Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67
Romans 7:15-25a
Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30
“I Will Give You Rest”
The summer lectionary readings are often a strange mix of passages that leave the preacher wondering, “What is the connection between these texts?” This morning we have a long story about how Isaac got a wife; a kind of confession from the Apostle Paul about how he wants to be good, but struggles with sin; and finally, a lament from Jesus about the people who are rejecting his message and ministry for a number of reasons, combined with a renewed invitation to everyone to come to him.
I think that when I’ve preached on this 6th Sunday after Pentecost in the past, I’ve often focussed on Jesus’ invitation to rest. Coming across the Gospel text just as summer is beginning has felt like a good opportunity to encourage self-care. As I mentioned to the children, at First Church we take a break in the summer from some of the things that keep us busy throughout the year. I plan to take three weeks of holidays a couple of weeks from now. And I hope that many of you will choose to change up the pace of your life and work this summer.
Take some time to rest. Spend some time with the people you love, doing some things that you enjoy. And dedicate some unhurried time and attention to your faith practices – to worship and Bible reading, to prayer and reflection. Think of these things, not as obligations, not as things you need to do to please the minister or to score some points with God, but as a gift to your own heart and spirit during this (hopefully) less hectic time of the year.
But “rest” is not the only message for us in the Scriptures this morning. The more I read and re-read the passage from Paul’s letter to the Romans, the more I was convinced that “peace” is also a gift that God is offering to us today.
Did you notice the frustration and anxiety in Paul’s voice as he explained to the Roman Christians that he feels incapable of doing good? Listen to the passage again from “The Message” paraphrase:
“What I don’t understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. So if I can’t be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God’s command is necessary.
17-20 But I need something more! For if I know the law but still can’t keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don’t have what it takes. I can will it, but I can’t do it. I decide to do good, but I don’t really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don’t result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time.
21-23 It happens so regularly that it’s predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God’s commands, but it’s pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge. 24 I’ve tried everything and nothing helps. I’m at the end of my rope.
Paul is not only tired from working too much. He’s tired of trying so, so hard, and failing every time! He’s tired from all the years of striving to keep God’s laws perfectly, and his realization that it’s an impossible task to be perfect. Of course, by the time Paul writes this message to the Church at Rome, he’s already discovered the answer to his problem, which of course is Jesus.
The passage continues with Paul asking rhetorically:
Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn’t that the real question?
25 The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does.
We are reminded of how Jesus helps us every Sunday when we confess our sins and are assured of the grace and mercy of God. We are not the beloved children of God because we are perfect Christians, but because God loves us as we are, forgives our failings, and equips us by the gift of the Holy Spirit to embody his love a little more every day.
Like me, you might need a rest from your work this summer. But I wonder if, more than that, what you really need is a rest from the expectations and demands that you put on yourself to be perfect… The perfect parent, the perfect spouse, the perfect friend, the perfect (insert your job or occupation here), the perfect elder, the perfect minister, the perfect Christian…
You may not be failing all the time, like Paul’s message seems to imply, but if you’re like the rest of us, there are plenty of times when you don’t feel like you are enough, when you wish you could have a do-over, when you feel like you’ve let others down, or when you feel like a bit of a fraud.
It’s not that Jesus doesn’t want us to be good and kind and generous and patient and loving, and to be the best parents, spouses, friends, workers, and Christians that we can be. But if the great apostle Paul couldn’t do it alone, then we most certainly won’t be able to achieve perfection simply through our own determination and strength.
Once again, from the Message paraphrase, Jesus says this to us:
28-30 “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
It’s not that there isn’t work to do. It’s not that God doesn’t have high expectations of us. God made us to fulfill our callings, using our gifts and abilities to embody Jesus’ love in the world. God made us to be good parents, spouses, friends, workers, and Christians. But God didn’t make us to do it on our own.
God sent Jesus into the world and into our lives to walk with us, to show us the way, and to help us carry our heavy loads. That’s the rest and the peace that we are promised, not only in the summer, but in every season of our lives.
So, why did the lectionary give us that long story about how Isaac got a wife this morning? It might have just been because the lectionary is taking us through the major stories from Genesis right now, while simultaneously going through Romans and the Gospel of Matthew, and these stories randomly fell on the same Sunday.
Probably one of the most noticeable things about this story from Genesis 24 is how differently the people of the time of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob practiced marriage.
We know from Abraham’s story, that men taking additional wives or concubines was not unusual, even though the idea of that is shocking to us today. This morning we might have noticed the fact that many marriages of that time were arranged to keep ethnic and cultural groups united, rather than the love-based relationships we have come to value that often cross boundaries of background, culture, and religion.
And, of course, the status of women is highlighted in this story. It’s probably quite remarkable that Rebekah’s family seem to give her the choice as to whether she will go with this stranger to become the wife of a man she has never met.
But did you notice the way that the servant sort of “claimed” Rebekah when he put a ring on her nose and bracelets on her arms? And in some of the verses that the lectionary skipped over, he gives her more jewelry of silver and gold, as well as garments; and before taking her away, he gives costly ornaments to her brother.
In these days, when you hear some types of Christians claim that they believe in “biblical marriage,” you might keep this in mind. It’s not quite what they think it is, and I’m grateful that we’re not still following those same cultural practices of marriage today.
But more than just highlighting these differences in cultural norms, I noticed some good news in this story that even has a connection to the messages in the other readings.
Let’s think about Isaac for a moment. Just last week, we read the story about how his father Abraham almost killed Isaac and offered him up as a sacrifice to God. I can only imagine how traumatic and confusing that would have been for a boy. After all, I’m sure that Isaac must have learned from his parents that he was precious, and that he was a special gift from God to them in their old age.
Sarah would have told Isaac about God’s promises to give their family many descendants, land, and blessing. And Abraham would have told him that God was going to make them into a great nation.
And yet, Sarah and Abraham only had the one child, Isaac. So now the fulfillment of those promises becomes an expectation for him too. Get married, have children. Your parents’ hopes will be dashed if you don’t find the right wife and fulfill your destiny.
I wonder if Isaac felt like he needed to be the perfect son, the perfect leader of his community, and if he was worried about the need to become the perfect father too.
We don’t get a lot of hints about how Isaac was feeling about his life and mission, but we do find out that he is grieving the death of his mother, Sarah, who was buried in the previous chapter.
And then, in our story today, we hear about Abraham’s servant going to their home country to find a wife for Isaac. There is a sense throughout the story that God is guiding him to find the woman that God has prepared for Isaac. He undertakes the search without anxiety or fear, praying for God to guide him, and trusting that God has done so.
And when Rebekah arrives at the place where Isaac is staying, he takes her as his wife. And remarkably, the text says that “he loved her.” It sounds just a little bit like the way we think about marriage now. And then we read: “So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.”
For those of us who seek to follow the way of Christ today, who want to walk with God throughout our lives, perhaps the story of Isaac can provide us with an example to follow. Like him, we may be struggling with grief, with fears, or with expectations of ourselves that feel hard to live up to.
I wonder if we can trust, like he did, that God is guiding us towards the decisions we need to make for the future. I wonder if we can keep our hearts open, as he seemed to do, to love the people that God puts into our lives. I wonder if, in the midst of the griefs and hardships of our lives, we can find comfort, strength, and hope in the blessings that come to us today.
Jesus says to us: “Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” May we walk through our lives this summer and always with the God who came to us in Jesus to bring us rest, peace, hope, and fullness of life.