Thought for Today
Genesis 2:9 Out of the ground the Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Psalm 19:1 The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. 2 Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge.
Luke 2:49 He said to them, "Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?"
Matthew 11:30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
For what are probably obvious reasons, my mind has been focused on a line from the Viking Funeral Chant, “the line of my people back to the beginning.” All of our grandchildren have now graduated from high school. The oldest has graduated from college; and, the 2 younger will be headed off to college in the fall.
I’m not very deep into genealogy, although I was given a gift of a trial membership in one of the genealogical computer apps recently. I’m still exploring all the information available. As I do so, and as I think about the next generation, that line about “the line of my people back to the beginning,” I am increasingly aware of the continuity across many generations.
Yesterday, I preached about generation gaps. This morning, I am thinking more about the continuity than about the gaps. Watching our children and grandchildren, talking with them about their interests and concerns, I remember my own interests and concerns at their ages. I also remember their interests and concerns as they have grown and matured. And, I remember my own parents and grandparents.
None of us are entirely the same person we were in our youth, in our teens or at any other time in our past. The world around us has moved on; we have moved on. Technologies have progressed; environments have changed. Alliances and enmities among nations have changed. Each of us is the child of change and has grown and adapted to change.
We joke about our resistance to change and our discomfort with change. Yet, change is the only thing in Creation that never changes. The world around us today is not the world of Genesis 2:9. There are still trees; there is still food; there are still gardens. But, our ancestors ate fruit of “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil;” and that changed everything.
What comes next? What will the world of our descendants be like? The only certainty is that it will not be entirely the world we see around us today. We see the environment changing around us right now. Weather patterns are changing. Agriculture and energy generation are changing. Our world is moving on. How it will end, when it will end, what comes next are all questions beyond our ability to determine.
It has always been so. Each generation has had to adapt to change as the individuals of each generation have found their own passions, interests and concerns. It will be the case for our grandchildren and for their grandchildren. Each person will find their own place in society, their own peers, careers and roles.
We see that same pattern in the life of Jesus. On that fateful trip to Jerusalem when he was 12, Jesus began to more fully understand who and whose he was. He remained the oldest son of Joseph and Mary. He would still become “Mark 6:3 the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon.”
Later, as a rabbi, when he taught his disciples, he would always use parables drawn from his youth, from his apprenticeship to Joseph. “For my yoke is easy” “Luke 8:5 A sower went out to sow his seed” But he also found his own passions, interests and his disciples and companions. Jesus was and is the Son of God, divine. Jesus was and is the Son of man, human. Like our grandchildren and ultimately their grandchildren, Jesus “Luke 2:40 grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.” I find great comfort in that thought.
Stay safe, never stop pursuing those passions and interests, trust God,
Pastor Ray