Reflections on My Old Testament Sermon Series
I've always loved and appreciated the Old Testament. It's full of beautiful and crazy stories and very real people. All this being said preaching on the Old Testament for four weeks in a row was a bit of a bear. Though I technically started in Genesis 11 with the Tower of Babel and didn't get all the way through the Jews return to Israel after exile I pretty much covered the entirety of the Old Testament in four weeks. Whew.
Here are some things I learned while tackling this sermon series:
1. Women kick butt in the Old Testament. I already knew this but was able to reflect on it even more so as women played a huge role in the stories that were chosen as preaching texts. Deborah was a judge. Hulda was a prophetess in Judah and had to deliver honest and hard news. Esther went from just a pretty face to a courageous and daring figure who helped save her people. Also, there was the whole tent peg incident. While there are more stories about men in the Old Testament women still had an important role to play as well. I'm happy to lift up these examples of leadership, bravery, daring, and intelligence.
2. Know your history. The chosen stories spanned most of the Old Testament. Early on I realized that in order to better understand the story we had to spend time on set-up. So each week we worked our way through history to get to the present reading. The Tower of Babel was pretty easy - we only had 10 chapters before and some of those chapters were simply genealogy. However, once we got to Judges I had to spend significant time on backstory. How did we get here? How does that impact what the people and God are doing? It allows us to pick out themes and see the larger picture. We find patterns. We learn from what people did and didn't do. We learn about God's role in history. God isn't passive, not by a long shot. Also, this isn't just history - it's our history! Which leads me to the final thing I learned (or relearned).
3. This is our story! Lately, when I've gotten bored I've taken those stupid internet quizzes. Which Grey's Anatomy Character Are You? Which Hogwarts House Would You Call Home? Which US President Would You Be? When we learn and read about people, fictional or real, we often see ourselves in the characters. We see ourselves reflected back in certain characteristics, traits, actions, and reactions. When we read the Bible the same thing can happen. Maybe we're courageous like Esther? Or leading from the front like Deborah? Or perfectly happy winning but not getting all the glory like Barak? These are our stories. These are our people. We are like them, for better or for worse. Sure, this is something I already knew. But sometimes it's nice to get it pounded into your head and heart again as a reminder. This is our story!
