Readings for today: 1 Chronicles 7-8, Acts 27:1-20, Psalms 7, Proverbs 18:22
I have an ancestral home. If you go to the cemetery in the tiny town of Wauneta just off old route 6 in western Nebraska, you will find a bunch of people I’m related to. My parents will be buried there near my grandparents. I have aunts and uncles and a host of cousins buried there as well. We can still go by the home where I spent a lot of time in the summers bouncing on the trampoline. Eating great food. Helping out with the harvest. We can drive by the old feedlot operation. We can run through the pastures where we played “cowpatty softball.” We can go out to the land we still own and dig our hands into the dirt. Whenever I visit, I can feel my roots. They run pretty deep in this place. It gives me a sense of security. A groundedness. I know where I have come from. I know the family I’ve come from. I know my lineage. I know the legacy that’s been passed down good, bad and ugly.
Most people these days don’t have roots. They are two or three generations removed from their ancestral lands. They might be able to find their hometown on a map but have never been there. They are nomadic. Moving from place to place. Sure, they always make new friends but it’s nothing like living in the same community for generations. When the people around you remember your grandfather and grandmother or your parents when they were little or they taught your aunts and uncles in school, you become truly and deeply known. Known in a way that is disconcerting at times. Small towns are notorious for everyone being in everyone else’s business! At the same time, being known like this provides a sense of safety and security as well.
Why read through the genealogies of the Bible? Who cares who’s descended from whom and how many brothers and sisters they may have had? We can hardly pronounce the names much less understand why they’re listed here in such great detail. Genealogies were vital to the ancient Israelite. It was how you were known. “Oh, you’re Tola? You must be Issachar’s boy.” “Oh, you’re Saul? You must be from the tribe of Benjamin.” Each family had a story. Each tribe a connection to the Promised Land. And these stories and connections are what gave each individual Israelite their identity.
Think about the world we live in right now. Think about how many people are searching for identity. A family or tribe to belong to. They may ground their identity in their race or ethnicity, sexuality, religious faith, professional expertise. They may ground their identity in life experiences or certain abilities/disabilities. Some of these roots run deeper than others. Sadly what’s been lost in all this is any sense of connection to community. Any sense of rootedness in a story larger than ourselves. In fact, each generation seems more apt to reject their family identity in favor of one they construct for themselves. No wonder we live such anxious lives.
We are all nomads in a sense. All homeless in significant ways. Constantly searching but never finding. Constantly seeking but always lost. At first, the nomadic lifestyle appeals. Who doesn’t want the unencumbered life? A life of unfettered freedom where you get to go where you want and do what you want? Gratify every desire. Chase every pleasure. It sounds wonderful until you actually try it. Pretty soon it loses it’s luster. Relationships are superficial and thin. It requires more and more to get that dopamine high. Pretty soon you start to feel anxious. Afraid. Alone. Life loses it’s meaning and purpose. We’ve lost any connection to our family story. We hold little appreciation or understanding for the generations who came before us and we certainly show little concern for the generations coming after us.
This is not what God intends. God created us for family. He created us to be part of His story. Part of this grand unfolding narrative of the Kingdom of God coming into this world. Each generation plays an important role. Each person has a unique part to play. Through faith in Jesus Christ, nomads come home. We find our place. Our people. A purpose greater than our own personal pleasure. God doesn’t want you to wander. God refuses to let His children remain lost. He is relentless in His pursuit of those He loves and once He finds them, nothing can snatch them out of His hand. If you are a Christian, the Bible’s story is your story. You are related by faith to every single name. Every single person. Every single generation listed. You are not an orphan. You are not alone. You have a home not made with human hands awaiting you in the heavens fashioned by God Himself. Let this truth sink in and ease any anxieties and fears you may have today.
Readings for tomorrow: 1 Chronicles 9-10, Acts 27:21-44, Psalms 8, Proverbs 18:23-24