The Hebrew faith community adjusted to its new Babylonian
context. They were without land, a temple, or a king. They listened to God’s
Word in small groups, in new settings at synagogues, and responded with the new
language of apocalyptic poetry. Through each stage in God’s salvation history,
the people of God have begun with the WORD, and then they have applied what has
been revealed to their existential experience, in a garden, in a new promised
land, in a kingdom with a temple, and in captivity without a temple. The people
of God have experienced many settings, yet have always been the people of the
WORD, relating its revealed message to their ever-changing contemporary
cultural reality.
At our church, we read, sing, pray, and preach through
whole books of the Bible over weeks or months. We listened to the whole of
God’s story in Genesis over eight months. We engaged God’s message, but related
it to the contemporary lives of our community as the Word was reflected on and
applied. In December, we recognized the season of advent, but did not stop
listening to Genesis. Genesis was our anchor to God’s world. Advent bridged us
into our world. Some of the leaders thought we should stop our study in Genesis
for the Advent time, especially for our Christmas service. “It’s got nothing to
do with Christmas!” someone argued. But it was counter argued that it has
everything to do with Christmas. The whole of the Scriptures are the story of
Christmas. We stayed with the text throughout the season, and a rich
juxtaposition provided some deeper insights relevant to both God’s Word and our
world. Jesus is on every page, as is God’s Word for our contemporary
experience.
