Abraham was now a very old man, and the Lord had blessed him in every way. One day Abraham said to his oldest servant, the man in charge of his household, “Take an oath by putting your hand under my thigh. Swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and earth, that you will not allow my son to marry one of these local Canaanite women. Go instead to my homeland, to my relatives, and find a wife there for my son Isaac.”
Genesis 24:1-4
Saint Gregory the Great said,
"But who is the servant who is sent to fetch a wife if not the order of Prophets and the Apostles and all the teachers who, when they speak the word of preaching to good minds, become, as it were, matchmakers for each soul for union with the Only-Begotten Son."
Now that is one sweet and inspiring ideal of preaching, in my opinion! It will send me to the pulpit with a smile and maybe a tune in my head...
5 comments:
And I was thinking the song would be "Tradition!"
Pewster, "Tradition" is on the Index established by the Intergalactic Peace and Justice Task Force of the Social/Enviromental Reconciliation SubCommittee of the Secretariat of the Executive Committee of the General Convention.
IOW PB Schori and Anderson didn't like it.
Like you say, Fiddler in the Pulpit...
Thanks, Tim. What a lofty vision of what preaching can be, at its best.
But the famous Matchmaker scene is absolutely delightful, and quickly brought me back to earth. With a smile.
Oops, that was me. I accidentally hit the Publish button too soon.
Anyway, thanks again, Tim, for the inspiring idea and the heart-warming movie clip.
I just hope we preachers do better than Jane Austen's Emma as matchmakers.
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