reflection on readings 3rd July 2011

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ik-XOVZcwow

Year A Proper 9 3 July 2011
Genesis 24: 34-38, 42-49, 58-67 Psalm 45: 10-17 OR Song of Solomon 2: 8-13 Romans 7: 15-25a Matthew 11: 16-19, 25-30

I recall hearing a hymn that begins with the words, “Come ye weary, heavy laden....” I can’t remember it properly, but I remember the last line was – “If you tarry ‘til you’re ready, you will never come at all”. And that, I think is the message in our readings this week....

Our Gospel reading ends with the invitation: Matthew 11:28-30 ““Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.””

It is an invitation that reminds me of the song that I plan to sing at this weekend’s country music festival. It is a song that I wrote, about how we strive to be holy, but we stumble and fall over and over. The good news in the song and the Good News of Jesus Christ is that we can rest in the knowledge that through faith we have attained a holiness that is not our own – yet is ours through our union with Christ.

In our first reading we have an amazing example of some people of God who said “yes” to God. We read the story and often miss the facts about how hard it may have been for the characters involved.

The servant of Abraham set out to find a wife for Isaac, the son of Abraham. He prayed, and it seemed that Rebekah was the answer to that prayer.

I often wonder if God is constantly giving us opportunities to partake in His fantastic plan, but we continuously say, “No”. Rebekah was a woman in a time of danger. If she didn’t have the protection of a loving husband or family she had no protection from abuse at all. To leave her family and go to marry a man that she had not met was a big step of faith. The servant explained that hand of God was in the situation told them about his prayer and how God had answered it through her, indicating that she was the one destined to marry Isaac. So then Rebekah’s family blessed her with the prophetic words about her offspring: Genesis 24:60 “ And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, “Our sister, may you increase to thousands upon thousands; may your offspring possess the cities of their enemies.” This Rebekah is the mother of the Israelite and Edomite nations.

The story ends well for Rebekah, as we are told that Isaac loved Rebekah. Many unions are recorded in the Bible, and many were recorded as being the fulfilment of duty – love seemed to be an optional extra – yet these early and significant unions, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Rachel, are those where there was love. Rebekah had to do some hard things in leaving behind her whole life – her family and friends. Rebekah said “yes” to God’s plan and she was blessed with more than a profitable union – she was blessed with the love of her husband.

We have many examples through the lives of people recorded in the Bible, which show us the blessings of those who cooperate with God’s plan. But still we struggle to cooperate with God’s plan. We are called to cooperate with God’s plan – We’ve been commissioned to go and make disciples. How are we going with that?

There is a fantastic song by Keith Green – you may know of his other songs, such as “There is a Redeemer” – the song that I find appropriate for us, is called Asleep in the Light. I know I’ve said this a few times, but I’ll say it again.... We are all so tired from our own battles that it seems no one is really partaking in God’s plan and partaking in the great commission that he gave us to go and make disciples.... Myself included....

Here are just a few words from the song, Asleep in the Light: “.....The world is sleeping in the dark, That the church can't fight, cause it's asleep in the light, How can you be so dead, when you've been so well fed, Jesus rose from the grave, and you, you can't even get out of bed,...” I strongly encourage you to have a listen to the whole song on you tube, as the song brings the message to life in a way that mere words can’t: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ik-XOVZcwow

We all know that it is right to proclaim the Gospel and encourage people into a relationship with Christ, but we just don’t seem to be able to motivate ourselves into action. Do you recall the words of that part at church where we confess.... call to mind our failings.... it isn’t just the things we’ve done wrong, but also the good we’ve omitted to do.

Paul puts the dilemma of not doing what we know we should very well in his letter to the Romans:

Romans 7:15-20 “ I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.”

The reading ends with the Good News... “24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

Most of us feel that we are not good enough to cooperate with God’s plan. We feel we are not worthy to be of any use to God. Surely it would make more sense for God to use the saintly and blameless people. We know that if someone was to scrutinize us we’d come apart at the seams, as we know our failings well. But.... if we tarry ‘til we are ready, we will never come at all. We will never measure up. If we are being honest with ourselves we will know that we can never be good enough, but thanks be to God, who delivers us through Jesus Christ our Lord!

You see, we truly are made holy right now through the sacrifice of Jesus. This is why Jesus can invite us to come to him and he will give us rest.... rest in the knowledge that we have been made acceptable to God through our union with Christ. We are spiritually “ready”... there is no need to tarry and there isn’t any need to feel not worthy enough to be of any use.

To know our need for a saviour is the only pre-requisite to becoming a child of God, and being a child of God means being a child of the King. In the same way that we became a child of God by recognising our need for a saviour, we carry out the commission of Christ to “make disciples” by continuing to realise our need for a saviour and relying on Christ and the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which means that we rest in the knowledge of his provision and blessing, and just as Rebekah was blessed, God blesses and provides above and beyond our needs.