And his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, which is before Mamre. Genesis 25:9
Isaac and Ishmael weren’t exactly close brothers, and didn’t get along well. In fact, the first time we read of them being together, Ishmael was mocking Isaac. Only a few verses earlier than our text, we read that all of Abraham’s possessions were given to Isaac. That undoubtedly was noticed by Ishmael. Their father had prayed for both of these sons, and longed that they would both serve the Lord. But God had made it plain to him which son was the son of blessing, and Abraham obeyed. Did Ishmael resent that? We don’t know. All we have is the account of Abraham’s funeral, in which the two sons came together to mark their father’s passing. We can learn something today from both of these lads.
As the son of promise, as the recipient of all of his father’s possessions, Isaac could easily have excluded Ishmael from the burial formalities. After all, his father had sent Ishmael away when he was a teenager, and had made it clear that Ishmael was not to receive an inheritance. At the funeral would have been all of the important folks in the community. Abraham was recognized as a great man, and his funeral would have been the most significant event of the year. At the funeral, Isaac would be publicly recognized as Abraham’s successor. But Isaac was obviously willing to let his brother take his place as a son of Abraham. That would have gone a long way to helping Ishmael be accepted in the community. It was a gracious act that would have been deeply appreciated. As Christians, gracious acts should always be flowing from us, and should be a hallmark of the child of God. We lose nothing by being gracious and generous and kind to everybody we can.
Ishmael’s attendance at the funeral shows his respect for his father. It also shows his willingness to be identified with his family, regardless of differences. Sometimes people think we ignore or reject those family members who are not Christians. We should never do that. Unless our family members reject or shun us, we should do everything we can to be kind and friendly to them. Not only is it a poor testimony to do otherwise, it is a good opportunity for us to reach others with the Gospel by being more like our Lord.
Family members can make us uncomfortable sometimes. But those times can help us to mend fences, repair relationships, and draw those we love closer to our Lord. -Jim MacIntosh