You and Your Story
If you and I sat down today over a coffee or other beverage of choice, and I asked, “What’s your story,” what would you say? What would you tell me about your family, your upbringing and your choices in life? What would you tell me about your parents, grandparents, siblings and the values they passed on to you and the lessons they instilled in you? If you were feeling bold enough, what might you tell me of where there has been conflict and division or heartache and brokenness in your familial relationships?
Marriage—and with it family—was a gift of God in creation, so the Prayer Book service for marriage tells us. And indeed, it is. Yet, family life is also the arena that bears with it much sin and brokenness, from bad habits we pass on to our children to serious acts of neglect and even abuse.
What would you tell me about your legacy? In recent weeks in the lectionary, we’ve heard the story of David and, if you read on in the chapters of the story, you’ll read about how his sin begat sin from generation to generation.
In ancient Israel, there was the idea (because of Exodus 20:5) that if you sinned, then God would punish many generations after you. That’s the idea to which Ezekiel refers at the start of chapter 18, “Parents have eaten sour grapes and the children’s teeth are set on edge.” (v.2) Yet, God corrects this misunderstanding of how He works. Through Ezekiel, He tells the people that He deals with each of us personally and does not blame us for the guilt of those in our ancestry—or give us a free pass because of their righteousness. He deals with each generation, each individual separately. Ezekiel 18 says:
I will judge each of you according to your own ways, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit.
Ezekiel 18:30-31
This is the truth: Whatever our legacy or family history might be, God knows it all and what counts is not what our story is, but how we respond to it. So how will you respond? Will you be an actor rather than reactor? Will you invite God to redeem your story and let Him create in you a new heart and spirit? Will you own your part and learn to live differently today?
