Last week, we
heard the story of Isaac’s near death experience when Abraham was put to the
test and was asked to sacrifice his son. Fortunately, God intervened and Isaac
was ok. Today, we turn to a passage that occurs when Isaac was around 40 years
old. His father decided it was time to find a wife for Isaac, and sent his
servant out to obtain an “appropriate” woman for his son. Hear this reading of
a selection of the verses found in Genesis 24:
Proclamation of the Scripture Genesis 24: 34-38, 42-49, 58-67
So he (Abraham’s senior servant) said, “I am Abraham’s
servant.
The Lord has blessed my
master abundantly, and he has become wealthy. He has given him sheep and
cattle, silver and gold, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys.
My master’s wife Sarah has borne him a son in her old age, and he has
given him everything he owns.
And my master made me swear an oath, and said, ‘You must not get a wife
for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live,
but go to my father’s family and to my own clan, and get a wife for my
son.’
“When I came to the spring today, I said, ‘Lord,
God of my master Abraham, if you will, please grant success to the journey on
which I have come.
See, I am standing beside this spring. If a young woman comes out to draw
water and I say to her, “Please let me drink a little water from your jar,”
and if she says to me, “Drink, and I’ll draw water for your camels too,”
let her be the one the Lord has
chosen for my master’s son.’
“Before I finished praying in my heart, Rebekah came out, with her jar on
her shoulder. She went down to the spring and drew water, and I said to her,
‘Please give me a drink.’
“She quickly lowered her jar from her shoulder and said, ‘Drink, and I’ll
water your camels too.’ So I drank, and she watered the camels also.
“I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’
“She said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel son of Nahor, whom Milkah bore to
him.’
“Then I put the ring in her nose and the bracelets on her arms,
and I bowed down and worshiped the Lord.
I praised the Lord, the God of my
master Abraham, who had led me on the right road to get the granddaughter of my
master’s brother for his son.
Now if you will show kindness and faithfulness to my master, tell me; and
if not, tell me, so I may know which way to turn.”
“I will go,” she said.
So they sent their sister Rebekah on her way, along with her nurse and
Abraham’s servant and his men.
And they blessed
Rebekah and said to her,
“Our sister, may you
increase
to thousands upon thousands;
may your offspring possess
the cities of their
enemies.”
Then Rebekah and her attendants got ready and mounted the camels and went
back with the man. So the servant took Rebekah and left.
Now Isaac had come from Beer Lahai Roi, for he was living in the
Negev.
He went out to the field one evening to meditate,[f] and as he looked up,
he saw camels approaching.
Rebekah also looked up and saw Isaac. She got down from her camel
and asked the servant, “Who is that man in the field coming to meet us?”
“He is my master,” the servant answered. So she took her veil and covered
herself.
Then the servant told Isaac all he had done.
Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah, and he married
Rebekah. So she became his wife, and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted
after his mother’s death.
Here
ends this reading of the word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God.
Amen.
Prayer of Invocation
May the words
of my mouth and the mediations of all of our hearts be acceptable in thy sight,
O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
Message Chosen Journeys
The story of Abraham and Sarah, the
story of the Jewish Patriarchs, reads in many ways like a soap opera…the
marital relationships, the jealousy, the miracle babies, the near death
experiences, the intrigue. I am surprised no one has developed it into a
telenovela or soap opera.
When it came
time for Abraham to arrange a marriage for his son Isaac, he opted to have his
servant return to the land of Ur, to Abraham’s homeland, to find a bride. No
Canaanite women for his family – only the best 😊.
When the
servant arrived in Abraham’s homeland, he went to the area where Abraham’s
extended family lived…Where the descendants of his brothers lived. And, the
first person the servant met was Rebekah. She was very generous with sharing
water with the servant and his camels…the servant had prayed to God for a sign
that he was choosing the right woman. Rebekah fit the bill to a tee. Rebekah’s
father and grandfather had died, so her brother, Laban, made the arrangements
to marry her off. Later on, Laban will figure prominently in the life of
Rebekah’s son Jacob because he married Laban’s two daughters, Rachel and Leah.
Obviously,
these people didn’t understand inbreeding or incest in the way we do. Abraham
and Sarah were ½ siblings with the same dad and different mothers. Rebekah was
the granddaughter of Abraham’s brother Nahor. Her son married her nieces
through her brother Laban. If I had to build an ancestry chart for this family,
there would be a lot of crossing lines and uncomfortable pairings.
Again, sort of
soap-opera-esque. We have all watched tv shows when people find out they are
dating their sisters. But, in our day-and-age, those pairings are accidental.
In ancient Israel, they were intentional.
A lot of things
have changed in marriages since 4000 years ago. When Abraham sent his servant
to pick a bride for Isaac, Isaac didn’t get a say in the matter. His dad was in
charge. Abraham decided to obtain a bride from his family….they were keeping
their assets to themselves…and their DNA to themselves.
Even during the
last 100 years, marriage has changed in the United States. Marriage has changed
in our culture. My great-great-grandmother obtained a divorce in the 1890s – afterwards,
she moved with her son and her mother to a totally different part of Missouri –
it is a 7 hour car ride away now – they had to move away from where they lived
to another part of Missouri to escape the scandal and start over again. A
little over 100 years ago, people couldn’t obtain no-fault divorces, even if
they were abused or their partners committed infidelity. Throughout the 20th
century, our culture shifted and people became more tolerant of divorce.
When my grandparents were newlyweds
in the 1940s, they followed a very strict division of household work based on
their genders. My grandmother did more chores in the house, my grandfather did
more chores in the yard. But, priorities in marriage continued to shift and
continue to shift. Now, newlyweds have much more egalitarian expectations–most
people work for a salary, and the household tasks and childcare is split up
more equally. We all know women who mow the lawn and men who cook all the
meals. And, we now have marriages between people of the same gender and those
marriages also reflect more egalitarian expectations about housework and
childcare.
We can all probably look at the marriages of earlier
generations and recognize ways those marriages are different than our
marriages. Those partnerships are different than our partnerships.
But, there are still Christian teachings that undergird
our marriages. There are still rules of conduct that we cherish and want to
carry forward into the future. In the beginning of the Bible, marriage is about
companionship – In Genesis 2:18, it says: “The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be
alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” So,
immediately in Genesis, we are created to be helpers for each other. God lays
out the foundation of a marriage as a friendship between two co-equals coming
together as one. We ae designed to need
companionship and marriage helps us obtain a partner who meets that need.
In the 10 Commandments, God tells us to not commit
adultery. Exodus 20 verse 14 succinctly
states: “You shall not commit adultery.”
Why would this be one of our principle obligations?
Infidelity causes a lot of problems. When it is
discovered, the betrayed partner can devalue themselves and blame themselves
for the affair. The unfaithful partner feels guilt and shame; the betrayed
partner may feel humiliated and exposed. There is a loss of trust. The members of the couple may experience
anger, resentment, bitterness, anxiety and depression. All of these things lead
to unhealthy marriages – therefore, we are told by God through our scripture to
not commit adultery, and work to prevent these consequences before they start.
In Genesis chapter one, it is written: “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image
of God he created them; male and female he created them.” This
passage refers to Adam and Eve being created in the image of God. One is not
greater than the other – although many human cultures have valued men over
women, this is not how God arranged the world. Jesus continually elevated women
in a society that put them down. In the story of Adam and Eve, where Adam was
weak, Eve was strong; where Eve was weak, Adam was strong. Based on their example, we are reminded to
celebrate the strengths of our spouse.
Our marriages are very different than the arranged marriage
of Isaac and Rebekah. Yet, we can take cues from our scripture about how to
have healthy relationships and marriages. We are designed to need cowmanship,
loyalty, trust, and to rely on our partners to complement us. The more things change, the more they stay
the same. I pray we will each find strength, companionship and love in all of
our relationships and partnerships, as we are created to rely on each other.
May we do so knowing we are loved by our God. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment