By: The Rev. Craig Stephans
As we continue to read through Genesis, we come to the marriage of Jacob to Leah and then Rachel. Jacob loved Rachel, and the seven years working to have her went by quickly. When he awoke the morning after his wedding party, he found that he had consummated a marriage to Leah. That for which he had longed and worked for seemed to have been taken from him and replaced with something he didn’t want.
An unexpected or unplanned pregnancy is often referred to as an “unwanted” pregnancy. That is another way of saying “unwanted child” in the womb. The unwanted child may be something that threatens the desired path of the mother’s and/or father’s life. It may seem like a hindrance to reaching their dreams or having “their best life now.” Too often, the Western church’s message is that with God you can have your dreams and reach your goals and have all that you want. If that is how we interpret God’s mission in our lives, then fulfilling that can justify getting rid of something that hinders its attainment-like an “unwanted pregnancy” or a debilitated loved one.
We see in the wonderful text of Romans that God’s goal is not making our dreams and wishes come true. His goal for our lives is that we become conformed to the image of his Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ. The image of Jesus Christ is self-sacrificial love. Through self-sacrificial love, God fulfills his purpose of making Jesus the “firstborn within a large family.” Therefore, God does not let anything stop him from loving people. He desires to love them into his family through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and work of the Holy Spirit in people’s lives. Jacob accepted Leah as his wife, and then he received Rachel as his wife also. He had to work seven for years for Laban. Leah, the wife Jacob did not expect and did not want, gave Jacob six sons, including Judah from whose tribe Jesus was born. He received blessings of sons from both Leah and Rachel. An unplanned pregnancy that becomes an accepted and loved child can become the best blessing of a mother’s and family’s lives.
God promises to be present “to help us in our weakness.” He gives the Holy Spirit to us, and Paul writes, “We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” When we sacrifice our self-serving ambitions, dreams, or treasures for the sake of loving and serving God and others, He will cause it to work for our good according to His purpose of conforming us to the image of Jesus. The gospel reading mixes metaphors for the kingdom of God that can also serve as analogies to babies conceived and growing in the womb. Like the kingdom of God, at conception a baby is the size of a mustard seed, and, like the kingdom, it grows to life and can become a blessing to those who love it. Jesus also compares the kingdom to a treasure in a field and a pearl of great price. When it is found, it becomes the greatest treasure of the one who values it. A child, planned or unplanned, can become a family’s greatest treasure-if accepted and loved, whether given for adoption for love’s sake or kept for love’s sake. God is present to help us with the greatest force in the universe-His unconquerable love.