Sixth Sunday after Pentecost – Sunday July 9, 2023
Gen 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67
Ps 45:11-18 OR SONG OF SOLOMON 2:8-13
Rom 7:15-25A
Mt 11:16-19, 25-30
As we have been making our way through Genesis in this season of Ordinary Time after Pentecost, we have been following the story of Abraham, the ancestor of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam: the first person whom God made a covenant with. In this covenant, God promised Abraham that “his descendants would be more numerous than the stars in the sky”.
However, the stories from the past two Sundays cause some questions as to whether this covenant would actually be fulfilled. Two weeks ago, we heard the story of Ishmael being sent away with his mother Hagar into the wilderness, which, in that context meant they were also being sent to their death. Then last week, we heard the dramatic story of the binding of Issac, where Abraham was prepared to sacrifice who he believed to be his only living son until the last minute when God cried out and provided a lamb to be sacrificed instead.
I can’t help but wonder if that “near miss” with Issac is what prompted Abraham to find Issac a wife in today’s reading.
Today’s reading began with Abraham’s servant, Eliezer, talking to God and asking for His help in finding “the woman whom the Lord has appointed for my master’s son”.
In order for there to be no doubt that he chooses the right person, Eliezer asks God for a specific sign from the woman meant for Issac: when Eliezer asks her for some water from her jar, she will answer back “Drink, and I will draw for your camels also”. Eliezer puts his trust in God that God will work through the woman whom He wants Issac to marry by giving her those exact words as a response.
When Rebekah approaches Eliezer after filling her water jar, he follows his plan and asks her for a drink. Rebekah then answers ‘Drink, and I will also water your camels.’, proving to Eliezer that this is who God wants Issac to marry.
To Eliezer, this would have seemed to be a miraculous occurrence. Not only did exactly what he prayed for come true, but he didn’t even have to wait that long! We’re told that he saw Rebekah before he even finished his prayer.
What was extraordinary for Eliezer was ordinary for Rebekah.
When Rebekah picked up her water jar, placed it on her shoulder, left her tent and went to the spring, she was completing one of her daily tasks: one which she had probably completed hundreds, if not thousands of times over the course of her life.
She had no idea that when she set out to fetch water on this day that she would have an encounter with someone who would end up changing her life forever.
In today’s reading, God worked through the ordinary to achieve His will. He knew that Eliezer and Rebekah’s paths would cross, because He had already intended for Rebekah to be the next matriarch of Israel. He placed Eliezer at the spring where He knew Rebekah would draw her water. He placed those words that He knew Eliezer wanted to hear on her tongue, to ensure that Eliezer brought her back to Issac.
This story of God using the “ordinary” as a way of achieving His will reminds me of a quote that is often attributed to Dorothy Day. It says: “Everybody wants a revolution, but nobody wants to do the dishes”.
Another way of wording this is that everyone wants this extraordinary ideal, but nobody wants to do the ordinary grunt work to get there.
This quote then begs the question… Why does nobody want to do the dishes?
Is it because doing the dishes is an incredibly mundane task? One that we’re all sick of because we’ve done it hundreds or thousands of times?
Is it because no one gets a trophy for doing the dishes?
Or is it perhaps, because no one remembers those who were hidden away washing dishes during a revolution?
Unfortunately, as the quote demonstrates, if we want an extraordinary revolution, then we need to do the very ordinary dishes.
And of course, I don’t just literally mean doing the dishes. One could take that quote or any of the reasons I listed above and substitute other mundane tasks such as: mopping the floor, doing the laundry, or going grocery shopping.
One could also substitute other routine tasks such as: setting up for coffee hour, having a conversation with the friends in the garden, or bringing takeout containers to church so Food Not Bombs can reuse them.
I’m sure if we take a moment, many of us can think of the mundane, small, or routine tasks that many of us do that contribute to the life of the church and that make what happens here on Sunday mornings possible. The altar is set, coffee is brewed, the readings and intercessions are practiced, the flowers are arranged, the sermon is prepared, the livestream is set up… I could go on.
And although what we do here on Sunday morning is important to who we are as a community and as Christians, so is what we do outside of this time and space.
For us, everything begins with our baptism, where we are given the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Through our baptism, we are then called to discipleship. And it is through our discipleship where we can most effectively share the good news through emulating Christ’s love and grace by allowing the Holy Spirit to work through us, not just in miraculous ways, but through our day to day lives.
Yes, our God is an extraordinary God. He provided for Hagar and Ismael after they were sent away, and He provided a lamb for sacrifice so that Issac could be spared. He is also the God who gave His only begotten Son so that our sins could be forgiven.
But, today’s reading from Genesis serves to remind us that our God does not only work in the realm of the extraordinary, but that He is just as present in the ordinary. What a beautiful message for this season of Ordinary Time!
He is present when we are doing something as mundane as fetching water or doing the dishes, and it’s such a beautiful thing that He is.
After all, as we will say in the Doxology after communion, God’s power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine.
And it is because of our God, that the ordinary can truly be extraordinary.
Amen?
Amen.
Angus Sinclair was appointed Director of Music of St. John the Evangelist on February 1, 2023. Having graduated in 1981 (Honours B.Mus.) in organ performance from Wilfrid Laurier University, he went on to distinguish himself as a church musician, recitalist and accompanist touring in both Canada and the UK. For over 40 years Angus has served parishes and congregations throughout Southwestern Ontario as director of music. He experiences his present appointment to St. John’s as a welcome homecoming, both spiritually and musically.
As our parish musician, he provides both support and leadership so that a variety of parish programs can find musical expression and attract participation. When our handbell choir is in season, he is one of our ringers. At parish dinners, he provides popular piano music for the guests to dine by. For both worship services and concerts, he will rehearse and accompany vocal and instrumental soloists from our congregation on piano, organ, or even accordion.
Angus Sinclair was appointed Director of Music of St. John the Evangelist on February 1, 2023. Having graduated in 1981 (Honours B.Mus.) in organ performance from Wilfrid Laurier University, he went on to distinguish himself as a church musician, recitalist and accompanist touring in both Canada and the UK. For over 40 years Angus has served parishes and congregations throughout Southwestern Ontario as director of music. He experiences his present appointment to St. John’s as a welcome homecoming, both spiritually and musically.