{"id":209,"date":"2023-03-01T19:50:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-01T19:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.valpo.edu\/devotionals\/2023\/02\/28\/creation-gods-law\/"},"modified":"2026-01-02T19:56:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T19:56:11","slug":"creation-gods-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.valpo.edu\/devotionals\/creation-gods-law\/","title":{"rendered":"Bringing Order to Chaos"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cWhen God was about to create heaven and earth, the earth was a chaos, unformed, and on the chaotic waters\u2019 face there was darkness. Then God\u2019s spirit glided over the face of the waters, and God said, \u2018Let there be light!\u2019 \u2013 and there was light. And when God saw how good the light was, God divided the light from the darkness; God then called the light Day, and called the darkness Night, and there was evening and there was morning, [the] first day.\u201d -Genesis 1:1-5, New Jewish Publication Society <\/em>Translation<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Rabbis said that God, the Master Architect, had a master plan of creation. This plan was the Torah, which provided that God\u2019s world would exist not merely for the sake of existing but for all purposes bound up with the creation of humanity.\u201d -W. Gunther Plaut\u2019s essays on Genesis 1 in The Torah: A Modern Commentary<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How did you decide to open this email? Because I know you have at least<\/em> twenty other emails to get to \u2013 and some of those are under deadline. Or you could be using these valuable minutes to get your thoughts in order for your next meeting, or just to sit still and breathe for a moment. Yet here you are, reading this Chapel newsletter. Why?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe you didn\u2019t think so deeply about opening one more email \u2013 but there are other decisions that we approach with much more consideration: How to parent. How and what to teach. Whether to start a new job or a new relationship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we make those kinds of decisions, we engage in a more intentional process before we make the call. We look at the reality of the situation: I have x<\/em> amount of time; curriculum standards dictate y<\/em>; I need to earn a paycheck; my kid needs food to survive, and that\u2019s technically my responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We also ask deeper questions about our values. I have developed this<\/em> pedagogy; these parts of my work are my higher priority; I want to live in a world where people treat each other like this<\/em>. For people of faith, this is also where questions of God\u2019s will come in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And if our first round doesn\u2019t produce an answer, we can go to an even deeper level – continuing to ask questions about the values and desires that motivate us until a decision becomes more clear. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have a million choices in every moment, which can feel chaotic or overwhelming. Looking to the realities of our situation and our own values helps us bring order to the chaos of choice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wonder if God\u2019s law might play a similar role in our lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christians tend to look at God\u2019s law almost like an enemy. It\u2019s something that we are saved from, according to sermons and our Sunday school teachers and simplified readings of Martin Luther, all bolstered by St. Paul\u2019s deep theological work with \u201claw\u201d and \u201cgospel\u201d in his New Testament letters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And yet the Jewish people \u2013 through whom we Christians have inherited our faith \u2013 openly rejoice in God\u2019s law. This ancient tradition lives in the scriptures that we share, such as in Psalm 19:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The law of the Lord is perfect,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

reviving the soul;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

the decrees of the Lord are sure,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

making the wise simple;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

the precepts of the Lord are right,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

rejoicing the heart\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Genesis 1 tells us that God created the world by turning chaos into order: dividing light and dark, water and land  \u2013 turning that original chaos and darkness into a home where life could thrive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One role that God\u2019s law plays in our life is very similar: to help us order the chaos in our lives. It helps us divide the better choices from the worse. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those of us who keep the season of Lent are now being drawn into a time of reflection and repentance. As a community we intentionally look at our lives in the light of God\u2019s law and open ourselves to re-evaluate our priorities and our way of living. We open ourselves to be transformed. And in this case, God\u2019s law is not something from which we need to be saved \u2013 it is a gift that helps us make meaning in our lives. As we live in the grace of God, so even the laws that convict us become a grace to us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh, how I love your law!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is my meditation all day long\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How sweet are your words to my taste,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sweeter than honey to my mouth!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through your precepts I get understanding;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore I hate every false way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your word is a lamp to my feet<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And a light to my path. (Psalm 119:97, 103-105 NRSV)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pr Kate<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pastor Kate<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Pastor Jim\u00a0<\/a>take turns writing weekly devotions for the Chapel of the Resurrection. Contact them here:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

pastorkate.youcanbook.me<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

pastorjim.youcanbook.me<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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