M.DIV. INCLUSIO

Back in the Spring of 1999, I attended a retreat for one of the first classes I took at Talbot. At this retreat, Dave Talley spoke one evening, reading an abundance of passages containing the phrase, "know that I am the LORD". It was probably one of the most powerful sermons I have ever experience (a well-placed thunder clap helped a lot). This is how my M.Div. career began.

Today in chapel, Dave Talley spoke. Now, he was not on the schedule, but was substituted at the last minute because the speaker had a family emergency. And what did Talley speak on? Yup, the phrase "know that I am the LORD".

Such is the inclusio. Funny thing, that. Here I am in the last semester, with my main area of interest being the people of God--as in "You will be my people and I will be your God"--and that very notion is the substance of this 'inclusio'.

Exodus 6:7

I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.

So, here are a few points I need to ponder:

• We are peopled because God is our God
• God wants his people to know who he is
• Our 'people-ness' is related to God's delivering us
• Who God is to us is communicated in the story of our deliverance

So, if there is one people of God by faith (believing Israel + believing church), what do the above points tell us about what it means to be the people of God?