July 6, 2014
Fifth Sunday after Pentecost
SCRIPTURE: Hebrew Bible: Contemporary Reading: Rebekah and Isaac
(based on Genesis 24: 34-38, 42-49, 58-67)
Epistle:
Romans 7:15-21
Gospel:
Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30
MEDITATION: Doing Good for the Right Reasons
Stories are a wonderful thing. I know that I do. The Bible is full of wonderful engaging stories.
Some of them are gentle, some are full of violence and terror, some give us something to think
about and some just make us smile or maybe cry. Today’s story of Rebekah and Isaac is a love
story. Don’t we all love LOVE STORIES? Of course we do – men included! I know guys you don’t
like to let that show but deep down you love a love story just like we women. That’s because
God made us to be people of LOVE. Sometimes we forget that or at least we don’t want to
admit it but deep down we all know that the greatest moments in our lives are the moments of
love. I remember when my children were little they use to like to make their Dad watch “Old
Yeller” with them. You know why? Because they knew that every time they watched that movie
their Dad would cry. Didn’t matter how many times they watched it, Dale always cried. When
the kids were little they would snuggle up close to Daddy to comfort him and when they got to
be older as teenagers they would snicker and tease but even then it was out of a deep love and
a human connection to a sad story. And in the tears they made that connection of love.
Today’s story is a LOVE story, a story that speaks of “Happy Ever After”. This is a miracle story
where a servant, faithful to God and to his master, brokers an almost impossible alliance. It is a
wonderfully portrayed story of an encounter at a well, and a kindness given in the simple act of
a cold drink of water. The water is a symbol of transformation. Through the gifts of living water,
transformations occur in the lives of those gathered by the well; consequently, moments of
transformation are offered through the sharing of this story to us. Rebekah’s life is altered
through her interaction with the servant. She goes with him, and meets Isaac who immediately
falls in love with her. “Happy Ever After” right? Unfortunately NO. The story doesn’t end there
and we know (if we know our Bible stories) that in fact it is not “happy ever after”!
Rebekah’s twin sons begin a lifelong battle of wills that begins even before birth. The mention
of Jacob’s grasping Esau’s heel as they came forth from the womb is a humorous touch,
indicating that, even as babies, it was evident that Jacob would get the better of his hapless
brother. The intrigue and trickery began there, and continued aided by Rebekah, in gaining for
Isaac the birthright that was rightfully Esau’s. Back and forth the story goes, battling between
the brothers and the parents with the result of two nations formed and divided. We think of
Jacob as the “good” Hebrew, a calm, refined man of culture and Esau as the darker skinned,
rather scrubby, uncouth one with little real sense of value. And so two warring nations were
birthed from these two men. The struggle between good and evil began. But which of the
brothers was truly the “good” one?
Another famous part of the story is how Jacob as he travels to find a bride in his homeland,
struggles with God and the angels all through the night in a dream. In the morning he makes a
vow of faithfulness to the God who has revealed himself at this spot as the God of Abraham and
Isaac and who renewed the promises of land and offspring. So there is our story, of love and
betrayal and intrigue and struggle to do and be the “right” kind of person in this relationship to
God. And the story has gone on through the centuries, through all the ancestors and is still our
story today – this story between good and evil, right and wrong, and the search for right
relationship with God.
Paul continues the story in the Romans passage. Just like the ancestors of old it seems that the
cruel irony of human existence is that in seeking the good, as we define the good, we end up
committing a great wrong. Paul seems to be a confused human being at the same time as being
bluntly honest and fearlessly self-introspective. He wants to do good, but does the opposite and
even when he does good he recognizes that it is for all the wrong reasons. This seems to be the
human problem; we operate regularly out of mixed motives. We may do good things, but who
can say that they are always done for the right reasons? One explanation for this is that we are
complex and complicated organisms with part of us hard wired in our DNA and part of us
formed by our life experiences. Neither of these though gives us an automatic excuse for our
behaviour. Paul is struggling with the heart of his faith, for he knows that no matter how well
he presents himself, he knows and God knows what is REALLY inside. We have come to learn
something about this in human history. The very tyrants, bullies, dictators and evil doers of
history (and of our lives) have often been able to present themselves as just the opposite and
indeed have “fooled” others about who they really are. But God is not fooled – EVER – and that
may cause us some anguish as it does Paul in this passage. God does not see as humans see;
God looks on the heart.
This week I was reading something about the problem of grief and guilt. Dr. Joan Borysenko,
says irrational and unjustified self-blame could inflict enduring pessimism, physical illness and
chronic depression in a grieving person. On the other hand, to validate those who are guilty of
dishonest actions is not helpful either. Dr. Karl Menninger in this book, Whatever Became of
Sin, chides society for summarily blaming offensive behaviours solely upon environmental
factors and former traumas. He further says that our society too often denies legitimate guilt
for those who are justifiably blameworthy. Like Jacob and like Paul we must go through that
struggle, that introspection to discern for ourselves what is right and what is wrong in our
behaviour knowing all along that God already knows and no amount of manipulation on our
part is going to fool God.
There is some place in the life of faith for a disciplined approach to our calling – simply doing it,
even on those days when we don’t feel like it. Jesus recognizes this when he explains that the
“dance” does not come naturally to us. His view, his reality that most of us are not born with.
Forgiveness, compassion for the down and out and those in great need, loving our enemies –
none of this comes naturally. We have to learn it. We have to practice doing it over and over
again until it DOES come naturally. We have to struggle with it, just like Jacob on his ladder to
heaven. Jesus tells us that we must take this burden, which is the unrecognized blessing in our
lives, and we must bend ourselves, yoke ourselves like an oxen to this burden, this very
different way of living in the world, and THEN AND ONLY THEN will we know what it is to do
good for the right reasons. Jesus assures us that this burden, this yoke of love around our necks
will enable us to keep moving in the right direction. This yoke is the thing that binds us to Jesus,
to the teachings, to the history and to the stories that make up our experience and keep us
moving alongside of Jesus toward that loving place to which God is drawing us. That place is
where we KNOW we no longer have to try to FOOL God or ourselves. It is that place of
“dancing” that Jesus calls us to. Just like learning a new dance to music, we start our slowly,
counting each step carefully being sure our feet are in the right place until the rhythm of the
music becomes part of us and we are dancing because it is so natural and so connected to our
own internal rhythm. We are no longer “thinking” about the how and why of “doing”, we have
learned the hard task, the hard way and now it has become a part of who we are.
Then, and only then are we able to do the right thing for the right reason. There and only there
do we truly know the burden and the blessing are one. Come to me you who are weary, come
to me and you to will be gentle and humble of heart and you will find rest. You won’t need to
worry about “FOOLING” God, yourself or anyone else. You will just be part of the dance.
AMEN.