| "You want it WHEN???"
Gen 25:19-34; Ps 46; Rom 5:6-11
Ron Francey
June 13, 1993
Suggested sermon theme: "The God of Jacob is our
Refuge"
. Sermon -> exasperation at home
when suddenly one is -> turmoil
. talk of my being a dinasour in today's
world and my tending to each and every
one of Dot's requests as she mends from
a broken leg
. talk of how others in our midst get
suddenly thrown into the fire of our
lives
. Or classical study of lineage
and of leaders less than perfect
. talk to the imperfectness of the people of
God, called by God to be leaders, of
ourselves
. Today's sermon is about patience -
God's with us and ours with God
God is the creator of all that is, all that ever was
and all that there will ever be. People are created
by God and God was well pleased with what God saw.
People are good and blessed by God. The problem is
often that people's ways or methods of achieving
their end goals gets in the way of their goodness
and the result is conflict, infringement on others'
rights and wishes. And so, what started out as
goodness becomes something else, something which
causes friend to strike out against friend, brother
against brother, husband against wife, the people
against the state, nation against nation, people
everywhere against nature.
Today's Genesis story which continues the lineage of
Abraham and Sarah is rich in several example stories
of twists and turns within real family struggles
which can relate to us today; that is, if you
believe families struggle at all in today's world!
I am going to take some liberty or minister's
license in the meaning I get from part of the story.
Dot's eyes just rolled around in her head and she
sat there shaking her head in disbelief when I
mentioned a nuance I noticed upon a close reading of
the scripture. Recall that Isaac married Rebecca
when he was forty years old and prayed to the Lord
because his wife was barren. He prayed for her and
God granted his wish and Rebecca conceived. The
scripture continues with a description of a
difficult labor and of Rebecca's complaint against
the struggle within and her wondering why she should
even live if this was what things were going to be
like. The story continues to tell of the birth of
Esau and of Jacob tugging away at Esau's heel.
Finally, scripture mentions that Isaac was sixty
when the children were born!
No where does scripture reveal WHEN Isaac prayed to
the Lord nor WHEN God answered Isaac's prayer.
Could it be that Isaac prayed to the Lord
IMMEDIATELY after he married Rebecca? Could it be
that the Lord answered IMMEDIATELY after Isaac
prayed?
Maybe Dot is right that I'm looking at scripture
through a STRANGE lense - but then again - how old
does scripture say Methuselah lived to be? or how
old was it that Abraham was when Isaac was born
(99)? and how old was Moses when he died?
Let's live in my fantasy world for a few moments and
try to understand the kind of faith Isaac and
Rebecca would had to have had if God DID grant them
the wish immediately after being asked through
Isaac's prayer. It could have been that Rebecca had
a normal term baby according to today's well-known
nine month limit, in which case she conceived when
Isaac was fifty-nine or it could be that Rebecca had
an outstandingly long twenty-year term baby.
In either case it seems to me that a long time
passed between the time the Lord agreed to Isaac's
request to the time the babies were born. No where
in scripture is there any mention of doubt or
disbelief in God's promise to Isaac.
This reminds me of the story of John, who prayed and
prayed for years for God to let him win the lottery.
Finally, John heard the voice of God, "John! What
do you expect of me? You've got to at least buy a
ticket!"
In the story of Isaac and Rebecca, we assume they
were having sexual intercourse, but who knows? I
can just hear God saying, "Isaac, my servant! I'm
not scheduled to do a miraculous conception for
quite some time yet. You've got to do your part in
this!"
How have your prayers been answered? Have you asked
for things that were TO BE DONE IMMEDIATELY? On the
spot??? What might your prayers be like that might
fashion your life to be like that of Isaac and
Rebecca? How is it that you KNOW when or how your
prayers are answered? Do you hear a voice giving
you the answer? Or do you see things happening
around you, to you, to others such that you realize
your prayers have been answered?
Imagine how it must have been in days of old, when
Moses led his people out of bondage into the new
land of milk and honey, that land promised by God
and prayed for by the Israelites.
With its taking 40 years to cover the 200-300 miles
from Egypt to the promised land, the time must
surely have tried the patience of not a few of the
Israelites. Imagine pitching a tent only to decamp
next day and pitch it again 20-odd yards further
along: 15000 times!!! And imagine God's patience as
the moaning and mumbling of the people continued
during this time.
It seems we've all become attuned to instant
gratification. Faster, faster, faster. We want it
now, now, now!
We stand in front of the microwave oven urging it to
hurry up, because "we haven't got all day!"
We zip through MacDonalds, often not even stopping
to enjoy our burger and fries, but eating on the
move. I remember the first time my kids were taken
to a restaurant where they actually cooked the meal
after I placed the order, and the kids not being
able to imagine what took so long!
Possibly all of us have seen the light-hearted
prayer: Lord, give me patience. And give to me
right now!
How did Isaac KNOW his prayers were answered? How
could Isaac have lived twenty more years without
complaining that God either had deceived him or had
not REALLY answered him?
We often pray for our family's well-being, for our
children to become all they can become or all that
God meant for them to become - and then we wait and
we wait and we wait. As we walk the trail of life
and take all the twists and turns that confront us
and as we stumble over all those disturbing roots
that seem to spring up from nowhere - do we have the
faith that Isaac had all those years ago - to know
deep down in our heart that our prayers have been
answered?
It really doesn't matter how off base I've used the
twenty year disparity between the time Isaac and
Rebecca married to the time their children were
born. What does matter is that the living out of
our lives is important, is extremely important to
God and to us. Isaac was in "right relationship"
with God. Isaac, who several years before as a
young boy had been held at knife point by his father
Abraham, was in right relationship with God.
Many of us suffer and suffer miserably through
stages of our lives, sometimes we suffer through
long stages of our lives. Many of us appear to
others, even others of this church, to be families
that have it all together - when in fact the
tapestry of our lives is becoming well shredded from
several corners. Life is difficult.
As the economy continues to bend under the weight of
difficult times, many of us who have been gainfully
employed find ourselves out of work and with a more
difficult time than in earlier days to find
employment. Today it is often necessary for both
spouses and in some cases even the children to work
to make ends meet. How are we to live a life with
God as we wonder if our prayers will or have been
answered?
The Genesis story is also a story about birthrights
and the claiming or giving up of ones rights. Jacob
tugged at the heels of Esau in order to try to be
born first and to claim first-born rights. It
wasn't enough for Jacob to lose that battle as he
later tricked Esau into giving up his rights.
Do we know any families who have such or similar
strife over rights? Do we value one child more than
another? Do we have favorites? Do we, as fathers,
like the athletic or brightest child over the
introverted and quiet and caring child? Are we
embarrassed by a child considered to be "slow" or
are we angry with THAT KID that always gets into
trouble?
Do we speak more highly of our first born child? Do
we ask others of our children to BECOME LIKE our
favorite?
When we pray to God asking that our family members
be blessed with being able to become all that God
means for them to be, do we take the time and the
often high degree of energy that's necessary to HEAR
what God wishes for our children - over and
sometimes against what WE wish for our children?
Isaac prayed and God responded - and Isaac lived his
life knowing and feeling God's promises. How are we
to live similarly?
Let us rehear the words of the Psalmist, from Psalm
46:
[READ PSALM 46]
"... THOUGH THE EARTH SHOULD CHANGE, THOUGH THE
MOUNTAINS SHAKE IN THE HEART OF THE SEA; THOUGH ITS
WATERS ROAR AND FOAM, THOUGH THE MOUNTAINS TREMBLE
..."
I am moved by such rich imagery; there is something
powerful and wonderful when one contemplates
creation and the Creator. Sometimes I am brought to
tears when, on a bright moonlit night as I lay on
the grass looking up to the sky and pondering my
fate, my life, my difficulties, I am suddenly
overcome by the intricacies of the network of stars,
their placement, their sparkling, their beauty. And
it is in moments like these that sometimes I feel
the kiss of God for the many and for me.
The Psalmist closes Psalm 46:
"...THE LORD OF HOSTS IS WITH US, THE GOD OF JACOB
IS OUR REFUGE..."
The Lord of Hosts IS with us and the God of Abraham
and Sarah, of Isaac and Rebecca, of Jacob and
Rachel, the God of your parents, of your children,
the God of ours IS our refuge, our rock, and our
salvation.
As we live our lives, and as we offer our prayers to
God, it just may be that we need to put our trust in
God. Our timeline and God's timeline may at times
be disjoint; and, if we come to God in prayer time
after time after time, day after day, throughout our
lives, there WILL be times when we are in full
communion with our loving God and we WILL know and
feel God's divine love for us.
Let us also remember today's scripture from Romans
5:6-11. Jesus, the purest love of God, died for us
EVEN AS WE WERE, imperfect people in an imperfect
world - but perfectly loved by God.
As we raise our prayers to God, let's do so with
patience for God's response, with a sincere search
for and understanding of God's messages to us, and
with a love and devotion for the establishment of a
kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.
Praise be to God. Amen and amen.
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