Thought for Today
Genesis 4:3 In the course of time Cain brought to the LORD an offering of the fruit of the ground, 4 and Abel for his part brought of the firstlings of his flock, their fat portions.
Joel 2:28 Then afterward I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.
1 Timothy 6:18 They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share, 19 thus storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life that really is life.
Hebrews 11:20 By faith Isaac invoked blessings for the future on Jacob and Esau.
As I continue to reflect on yesterday’s rant about batteries, I’m trying to decide this morning whether I am a young man seeing visions or an old man dreaming dreams. Hopefully, I’m a bit of both. When I was younger, I read a lot of science fiction. As an adult, as an engineer, I dealt with the application of science. Young or old, it was always the same me. The younger me looked hopefully toward the future, the older me looked fondly upon the past. But, it was always the same me.
As humans, as creatures created by God, we grow, learn, mature and evolve throughout our lives. We learn, or at least should learn from our experiences as we live our lives. Often, those experiences change or modify what we previously believed. We remain the same people, the same individuals, but our understanding of the world around us and our interactions with that world and with others hopefully grow and develop.
In the Patriarchal stories of the Old Testament, we find that same pattern of growth and development in our ancestors-in-the-faith. God’s people grew, learned, matured in their faith and developed spiritually. At least some of them did. The story of Cain and Abel still fascinates me. Note in the passage above, both of them, as young men worshiped God. Their conflict arose on how to properly worship God. The sacrificial system was prominent in almost every early civilization in some form or another. It was fundamental and basic to almost every religion around the globe.
Scientist who study humanity, sociologists and anthropologists trace the development of humans through certain stages: hunter/gatherers; pastoralists; planter/harvesters; and so on. In the Cain and Abel story we see the clash of the incipient planters with the pastoralists. Archaeology can document that clash from the excavations and evaluations of the ruins they study.
Through every stage of human development, however, humanity’s goal has been the same. On a spiritual level, all societies have tried to understand the who, how and why of existence. The reason for the Creation story in Genesis, the reason for the Flood narrative, the Epic of Gilgamesh and our modern Big Bang Theory are all merely attempts to answer those same questions. Who? How? Why?
Are they all in conflict? Are they all mutually exclusive? Yes! No! Maybe, at least to some degree. The world’s 3 major monotheistic religions essentially agree on the answer to Who? Neither the Big Bang Theory nor Darwinian Evolution offer any clues on Who? Both address How? Essentially they all together contrast purpose with the mechanics of accomplishment. And, they all look backward.
Much of the conflict we currently see in our own world has to do with attempts to look to the future. The prophet Joel accurately captures the truth, “your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.” That is true and proper. Regrettably, those prophesies, dreams and visions are not all alike or even similar. Often, they still reflect the disparities of the conflicts between the hunter/gatherers; pastoralists; planter/harvesters; and so on. In one sense, we’re still stuck on Cain vs. Abel.
It's time for God’s children to reread and learn from Paul, “They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share.” Paul understood. Isaac, his ancestor, had understood. It’s time to live the words of They’ll Know We are Christians by our Love. Today it seems so simple, do good, be rich in good works, generous and ready to share. We just need to all live that way.
Stay safe, do good, be rich in good works, be generous and share, trust God,
Pastor Ray