Our Eighth Companion: Abraham's Servant
. . . who journeyed for another
And Abraham said to his servant..."Go to my country and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son Isaac."
(Genesis 24:2, 4)
It's exhilarating to travel with famous men of faith - with Moses, Abraham, Elisha. The man with whom we are journeying now, however, is not even given a name. He had one, of course, ancestors, hopes and fears, most likely a wife and children. But these details about him - if they were known to those who first recounted his story around the tribal campfires - were not considered worth preserving when the time came to commit the history of Israel to paper. He thus becomes a fit companion for all of us "nobodies" on this path of faith.
But though his name was not recorded, his contribution was - set down for all time in sacred scripture. Without this anonymous individual, in fact, the Bible would close with the book of Genesis. On the faithful carrying-out of the task assigned him hinged the future of God's chosen people.
He could not have foreseen the importance of his assignment, any more than you and I can see the link between our daily duties and God's all-inclusive plan. But no chain can spare any link - not my contribution, not yours. Only God sees the grand design from beginning to end; our responsibility is to discharge our particular assignment. To discover, in other words.
The serenity of servanthood
Through the Old Testament great value is placed on faithful servants. It isn't until the New Testament, however - when God himself come to earth as a servant (Phil. 2:7) - that servanthood begins to be seen not just as an acceptable role but the God-given calling for all believers.
It's a hard concept for us today. The whole tradition of the personal servant seems to belong to a happily outgrown past. Most of us are neither servants nor masters - while for most of human history every man, woman, and child was one or the other.
Where shall we go in the servantless age to find a role model for our own servanthood? What are the standards by which a servant is judged?
There is only one: his master's evaluation.
Anyone else's opinion of a servant's performance - even his own - simply doesn't matter. "Who are you to pass judgement on the servant of another?" demands St. Paul. "It is before his own master that he stands or falls" (Rom. 14:4). When we become servants of God we cease having to care about satisfying anybody else.
Abraham's servant is our model. How do we know he was a good one? Because Abraham thought so: He "had charge of all that he had." Let's watch the way this good servant carried out his task.
1. He got his orders clear
So often we catch a glimpse of the divine mission and dash off without establishing the limits of our assignment. The experienced servant of Abraham, before setting out on his journey, made sure he understood what he was not to do.
Limited tasks can be the hardest of all. To speak a word, to write a letter - and then take our hands off - this the heart of servanthood: "I planted, Apollos watered," wrote Paul, "but God gave the growth... What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants..." (1 Cor. 3:6, 5)
2. He prayed as he obeyed
External obedience, the perfunctory carrying-out of a command, could be compelled by an all-powerful human master. And it can be compelled in us by a false image of a harsh and punitive God.
Our companion today did not give grudging service based on fear. He was Abraham's man - heart and soul, as well as body - praying for the success of his journey as he covered the miles.
3. He knew how to wait
Having placed in God's hands the choice of a wife for his master's son, "the man gazed at her in the silence to learn whether the lord had prospered his journey or not." At the sigh of Rebekah, everything in the servant must have cried out, "This is the one!" Young, beautiful, gracious, kind - surely his mission was a brilliant success! And he had ten camel loads of gifts with which to influence events.
But as a servant he had learned to wait the pleasure of another. Only after the sign from God was given did he draw some jewelry from his saddlebags.
4. He put his master's interests first
After the long trek from Canaan to Mesopotamia, Abraham's servant was dusty, tired, and above all hungry. But his assignment from Abraham was a trust that came ahead of everything. "Then food was set before him to eat, but he said, 'I will not eat until I have told my errand.'"
Rebekah and her family agree to the betrothal, but want her to remain at home "at least ten days." Abraham's servant is not a young man. Ten days to rest and enjoy fabled Near Eastern hospitality before setting out once more on a rigorous journey is surely not self-indulgent.
"But he said to them, 'Do not delay me, since the Lord has prospered my way; let me go that I go to my master.'... Then Rebekah and her maids arose, and rode upon the camels and followed the man."
That I may go to my master...
Lord of the Journey, help me to know that servanthood is the royal road to Your Kingdom.
Meet our next companion now >
And Abraham said to his servant..."Go to my country and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son Isaac."
(Genesis 24:2, 4)
It's exhilarating to travel with famous men of faith - with Moses, Abraham, Elisha. The man with whom we are journeying now, however, is not even given a name. He had one, of course, ancestors, hopes and fears, most likely a wife and children. But these details about him - if they were known to those who first recounted his story around the tribal campfires - were not considered worth preserving when the time came to commit the history of Israel to paper. He thus becomes a fit companion for all of us "nobodies" on this path of faith.
But though his name was not recorded, his contribution was - set down for all time in sacred scripture. Without this anonymous individual, in fact, the Bible would close with the book of Genesis. On the faithful carrying-out of the task assigned him hinged the future of God's chosen people.
He could not have foreseen the importance of his assignment, any more than you and I can see the link between our daily duties and God's all-inclusive plan. But no chain can spare any link - not my contribution, not yours. Only God sees the grand design from beginning to end; our responsibility is to discharge our particular assignment. To discover, in other words.
The serenity of servanthood
Through the Old Testament great value is placed on faithful servants. It isn't until the New Testament, however - when God himself come to earth as a servant (Phil. 2:7) - that servanthood begins to be seen not just as an acceptable role but the God-given calling for all believers.
It's a hard concept for us today. The whole tradition of the personal servant seems to belong to a happily outgrown past. Most of us are neither servants nor masters - while for most of human history every man, woman, and child was one or the other.
Where shall we go in the servantless age to find a role model for our own servanthood? What are the standards by which a servant is judged?
There is only one: his master's evaluation.
Anyone else's opinion of a servant's performance - even his own - simply doesn't matter. "Who are you to pass judgement on the servant of another?" demands St. Paul. "It is before his own master that he stands or falls" (Rom. 14:4). When we become servants of God we cease having to care about satisfying anybody else.
Abraham's servant is our model. How do we know he was a good one? Because Abraham thought so: He "had charge of all that he had." Let's watch the way this good servant carried out his task.
1. He got his orders clear
So often we catch a glimpse of the divine mission and dash off without establishing the limits of our assignment. The experienced servant of Abraham, before setting out on his journey, made sure he understood what he was not to do.
Limited tasks can be the hardest of all. To speak a word, to write a letter - and then take our hands off - this the heart of servanthood: "I planted, Apollos watered," wrote Paul, "but God gave the growth... What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants..." (1 Cor. 3:6, 5)
2. He prayed as he obeyed
External obedience, the perfunctory carrying-out of a command, could be compelled by an all-powerful human master. And it can be compelled in us by a false image of a harsh and punitive God.
Our companion today did not give grudging service based on fear. He was Abraham's man - heart and soul, as well as body - praying for the success of his journey as he covered the miles.
3. He knew how to wait
Having placed in God's hands the choice of a wife for his master's son, "the man gazed at her in the silence to learn whether the lord had prospered his journey or not." At the sigh of Rebekah, everything in the servant must have cried out, "This is the one!" Young, beautiful, gracious, kind - surely his mission was a brilliant success! And he had ten camel loads of gifts with which to influence events.
But as a servant he had learned to wait the pleasure of another. Only after the sign from God was given did he draw some jewelry from his saddlebags.
4. He put his master's interests first
After the long trek from Canaan to Mesopotamia, Abraham's servant was dusty, tired, and above all hungry. But his assignment from Abraham was a trust that came ahead of everything. "Then food was set before him to eat, but he said, 'I will not eat until I have told my errand.'"
Rebekah and her family agree to the betrothal, but want her to remain at home "at least ten days." Abraham's servant is not a young man. Ten days to rest and enjoy fabled Near Eastern hospitality before setting out once more on a rigorous journey is surely not self-indulgent.
"But he said to them, 'Do not delay me, since the Lord has prospered my way; let me go that I go to my master.'... Then Rebekah and her maids arose, and rode upon the camels and followed the man."
That I may go to my master...
Lord of the Journey, help me to know that servanthood is the royal road to Your Kingdom.
Meet our next companion now >