Gathering Growing Going
Over the next few weeks (in ‘Advent’, the period in the church calendar of ‘waiting’, as we prepare to remember the Incarnation), we will be looking at four Christmas carols. We are doing this for two reasons: first, to get in the bait of running all we do through the word of God; and, second, reminding ourselves of what we are remembering as we wait. Our first carol – ‘O Little Town of Bethlehem’ – deals with our ‘hopes and dreams’. It has its roots deep in the words of the prophet Micah, who had many hopes and dreams holed up in Jerusalem, with the wolf of Assyria surrounding the city. It has its answer in the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, as God promised. And it has a warning, as the wise men turn up and the locals reveal that they know the truth of God’s answer to their ‘hopes and dreams’, but they just cannot be bothered.
As we finish Genesis, there are so many threads and ideas that are wrapped up – and so many hopes and trusts that are laid out. Here are a few of my observations… First, the book starts with blessing and promise – and it closes with blessing and promise. Second, the whole of the account relies on the God who promises, and the promises of God. Third, the book ends with the promise of God only being able to be fulfilled by the God who promises – will Joseph get back to the land? Will God come to take his people to be with him? Fourth, the ending of the book is corporate – there is so much about what we do today that is individual. Fifth, the truth that God works for the good of his desires for his people runs as a thread throughout God’s word – and it is both a description of his character and nature, and our inability. Sixth, the good news of Jesus is the culmination of all of these.
Death has a remarkably clarifying effect on life. At the moment of end, life is brought into focus, and the key truths – the things that matter – are sharpened. Jacob is at the end of his life. He has been reunited with Joseph. He has seen the promises of God fulfilled. The word of God has sustained him. As he approaches the end of life, what is sharply in his mind and action? The writer of the Hebrews describes Jacob’s clarity as ‘worship’ – as he dies, he gives God what He deserves – and that is the truth of the covenant and promises of God passed onto the next generation. As Jacob approaches death, the grace of God, the promise of God, the commitment of God – all these are sharpened in his actions, and passed onto the next generation. Put simply, Jacob passes on the good news of God, through grace and promise fulfilled. Are we doing the same?
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