Sermon Tone Analysis
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*Designer Matches*
The next few weeks we will be studying some families in the book of Genesis.
Genesis 29 has a story that is a little unusual.
It’s probably not a story that was read to you as a child.
It starts off like any other story.
Abraham’s grandson, Jacob, falls in love with a young woman named Rachel.
Boy meets girl.
Boy falls in love.
But from there it takes a Jerry Springer type twist.
It’s not what you would expect to read about in the Bible.
Here’s what happened.
"Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel.
Leah had weak eyes, but Rachel was lovely in form, and beautiful.
Jacob was in love with Rachel and said, ‘I’ll work for you seven years in return for your younger daughter Rachel.’"
[Genesis 29:16-18, NIV]
Jacob strikes this deal with Rachel’s father.
Seven years of work and he will get her hand in marriage.
The Bible also says there is an older sister named Leah.
It’s very unusual in Scripture for there to be a physical description of a person.
It’s very rare.
Whenever it’s included, it’s always for a reason.
In this story we read that Rachel is lovely in form and beautiful, but that Leah has ‘weak eyes’.
To be fair to Leah, the word ‘weak’ is not translated that well for us here.
It could just as easily be translated ‘delicate’.
She has nice eyes.
But, guys, let’s be honest.
If you were set up on a blind date by a friend and you ask what she looks like and your friend says she has delicate eyes--yeah, it’s going to be a long night.
Right?
We read that Leah has delicate eyes.
Rachel is lovely in form and beautiful.
So Jacob wants to marry Rachel.
"So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.
Then Jacob said to Laban, ‘Give me my wife.
My time is completed, and I want to lie with her.’" [Genesis 29:20-21, NIV}
Vers 20 is one of the most romantic verses in the Bible.
Vs.
21 not as much.
But, it’s 7 years.
You can’t be too hard on the guy.
It’s a long engagement.
Then the story takes this soap-opera-like twist.
"So Laban brought together all the people of the place and gave a feast.
But when evening came, he took his daughter Leah and gave her to Jacob, and Jacob lay with her.
And Laban gave his servant girl Zilpah to his daughter as her maidservant.
When morning came, there was Leah!
So Jacob said to Laban, ‘What is this you have done to me?
I served you for Rachel, didn’t I? Why have you deceived me?’" [Genesis 29:22-25, NIV]
Now aren’t we all thinking the same thing here?
How did he not know?
Right?
C’mon.
I think there’s a few factors that could have come into play.
Maybe Laban got Jacob drunk and after enough drinks Leah with weak eyes looked a lot like Rachel who was lovely in form and beautiful.
That could happen.
Perhaps it was dark because there was no electricity back then and so maybe he just couldn’t see that well.
I don’t really know how this could have happened, but somehow he thought he was marrying Rachel and he wakes up next to Leah.
Don’t you think there’s a lot of Jerry Springer shows that could be done from this one Bible story alone.
You could do one called, “Surprise morning makovers.”
How about, “Your sister’s hot but you’re not.”
Or, probably the most descriptive show you could do is, “I married the wrong person.”
And, I think, as crazy as this story is in Scripture, I think it happens a lot today.
Maybe not literally, but this happens in a lot of marriages--where someone gets married and they wake up and it might not be the next morning, but they wake up and they don’t know who it is they’ve married.
They think to themselves, “I thought I was getting this, and now I’ve got this.”
It happens a lot.
Fast forward 5,6,7, 10 years into the marriage and there’s a house payment and a couple of kids, and husband and wife feel like strangers.
Think about Leah in this story.
She would spend the next decade of her life trying to win the heart of Jacob, and she would never manage it.
She would try to get his love, but she never felt loved.
She never felt valued by her husband.
I wonder if there are some people here who find themselves a lit bit disappointed and a little disillusioned in their role as marriage partner?
It’s just not how you thought it would be.
A young woman sent this letter to her mother.
“Dear Mom, I’m trying hard to understand what’s happened to my marriage.
What I thought was a sure thing has fallen apart.
I’m starting to wonder if this is the man I was meant to marry.
Maybe I’ve missed God’s will.
Being married isn’t all what I thought it would be.
I know that a lot of people have problems, but I was sure things would be different for us.
Before we got married, it seemed that we had so much in common.
Now it doesn’t seem we agree on anything.
I feel ripped off.
He feels the same way.
Last night he told me that he is the victim of a bait and switch scam.
We’re both bitter and angry and frustrated.
Do you think the person God wanted me to marry is still out there somewhere?
I’m constantly comparing him to others.
I don’t know.
Maybe I should divorce and start searching again for my true soul mate.
All I know is that I am deeply disappointed in my marriage.
I don’t know what to do, but I can’t live like this.”
Maybe there’s someone here who could write a letter like that.
Do you feel like what you have in your relationship is not what you signed up for?
And, being a wife or husband or mom or father just hasn’t turned out as you imagined it to be.
So there are many families who experience this disappointment.
The overwhelming response of what you do about it is--nothing.
Many couples just settle.
They settle for this type of relationship.
And yet, for most of us it is our deepest desire to have a wonderful marriage and family.
According to a LA Times survey of 2000 of their readers who were asked, ‘What is your main goal in life?”
By far the overwhelming answer was to be happily married.
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