Single Pastors and Small Churches, the Holy Spirit and Prevenient Grace

Fourth Sunday after Pentecost, A

July 6, 2014

Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67

A Jewish bride and groom. (Picture via BenEden.Com)

Introduction: Single Pastor Problems, Small Church Problems

Today's Old Testament reading is on the finding of a wife for Isaac. Abraham sent his servant back to his homeland to look for a wife for his son Isaac. Here we can see a picture of God the Father sending out the Holy Spirit to call a bride for his Son Jesus Christ, which is the Church.

Speaking of looking for a wife, as a single pastor I've often been asked, "Pastor, why haven't you gotten married yet?" or "Pastor, have you ever even thought of getting married?" or "Pastor, when are you ever going to give your mother grandkids?" And yes, I've been introduced to or "paired" with one young lady or another. Sometimes I find these questions and good-natured teasing irritating. At this time I don't feel like explaining myself or talking about my past relationships. The sermon is a time to proclaim the Word of God, not to discuss the pastor's love life! (Or lack thereof.) I call this #SinglePastorProblems.

Another “problem” that I have is that I'm often assigned to small local churches. My first pastorate worshiped in a very small house church. I've had a church that meets in a rented apartment; another church that worships in a small building in the boondocks. (Yep, “boondocks” is an English word borrowed from Tagalog.) I've experienced worship services which have dwindled down to four people. And I'd been always asked: "Why hasn't your church been growing?" or "What strategies/projects/programs/activities have you done to make your church grow?" As a then-young, inexperienced, and clueless pastor, deep down inside I felt these irritating and even discouraging. Are numbers the sole measurement of success of a pastor's ministry?

Which brings us to today's Scripture reading in Genesis 24. In the book Becoming Beautiful for God, Betty Honeywell proposes that the finding of a bride for Isaac by Abraham's servant is a picture of how the Holy Spirit calls people to become the Bride of Christ, which is called the Church. In the Bible, the Church is called the Bride of Christ. In describing the relationship between husband and wife, St. Paul compares it with the relationship of Christ and his Church, saying:

This is a great mystery; I mean, concerning Christ and the church. (Ephesians 5:32)

The Tradition of the Church also portrays the Church as the Bride of Christ, our opening hymn today says,

The Church's one foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord

She is his new creation by water and the Word

From heaven he came and sought him to be his holy bride

With his own blood he bought her and for her life he died. (UMH 545)

I. Abraham asks his servant to look for a wife for Isaac.

In Genesis 24, Abraham was already very old and "well stricken in years" (v. 1) so he asked his servant (actually his steward--the eldest servant who was in charge of everything that Abraham owned, v. 2) to look for a wife for his son, Isaac: "...go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son" (v. 4). To make a long story short (this chapter is composed of repetitious narratives, which is why the Old Testament reading today is a composite of several separate sections), the servant prayed to the LORD to guide him until he found Rebekah, who would become the wife of Isaac.

This chapter is said to be the origin of the use of matchmakers among Jewish people. This was portrayed in the musical play Fiddler on the Roof where Reb Tevye's daughters sing (with much trepidation) of the village matchmacker, Yente:

Matchmaker, matchmaker, make me a match,

Find me a find, catch me a catch....

How can this story be possibly relevant for us Christians today?

II. The finding of a wife for Isaac is a picture of the work of the Holy Spirit.

In Becoming Beautiful for God, Honeywell proses that Abraham represents God the Father, Isaac is God the Son, the servant is the Holy Spirit, and Rebekah is the Church.

Just as Abraham sent his servant to look for a wife for his son Isaac, God the Father sent the Holy Spirit to look for a bride for Christ.

But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me. (John 15:26, emphasis added)

Just as the servant was sent by Abraham to look for a wife for a bride for Isaac, the Holy Spirit was sent from God the Father to look for a bride for Jesus Christ. Abraham's servant spoke only of Abraham and Isaac, so does the Spirit speaks only of Jesus Christ:

But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me. (John 15:26, emphasis added)

But when he, the Spirit of truth is come, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak of himself... (John 16:13)

So the sending of Abraham of his servant to look for a bride of Isaac is a picture of God the Father sending the Holy Spirit to look for a bride for his Son, Jesus Christ!

III. The work of the Holy Spirit and Prevenient Grace.

Among Methodists, our understanding of grace is as follows: prevenient grace, justifying grace, sanctifying grace, and glorifying grace. According to John Wesley, prevenient grace (or, the original term is "preventing grace") is

...the first wish to please God, the first dawn of light concerning his will, and the first slight transient conviction of having sinned against him. All these imply some tendency toward life; some degree of salvation; the beginning of a deliverance from a blind, unfeeling heart, quite insensible of God and the things of God. (Sermon 85: On Working Our our Own Salvation)

In other words, the grace of God is already present in us before we have loved or even have known God; just as the scripture says,

But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

The meeting of Abraham's servant and Rebekah is an example of prevenient grace. Abraham's servant prayed for specific signs of the "damsel" he was looking for and "it came to pass, before he had done speaking" (Genesis 24:15) Rebekah appears at the well and gave him water and his camels as well. Rebekah did not choose to be the wife of Isaac; even before she knew Isaac, she was chosen to be his wife, just like what Jesus said, "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you..." (John 15:16).

Prevenient grace does not force itself on people. When Abraham's servant narrates his mission to Rebekah's family, the final decision was not with anyone but Rebekah herself:

And they said, We will call the damsel, and enquire at her mouth. And they called Rebekah, and said unto her, Wilt thou go with this man? And she said, I will go. (Genesis 24:57-58)

Excursus: Lest the foregoing statement be used as an argument in favor of predestination, while it can be argued that Rebekah was chosen the bride of Isaac, she can refuse the offer, cf. Genesis 24:5 and 8. In the same way, the Holy Spirit can also be resisted, Acts 7:51. John Wesley also taught that prevenient grace can be resisted:

Every one has, sooner or later, good desires; although the generality of men stifle them before they can strike deep root, or produce any considerable fruit. Everyone has some measure of that light, some faint glimmering ray, which, sooner or later, more or less, enlightens every man that cometh into the world. And every one, unless he be one of the small number whose conscience is seared as with a hot iron, feels more or less uneasy when he acts contrary to the light of his own conscience. So that no man sins because he has not grace, but because he does not use the grace which he hath. (Sermon 85: On Working Our our Own Salvation, emphasis added)

Conclusion: Single Pastors (or Lay People) and Small Churches

Which leads us back to single pastors (or lay people) and small churches. At this point I cannot really offer much advice to single people (like myself) except that getting a life partner is a mystery that involves both the will of God and the will of the other person (similar to the Doctrine of Synergism among the East Orthodox Christians). In other words, it is ultimately the Holy Spirit who brings people into our lives who could be a potential life partner. (Of course, if you are a guy, you should take the steps to court her. And if you are a girl and you feel that this is the one that God has given you, it your part to say, “yes”.)

As for small churches, many people think that programs and activities will lead to church growth, such medical missions, evangelistic crusades and contemporary-style services. Again, I cannot offer much advice here because I am not especially gifted in mission and evangelism or in church growth. But I believe it is ultimately the work of the Holy Spirit that moves people to receive Christ and become members of his Church. 

Amen.