Then Jacob went on his journey and came to the land of the people of the east. ² As he looked, he saw a well in the field, and behold, three flocks of sheep lying beside it, for out of that well the flocks were watered. The stone on the well’s mouth was large, ³ and when all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds would roll the stone from the mouth of the well and water the sheep, and put the stone back in its place over the mouth of the well.

⁴ Jacob said to them, “My brothers, where do you come from?” They said, “We are from Haran.” ⁵ He said to them, “Do you know Laban the son of Nahor?” They said, “We know him.” ⁶ He said to them, “Is it well with him?” They said, “It is well; and see, Rachel his daughter is coming with the sheep!” ⁷ He said, “Behold, it is still high day; it is not time for the livestock to be gathered together. Water the sheep and go, pasture them.” ⁸ But they said, “We cannot until all the flocks are gathered together and the stone is rolled from the mouth of the well; then we water the sheep.”

⁹ While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherdess. ¹⁰ Now as soon as Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, Jacob came near and rolled the stone from the well’s mouth and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother. ¹¹ Then Jacob kissed Rachel and wept aloud. ¹² And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father’s kinsman, and that he was Rebekah’s son, and she ran and told her father.

¹³ As soon as Laban heard the news about Jacob, his sister’s son, he ran to meet him and embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his house. Jacob told Laban all these things, ¹⁴ and Laban said to him, “Surely you are my bone and my flesh!” And he stayed with him a month.

¹⁵ Then Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my kinsman, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?” ¹⁶ Now Laban had two daughters. The name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. ¹⁷ Leah’s eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful in form and appearance. ¹⁸ Jacob loved Rachel. And he said, “I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.” ¹⁹ Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to any other man; stay with me.” ²⁰ So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her.

²¹ Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife that I may go in to her, for my time is completed.” ²² So Laban gathered together all the people of the place and made a feast. ²³ But in the evening he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob, and he went in to her. ²⁴ (Laban gave his female servant Zilpah to his daughter Leah to be her servant.) ²⁵ And in the morning, behold, it was Leah! And Jacob said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Did I not serve with you for Rachel? Why then have you deceived me?” ²⁶ Laban said, “It is not so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn. ²⁷ Complete the week of this one, and we will give you the other also in return for serving me another seven years.” ²⁸ Jacob did so, and completed her week. Then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife. ²⁹ (Laban gave his female servant Bilhah to his daughter Rachel to be her servant.) ³⁰ So Jacob went in to Rachel also, and he loved Rachel more than Leah, and served Laban for another seven years.

³¹ When the LORD saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. ³² And Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben, for she said, “Because the LORD has looked upon my affliction; for now my husband will love me.” ³³ She conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Because the LORD has heard that I am hated, he has given me this son also.” And she called his name Simeon. ³⁴Again she conceived and bore a son, and said, “Now this time my husband will be attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore his name was called Levi. ³⁵ And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “This time I will praise the LORD.” Therefore she called his name Judah. Then she ceased bearing.

 

¹⁴ For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, ¹⁵ from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, ¹⁶ that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, ¹⁸ may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, ¹⁹ and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

²⁰ Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

4 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,

When Isaac was old and his eyes were dim so that he could not see, he called Esau his older son and said to him, “My son”; and he answered, “Here I am.” ² He said, “Behold, I am old; I do not know the day of my death. ³ Now then, take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me, ⁴ and prepare for me delicious food, such as I love, and bring it to me so that I may eat, that my soul may bless you before I die.”

⁵ Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to his son Esau. So when Esau went to the field to hunt for game and bring it, ⁶ Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “I heard your father speak to your brother Esau, ⁷ ‘Bring me game and prepare for me delicious food, that I may eat it and bless you before the LORD before I die.’ ⁸ Now therefore, my son, obey my voice as I command you. ⁹ Go to the flock and bring me two good young goats, so that I may prepare from them delicious food for your father, such as he loves. ¹⁰ And you shall bring it to your father to eat, so that he may bless you before he dies.” ¹¹ But Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “Behold, my brother Esau is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man. ¹² Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be mocking him and bring a curse upon myself and not a blessing.” ¹³ His mother said to him, “Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, bring them to me.”

¹⁴ So he went and took them and brought them to his mother, and his mother prepared delicious food, such as his father loved. ¹⁵ Then Rebekah took the best garments of Esau her older son, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son. ¹⁶ And the skins of the young goats she put on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. ¹⁷ And she put the delicious food and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob.

¹⁸ So he went in to his father and said, “My father.” And he said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?” ¹⁹ Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me; now sit up and eat of my game, that your soul may bless me.” ²⁰ But Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?” He answered, “Because the LORD your God granted me success.” ²¹ Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come near, that I may feel you, my son, to know whether you are really my son Esau or not.” ²² So Jacob went near to Isaac his father, who felt him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” ²³ And he did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands. So he blessed him. ²⁴ He said, “Are you really my son Esau?” He answered, “I am.” ²⁵ Then he said, “Bring it near to me, that I may eat of my son’s game and bless you.” So he brought it near to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine, and he drank.

²⁶ Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come near and kiss me, my son.” ²⁷ So he came near and kissed him. And Isaac smelled the smell of his garments and blessed him and said,

 

“See, the smell of my son

is as the smell of a field that the LORD has blessed!

²⁸ May God give you of the dew of heaven

and of the fatness of the earth

and plenty of grain and wine.

²⁹ Let peoples serve you,

and nations bow down to you.

Be lord over your brothers,

and may your mother’s sons bow down to you.

Cursed be everyone who curses you,

and blessed be everyone who blesses you!”

Passionate Spirituality – who doesn’t want it? Consider how important it is to Starbucks and Teavana. They have recently begun a campaign where with every cup of coffee you get a “Steep Your Soul” quote. They write that the “Steep your Soul” quotes “invite you to take a few moments to pause and reflect each day. Your own personal steep time.” Then, on the other side of your Quad-Half-Calf-2%-Caramel-Macchiato you get a quote to help you steep you soul. One cup quotes Oprah Winfrey: Know what sparks the light in you. Then use that light to illuminate the world.

I mention all that to make the point that the general population who have common sense (that would exclude those who prefer Dunkin Donuts) are also interested in spirituality. Here’s the thing. Not that I don’t like Oprah but who made her the authority on spirituality? She could teach me endless things about how to run a company or host a talk show but when it comes to spirituality I am going to the Bible.

So what exactly is spirituality according to the Bible? Well, as Jesus said, “God is Spirit”. Further, after Jesus rose physically from the dead he sent God the Holy Spirit (Acts 2). The Holy Spirit is essential to true human flourishing or true Spirituality (note the capital “S”). He comes as the gift to all those that trust that Jesus’ death saves. He comes as the guide for all those longing for a renewed human life of true and passionate Spirituality.

What about passion? What does that have to do with Spirituality? Well, to put it simply – if you have Spirituality then you have passion (or desire or longing or loving or whatever you want to call it). The two go together like coffee and cream. Jesus said, “Where your treasure is there your heart will be also.” If my passion is not for the kingdom of God then my longing will be for some alternate kingdom, some other vision of human flourishing.

Alright, granting you want to be passionately Spiritual, and not just in some bland pluralist “sparks the light” blah blah blah sort of way but the Jesus-Christ-True-to-Reality sort of way,  then you want to know how to go about it. Here’s the kick – it doesn’t just happen. In the Old and New Testament God again and again commends practices and habits that help to develop passionate Spirituality. Gathering with others for regular worship, singing songs together about the Kingdom of God, praying alone and with others, listening to the voice of God in Scripture, being still before God in recognition of his majesty, and others are examples of practices that help to further passionate Spirituality. The Scriptures even commend wise creativity with respect to these practices. For example, Jesus went to synagogue week-in-and-week-out yet this was never commanded (Luke 4:16).

Warning: these practices are not to be honed in order to force God to do stuff for you. These practices are not to be trotted out as reasons for people to notice you. These practices are not to be done the same way by everybody at all times and places.

The idea is that just as a trellis gives guidance for the vine so too Spiritual practices give structure to the truly passionate life in Christ. Rooted in Jesus through faith we can grow more and more into those who truly long for the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven.

Mothers. They are the first people any of us ever come into contact with. To say that mothers are vital to our existence is as obvious as the noses on our faces. The care and nurture that has come from good mothering is incalculable in its value.

But we don’t need a mother anymore. That is to say we don’t need a mother in the sense that Abraham and Isaac did. In Genesis 24 there is a crisis: without a wife for Isaac there is no mother to continue Abraham’s line. If there is no continuation of Abraham’s line, then there is no Jesus Christ (see the Gospel according to Matthew 1:1). If there is no Jesus Christ, then all that is wrong in the world will not be made right again. We needed a mother, and we needed one badly. Through an unequivocal governing of events, Rebekah was singled out by the LORD to be the next mother of Israel. For over a millennium, countless mothers in Israel continued to bear the seed of Abraham until the last mother conceived: Mary. Although both Rebekah and Mary were virgins, Mary contrasts with Rebekah in an important way. Mary remained a virgin and yet conceived – another unequivocal governing of events by the LORD to bring about his kind promises of renewal. The child in her womb would grow to the One: Jesus Christ the ultimate fulfillment of the covenant made with Abraham (see Galatians 3:10-14).

So, the fulfillment of God’s covenantal promises to Abraham required a mother.  But they don’t anymore. We don’t need a mother because we do have a brother: Jesus Christ. Our brother Jesus Christ was sent by our Father to die and rise from the dead so we could be adopted into his family through the Comforter, the Spirit of Adoption (see Romans 8:15). So the first thing Genesis 24 teaches us is that we should grow in joy because we have a loving Brother, and a providing Father, and a Comforter through God’s provision of countless mothers.

Yet the covenant promises of God continue to play out. We await the return of Jesus Christ by actively expanding the boundaries of the kingdom of God through all nations in every sphere of society. We are called to be witnesses to this great work of God in every relationship and role that we find ourselves in. So the covenant people of God need mothers now more than ever. The Church needs video game inventors, soccer coaches, grandfathers, woodworkers and engineers. Christ’s family needs sisters, politicians, jackhammer workers and poets. By the help of the Spirit of Christ, we need every person giving everything to this great and good work of God.

Questions for Conversation

• Read Genesis 24

o   Why would you assert that this story is not primarily about whether every woman should wear nose rings? Give evidence.

o   Why would you say that this scene is not primarily about how Christians are supposed to find wives? Give reasons.

o   Why would you claim that this passage is not primarily about how to obtain information about the will of God today? Substantiate the claim. (Hint: remember that revelation is historically progressive in the Bible).

• What relationships are you most passionate about in life? What roles do you find yourself that energize you?
• Tell your conversation partner(s) a story about that relates to that relationship or role. (for example: I am passionate about being a godly father and recently my son and I went to a great baseball game. Here’s what happened…).
• Now tell how you think God would have you like out that role in the future. (for example: my long distance friend and I swap dozens of books and discuss via Skype how they are truly helping us love God and emotionally connect with our wives. Meanwhile I also buy my wife a nose-ring in order to honor Rebekah’s mothering of Israel.)