5 Pentecost/Proper 9/Ordinary 14 Year A July 9, 2017
Luther Memorial Church Seattle, WA
The Rev. Julie Hutson
Genesis 24: 34-38, 42-49, 58-67 + Psalm 45: 10-17
Romans 7: 15-25a + Matthew 11: 16-19, 25-30
Grace and peace to you from the God who is Lover, Beloved, and Love. Amen.
Last week I was away from you on Sunday as Bruce and I were in Southern California. The primary purpose for our trip was the wedding of Anna Lundahl and Adam Stults; Anna is the granddaughter of Dorothy and Stuart Lundahl. Adam and Anna are a lovely couple and it was an absolute joy to walk with them as they prepared for their marriage and to celebrate at their wedding.
Our son, Robert and his fiancé Haley are in the early planning stages for their wedding next summer. We are learning what it means to look at wedding planning from the parents of the groom angle.
And in September we will host the wedding of a lovely young couple in the neighborhood who will be married here. He is a former Roman Catholic and she is Jewish and they thought that this was the holy place in their community, so why not.
All of this wedding talk, though, has made me wonder how you met your spouse. Or how your parents met. Bruce and I met at work and then 26 years later, we got married. I know that at least one other couple here met at work, anyone else? Anyone meet at school? Anyone meet on a blind date? Anyone meet at the well?
The what? The well? Yes, the well. Which brings us to today’s sermon…
Our reading from Genesis this morning is the story of how Isaac and Rebekah came to be married. For the past two Sunday’s we’ve had darker stories from the Old Testament – the stories of how Ishmael and Hagar were cast out and left for dead and the near death of Isaac at the hand of his own father. After that episode, there on the mountain, Sarah, Isaac’s mother, died. Hebrew rabbis and storytellers believe that it was her deep sorrow over Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice their only son that killed her. Yet the death of one generation leads to the promise of a new one….and for there to be that new generation, Isaac needs a spouse.
In Scripture, the well is the place where one finds a wife (remember in those days a woman would not search out a husband; it would be the man doing the “looking”.) Women would naturally be at the well, drawing water for the household in the morning. Jacob met Rachel at the well and Moses met Zipporah there also. And for reasons unexplained in the text, a servant is sent from the family of Abraham to search for Isaac’s wife.
The servant approaches the task by first praying about what he has been given to do. “O Lord, the God of my master Abraham, if now you will only make successful the way I am going! I am standing here by the spring of water; let the young woman who comes out to draw, to whom I shall say, ‘Please give me a little water from your jar to drink,’ and who will say to me, ‘Drink and I will draw for your camels also – let her be the woman whom the Lord has appointed for my master’s son.” (Genesis 24:42-44.)
And while he is praying, before he had even finished, Rebekah approaches the well. After she has finished her tasks, the servant approaches, asks for water and she also provides water for the camels.
From there, the servant, Rebekah’s family, and Rebekah all agree that it is her call from God to become the wife of Isaac. Rebekah shows great strength and determination as she leaves her family home to journey toward what the future holds for her.
From here, I’m going to bird-walk for a very funny detail in this story. Because the next section of the text describes the first time that Rebekah sees Isaac. Isaac is out walking in the fields, looks up, and sees Rebekah and the camels coming. Beginning at verse 64 it reads “And Rebekah looked up, and when she saw Isaac, she slipped quickly from the camel and said to the servant, ‘Who is the man over there, walking in the field to meet us?’ The words translated here as “slipped quickly from” are Hebrew words that literally mean “fell off of.” When Rebekah spotted Isaac, she fell off of her camel. What a great story! A story they could surely tell to their children and grandchildren.
Today’s reading concludes with Isaac taking Rebekah as his wife. He brings her into his beloved mother’s tent. And the text says that he loved her. Unlike today, when we presume that newlyweds love one another, in this ancient patriarchal setting, love would not even have been expected or anticipated. It was not necessary for a marriage.
So, it’s a great story, you are probably thinking…a fun story, even…a love story even….but so what? What does this very human story teach us about God? What difference does this make in our world in 2017?
First, this story offers us strong examples of faithful people following God’s will in their lives. The servant is sent out by Abraham’s family to tend to a difficult and vitally important task. He does what he can, heading to the place he will most likely accomplish the task, and then he prays. He entrusts that task at hand to God. Then he watches and waits for God to act, and when God does act, the servant praises God and shares that story with others.
Rebekah is another example of strength in the story. She, a woman, would have had no agency in these times, yet she agrees with Abraham’s servant and with her family that it is her task to go to Isaac. She leaves the familiar for the unfamiliar. How often are we called to do the same? To move toward something that feels completely unknown and foreign to us, only trusting that God walks beside us every step of the way?
Second, this story tells us of God’s steadfast love. Unlike the stories of the previous two Sundays, God does not speak directly in this story, nor does God directly intervene. But God’s steadfast love and presence are made known through the action, the prayers, and the faithfulness of the people in this story. When we wish that God was still active and present in the world, it is always good to consider that God is active and present in the world, in the lives of God’s people.
Finally, this story is a reminder that in the midst of both the everyday matters of life and the difficult places of this journey, love always has the final word. Even in the life of this community, as we give thanks for the marriage of Anna and Adam, we mourn with the Yandl and Hanseth families. It is love that weaves itself on through the stories of our lives. It is love that makes the pain and grief of losing a child or a spouse or a parent, not less painful, but somehow more tender in its bearing.
This story of Isaac and Rebekah matters to us today because it reminds us again that God is with us just as God was with every person in this story. With Abraham and Isaac in their grief. With the unnamed servant in his duties. With Rebekah in her surprise. God is active in the world, even when all of the evidence points to the contrary.
Everywhere I go in these days people are living and walking in fear. So much seems uncertain. For many people it feels as though the arc is bending away from justice and the very fabric of society is unraveling with each new morning.
So, like the servant, we pray. We pray and we do the jobs given to us to do. Then we look for signs of God at work in the world. And we know that where we find God at work, we will also find love.
Thanks be to God and let the church say…Amen.