Sunday, July 9, 2017

July 9 Sermon Notes

July 8 Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67  one long romantic comedy, perhaps. (see the skipped v. 50-maybe read all) Psalm 45:10-17 or Song of Solomon 2:8-13 , the Song reverses the curses of the Garden of Eden, including the rupturing of the relationship between man and woman.  There is a mutuality about this love that repairs that rupture and places the lovers back into the Garden. (And, indeed, the Song is overflowing with images of lush gardens and abundant fruit; no thorns or thistles here.)     
Gottmann-Love Map – his term for that part of your brain where you store all the relevant information about your partner’s life. Another way of saying this is that these couples have made plenty of room in their minds. They remember each other’s histories, and they keep updating their information as the facts and feelings of their spouse’s world change. They know each other’s goals in life, each other’s worries, each other’s hopes and dreams. From knowledge springs not only love, but the fortitude to weather marital storms.
“They say love conquers all / You can’t start it like a car / You can’t stop it with a gun.”Zevon
Humor in relationships-meant for each other-takes the sting a out of being overly serious-maybe a good relationship is one where we can relax a bit the pull of the man cave as safe space
When Isaac finally appears in the story, he has just returned from a journey to Beer-lahai-roi. It is unclear what Isaac was doing at this well (Gen. 16:7-14 does it have to do with sight?). Isaac’s story  suggests disorientation and grief, following his father's near sacrifice of him (Gen. 22:1-19) and his mother's death (Gen. 23:1-2). In this unconventional love story, it turns out that Isaac had been visiting one well while Rebekah was at a distant well watering camels.WP The death of one generation moves to the promise of a new generation; but to fulfill that promise, Isaac needs a wife. We get this delightful sense that God has opened a path for two people who are made for each other. We are told that Isaac loved her. .(1st time word appear sin the bible)
There is humor here -- Rebekah offers to draw water for the camels, but one camel can drink 20-30 gallons of water at a time, and there are 10 camels! She is not only beautiful, it seems, strong, think Wonder woman. Laban may be appropriately hospitable and pious (24:29-31, 50), but it doesn’t hurt that he has first seen the gold jewelry that Abraham’s servant gave his sister (verse 30). the Hebrew very plainly says that she falls off the camel (verse 64).Isaac took Rebekah into his mother Sarah’s tent and he was “comforted after his mother’s death” (verse 67). In the shadow of death, or the threat of death (chapter 22), love is born, grief is quieted, and the promise of life begins anew.
Bodies can be vehicles for the spiritual. The senses can point us beyond.I want a moment of silence and a moment of prayer/For the love we'll need to make it in the world out there/To want what I have/To take what I'm given, with grace/For this I pray/On my wedding day/On my wedding day/I dream, and my dreams are all glory and light/That's what I've wanted for my life/And if it hasn't always been that way/Well, I can dream and I can pray/On my wedding day/So what makes us any different from all the others/Who have tried and failed before us/Maybe nothing, maybe nothing at all/But I pray we're the lucky ones; I pray we never fall

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