Reflections on "Standing By" Genesis 24: 10-17

As i began to work on Sunday's sermon in earnest, I realized I had not post last week's sermon.

I do not believe I have ever preached this text, so it was fun to dig at it for the first time.  one thought that never made the sermon (I ran across it too late to include) was Rebekah as the next generation's Abraham because she gave up her homeland and left to follow God's call.  or maybe Rebekah is the precursor to Ruth.  A whole sermon could have been on Rebekah's decision to go.  her act of faithfulness could also have been played off against her brother's negotiating.  Sort of he goes for money, she follows God!  That sermon will have to wait to be preached.

I had decided I needed a little humor in this sermon since I felt like I'd not had much humor in recent sermons, which sometimes means I am taking myself a bit too seriously.  Thus, the story near the end.  i don't think I forced it into the flow. After the service, someone noted that my example of the watering hole being a good place to find a woman sounds like why guys still go to watering holes today.  If I had thought of that, it would have been a humorous comment I could have added to the sermon as well.

The conclusion in this sermon as written below is not the conclusion I used, but I can't remember what I did do.  I was in the flow of conversation and when it felt like ending, I did.

The sermon worked for me, but sometimes that's not a good sign!

Genesis 24:  10 Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and departed, taking all kinds of choice gifts from his master; and he set out and went to Aram-naharaim, to the city of Nahor. 11 He made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well of water; it was toward evening, the time when women go out to draw water. 12 And he said, “O Lord, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show steadfast love to my master Abraham. 13 I am standing here by the spring of water, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water. 14 Let the girl to whom I shall say, ‘Please offer your jar that I may drink,’ and who shall say, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels’—let her be the one whom you have appointed for your servant Isaac. By this I shall know that you have shown steadfast love to my master.”

15 Before he had finished speaking, there was Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, coming out with her water jar on her shoulder. 16 The girl was very fair to look upon, a virgin, whom no man had known. She went down to the spring, filled her jar, and came up. 17 Then the servant ran to meet her and said, “Please let me sip a little water from your jar.” 18 “Drink, my lord,” she said, and quickly lowered her jar upon her hand and gave him a drink. 19 When she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I will draw for your camels also, until they have finished drinking.” 20 So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough and ran again to the well to draw, and she drew for all his camels. 21 The man gazed at her in silence to learn whether or not the Lord had made his journey successful.

22 When the camels had finished drinking, the man took a gold nose-ring weighing a half shekel, and two bracelets for her arms weighing ten gold shekels, 23 and said, “Tell me whose daughter you are. Is there room in your father’s house for us to spend the night?” 24 She said to him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor.” 25 She added, “We have plenty of straw and fodder and a place to spend the night.” 26 The man bowed his head and worshiped the Lord 27 and said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken his steadfast love and his faithfulness toward my master. As for me, the Lord has led me on the way to the house of my master’s kin.”

“Standing By” July 23, 2017; Genesis 24: 1-19; SAPC, Denton

Move 1:  Abraham entrusts his servant with an important task.

a.  Handshake/swearing scene - hand underneath thing; some kind of Three Stooges scene

1. Kind of silly, but it reflects the importance of what is about to take place — finding a spouse for Isaac.

2.  In part, it reflects Abraham’s trust in God to continue to act to fulfill the promise God made to Abraham — “you go to this new land; I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars.

3.  needless to say, if Isaac never marries and has children, the promise goes unfulfilled.

3. We might also note that Abraham still feels the need to help God along in keeping the promise.

b.  as the father of three daughters, part of me likes the idea of sending someone to find the spouse for each of them.

1.  I could come up with some pretty good criteria criteria:  Good job; treat my daughters well. respect their father; be a  Presbyterian.

2. Really, would three arranged marriages be that bad?

3.  OK, not really.  and don’t mention it to my daughters.

4. Abraham’s criteria is a little different.

5. Wants his daughter-in-law to be one of his tribe, not one of those different people that he now lives among.

c. servant recognizes the importance of this task and the challenge of it.

1.  He asks for clarification.

2. what if the woman does not want to come back.

3. at some point, do I take Isaac back, or do I keep Isaac here in the new land?

4.  the servant recognizes that Abraham has entrusted him in an important task.

d. God entrusts us with important tasks.

1.  We have seen this with Abraham - God calls him into relationship and then God has things for him to do.

2.  The servant swears himself to Abraham’s service, and then Abraham sends him off with an important job.

3.  when you said, “i believe,” and committed yourself to being a follower of Christ, those were not the final two words of your faith journey.

4. they were the beginning of your following the one who entrusts you with important tasks.

 

Move 2:  Servant tests the process to see what God might be doing and then acts.

a.  Watering hole is like a truck stop.

1.  Everyone traveling through that area stops with their camels for waters; everyone who lives in the area and needs water for the household sends a woman to get the water; lots of comings and goings.

2.  Lots of options.

2.  If you were looking for a woman, this is the right place.

b.  Servant is taking it in, watching the women come and go.

1. But how is he going to find the woman who is to be Isaac’s wife?

2.  He comes up with a plan:  “I’m standing here God. So how about this.  I ask women for water.  the one who gives me water and offers to get water for the camels as well is the one?”

2.  The servant being proactive about communicating with God to try and figure out what God has planned.

3. Sure enough, here comes Rebekah.  she gives him water and then offers to water the camels.

c. What does the servant do then?  He gazes at her.

1.  Even after Rebekah does what she is supposed to do as a sign, the servant gazes at here.

2. is she really the one?

3. Maybe she is just a nice woman who is extending hospitality?

4. God has done what the servant has asked, but Is the servant willing to bank on it?

3.  he steps forward to act on what he believes to be true to what God is doing in the moment.

d.  What does it take for you to act.

1.  The servant did more than just plan.

2. the servant did more than just test God to make sure of the validity of the plan.

3. the servant stepped forward and acted in faith.

4.  Challenge of being  a disciple - you can plan, you can ask God for clarification, you can even believe God has provided sufficient guidance — but none of that matters, unless you step forward.

Move 3:  Maturing faith that sees God at work.

a. God does not explicitly act in this story.

1. Abraham assumes God will act — in fact, he tells is servant that God will show him who will be Isaac’s wife.

2.  But, we never hear the voice of God confirming Abraham’s belief.

3.  This Abraham is far different than the Abraham who doubted God would protect him so he lied and had his wife lie. 

4.  Abraham has grown and matured in his faith.

b.  In the servant we see someone who has the faith to trust that God is at work.

1.  when the servant gives thanks to God in vs. 26, he notes that he has been “led” by God to find Rebekah.  eh repeats that phrase in vs. 48 when he tells Rebekah’s family his story.

1.  Nowhere else in Genesis is this word “led” used. 

2.  the Hebrew word has a rich history, of course, in being associated with the description provided in Psalm 23 of our Lord who as our shepherd, “leads” (same root word) -  “us beside still waters.”

3.  Abraham and the servant believe God is in their midst revealing Rebekah to them, and God is true to their faithfulness.

4.  Again and again, God has been faithful to Abraham.

6.  Now Abraham expects God to be faithful to him in the present moment.

7. a maturing of his faith.

8. an example for all of us.

Perhaps you have heard the story of the elderly lady who was well-known for her faith and for her boldness  n talking about it. She would stand on her front porch and shout PRAISE THE LORD!

Next door to her lived an atheist who would get so angry at her proclamations he would shout, "There ain't no Lord!!"
Hard times set in on the elderly lady and she prayed for GOD to send her some assistance.. She stood on her porch and shouted
 

"PRAISE THE LORD....GOD I NEED FOOD!! I
 AM HAVING A HARD TIME. PLEASE LORD SEND ME SOME GROCERIES!!"

 The next morning the lady went out on her porch and noted a large bag of groceries and shouted, "Praise the Lord."
 The neighbor jumped from behind a bush and said, "Ha..Ha. I told you there was no Lord. I bought those groceries. God didn't."

The lady started jumping up and down and clapping her hands and saying, "Praise the Lord, The Lord not only sent me groceries but made the devil pay for them. Praise the Lord!" 

conclusion:  Abraham entrusts his servant with an important task.  Are you ready for the important tasks God entrust with you?

The servant steps forward in faith.  Will you?

Abraham and the servant expect God to be present and at work in their midst.  Do you?