“Pursuing God’s Promises” (Genesis 29:15-28; Matthew 13:36-43))
July 24, 2011 (17th Sunday in Ordinary Time)
Rev. John B. Erthein
I am thinking of calling these last three sermons the “Adventures” or perhaps “Misadventures of Jacob. Again the Biblical patriarch dominates the lesson from Genesis, and provides a way of personalizing the lessons we read about in Matthew.
Jacob is now with the family of Laban, who is a kinsman. Jacob is getting on in years. Matthew Henry writes that Jacob is 77 years old at the beginning of this passage. I don’t know if he was that old, but he was certainly well into middle age, far past the usual age for marrying. He is more than ready to find the right woman and have a family. And so he notices Laban’s daughter Rachel, and is captivated by her. This is the woman he wants to marry.
Laban gives permission for Jacob to marry Rachel (and note, consistent with the customs of the time, no one asks Rachel for her consent or even opinion!) as part of a business transaction. Jacob cannot bring an offering of money to Laban for his daughter’s hand, but he can work for seven years. Imagine if you, or I, were in that situation. How strong would our love and desire be to work for seven years to marry that person! And especially at Jacob’s age. But Jacob does what he has to do, and finally the glorious day arrives, he is to be married to his beloved.
The wedding feast takes place … and then something happens which on one level is funny, but on another level is quite appalling. Rachel has an older sister, Leah, who in fairness is not all that bad looking herself, but she is not Rachel, and Jacob showed no interest in her. Under the cover of the darkness, Laban somehow smuggles Leah into Jacob’s tent. In the darkness, and under the likely influence of too much wine, Jacob “enjoys” a honeymoon night with Leah, rather than Rachel. The next morning, he awakes with a bad hangover and a huge shock … he realizes he has spent the night with the wrong woman! It’s like he went to Las Vegas, partied too much, and woke up next to a cocktail waitress.
But in reality, what at first glance might seem comical is indeed awful. Jacob has yearned after Rachel for seven years. He has worked for Laban the whole time. He is watching himself slowly age, as if his life is like sand running through an hourglass. And what happens? Laban cheats him! Laban makes up some transparently ridiculous excuse that it is not the custom around here to give the younger sister into marriage first. Actually, that might have been true, but if it was, Laban was still acting deceitfully because he did not tell Jacob at the beginning of his seven years of labor.
I’d like to say a couple of words about deception and God’s justice. What happened to Jacob was horrible, but as Matthew Henry wrote, he was “paid in his own coin.” Jacob had engaged in sharp dealing with his brother Esau and outright deception with his father Isaac. Now he is the victim of a most cruel deception. There is a rough justice in this turn of events. And this is a good cautionary lesson for God’s people. You and I may be secure in our salvation. We may know we are among those God has chosen for salvation and eternal life. But do not imagine we therefore have a free pass to behave any way we like. There are consequences, sometimes serious consequences, for sinful behavior. Being a patriarch spare Jacob from the consequences of some of his previous behavior.
At the same time, do not think that Laban’s action was therefore justifiable. It was God’s prerogative to chastise Jacob. Laban was acting purely selfishly. If Jacob learned a valuable lesson from this, that was an inadvertent result of Laban’s act. Laban wanted to unload both of his daughters and get another seven years of work out of Jacob.
You will notice that Laban is establishing polygamous marriages for Jacob. The place of polygamy in the Bible is worth spending a few words on. The correct pattern for human relationships was established at the beginning, when God created one woman to be with one man. But during the time of the patriarchs, that model was frequently dishonored, and there is no condemnation from God in the Biblical text. However, by the time Moses composed Leviticus, polygamy was understood to be condemned by God and totally impermissible for God’s people. This means either that God did not communicate his will on this matter for a period of time, or that he allowed for the practice for some reason. But that does not make polygamy part of God’s design for human relationships.
Although to be blunt, now that our denomination has legitimized homosexuality, isn’t acceptance of polygamy just a matter of time? There is even less affirmation of homosexuality in the Bible than there is of polygamy, but we have blown past that boundary, leaving the Word of God behind. God forgive us for that.
Having said all of that, I want to highlight that the lasting significance in this passage is that Jacob’s desire for and love for Rachel is so strong that he agrees to work for another seven years after Laban gives him Rachel as his wife. As mentioned, Jacob is getting on in years, and he will have spent fourteen years working for someone in order to have a free and clear marriage to Rachel. But he does so. Nothing will deter him from pursuing the woman of his heart. And this is part of God’s amazing plan of salvation, because through Jacob and Rachel, the family line of the chosen people will be preserved.
Jacob’s single-minded dedication is what we are called to imitate when we consider the gifts of God, which is the point of the Gospel passage I read a few minutes ago. Jesus begins by telling his listeners two parables about obtaining the kingdom of heaven. A man discovers a treasure buried in a field and sells his possessions in order to buy the field with the treasure. Another man spots a pearl, and he wants to possess that pearl so badly that he sells everything he owns in order to buy the pearl.
Why would anyone do something like that? Well, if you had the prospect of owning something that was more valuable than all of your present possessions, you would gladly trade those possessions for the more valuable object. If you knew, for example, that a luggage trunk full of diamonds and gold coins was buried in a field up for sale, you would do whatever you could to buy that field, even if it meant selling your present house and other possessions. And that would also be the case if the Hope Diamond was available for the price of all your possessions. By giving up what you already have, you come out ahead. It makes sense.
Jesus himself is the wonderful treasure or the pearl of great price. Nothing should stand in the way of our having this treasure. This treasure is infinitely more valuable than anything else in creation, because it is eternal. I made reference to gold, a very hard metal, and diamonds, the hardest substance known to man. But even those substances will eventually vanish if the world lasts long enough. Scientists predict our sun will eventually burn itself out after becoming a red giant, so enormous that it will engulf the earth. Nothing would survive that incredible heat. And that is a great thing to remember: everything we have on earth is temporary. When we die, we cannot take any of it with us. Death is the great equalizer, the most democratic event. When I was a child I remembered when Nelson Rockefeller died. He had been one of the richest and most powerful men in America. But he was just as dead as the most wretched homeless person in New York City who died from exposure or drugs or alcohol abuse. None of Rockefeller’s wealth and power weighed the scales in his favor when the time came for his judgment before God.
Ask yourself this: if given the choice between Jesus Christ and the wealth of Nelson Rockefeller, what would you choose? Would even the wealth of a Rockefeller keep you from embracing the Lord? Is there something of this world that stops you from committing yourself to Jesus Christ? Do you hold back because you are afraid of losing something important, like money, or a human relationship? The latter can be an even harder thing to give up than money. You may be in a romantic relationship with someone who does not want anything to do with Jesus Christ. You are confronted with the terrible choice of either your romantic partner or Christ. Who do you choose?
Are you holding back from committing to Christ because you are holding on to a hurt or slight that you suffered from someone in the church? Sometimes church people can be cruel people, it is sadly true. But did Jacob let the monstrous unfairness of Laban keep him from Rachel, his beloved? No, he was willing to suffer Laban for the sake of his beloved. Is Jesus Christ important enough for you to do that?
Do you keep your distance because of pride? It is so anti-modern and unsophisticated to believe in a personal God who would send his Son to live among us, die of our sins, and rise from the dead. Who believes that? It’s fairy tales and myths. I even know of “Christian” ministers and church officials who say that (Sadducees among us!) To that I can say three things. First, the Bible is the most well attested series of books from antiquity. In other words, if you are willing to believe that history happened as other works claim, you should also believe what the Bible says. Second, many eyewitnesses to Jesus’ life, death and resurrection were willing to die for their faith. At the very least, they thought the central meaning of our faith was true. And finally, just please open your heart to the love of God in Jesus Christ. Can you do that? Can you put aside your modern preconceptions and approach God humbly in prayer?
Are you perhaps afraid to pursue a relationship with Christ? Do you know that you are a sinner, which is true, but do you think you cannot be forgiven, which is false? If you come humbly to the foot of the cross, your sins will be forgiven. They will be lifted from your shoulders and placed on those of Christ.
There are, I think, many reasons that people cannot take the step of accepting Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. He demands that we let go of such much of what seems important to us, whether our friends or loved ones; our resentment or our pride or our fear. But the patriarch Jacob, despite some of his unattractive character traits, shows us how we should respond to God’s gracious offer to us in Jesus Christ. Let nothing stand in the way of the relationship with the most amazing man who ever lived, the very Son of God, who is above all others in grace, intelligence, love and beauty. Will you follow Jacob in this way? Your beloved is waiting for your decision.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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