GETTING PRIORITIES STRAIGHT


A Sermon On:

Genesis 35: 1-15



PREPARED BY

KEN GEHRELS

PASTOR

CALVIN CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH

NEPEAN, ONTARIO



27 years ago it began with a glorious wedding: Sandy in a splendid white dress, the queen of the day; David in an equally royal-looking tux, the prince come to sweep her off her feet and ride happily into the sunset. Friends and family thrilled at this perfect match. They complemented each other so well.
Every day they would come home from work and spend some time relaxing around the dinner table, and perhaps enjoying a quiet fire in the wood stove. There were the committees and volunteer positions, but they kept them at a minimum. They needed to be together, and made sure it happened. They never passed in the hall without a touch or a kiss.
Sandy and David. 27 years ago.

But 27 years is a long time. 3 children - school bills, dentist appointments, hockey games and ballet lessons. Work - promotions with extra demands on time. Committee obligations at the school and in church never got much easier.... you know how it is!
Now Sandy would be in bed often before David got home. Or if they were together, or rather home at the same time, she'd be in the rec room and he'd be in the workshop or garage or at the model boat club. Conversation was a few grunts over morning toast and coffee, and a few equally articulate mutterings about that so-and-so boss or co-worker at supper time.

Sandy tried to make conversation, but it seemed that with time David grew more and more distant. There was once a time when he helped put the children to bed, changed their diapers (and even washed them sometimes). There was a time he would prepare supper, giving her a break from the daily routine. There was a time when he would become the world's greatest romantic and sweep her off her feet with an evening of loving attention, time away, and tender conversation. Ah, there was a time.......

27 years later she couldn't get through to him anymore. She felt tired of picking up his dirty socks and used underwear from they had been flung into the corner of the bedroom, under the dresser. She was fed up with his constant critique about supper being too hot or too cold or too spicy or too bland.... She wished that once, just once, he would vacuum the house instead of tracking still MORE dirt on it by keeping his shoes on inside.
If only he would hold conversation with her.
And If only he could be half a prince once again and try to sweep her off her feet, instead of hopping in bed for a quickie, and then rolling over to snore away another night. It was as though she were, well, just there, almost a fixture, a piece of furniture or something, or a maid.
27 years.

Then it happened. David returned from work to find the furniture out of the living room, and the bedroom cleared out, clothes and all. All she left was the number of her lawyer. No forwarding address, nothing.
27 years and it was over.
And not till it was gone did David realize what had happened.
Not till then did he realize what a precious jewel had come loose in the setting of the crown and eventually tumbled out into the street.
Not until it was too late did he realize how horribly he had begun to take Sandy for granted - her person, her love, her devotion, her work -
how he had treated her on the level of a maid.

Let's not be too quick to condemn David, though.
How often don't we follow in his footsteps?
How often doesn't that happen in our lives that we begin to ASSUME that some good thing or person will stay with us; we begin to take the great and important elements in our lives for granted?
Has that never happened to you? It certainly has to me.

And it also happened to the main character in our bible passage of today.
It happened to Jacob. It caught up to him in his relationship with God.

Those of you that worship here regularly may remember previous episodes of Jacob's life that we studied over the last few weeks. You may remember how he had run away from home to escape his brother's death threats; how he had struggled with mistreatment at the hands of his father-in-law; and how he faced another real threat when he returned home to Palestine and the prospect of a 400 man army under his brother's leadership rubbing out him and his household.

And you may remember how on each occasion, again and again, he had been confronted by God, and how each time Jacob had made a renewed commitment to serve the LORD.
But each time, it seemed, that the pressure would ease up and the busyness of managing a large household and vast estate would eat up his time as well as slowly eroding away the vitality of his faith. God seemed to just, well, fade away from his attention; just kind of slip into the background.

Let me give you just a quick sampling of what I mean.
In ch.28 God revealed himself to Jacob during the first major crisis in this man's life and pledged divine care. Jacob responded by pledging total devotion to God.Of course, circumstances changed. Time ticked by. Jacob got married. Had kids. Moved up the social ladder. Accumulated stuff and responsibilities.
He doesn't pay the same attention to God he once did. Doesn't call on his family to grow in their love for and service of the Lord. Allows his sense of moral right and wrong to waver.
And though he didn't mean not -- not at all intentional -- somehow, well, that burning passion and devotion to the Lord sort of grew tarnished, rusty, ending up dusty on a back shelf.

In Genesis 31, God shakes Jacob out of his spiritual daze and preoccupation with family and work issues, and says, "Hey, what about it? Go back!" And Jacob recovers his focus..... for a while. Moves back to Palestine.
But again. Stuff happens and spiritual passion fades.

Crisis - deep and sincere devotion;
Followed by routine - and his faith would rust up again..

Are you acquainted with the dance? Ever gone through it? You experience the death of someone particularly close to you, and in desperation you reach out to God and the assurance that this person is now with Him - faith comes close. But 6 months down the road, you're back at work and the routine pushes heaven behind the clouds.
Or you come home from a date, having gone way too far with your boyfriend, and there are the terrifying days until you're sure that you're not pregnant; and you read the bible about purity in relationships, no sex till marriage, and you remember the pledge made at profession of faith that God and his standards will come first; and you resolve to get really close again to the LORD; you pray a lot more, devotions and bible memorization - the whole 9 yards. But the months come and go. Your boyfriend leaves... and with time so do the urgent prayers and the eager study of the bible and the keen awareness that you walk through the school hallways with Jesus watching and caring about your every move.
Or you lose your job and sink into depression. Only the faithful friendships of a few, their caring words, donations of meals, and job leads keep you going - along with words thrust heavenward, desperate words, sincere words, words asking for work. The work comes. You are grateful. Every day going to the job is like a gift from the LORD...... for a while.Ah, we could go on and on. But you know the routine. You've danced the steps.
We all have.

Now don't get me wrong. It's not that we lose our faith entirely. We still go to church; still pray on occasion. And we KNOW that God exists. No problem there. But, somehow, all this faith stuff, it just doesn't pack the punch it once did. I mean, there are things in life you think about every day, and there are things you don't. This is one you don't.

It's like the painting hanging in the hallway near your front door. You pass it everyday. You know it is there. You would probably miss it if it were gone. But don't ask about the colour of the mat, or the exact shape of the frame, because you wouldn't be able to say.
Yes, indeed. The ups and downs that Jacob experienced are not foreign to us, not at all!

David and Sandy.
Jacob and God.
Only there's one major, major difference. Sandy, in her humanness, could only handle so much alienation and indifference, before she finally left.
But in Genesis 35 we see an amazing display of the greatness of God's love and patience.We see how determined his desire is to draw his child into relationship.
We see his stubborn love in action.
Once more God breaks into the daily routine of Jacob, "Go up to Bethel and settle there, and build an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau."

Bethel - a name meaning house of God.
Bethel - remember Bethel; the first time God revealed himself to you?
Remember how you loved the Lord, then? How you knew so clearly that living for Him was the only way to go? How important He was for you? How awesome that vision about heaven was? Remember?
The Lord punches Jacob's reset button: Jacob. Remember Bethel.

So Jacob builds an altar. Altars were the place where one would pray and bring offerings to God. Its where a relationship with God would begin. Sort of his church.
"You and God, Jacob. Remember how it used to be. Stop in your tracks for a moment. Where are you going? Where are your priorities? How are you treating this great God who made you, and who made a special pledge to go with you wherever you go?
Jacob...... remember!!"

And the chapter goes on to describe how he does exactly that. Unlike David, his sensitivity hasn't completely left him, and he repents of his negligence and crass mistreatment and forgetfulness about God.
He and his family take all the little statues and trinkets and good luck charms (which were little earrings that they wore) and they got rid of them.
Jacob and his clan took an honest look at themselves and decided to ditch anything that was fouling up their relationship with God - get rid of it entirely.
They also washed themselves and put on new clothes - which was basically a symbolic way of showing how they were having a new attitude and a cleansed attitude inside their hearts and minds.

Apathy is no longer an option. Hanging around the spiritual middle of the road, setting their hearts on lukewarm was no longer an option.
At least not for Jacob.
But how about us?

"Go to Bethel. Build an altar."
"You and God, my friend. Remember how it used to be. How's it going now? Where are you going? Where are your priorities? How are you treating this great God who made you, and who made a special pledge to go with you wherever you go?
Go to Bethel -- and before you go, take a moment to bury all that harmful junk that's seriously damaged your relationship with the Lord. Junk like....
well..... what kind of junk is there in your life?Is it a tendency to visit sites on the Internet that are not healthy, listening to music or viewing videos that really aren't upbuilding and positive?
Is it a grudge you're holding against a particular person?
Perhaps an attitude of apathy towards what goes on towards others in the world -- never mind, as long as my nest is lined, my personal relationships safe and secure, my surroundings intact?
What is there that you would find really embarrassing if Jesus were to suddenly show up at your house Tuesday at 8pm?If the Lord is putting something in your mind right now, then go home tonight and deal with it. Don't try to rationalize that it's not too bad, or only happens once in a while or whatever. Get rid of it. Clear the slate.

And then, take some quiet time with the Lord to confess that general busyness with life, getting preoccupied with that long To-Do list in the ol' daytimer, concerned about all sorts of things, and finding that God's been shut right out of the picture.
Confess the apathy.
Confess the middle of the road hesitancy to dive in head first, to go full bore, no holding back -- fully devoted, passionate and committed to God and His son Jesus Christ.

And pray -- pray that the Holy Spirit of Christ would enter in, scrub you down, scrape away all that spiritual rust, and restore the shine on your heart. Pray that the little ember of faith that lays in the corner of your heart would be nurtured and roused into a roaring fire.
A hot, brilliant fire that no one will miss at school or work tomorrow.

Pray for spiritual stability. For growing maturity.
And then work to make sure you nurture that faith. Build time in to learn more about Him. Build quiet time in to pray to Him. Build time to listen to Him. Build in time of meditation to simply be with Him. Build in - somewhere - time to serve Him with the gifts you've been given.

Bethel -- house of God --
Yes, Lord! Make my heart your Bethel.