The title for today’s sermon is an obscure Hebrew word. I remember it more than 25 years after first learning it because my professor made it memorable. We were studying the passage in Genesis where Abraham heard that his nephew Lot had been taken hostage. Abraham went to battle to free Lot and “brought back all the goods (recush, שׁוּﬤרּ) and also brought back his nephew Lot.” Genesis 14:16 (NRSV). “Goods” is a really vague word. It’s like our word “stuff.” We asked what “goods” would entail and our professor said, “Tupperware.®” In other passages it is translated “utensils” or “moveable property.” Recush is stuff that is portable.

We have an abundance of recush at my house. I expect you have a lot of recush at your house. The ironic thing to me is that all this “moveable property” makes it h…