A Word in Time

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But then, the writer envisages the next change. God looks upon the people and decides they need to be divided and scattered across the face of the larger world. God confuses the languages being spoken, the people scatter, and the world which the writer sees around him, and indeed which is the same world we live in today, came into being. So Mary bursts into song. And what a song – Christian people have been singing the Magnificat (Mary's hymn of praise) ever since! Mary recognised that God had turned her world, indeed the whole world, upside-down and she rejoiced in that.

When we left the story of Joseph last week, he had just been sold into slavery by his brothers. Much has happened in the meantime. Joseph’s skill and integrity have brought him to a position of high responsibility in the house of Potiphar, a government official in Egypt. That same integrity has led him to reject the sexual advances of Potiphar’s wife and resulted in his imprisonment on false charges. While in prison his skill in interpreting dreams has become recognised, so much so that when King Pharaoh has a troublesome dream Joseph not only interprets it to tell of seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine but advises how to respond to the situation. As a result Joseph is put in charge of the whole of the land of Egypt. In telling this story the author of the book of Genesis states more than once that “the Lord was with Joseph” so he prospered.I am, of course, a Christian minister and I know that our remembering, what we do today, our profound silence and our deep lament, is not the end of the story. It does not end here. God speaks into our silence with words of justice, grace and peace. God gathers the cries of the broken, bewildered and bereaved and holds them closely. It is clear that, despite having met with Noah and approved of him as one who fulfilled what God was asking of the people, God still intends to carry out vengeance on the world. Today's passage sits in the middle of a long farewell discourse by Jesus with his disciples set within the context of the Last Supper. It follows a series of positive messages making clear that "if you love me you will keep my commandments" ( John 14:15); " they who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me, and those who love me will be loved by my Father" ( John 14:21) and "If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love." ( John 15:10) Jesus explains that the disciples too are called to a cross-shaped life. Unlike the other gospel writers, Luke adds that the call was to ‘daily’ take up one’s cross ( v. 23). This means self-denial, laying down one’s life for the sake of the other. Rather than involving the loss of life, such self-denial is the way to really find it. Jesus also warns his disciples against being ashamed of him, as those who are ashamed of Jesus and his words will be ‘shamed’ by the Father at the future judgement ( v. 26). The final verse is perplexing, but perhaps the best interpretation is to see the ‘kingdom of God’ as unveiled in the Transfiguration, an event which follows this saying ( 9:28-36).

This second letter of Peter is thought to relate quite closely to the letter of Jude (the penultimate book of the New Testament) and it may be that one is dependent on the other, or that they have used a common source. They were both written to counteract the influence of false teaching in early Christian communities. Although attributed to Peter, it is now thought unlikely he was the author and that it was probably written after his death. The language and ideas are certainly very different from those used in the first letter of Peter, suggesting different authorship. It was not uncommon at the time for speeches or letters to be linked with important or heroic figures in this way. Perhaps part of the problem in westernised Christianity is that angels are pictured to be more like the medieval artistic portraits of the heavenly beings of seraphim and cherubim. These are often portrayed as being cute baby-like creatures with wings. The Old Testament scriptures, however, describe angels as having an adult human form and sometimes being hundreds of feet tall. In the New Testament angels have specific roles; for example, some are messenger angels as in the narrative about Jesus' birth and some are warrior angels fighting against Satan or guarding Satan’s escape from the Abyss as found in the book of Revelation. Angels also had a role in protecting the apostle Peter: see Acts 12:1-19a. The text raises many questions in my mind, because of this. How could one man set himself against all those living around him, and build a craft which is so alien to the land where it is being constructed. We might wonder how he was able to access all the materials he needed to build the ark. Where did he source all the food and how did he collect the animals together? Nevertheless, he presented himself as ready as he had been told. We read that “Noah did all that was commanded from him.” ( v. 22)Lord God, open our minds and hearts to the possibilities of the beyond, that we may be comforted on our journey through life here on earth. Amen.