A sermon outline
Reading: Genesis 24:34-67
“The Meeting of Isaac and Rebekah”
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In romantic comedies and sitcoms, the “meet cute” is the scene where the two romantic leads meet for the first time.
In any love story, the one thing that needs to happen for there to be a story is that the boy and the girl meet. But it can’t just be a normal first interaction— there has to be something interesting about it. As a character in a 1955 George Axelrod play explains,
“Dear boy, the beginning of a movie is childishly simple. The boy and girl meet. The only important thing to remember is that— in a movie— the boy and the girl must meet in some cute way. They cannot… meet like normal people at, perhaps, a cocktail party or some other social function. No. It is terribly important that they meet cute.”
So to be anachronistic, our Old Testament reading today features the “meet cute” between Isaac and Rebekah— it’s the first time these two biblical figures meet. And whether or not it’s cute, the way it came about is at least interesting. There are several moving parts.
To give some context for this story: Abraham is 140 years old. Isaac is 40 years old. The sacrifice of Isaac, which was thankfully halted by the angel from heaven, has already occurred. Sarah has already died. And Abraham is nearing the end of his life. He has constantly kept God’s promise in his heart that his descendants would be as countless as the stars and that they would inherit the land of Canaan. God has already provided a miracle by granting that Sarah conceive and give birth to Isaac even in her old age.
But the next step is for Isaac to start having children. For that, he needs a wife. Isaac is already 40, which is kind of old to be unmarried, even in our day, but especially so in that day. He’s waited a long time. He’s ready.
So Abraham summons one of his servants, who is not named in the text, but some rabbinic traditions hold that it was Eliezer of Damascus, who was the heir of Abraham’s estate before the birth of Isaac. Abraham makes him swear to find a wife for Isaac. And Eliezer is to find her among Abraham’s kindred, not from the various pagan tribes of Canaan. The servant vows to do so, and sets off on his mission.
Our reading from the lectionary doesn’t give the whole account. Genesis actually presents the story in the third person and then has the servant recount the entire story in the first person, which is what we have here (which is, by the way, the longest speech by a slave in the Hebrew Bible, at 238 words in the Hebrew).
The servant has been invited into the home of Rebekah and her brother Laban and he recounts his story:
“I am Abraham’s servant…”
“I came today to the spring… and I prayed…”
Asks for a sign: generosity
Rebekah passes the test
The servant recounts this story and everyone agrees that it was ordained by God. Of course, back then, marriages were most often arranged, so Rebekah doesn’t have much of a say in this, but they do ask her, “Will you go with this man?” And she says, “I will.”
“So they sent away their sister Rebekah and her nurse…”
This is it— this is the first time they’re going to meet. “Isaac went out in the evening…”
And of course, Isaac and Rebekah will become the parents of Jacob and Esau, who will have their own role to play in the sacred drama.
Learn from this story?
Three lessons
- The providence of God
a. The timing at the well
b. Knew the sign the servant would ask for
c. Knew Rebekah’s character - Purity of intention; single-mindedness of purpose
The servant: earnest, no ulterior motives
- Being open to opportunities to be generous (Rebekah was generous, though it could have been easy to say no)
Three major actors in this story: God, the servant, and Rebekah. All played their parts.
When you wake up in the morning:
- Know that God is overseeing all things…
- Strive to be single-minded in your undertakings, to be simple and earnest in your dealings with others
- As you go throughout your day, be open to opportunities for generosity
And then we too will find that God will make our ways straight and bring all loving His purposes for us to fulfillment. Amen.
The Pulpit and the Altar 