Today's Readings and Stuff == Wednesday, 01 January 2019

Happy New Year to all.  We -- those reading this at least -- seem to have survived all of the revelry (and drunken neighbors) that seem to be part of the "cultural imperatives" of the region.  I hope that you and your families and friends have also survived the celebratons.
I've been monitoring some of the news reports from around this area as well as from parts of the country where we have ties.  All too many deaths and injuries from shootings, drunk driving traffic accidents.  All too many.  This is not fun and it's not funny either.  And it occurs constantly.
Now if only all that can be left in the trash.  Please.

We are embarked on a new year.  A new decade at that.  I don't know what the year, or even the rest of the hour, holds.  None of us do.  But the Lord does, He is already there.  That can be both comforting and still hold us to account.  He has plans.  We may or may not like them.  We can't really change His mind, but we can change our attitude  and determination.  We can look to Him, no matter what.  So let us head out with His  presence in mind, looking to Him every moment.

Our texts this morning are all appropriate to beginnings.  Certainly the passages in the Genesis and in the Gospel of Matthew.  But the passage in the Psalms should also give us our approach.

These are all from the Holman Christian Standard Bible.  Sometimes, the KJV is so familiar that we don't really pay attention to the words.  And the Holman is an excellent translation.  Besides, who of us uses the term "begat" these days?  Not too many.  Yes, English as we use it has changed a good bit since 1611.

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Is there a possible better beginning, than verse 1 of Genesis 1?  "In the beginning, GOD .....".  

Genesis 1

The Creation

1In the beginning  God created the heavens and the earth.  

2Now the earth was  formless and empty,  darkness covered the surface of the watery depths, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.  3Then God said, “Let there be light,”  and there was light. 4God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. 5God called the light “day,” and He called the darkness “night.” Evening came and then morning: the first day.

6Then God said, “Let there be an expanse  between the waters, separating water from water.”  7So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above the expanse.  And it was so. 8God called the expanse “sky.”  Evening came and then morning: the second day.

9Then God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered into one place,  and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. 10God called the dry land “earth,” and He called the gathering of the water “seas.” And God saw that it was good. 11Then God said, “Let the earth produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds.”  And it was so. 12The earth produced vegetation: seed-bearing plants according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13Evening came and then morning: the third day.

14Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night. They will serve as signs  for festivals  and for days and years.  15They will be lights in the expanse of the sky to provide light on the earth.” And it was so. 16God made the two great lights — the greater light to have dominion over the day and the lesser light to have dominion over the night — as well as the stars.  17God placed them in the expanse of the sky to provide light on the earth, 18to dominate the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness.  And God saw that it was good. 19Evening came and then morning: the fourth day.

20Then God said, “Let the water swarm with  living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky.” 21So God created the large sea-creatures  and every living creature that moves and swarms in the water,  according to their kinds. He also created every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22So God blessed them, “Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the waters of the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.”  23Evening came and then morning: the fifth day.

24Then God said, “Let the earth produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that crawl, and the wildlife of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. 25So God made the wildlife of the earth according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and creatures that crawl on the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

26Then God said, “Let Us  make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.  They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, all the earth,  and the creatures that crawl  on the earth.” 

27So God created man in His own image;

He created him in the image of God;

He created them male and female. 

28God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth,  and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls  on the earth.” 29God also said, “Look, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the surface of the entire earth and every tree whose fruit contains seed. This food will be for you,  30for all the wildlife of the earth, for every bird of the sky, and for every creature that crawls on the earth — everything having the breath of life in it. I have given every green plant for food.”  And it was so. 31God saw all that He had made, and it was very good.  Evening came and then morning: the sixth day.

Genesis 2

1So the heavens and the earth and everything in them  were completed.  2By the seventh  day God completed His work that He had done, and He rested  on the seventh day from all His work that He had done.  3God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, for on it He rested  from His work of creation.  

Man and Woman in the Garden

4These are the records  of the heavens and the earth, concerning their creation at the time  that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. 5No shrub of the field  had yet grown on the land,  and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the Lord God had not made it rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground. 6But water would come out of the ground and water the entire surface of the land. 7Then the Lord God formed the man out of the dust from the ground  and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils,  and the man became a living being. 

8The Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east,  and there He placed the man He had formed. 9The Lord God caused to grow out of the ground every tree pleasing in appearance and good for food, including the tree of life in the middle of the garden,  as well as the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 

10A river went  out from Eden to water the garden. From there it divided and became the source of four rivers.  11The name of the first is Pishon, which flows through the entire land of Havilah,   where there is gold. 12Gold from that land is pure;  bdellium  and onyx  are also there. 13The name of the second river is Gihon, which flows through the entire land of Cush. 14The name of the third river is the Tigris,  which runs east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates. 

15The Lord God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to work it and watch over it. 16And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree of the garden,  17but you must not eat  from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die.”  18Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper as his complement.”  19So the Lord God formed out of the ground every wild animal and every bird of the sky, and brought each to the man to see what he would call it.  And whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. 20The man gave names to all the livestock, to the birds of the sky, and to every wild animal; but for the man  no helper was found as his complement. 21So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to come over the man,  and he slept. God took one of his ribs and closed the flesh at that place. 22Then the Lord God made the rib He had taken from the man into a woman and brought her to the man.  23And the man said:

This one, at last, is bone of my bone

and flesh of my flesh;

this one will be called “woman,”

for she was taken from man. 

24This is why a man leaves his father and mother and bonds with his wife, and they become one flesh.  25Both the man and his wife were naked, yet felt no shame.

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All of the Psalms are, in my humble opinion, best when read aloud.  This is as good an argument for that as I can imagine.


Psalm 1

The Two Ways

1How happy is the man

who does not follow  the advice of the wicked

or take  the path of sinners

or join a group  of mockers! 

2Instead, his delight is in the Lord’s instruction,

and he meditates on it day and night. 

3He is like a tree planted beside streams of water 

that bears its fruit in season  

and whose leaf does not wither. 

Whatever he does prospers. 

4The wicked are not like this;

instead, they are like chaff that the wind blows away. 

5Therefore the wicked will not survive  the judgment, 

and sinners will not be in the community of the righteous.

6For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, 

but the way of the wicked leads to ruin. 

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Matthew 1

The Genealogy of Jesus Christ

1The  historical record   of Jesus Christ, the Son of David,  the Son of Abraham: 

From Abraham to David

2Abraham fathered  Isaac,

Isaac fathered Jacob,

Jacob fathered Judah and his brothers, 

3Judah fathered Perez and Zerah by Tamar,

Perez fathered Hezron,

Hezron fathered Aram, 

4Aram fathered Amminadab,

Amminadab fathered Nahshon,

Nahshon fathered Salmon,

5Salmon fathered Boaz by Rahab,

Boaz fathered Obed by Ruth,

Obed fathered Jesse, 

6and Jesse fathered King David.

From David to the Babylonian Exile

Then  David fathered Solomon by Uriah’s wife, 

7Solomon fathered Rehoboam,

Rehoboam fathered Abijah,

Abijah fathered Asa, 

8Asa  fathered Jehoshaphat,

Jehoshaphat fathered Joram, 

Joram fathered Uzziah, 

9Uzziah fathered Jotham,

Jotham fathered Ahaz,

Ahaz fathered Hezekiah,

10Hezekiah fathered Manasseh,

Manasseh fathered Amon, 

Amon fathered Josiah, 

11and Josiah fathered Jechoniah and his brothers

at the time of the exile to Babylon. 

From the Exile to the Messiah

12Then after the exile to Babylon

Jechoniah fathered Shealtiel,

Shealtiel fathered Zerubbabel,

13Zerubbabel fathered Abiud,

Abiud fathered Eliakim,

Eliakim fathered Azor, 

14Azor fathered Zadok,

Zadok fathered Achim,

Achim fathered Eliud,

15Eliud fathered Eleazar,

Eleazar fathered Matthan,

Matthan fathered Jacob,

16and Jacob fathered Joseph the husband of Mary,

who gave birth to  Jesus who is called the Messiah. 

17So all the generations from Abraham to David were 14 generations; and from David until the exile to Babylon, 14 generations; and from the exile to Babylon until the Messiah, 14 generations. 

The Nativity of the Messiah

18The birth of Jesus Christ came about this way: After His mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, it was discovered before they came together that she was pregnant by the Holy Spirit.  19So her husband Joseph, being a righteous man,  and not wanting to disgrace her publicly, decided to divorce her secretly. 

20But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is by the Holy Spirit.  21She will give birth to a son, and you are to name Him Jesus,   because He will save His people from their sins.” 

22Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

23See, the virgin will become pregnant

and give birth to a son,

and they will name Him Immanuel, 

which is translated “God is with us.” 

24When Joseph got up from sleeping, he did as the Lord’s angel had commanded him. He married her  25but did not know her intimately until she gave birth to a son.  And he named Him Jesus.