Grace Congregational UCC

“Rachel, Weeping For Her Children”
Matthew 2:3-23
Hebrews 2:10-18

December 30, 2007 - Kim M. Henning

As far as I can tell, the best love story in the Bible is that of Jacob and Rachel. Jacob and Rachel will make you smile and they will make you cry. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

To begin, we need to know Jacob. If ever there was a mischievous child growing up, it was Jacob. Always conniving, always the trickster. Jacob was one you could never turn your back on. He just wasn’t trustworthy. One day Jacob stepped over the line once too often and his brother Esau was determined to kill him. So Jacob took off running.

Jacob headed east—toward the country of his grandfather, Abraham. Along the way he came to a well where he met up with some shepherds watering their flocks. They were talking when another shepherd came along. And who should the shepherd be with a flock of sheep, but Rachel. It was love at first sight. The stone on top of the well needed to be removed, Jacob obliged. And then, almost inappropriately, Jacob kissed Rachel and wept aloud. That’s what scripture says. He kissed and wept. That moment was overwhelming.

Rachel went home. She told her father, about ‘the man at the well.’ Laban went out to meet the man at the well and he brought Jacob home. Within a month, Jacob proposed.

Now remember, Jacob was on the run. He had no flocks, no land, no money for a dowry. So Jacob says to Laban, “I will work for you seven years for the right to marry your daughter.” Seven years! Can you imagine! But the story says, “So Jacob served seven years for Rachel and they seemed to him but a few days because of his love for her.” Isn’t this beautiful!

Now Jacob is ready for a marriage, but Laban had other plans. On the occasion of this wedding, Laban throws a party. Jacob has too much to drink, and Laban that night ushers his other daughter, Leah, into Jacob’s tent. When Jacob awakes the next morning, he realizes that he has been tricked. The woman he slept with was Leah, not Rachel. He storms off to Laban. What have you done?!

Laban calmly responds, “Leah is the older daughter and had to be married first. But if you work for me another seven years, I will give you Rachel as well.” And that is what Jacob did because he loved Rachel so much. Fourteen years of service to marry the love of his life. And he did. And they married.

Now their love was beautiful and their love was rich .......but one thing was missing. Rachel could not conceive. Leah had a house of children. She had none. Then one day......Rachel was found to be with child. She was so happy. She gave birth. And the child born was Joseph.

Nothing came easy for Rachel and Jacob, but their love grew. In fact Rachel said, “I would like a second child.” And she conceived. And the child went full term. And then it happened...... It was a difficult delivery. Things did not go well. A child was born, Benjamin. But Rachel did not survive.

Rachel, the beloved wife of Jacob, died bringing a child into this world.

Rachel died weeping.....

Rachel died crying.... Her deathbed was soaked with tears.

Today in modern Israel, Rachel’s tomb is one of the most frequented sites in the Holy Land. The most popular of all places is the temple in Jerusalem. But second or third in popularity is Rachel’s tomb. Her tomb is a place of mourning. It is said that women who cannot bear children weep at Rachel’s tomb—she knows the bitterness. It is said that women who have lost children weep there. Rachel’s story speaks to them.

Today is the first Sunday of Christmas. Just six days ago we were singing “Joy to the World”. People came to worship six days ago who we may not see again until next year. If ever there is a time when faith is near the mountaintop it is when we sing “Silent Night” and we’re holding a candle in the darkness.

And did you hear today’s story that follows close on the heel of the Christmas story? A child is born and we fall to our knees----BUT NOT EVERYONE. Herod hears of Jesus’ birth. And because the world was no less violent then than it is today, he promises to kill the child.

So Joseph, Mary and the child took off to Egypt. And when Herod realized that he had been tricked, he ordered that all the children in and around Bethlehem two years old and under be killed.

It is a story of genocide. Violence. When Matthew tells us the story, he writes, “A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled because they are no more.”

Mother Rachel is weeping........

Did you catch that in the story? As Matthew attempts to describe the sheer tragedy of that day—babies being killed by a wretched king, the best he can do is quote the prophet Jeremiah who remembers the time of Rachel’s weeping.......when she would not be comforted.

Is there any better response than tears? A child, the Son of God comes into the world to makes this right with God. And because power does what power has always done in this world—it kills, the church joins Rachel weeping.

Jesus is spared today because Joseph has a dream and they flee to Egypt. What about the thousands who cannot flee? Rachel is weeping for those parents and those children in and around Jerusalem whose lives have been terribly upset.

The occasions for weeping never cease. What do you know of weeping? Love lost? Hope lost? Life lost?

This week, we learned that 900,000 men and women become widows and widowers each year. Widows and widowers can tell us about tears.....

What about the immigrants? Illegal or not, immigrants want only food and a future for their children. Only food. Only a future. Do we play the power card or do we weep?

What about that tragedy in Pakistan, the assassination of Benezir Bhutto? Citizens of Pakistan are wailing. How do we respond to a world where suicide bombings are an everyday occurrence? Such hopelessness? Weep....

And here..... the entertainment of choice for many is Ultimate Fighting where one human being pummels a second human being and the crowds cheer......and when one is lying lifeless on a mat, the pumps his arms into the air. If this is not cause for weeping, what is?

Thomas Aquinas many years ago said that the church is gifted with tears. We live in a world of catharsis. We’re all tough. We’re all thick-skinned. We spend billions on killing when that same money would feed the hungry of this world many times over. Is anyone weeping?

Rachel is weeping.... But she is not without hope.

Into our midst is born, “a Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace”.

William Sloan Coffin was once pastor of Riverside Church in Manhattan. Coffin is most often remembered for his social activism. Coffin was not afraid to speak against war, against armament, against the powers of this world. One day, Coffin officiated at a funeral. A man in his church lost a loved one. The funeral was held on a cold, miserable day. After everyone else left the grave site, the man stayed, in the rain and cold, for several hours, dealing with his grief. He just stood there...rain, cold sleet.....

When finally he turned to return to his car, directly behind him stood Pastor Coffin. Coffin had stood with him in the rain, in the cold the entire time to comfort, to pray for him.

In the midst of this world’s misery.....we are promised, Immanuel, God with us. The best God has to give is God’s self. It is a promise we have. It is a hope we have. We are not alone in this mess. It is God and us together. You are not weeping alone......