Bethel: God moves closer Week 2: Thursday Reading Genesis 28.10-22 Jacob left Beer-sheba and went towards Haran. He came to a certain place and stayed there for the night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place. And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And the Lord stood beside him and said, ‘I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring; and your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring. Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.’ Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, ‘Surely the Lord is in this place—and I did not know it!’ And he was afraid, and said, ‘How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.’ So Jacob rose early in the morning, and he took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. He called that place Bethel; but the name of the city was Luz at the first. Then Jacob made a vow, saying, ‘If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God, and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house; and of all that you give me I will surely give one-tenth to you.’ Reflection Genesis 28 is a pivotal point in the story of Jacob, but also in the story of the ancient Hebrews. Movement is key to understanding this text. In Jacob’s dream, a ladder appears between heaven and earth. Angels are ascending and descending. Jacob is moving – in fact, escaping – from one place to another. Amid all this, God comes close to him, and reveals himself, and blesses him. Jacob awakes and calls the place “Bethel”, the House of God. He comes to see that the God of his ancestors moves with him, no matter where he might find himself. God is present in our movement. The reality of forced migration for Black People across the globe has not meant the relinquishing of their faith. In fact, it’s in the upheavals of life that we come to know God more clearly and powerfully. Watch Think about the way migration and displacement of people has affected the history of faith. ...and pray for deep encounters with God in the journeys of others you meet. Copyright © The Archbishops’ Council 2024.
Shameful movement: Jacob Week 2: Wednesday Reading Genesis 27.41-46 Now Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him, and Esau said to himself, ‘The days of mourning for my father are approaching; then I will kill my brother Jacob.’ But the words of her elder son Esau were told to Rebekah; so she sent and called her younger son Jacob and said to him, ‘Your brother Esau is consoling himself by planning to kill you. Now therefore, my son, obey my voice; flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran, and stay with him for a while, until your brother’s fury turns away— until your brother’s anger against you turns away, and he forgets what you have done to him; then I will send, and bring you back from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day?’ Then Rebekah said to Isaac, 'I am weary of my life because of the Hittite women. If Jacob marries one of the Hittite women such as these, one of the women of the land, what good will my life be to me?' Reflection The complex and difficult relationship between Isaac and Rebekah creates enmity between their sons, Esau and Jacob. Jacob is very much a trickster, seeking the love of his father, but supported and defended by his mother. This is a fraught situation that leads to this ancestor fleeing his home. In this space of escape he finds the God of his forebears. Despite the deep shame that pursues Jacob, eventually his name is changed to Israel (Genesis 32.28). His shame becomes honour. Black Spirituality is born out of the complex and difficult lives of Black people which often means that they have to leave their homes and their loved ones just to make a life elsewhere. Often, it is only their enduring faith in God that sustains them. Watch Reflect on any journeys you might have undertaken out of shame or fear. ...and pray for God's deep healing within the relationships in your life. Copyright © The Archbishops’ Council 2024.
Sarah: forced movement Week 2: Tuesday Reading Genesis 12.10-20 Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to reside there as an alien, for the famine was severe in the land. When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, ‘I know well that you are a woman beautiful in appearance; and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, “This is his wife”; then they will kill me, but they will let you live. Say you are my sister, so that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared on your account.’ When Abram entered Egypt the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. When the officials of Pharaoh saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house. And for her sake he dealt well with Abram; and he had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male and female slaves, female donkeys, and camels. But the Lord afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. So Pharaoh called Abram, and said, ‘What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? Why did you say, “She is my sister”, so that I took her for my wife? Now then, here is your wife; take her, and be gone.’ And Pharaoh gave his men orders concerning him; and they set him on the way, with his wife and all that he had. Reflection These ancestral stories are not only about men. They are also centrally about women, named and unnamed. Sarai (later called Sarah) moves to Egypt with her husband Abram to escape famine. This is a story of survival. But there is another dimension. Sarai is beautiful and Abram fears that he would be killed by the Pharaoh should it be found out that Sarai is his spouse. He puts his wife in danger by lying, saying that she is his sister. God preserves Sarai from this political game among men. Tragically, forced migration remains a reality of our world as it was in these early stories of Genesis. Women – very often Black women – have too often borne the brunt of the pain and loss incurred during forced migration. It is often their faith that preserves not only themselves, but their partners and their children. Watch Are there other women of the Bible, like Sarai, whose stories deserve more attention? ...and pray for justice for women and children caught up in human trafficking. Copyright © The Archbishops’ Council 2024.
Week 2: Movement This week we consider the theme of movement within the spiritual life. Waiting in darkness and uncertainty – a key aspect of Black Spirituality as we have seen – does not mean not moving. It means joining in with a God who is moving always within us, around us, and ahead of us. God is movement. God is life. Prayer for the Week God of our ancestors, you have moved in generations past, and continue to move us in the present into your glorious future. Give us faith to trust you in the uncertainties of life. Amen. Abraham: A model of movement Week 2: Monday Access an audio version of this reflection via our free app for Apple and Android devices. Reading Genesis 12.1-9 Now the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother’s son Lot, and all the possessions that they had gathered, and the persons whom they had acquired in Haran; and they set forth to go to the land of Canaan. When they had come to the land of Canaan, Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. Then the Lord appeared to Abram, and said, ‘To your offspring I will give this land.’ So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. From there he moved on to the hill country on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the Lord and invoked the name of the Lord. And Abram journeyed on by stages towards the Negeb. Reflection Abram – whose name is later changed to Abraham – is held up as a symbol of faith or faithfulness throughout the Bible. God seems to have a way of calling people to do what is uncommon with the assurance that God is present in the moving and in the doing. God abundantly blesses and brings about his promises – however unlikely they seem to be at the outset. It’s in this painful move away from his father’s home that God appears and promises Abram a land that he passes through. Abram does not understand how or when God’s plan might be fulfilled, but nevertheless makes an altar to the Lord. Black history is one where forced migration meant the leaving of the motherland, Africa. The unspeakable horror of this history remains unresolved, but out of this, much of the world has been blessed through Black Spirituality, ingenuity, creativity, and strength. Watch What are the ways in which your life journeys have shaped your life? ...and pray for openness to God's unfolding plan for your life. Copyright © The Archbishops’ Council 2024.
