Will God Show Up?

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.640 --> 00:00:06.839 Comes from Genesis Twenty Four. While you're turning there, I want for us 2 00:00:06.879 --> 00:00:11.390 to just a moment. So my custom is I'll read and then I'll pray 3 00:00:11.429 --> 00:00:16.350 afterwards. As you're turning there, though, I want us to reflect for 4 00:00:16.550 --> 00:00:22.539 just a moment on what we do and worship every week. Every week we 5 00:00:23.339 --> 00:00:26.579 as Christians, and if you're a visitor among us who's not quite convinced of 6 00:00:26.660 --> 00:00:30.539 the Christian faith, this is what Christians do every week in worship. We're 7 00:00:30.579 --> 00:00:36.170 not coming just to make ourselves better. We're coming to rehearse God's promises, 8 00:00:37.289 --> 00:00:41.969 to see in the table, to hear in the word preached, through the 9 00:00:42.009 --> 00:00:47.090 hymns that we sing, through the prayers that we pray, to remember that 10 00:00:47.250 --> 00:00:52.159 God is faithful, that God is a promise keeping God, and that is 11 00:00:52.240 --> 00:00:58.320 what shapes us as his people. This morning, in the text that we 12 00:00:58.520 --> 00:01:03.439 are about to read that will reflect on, there's a man who is being 13 00:01:03.600 --> 00:01:11.150 forced to do that as he goes about his mission. You See, God 14 00:01:11.310 --> 00:01:15.230 has called Abraham and promise to bless him and the world through his family, 15 00:01:17.870 --> 00:01:21.939 but not all of those promises have been carried out. His promised son, 16 00:01:22.099 --> 00:01:25.900 who has been born in his old age, is not married and therefore does 17 00:01:25.980 --> 00:01:29.299 not have any children to bring it got the descendants that God has promised. 18 00:01:30.180 --> 00:01:34.489 So eyes. So Abraham Commissions a servant to go on a quest to find 19 00:01:36.849 --> 00:01:44.849 God's provided wife for Isaac. So we're going to read the first fourteen verses 20 00:01:45.129 --> 00:01:49.359 and then throughout the rest of the sermon I'll refer to others. So will 21 00:01:49.400 --> 00:01:56.519 you read along with me as I read? Not. Abraham was old, 22 00:01:57.239 --> 00:02:00.469 well advanced in years, and the Lord had blessed Abraham and all things. 23 00:02:01.430 --> 00:02:06.189 And Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his household, who had 24 00:02:06.269 --> 00:02:09.789 charge of all that he had put your hand under my thigh, that I 25 00:02:09.909 --> 00:02:14.430 may make you swear by the Lord, the God of Heaven, the God 26 00:02:14.469 --> 00:02:17.020 of Earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the 27 00:02:17.060 --> 00:02:22.580 daughters of the Canaanites, among whom m I dwell, but will go to 28 00:02:22.699 --> 00:02:27.180 my country and my kindred and take a wife from my son Isaac. The 29 00:02:27.300 --> 00:02:30.689 Servant said to him, perhaps the woman may not be willing to follow me 30 00:02:30.129 --> 00:02:34.650 to this land. Must I then take your son back to the land from 31 00:02:34.650 --> 00:02:38.849 which you came? Abraham said to him, see to that you do, 32 00:02:39.129 --> 00:02:44.289 that you do not take my son back there, the Lord, the God 33 00:02:44.479 --> 00:02:46.800 of Heaven, who took me from my father's house and from the land of 34 00:02:46.879 --> 00:02:52.199 my kindred and who spoke to me and swore to me, to your offspring, 35 00:02:52.280 --> 00:02:55.439 I will give this land. He will send his angel before you and 36 00:02:55.599 --> 00:03:00.349 you shall take a wife for my son from there. But if the woman 37 00:03:00.430 --> 00:03:04.110 is not willing to follow you, then you will be free from this oath 38 00:03:04.150 --> 00:03:08.550 of mine. Only you must not take my son back there. So the 39 00:03:08.629 --> 00:03:13.300 servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham, his master, and swore 40 00:03:13.379 --> 00:03:17.979 to him concerning this matter. Then the servant took ten of his master's camels 41 00:03:19.020 --> 00:03:23.780 and departed, taking all sorts of choice gifts from his master, and he 42 00:03:23.900 --> 00:03:28.530 arose and went to Mesopotamia, to the city of Nahore, and he made 43 00:03:28.530 --> 00:03:30.770 the camels and kneel down outside the city by the well of water, at 44 00:03:30.810 --> 00:03:34.810 the time of evening, the time when women go out to draw water, 45 00:03:35.810 --> 00:03:40.050 and he said, Oh, Lord, God of my master Abraham, please 46 00:03:40.129 --> 00:03:46.400 grant me success today and show steadfast love to my master Abraham. Behold, 47 00:03:46.439 --> 00:03:51.560 I am standing by the spring of water and the daughters of men of the 48 00:03:51.680 --> 00:03:54.680 city are coming out to draw water. Let the young woman to whom I 49 00:03:54.710 --> 00:03:59.990 shall say, please let down your jar that I may drink, and who 50 00:03:59.990 --> 00:04:03.830 shall say drink, and I will water your camels. Let her be the 51 00:04:03.949 --> 00:04:09.069 one whom you have appointed for your servant, Isaac. By this I shall 52 00:04:09.150 --> 00:04:14.539 know that you have shown steadfast love to my master. Will you pray with 53 00:04:14.659 --> 00:04:25.290 me? Father, you indeed are God of stead best love, so much 54 00:04:25.410 --> 00:04:30.610 so that, though you are so much higher than us as the Holy Creator 55 00:04:30.689 --> 00:04:32.850 God, and we are your creatures, you have not left us alone. 56 00:04:34.490 --> 00:04:41.959 You've spoken to us through the Prophets, through your holy word, and ultimately, 57 00:04:42.040 --> 00:04:45.959 you have come and spoken to us as the word made flesh. So 58 00:04:46.120 --> 00:04:50.639 this morning we asked that, through your Holy Spirit that inspired these words on 59 00:04:50.759 --> 00:04:58.069 this page, that lives in Christians, that you would shape our minds and 60 00:04:58.230 --> 00:05:02.110 our hearts and help us to hear you speak about your son, the word 61 00:05:02.189 --> 00:05:06.860 made flesh, Jesus. It's in his name that we pray. Amen. 62 00:05:09.259 --> 00:05:15.339 You may be seated. I had been in a hurry one particular afternoon. 63 00:05:15.420 --> 00:05:19.540 I had waited in a long, slow moving line, then I was shuffled 64 00:05:19.579 --> 00:05:25.410 like a cow among cattle, through different other corridors and finally onto a tram 65 00:05:26.449 --> 00:05:30.449 that took me to a different place where I got off in a hall and 66 00:05:30.649 --> 00:05:35.439 drug my suitcase, stopped and got some fast food and then got to my 67 00:05:35.879 --> 00:05:41.920 terminal to got to my gate where I was about to experience for the First 68 00:05:41.920 --> 00:05:47.920 Time Spirit Airlines. Two Spirit me away to my family, who was vacationing 69 00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:54.709 in California. You See, two times a year with our UF are you 70 00:05:54.790 --> 00:05:59.589 of staff and campus ministers have training for a week, which is great, 71 00:05:59.589 --> 00:06:01.870 continuing education. It's always great. It's one of the best things that I 72 00:06:01.949 --> 00:06:05.939 think are you F does, which is the organization I work for in the 73 00:06:06.019 --> 00:06:11.220 PCA. But this at the end of this week, though it had been 74 00:06:11.259 --> 00:06:14.939 good, I was ready to see my family, to see Brittany and our 75 00:06:15.019 --> 00:06:21.810 kids, and so I was waiting and expecting. I had been promised that 76 00:06:21.889 --> 00:06:29.209 an airplane would arrive. I was expecting it to show up. I was 77 00:06:29.370 --> 00:06:31.529 eating, I was waiting, I was watching, I was trying to relate 78 00:06:31.610 --> 00:06:39.439 to other people who are there in the terminal. The expected time drew near, 79 00:06:40.680 --> 00:06:45.720 but I saw no plane on the tarmac. I was at the right 80 00:06:45.759 --> 00:06:49.829 terminal because I had checked and double checked and triple checked. We are supposed 81 00:06:49.829 --> 00:06:54.110 to be boarding right then, and there was no plane. And then and 82 00:06:54.430 --> 00:06:57.709 a fellow passenger leaned over to a group of us that were sitting there and 83 00:06:57.790 --> 00:07:00.750 said, hell yeah, when I checked in, they told me that the 84 00:07:00.910 --> 00:07:05.100 plane was delayed getting out of South America. So I thought that's not uncommon, 85 00:07:05.180 --> 00:07:10.779 that happens. Delays happened. Planes are a little bit slow on arrival. 86 00:07:13.939 --> 00:07:21.569 So I waited more and then an hour went by and nothing. Then 87 00:07:21.970 --> 00:07:30.079 the host for the next airline got up and nothing. The spirit airline had 88 00:07:30.160 --> 00:07:34.399 not shown up. No announcement, no host, no nothing. I was 89 00:07:34.600 --> 00:07:40.079 living in the reality where a promise had been made but it had not yet 90 00:07:40.160 --> 00:07:47.230 been delivered. Isn't that how we often experience God? We live on this 91 00:07:47.629 --> 00:07:54.829 side of the Cross. God has become a human being. God, through 92 00:07:54.870 --> 00:07:58.470 Jesus, made promises to you. If you're a Christian here this morning, 93 00:08:00.740 --> 00:08:03.500 we live in a time where we cannot see God's fulfilled promises with our own 94 00:08:03.540 --> 00:08:07.660 eyes. We can see many of the ways that God has been faithful in 95 00:08:07.699 --> 00:08:11.060 the past, but we live in a time which is promises are yet to 96 00:08:11.180 --> 00:08:16.889 come. If you're a Christian here this morning, you have been promised that 97 00:08:18.009 --> 00:08:20.970 you are justified. The means you don't have to prove yourself to anyone else 98 00:08:22.050 --> 00:08:24.689 in the world. Approve yourself to God, because you have been made right 99 00:08:24.209 --> 00:08:31.080 with God. God has promised to sanctify you and be at work sanctifying you, 100 00:08:33.879 --> 00:08:37.759 that he is causing you to die to sin and more look like Jesus's 101 00:08:37.840 --> 00:08:43.149 perfection. He's promised to work everything out for your good and for your salvation. 102 00:08:46.470 --> 00:08:50.309 He's promised to be at work in the world through his church, through 103 00:08:50.350 --> 00:08:54.750 Covenant Presbyterian Church here into son. He's promised to be at work through his 104 00:08:54.830 --> 00:09:01.379 word and through his people, drawing people to his son. God has promised 105 00:09:01.419 --> 00:09:05.259 to you that he is bringing you and all of creation to glory, that 106 00:09:05.419 --> 00:09:09.580 one day all the sadness and the pain and the brokenness that you feel will 107 00:09:09.620 --> 00:09:13.049 be wiped clean and will be made new and there will be no more tears. 108 00:09:16.090 --> 00:09:20.529 But we can't see those things. So how do we live when we 109 00:09:20.690 --> 00:09:26.399 can't see them? How do we live faithfully while we wait? But we 110 00:09:26.440 --> 00:09:31.399 journey on. That's where we find this story this morning. Earlier in Genesis, 111 00:09:31.480 --> 00:09:37.480 God called Abraham and made an eternally binding relationship with him, a covenant, 112 00:09:37.879 --> 00:09:41.549 the namesake of this church. God promised to give him a land, 113 00:09:41.750 --> 00:09:45.750 give him descendance more than he could count to bless him and bless all the 114 00:09:45.830 --> 00:09:48.830 families of the earth through one of his descendants, one of his offspring. 115 00:09:50.590 --> 00:09:56.100 Now God has been faithful to Abraham. Abraham has clearly been blessed. He 116 00:09:56.259 --> 00:09:58.659 is wealthy, more wealthy than most of the people in the AREAA. He 117 00:10:01.100 --> 00:10:05.620 has lived to a good old age, showing his that he has been blessed. 118 00:10:05.659 --> 00:10:09.370 And even in his old age God has provided a son when earlier in 119 00:10:09.450 --> 00:10:16.129 their life they had been declared to be barren. And now Abraham has just 120 00:10:16.370 --> 00:10:20.519 recently purchased a piece of property in the Promised Land. He doesn't have the 121 00:10:20.559 --> 00:10:26.240 promised land yet for his descendants, but his wife has recently deceased. It 122 00:10:26.440 --> 00:10:28.240 recently died, and so he bought a burial plot for her. So at 123 00:10:28.240 --> 00:10:33.480 least he is a little bit of a steak in the promised land. But 124 00:10:35.120 --> 00:10:39.950 the promise for filling the earth like the sands of the sea and the stars 125 00:10:39.990 --> 00:10:43.990 of the sky with his descendants, it seems to be at a stall because 126 00:10:45.029 --> 00:10:50.179 the promised son, Isaac, doesn't have a wife. Therefore he doesn't have 127 00:10:50.379 --> 00:10:52.860 any children. Therefore Abraham doesn't have any grandchildren. And he doesn't have any 128 00:10:52.860 --> 00:11:03.139 descendants. So Abraham Commissions his most trusted servant to go and retrieve a wife 129 00:11:03.460 --> 00:11:09.370 for Isaac from Abraham's relatives. Now that's not very uncommon. That'd be uncommon 130 00:11:09.450 --> 00:11:13.889 for us if one of you since a servant or friend of yours back east 131 00:11:13.929 --> 00:11:16.730 or up to the West Coast to find a spouse for your child from your 132 00:11:16.730 --> 00:11:22.159 relatives. That'd be a little weird today, but that wasn't uncommon back in 133 00:11:22.320 --> 00:11:28.519 Abraham's Day. A lot of great marriages were started that way. But what 134 00:11:28.679 --> 00:11:35.190 question does the servant ask? Look at verse five. The Servant said to 135 00:11:35.230 --> 00:11:39.269 him perhaps the woman may not be willing to follow any back to this land. 136 00:11:39.830 --> 00:11:43.429 Must I didn't take your son back to the land from which you came. 137 00:11:45.509 --> 00:11:50.460 I think the deeper question that the servant is asking is, what if 138 00:11:50.500 --> 00:11:56.299 she says no, what shall I do? I think this is really a 139 00:11:56.379 --> 00:12:01.340 question that we often ask, if not out loud then in our hearts. 140 00:12:01.690 --> 00:12:07.570 What if someone gets in the way of God's promises? What if God's promises 141 00:12:07.129 --> 00:12:13.649 don't come true? How do we live in a reality where we cannot control 142 00:12:13.690 --> 00:12:20.080 other people or we can't control God? So how does that Abraham answer his 143 00:12:20.200 --> 00:12:24.919 servants? He answers him by reminding him of God's promise. Look at verse 144 00:12:24.960 --> 00:12:28.600 seven. The Lord, the God of Heaven, who took me from my 145 00:12:28.639 --> 00:12:33.350 father's house and from the land of my kindred and who spoke to me and 146 00:12:33.470 --> 00:12:37.789 swore to me, to your offspring, I will give this land, he 147 00:12:37.870 --> 00:12:43.389 will send an angel before you and you shall take a wife from my son 148 00:12:43.590 --> 00:12:52.700 from there. Abraham hasn't always been this trusting. Abraham has grown from his 149 00:12:52.820 --> 00:12:58.500 early days of giving his wife away as a sister to a more powerful man 150 00:12:58.490 --> 00:13:05.090 twice. He's grown from the days where he tried to bring about the promise 151 00:13:05.730 --> 00:13:11.129 with his wife's servant role and bring a son that way. He's grown to 152 00:13:11.250 --> 00:13:16.360 realize that God is faithful, that God is steadfast in his love for his 153 00:13:16.559 --> 00:13:22.399 people. Abraham is saying he has sworn and he has kept his promises. 154 00:13:22.639 --> 00:13:26.600 He is loyal and his love. He will keep his promises again. He 155 00:13:26.679 --> 00:13:28.909 will go before you, he will show up. You might not see him, 156 00:13:28.909 --> 00:13:33.710 but he will show up and he will provide. The same is still 157 00:13:33.710 --> 00:13:37.149 true for God's people today. If you're a Christian, you're one of those 158 00:13:37.149 --> 00:13:43.700 people. God has always been in steadfast love for his people, because that's 159 00:13:43.779 --> 00:13:50.299 true. We must live expecting God to show up, even if we don't 160 00:13:50.299 --> 00:13:54.059 see him. This morning. I want for us to look at what living 161 00:13:54.179 --> 00:14:01.129 expectantly might look like through the Lens of Abraham's Servant on a quest for a 162 00:14:01.289 --> 00:14:09.450 wife for Isaac, the promised some so Abraham's servant, his trusted servant, 163 00:14:09.690 --> 00:14:13.919 takes ten camels, a whole statue of precious gifts and multiple other servants that 164 00:14:15.039 --> 00:14:18.519 we read about in a little bit. They travel the twenty one day, 165 00:14:18.559 --> 00:14:24.080 a long journey on foot and camel, and he rides outside of this village. 166 00:14:24.590 --> 00:14:26.710 It's the evening when the young woman would come out to the well and 167 00:14:26.830 --> 00:14:31.070 the cool of the day to gather water for the family's evening needs. In 168 00:14:31.230 --> 00:14:37.149 the morning, the needs the next morning. The servant causes his camel to 169 00:14:37.190 --> 00:14:43.100 kneel down and he thinks about the mission before him and he begins to pray. 170 00:14:45.899 --> 00:14:48.620 How does he pray? Look? How he starts laugh, how he 171 00:14:48.779 --> 00:14:54.250 anchors his prayer in verse twelve. He says, oh Lord, God of 172 00:14:54.330 --> 00:15:00.889 my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show steadfast love to my 173 00:15:01.009 --> 00:15:07.759 master Abraham. As he's praying, he is reminding himself of God's steadfast love 174 00:15:07.960 --> 00:15:11.480 to God's people. The Servant is among those people. He is a believer 175 00:15:11.840 --> 00:15:16.679 in the Lord. But what does he look like? What does he look 176 00:15:16.720 --> 00:15:22.509 at? He looks at God's covenant that he has made with Abraham as the 177 00:15:22.669 --> 00:15:28.710 representative of God's people. The Servant Clings to God's steadfast love by asking God 178 00:15:28.070 --> 00:15:33.070 to bring about his promises to Abraham that he would bring about success through his 179 00:15:33.190 --> 00:15:39.500 own mission. And because he clings to God's steadfast love, he expects God 180 00:15:39.700 --> 00:15:45.620 to show up and bring about success to the mission. He says, let 181 00:15:45.700 --> 00:15:48.059 the woman who offers me and my camels a drink when I ask for water 182 00:15:48.179 --> 00:15:54.370 just for myself, let her be the one. He's praying, expecting God 183 00:15:54.490 --> 00:15:58.370 to show up, expecting that, five hundred and fifty miles from his master, 184 00:15:58.330 --> 00:16:02.850 of all the villages in the area, in this one ticular village, 185 00:16:03.600 --> 00:16:08.919 that one particular woman who will say these things will be the one that God 186 00:16:08.960 --> 00:16:15.559 will show up and provide. So how is he living out his faith? 187 00:16:18.000 --> 00:16:22.110 He's praying, expecting God to work. Praying. If you're a Christian, 188 00:16:22.149 --> 00:16:27.789 if you're even pseudo spiritual, you understand that praying is part of being in 189 00:16:27.830 --> 00:16:30.789 a relationship with God. Even if you don't do it all the time, 190 00:16:32.149 --> 00:16:36.620 you at least cognitively know in your brain you know the praying is part of 191 00:16:36.620 --> 00:16:40.740 being in relationship. God is personal. He invites us to pray to him 192 00:16:40.899 --> 00:16:42.980 and even though we can't see him, he still invites us to pray, 193 00:16:44.580 --> 00:16:48.970 even teaches us to pray. As we seek to live while we can't see 194 00:16:48.330 --> 00:16:55.330 the fulfillment of God's promises, we must pray expecting God to work, expecting 195 00:16:55.409 --> 00:17:00.129 God to show up. Now I'm not saying we should make deals with God 196 00:17:00.370 --> 00:17:06.759 like this servant saying, Oh, if this young man or this young woman 197 00:17:07.200 --> 00:17:11.359 comes into the classroom, that that's the one I'm going to marry. We 198 00:17:11.480 --> 00:17:15.269 probably shouldn't do that. I don't think this is prescriptive of how we should 199 00:17:15.269 --> 00:17:19.710 pray, but I think it gives a good example of praying with expectancy. 200 00:17:22.349 --> 00:17:27.470 So what does it look like to pray expectantly? Let's start by looking at 201 00:17:27.509 --> 00:17:34.940 at this way. be seeing the musical Annie, whatever whatever version, the 202 00:17:36.539 --> 00:17:45.049 Broadway version or the movie version. What's the musical Annie about? It's about 203 00:17:45.049 --> 00:17:51.289 a little orphan who starts out living in a selfish woman's orphanage Missus Hannigan. 204 00:17:52.250 --> 00:17:56.930 Missus Hannagan is extremely selfish and all the orphans in her orphanage do not expect 205 00:17:57.130 --> 00:18:02.200 Mrs Hannigan to provide good things for them. To provide what they need, 206 00:18:03.319 --> 00:18:06.640 they have to fight for it. They even sing a song about it and 207 00:18:06.759 --> 00:18:14.069 seeing it's a heart knock life for us, because for them to get anything 208 00:18:14.430 --> 00:18:18.990 you have to fight for it, not just ask for it. They don't 209 00:18:18.990 --> 00:18:26.420 trust Miss Hannagan. But in a publicity stunt, a wealthy bachelor takes an 210 00:18:26.500 --> 00:18:32.579 orphan for a week in. Annie works her way through her charm and through 211 00:18:32.579 --> 00:18:37.019 her manipulation to become that orphan for the week. And how does she relate 212 00:18:37.099 --> 00:18:41.130 to daddy warbucks that that week, whilst she's kind of his pseudo daughter, 213 00:18:42.849 --> 00:18:47.130 the young girl that he's taken in? She tries to use her charm, 214 00:18:47.250 --> 00:18:51.650 she tries to use her demeanor, her precociousness to win over his affection and 215 00:18:51.730 --> 00:18:56.039 get good things. She even says awkward things. When he's looking at hanging 216 00:18:56.119 --> 00:18:59.200 a picture of a famous painting in the bathroom. She says you can hang 217 00:18:59.319 --> 00:19:07.119 me in the bathroom and see if I grow on you. But how might 218 00:19:07.559 --> 00:19:11.910 her and how does her relationship and the way she interacts with him and relates 219 00:19:11.950 --> 00:19:18.150 with him change once he fully adopts her as his daughter? It should change 220 00:19:18.269 --> 00:19:22.029 to one expecting him to provide. He delights to provide for her and fulfill 221 00:19:22.150 --> 00:19:26.940 his promise as her father to care for her. I think that one of 222 00:19:26.980 --> 00:19:32.220 the ways that we can pray expectantly is by reminding ourselves as we pray, 223 00:19:32.579 --> 00:19:37.299 that God is a god of steadfast love for his people and that he is 224 00:19:37.500 --> 00:19:41.809 true to his promises. I think it's good and okay for us to pray 225 00:19:41.890 --> 00:19:45.529 to God and say things like God, you are steadfast in love for your 226 00:19:45.609 --> 00:19:49.730 people. I'm one of your people. Will you show steadfast love in this 227 00:19:49.849 --> 00:19:56.480 way by granting success in your mission? I'm not going to go into it 228 00:19:56.680 --> 00:20:03.839 too deeply this morning, but Jesus has replaced Abraham as our representative. Jesus 229 00:20:04.000 --> 00:20:10.109 represents you to the father and, just like Abraham, servant who believed in 230 00:20:10.150 --> 00:20:12.670 the Lord, he was a believer. Prayed that God would show his faithfulness 231 00:20:12.710 --> 00:20:18.269 to Abraham, we can pray to God that he would show his faithfulness to 232 00:20:18.390 --> 00:20:26.900 Jesus, our representative. That's why we pray in Jesus. His name Jesus 233 00:20:26.980 --> 00:20:30.259 represents us and we ask God to honor Jesus as we pray. We can 234 00:20:30.299 --> 00:20:33.779 pray to God saying, God, you were faithful to Jesus. Be Faithful 235 00:20:33.819 --> 00:20:37.289 to Jesus to bring about your promises in the world, your promises through me, 236 00:20:38.569 --> 00:20:42.450 because I'm one of your people and I'm on mission as your person in 237 00:20:42.609 --> 00:20:47.329 the world. Now, we can't manipulate God, but we can pray with 238 00:20:47.369 --> 00:20:52.279 a dependence. So how would your prayer life change if you prayed expecting God 239 00:20:52.400 --> 00:20:57.720 to remain faithful? How would your response to unanswered prayers change if you trusted 240 00:20:57.839 --> 00:21:03.750 that God would steadfast in his love for Jesus and therefore steadfast in his love 241 00:21:03.829 --> 00:21:08.589 for you? How would you pray more comfort would you pray more confidently that 242 00:21:08.710 --> 00:21:14.230 God would convert your family members and your friends who aren't Christian, because God 243 00:21:14.430 --> 00:21:22.900 has promised to draw people to himself through all people's and tongues and places in 244 00:21:22.980 --> 00:21:30.500 the world? Would you pray more expectantly that God would help you overcome some 245 00:21:30.619 --> 00:21:33.730 of the sins that have plagued you for a long time, because God has 246 00:21:33.809 --> 00:21:38.450 promised to be at work in you until the day of completion at Christ Jesus. 247 00:21:40.609 --> 00:21:44.809 Would you pray more earnestly for God to end the Justice in the brokenness 248 00:21:44.890 --> 00:21:49.519 in your life and the lives of people around you in the city of Tucson? 249 00:21:52.759 --> 00:21:56.599 Would you pray more expectantly for him to heal broken relationships in your life 250 00:21:56.720 --> 00:22:03.190 and sustain you as you struggle with them? Would I pray more expectantly for 251 00:22:03.390 --> 00:22:07.710 God to connect me and us are little? Are you F to other students, 252 00:22:07.750 --> 00:22:12.710 but also to financially provide for him to do his work of building this 253 00:22:12.789 --> 00:22:18.819 kingdom on campus? What might you pray for expectantly right now in your life? 254 00:22:23.059 --> 00:22:29.299 The Servant Prays expectantly, but then he watches expectantly for God to faithfully 255 00:22:29.339 --> 00:22:37.009 provide. Look of Hers Fifteen before he had finished speaking, behold Rebecca, 256 00:22:37.609 --> 00:22:40.809 who was born to Bethuel, the son of Milka, the wife of Nahor, 257 00:22:41.569 --> 00:22:45.799 Abraham's brother, came out with her water jar on her shoulder. The 258 00:22:45.920 --> 00:22:49.599 young woman was very attractive in appearance, a maiden whom no man had known. 259 00:22:51.400 --> 00:22:53.640 She went down to the spring and filled her jar and came up. 260 00:22:56.160 --> 00:22:59.309 Then the servant ran to meet her and said, please give me a little 261 00:22:59.309 --> 00:23:02.589 water to drink from your jar, and she said, drink, my Lord, 262 00:23:03.029 --> 00:23:06.230 and she quickly let down her jar upon his hand. Her hand then 263 00:23:06.309 --> 00:23:10.190 gave him a drink. When she had finished giving him a drink, she 264 00:23:10.349 --> 00:23:14.940 said, I will draw water for your camels also until they have finished drinking. 265 00:23:15.980 --> 00:23:18.980 So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough and ran to the well 266 00:23:18.579 --> 00:23:23.420 to draw more water. She drew for all of his camels. The man 267 00:23:25.220 --> 00:23:30.089 gazed at her in silence to learn whether the Lord had prospered her journey or 268 00:23:30.210 --> 00:23:37.130 not. The Servant is actively watching and considering if God is at work like 269 00:23:37.289 --> 00:23:41.480 he has promised to be. The Servant Asks Her in Verse Twenty Three What 270 00:23:41.640 --> 00:23:45.480 family she belongs to, and sure enough, she's a relative of Abraham. 271 00:23:47.200 --> 00:23:51.799 God is showing that he is fulfilling the promise that she meets the criteria for 272 00:23:51.920 --> 00:23:59.789 being marriable for Isaac. She's a relative and she's not already married. Check 273 00:24:00.390 --> 00:24:07.549 she meets the criteria. And when God appears to be at work, showing 274 00:24:07.710 --> 00:24:14.420 up, how does the Servant Respond? He responds by Worshiping. Verse Twenty 275 00:24:14.500 --> 00:24:18.299 Six, The man bowed his head and worshiped the Lord and said blessed be 276 00:24:18.460 --> 00:24:22.900 the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken his 277 00:24:22.059 --> 00:24:27.569 steadfast love in his faithfulness toward my master. As from me, the Lord 278 00:24:27.650 --> 00:24:33.970 has led me in the way to the House of my master's kinsmen. So 279 00:24:33.089 --> 00:24:37.329 what does it look like for you to watch expectantly for God to show up, 280 00:24:38.480 --> 00:24:42.000 to watch for God to work? Let's think of it like this. 281 00:24:44.359 --> 00:24:49.799 Kids, what's it like when your grandparents or some favorite friends is coming into 282 00:24:49.839 --> 00:24:55.910 town and you haven't seen them for a long time? Maybe it's Christmas several 283 00:24:55.950 --> 00:25:02.869 weeks ago or another holiday? What do you do? You're listening and every 284 00:25:02.990 --> 00:25:07.069 car door you hear, every stop that you hear squeaky breaks, you're running 285 00:25:07.109 --> 00:25:11.660 to the window to peer out, every glimmer of sunlight that bounces off of 286 00:25:11.099 --> 00:25:15.299 the top of a car into your window. You're running to the door and 287 00:25:15.460 --> 00:25:19.380 looking. Is Grandma here, is pop out here? And as you hear 288 00:25:19.619 --> 00:25:22.609 a closer car door shut and you check and you see the window, you 289 00:25:22.730 --> 00:25:26.289 run to the door, you open the door and you begin to run out 290 00:25:26.369 --> 00:25:32.890 to them in the driveway. I think this is a little picture of how 291 00:25:33.009 --> 00:25:36.559 we ought to watch expectantly for God to show up. First, you have 292 00:25:36.680 --> 00:25:40.039 to believe that God will be true to his promises. And show up in 293 00:25:40.240 --> 00:25:45.880 hard situations, in troubled and broken relationships or in your struggle with sin. 294 00:25:48.079 --> 00:25:51.150 Secondly, I think we have to consider and watch, keep looking out the 295 00:25:51.230 --> 00:25:55.750 window, asking the question how is God showing up? How is God at 296 00:25:55.789 --> 00:26:00.390 work in the situation? How will or how should watching expectantly affect you? 297 00:26:00.549 --> 00:26:04.180 How should it affect me? For some of us, it maybe means that 298 00:26:04.259 --> 00:26:11.740 we actually start watching, we actually put on the glasses of watching through God's 299 00:26:11.740 --> 00:26:15.900 promises that he's going to show up, because of so often we struggle to 300 00:26:15.940 --> 00:26:22.329 believe the God will actually work in our situation, in our life. For 301 00:26:22.450 --> 00:26:26.170 some of us it means opening the door of hope just a little bit because 302 00:26:26.529 --> 00:26:33.440 we've been so afraid to hope in the past. For some of us it 303 00:26:33.519 --> 00:26:37.200 might mean pain, more tension of how God is already at work, even 304 00:26:37.279 --> 00:26:44.480 in small ways, in conversations that you have with people, in the fruit, 305 00:26:44.880 --> 00:26:48.990 even if it's small fruit, in someone's life, and the people that 306 00:26:49.150 --> 00:26:56.390 you randomly encounter throughout your day. Where areas in your life where you might 307 00:26:56.509 --> 00:27:02.380 need to watch expectantly for God to show up? Is it in your relationship 308 00:27:02.420 --> 00:27:06.859 with your child, who seems so defiant right now? Is it in your 309 00:27:06.859 --> 00:27:11.500 relationship with your spouse or your roommates, who seems so stubborn and hardhearted? 310 00:27:15.220 --> 00:27:18.890 Is it in potential friendships, in the midst of your loneliness after a hard 311 00:27:19.009 --> 00:27:26.890 first semester of college? Watching expectantly for God to work is not a passive 312 00:27:26.970 --> 00:27:30.200 excuse of I don't have to do anything, and it's not an I need 313 00:27:30.279 --> 00:27:34.200 to make all this happen. It's watching where God is at work and moving 314 00:27:34.359 --> 00:27:37.880 towards where he is at work, running to the door when he pulls up 315 00:27:37.920 --> 00:27:47.430 in the drive, participating in where he seems to be working. Let's see 316 00:27:47.470 --> 00:27:56.069 how the servant does that. The servant gifts, gives gifts to Rebecca, 317 00:27:56.470 --> 00:28:02.819 expectant that she is the one. She runs away back to her father's house, 318 00:28:03.859 --> 00:28:07.539 maybe a little bit overwhelmed because this man is showing her with gifts and 319 00:28:07.619 --> 00:28:11.819 worshiping right in front of her. And then her brother Laban, who has 320 00:28:11.859 --> 00:28:19.450 been watching from a distance, runs to the well and he because he's seen 321 00:28:19.609 --> 00:28:25.369 what has happened, and he invites the servants and the servants men and their 322 00:28:25.410 --> 00:28:29.799 camels to come to his father's house to provide sleep for them and food for 323 00:28:29.880 --> 00:28:37.039 the animals. And for the men after their long journey in Laban and his 324 00:28:37.240 --> 00:28:41.750 father Bethel a lay food in front of the servant, but before the servant 325 00:28:41.789 --> 00:28:45.950 will eat, he says to them, I have to tell you why I 326 00:28:45.069 --> 00:28:51.470 came and I have to tell you everything that has happened. So he proceeds 327 00:28:51.509 --> 00:28:55.670 to tell them how God has called Abraham, how God has deeply blessed Abraham 328 00:28:55.900 --> 00:28:59.779 and has given him a son in his old age. He tells them the 329 00:28:59.819 --> 00:29:03.779 Abraham sent the servant back to his homeland to take a daughter for the promised 330 00:29:03.819 --> 00:29:08.700 son of Abraham's old age, trusting that the Lord will provide. Then he 331 00:29:08.819 --> 00:29:15.809 tells them everything that he's prayed and how God seems to be answering that prayer 332 00:29:15.890 --> 00:29:19.769 by having rebecca come to the well. And then he ends his report in 333 00:29:19.849 --> 00:29:25.759 this way, in verse forty eight forty nine. Then I bowed my head 334 00:29:25.799 --> 00:29:29.559 and worship the Lord and bless the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, 335 00:29:30.160 --> 00:29:32.880 who had led me by the right way to take the daughter of my 336 00:29:32.960 --> 00:29:37.839 master's kinsman for his son. Now, then, if you're going to show 337 00:29:37.960 --> 00:29:41.869 steadfast love and faithfulness to my master, tell me, and if not, 338 00:29:42.869 --> 00:29:47.109 tell me that I may turn to the right hand or to the left. 339 00:29:48.190 --> 00:29:52.259 The Servant reports to them and then he invites them to respond. He's trusting 340 00:29:52.380 --> 00:29:57.779 God to show up and provide. He's expectant in his hope, but he 341 00:30:00.019 --> 00:30:03.660 does not force them, he does not manipulate them. He doesn't play a 342 00:30:04.460 --> 00:30:08.130 God card that say you have to decide what I think is going to happen. 343 00:30:11.369 --> 00:30:18.089 He asks for an answer and waits. As we seek to live faithfully 344 00:30:18.369 --> 00:30:25.599 in this world, in Tucson, we will have to relate to other people. 345 00:30:26.839 --> 00:30:29.720 Those of us who are introverts, sorry, he got to relate to 346 00:30:29.759 --> 00:30:36.069 other people. We can't force people to do what we think God is up 347 00:30:36.069 --> 00:30:41.990 to. We can't manipulate people in to the path we think God is calling 348 00:30:41.069 --> 00:30:45.950 them to. We have to relate to other people expecting that God is the 349 00:30:47.029 --> 00:30:51.900 one who works, that God will be the one who provides. We can't 350 00:30:52.220 --> 00:30:56.859 be the one who provides by controlling someone else. We have to relate to 351 00:30:56.900 --> 00:31:00.019 others expecting and trusting that God's going to work like he says he's going to 352 00:31:00.059 --> 00:31:06.690 work. So who are people in your life and what are situations in your 353 00:31:06.769 --> 00:31:11.210 life where God is calling you to relate to someone, expecting God to show 354 00:31:11.250 --> 00:31:21.079 up expecting God to work. Maybe it's your parents with whom you're in a 355 00:31:21.200 --> 00:31:26.440 difficult relationship, whether you're thirteen or whether you are sixty and they are aged. 356 00:31:27.680 --> 00:31:33.430 Maybe it's your significant other, maybe it's the friend you have been trying 357 00:31:33.470 --> 00:31:37.829 to share the gospel with and lead them to know Christ. For me right 358 00:31:37.869 --> 00:31:41.470 now I'm having to think about as we meet students on campus, as we 359 00:31:41.869 --> 00:31:48.259 try to meet donors and ask God to provide through donors. By expecting God 360 00:31:48.380 --> 00:31:51.740 to show up as we relate to other people, we are giving up control 361 00:31:52.019 --> 00:31:55.819 and we can actually begin to relate to other people as human beings rather than 362 00:31:55.940 --> 00:32:00.849 objects that we have to control. We take the pressure off of ourselves and 363 00:32:00.970 --> 00:32:06.650 other people expecting, of hope that God's going to show up. So how 364 00:32:06.650 --> 00:32:13.049 would that attitude change family gatherings, Sunday lunches? How would it change the 365 00:32:13.130 --> 00:32:19.200 workplace environment? How would it change the homeschool classroom? My guess is that 366 00:32:19.319 --> 00:32:23.559 would drop the anxiety and bring a breath of fresh air into the room. 367 00:32:28.839 --> 00:32:31.269 So the servant has reported all the ways that God seems to be at work, 368 00:32:31.829 --> 00:32:36.829 then ask the family. Will you send Rebecca with me to marry Isaac 369 00:32:37.710 --> 00:32:43.470 and we can imagine this deep, Long, pregnant pause. Laban and Bethuel 370 00:32:43.670 --> 00:32:50.220 take a deep breath, they look at each other, they consider this bold 371 00:32:50.380 --> 00:32:55.819 and amazing request. Hopefully, they consult with Rebecca, who seems to be 372 00:32:55.859 --> 00:33:00.009 in the room, and with Rebecca's mother, who seems to be in the 373 00:33:00.049 --> 00:33:04.849 room too. And then, at some point, we don't know how long 374 00:33:05.410 --> 00:33:09.650 in the text is very brief, but it's probably longer, Laban and Bethuel 375 00:33:09.769 --> 00:33:15.839 give their consent to Rebecca going to marry Isaac. You can imagine the weight 376 00:33:16.240 --> 00:33:22.960 being lifted up from the servant. The Servant Bows Down in deep gratitude for 377 00:33:23.079 --> 00:33:30.549 God showing up and providing. And then out of gratitude the servant gives, 378 00:33:30.269 --> 00:33:36.269 give gifts at a gratitude for Rebecca and for her faith and for her family's 379 00:33:36.269 --> 00:33:40.819 consent. He overflows with generosity, giving gifts to Rebecca and her mother and 380 00:33:40.900 --> 00:33:45.500 to Laban and Bethewell into other people in the room. God's provision leads him 381 00:33:45.500 --> 00:33:50.900 to generosity. Everyone eats and drinks and sleeps in the next morning the servant 382 00:33:52.019 --> 00:33:57.250 boldly ask another question. Can we leave today so that I can get back 383 00:33:57.289 --> 00:34:01.410 and tell my master, maybe before he passes away. He wants to share 384 00:34:01.450 --> 00:34:08.849 the good news with Abraham. So the family asks Rebecca if she minds leaving 385 00:34:08.969 --> 00:34:13.880 that day and with, I think, some of the profoundest, deepest faith 386 00:34:14.199 --> 00:34:21.880 in all of scripture, Rebecca converts in that moment and says yes, I 387 00:34:22.079 --> 00:34:27.590 believe in the God Yah Way, I believe in his promises. I believe 388 00:34:27.710 --> 00:34:30.389 that he is at work in the world and some of you this morning might 389 00:34:30.429 --> 00:34:36.550 be there. You might not be convinced, but this woman, who knew 390 00:34:36.550 --> 00:34:43.059 nothing before, who heard of God's promises, said Yes, I will trust 391 00:34:43.179 --> 00:34:51.860 God's promises. So Rebecca, with great faith, takes several of her servants 392 00:34:52.260 --> 00:34:57.849 and joins the servants and his servants and the journey, the whole twenty one 393 00:34:57.889 --> 00:35:00.849 days, back to Abraham am back to his camp, where they meet Isaac 394 00:35:01.289 --> 00:35:07.079 and Isaac and Rebecca Mary, and God continues to slowly bring about fulfilling the 395 00:35:07.199 --> 00:35:15.159 promise to give to Abraham an offspring who will number as the stars and as 396 00:35:15.239 --> 00:35:19.519 the sands, and then one particular offspring who will being blessings to all the 397 00:35:19.559 --> 00:35:29.789 families of the earth. So I was sitting and I was waiting and waiting 398 00:35:29.829 --> 00:35:34.429 and I couldn't control people. I couldn't control the workers for the airline company, 399 00:35:34.469 --> 00:35:37.699 partly because they had left and there was no one there. I couldn't 400 00:35:37.699 --> 00:35:44.099 control the situation. I was completely powerless. But at the end of the 401 00:35:44.219 --> 00:35:50.650 day the plane did show up. About seven or eight hours after it was 402 00:35:50.730 --> 00:35:54.010 promised to leave, it showed up and took me where it promised to take 403 00:35:54.050 --> 00:36:00.090 me. Some airlines are better than others, are more reliable than others, 404 00:36:00.170 --> 00:36:05.280 but all airlines will let you down at some points. Mechanical Parts will fail, 405 00:36:05.480 --> 00:36:08.079 employees will quit, employees will go on strike, pilots will log too 406 00:36:08.159 --> 00:36:14.840 many hours without enough sleep and be will be forced to be grounded. Something 407 00:36:14.880 --> 00:36:19.590 will be out of their control, like weather or a disaster. And at 408 00:36:19.670 --> 00:36:22.630 some point, if you travel enough, you will be left stranded with broken 409 00:36:22.670 --> 00:36:29.789 promises. If you rely on people enough, if you rely on yourself enough, 410 00:36:30.030 --> 00:36:37.940 you will be left stranded with broken promises. But God is not like 411 00:36:37.139 --> 00:36:43.059 airline companies. God is not like other people. God is not like you, 412 00:36:44.059 --> 00:36:50.530 God is not like me. God is eternally more reliable and though it 413 00:36:50.690 --> 00:36:53.610 seems like sometimes he delays, it does not mean that he has not shown 414 00:36:53.650 --> 00:36:57.889 up and that he's not at work. God is at work, even in 415 00:36:58.050 --> 00:37:01.559 the darkest circumstances, when it seems like he does not hear your praying, 416 00:37:04.639 --> 00:37:08.599 even when you watch and it seems like he's not present, even when you 417 00:37:08.679 --> 00:37:12.719 relate to others and it seems like there's no hope that he's going to work. 418 00:37:14.840 --> 00:37:20.389 We know this because God has shown up truly and physically. God showed 419 00:37:20.429 --> 00:37:24.429 up in creation as a human being, as a man, Jesus. God 420 00:37:24.670 --> 00:37:29.309 showed up to faithfully rescue his people. But he didn't just show up as 421 00:37:29.389 --> 00:37:31.179 God. He showed up for you and me. He showed up as the 422 00:37:31.260 --> 00:37:36.860 truest human being to ever live, to represent God's people to God and to 423 00:37:36.980 --> 00:37:39.340 represent God to God's people. And then, on a Friday, on the 424 00:37:39.380 --> 00:37:44.369 darkest day in history, Jesus prayed for God the father to show up, 425 00:37:44.570 --> 00:37:47.889 knowing that God the father would not show up for him. Jesus Watch for 426 00:37:49.010 --> 00:37:52.329 God to show up and to rescue him from death. He prayed in the 427 00:37:52.449 --> 00:37:54.530 garden, he watched in the guard and he cried out from the cross, 428 00:37:54.769 --> 00:38:00.039 but God did not show up. God turned his face away, forsaking his 429 00:38:00.199 --> 00:38:09.280 only son. But in a deeper way, Jesus entered death expecting, expecting 430 00:38:09.480 --> 00:38:16.110 God to show up for power over death, to conquer sin and death through 431 00:38:16.150 --> 00:38:21.909 this resurrection, to show up to bring about his ultimate promise of to faithfully 432 00:38:22.309 --> 00:38:27.780 bless all the families of the Earth, to bring rebellious orphans home as his 433 00:38:27.940 --> 00:38:31.260 daughters and as his son's. God showed up in history as a man and 434 00:38:31.619 --> 00:38:38.539 abandon that man so that he might bring you home. Then he sent his 435 00:38:38.659 --> 00:38:44.489 spirit so that he would show up in your heart and in my heart that 436 00:38:44.610 --> 00:38:47.929 through his life and his death and his resurrection and his ascension, in his 437 00:38:49.050 --> 00:38:52.050 sending of the spirit, we might know that he has, he is and 438 00:38:52.170 --> 00:38:57.280 he will show up, that he will be at work in you and through 439 00:38:57.360 --> 00:39:00.280 you in the world until the day when he shows up in all of his 440 00:39:00.360 --> 00:39:06.440 glory to wipe away all your tears and undo all the brokenness and make all 441 00:39:06.559 --> 00:39:10.429 things new. This is the hope that we have. This is the hope 442 00:39:10.510 --> 00:39:15.510 that we have in the God who shows up. Will you hope expectantly with 443 00:39:15.630 --> 00:39:17.630 me? We pray with me,