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April 2010

When Adam Bessemer, Austin Young, Elliot Schad, Kirsten Scheller-Suitor and Phillip Bessemer began their journey toward confirmation, they began with the idea of the Ten Essentials.  This is a wilderness term that refers to things hikers should carry with them - map, compass, sun protection, extra food and water, extra clothes, flashlight, first aid kit, fire starter, matches and a knife.

The task for the students over the past 18 months has been to identify the 10 passages of the Bible that they consider most essential to the way they understand God, Jesus and the living out of their faith. Now they
are nearing the end of their journey. You will see their choices at the confirmation ceremony on April 11.

But I thought it only fair that I do the same work they are doing. So here are my Ten Essentials:

Genesis 1 and 2 - The creation stories.  I picked both chapters because there are two different creation stories here, a reminder of God's presence in the wonder of creation but also of the fact that these are stories giving us insight into God, not scientific treatises on the history of the universe.

Genesis 15: 1-6 - Abraham's descendants. God tells Abraham his descendants will be more numerous than the stars in the sky.  Those descendants turned out to be an amazingly diverse group ñ Jews, Christians, Muslims, even non-believers. There were feuding family members and loyal family members ñ just like everyday life.

Exodus 13: 17-22 - The journey to freedom. God leads the Hebrew people out of slavery in Egypt to freedom, with all its messiness and uncertainty.

Isaiah 55 - Surviving hardship.  So much of the Hebrew Bible was shaped by a period of exile for the Israelites. This passage from the prophet Isaiah holds out the promise of Godís abundant life even when things have gone bad.

Luke 2: 1-20 - The birth of Jesus.  This is one of the most familiar passages in scripture. It is a poetic reminder of how God entered into the realities of our lives as human beings.

Luke 4: 1-15 - Temptations. The story of Jesus in the wilderness confronting the lures of wealth, power and glory offer vivid images of the challenges we all face in putting God at the center of life.

Matthew 5-7 - Sermon on the Mount. These are the chapters that most clearly lay out Jesusí way of looking at the world - the Beatitudes, the call to love even enemies, the value in living lightly on the earth, the centrality of prayer.

Luke 19: 1-10 - Dinner with Zacchaeus. Jesus crosses social boundaries many times in his life.  This story of dinner with a cheating tax collector is a great example. So is Zacchaeus' response - to make right with those he cheated and to share what he has with the poor.

Luke 23: 32-49 - Forgiveness on the cross. This passage recalls not only Jesusí execution, but his consistent message of forgiveness even in the most difficult circumstances.

Luke 24: 13-35 - The road to Emmaus. And the journey goes on. After the resurrection, Jesus meets followers on the road, tends to their story, explores the meaning of scriptures and breaks bread with them. Then they see him as he is.

Those are my ten. You might try this for yourself.  Iíd love to hear what you pick.  Let me know.