It's Palm Sunday. Hosanna! Hosanna in the Highest!

 Read John 12

Matthew 21

Mark 11

Luke 19:28-44

We continue through Genesis but take note that this is Palm Sunday.  We love the kids parading through the sanctuary with the palm fronds.

We love the story of Jesus riding into Jerusalem on the back of a young donkey.  The people laid out their coats and palm branches before him.

They were honoring a king.  Did they know they were honoring the King of Kings?

There were cries of Hosanna! Hosanna in the highest!

The people were celebrating and crying out for salvation in the same breath.

The self-righteous religious leaders were not happy about this whole thing.

C’mon rabbi, tell them to chill.  A little welcome to town is fine, but this is just too much.  Just who do they think you are?

Jesus told the religious leaders—some of whom were likely in attendance at the kangaroo court that would be held later that week or within the crowd gathered before Pilate enticing them to shout Crucify Him—he told them if the people won’t cry out, even the stones that line the road will.

Those entrenched in their rules had become shackled to ritual and repetition and the respect of the people who now were praising Jesus.  Jesus was cutting into their turf.

Jesus told them that there were consequences for their blindness.  Those who followed these self-righteous leaders would fall to their earthly enemies.  There would be consequences for not having eyes to see.

They did not have eyes to see God in his most essential form—God, love was right before them. All they could see was a man, perhaps a rabbi, who just would not get with their program.

Love was on the back of a young donkey as he rode into Jerusalem. The people shouted praises while the religious leaders plotted his death.

The week ahead was as jam-packed as any since the creation of the world.  Jesus would teach and rebuke. He would boldly confront those offending his Father in his Father’s house.

And he would seek one last secluded gathering with his closest friends, once for a meal and once in the garden, where he would ask some of these men to stay with him while he prayed.

Jesus would ask his Father if there was any other way, knowing full well that there was not.  Jesus knew that the hour of his death was coming millennia before the events of this week.

God’s plan to release humankind from the shackles of sin and death had reached its pinnacle, but Jesus still went through every human emotion knowing that a brutal death was before him.

Jesus was truly human.

He was truly divine.

He was the unblemished Lamb of God that would take away the sin of the world.

He gave up his life freely.  He could have stopped all of this business leading up to the cross.  In a moment, he could have commanded legions of angels to protect him.

To do so would mean that he thought we didn’t matter or at least we didn’t matter enough, but he knew we mattered to his Father in heaven.

Jesus came to do the will of his Father in heaven and that will sent him to the cross. We matter to God.

Jesus was the unblemished lamb.  He went to be sacrificed to atone for our sins.

He is our Savior.  He is our Master.

JESUS IS LORD!

On a morning about 2000 years ago, our Lord rode into the city of Jerusalem on the back of a young donkey and received the welcome and praises of so many people who were looking for a Savior.

He rode right past them.  The King of Kings and Lord of Lords came by them and they shouted HOSANNA, HOSANNA INT THE HIGHEST.

Save us.  God almighty and everlasting, save us.

We are continuing through Genesis.  We are in the second half of the book, but as you go through your week, let the words HOSANNA, HOSANNA IN THE HIGHEST bounce around in your minds.

HOSANNA!

HOSANNA IN THE HIGHEST!

We will get to Genesis 26 in the next service.  We’ve got wells to dig.

But for now and the week that follows, think:

HOSANNA!

HOSANNA IN THE HIGHEST!

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

Amen.

Let the World Contend with Us!

 Read Genesis 26

Now there was a famine in the land.  We know dry and very dry conditions where we live.  We are on the brink of being a desert, but have been spared from that because the rains do come.

We have seen selective food shortages, but never scarcity on the level that would become famine.  I’m not sure that we could survive famine in this country.  When the people were afraid of shortages, what did they buy?

Toilet paper!

But there was famine and Isaac went to the land of the Philistines and King Abimelech.  God had told him not to go to Egypt as his father had done.  Abimelech received Isaac.

While his welcome seemed hospitable, Isaac did not trust Abimelech or the people of this area.  When asked about Rebekah, Isaac used his father’s trick to try to save his own hide.

She is my sister.

We have heard that before from Abraham.  One time when Abraham did this, it was with Abimelech.  I’m thinking like father, like son.

When that doctor asked me, "Son, how'd you get in this condition?"

I said, "A-hey, Sawbones, I'm just carrying on an old family tradition"

Mark this date on your calendars.  Hank Williams Jr. made it into a sermon.  I could have used his lyrics last week talking about Esau.

I got a shotgun, a rifle, and a 4-wheel drive

And a country boy can survive

How was the husband-wife relationship discovered?  Abimelech saw Isaac caressing Rebekah. You might think that the presence of children might have been a giveaway, but it appears that Esau and Jacob were grown men at this time.

Abimelech could have sent Isaac away, but he knew that Isaac, like his father Abraham, was blessed by the Lord.  This pagan ruler knew that there was a powerful, almighty God who protected Abraham.

So, the king issued a directive to his people that neither Isaac nor Rebekah was to be touched.  They had the king’s protection. The king addressed Isaac’s fears instead of confronting him.

The king did not worship the God of Abraham and Isaac, but he knew to fear him. When Abraham had pulled this same my wife is my sister stunt with the king, God had spoken to Abimelech in a dream and said, “You are as good as dead,”

Abimelech had some first-hand experience with the God of Abraham and now Isaac. He knew to fear this God.  He knew not to hurt the one whom God had blessed.

So, when the husband and wife relationship was discovered, Abimelech did not send Isaac away, he granted them protection.

For the first time since Noah planted a vineyard, we see a reference to planting crops.  Isaac had a true bumper crop and he became very rich.  In spite of his my wife is my sister ploy, God had blessed him.

Isaac not only had riches from his crops but from his herds as well.  He grew and grew. While Abimelech placed his protection upon Isaac and Rebekah; he did not extend this protection to the things that Isaac needed.

The Philistine people resented Isaac. They envied him.  They found a loophole in the king’s protection.  They filled in the wells that Abraham dug when he was in this area. Tensions were high.

So, king Abimelech told Isaac that he had become too powerful and needed to move away.  Like it or not, it seems that the nomadic nature of his father had passed to him.

Despite the bountiful crops attached to the land where he lived, Isaac packed up and moved. He obviously didn’t move too far as he continued to live in an area influenced by the Philistines.

He re-dug wells.  These were wells that his father had made and then the Philistines had filled in after Abraham died.  There was once again tension between Isaac and the Philistine herdsmen.

Only when Isaac dug a third well, did the tension subside.  That well was named Rehoboth because there was room for everyone now. 

Isaac now had enough room between him and the Philistines.  That would be the last he would see of King Abimelech, except that it wasn’t.

Abimelech came to see Isaac.  He brought his personal advisor and his military commander.

Isaac asked, “What now? You asked me to leave.  I left.  What now?”  That’s a bit of a paraphrase but faithful to the original text.

What now?

Abimelech had recognized how powerful Isaac had become.  Physical displacement would not solve all of the king’s problems. There was still a force with which he had to contend camped out in his backyard.  Abimelech surely knew of Abraham’s military success in defeating 4 sizeable armies.  Could he risk that Abraham’s son might be capable of the same thing?

And this God of Abraham and Isaac was a powerful God.  He didn’t want to be on the wrong side if this God intervened in military matters.  Abimelech needed a treaty.

Isaac was a little resentful that he had been sent away, but Abimelech reminded him that he was sent away peacefully and that his God had blessed him wherever he went.  He had prospered in the land but the time had come to put some distance between Isaac and the bulk of the Philistines.

Isaac agreed to the terms and each party swore not to hurt the other.

Was this a sign of weakness on the part of the king?  Not likely as the king who had a treaty with the son of Abraham, now had an alliance. This treaty might deter others who thought they could take on the Philistines.

Isaac put on a feast to commemorate the agreement and the king and his advisors left peacefully.

After they had departed, Isaac’s servants reported they had dug and found water once again.  The well and the town were named Beersheba, after the oath that had been sworn earlier.  This was the well of the oath.

There is a little more at the end of the chapter but it fits in better with what follows. 

So, what did we learn in this chapter?

God continued to bless the line of Abraham.  The promise of many descendants would be carried out in Isaac’s children and their children.  They would be too numerous to count.

God was recognized by some in the pagan world.  They did not have a relationship with him, but they at least knew to fear him.

Isaac made this my wife is my sister bit a family tradition.  Dad tried it twice and it worked for him.  Isaac was blessed with a bumper crop and his herds continued to grow after his ploy was exposed by Abimelech.

Isaac, like his father, was nomadic.  He never stayed in one place too long.

We see a bit more of the story that leads to a chosen people, a Promised Land, and the law given by God,

We see a bit more of the lineage that will one day lead to the one through whom we know that God loves the world so much.  It’s a line that leads to Christ Jesus.

How do we relate this to anything in our current century?

OK, many of you have dug wells or hired someone to do that.  People generally don’t come and fill them in or threaten you claiming that your well is their well. Maybe that’s not the best connection.

How about the world will have to contend with those blessed by God. 

I have mentioned many times that we are blessed to live where we live.  Seldom are we confronted for our faith.  We are rarely threatened.

But a time is coming when lawlessness will prevail upon this earth.  We may live to see it, but we should not fear it for God will bless those who trust him, obey him, and follow him—who follow Jesus.

Our lives may be threatened and even taken from us, but God provides for those whom he blesses and we have received his blessing in Christ Jesus.

So, as we approach the end times—that could be really soon or decades or even centuries away—let the world contend with us as we trust, obey, and follow the one true God.

We often think about how we will contend with the world.  Let us see the life before us, seek God and his kingdom and his righteousness, trust him, obey him, and put the words of our Master into practice.

Let the world contend with us for our course is set with eyes fixed on Jesus.

Yes, we will have trouble in the world, but we don’t bargain with the world.  We accept, trust, and obey the word of God.

We follow Jesus and put his words into practice. God’s blessings are already upon us.

Amen.

Two Nations are in Your Womb

 Read Genesis 25

Abraham took a wife in his old age but he was young enough to have some more kids.

The children of Ishmael are listed for us.  They grew into tribes and were hostile to other tribes including those of their relatives. Ishmael died at the age of 137 years.

Abraham died at the age of 175 years.  That’s a good run.  Both Isaac and Ishmael attended his funeral and he was buried in the cave of Machpelah, the place where his wife had been buried.

But the story has moved to Isaac and Rebekah.  They were childless.  Rebekah was barren.   It seems like we have heard this story before.

Isaac took this matter to the Lord and Rebekah became pregnant. Isaac was 60 when Rebekah gave birth to twins.

This was not your average pregnancy.  The twins seemed to battle each other, jostling for position in the womb. Rebekah, even though she had no previous children, thought that this couldn’t be the norm.  She asked God what was happening.

“Two nations are in your womb,

    and two peoples from within you will be separated;

one people will be stronger than the other,

    and the older will serve the younger.”

We don’t know what Rebekah thought about this answer.  We don’t see her asking God to put these two kids in time-out until they were born.  We jump immediately to the birth. 

Esau came out first.  He was red and he was hairy. Some of your commentaries say that Esau means hairy.  You don’t get that in direct translation as Esau is just given to us as a proper name, but somehow the hairy name was attached.

Esau was born first.  He should have all the birthright blessings as first born.

Jacob came out next grabbing the heel of his brother.  Again, the direct translation has Jacob only as a proper name but most commentaries note that Jacob means he grasps the heel, a Hebrew idiom for he deceives.

Imagine living with the moniker that says you are a deceiver. That kid is going to need a new name. Give it another 10 chapters. God will take care of that part.

The birth was a harbinger of the story that followed.

Esau was a country boy prone to hunting and fishing and the outdoor life.  He was his father’s favorite. Jacob was more of a homebody.  He was his mother’s favorite.

One day, Esau had been out doing his outdoor thing and came home very hungry.  Jacob was cooking some lentil stew.

Have you ever been watching what you eat and then walk by a bakery?  It’s game over.  The aroma overtakes your best intentions and the next thing you know you have purchased three croissants and two doughnuts and you are still looking at what else they have.

Have you ever gone to one of those big theme parks—Disney, Universal, Six Flags—and packed some snacks because you were not going to pay theme park prices to eat when you could bring some cheese crackers. C’mon, you came to ride the rides not eat overpriced sandwiches.

Then it hits you from a hundred yards away. You are defenseless.

What does?  What disarms you? The aroma of those turkey legs smoking—that’s what gets you.  The next thing you know, you have one in each hand wishing you had another hand.

Now you can empathize with Esau.  He was hungry for sure.  He was using hyperbole when he said he was about to die, but right in front of him was an MRE.  Yes, it truly was a meal ready to eat, not the 3 lies in one that soldiers and Marines get these days.

He was hungry.  There was food. It was ready. We talk about immediate gratification being all around us today, it was surely before Esau at this moment. He didn’t even have to wait the 70-80 seconds in the microwave.

Do you know what else was ready?  Actually, it’s who was ready.  Jacob was ready.

Sure bro, I will give you some of this tasty stew, just sell me your birthright.

There wasn’t even a negotiation.

Done.  Now give me that food.  What good is a birthright anyway if you are about to die of starvation.

Jacob didn’t get this agreement in writing but he did get his brother to swear an oath that he had sold his birthright to Jacob.

We are told that Jacob despised his birthright. The original word is בָּזָה bazah meaning not only despise but careless, contempt, and disdained.  He was surely careless with his birthright.

Who had been left out of this agreement?  Dad.  Isaac surely wouldn’t have blessed such a transaction between his two sons, but Esau had sworn an oath.  He did it carelessly, but he did it and the story of these two brothers continues at the end of the next chapter and the one that follows.

This Father of Many Nations business unfolds in this chapter.  Abraham had other sons after Sarah died.  Abraham had a son before Isaac was born and that son produced tribes that settled near Egypt.

Now Isaac has two sons.  They have separate paths to follow.  Jacob’s will bring us to a chosen people who one day will take possession of a Promised Land. Through these people will come the Law that God prescribed for his people.

Through these people will come kings and a kingdom, and through these people will come the Savior of the world.

Why do I need to know all of this?  Really, is there a final exam at the gates of heaven that includes history?

I get having to learn 77 counties in Oklahoma History.  If you stay in the state, you need to know where the tornado is and is headed, so you know when to go outside and look. We get that.

But who begat whom and how long people waited to have a kid and passing your wife off as your sister—really?  Unless I want to write Hollywood screenplays, why do I need this?

I have professed Jesus is Lord.  I believe that God raised him from the dead.  I have received the free gift.  I am saved by God’s grace and I received the gift by faith.

I seek God and his kingdom and his righteousness before what I want for me.

I take the good news of life in Jesus Christ to my part of the world.

I strive to be known as a follower of Jesus by my love.  Do I really need the history lesson?

You don’t need it for your salvation.  You might need it for the fullness that you want from life. You might need it to help you understand that God takes everything and uses it for good for those who love him and are called according to his purpose.

You might need it to affirm and confirm that God selects people with flaws and shortcomings and uses them for his purposes.  He uses us for good.

You might need it to know the answer to the question:  Is anything too hard for God?

When we get near the end of Genesis, we will read what Joseph said to his brothers who had sold him into slavery.

What you intended for evil, God used for good.

Have you ever read a book that was really, really good.  You were so satisfied with the story.  You wish there was more to the story.  You go online to see what else that author wrote.

You didn’t just jump to the end to see how it all came out.  The story was important to the ending.  It was essential to the satisfaction you got from the book.

Genesis is about beginnings.  It’s not just the beginning of the world but the beginning of God’s relationship with us, so hang in there.

Have eyes to see the flaws in the people that God used, but God used them anyways.  Have eyes to see the blessings that he bestowed upon the people called according to his purpose.

Sometimes a good story requires you to suspend reality to get into the story.  The story that we are given in Genesis asks you to suspend your daily demands for a short time to read and understand and yes, even enjoy knowing the beginning of the story that has brought all of us to an eternal relationship with God.

Remember, that we are in the part of the story titled Beginnings.

So today, take in the story.  There is more to Jacob and Esau and even some more to Isaac and Rebekah.  But know that we are headed to a good place.

God loves you.

God will never stop loving you.

God wants you to enjoy him for all of eternity.

We all have a God-given purpose in life. 

We are all called to love one another.

I hope that these sound familiar.  They should be affirmations of God’s love for us and that we all have God-given purpose in our lives.

God takes whatever happens to us and uses it for good.  That doesn’t mean that everything that happens is good, but God will use it for good in our stories because we love God and have been called by him to do his will.

I get it that you don’t get it.  Birthrights, selling birthrights, and patriarchic order don’t seem to mean much today. Twins jostling in the womb foreshadowing the story of two brothers going separate ways seems to be a stretch.

But this is the story of God and his creation.  It’s the beginning of the story through which we get to know ourselves and our God.

He is a God who is holy and just.  He is righteous.  He judges the wicked. He expects obedience.

We also get to know the God who loves us and shows mercy time and time again. He is a God who loves to bless us, often in spite of our less-than-perfect performance.

He is our God and this course that he set Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob upon is also part of our story now. We have been brought into God’s family by the blood of Jesus.  This history is our history now.

I get it that the affirmations are more obvious on the right-hand side of your Bibles.

I get it that knowing what chapter is next in our study and homiletics creates an obligation that you might not want. I should read it but I was so comfortable with the Forrest Gump box of chocolates approach.  There is no preparation expected of you when you never know what you are going to get.

I get it but I ask you to get this.  We are all called to be a workman approved ready for every good work.  We don’t all have to be biblical scholars, but we need to know enough to put God’s words into practice.

I get it but I will ask something of you and set a standard that you should expect of me.

Hang in there through Genesis.  Read your chapter in advance.  Study to show yourself a workman approved. Genesis may not be your favorite book and it has some chapters that just don’t do much for you, but hang in there.  Press on towards the goal.

I will continue to include affirmations of God’s love and our God-given purpose in the weekly messages.  I want to balance challenge and support.

I want to set the framework for growth.  The cool beans thing here is that we get to grow in God’s grace. He will never kick his children to the curb.  Once we have come to know God through Christ Jesus his son, we are his.

What I will not do is preach to itching ears.  I will not take some worldly theme, no matter how popular it may be, and try to pass it off as the word of God.

I know that you will hit some points in your reading when you say who cares who dug the well?

I know that reading that Judah went to see a prostitute doesn’t sound like good church reading.

I ask you to trust God when his word says that all scripture is God breathed—given by the inspiration of God.

I ask you to know that God’s word will accomplish its purpose.

I need to revise what I said.  I don’t want you to hang in there through Genesis.  I want you to dig into Genesis and reap the rewards of being a workman approved by God.

We did not forsake the New Covenant when we began Genesis.  We embrace it now more than ever.

We are saved by grace through faith.  Know it.  Believe it. Live it, and dig into your chapter this week.

Consider an eternity in hell, not the hell that we are saved from but the earthly hell in which we sometimes find ourselves.

The kid that did not study at all for his algebra exam but who hopes to graduate high school spends an eternity in hell though the only exam only lasts 40 minutes.

The kid that studied, did his homework, and paid attention in class but still struggles, has some sense of accomplishment because he did the work.  She did the work. The exam is challenging but it is not hell on earth.  It is not something to dread.

You will grow and be able to sense some growth when you do the work.  Right now, that work is in Genesis.  Did into it.  It will be worth it.

I will keep the affirmations coming.  I know my nature is to challenge you and Genesis has been challenging for some of you. Some of you are eating this up.  I know there is no one size fits all.

So, I will remind you over and over that you matter, that your prayers are received and answered by God, and that God in his very essence is love.

God loves you and will never stop loving you.  Now, go read your chapter.

Amen.

 

Father Abraham had Many Sons

 Read Genesis 25

The Father of Many Nations died at the age of 175.  That’s a good run.  He lived 48 years after his wife died.

He didn’t just go hang out at the senior center or play dominos all day.  He got himself another wife and had some more kids—6 are listed in this chapter.  While the text does not say sons, it is most likely that these are all male children.  The girls usually are not listed, so there could have been other children that are not listed.

The line that we will follow going forward is the one that goes through Isaac, but Abraham had other children and they had children. We will talk more about Isaac’s children in the next service.

Don’t forget that Abraham jumped the gun on this Father of Many Nations business.  I guess that would make him a Sooner? He had a son with Hagar.  That son, Ishmael, had many sons who became tribes—12 in fact are listed in this chapter.

Abraham gave substantial gifts to all of the sons that he had by Keturah—his second wife, but his estate went to Isaac. He sent the other kids packing but not without material blessing. Abraham had been blessed by God and he blessed his children.

What other children did Abraham have?  Were there other women?  How many side chicks does an old guy need?

What other children did Abraham have?  He probably didn’t even know about them.

If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

We who have professed Jesus—the promised seed of Abraham—have been grafted into his family.  This is the man that God chose to be the father of many nations.  He promised that kings would come from his line.  He promised that the world would be blessed through him.

The blessing that would come to us came through Abraham, Isaac, and if we keep reading--Jacob. 

We are Abraham’s seed.  Read Romans 11 if you want the whole story of being grafted into the line of Abraham.  It’s a discussion that can’t be had in this chapter of Genesis as the Chosen People have not been fully manifested.  Romans 11 is about Jews and Gentiles both belonging to Abraham in Christ Jesus.

While there were plenty of Gentiles—that’s not what they were called in Genesis—but there were plenty of pagans in the land.  There were so many pagans that Abraham’s son and one grandson had to get their wives from back east.

But there are no Jews yet.  That story is just beginning and is now in the hands of Isaac and then Jacob.

There is one more thing in Romans 11 that I ask you to consider when we think about being children of Father Abraham. We all come into this family out of disobedience.

For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.

So here is the lesson for today. 

Abraham had children who had children through Hagar. We get a list in this chapter.

Abraham had children who had children through Sarah. This is the line through which God’s promises are fulfilled—nations and kingdoms, a Promised Land, and a descendant—Christ Jesus—through whom the entire world will be blessed.

And Abraham had children through your professions of faith.  Some of you got birth certificates.  We give them out here with your baptism.

You can now genuinely call Abraham your earthly father. It’s through your relationship with your heavenly Father through Christ Jesus, but that gets you into the family.

So, when we get to that part in the song, I am one of them and so are you, you can sing along with the kids because you know what it’s all about.

Father Abraham had many sons and daughters.

I am one of them and so are you

 

Amen.

A Wife for Isaac

 Read Genesis 24

The chapter begins not by telling us that Abraham is old but by stating he was very old.  He was also tremendously blessed.  Abraham had himself some stuff and a trusted servant to manage everything.

He had the son that God promised him but his son had no wife and the prospects for finding the right wife in the land where he lived were zero.  This was pagan country.

Those who surrounded Abraham surely knew of his God and perhaps even feared his God but they had no relationship with the one true God.  Abraham was something of an enigma.

He was a powerful man blessed by a powerful God, but the people around him did not seek this God.

Though they had many idols and knew not to mess with the God of Abraham, they were essentially godless people.

In the first service, we looked at the oath taken by the servant and his sojourn to the well in northern Mesopotamia.

We learned about the servant’s prayer and how the answer to that prayer singled out Rebekah as the woman most likely to be Isaac’s wife, but the work of the servant was not yet done.

Just who was this girl?

She was the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Nahor and Milcah. Now it was time to meet the parents, but first, it was time to pray again.

Then the man bowed down and worshiped the Lord, saying, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his kindness and faithfulness to my master. As for me, the Lord has led me on the journey to the house of my master’s relatives.”

God was still blessing Abraham, now through his servant in the land of his brother’s family.  His brother’s family also knew to show hospitality. 

The servant and his caravan would be put up at the home of Rachel’s parents.  She also had a brother named Laban.  Watch out for that rascal when Isaac’s son needs a wife but for now, he welcomed the servant.

“Come, you who are blessed by the Lord,” he said. “Why are you standing out here? I have prepared the house and a place for the camels.”

The servant came into Bethuel’s household and dinner was served, but the servant would not eat until he explained his business. The servant was on a mission and the success of the mission was looking good, but he wasn’t home yet.

He was compelled to tell the story from the beginning—Abraham and Sarah having a son in their old age, the oath he took to bring Isaac a wife, the release from the oath if she would not come with him, and the fact that God was in this every step of the way.

He recounted how he had prayed and God had shown him Rebekah, just as he had petitioned.  He told of the gifts he gave to Rebekah and the praise he lifted up to the Lord.

As you read this, you might have thought, didn’t I just read this?  The answer would be yes, but the servant was not acting of his own will or authority but by the authority of his master, Abraham, who was fulfilling the will of God.

Bethuel and Laban said that all of this is from the Lord.  We don’t really have a say in it.  Take Rebekah and return to your master.

There were gifts galore given to Bethuel’s household.

The servant ate, drank, and spent the night, but by morning, the family was reconsidering the haste of their decision.  You might compare this to buyer’s remorse—a big decision followed by second thoughts. They wanted her to remain with them for 10 more days.

But the servant was on a mission from his master.  He had some momentum going. He didn’t want to take a break when things were going so well.  He needed to go and go now.

Instead of an impasse, the family asked Rebekah to decide.  She chose to go.  The family chose to send her with a blessing.

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.”

It seems that the family embraced this Father of Many Nations blessing given to Abraham.  Rebekah was now to be a part of this.

And so, they headed back to Abraham. Rebekah was not without some means.  She had a nurse and some maidservants.  It’s a good thing that they unloaded the gifts for the family because Rebekah had some luggage.

I know the experience.  When we go on a cruise, I ask my wife the same question each time.  For how many people and how many months are you packing?

So here is the love story.  The caravan arrived near home.  Isaac was out in the fields in the evening time meditating. Rebekah asked the servant, who is that man?  He replied, that is my master.

Rebecca covered her face and the servant recounted the entire experience to Isaac. Isaac took Rebekah into the tent and made her his wife.  He loved her. She comforted him.

But what about the wedding invitations?  What about the feast?  What about the ceremony?  Was there even a priest around? What about premarital counseling?

Years ago, I was at Montana Mikes in Clinton.  A young couple recognized me as the pastor for the Burns Flat CPC.  They asked if I could do counseling before they got married.

I told them we should set up a time to talk and if it looked like some counseling was appropriate, we would set up a schedule.

They were disappointed.  They were hoping I could work it in between the appetizer and the main course.  I guess that would have been more counseling than Isaac had.

But Isaac was also on a mission from God.  He was part of this Father of Many Nations business.  Rebecca would be his wife.

Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah, and he married Rebekah.

Isaac was sad that he had lost his mother but comforted that he now had a wife. The Lord will provide. It wasn’t too long ago that Isaac was to be a sacrifice and burnt offering, but the Lord provided the sacrifice.  Now the Lord has provided a wife.

Abraham wouldn’t have much more time on this earth.  The story would shift to Isaac.

What should we take from this?

How about it’s good to have top-notch servants, wealth, and camels.  You never know when you might need to fetch a wife for your son.

Premarital counseling might be overrated.

Who needs wedding invitations and a select venue when mom’s tent is available for a right-now wedding.

 Maybe there is something else.  How about the Lord will provide.  Could you imagine being on a mission like the one Abraham gave his servant?

Find my son a wife.  This is the most important thing I have ever asked of you.  Swear to me you will get it right.

OBTW—the angel of the Lord will precede you.  There is a 100% difference between do this thing that is beyond comprehension and do it, the Lord is with you.

The servant had seen how the Lord had blessed his master.  The Lord provides!

How can I take the longest chapter that we have read so far and reduce it to the Lord provides?

Let’s go with this.  Know the story but know that the Lord provides.

The Lord provides.

Amen. 

Lord, Give Me a Sign that I can't Miss

 Read Genesis 24

The chapter begins not by telling us that Abraham is old but by stating he was very old.  He was also tremendously blessed.  Abraham had himself some stuff and a trusted servant to manage everything.

He had the son that God promised him but his son had no wife and the prospects for finding the right wife in the land where he lived were zero.  This was pagan country.

Those who surrounded Abraham surely knew of his God and perhaps even feared his God but they had no relationship with the one true God.  Abraham was something of an enigma.

He was a powerful man blessed by a powerful God, but the people around him did not seek this God.

Though they had many idols and knew not to mess with the God of Abraham, they were essentially godless people.

Abraham knew that the land promised to his descendants would not provide a suitable wife for his son, and so the story unfolds with Abraham summoning his chief servant and requiring him to swear an oath.

Oaths were taken by putting a hand under the thigh of the other person.  This seems a little odd in our time, but it was the practice then.  Today, we would expect to raise our right hand.  Sometimes we put our left hand on the Bible and raise our right hand.

You might put your hand over your heart for something like the Pledge of Allegiance.  Customs change but in Abraham’s time, putting the hand under the thigh was the tactile part of the oath.  We see this again when Jacob asked Joseph to swear that he will be buried in Canaan, not Egypt.

What must the servant swear?  That he will find a wife for Isaac from his own country and his own relatives.  There was something of a corollary to the oath.  Isaac could not go with him to the land of his brother’s family.

We are not told why, at least not directly, but Abraham believed God that the land he was in was promised to his descendants.  His line would continue from here.  Should Isaac go to the land of his father, he might not return.

This servant was no dummy.  He had obviously thought the matter through.  What if the woman selected won’t come with me?

Good question  Maybe he should take 40 or 50 armed men.  Abraham was not sending his servant on a raid to obtain a wife.  An angel of the Lord would precede the servant, but most likely to put his chief servant at ease, Abraham said if she won’t come with you that’s not on you.

You would be relieved of your oath.  The servant took the oath.

He did not head east empty-handed.  He loaded up 10 camels with all sorts of good things.  He probably had some men accompany him so he would not be an easy target for robbers and others who might do him harm. 

He was headed to Aram Naharaim, which was in northern Mesopotamia. Abraham’s brother had moved to the north from Ur which was in the southern land of the Chaldeans, present-day Iraq.  In any case, there had been enough communication between the eastern and western parts of the family that the servant knew where to go.  Plus, in those days it was ok for a guy to ask for directions.

This servant was on a mission for his master. Abraham sent the right man for the job and he arrived at his destination at the well outside of town.  It was evening, the time when women came to draw water.

He could have started surveying the women and rating them by looks, water-carrying ability, and the perceived likelihood that they would accompany him to a land they had never seen.  That would be one approach.  Instead, the servant prayed.

 “Lord, God of my master Abraham, make me successful today, and show kindness to my master Abraham. See, I am standing beside this spring, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water. May it be that when I say to a young woman, ‘Please let down your jar that I may have a drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels too’—let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master.”

Today, we might have prayed a two-second prayer, Lord give me a sign and then we might question the sign when it came asking, is this a sign from God?

Lord God of my master Abraham—this is approaching God’s throne humbly.  You are my master’s God and he is the most successful man I know.

He sent me on this mission.  I must not fail him.  I brought sufficient gifts.  I navigated the dessert.  I arrived at the most opportune place—the well when women are coming to draw water, but there are many women and I must get the right one for my master’s son.

I am wise in managing my master’s wealth and his affairs and whatever else he wants me to do, but how do I choose a wife for his son?

I am at a trust in the Lord with all my heart moment because my own understanding tells me that I don’t have a clue how to choose a wife for my master’s son.

How about you make it so clear to me that I can’t pick the wrong woman or a woman who won’t go with me or the woman who has been sleeping around or the…

Lord, just make this crystal clear for me.  Let’s go with the one who says: Drink, and I’ll water your camels too.

Sometimes we pray to God and get very specific about what we want because we want our will to be done.  This servant prayed and asked for something very specific because he wanted to do the will of his master who was in good standing with the one true God.

This servant had come a long way, and used his knowledge, skills, and abilities to be ready to claim a bride for his master.  He was loaded with good stuff. He came to the right spot, but he needed help.  He was not bargaining for a piece of land or trading for spices.

He had to please his master and get the right girl.

I would have probably asked that she be dressed in a tee shirt that said, I’m the one, but the servant knew what to ask.

Today we see couples wearing paired tee shirts.  His says:  Mr. Right.  Hers says: Mrs. Always Right.  Tee shirts were not really a deal back in the day, so the servant asked God to show him the right girl with a sign that he would know was from the God of Abraham.

 Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milkah, who was the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor.  The woman was very beautiful, a virgin; no man had ever slept with her. She went down to the spring, filled her jar and came up again.

The servant hurried to meet her and said, “Please give me a little water from your jar.”

“Drink, my lord,” she said, and quickly lowered the jar to her hands and gave him a drink.

After she had given him a drink, she said, “I’ll draw water for your camels too, until they have had enough to drink.” So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, ran back to the well to draw more water, and drew enough for all his camels. Without saying a word, the man watched her closely to learn whether or not the Lord had made his journey successful.

Don’t we wish that the Lord revealed his will to us so easily?  Don’t we wish that things were so clear?  Don’t we wish that we didn’t have to wonder, was that a sign from God?

If God would only speak to us!

How many of you read your chapter every day this week?

How many of you prayed not so much for what you needed but that the will of your master would be accomplished in your life?

How many of you began the day with the trust of Abraham’s servant, knowing that based on your own knowledge, skills, and abilities you can only get so far?  But you trusted that the Lord would provide?

What if God is giving us signs but they are how to accomplish his will and we don’t see them because we are engrossed in our own will?

How much more would we see God at work in our part of the world if our mindset was: Thy will be done?

How much more boldly would we approach the throne of grace if our hearts were set first on doing the will of our master?

We can and should ask God for what we need, but let us first ask him to help us accomplish the mission that he has given us. Let’s ask him to help us live a life worthy of the calling that we have received.

Let’s begin and end our days with Thy will be done and see if he does not open our eyes to the signs he has given us.

Amen.

 

Funeral Arrangements

 Read Genesis 23

What do you do when the scripture for the week seems to belong more on the History Channel than in the pulpit where we preach good news?

How many of you get excited when it’s time to have a funeral? OBTW—we have exceeded our quota of funerals over the past few years.  It’s time to flatten the curve.

From now on, all deaths for members must be approved 5 years in advance.  You must be at least 85 years old to apply and have the consent of 2 session members.

Yes, today we are going to talk about Abraham burying his wife.  She was only 127 years old.  It must have caught him off guard to lose her so young.

Before the flood, people lived for hundreds of years.  In the postdiluvian era, people didn’t live quite so long.  Today, people enjoy the miracles of modern medicine while we turn our food into non-food products and then eat them.

What does the Bible say about that?  Tomorrow is not promised.  Take care what you put into your holy temple.

Let’s get to the chapter.

Abraham was rich in material things.  Silver, flocks, servants, and surely more.

He was rich in faith.  God had tested Abraham’s faith and saw that he feared God, obeyed God, trusted God, and was the man of faith that God had seen from the beginning.  We had to follow the story to Mount Moriah to witness the full measure of faith that God knew was there.

Abraham had a son.  This Father of many Nations thing was finally underway.

God had blessed Abraham in so many ways but he had no land of his own.  He had the promise of the land all around him for his descendants but by most measures, he was still nomadic.

Abraham’s experience with God’s promises assured him that God does fulfill his promises.  God would deliver this land to his descendants.  Abraham’s faith—the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen—told him that this Promised Land business was a done deal. But for the time, Abraham was still a nomad and didn’t own anything as far as land was concerned.

He had stayed in this region for an extended time.  Abimelech the king knew him.  Not all encounters between these two men were good encounters, but there was mutual respect.

Abraham knew the Hittites and the Philistines.  He was at home where he lived but he owned no land.

And then his wife died.  She lived to be 127 years old.  That is maxing out your social security payments right there.

Abraham mourned the loss of his long-time spouse, but Abraham had some logistics to work out. He needed a place to bury his wife.  As we see from the encounter with the local people, any of them would have willingly given Abraham a place to bury his wife.

Abraham was like royalty.  He was respected and surely revered. Absent the times when he was passings of his now-deceased wife as his sister, he had been forthright and generous in his dealings with those around him.

And Abraham was a witness to the destruction of Sodom.  There had to be some stories to tell from that.

Abraham came from Ur in the land of the Chaldeans.  He was unique, perhaps an enigma among his present company.

Abraham was undefeated in battle.  He and 318 men defeated 4 major armies in the rescue of his nephew.

Sure, Abraham did some knuckleheaded things, but his wealth, accomplishments, and victories sort of gave him the halo effect. 

But Abraham had no land and he needed to bury his wife. The thought of this eventuality had surely crossed Abraham’s mind.  He already knew where he wanted to bury Sarah.  We don’t see that Abraham frantically searched the land far and wide and finally found just the right place.

Abraham already knew what he wanted.  He had obviously done some advanced work on this. That place belonged to Ephron son of Zohar.  Abraham sought the cave of Machpelah, but in the course of conversation, the cave expanded to the land around it.  Ephron was willing to give Abraham the land and the cave.  It was worth about 400 shekels of silver.

How much is that?  Let’s say half of a king’s ransom.  Remember, that Abimelech had made Abraham whole by the gifts of many things, among them 1000 shekels of silver for the wrong that he had not done to Sarah.

Abraham agreed to the price even though Ephron was willing to give it to Abraham.  What’s a king’s ransom between men like us?

But it seems that Abraham would be beholden to no one but God.

It also appears that Abraham did not abuse his status.  We see some of that today in our ethics, laws, and regulations.

Who gets preferential treatment?  Those who need it least—the rich and famous.

On independent duty, I was sometimes offered things being the commanding officer of the few Marines stationed in the heartland of America.  I knew to ask, “Do you offer this to all Marines?”

If the answer was in the affirmative, I could accept what was being offered.  If it was just for me, that one fell into the thanks but no thanks category.

As we look at many of our elected officials today, we see them beholden to so many individuals and groups that have enticed them from statesmanship to self-service at our expense.

Was this in Abrahams's thinking?  We saw something similar with the king of Sodom.  There would be no deal between Abraham and this king.

Abraham obviously had a dislike for the king of Sodom but we don’t see that with Ephron of Zohar.  So maybe Abraham just wanted no special treatment from men.  Abraham had been blessed by God.  He would do his best to walk blamelessly before the Lord.

We see some self-actualization in Abraham after having his faith tested on Mount Moriah.  Abraham is living the full measure of faith that God saw in him, most likely in the womb.

One other possible motive here was that this tomb was not just for Sarah.  It would be a place for Abraham to be buried as well as his son and grandson and their wives.  The tomb was thought to be a double, but as we read the history of the time, we don’t see any complaints from the occupants when a few more were added at later dates.

Hey, throw a couple air mattresses on the floor.

This is also the first ownership by Abraham and his descendants.  The land all around was promised to Abraham’s descendants, but this was the first land that Abraham owned.  The land was deeded to him.

I don’t know what that looked like that long ago, but it was official.

So, other than the history lesson, what do we take away from this chapter. 

Here is my tongue-in-cheek answer that isn’t really tongue-in-cheek.  Do some funeral planning.  Other than the handful of people who will meet Jesus in the clouds, we are all going to die a physical death and you have to do something with the body.

Some of you have watched enough CSI, that you don’t think you will even need a funeral home.  You know how to get rid of a body.

The not-so-arid lesson might be, be careful to whom you owe anything.  The proverbs warn us against debt but we should also be on the lookout for relationships that make us beholden to another.

Paul wrote that the only debt we should have is to love one another.

There is another thought here about being beholden to someone else.  What if you had to take a mark of loyalty to buy or sell or trade—to just get what you needed to survive?

Would you take the mark?

There isn’t much of a tie with that eschatological thought, but it’s enough to chew on every now and then. Consider what debts or obligations or perceived obligations we might incur in our relationships.

The chapter is the history of Abraham buying a field with a nice tomb, paying full price, and burying his wife.  Know the history, but think about being beholden to none but God.

Seek God and his kingdom and his righteousness first.

Know the history.  Seek the Lord.

Amen.