Lectionary for 3/13/09

Today's readings are Genesis 24.32-52 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Gen.+24.32-52 ), Genesis 24.61-67 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Gen.+24.61-67 ), and Mark 8.1-21 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Mark+8.1-21 ).

 

It's fitting, at least to me, that today our reading in Genesis is about Rebekah going to marry Isaac.  If you've been reading this blog for a while you will know that I rarely talk about personal events.  But here's one that fits.  Some time ago a young man contacted me wanting to build a relationship which could ultimately lead  toward marriage with my daughter (who still is my baby girl though she will be 19 soon).  Today my daughter is going to visit with his family for about a week.  I think of how Laban may have felt.  His daughter was going to a family he could trust.  They were part of his clan.  But his little girl was going away from his household.  Instead of marrying someone who lived a mile or two away she was going to a place where he might never see her again (not like my daughter). 

Today it seems popular to bash the idea of arranged marriages and courtship.  In fact, it seems odd to many in our society that anyone would get married at a relatively young age and expect to spend a long adulthood growing together, having children, and centering interests around the family and community.  People seem to want their children to become older, more set in their ways, have time to grow in selfishness and their careers before deciding if they want to settle down in marriage.  And to suggest that parents have any influence in the person someone might marry is almost like suggesting you want to lay seige against the local community college and make it into a prison camp.

Look at the loving way negotiations, for that is what they are, take place over Rebekah.  The trusted slave is sent to bring back a bride.  He trusts that the Lord will provide him with the right bride for his master.  He looks for the woman of appropriate character to match his master, someone who is willing to come, someone who is willing to serve in the family.  He talks with her father and makes the arrangements clear.  The father confirms with his daughter that she wants to get married to this master, living far away.  He gives time for her to be sure.  And when Rebekah gets to her new home the servant points out Isaac, who marries her, loves her, and is comforted by her.  This doesn't sound like some sort of forcible kidnapping or marriage by shotgun.  It sounds much more like the careful and loving intervention of those who are older and more experienced, helping the young people find appropriate marriage partners.

What a good and gentle Lord we have, who draws his people to himself for protection and nurture, for we see that we, the Church, are the bride of Christ.  He has made his purposes clear.  He has called poeple to himself.  We respond in love because he gives us a love for him.  He receives us and cares for us.