2026 07 12 Pentecost 7 Proper 10
Genesis 25.19-34 Psalm 119.105-112 Romans 8.1-11 Matt 13.1-9, 18-23
Jesus described the reality,
“As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but
the cares of this age and lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing.” Jesus also described the seed sown in good
ground – it yields massive growth. Which
soil are we?
Last week we had the story of Rebekah and how
the servant found her, gave her gifts and brought her back to Isaac, but did
you notice, prior to the journey to Isaac, the response from her family? It always seems to me that, without them
coming out and saying it straight, they were trying to dissuade Rebekah from
walking into her destiny. They could
well have been the cares of heart and choked out the word of God, but Rebekah
left them behind. However, she didn’t
bear fruit, until her husband prayed for her.
The cares of this age and
the lure of wealth are powers and principalities the enemy uses to dissuade us
from walking in our destiny also. And in
our lives, aren’t there a huge number of cares striving to choke out the word
of God? Has there ever been such a time
of pressure? Everything must be done
online. A demand that is made to all,
including those who were never taught the word “computer” at school, unless it
was to refer to the person who added up on the abacus. LOL – I jest, but only a
little. The law has changed so many
times. I can think of one such law,
where what used to be illegal, not only is now legal, but to speak against it
you are in danger of being taken to court accused of hate speech. This is an example of just how intense the
cares of this world are.
But wait, there’s more! What is it that we care about so much that we
are angry, grieving, hurting, and disillusioned? So, here is the warning loud and clear; Will
those cares choke out the very word of God?
Co-incidentally, this week our bible study looked at the book of
Ezra. A book following the people whose
centre of worship had been destroyed and then the people had been sent into
exile – they had nothing left of their religion, nothing but the word of God. A great example of how when we have nothing but
the word of God, and we let that word dwell deeply in us, we are actually holding
on to something that nothing can destroy or take away.
Isaac and Rebekah had twin
boys. Esau was born first and therefore
he was the heir. We discover at the end
of our reading that Esau despised his birthright, and it would seem, that he
was swindled out of it.
Isaac is the man who only
exists because God performed a miracle in the life of his elderly and barren
mother. Isaac prays for his barren wife
and she becomes pregnant. Isaac is a
living, walking miracle, and he knows God intimately. Now we discover, so does Rebekah.
Rebekah was in so much pain during
her pregnancy, that she felt like she might die. Therefore, she WENT to inquire of the
Lord. Are you wondering where it was
that she went to inquire of God? According
to Jewish midrash, Rebekah went to a place of sacred study where the
instructors, or wise men, were Shem and Eber.
Shem is where we get the term, “Semitic” and Eber is where we get the
term “Hebrew”. Shem was the son of Noah
and Eber was his great grandson. Whether
it was from Shem or Eber or some other elder, the text implies that Rebekah was
familiar with travelling the path to inquire of the Lord. This also tells us, that unlike the people
around them, Rebekah worshiped God – Yahweh.
Rebekah was told that there
were two nations in her womb and the younger would serve the older. It appears that this is a prophecy that she
kept to herself. Perhaps wisely, as each
of the boys were loved and favoured.
Isaac cherished Esau, but Rebekah cherished Jacob.
Did Jacob swindle Esau out
of his birthright? Maybe, but there may have
been more going on. It was customary to have
red lentil stew when families were in mourning.
Some commentators suggest this was the time that Abraham died. Jacob was involved and active in the ways of
the family, and he was faithful to the sacred stories of faith. He was honourable in the traditions of caring
and mourning. Esau, on the other hand,
was very much living for the moment. Esau
despised his assumed role as the first born, who was meant to be the one
entrusted with the spiritual passing on of the sacred stories. He may have resented Jacob’s natural giftedness
and inclination towards spirituality and care for this aspect.
Where are we in the
story? There are aspects of us in each, and
even Esau, is often us. Sometimes we
too, resent those who “seem” to have it all together. We resent those who show us up and make
obvious our lack, or our sin. ALSO, we too are, quite
naturally, concerned with right here and right now, and sometimes the right
here and now is pretty much all we CAN see.
It is easy to “do the right
thing” and follow God when everything is going our way, but what will we do
when we feel that we are being attacked on every side and we are exhausted from
all the trials that life throws at us? It’s
interesting how we read the Bible stories and relate to the heroes, but more
often than not, perhaps we should be looking at the anti-hero. The anti-hero has as much to teach us as the
hero. Esau has been out – perhaps
hunting and successful… Killing it! He
was the hero in his own story, but he had returned home to a house of mourning. He became acutely aware that he was not doing
the duty of the first-born son…. Whatever!
And what’s more, he was so hungry!
So, he sold his birthright – a thing to worry about in the future –so
that he could have something here and now.
The fact that we are here,
is a sign that we have been anointed as the chosen people of God. We are called and set apart as holy to
God. That is our spiritual birthright. Through our baptism, we are united to Jesus
and scripture tells us that we are joint heirs with Christ, in the kingdom of
God. NO man can take that away- but, would we give it away for a bowl of
lentils?
Will the worries of life,
lure of other things overwhelm the word of God in our lives? Lentils are the food of mourning. Have you known of people who left the church
at a time of mourning, never to return? Was
the word of God, seed choked by sorrow? The
worries of life, the pressures, the sorrow etc… these things will come to us
all – and really they do overwhelm. What
will we do, when those times do come?
Our letter to the Romans
tells us that, to set the mind on the flesh is death. The flesh wants comfort NOW. The flesh wants to conquer, have and
win. The mind set on the flesh is
death. It is pretty tricky, because the
world around us values that attitude of working to conquer, have and win. It is a toughness – a hardness and an
attitude that will not submit to God’s law – indeed, it cannot. And what’s more, it is perfectly natural to
want to conquer, control and win.
If we think we can overcome
the flesh in our own strength, we are fooling ourselves. Ask any addict. We need the Holy Spirit. Last week we read about how we do the things
we do not want to do. We are here
because we DO acknowledge that God’s way Is the way to life, but we still fail
to do things His way. So what hope is
there for us?
The hope is in our being
united to Christ who did live the perfect life of faith. He was obedient to God the father, even to
death. Because we are united to him, and
spiritually are clothed in Christ, we are spiritually seen to have lived that
perfect life. That is why our reading in
Romans can claim “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are
in Christ Jesus. For the law of the
Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of
death.”
Have we lived for the moment
and made choices that didn’t glorify God?
Welcome to the human race! We all
have, but if we have chosen to be united to Christ, there is now NO
condemnation. God loves and accepts us
as his perfect first-born. THIS is the
Good News – This is the quintessential Gospel message; We fail, Jesus is
perfect and through our choice to belong to him we are saved.
But how are we to live, now
that we know that there is no condemnation?
Just because there is now no condemnation, do we just continue to live
for the moment? That would essentially
be like selling our birthright for a mess of beans! So here we are. Exhausted.
Grieving. Choking in the worries
of life. Breathe on us breath of God and
plant the word of God deeply in us! Let’s
take a moment to admit our real position and need. There are two “nations” in us also; Flesh and
Spirit – And the struggle is to the point of death. Come Holy Spirit! Give the struggle to God, and live by the
power of the Spirit, bearing much fruit.
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