July 3, 2011

Proper 9:  Genesis 24 passim

It is a real joy for anyone who enters a pulpit to be able to preach on one of the really great stories in the Bible. Themes can be good, like some of the stuff in the Letter to the Hebrews. Miracles and parables can also be good material for the preacher, and I even once heard a good sermon on the genealogy in Matthew. But nothing beats a good story; and that's what we have in the Old Testament reading for today.

Interestingly, it is not one of the better known Old Testament stories even though the bit we read comes from one of the longest to be found in Genesis - but because of what's in it, it is one of the best. The story is full of real characters. There is a place that unfolds. There are people who need to be convinced. There is suspense and there is drama. And what is more, the story is so politically incorrect to modem western sensibilities that it is bound to be interesting. It is all to do with an arranged marriage. '

Basically the story is that as Abraham was getting old he needed to find a wife for his son, Isaac, and he did it by sending his most senior servant to go and get one. Not, you realize from the immediate vicinity, but one from his relatives far away. Isaac doesn't seem to have had much say in the matter, and his mother Sarah has died. Everything is decided by Abraham and then left up to the servant to work out the details of what is to be done - and then to get on and do it. The servant went with a decent sized retinue of camels and gifts, arrived at his destination and immediately prayed a moving prayer for success in his mission

Unsurprisingly, given the way the story has been unfolding, the servant's prayer is answered when a young girl described as 'very fair to look upon and a virgin' came by. She watered his camels and gave him a drink too. He had prayed that the woman who did this for him would be the one to become Isaac's wife.

The servant asked to spend the night with the girl's family along with his retinue of camels and on being granted accommodation, prayed a prayer of blessing and thanksgiving (24:27). Once inside the servant reveals why he is there: beginning with background information about Abraham's wealth and how God has blessed him and Sarah not only with riches but also (and despite their old age) with a son Isaac. Then he goes on to recount the purpose of his mission, repeats his prayer, and identifies the fair virgin, whom we now know as Rebekah, as the one whom he has been sent to seek and secure as a bride for Isaac.

The outcome is obvious and Rebekah's parents say, "Rebekah is before you, take her and go, and let her be the wife of your master's son." The deal was done. The next day Rebekah agreed to go and her nurse and maids went as well. When the party arrived back at Abraham's place, due modesties were observed before the union was consummated and that was that.

All this would make great television and I dare say that as I have recounted the details of the story to you, you have visualized them in your mind's eye. That is the beauty of Old Testament stories: we can picture them. But there is no point in picturing them if you cannot see the meanings - and in this case there are several things that can be drawn out.

We've got, for example, the fulfillment of God's promises. God had promised Abraham that he would be blessed both in life and by the birth of descendants after him. In other words he needed grandchildren. Think too of Rebekah. Although we are very wary of arranged marriages, nonetheless she was prepared to go to Isaac in obedience to God's will. And did you notice that the servant prayed before he acted and then praised God when his prayer was answered? Indeed, we can see that all of the servant's actions were performed with the understanding that God was behind all that he did.

In this sense the servant functions as an ideal both in obedience to God and in the fulfillment of his duty. We might even think of him as prefiguring what Jesus himself would do in the fullness of time.

It takes no stretch of the imagination to conclude that there is something in the story for us as well. Offering prayer, giving thanks, living obediently and modeling ourselves on the faithful life of Jesus are all marks of true discipleship; characteristics of the life to which God calls us.

It is fair to say that the servant probably did not expect things to fall into place quite as easily as they did. Sent on a vital mission by Abraham, he set out and put into place the conditions (involving prayer and action) that would ensure his success in all that was being asked of him. In responding to the command of his master the servant sought also the guidance of God - and in so doing displayed very significant levels of initiative and diplomatic skill. And let it not go unsaid that he also showed determination when Rebekah's parents asked that she remain ten days before setting off with the servant and all his camels.

So far I have spoken about the servant as the main actor in this drama but we must not forget Rebekah's part. She was trusting, generous and hospitable to a stranger. She was willing to leave her home and all that was familiar to her in response to God's call. We might consider her naive and impetuous, even reckless - and indeed she might have been all of these things - but she displayed a level of trust in God that makes her the very equal of Abraham and gives her a share in God's promise of future descendants. Like Abraham, Rebekah models the ideal of a life lived in obedience to God. She also models for us the divine life lived by Jesus as he fulfilled God's purpose.

The characters in this morning's first reading come together in a complimentary way to inform, inspire and encourage us to live lives of true discipleship and total obedience in faith to the will of God - and the possibly surprising outcomes that will unfold as God's purposes for us are revealed. And for that thanks be to God. Amen.