Ray McGovern and Miko Peled tackle the Bible. (34 min)
Genesis 18:1-15 was the first reading for Sunday worship on July 17. Ray had agreed to preach on it, but on Saturday night realized he could use all the help he could get. Just then, Ray’s good friend, justice activist Miko Peled, dropped out of the sky from California like a modern-day deus ex machina. Miko agreed to apply his own life experiences to put some flesh on that Genesispassage about not laughing at seemingly insurmountable challenges.
Miko joined Ray in interpreting and applying the Genesis passage for the “8th Day Faith Community,” one of the “scattered churches” inspired by the ecumenical Church of the Saviour in inner-city Washington. An Israeli Jew uncommonly adept at doing the impossible, Miko Peled is a strong advocate for justice for Palestinians. He authored The General’s Son: Journey of an Israeli in Palestine.
The recording of Miko and Ray – like their exegesis – was non-professional; there is a several-second hiatus in a couple of spots, for example.
Vignettes from Miko’s life, however, are true treasure – and not to be missed.
(The Genesis passage is pasted in below in English; Miko read it in Hebrew as the rest of us tried to follow along with our English texts.)
Genesis: 18:8-15
“ … then, under the tree Abraham served the three visitors himself, and they ate. Then they asked him, “Where is your wife Sarah?” “She is there in the tent,” he answered. One of them said, “Exactly a year from now I will come back, and your wife Sarah will have a son.”
Sarah was behind him, at the entrance to the tent, listening. Abraham and Sarah were very old, and Sarah had stopped having her monthly periods. So Sarah laughed to herself and said, “Now that I am old and worn out, can I still enjoy sex? And, besides, my husband is old too.
Then God asked Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Can I really have a child when I am so old? Is anything too difficult for the God? As I said, exactly one year from now I will return and Sarah will have a son.”
Because Sarah was afraid, she denied it. “I didn’t laugh,” she said. “Yes, you did,” he replied. “You laughed.”