Longing to sleep in our own bed
Genesis 46:1-4
Israel set out with all that was his. When he arrived at
Beer-sheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. There God,
speaking to Israel in a vision by night, called, “Jacob! Jacob!” He answered,
“Here I am.” Then he said: “I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid
to go down to Egypt, for there I will make you a great nation. Not only will I
go down to Egypt with you; I will also bring you back here, after Joseph has
closed your eyes.”
I have had
the best summer ever, and been on vacation all over the world. Of course, I’ve been here in the U.S.
enjoying seafood in Seattle and wine in Napa Valley. I’ve gaped in wide-eyed wonder into the Grand
Canyon, and almost caught a homerun at a St. Louis Cardinals game. I’ve taken gondola rides in Venice and stood
in silent prayer looking down at the USS Arizona in Pearl Harbor. I almost got sunburned on the beach and
nearly lost my Ray Bans on a roller coaster ride. I’ve walked through the Metropolitan Museum
of Art in New York City, the Louvre in Paris, the Prado in Madrid and the
Uffizi in Florence. And you know what
else I did? I slept in my own bed every
night! How is that possible, you’ll no
doubt ask. Easy. I’ve been seeing everyone else’s vacation
pictures on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter!
That's just like being there! But
do you know the best part of any vacation?
It’s coming home and sleeping in your own bed; unless you take vacations
like me (on Facebook) and sleep in your own bed EVERY night.
The first
reading today from Genesis 46 is about a family vacation that literally “goes
South” and becomes a disaster. Jacob
packs up his whole family and goes to Egypt.
And while they are in Egypt they enjoy the sites and sounds; they live in
the best neighborhood of Goshen and they were people of prominence and prestige
because Joseph was second in the Kingdom.
But like Chevy Chase’s “National Lampoon’s Vacation,” disaster strikes
and the family becomes enslaved in Egypt.
But God promises Jacob, “Not only will I go down to Egypt with you; I
will also bring you back here, after Joseph has closed your eyes.” In other words, God promises Jacob that one
day, after this vacation from hell, you will sleep in your own bed. Too bad Jacob didn’t have Facebook – he could
have slept in his own bed every night, like me.
My
friends, may I suggest to you that our whole existence on earth is kind of like
the vacation from hell? We started off
great in the Garden of Eden, but then Adam, like Chevy Chase, drove the family
RV off the cliff! And we’ve been picking
up the pieces of that ruined vacation ever since, trying to make the best of it
on earth, making lemonade out of lemons.
Just like Jacob’s family spent 400 years in enslaved in Egypt, so Adam’s
family has spent 4,000 years enslaved on earth. But God also says to us, “Not
only will I go down to Egypt with you; I will also bring you back here, after
Joseph has closed your eyes.” In other
words, someday, this vacation from hell – our lives on earth – will be over,
and we will go home to heaven and sleep in our own beds. That’s why St. Teresa of Avila described
earthly life as “a bad night in a bad inn.”
Maybe St. Teresa had watched the movie “National Lampoon’s Vacation,”
too. The best part of any vacation is
going home and sleeping in your own bed.
Praised be
Jesus Christ!
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