Sunday Stretch: Vol. 70

Start off your week with a grounded take on Bible, prayer, the world, and your life ...

Hi Readers,

Before we get to the texts - a quick reminder that I’m sharing weekly Wednesday videos during this season of Lent with our paid subscriber community. I’m hoping it gives all of you just a quick few moments of Bible, prayer, and quiet time in the midst of a busy season, making space for spiritual growth and fellowship.

If you can’t afford a paid subscription right now, but you would like to watch the videos as part of your Lenten practice - please just let me know by replying to this email!

Thank you all so much for being here. This season has already been filled with joy, pain, relaxation, stress, and excitement - with impending changes to come - and we are only one week in to the season of Lent! I’m holding on tight, and clinging to God’s word and to the reminder that the Cross is a testament to God’s presence in every single place in this world, even, and especially, when evil seems overwhelming and hope is momentarily lost.

Let’s get to the texts …

I love LOVE this image of Sarah from the Bible

Bible Stories

Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16

Gen. 17:1   When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said to him, “I am God Almighty;^a walk before me, and be blameless. ² And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will make you exceedingly numerous.” ³ Then Abram fell on his face; and God said to him, ⁴ “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations. ⁵ No longer shall your name be Abram,^a but your name shall be Abraham;^b for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations. ⁶ I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. ⁷ I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring^a after you.

Gen. 17:15   God said to Abraham, “As for Sarah your wife, you shall not call her Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. ¹⁶ 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.”

While this Bible passage comes right before the section where Sarah laughs at God’s suggestion of her late-age pregnancy, I couldn’t resist sharing the above image of Sarah from the Bible. In a week that seems full of life’s stresses and busy rhythms (after spending a few bliss-filled quiet days in the Minnesota Northwoods) I needed to be reminded that the Bible characters also experienced joy. And it’s far too rare that we see images of joyful senior women - even though I’ve known many older women who are filled with joy and vigor. So I really loved this one.

These Sunday Hebrew Bible readings throughout Lent remind us of the various covenants God made with God’s people. First, the negative promise to Noah to never again totally destroy the world by flood (in an age of global warming and climate change, this promise seems prescient, and fraught). Then, here, we have a particular promise to a particular people, the people of Abraham, who will become the Jewish people, of which Jesus is a part.

Questions to Ponder