SERMON STRUCTURE: Is It Worth It?

Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67

CIT (Central Idea of the Text): God fulfilled His promise to Abraham by providing a wife for his son Isaac.

SERMON FOCUS: In the same way, God fulfills His promises to us in ways that we often cannot imagine.

Major Objective: Consecrative

Specific Objective: Trust God to do for you more than you can imagine!

TITLE: Is It Worth It?

Then … the completed sermon should be evaluated in terms of how well it adheres to the CIT and SF, and accomplishes its SO.

INVOCATION

OUTLINE OF Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67

1. Abraham’s servant presents to Rebekah’s brother Laban the reasons why he has come to ask Rebekah to marry Isaac. (24:34-38, 39-4l, 42-48).

1. Abraham’s servant describes the reason why he has been sent. (24:34-38).

   1. Abraham is a wealthy man. (24:34, 35).

   2. Abraham and Sarah’s son Isaac will inherit all that they have (24:36).

   3. Isaac needs a wife from Abraham’s extended family, to continue God’s blessings for Abraham. (24:37, 38).

2. Rebakah has the right to refuse Abraham’s invitation to become Isaac’s wife. (14:39-41).

2. The way in which Abraham’s servant has met Rebekah confirms that she is the one God has chosen to be Isaac’s wife. (24:42-49).

1. The servant’s prayer (24:42-44).

   1. His appeal for help from God (24:42).

   2. His request for a specific response from whomever he shall meet (24:43-44).

2. The fulfillment of the servant’s request. (24:45-49).

   1. The appearance of Rebekah at the well. (24:45a.)

   2. The servant’s question to Rebekah. (24:45b).

   3. Rebekah’s response to the servant’s question. (24:46).

3. The servant’s inquiry about Rebekah’s family. (24:47a).

4. Rebekah’s response to the servant’s inquiry. (24:47b).

5. The servant’s gifts to Rebekah on Isaac’s behalf. (24:47c).

6. The servant gives thanks to God for Rebekah’s response. (24:48).

7. The servant’s request to Rebekah’s brother. (24:49).

3. Rebekah agrees to go with Abraham’s servant and become Isaac’s wife. (24:58-61).

1. Rebekah consents to the proposal that she marry Isaac. (24:58).

2. Rebakah’s family agrees to send her away with Abraham’s servant. (24:59).

3. Rebekah’s family blesses her. (24:60).

4. Rebekah departs from her family. (24:61).

4. Rebekah meets Isaac and becomes his wife. (24:62-67).

1. Isaac, walking in the fields at the end of the day, sees the servant’s caravan approaching. (24:62, 63).

2. Rebekah sees Isaac for the first time. (24:64, 65).

   1. She dismounts from her camel. (24:64).

   2. She inquires about Isaac’s identity. (24:65a).

   3. She puts on her veil and covers herself. (34:65b).

3. Isaac’s servant reports all that he has done to Isaac. (24:66).

4. Isaac takes Rebekah into his mother’s tent, and she becomes his wife. (24:67).

SERMON DEVELOPMENT

Is It Worth It?

Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67

Introduction

1. Is it worth it?

2. Is it worth it to live in personal relationship with God?

1. You may say, “Well, of course it is!”

2. But what about the times when trouble comes? Where is God then?

3. And what about the demands you know God makes on your life? Are you prepared to meet them?

3. Today we will think about how these questions were worked out in the life of Abraham.

Scripture

1. Our Scripture today is the third in a series from the life of Abraham and his family from the book of Genesis.

2. It is the story of the marriage of Abraham’s son Isaac to Rebekah, a young woman from Abraham’s homeland, especially chosen by God for him.

3. It is a beautiful love story.

1. It’s told in a wonderful narrative way, full of the repetition and re-telling that so often characterizes both a good story and human memory.

2. Some might even say that it is my kind of story:

   1. It seems to go on endlessly.

   2. And it is full of repetition and re-telling.

3. But we are reading only part of it.

4. Even in the Hebrew, it is simple and straightforward.

[With the help of lexicons and our textbook on Hebrew grammar, we translated this chapter (in short sections) as a homework and class discussion exercise over several weeks.]

5. The passage is from the 24th chapter of Genesis, verses 34-38, 42-49, and 58-67. I’m reading from the New Revised Standard Version

[Read here Genesis 24: 34-38, 42-49, 58-67 (NRSV).]

6. In this chapter we see how God fulfilled His promise to Abraham by providing a wife for his son Isaac.

7. And in the same way, God fulfills His promises to us in ways that we often cannot imagine.

Exposition

1. We do not have time to examine all this story, but two details in it are worth noting:

1. First, this story shows a high regard for women — perhaps a higher regard than was customary in that time:

   1. Rebeka is allowed to choose whether she wanted to marry this stranger, who has sent his servant (rather than coming himself) to convey the proposal, and

   2. Abraham had instructed his servant to respect her wishes in this matter (24:5,8, 39-41), so

   3. Rebekah had a choice about marrying this man she’d never met.

[Read here Genesis 24:5, 8, 39-41 (NRSV).]

1. And even after Rebeka’s brother Laban and his family had agreed to give Rebeka to Isaac’s servant to become Isaac’s wife, Rebeka was allowed to decide for herself whether she wished to go immediately to be with Isaac or remain at home for a while. (24:55-61).

1. And second, it shows how God blessed both Abraham and Isaac through this marriage.

   1. By this time, Abraham’s wife Sarah, Isaac’s mother, had passed away, and her tent is now empty (23; 24:67).

   2. And his son Isaac now has a wife, and Abraham has the prospect of grandchildren by Isaac and Rebekah.

      1. God’s original promise to Abraham (Genesis 12) was two-fold: that he would have both family and property (12:1-3,7).

      2. And when God reiterated this promise to Abraham, Abraham reminded God “²…‘O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus …³and so a slave born in my house is to be my heir.” (15:2,3).

      3. And so Abraham now sees the promise God made to him so many years ago fulfilled before his own eyes.

   3. And Isaac himself now has a wife, someone from his own (distant) family.

      1. Isaac brings his wife into his mother’s tent — a hallowed and sacred space in his eyes and in Abraham’s eyes.

      2. And the Scripture tells us “⁶⁷ …He took Rebekah, and she became his wife, and he loved her.” (24:67).

      3. These words seem to tell us that Isaac had an emotional and spiritual relationship with Rebekah, rather than just a physical relationship.

   4. And I think as we read these Scriptures we must open our hearts, not just our heads, to the tenderness and the emotion of that moment, and allow ourselves to feel within us the mixture of both great happiness and great poignancy that these words convey.

2. At this point, Abraham’s story has consumed 14 chapters in the book of Genesis.

1. That’s 28 percent, or over a quarter of the book itself.

2. Abraham’s story began in chapter 12, when God mysteriously called him, and it ends with his death in chapter 25.

3. Why do you suppose Abraham’s story takes up so much of Genesis?

   1. Is it just because Abraham was an important person?

   2. Or is his story much like our own, and in retelling his story in such detail, are the Scriptures saying something important to us and about us as well?

4. I would invite you to think with me about how the three stories that we have considered in these past few weeks say something significant about our own relationship with God.

3. First, Abraham’s story is that God’s promises to him, and often God’s promises to us, often seem utterly unbelievable.

1. At first, Abraham gave his assent to what God told him.

2. The Scriptures tell us “⁶And [Abraham] believed the Lord, and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness.”

3. But Abraham and Sarah eventually decided that they knew more how to accomplish God’s promises for them than God did, and so they took matters into their own hands.

4. And we’ve already looked at the trouble that decision brought upon themselves and others.

5. And we’ve admitted our own human tendency to act in the same way — and potentially experience similar consequences.

6. Abraham trusted God to bless him with both offspring and prosperity.

7. What are you trusting God for today?

   1. What promise to you are you expecting God to keep?

   2. In what way do you feel that God has, or has not, kept His promise to you?

   3. If you can ask God today for any need in your life, what would that be?

8. But maybe a more important question is, How are you struggling in your relationship with God, and your understanding of God?

9. Over these last few months I’ve come to know the challenges and difficulties that many of you in this congregation face — serious issues relating to your personal health, financial and marital problems, concerns for the welfare of your children and your extended family, concerns about the community and the world in which we live, questions about God’s will and purpose for you at this time in your life, concerns for aging parents, and sorrow and grief for loved ones who have passed away.

10. And I have admired the strength and courage with which you face these issues, and the quiet dignity and fierce resolve with which you continue to live in faithfulness and humility before God.

11. All of us find ourselves in circumstances like this at some point in our lives.

12. And in those times we ask ourselves, Where is God in all of this, and why isn’t He doing something about it?

13. And we read the words of assurance from the Scriptures and struggle to believe them and apply them to our own lives.

4. Second, these stories from Abraham’s life demonstrate that being obedient to God sometimes requires us to do things we may not want to do on our own.

1. Last week we thought about how difficult it must have been for Abraham to carry his son Isaac off to a strange place three days’ journey away from home, under God’s command — or so Abraham thought — to sacrifice him there.

2. And the week before, we thought briefly about how much Abraham must have hated to send away from home his first-born son Ishmael, who had grown by then to be a strong healthy young man. (Genesis 21:8-21).

3. Both these stories quietly convey Abraham’s great personal anguish, and we must not ignore the emotions and the difficult choices that run through them.

4. And many of you know first hand what it means to be frightened for and worried about your own children.

5. For me personally, the most difficult sermon I have had to preach to you, and the one sermon that still echoes clearly in my heart and my head, was the message on the first Sunday in May, taken from the second and third chapters of First Peter.

   1. You may remember that was a sermon to which many responded strongly — some in agreement, and some in disagreement.

   2. Peter’s words are direct and uncompromising, and at the risk of being repetitious, I will quote them to you again:

“^2:21This is the kind of life you’ve been invited into, the kind of life Christ lived. He suffered everything that came his way so you would know that it could be done, and also know how to do it, step by step.

“²²He never did one thing wrong,

Not once said anything amiss.

“²³They called him every name in the book, and he said nothing back. He suffered in silence, content to let God set things right. ²⁴He used his servant body to carry our sins to the Cross so we could be rid sin, free to live the right way. His wounds became your healing. ²⁵You were lost sheep with no idea who you were or where you were going. Now you’re named and kept for good by the Shepherd of your souls.”

….

“^3:8Summing up: Be agreeable, be sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, be humble. That goes for all of you, no exceptions. ⁹No retaliation. No sharp-tongued sarcasm. Instead, bless — that’s your job, to bless. You will be a blessing and also get a blessing.” (1 Peter 2:21-25; 3:8-10, The Message).

6. My friends, I struggle hard to apply these words to myself. These words tell me to do exactly what my human nature tells me not to do.

7. And, my friends, if these words don’t challenge you and push you and confront you with God’s demands on your own life, then I don’t know that there is anything more I can say to you.

5. And third we find in these stories that God’s blessings far exceed all our expectations about what God can really do.

1. At the conclusion of our Scripture for today, Abraham seems assured that all God’s promises to him and Sarah are being fulfilled:

   1. God has indeed given them the son that God promised, and Isaac and Rebekah will soon produce twins on their own.

   2. Abraham is a wealthy man, well settled in the land that God has given him.

2. And just a little later, the Scriptures tell us

“⁷This is the length of Abraham’s life: one hundred seventy five years. ⁸Abraham breathed his last and died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and was gathered to his people. ⁹His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite, east of Mamre, ¹⁰the field that Abraham purchased from the Hittites. There Abraham was buried, with his wife Sarah. ¹¹After the death of Abraham, God blessed his son Isaac. And Isaac settled at Beer-lahai-roi.” (25:7-11).

3. Many are the promises of Scripture that God will never leave us or forsake us (Joshua 1:5), that we can never escape from God’s presence or God’s attention in our lives (Psalm 139), and that nothing in all of creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:35-39).

4. But for me, one of the most meaningful promises of Scripture says in effect that we have no clue what God ultimately holds in store for us:

“⁹Things which our eyes have not seen, and our ears have not heard,

and which have not entered the heart of man,

all that God has prepared for those who love him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9, NIV, paraphrased).

Reflections and Conclusions

1. And so I ask you, Is It Worth It?

1. Is it worth it to enter into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ?

2. Is it worth it to submit to God’s demands on your life, and follow Christ in obedience?

3. Is it worth it to endure the sufferings of this present age, in order that God may create the likeness of God’s own Son in you?

2. Or do you want to continue to be in charge of your own life?

1. Do you, like Abraham and Sarah in their younger years, believe you know more about what’s good for you than God knows?

2. Or do you just want to spare yourself the trouble of doing what you know God wants you to do?

3. What is God calling you to do with Him or for Him today?

4. How are you struggling to be obedient to what God calls you to do?

1. There is no way to avoid the struggles and the pains and the disappointments in this earthly life.

2. And submitting yourself to God’s calling means you have to give up something that is very precious and valuable to you — your own independence.

5. Is it worth it?

1. Abraham and Sarah thought so.

2. And Peter tells us how it can be done.

3. What do you think?

4. Are you willing to trust God to do in your life more than you can ever imagine He will do?