Journeying Through Genesis in Lent

Below is a preview of my March newsletter article... I thought it made good sense to send it out a bit early for our weekly devotions. +MDM

This Lent we will be spending our Lenten Wednesdays journeying through the book of Genesis. Genesis, a word that means “beginnings,” has always captivated the Christian imagination. Martin Luther wrote at least 8 volumes on Genesis. And both faithful Jews and Christians have long found its stories to be incredibly powerful testimonies to the power, wonder and mercy of God. Adults find the writings in Genesis an invitation to deep contemplation on the things of God and children listen with delight and wonder to the same stories.

In the early church, Genesis was central to Christian instruction in the Faith. Catechumens (adult candidates preparing for Holy Baptism) made their way through Genesis during Lent as their final preparation after years of pre-baptismal instruction in the Christian Faith. One of the reasons for the centrality of Genesis is that in many ways Genesis is a microcosm of the whole story of the Scriptures: creation, fall, the calling of God’s people and finally redemption and reconciliation. Some of the earliest Christian interpreters saw in the Joseph stories in particular a foreshadowing of the work of Christ.

Wednesdays: Fall into Ashes and Up from the Ashes
On the Wednesdays of Lent we will contemplate the creation, the fall of the creation into “ashes” and then how God is busily bringing this same creation up from the dust, up from the ashes. We will journey with the heroes of Genesis, who turn out to be quite a motley crew with really only one thing in common: God’s passionate commitment to save his creation.

We will gather for worship on Wednesdays at 11 am and 7 pm, with a light supper served at 6 pm.

Sundays in Lent
In addition to the six Wednesdays in Lent where we will encounter the Creation and its fall into sin, Father Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Leah and Rachel, and Joseph, we will also hear stories from Genesis on the first two Sundays of Lent. On March 1, we will hear the covenant promise to Noah, never again to destroy all flesh by flood. In this promise, we hear baptismal echoes, for as our sins are drowned by baptismal waters, we are saved and given new life. On March 8, we will hear the covenant promise to Abram: He and his wife Sarai will get new names and will be fruitful, giving rise to nations.

Lenten Devotions: All of Genesis
Finally, our Lenten devotional guide takes us through Genesis in a systematic way (a chapter a day after the first few days of two chapters each). If you have never read through Genesis chapter by chapter, this is wonderful chance to do just that.

Let us walk together through Genesis this Lent and there meet our God.