{"id":1527,"date":"2022-12-21T13:14:47","date_gmt":"2022-12-21T19:14:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/nourishing-vocation\/?p=1527"},"modified":"2022-12-21T13:15:19","modified_gmt":"2022-12-21T19:15:19","slug":"engaging-the-living-word-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/nourishing-vocation\/2022\/12\/engaging-the-living-word-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Engaging the Living Word"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-modular-content-collection><h4 style=\"text-align: center;\">Nourishing Vocation Project<\/h4>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: center;\">Engaging the Living Word<\/h4>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: center;\">Abraham and Sarah &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/bible.oremus.org\/?ql=521203347\">Genesis 12:1-9<\/a><\/h5>\n<p><b>What is this particular text?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Story <\/span>\n<ul>\n<li>Ancestral story<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Theology\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Promise\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Transition (before Abram and after Abram\u2019s call<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2026<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">)\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>How does the text function within the scriptural story?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fulcrum text <\/span>\n<ul>\n<li>Human beings rebel<\/li>\n<li>God continues to bless<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Watershed\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201clynchpin of the Bible\u201d \u2013 beginning of new kind of stories to reconstitute at broken world <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The whole biblical story going forward is different, focused after Abram\u2019s call <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">o <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Themes are the same: creation, rebellion, redemption\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Beginning of a new beginning\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">God has a new strategy\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Beginning of a long term God-project\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s about Abram and Sarai \u2013 but it\u2019s about so much more\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>How can this text function in the church today?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b> <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Invitation to consider the church\u2019s call\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b> <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Where\/how is God calling us to go?\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b> <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What is God calling the church to leave behind?\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b> <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What are the promises of God that sustain the church in our \u201cgoing from<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2026<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d today?\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>What does the text do to you? How do you react to the text? What feelings does this text engender in you?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Raises a lot of questions\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Makes me uncomfortable\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fills me with a sense of awe that Abram actually went\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Makes me a little uncomfortable \u2013 is it exclusivism or inclusivism\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>What do you have to say to the text?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Audacious promise\/audacious action\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is hard to believe that they actually went\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Is this a theological telling of a humanly forced migration?\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I want to hear Sarai\u2019s voice\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>What do you see through this text from the story itself?<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b> <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Promise giving is accompanied by leave-taking\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b> <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">God acts without human permission\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>What do you see from within your church\/community\/world? (2022)\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Watershed time in the church &#8211; call to do something new <\/span>\n<ul>\n<li>Racism can no longer be ignored<\/li>\n<li>Current systems are proving to longer be functional<\/li>\n<li>Church is being called to leave behind systematic ways of being and doing that perpetuate white supremacy<\/li>\n<li>Church is being called to new ways of being as communities of well-being<\/li>\n<li>The call of God to leave behind and go to new places is coming from\n<ul>\n<li>The Gospel itself<\/li>\n<li>Young Adults<\/li>\n<li>BIPOC siblings<\/li>\n<li>2SLGBTQ+ siblings<\/li>\n<li>Those disenfranchised with institutional religion<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Crises of our current time <\/span>\n<ul>\n<li>Ideologically divided society<\/li>\n<li>Guns\/violence<\/li>\n<li>Racial disparity\/injustice\/reckoning<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>What do you see within yourself?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Times when God has called me to leave everything behind\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Times when the call has been frightening\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>What is the context \u2013 textual and historical?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Follows creation\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Follows fall\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Follows Noah\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Follows Babel\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Preamble\/prelude\/precursor to Jesus\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>What questions does this text raise for you?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What about Sarai? What was her take on all of this? How would she tell this story?\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Were they excited, afraid, resigned?\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Why Abram and Sarai?\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Was it easy or hard for them to leave?\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Did they hesitate at all?\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What was the most difficult for them to leave behind \u2013 land, kindred, father\u2019s house? <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u25cf <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What did they think this was all about?\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>What words\/themes seem of particular import?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Call\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">God chooses and directs\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Promise\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Leave-taking\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Setting out into the unknown\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Obedience\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>What is the Gospel \/ transforming Good News within this text?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">God\u2019s chosen people never exist in isolation\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s always about us \u2013 and more than us\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">God will bless\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">God does promise\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">God has a vision beyond what we can see\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">God\u2019s vision see beyond impediments (i.e. Abram is old; Sarah is barren)\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Call to leave behind an old life and look forward to a future not yet seen\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><i> <\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By God\u2019s call, we are set free to journey into <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">new territories, new promises, new hopes, new lives o And in all things, God goes with them\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/li>\n<li><i> <\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The promises are unilateral \u2013 they flow from God to Abram and Sarai\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><i> <\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The promises are unconditional \u2013 God says \u201cI will do this\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><i> <\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">God\u2019s blessing is both specific to us \u2013 and universal\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>What is the as-over-againstness of this text?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It was only a promise <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2026 <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">there was no certainty that God would keep up God\u2019s end of the bargain <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u25cf <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There were impediments \u2013 Abram\u2019s age; Sarai is barren; how will God actually give them the land\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There is much that Abram and Sarai must leave behind <\/span>\n<ul>\n<li>Country<\/li>\n<li>Kindred<\/li>\n<li>Father\u2019s house<\/li>\n<li>He goes out into nothing \u2026 with nothing<\/li>\n<li>What was left behind was crystal clear \u2026 what lay ahead was distressingly devoid of detail<\/li>\n<li><i>What are you called to leave behind in your own life or in your own congregation? <\/i>\n<ul>\n<li><i>It\u2019s a \u201cleave everything behind\u201d kind of word\u00a0<\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Who does this text say that Jesus is, or if not Jesus, then who does this text say that God is? What does this text say about God?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">God calls \u2013 unconditionally\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">God promises \u2013 unconditionally\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">God goes with into the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">new territory, new promise, new hope, new life\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>What have others said about this text?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIn this chapter,<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">one only sees the uncertain beginnings of a family who find themselves at the threshold of a new tomorrow.\u201d Juliana Claassens, Professor of Old Testament, University of Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch, South Africa\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201c<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">YHWH acts in a new way.<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">YHWH now calls a foreign man, Abram (&#8220;mighty father&#8221; or &#8220;father of many&#8221;), to enact the work of God. Rather than speak to the mass of humanity, expecting them all to do YHWH&#8217;s will, YHWH now chooses one person through which YHWH will attempt once <\/span>again to effect the divine work in the world.\u201d \u201cAbram Went: Reflections on Genesis 12:1-4a,\u201d by John Holbert<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201c<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Because call isn&#8217;t always comfortable<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> And when God calls us to something, God doesn&#8217;t promise it will be easy&#8230; usually it involves getting stretched and pulled out of our comfort zone and most of the time, well past where we thought we were capable of going.\u201d \u201cAbraham Series Part 1- Step By Step,\u201d by Linda Pepe, Pastor of First Baptist Church, Moorestown, NJ.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>What will I teach or proclaim?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">God called Abram and Sarai; God has called you\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Abram and Sarai left everything behind to journey into the future that God has in mind; God calls you to do the same\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There will be struggles\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There will be unknowns\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There will be twists and turns along the way <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2026 <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(be specific in naming what those twists and turns are, depending upon your context)\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">God still calls today <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2026 <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ongoing discovery of your understanding of self and call <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2026\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">God will go with you through it all\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You may wonder \u2013 what am I doing here?\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You will wonder \u2013 what am I supposed to do with my life? What am I supposed to do in this moment?\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You will wonder \u2013 who is God calling me to be (over and over again)\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You will ask \u2013 <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">why am I here <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2013 <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">why are we here &#8211; <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">on this planet at this time in history, and why am I, are we, are here in the particularity of each time and place \u2013 God will be present with you to help you figure it out <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2026\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At this beginning you are being called into a new territory, a new promise, a new hope, a new life <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2026\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/nourishing-vocation\/files\/2022\/09\/Abraham-and-Sarah-Genesis-12.1-9.docx-1.pdf\">Downloadable PDF Version<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nourishing Vocation Project Engaging the Living Word Abraham and Sarah &#8211; Genesis 12:1-9 What is this particular text?\u00a0 Story Ancestral story Theology\u00a0 Promise\u00a0 Transition (before Abram and after Abram\u2019s call\u2026)\u00a0 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8561,"featured_media":1212,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wp.stolaf.edu\/nourishing-vocation\/files\/2022\/11\/NurishingGraphicF-fullimage-e1692651216451.jpg?fit=500%2C375&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/nourishing-vocation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/nourishing-vocation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/nourishing-vocation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/nourishing-vocation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8561"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/nourishing-vocation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1527"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/nourishing-vocation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1527\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1529,"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/nourishing-vocation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1527\/revisions\/1529"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/nourishing-vocation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/nourishing-vocation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/nourishing-vocation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/nourishing-vocation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}