We know about Adam and Eve but maybe not about Cain, Abel and Seth.  We know that Noah brought animals in two's on the ark, but for some of the animals he brought in groups of seven.  We know about Sarah but forget about Hagar.  We follow the story of Jacob, but forget that he stole the blessing from Esau.  Then we dream with Joseph, but we glance past his brother Judah who slept with his daughter-in-law as she was pretending to be a prostitute along the road.  What?!

Contrary to popular belief the Bible God gives us is not full of perfect people.  In fact, the Bible is full of people who made mistakes...big mistakes.  Adam watched Eve take and eat the fruit not doing anything to protect or stop her.  Noah, after getting off the ark, got drunk and fell asleep unconscious in his tent.  Abraham pretended that Sarah was his sister to save his own skin instead of trusting in God.  Joseph was arrogant and boastful, flaunting his dreams and special coat in the face of his brothers, which led to them selling him to the Ishmaelites.  Mistakes, mistakes, mistakes.  Often we like to believe that everyone in the Bible had their acts together, giving us perfect examples to follow and to emulate.

But what we need to understand about the Bible is that, the Bible is not about us.  The Bible is about God.  the Bible is about the Lord who provides, protects, leads, is holy, is just, is right, is love, and is full of grace.  What we can learn from the Bible, especially from Genesis, is that we can really mess up and God still forgives us.  We learn about the graciousness of God.  The grace and forgiveness of God is what washes over our mistakes and shortcomings.  We come to God asking forgiveness and know that Jesus Christ has made us new.  What a promise and what a privilege!

However, the story does not end there.  We also read in Genesis about our human capacity and responsibility to extend the grace of God when they do something against us.  We read about how Esau forgave Jacob for stealing the blessing and how Joseph forgave his brothers for selling him into captivity.  Esau and Joseph simply extended the graciousness of God to others.

Many of us like to hold onto grudges or peoples mistakes or reputations.  We hold on to them because they bring us some sort of comfort or sick satisfaction.  Maybe it makes us feel better about ourselves.  We enjoy lording orver people and holding them under our thumbs of power.  If we truly are followers of Jesus Christ, then we'll work hard at offering the same graciousness to people that God offers to us.

May we become a church that walks, lives, and breathes the grace of God.

To learn more about the E100 Challenge, go to St. John's Christian Church's website: www.stjohnsarchbold.org