The Beauty of Brokenness

15 Then Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my kinsman, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?” 16 Now Laban had two daughters. The name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. 17 Leah’s eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful in form and appearance. 18 Jacob loved Rachel. And he said, “I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.” 19 Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to any other man; stay with me.” 20 So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her. 21 Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife that I may go in to her, for my time is completed.” 22 So Laban gathered together all the people of the place and made a feast. 23 But in the evening he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob, and he went in to her. 24 (Laban gave his female servant Zilpah to his daughter Leah to be her servant.) 25 And in the morning, behold, it was Leah! And Jacob said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Did I not serve with you for Rachel? Why then have you deceived me?” 26 Laban said, “It is not so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn. 27 Complete the week of this one, and we will give you the other also in return for serving me another seven years.” 28 Jacob did so, and completed her week. Then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife. 29 (Laban gave his female servant Bilhah to his daughter Rachel to be her servant.) 30 So Jacob went in to Rachel also, and he loved Rachel more than Leah, and served Laban for another seven years. 31 When the Lord saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. 32 And Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben, for she said, “Because the Lord has looked upon my affliction; for now my husband will love me.” 33 She conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Because the Lord has heard that I am hated, he has given me this son also.” And she called his name Simeon. 34 Again she conceived and bore a son, and said, “Now this time my husband will be attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore his name was called Levi. 35 And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “This time I will praise the Lord.” Therefore she called his name Judah. Then she ceased bearing.

We tent to think that God needs greatness.

1. Jacob found beauty where we find beauty.

Genesis 29:16–18 ESV

16 Now Laban had two daughters. The name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. 17 Leah’s eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful in form and appearance. 18 Jacob loved Rachel. And he said, “I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.”

(1) A. Leah was deformed and despised.

Leah’s eyes were weak.

It seems the translators were having a hard time commenting on Lea’s appearance.

(KJV) - Tender eyes

(NIV,ESV,NASB) - Weak eyes

(NRSV) - There was no sparkle in Leah’s eyes

So what does this mean?

It was not a good thing.

Genesis 29:17 (ESV)

17 Leah’s eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful in form and appearance.

There is a clear contrast here.

Many scholars believe this...

Leah had soft pail blue eyes in a sparkling brown eyed middle eastern culture.

What we know is that Leah had a deformity that caused her to be looked down on.

vs 31 says she was hated.

Leah was deformed and despised.

She wasn’t good enough.

Leah’s name is telling.

It means weary and warn down.

This was her life.

Living in the shadow of her beautiful and favored younger sister.

The older daughter who had been serving longer than Rachel.

Also probably continued to serve as Rachel entertained guests.

(1) B. Rachel enjoyed outward beauty and favor.

Beautiful in form and well favored.

She was beautiful.

She was talented.

She was well liked and loved.

For Jacob is was love at first sight!

Jacob found beauty where we find beauty.

This is the person we would have loved and chosen!

(1) C. Do you identify with Rachel or Leah?

Bibe college

Didn’t play sports

Not part of the popular crowd

Struggled with grades

Never graduated

When I see my former professors they don’t remember me

While watching other super talented people

Serve on traveling teams

Sing

Preach in chapel

Serve as class and student body presidents

Win championships and travel the world while playing sports

Use all kinds of talents to catch peoples attention

I would see them catch the eyes of the professors

And gain the attention of the administrators.

They were somebody and I would wish I had what they had so my life could make a greater impact for the Lord.

Bi-vocational pastor

It wasn’t a thriving church.

I couldn’t be a part of the thing the other youth pastors were.

They often treated me as though I wasn’t a “real” pastor.

I didn’t have the talent and creative thinking to be able to teach and lead my youth group the way others I knew could.

First Baptist

Who am I to lead a church?

What is there about me, talents do I have to help lead FBC into our next 150 years?

Who am I to train the next generation of pastors and leaders?

Who are we to even think we could have an impact beyond our little church?

That we could somehow be used to encourage other churches to build a culture of biblical disciple-making.

That we should ever have a thought of planting a church in Big Rapids.

CBM

What could I ever bring to the table to help lead CBM into their next 85 years.

Or that our little church could somehow impact church planting and revitalization across the United States through CBM?

None of this makes any sense to me.

It can become overwhelming when I sit and think about it.

So you now know that I identify with Leah.

I have never been a first round draft pick.

Here is what I love about what this passage teaches us about God.

Let’s set the stage...

Genesis 29:18–30 ESV

18 Jacob loved Rachel. And he said, “I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.” 19 Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to any other man; stay with me.” 20 So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her. 21 Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife that I may go in to her, for my time is completed.” 22 So Laban gathered together all the people of the place and made a feast. 23 But in the evening he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob, and he went in to her. 24 (Laban gave his female servant Zilpah to his daughter Leah to be her servant.) 25 And in the morning, behold, it was Leah! And Jacob said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Did I not serve with you for Rachel? Why then have you deceived me?” 26 Laban said, “It is not so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn. 27 Complete the week of this one, and we will give you the other also in return for serving me another seven years.” 28 Jacob did so, and completed her week. Then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife. 29 (Laban gave his female servant Bilhah to his daughter Rachel to be her servant.) 30 So Jacob went in to Rachel also, and he loved Rachel more than Leah, and served Laban for another seven years.

Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah.

2. God finds beauty where we do not find beauty.

If you find your self identifying more with Lea than Rachel, look at this...

Genesis 29:31 ESV

31 When the Lord saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.

2. God finds beauty where we do not find beauty.

God saw Leah was hated and He opened her womb.

The cause of God opening Leah’s womb was because she was deformed and despised.

God doesn’t just find beauty where we do not, but God is attracted to brokenness.

This isn’t pity… God didn’t do this because He felt bad for Leah

God is attracted to our brokenness and shortfalls.

1 Corinthians 1:26–29 ESV

26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.

2. God finds beauty where we do not find beauty.

Consider your calling.

Think about the history of Christianity.

Who did God use to advance His kingdom?

Not many wise, powerful, of noble birth.

They were broken.

Not well known.

Not with political or military clout.

Not people of influence.

Paul is saying God is not looking for...

Men with a bunch of seminary degrees.

Famous celebrities.

Presidents

Governors

He is looking for the losers.

The morons.

The broken people.

The people who don’t get picked first.

The people nobody would ever expect could accomplish anything.

So that nobody can brag about their accomplishments.

We see it all over scripture.

But I want to illustrate this to you in a context we can relate to.... Disciple-making.

There were three stages of Jewish education during Jesus’ time.

We have asked the question: “Did the disciples understand what Jesus was telling them to do when He said ‘go make disciples’”?

This will also help us understand the answer to that question.

So...Each stage included a specific age group.

1. Bet Sefer - Meaning “House of the Book”. Jewish boys and girls both participated in this stage. This usually took place in the synagogue. The focus was reading, writing, and memorization of the Torah. Age: 5 or 6 - 10.

Bet Talmud - Meaning “House of Learning”. From ages 10-12. Jewish boys would focus on studying oral interpretations of the Torah and the rest of Jewish Scripture. At the age of 12 a boy was considered an adult in the religious sense.

Bet Midrash - After 12 or 13 the gifted students joined Beth Midrash where the focus was understanding and applying the Torah and oral tradition to daily life in a more intense way. Study was conducted under a famous rabbi. The students goal was to become like the rabbi. Without this third stage of education, a Jewish man could not be seen as fully educated.

So first… yes, the disciples understood. It was part of their culture.

The GIFTED were chosen by FAMOUS rabbis.

If you were not gifted you went into the trades.

Instead of learning from a rabbi, you would learn your father’s trade.

(2) A. Jesus was attracted to the non-gifted.

Jesus went to the shore and found men who where fishing - following their father’s trade.

The non-gifted.

Not good enough to make the cut.

This is who Jesus sought out to be His disciples and change the world!!

It surprised us how quickly the disciples dropped what they were doing to follow Jesus.

But maybe it was because they were excited to finally be valued.

Not think about our lives...

God is calling the non-gifted to follow Him and make disciples, but we fight him.

We make excuses.

We drag or feet

We talk ourselves out of it.

(2) B. God would use Leah to change the world.

Matthew 1:1–2 ESV

1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. 2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,

Through Judah’s line came David.

Through Judah’s line came the Messiah.

Genesis 29:31–35 ESV

31 When the Lord saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. 32 And Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben, for she said, “Because the Lord has looked upon my affliction; for now my husband will love me.” 33 She conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Because the Lord has heard that I am hated, he has given me this son also.” And she called his name Simeon. 34 Again she conceived and bore a son, and said, “Now this time my husband will be attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore his name was called Levi. 35 And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “This time I will praise the Lord.” Therefore she called his name Judah. Then she ceased bearing.

(2) B. God would use Leah to change the world.

It was through the line of the “hated” wife.

The blemished wife.

The unwanted wife.

That God ushered the Messiah into the world.

Questions for the week:

Do you most identify with Rachel or Leah? Why?

How has who you are impacted your service for God?

Do you really believe that God can do big things through you and through our church?

If so, what are you willing to let God do through you, and what part will you play in God using First Baptist HC to advance His Kingdom?