Midrash

This is the first time I've had to preach two Sundays in a row. Last week I adapted "Reflection Beginning with A Text" from Education for Ministry as a basis for an interactive sermon. I wanted to do something different this week, but still keep with our theme of learning how to engage Scripture. It was not until Friday morning that inspiration--or the Spirit--hit. I still hadn't finished writing when I left to spend the late afternoon and evening with friends. Truth be told, I had almost nothing on paper by the time I left.

I spent most of the night writing. Lots of uninspired words. Finally, I put down the stories and quotes I knew were going to be part of the sermon and went to bed at about 4 a.m. I got up briefly at some point to jot a note down on a piece of paper by my bed that I typed into the appropriate place before printing out the text and heading out the door. I truly left it up to the Spirit this morning.

After the service, a couple of the parishioners told me how much they appreciated the sermon. One said that it spoke directly to her, that she needed to hear about Sarah. I thanked her and let her know that it truly had come from God this morning. "Then it came through for me!" she responded. I'm glad I was there to bring the message.

Here is the sermon reconstructed as best as I can recall from what I said this morning. It is almost twice as long as the printed text I took with me to church.

Peace,
Jeff

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Revised Common Lectionary Year B: Genesis 1-7, 15-16

Loving God, you call us to be your stories in the world. We come before you seeking to be touched by your story. Open our lips to share our stories with one another and to bring comfort, inspiration, joy and laughter to each other. Amen.

A student asked, “why did God choose Abraham?”

Rabbi Hiyya replied, “Abraham’s father was an idol-maker. He would make stone images and sell them in a shop in the market. One day, Abraham’s father asked him to watch over the idols in his shop while he was away. While he was gone, Abraham seized a stick, smashed all the statues, and placed the stick in the hand of the biggest of them. When his father came back, he asked, ‘Who did this to the gods?’ Abraham answered, ‘The biggest of them rose up and smashed all the others.’ His father replied, ‘Are you making fun of me? They cannot do anything! They are merely pieces of stone!’ Abraham answered, ‘Let your ears hear what your mouth is saying!’”

A student asked, “Genesis 12 tells us that Abram and Sarai took all the people they acquired, or some translations read ‘made,’ in Haran. Why is it said 'that they made'?”

Rabbi Huna said, “Abraham would convert the men, and Sarah would convert the women.”

And what about Sarah? Today’s reading from Genesis says only

As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall give rise to nations; kings of peoples shall come from her. [Genesis 17:15-16]

There are very few stories about Sarah. One tells of another time God came to Sarah and Abraham yet again to tell them that they would have a child in their old age, and Sarah laughed. During an earlier visit Abraham laughed, but when Sarah laughed, the angel asked her why she laughed. They did not rebuke Abraham for his laughter.

I’m going to ask you some questions, but this week I won’t ask you to answer them now. Take them home with you and ponder them over the coming week.

Why doesn’t Scripture tell us more about Sarah?

If Sarah is the mother of nations, what does that tell us about us as a people spiritually? Genetically?

What is your story about Sarah?

A student asked, “And what about Sarah?”

The rabbi replied, “As long as Sarah was alive, a cloud was fixed at the entrance to her tent. When she died, that cloud ceased. But when Rebekah arrived, the cloud returned. As long as Sarah was alive, the doors were wide open. When she died, that generosity ceased. But when Rebekah arrived, that generosity returned. As long as Sarah was alive, a blessing was associated with the dough. When she died, that blessing ceased. But when Rebekah arrived, that blessing returned. As long as Sarah was alive, a lamp burned from one Sabbath night until the next. When she died, that lamp ceased. But when Rebekah arrived, that fire returned.

And where do these stories from the rabbis come from? Midrash, a body of Jewish literature that looks at Scripture in a particular way. In fact, there are volumes and volumes of it. In her book God’s Echo, Rabbi Sandy Sasso says

Midrash is both a product—a body of literature written over a period of time, and a process—a way of interpreting sacred text that continues to the present day. In addressing questions about how to apply the Bible to new historical and social situations and how to find contemporary communal and personal meaning and significance in the Torah’s ancestral legacy, the rabbis produced numerous collections of midrash. [p. 23]

Midrash is a conversation. One Jewish text says

Moses received the Torah from God at Sinai. He transmitted it to Joshua, Joshua to the Elders, the Elders to the Prophets, and the Prophets to the members of the Great Assembly. [Avot 1:1]

I don’t see anything here about priests or professors! It is a conversation between all of us, and each of us, and Bible, that continues to this day. Dr. Burton Visotzky, who I’ve quoted before when speaking with you, says

It is only in the reading and the rereading which each community does together that the Bible becomes a timeless text, the Word of God… The give and take of interpretation creates an extra voice in the room, the sound of Reading the Book. When that happens, the Bible speaks not only to each community of readers…but to all humanity. [Quoted in God’s Echo, p. 15]

And so I leave you today with one more question to consider: What’s more important, the questions or the answers?