Honoring All, Keeping the Peace – Genesis 23
/Lectionary Readings for July 5, 2020
Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67 Courtship of Isaac and Rebecca
Psalm 45: 10-17 v17 I will perpetuate your memory through all generations; therefore the nations will praise you for ever and ever.
Psalm 72 v12 For he will deliver the needy who cry out, the afflicted who have no one to help.
Romans 7:15-25a v18b For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.
Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30 v28 Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
But today’s message focuses on Genesis 23 Sarah’s Death and Burial
Peace Quotes
“Independence is happiness.” ~ Susan B. Anthony
“What then is freedom? The power to live as one wishes.” ~ Marcus Cicero
Any time I preach or lead a group, regardless of age, I start the same way. I’m going to say three short sentences. Please repeat each sentence, with enthusiasm.
God made me. God loves me. God has plans for me.
Preface to Today’s Scripture Reading
Today’s story takes place in the town of Hebron, Israel which is about 20 miles South-Southeast from Jerusalem. If you travel from Hebron to Jerusalem, you’ll pass through Bethlehem along the way.
Party Trivia – Hebron was the first capital of Israel, perhaps because the cave we’ll hear about today became… “the tomb of the three couples, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Leah, [all of whom are] considered to be the Patriarchs and Matriarchs of the Abrahamic religions.” Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave_of_the_Patriarchs).
Jews, Christians, and Muslims have all been viciously fighting over possession and control of this site for 2,000 years. It’s now shared and heavily guarded. These heavily armed guards, plus countless cameras, shows our modern reality. Here’s a photo of the modern site. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Patriarch_tomb.JPG
Last Sunday we heard the story of Abraham almost sacrificing Isaac. Although today’s story immediately follows, over 20 years have passed and Isaac (who is not mentioned today) is now 37 years old.
Today beautiful and somewhat hilarious story reminds us of our rich traditions of honoring our dead as well as the need to honor the people and cultures around us if we are all to live in peace together. Let’s open our ears, minds, and hearts to today’s readings as we hear “the first recorded death and internment in the history of the Jewish people” (The JPS Torah Commentary: Genesis by Dr. Nahum M. Sarna, 2001, pg. 156).
Read Genesis 23
OK, so what’s so cool about this story?
1 – First of all, Abraham is a stranger passing through town. This means that he must negotiate with the local community for the right to simply bury his dead on their lands. He accomplishes this in verses 5 and 6. But Abraham wants far more, he wants security.
2 – Secondly, Abraham wants permanent ownership of the land on which he’ll bury his wife. You have to understand that this is a major – and delicate – cultural interaction. Farmable land was precious and carefully handed down from one generation to the next to ensure families would have a place to safely live. To sell land – to permanently transfer ownership – from one tribe to another simultaneously denied that land to the current owner’s future generations and forever connected the buying and selling tribes to each other… for forever.
Leviticus 25 gets into the legal details of what you can and can’t do with land, and verse 23 specifically says you cannot sell your land in perpetuity (i.e. for forever) to a foreigner, which is exactly what Abraham was.
“Abraham’s purchase of this land establishes unquestionable title to property at Hebron, and this is a basis of Israel’s return to the land [roughly 700 years later] after the years of slavery in Egypt. Thus, [in Numbers 13] when Moses sends spies into the land [of Canaan], they go to Hebron, which is singled out among all cities of Canaan…” (Friedman, R. E. Commentary on the Torah, HarperCollins, 2012, Kindle 9608).
3 – Because this use of land (and potential sale) is such a huge deal, the entire community is involved. Abraham addresses the entire community first, then asks them to speak to the landowner on Abraham’s behalf. The landowner, Mr. Ephron who was likely a local elder or nobleman, and Abraham then proceeded to negotiate the terms of the deal in front of everyone so that everyone is a witness and there can be no “take backs” in the future. This was a way of keeping the peace – no secrets or quiet deals.
For this to be a transaction that could never be challenged, Mr. Ephron HAD to be the first person to offer a price and Abraham HAD to accept it and pay the full amount.
Putting this together, imagine that my wife and I wanted to move to Janesville and we had to have the entire town agree to sell us some property. 700 years later, imagine our ancestors walking back into town and having every expectation of living on the “old family homestead.” You can begin to appreciate the difference between their treatment of land as sacred and our treatment of land as… buy and sell whatever, whenever to whomever.
Finally, from an early age, I was trained on how to negotiate a good deal at yard sales, car lots, and… well… anywhere else. So I love the negotiating posturing and language in verses 12-16. Every time I read that, it makes me laugh.
12 Again Abraham said to [Mr.] Ephron [so that everyone could hear], “Listen to me, if you will. I will pay the price of the field. Accept it from me so I can bury my dead there.”
14 [Mr.] Ephron replied, “Listen to me, my lord; the land is worth $400 [dollars], but what is that between you and me? Bury your dead.”
16 Abraham agreed to his terms and paid the full price.
OK, great, we have an interesting 4,000-year-old real estate deal. But, so what? What does this have to do with us today? How does this story shape what we do and say in the coming weeks and months? Glad you asked!
The more and more I thought about this story, the more it came down to one simple concept: respect for others – both individually and as communities.
Let’s start with Sarah. After 50-100 years of marriage (there’s no clear agreement on that), Abraham wants the best possible burial for his wife. In a culture that often treated women and children as property, that was quite the display of care and respect for the dead. For 4,000 years, this story has taught us how to honor the bodies of our loved ones who no longer have God’s Spirit stirring within them. It’s a beautiful and moving story of attitudes and values, not techniques.
I think about our members who are currently living in “elder care” facilities. I think about our members and their family members – as well as people around the world – who are unable to have traditional, “proper” funeral services for their loved ones who pass. I think about what we can do to love and respect them while they are alive, and what we can do to honor them when they pass.
Here’s my suggestion for now: Call someone who is, shall we say, a few chapters ahead of you in life. Maybe it’s just a quick hello. Maybe the conversation goes deeper. If you’d like suggestions for open-ended “going deeper” questions, I highly recommend the book Questions For My Father: Finding The Man Behind Your Dad by Vincent Stanifort. The questions can be for… anyone.
But here’s what’s been jabbing at my heart and mind all week: how much Abraham respected the community and acknowledged himself as a visitor.
“Even though [God] has already told Abraham that the land of the Hittites will one day belong to his descendants, Abraham deals with them respectfully and courteously.” Friedman, Richard Elliott. Commentary on the Torah, HarperCollins, 2012, Kindle 9538.
Abraham could have walked in with a theological chip on his shoulder, claimed the land for himself because it was God’s will, and slaughtered anyone who got in his way – anyone who interfered with the “will of God.” Does that sound like a familiar pattern of nation-building? But Abraham didn’t do that.
As this week led up to yesterday’s national celebration of our freedom, I’ve been thinking about Abraham’s words and actions – how Abraham paid top dollar to get the land he needed and wanted. I’ve been thinking about the peace that resulted from his display of respect. Nobody got hurt, and everyone walked away happy.
And as I reflect on the American history lessons my private elementary school embedded in my head, I can’t help but see the dramatic contrasts between those lessons of values and today’s lesson. I can’t help but reflect on the centuries of physical, social, cultural, and spiritual devastation experienced by non-whites and non-Christians around the world.
Lord knows, Christians have ignored Abraham’s lesson of respect for over 1,000 years. When we are brutally honest about our own history – American and Christian, much of which has been buried or whitewashed – we better understand what’s behind the recent protests around the world, the frustrations of people seeking the true freedom and equality that you and I so easily enjoy and quickly celebrate.
None of us can undo history; we can never right the wrongs of the past. But part of the Good News of our faith, the Gospel message, is that no matter what, God still loves us and all of humanity. And part of that boundless love is God giving us the freedom and liberty to imagine and work toward a better future – a future that more closely resembles the Kingdom of God that Jesus proclaimed.
A future where we are actively nurturing ourselves and those around us so that we can abundantly produce the Fruit of the Spirit we read about in Galatians 5:22-23.
A future where we mature from being spectators of our faith, waiting for God to do the work, to being participants with God in the work of our faith.
The freedoms and liberties God’s grace offers us also includes responsibilities.
The Beatitudes in Matthew 5:3–12 are both comfort for the suffering and a call to action for those of us who have said the words of this morning’s song, “Here I Am Lord! I have heard You calling. If you lead me, I will hold your people in my heart” (Here I Am, Lord, words and music by Dan Schutte, 1981).
That “people holding” thing? That’s an active holding. Like holding a baby or how you held your boyfriend or girlfriend when you were a teenager – acutely aware of every move, of every need. When we hold each other and every part of our community with that degree of care, concern, and respect, THAT is when we usher in the Kingdom of God, a kingdom where everyone can enjoy the freedoms and liberties we hold dear. Amen? Amen!