1. Who have you prayed for?
2. Who have you cared for?
3. What has God done for you recently in your life?
4. What has God taught you?
As Abraham enters the twilight of his spiritual journey with God, he still has some work to do. He has retired from many of his duties, but he can’t retire from God ... and neither can we. As long as our hearts are pumping and our brains working, we have work to do as well.
Let’s see how this works through the four principles found in this passage. This morning we are going to view these principles from the perspective of the church rather than a single believer like Abraham. Now many view the church as a building, but the Bible never refers to the church as a building. Rather, it defines the church as a body of believers. We are the church.
Let's get started.
1. The church is responsible to ensure that God’s mission continues to the next generation. (Genesis 24:1-9)
God uses the church, people like you and me, to carry out his mission. It's our responsibility. It was Abraham's responsibility. Now, for God's mission to continue, Abraham's son Issac had to get married and have kids. During that time arranged marriages were the rule, not the exception like today. So it was Abraham's responsibility to find his son that wife.
Having lived in the land of the Canaanites for decades, he knew that he didn't want his son to marry one of those girls, so he sent his servant back to his homeland to find a wife. We don't know much beyond this, but the little that we do know we can infer that the Canaanite's hearts were far from God ... they were faithless.
Incidentally, in one of the letters written to the Corinthian church, God warns the church not to marry outside of the faith because of the pitfalls of trying to navigate through life with two different worldviews. (2 Corinthians 6:14-15) It seems Abraham intuitively knew this. This is good instruction for us as well.
This task to advance God's mission by finding a wife for his son weighed so heavy on Abraham, that he made his servant swear by an oath that he would faithfully execute Abraham's desire. I sometimes wonder ... does the church today have that same burden of responsibility when thinking of passing our faith to the next generation?
Let's think in terms of the Great Commission. Remember, right before Jesus ascended to heaven he gave his last instructions to his disciples. He said, "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you." (Matthew 28:19-20).
In the twilight of his life with God, the apostle Paul wrote this to his spiritual heir, Timothy: "You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also." (2 Timothy 2:1-2)
We are responsible. Are we burdened by it? Let's take it to heart. Start with your children, grandchildren, or great-grandchildren, and move out from there.
2. The church should be confident that the Lord will lead them in their faithful activities. (Genesis 24:10-27)
This is the intersection of God providing and us praying. Remember that God is in control. He is all-powerful. He is all-knowing. He is present with us for he will not abandon us or forsake us. He answers prayers. His plans will not be thwarted. He provides. Notice how the Lord, by way of an angel clears the path of Abraham’s servant: before he finished praying, the girl for whom he had been praying appears. (Genesis 24:15)
As much as God has the power to provide, we must pray for that provision and rely on him to make it happen. This is what the servant did. (Genesis 24:12-14) Imagine this: You have been instructed to go find a spouse for you boss' son in a foreign land. No physical description was given to you. How on earth are you going to accomplish this?
Prayer, right? and Lord, give a sign that I am on the right path. This is what Abraham's servant did and he was confident that the Lord would provide for his faithful activities.
Is this true in our life?
3. The church must give priority to completing God’s work. (Genesis 24:28-60)
As the servant enters Rebekah's home, her family wants to eat and visit. Yet, he tells them he wants to get down to business first. There is a sense of urgency and priority to complete his task.
I don't know if the Lord has burdened your heart to share some thoughts with someone or not. If he has, you will know exactly what I am about to speak about. There are times that you might show up to share something with someone and they invite you to watch the game or eat some food or play a game. You go with the flow and before you know it, it's time to go and you haven't had "the time" to share with them.
So, take care of business first. Now, notice how he takes care of his business. He recalls the whole scene in vivid detail to make it unmistakably clear that God's fingerprints are all over this ... in essence, he is saying "This is not a coincidence, but the living God ... the God of Abraham is in this." Now, even Abraham's family, who are not faithful followers of God, sees the power of God in this. (Genesis 24:50) The same is true today. This is how some come to faith. They come to faith through the testimonies of others. So share yours because you never know how God is working in someone's heart.
4. The church may rest assured that the Lord will complete the good work he has done. (Genesis 24:61-67)
The family releases Rebekah to Abraham's family and she marries Isaac ... and God's mission continues to the next generation. God is making good the promise he made to Abraham ... that his offspring would be as numerous as the stars. (Genesis 15:5)
We can find that same assurance in him as well. He will complete the good work that he started in you ... that he started in this church body 69 years ago (Philippians 1:6) for he is faithful and will be with us until the end of the age. (Matthew 28:20)
Principles adapted from Allen Ross’, Creation and Blessing (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 1998) pp. 418-423.
