particular around the Great Awakening and the Asuza Street Revival.

I am thankful to be part of a church that is actively seeking to give voice to the disenfranchised and marginalized among us in Uptown. Our corporate benediction reflects our values: “Lord, help us to disrupt suffering and mend what is broken with the hope of Jesus.”

As I read the Old Testament this winter, I am asking God for the grace to read from the perspective of an oppressor. I am asking God to show me the good news for all people so that I, together with every nation, tribe, language and people, can look into the face of my Savior and be made whole in His presence.

Look at Things in New Ways

Many years ago, I was driving in rural Illinois when all of the sudden the car filled with a familiar but unpleasant odor. "Ugh, a skunk!" I lamented. My friend, who had grown up on a farm, commented, "I actually kinda like it. It's just a strong musky smell." I was shocked. I had never heard anyone say anything positive about skunk smell! After she said this, I breathed in a little of the odor with this in mind, and it really didn't smell as bad as I thought. In fact, as it dissipated, I started to see what she meant. 
This moment has become a memorial to me of sorts. I have often thought back to this when I hear or read things radically different than what I have heard most of my life - especially when I realize I am just parroting some idea or thought that is widely held but rarely challenged. 
Recently, I have been thinking a lot about what I learned about women in the Bible and women's roles in church and home. Most of what I heard and thought was what might be considered traditional or conservative. Women supporting men in roles of leadership but not leading themselves. No women pastors or elders.  
I am thankful to have landed in a denomination that recognizes women in leadership and I am now a pastor myself, but that didn't keep the old thoughts and rationales from rising up again as I started to read through the Bible at the beginning of the month. There are still so many places in the church where women leaders aren't affirmed. The recent comments from John MacArthur about Beth Moore and the subsequent responses doubling down in his defense started making me feel discouraged. So many voices saying that they are seeing things "biblically" and that the issue was "clear."
As I started the bible reading plan, I asked God to show me as I read through the Old Testament what God thinks about women. Not that I hadn't thought of this before, but I really wanted to hear God for Godself on the issue and not any other voices. 
The first story in the bible where anyone has any dialogue has a woman main character. Have you ever thought of that? I don't know about you, but all during my school years, most books we read had male protagonists. If a movie or a book has a female lead, it's usually considered a "chick flick" or "empowering" and the expected audience is female. But here we see a strong female character. She has agency, leadership, influence - she makes a decision to be independent of God and to have the ability to decide good and evil for herself. This is usually considered to be the fall of humanity, but in many senses, it is actually the rise of humanity - this act sets in motion the complicated and intricate plan of redemption and salvation of a people with the freedom to choose.
Several chapters later, the main character of one of the stories is Hagar, a slave woman who has been mistreated and runs away from her masters. In this story, a disenfranchised woman is sought out by God - God appears to her, talks to her, addresses her plight and redirects her path. She gives God a name - "the God who sees." God talks to her again after she is sent away a second time.
Sarah is also a main character in this story with a lot of agency (for good and bad) who is also addressed by God through angelic messengers.  
Rebekah is also a strong female character - God talks to her directly concerning her unborn children. In the story of her family, we know about her preferential treatment of her younger son and the role she plays in the trickery that he undertakes to steal the blessing from his brother. 
Already in the story that God is telling about God's people, there are enough indications that who the women are and what they do is significant to God. Women are named, have agency, are talked to directly. In most history books that I read in school, I do not remember hearing any stories of women. If there were an occasional story about a woman, she was usually someone's wife or mother (which is also sometimes the case in the biblical narratives) but definitely not disenfranchised or powerless. 
I am definitely hearing God loud and clear that women are valued and their voices matter. 
Going back to the skunk story, maybe you think it's a stinky example (ha!) since it's so widely acknowledged as being a "bad" smell. I think that is precisely why it is such a great analogy. According to Rachel S. Herz, Ph.D, odor preference is learned and not hardwired. I think that some of the ways that people arrive at their beliefs are influenced by their environment and/or "inherited." I find it refreshing to read and reread God's word with the Holy Spirit guiding my thoughts and pointing out things I hadn't seen before. As Jesus said to His disciples, "every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.” I am looking forward to polishing some old treasures that I cherish and also to discovering new ones in the vast storeroom of God's word.

So Many Threads

Inspired by the weekly liturgical writings of Debi Thomas, I made a New Year's resolution of sorts to write each week reflecting on the readings in the Read Scripture app that we are doing together as Uptown Church. I love the Bible Project and was so excited to hear that we are doing this together. Reading the Bible as a people has always been God's intent - one of the many threads we see throughout the Word, but I am getting ahead of myself. 

At the end of last year, my friend Angela posted a picture of her loom and a piece of cloth that she had woven. I have vague memories of my mom having a loom when I was very young and I definitely remember passing the shuttle back and forth and pressing the threads together. I didn't realize that this image was in the back of my mind while I was reading this week until I got to the story of Melchizedek. This verse stood out to me: "Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High" Genesis 14:18. When I saw the bread and wine reference, I wrote down in my journal, "so many threads to follow." Immediately, the picture of Angela's loom was in my mind and her comment of having to rethread the 300+ threads several times to get it right. 

Is the world God's great loom? or is time the great framework? This made me stop and think of all the threads that are already started in the first 18 chapters of Genesis: 

• covenant
• belief/trust in God
• good and evil
• barren women/birth/seed
• trees
• offering/altars/sacrifice
• stories with women main characters

I am excited to watch these threads be woven again and again into the story of God and God's people partnering together to make a world where God is welcome and the people of God are a blessing to those around them. 

I watched a lot of weaving videos and they were all so beautiful and breathtaking. The attention to detail. The breadth of the set up and preparation. Mostly replaced by machines these days, but still so many made by hand - all over the world! The one machine that especially caught my attention was the Jacquard loom - probably because of my love of mathematics and order but also because of the nature of the process.  Watch here for a short explanation.

 

I am hoping to write a poem each week as well, but I am not going to force it. This is one that I wrote in the wee hours of the morning today as I prayed and reflected on the many threads we are invited to follow.

The Master Weaver

a reflection on Genesis 1 - 18  

In the beginning
the framework was bare
the Master Weaver assembled the loom
tying countless strings
blocking the pattern
preparing the cards
then, when all was in it's proper place,
the machinery lurched into action
strings going every which way
the slap of the beater
the motion of the treadles 
the shuttle passes through
back and forth
each pass creating a new measure of fabric
threads combining
being forced together
this seemingly chaotic concomitance of chords
making order out of the tangled webs
the weft. the warp.
passing through the proper threads
at the proper time
this intelligent design
counterweights from above
working in concert with the countless threads
to make a single cloth
the fabric lengthens
until the time when
the pattern is complete
the final card is read
the final row is secured
the fabric is ready to be cut loose
all the loose ends tied
the rough edges made plain
ready to be placed
on the banquet table