Look After Your Brother

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hen I was a small boy, my brother and I played together, went places together, shared toys together, and looked out for each other.  Like all brothers, we had our share of fights and scuffles, but there was always a bond between us.  If I got a new toy, I wanted him to have one too.  If someone gave me something, I shared it with him.  When went to birthday parties or to new places, I looked after him and took up for him.  My parents always told me that I was to look after my brother and set a good example for him.  I didn't always set a good example but I never forgot their admonition to look out for him and care for him.  Their words consistently played over and over in my mind as a constant reminder of my responsibility to and for my brother.

The book of Genesis records a similar understanding between Jacob and his father-in-law Laban.  These two men made a covenant with each other and erected a pile of stones as a reminder of that pledge.  They gave different names to the place where the covenant was reached.  These names served to remind them of their collective responsibility to and for each other.  The covenant was sealed with the understanding God would keep both these men safe when they left each other.  Laban's words to Jacob regarding God's care for them both are recorded in Genesis 31:48-49, “And Laban said, “This heap is a witness between you and me this day.” Therefore, its name was called Galeed, also Mizpah, because he said, “May the Lord watch between you and me when we are absent one from another."

In May of 2001, I participated in a covenant identical to the one between Laban and Jacob. I graduated from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary with a Master of Divinity Degree along with more than 300 classmates.  We came from many states and other countries, yet we were all brothers and sisters in Christ.  As we walked across the stage, we each received a diploma, a document which reminded us of our mutual experience at seminary.  Our speaker also reminded us that we were to pray for each other and that we all had the same mission whether together or apart. 

Like Laban and Jacob's agreement, our diplomas all looked alike, similar to that heap of stones.  However, just as Laban and Jacob assigned different names to the place of their covenant our diplomas all had different names.  Each time I look at my diploma, I think of and pray for my classmates, serving in different parts of the world and I know when they look at their diplomas, they are thinking of and praying for me. 

My diploma represents so much more than just writing on a piece of paper and more than my individual effort.  It is a testimony to the faithfulness of God, of family and friends who faithfully love me and pray for me.  It is a testimony to the spirit of Jacob and Laban's agreement so many years ago, to look after each other, and, when absent from each other's presence, to pray God's guidance, blessing, protection, and sustaining love for all those we call friends and brothers and sisters in Christ.  It is my prayer for each of you today that God will keep you in his care, gird you with his strength, comfort you with his peace, and enfold you in his love, "while we are absent one from another."