Post by Mark on Nov 22, 2008 6:34:18 GMT -8
There are two very important ideas that I want to share with you from this Parashah. I'll try to bring them together into a single message; but it's okay of you keep them separate.
The first is to note that the Parashot (or
portions) Vayera and Chaiyai Sarah (this week's and last week's portions) contain the doctrine of "Life Cycles". These are the elements of journey that are noted in the life of the observant believer, or Jew. They are birth, circumcision, bar mitzvah, marriage and death. Each of these markers in the journey of life are understood to be significant and relational as a part of our worship and understanding in our relationship with Adonai Elohim.
It would take several pages and hours of discussion to go through the significance of each of these positions (and we will, probably in the Practical Observance section) but for the sake of my commitment to keep these posts brief, I want to simply share with you the distinction between how the Jewish person reads through these texts and the Christian.
Typically the Christian views these stories of Genesis as pre-text or laying the foundation to describe how things came about. It is simply a historical record. To the Jewish mind, there is a paradigm understanding that these lessons tell us how the Most High works in His relationship with each of us. Since He is no respecter of persons, each of us shares the potential to walk as closely with God as did Abraham. We see, then, in the example of his life, what efforts are blessed and what things create barriers in his worship. The life-cycles demonstrate the ways in which our responsibility toward Adonai and our relationship with Him, deepens over time, as we enter each new stage of this existance.
The second idea that is important to me personally deals with a fellow in the story who is not even honored with a name. We believe him to possibly be Eliezar, the servant of Abraham, who was in charge of all of his house… but Abraham was an old man, and Eliezar would probably have been pushing a hundred as well. He may well have died and left this important task to someone younger.
The servant’s role is to serve. His passion is to make the agenda of his master his own agenda, the goals of his master his own goals. Messiah speaks of how this is not a common reasoning among servants.
I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. But he that is a hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because he is a hireling, and careth not for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.
(John 10:11-14 KJV)
Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods. But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; And shall begin to smite his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
(Matthew 24:46-51 KJV)
It is our natural tendency to look to the things that are important to us when the Master is not looking. And no one would have begrudged the servant of Abraham to give Rebecca ten days with her family (ten days that the servant would have lived as a guest). Yet, he was committed and focused on representing his master without compromise or selfish motivation.
There are daily routines of obedience that we follow in our commitment to worshipping the Most High according to, His Law. There are weekly, monthly and annual celebrations through which we share in His goodness and express our joy in His holiness. It’s easy, at times, to make these the routine of our lives: simply what we do out of habit. The servant instinctively went to the needs of his animals. He blessed the people of the house with gifts. These are important; but natural expressions of who he was, according to his position and personality. But there is a grander scheme that we can view in our worship as living from marker to marker of our life-cycles: to set our agenda on a life-long pursuit of what is important to our Master, to not lose sight of the goal in our practice of daily worship and obedience. The life-cycles are very important to us in this respect. Our understanding of them and learning to practice our worship of Adonai concerning them is a precious gift and valuable tool.
The first is to note that the Parashot (or
portions) Vayera and Chaiyai Sarah (this week's and last week's portions) contain the doctrine of "Life Cycles". These are the elements of journey that are noted in the life of the observant believer, or Jew. They are birth, circumcision, bar mitzvah, marriage and death. Each of these markers in the journey of life are understood to be significant and relational as a part of our worship and understanding in our relationship with Adonai Elohim. It would take several pages and hours of discussion to go through the significance of each of these positions (and we will, probably in the Practical
Observance section) but for the sake of my commitment to keep these posts brief, I want to simply share with you the distinction between how the Jewish person reads through these texts and the Christian. Typically the Christian views these stories of Genesis as pre-text or laying the foundation to describe how things came about. It is simply a historical record. To the Jewish mind, there is a paradigm understanding that these lessons tell us how the Most High works in His relationship with each of us. Since He is no respecter of persons, each of us shares the potential to walk as closely with God as did Abraham. We see, then, in the example of his life, what efforts are blessed and what things create barriers in his worship. The life-cycles demonstrate the ways in which our responsibility toward Adonai and our relationship with Him, deepens over time, as we enter each new stage of this existance.
The second idea that is important to me personally deals with a fellow in the story who is not even honored with a name. We believe him to possibly be Eliezar, the servant of Abraham, who was in charge of all of his house… but Abraham was an old man, and Eliezar would probably have been pushing a hundred as well. He may well have died and left this important task to someone younger.
The servant’s role is to serve. His passion is to make the agenda of his master his own agenda, the goals of his master his own goals. Messiah speaks of how this is not a common reasoning among servants.
I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. But he that is a hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because he is a hireling, and careth not for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.
(John 10:11-14 KJV)
Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods. But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; And shall begin to smite his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
(Matthew 24:46-51 KJV)
It is our natural tendency to look to the things that are important to us when the Master is not looking. And no one would have begrudged the servant of Abraham to give Rebecca ten days with her family (ten days that the servant would have lived as a guest). Yet, he was committed and focused on representing his master without compromise or selfish motivation.
There are daily routines of obedience that we follow in our commitment to worshipping the Most High according to
, His Law. There are weekly, monthly and annual celebrations through which we share in His goodness and express our joy in His holiness. It’s easy, at times, to make these the routine of our lives: simply what we do out of habit. The servant instinctively went to the needs of his animals. He blessed the people of the house with gifts. These are important; but natural expressions of who he was, according to his position and personality. But there is a grander scheme that we can view in our worship as living from marker to marker of our life-cycles: to set our agenda on a life-long pursuit of what is important to our Master, to not lose sight of the goal in our practice of daily worship and obedience. The life-cycles are very important to us in this respect. Our understanding of them and learning to practice our worship of Adonai concerning them is a precious gift and valuable tool.
