God’s people are in trouble. They are living as slaves in Egypt. They need a liberator. Someone to rescue them. The book of Exodus is the story of their rescue and of Moses the one used by God to liberate them.

Pilgrimage is an actually an old spiritual practice that has been revived today. Psalm 121, our passage of scripture for today, is a pilgrimage song. It belongs to a group of psalms ranging from Psalm 120 to Psalm 134 . Together this group of Psalms bears a Hebrew inscription that is translated as the Psalms of Ascent. Most scholars agree that “ascent” in the title refers to going up to Jerusalem. Judaism has a long tradition of pilgrimage to the temple at Jerusalem. Christians have also often taken pilgrimages to Jerusalem, Rome and other places of spiritual significance.

The story of Cain and Abel is about the choices we all face about how we treat the people around us. If you have ever struggled with holding a grudge against someone, who succeeded when you failed, you will find yourself in this story. If you have ever felt like life or God isn’t fair, you will find yourself in the story. If your parents have always favored your sibling over you, you will find yourself in this story. If you have ever been jealous of a co-worker, you will find yourself in the story.

The real trouble in Genesis 3 starts happening when Adam and Eve begin listening to the snake instead of God.

We read Genesis with awe and wonder, We remember that the authors of Genesis were not trying to write a history textbook. They did not approach the story as scientist or anthropologist, but as people of faith recounting God's awesome power and profound love in a story of beginnings.

Lessons from Peter

In Isaiah 58, God describes the kind of fast that is truly pleasing to God to act compassionately toward your neighbor. This is the kind of fast that pleases God, to share your resources with those who are in need. This passage refers to the hungry and needy as kin, "your own flesh and blood.” In other words, the hungry and the needy are part of your family and when you ignore them, it is like you are ignoring your brother, or your sister. God is calling us to care for those in need. Isaiah 58.

The most famous Bible verse about poverty when taken in context has little to do with poverty. It is about devotion to Jesus. When Jesus was on earth it was right to show him devotion by anointing him with an expensive bottle of oil; now that Jesus is not physically here it is right to show him devotion by serving the poor- those Jesus loved.