First Lesson: Exodus 3: 1-15 Responsive Reading: Psalm 105: 1-6, 23-26, 45b Second Lesson: Romans 12: 9-21 Gospel Lesson: Matthew 16: 21-28 Grace and Peace from Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
Today, I want to reflect on perhaps the most well-known story of the Old Testament in the story of Moses and the Exodus from Egypt. Moses is the most important character in the whole Old Testament. Four books of the Bible (Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) are written about the story of Moses’ life from the time of his birth to his death after forty years of leading the Israelites through the wilderness to the brink of the Promised Land. The story of Moses starts about three generations before during the story of Joseph. Joseph sold into slavery by his brothers. He ends up in prison where he showcases the ability to interpret dreams. Pharaoh brings Joseph before him where he interprets Pharaoh’s dream to mean that Egypt will have harvests of seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine, so they needed to save grain. Egypt because of Joseph’s talent becomes the richest nation in the world. Joseph becomes second in command to Pharaoh himself. The story ends happily with all of Joseph’s huge family of ten half-brothers, one brother, Dad, and others immigrating to Egypt with Pharaoh’s blessing. As Genesis ends about 65 years passes between the death of Joseph and the birth of Moses. The Egyptian attitude towards the Jewish people changes greatly in this time. The Egyptians figured that the Israelites were becoming too numerous. The Egyptians began to fear that the Israelites could align with Egypt’s enemies in acts of treason. So Pharaoh decided he needs to get harsh with the Israeli immigrants or else supposedly the Egyptians would suffer terrible consequences[1]. So this background sets up a lot of Moses’ story. Moses’s birth takes place in Egypt at a time when all Jewish boys under the age of two were supposed to be put to death as a way to reign in the Hebrew population[2]. Moses’ mother desperate to save his life puts him in a basket and lets him float down the Nile River taking hope in nothing but dumb luck and chance[3]. Pharaoh’s daughter discovers Baby Moses, and she would soon adopt him[4]. Moses grows up in privilege but one day his life changes as he sees an Egyptian beating a Hebrew slave. Moses snaps at the sight of an Egyptian mistreating a Hebrew slave. In an attempt to cover up his crime, Moses hides the body. Only for Moses’ secret to be known by everyone, Moses was a murderer, and Pharaoh was going to find him to put him to death[5]. Moses then flees from Egypt and becomes a Shepherd for a period of 40 years. One day, while tending to sheep, Moses saw the oddest thing that he had ever seen for a bush was burning yet it wasn’t being consumed into ashes[6]. As Moses went to get a closer look, Moses heard for the first time in his life the voice of God commanding him to travel back to Egypt so that he may deliver the Jewish people from Egyptian slavery[7]. Moses was hesitant to go about this task[8]. Moses had a speech impediment and figured he would be laughed out of the room when he approached Pharaoh’s throne[9]. The Lord promises Moses that he would walk alongside him and reunite him with his brother Aaron, a silver-tongued orator who was currently living in Egypt[10]. The Lord also commanded Moses to take his shepherd’s staff with him to Egypt[11]. For it was through this staff that Moses would perform signs and wonders in the presence of others to prove that Moses spoke for the Lord[12]. As Moses returns to Egypt to step into Pharaoh’s presence, Pharaoh’s heart was hard. Pharaoh figured that Moses was nothing more than a magician serving a false God[13]. So Moses with the Lord’s power brought forth ten plagues to the Land of Egypt: water turned to blood[14]; frogs[15], gnats[16], and flies[17] covered the land; all the Egyptian livestock died[18]; boils broke out on every man and beast throughout the land[19]; then comes hail storms[20], locusts[21], and perpetual darkness[22]. Pharaoh does not change his position though either through the hardening of his own black heart or God hardening Pharaoh’s heart[23]. Lastly comes forth the most significant of all the plagues of the tenth and final plague in the Passover and the death of the firstborn. It was during this plague that the Angel of Death was going to visit Egypt and take the life of every first-born son[24]. No, differently than Pharaoh attempts to purge Egypt of all Hebrew children in the days of Moses’ birth. The only way for one’s child to survive was to place Lamb’s blood on their door-post so that the Angel of Death would know to pass-over your house with this most horrible of plagues[25]. It was only after this horrific night[26] that Pharaoh recants his position of never releasing the Israeli slaves[27], only for Pharaoh to quickly change his mind as he considers how much valuable labor he would be losing[28]. So Pharaoh decides to send his troops out towards the Red Sea to prevent the Israelites from leaving Egypt[29]. Finally, as the Israelites come to the banks of the Red Sea, they appear to be trapped[30]. Only for Moses to pound his staff into the ground so that he may perform his greatest miracle of parting the Red Sea into two so that the Israelites could cross to safety[31]. The Red Sea collapses upon the attacking Egyptian army as soon as the Israelites reached the shore[32]. The Israelites crossing the Red Sea is just a partial history of Moses’ life as we aren’t going to touch on him receiving the Ten Commandments[33] or the forty years spent journeying throughout the wilderness. But this morning I want to look at the story of Moses from a different angle. I want to explore the question of “Why so much blood had to be shed so that the people of Israel may be let go from Egyptian slavery?” Let’s consider the bloodshed again in the story of Moses. Pharaoh seeks to kill all Hebrew children born in Egypt. Moses kills an Egyptian. All of Egypt’s livestock is wiped out. The Angel of Death kills all first-born Egyptian sons including Pharaoh’s own. Lastly, Pharaoh’s Army drowns in the Red Sea. All this bloodshed takes place so that the people of Israel may return home, after being forced to move to Egypt because of a famine in the first-place. What confuses is with all this bloodshed is God’s role in it all? One of the more famous phrases from within the encounter between Moses and Pharaoh is “God hardened Pharaoh’s heart,” this phrase is present on four separate occasions[34]. These passages have long been one of the scripture’s most fiercely discussed and debated. Perhaps the greatest debate in all of religion is between free-will and determinism when it comes to human suffering. We could also ask this question as are we responsible for the bad choices that bring about bad things to our life or is God ultimately to blame? We don’t know what to make of these passages with God hardening Pharaoh because they imply that God is the author and the cause of all the evil, death, and destruction that took place within the story of Moses. I think though to answer the question of God's role in regard to the suffering not only within the story of Moses, but all of human history, we need to go back to the beginning itself with the story of Adam and Eve. What we must remember is before Adam and Eve fell into sin there was no death or destruction, so ultimately human sin is to blame. As pointed out by Pastor Larry Peters, an important thing to understand about the role of Pharaoh within the story of Moses is that Pharaoh’s heart is only hardened after not only years of abuse being heaped by Pharaoh amongst God’s people. This says nothing of Pharaoh rejecting God’s messengers who sought to correct his wayward course[35]. For skeptics encountering scripture passages where God actively sees to it that someone acts in such a way that they bring death and destruction to thousands of people naturally assign God being the one to blame. The reality is that Pharaoh was not some decent, kind-hearted individual who God corrupted to not let his people go. God didn’t turn Pharaoh’s heart black; Pharaoh’s heart was already black rather God merely worked through Pharaoh’s black heart for God’s outcomes. There are a couple different ways that we can interpret the story of Moses. We can either interpret the story through the means of it or the end of it. The means of the story are all sorts of horrific things taking place within the land of Egypt through God’s intervention and non-intervention. The end of the story has God fulfilling his promise to the people of Israel that he will not abandon, nor will he ever let them go. As Peters expresses, part of the problem in how we interpret this story has to do with our understanding of God’s role within our lives. Many of us assign all credit for the good things in our life to our talents, and work-ethic, whereas the bad things are assigned to God, who hoists them upon us. Another way to look at this is all good things are seemingly under our control, whereas all bad things are God’s faults. When in reality, how we should be interpreting good and evil is with the remembrance that God works through both good and evil for his ultimate ends[36]. A while back, there was a Lutheran Pastor who served in the Minnesota legislature who one day was conducting a radio interview, when the Interviewer brought up a recent incident within his home area where a couple children perish within an automobile accident. The Interviewer asked the Pastor what he would say to the children’s parents about their loss? The Pastor replied “God grieves alongside them in the midst of their pain.” The Pastor would wish to assure that God is there to comfort them and provide care for them in the midst of their suffering. Yet this is precisely the wrong answer to give to such a question of what to say. For whenever people ask about God’s role in a particularly tragic situation? The only answer that we can give is look towards the cross. I would much rather follow a God who is responsible for death and destruction that can do something about it rather than follow a God who be nice, but is impotent and powerless. I would rather follow a God, who can intervene in both life and death. As the Apostle Paul makes clear in 1st Corinthians 15 “If Christ has not been raised from the dead, then our faith is worthless[37].” A good friend of mine Warren Baker explained this verse best when he said, “If Christ has not been raised, you should take your Bible and throw it in the fireplace”. We can look over the story of Moses and Pharaoh see all sorts of death and mayhem then inevitability try to make sense of God’s role in it all. We will ultimately fall short in our search for answers. What we must remember is that God’s role in the story is not about bringing forth death and destruction rather God’s role is about rescuing us from death and destruction. God’s role in the story of Moses points towards God redeeming life, not taking it away, for just as God freed the people of Israel from Egyptian slavery, God would soon free all of his people from our own bondage to sin. As we hear this bloody story of Moses, and Pharaoh what we remember that our God’s ultimate purposes are not death and destruction, but rather our forgiveness and salvation. Amen [1] Exodus 1:10 [2] Exodus 1:22 [3] Exodus 2:3 [4] Exodus 2:10 [5] Exodus 2:11-15 [6] Exodus 3:2 [7] Exodus 3:7-10 [8] Exodus 3:11 [9] Exodus 4:10 [10] Exodus 4:14 [11] Exodus 4:4 [12] Exodus 4:5, 4:21 [13] Exodus 7:11 [14] Exodus 7:14-25 [15] Exodus 8:1-15 [16] Exodus 8:16-19 [17] Exodus 8:20-32 [18] Exodus 9:1-7 [19] Exodus 9:8-12 [20] Exodus 9:13-32 [21] Exodus 10:1-20 [22] Exodus 10:21-29 [23] Exodus 10:27 [24] Exodus 11 [25] Exodus 12:1-28 [26] Exodus 12:29-30 [27] Exodus 12:31-32 [28] Exodus 14:5 [29] Exodus 14:6-9 [30] Exodus 14:10-12 [31] Exodus 14:21-22 [32] Exodus 14:26-29 [33] Exodus 20 [34] Exodus 9:12, 10:20, 10:27, 11:10 [35] Peters, Pastor Larry. “Does God harden the hearts of people?”. Pastoral Meanderings: The Random Thoughts of a Lutheran Parish Pastor. blogger.com. 17.Oct.2013. Web. Aug.26.2014. [36] Peters, Pastor Larry. “Does God harden the hearts of people?”. [37] 1st Corinthians 15:14 First Lesson: Exodus 1:8 - 2:10 Responsive Reading: Psalm 124 Second Lesson: Romans 12: 1-8 Gospel Lesson: Matthew 16: 13-20 Grace and Peace from Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
In recent years, a popular trend of American society has been to make the Devil into a cartoonish/mythological figure no different than the Easter Bunny. As we turn on the news this week, the big stories came from Ferguson, Missouri. Ferguson reveals the worst of human nature as anger, violence, retribution, and demagoguery are all on display. The news in Ferguson harkens back to the story of Cain and Abel. Cain looked at his brother Abel and got mad. The reason that Cain got so mad is because he felt that all the problems in his life were of Abel’s doing. Cain would rather take his brother Abel’s life than be willing to admit that he was part of the problem[1]. Father Dwight Longnecker over at Patheos described the culture of scapegoating in this country quite well when he said “Who is to blame? The rich people say the indigent (lazy) poor are to blame. The poor say the greedy rich are to blame. The blacks say the (racist) whites are to blame. The whites say the (criminal) blacks are to blame. The Jews blame the Palestinians. The Palestinians blame the Jews. The Protestants blame the Catholics. The Catholics blame the Protestants. The young blame the old. The old blame the young. The men blame the women. The women blame the men.”[2] As we come unto an election cycle, the Republicans say the Democrats are to blame, and the Democrats say the Republicans are to blame. All this mindset does is keep spinning our wheels as the world gets more and more of its axis. Probably each and every one of us in this life know people that if they weren’t complaining about other people than they wouldn’t have anything to say. Once a scapegoat emerges all rational, nuance, or potentially compassionate analysis of the situation goes out the window. The issue in Ferguson isn’t whether there are cops out there influenced by racism (I’m sure plenty are) nor is the issue whether Cops or any other human being always displays the best judgment (they definitely don’t like any other human being). The issue in Ferguson goes even beyond whose version of the events is right or wrong. The real issue in Ferguson has to do with how we respond to those wrong us. The real issue in Ferguson has to do with who is responsible for all of society’s ills. The issue in Ferguson has to do with charting a course forward from a tragic loss of human life. The Ferguson Riots bring us to today’s Gospel lesson from Matthew the 16th chapter. It’s a relatively famous Gospel lesson as Peter receives from Jesus the gift of the keys to the kingdom. Catholics have long used this passage as a justification for their adherence to the Pope. Something else is going on here that is way more important than the role of the Pope within the world. Jesus gives Peter a certain authority. Jesus states to Peter,“ I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.[3]” These two keys that Peter receives speak to the entire message of the Christian church as it gathers on Sunday morning. Peter is given the power to use these two keys by either binding sins by declaring that one’s sins shall have consequences for one’s life. Peter is also given the ability to loosen sins or declare that we have been set free from sin’s consequences by the power of our Gospel. Jesus is giving Peter an awesome responsibility within our text in that Peter can either withhold this forgiveness, or Peter can forgive the sins of the world around him. Christ in this text is giving the same responsibility to us. We wonder how should these two keys work together in our lives?? For many people out there like those protesting in Ferguson, can only see the world working in terms of the first key of the Law. The Ferguson response makes sense since the first key of the Law is the common everyday human experience. As you talk to people about their everyday existence, you constantly encounter troubled burdens beaten down by their day to day interactions. For the truth about our lives is we cannot escape the Law in our life. Divorce is Law. Broken relationships are Law. Guilt is Law. Death is Law. The first key which Christ gives Peter of the Law is the only key that many of us know. So, we naturally assume it’s the solution to all of life’s problems. We experience judgment, so we need to rationalize judgment; we need to cast judgment upon those who sin differently than ourselves since its often the only way we know how to solve problems. A number of years ago, GK Chesterton who was a famous Catholic philosopher was asked to write for The Times of London regarding “What is wrong with the world?” Here was Chesterton’s letter in its entirety. “Dear Sir: Regarding your article 'What's Wrong with the World?' I am. Yours truly, G.K. Chesterton.[4]” G.K. Chesterton in this letter dared to do something that very few people today would have the guts to do in that he took the blame. The very first step to going forward as a world is finally admitting that our sin is just as responsible for its downfall as anybody else. Perhaps the most beautiful story of confession within the Christian gospels occurs in Luke the 18th Chapter the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. One man, a Pharisee, admitted that he had sinned, but wanted to qualify the situation. The Pharisee’s sins weren’t that bad; they weren’t as bad as the sins of the Tax Collector. Contrast this to the Tax Collector who couldn’t even lift his head as he prayed out “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have mercy on me a sinner.” What made the Tax Collector’s words, so poignant is that he didn’t shift the blame, but rather he took the blame. The Tax Collector admitted that the world was a big, colossal mess for which he was responsible. The only way out would be forgiveness and understanding[5]. How should the world respond to the situation in Ferguson? I think back on this day to the story of Nelson Mandela. Mandela grew up under a system of governance where the black majority, was brutally suppressed by the white minority. Mandela’s protest of the situation led to him spending twenty-seven years in jail. During Mandela’s years away in prison the situation worsened, even his wife Winnie was taken away from the children for eighteen months[6]. I know how many people would have spent the nights that Nelson Mandela spent in a prison cell, they would have spent these nights plotting out revenge, and they would have spent these nights praying for the destruction of their enemy. As Nelson Mandela is set free from prison in 1990, his response was different, in that Mandela wanted to forgive those who wronged him. Mandela realized that the anger never helps to soothe the pain of a particular situation of injustice. At the moment of his release for prison Mandela said the following “As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn't leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I'd still be in prison[7]." In 1994, Nelson Mandela was elected President of South Africa. In 1995, South Africa played in the Rugby World Cup. The rugby team had been hated during the years of oppression as they were seen as a symbol of white authority. Mandela dared to become the rugby’s team most vocal supporter to the shock of many people within his homeland[8]. What guided Mandela’s beliefs is that he believed in a Messiah, who chose not race, who chose not one country, who chose not one language, who chose not one tribe, rather he believed that his Messiah chose all of an imperfect humanity[9]. If Nelson Mandela walked to Ferguson today, I believe his response to injustice would have been very different from what we have witnessed. If Jesus were to walk into Ferguson, he would not be shouting with anger. Jesus would rather be praying for those who persecute, Jesus would be extending compassion to those like Officer Darren Wilson, who may feel like the whole world is out to get him, and Jesus would be grieving with the family of Michael Brown. Jesus would encourage us to pray that whatever prejudices exist in the human condition that we may acknowledge them so that we may begin to let them go. I want to give you two promises this morning. The first promise is that people will wrong. This world will spit you out and swallow you whole. Your spouse will disappoint you; your children will disappoint you; your friends will disappoint you, and the general state of the world will disappoint you. The world will probably make you mad. We can do one of two things with this information. We can either choose to retain people’s sins against them. We can seek to hold onto hurt so that it defines and ultimately wrecks our lives. We can find plenty of people who will behave this exact way. Win Jordan, who is a writer, recalls leading a Bible study one day when someone asked the following question “How was Jesus such a loving figure, yet so many people wanted to kill him?”[10] Jordan answered that people hated Jesus’ message of forgiveness because it is an offense to our warped sense of right and wrong; we have a hard time embracing forgiveness since we can’t stand anything that goes against the idea of that which should happen, not happening. For we can be different, we can speak words that make us uncomfortable. We can look towards, our own day of healing and restoration made known on a cross. The hardest thing to know in life is what to say in those moments when life grows increasingly complex, when we have to tread carefully on our every word as walk a fine line between when to bring the hammer down, when to overlook, enable, forgive, and love. For often in life, we are going to be called to do things that are going to eat us up inside especially as those go against our very nature. As Jesus gave Peter the key to forgiving people’s sins, he was giving him the ability to change one’s entire human experience with just four magic words “Your sins are forgiven.” The second promise given to us on this morning is the promise that is given to Peter on this day. “I will build my church, and the gates of hades will not prevail against it[11].” We are told on this day that the powers of death and damnation are not as strong as the powers of God nor will those evil powers win the battle. The powers of death and evil are all around us whenever we turn on the nightly news, but these evil powers are not stronger than the church and its power of God, who guides it. The promise we are given is that evil will lose out!!!! The promise that Christ gives Peter and gives to us on this day is one of freedom. Jesus is promising unto Peter a gift of life. Jesus is promising to Peter that the old self shall one day be put to death, only to rise again anew three days later. We leave this place with the hope that the sins of the whole world don’t rest in our hands; they rest in the hands of our Lord and Savior. Amen [1]Genesis 4:1-8 [2] Longnecker, Father Dwight. “Our Ferguson Problem”. Patheos. 19.Aug.2014. Web. 19.Aug.2014 [3] Matthew 16:19 [4] Story recalled by Longnecker, Dwight. “Our Ferguson Problem”. [5] Luke 18:9-14 [6] Jordan, Win. “The Idiot Forgiveness of Nelson Mandela”. Mockingbird. Christ Episcopal Church. Charlottesville, VA. 6.Dec.2013. Web. Aug.19.2014 [7] Trimmer, Micheal. “Nelson Mandela and His Faith”. Christianity Today. 10.Dec.2013. Web. Aug.19.2014 [8] Jordan, Win. “The Idiot Forgivenes of Nelson Mandela.” [9] This is based on a Mandela quote as laid out by Trimmer, Micheal in “Nelson Mandela and His Faith” [10] Jordan, Win. “The Idiot Forgivenes of Nelson Mandela.” [11] Matthew 16:18 Grace and Peace from Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
As this country’s news, this week, focuses on the sudden and tragic death of Robin Williams, let me begin with a story. A man goes to see a doctor. Doctor asks the man “what seems to be the trouble." The man says “Doc, I’m depressed. Simply, I can’t sleep sometimes, I can’t eat, and I feel down and irritable most days. I just can’t feel happy.” The Doctor figuring it was a simple case of a man being down in the dumps offers a solution saying “Sir, I’ve got the perfect fix for you. In town, tonight is the great clown Pagliacci. He’s considered to be the funniest man in all the land; he will make you laugh until you cry. During his show, you will experience a joy unprecedented.” Upon hearing this advice, the man broke down beginning to sob hysterically. The Doctor is thoroughly confused by the man’s reaction at this point, so he asks “Why the tears?” At which point the man belts out “Doctor, I am Pagliacci."[1] What this story along with Williams’ death reminds us is how we can’t judge what’s going on in a person’s life merely on the basis of external appearances. We remember how a man who had brought so many people happiness and laughter throughout the years went through life unable to escape from the darkest of places. The reality of not only Williams’ death but also our neighbors well-being brings us to our Gospel lesson for today from Matthew the 15th chapter. To understand our story you need to know that it takes place in Tyre and Sidon which were outside the land of Palestine where Jesus spent most of his life. Within Tyre and Sidon, Jesus would have encountered a very different type of religious people from everyone else he would have encountered previously within his ministry. Let me tell another story, when I was in Seminary I attended quite a few Minnesota Twins games. I was in school during the Twins run of back to back to back division titles. The Twins closest competitors during these years were the Chicago White Sox. The contrast was stark between the big market; power-hitting White Sox versus the small-market, small-ball Twins. I went to a few games between the White Sox and the Twins in Minneapolis during this time. There was the occasional White Sox fan at the games during these times. White Sox fans were wildly outnumbered by Minnesota college kids who had bought $3 tickets. If any White Sox fans got too-bold, there would be trouble. I liked nothing better than cheering loudly for the White Sox to get beat with tens of thousands of other Twins fans to back me up. Well, a few years after this, I went to a game at US Cellar Field on the South Side of Chicago right in White Sox territory. 2005 was the year the White Sox had the best record in Baseball and would eventually win the World Series. It’s safe to say that I was a lot less bold in my cheering surrounded by inebriated White Sox fans than I was in home territory. Our lesson for today takes place in the heart of Gentile territory, amongst the Canaanite people. The Canaanite people engaged in every sort of religious practice that good first century Jews like the disciples would have found offensive they engaged in interfaith marriages, and they sacrificed children. These bad feelings between Jews and Canaanites over their religion had stretched back nearly two-thousand years since the days of Abraham. The idea of a Canaanite going to Jesus for religious wisdom seems about as probable as me wearing a White Sox jersey to Target Field. There was this woman, and this woman was a piece of work. One of Robin Williams’ most-famous movies roles was the film Mrs. Doubtfire. In this film, Williams plays an unemployed actor, who is loved by his kids, but considered immature by his wife. The wife played by Sally Field eventually divorces Williams’ character, ending up with sole custody of the kids due to Williams’ irresponsibility. Many people would have heard this news and given up. Williams’ character though was going not to stop until he could spend time with his children. Upon Williams finding out that his ex-wife wanted to hire a housekeeper to help watch the children, Williams decides to fake a resume so that he may pose as an elderly Scottish Nanny named Mrs. Doubtfire as a way to spend time with his kids. What gave this rather silly film its heart was the lengths that Williams’ character was willing to go on a daily basis through make-up, ill-fitting clothing, and continuous awkward situations for the sake of his children. Jesus encounters a woman in Tyre and Sidon who was persistent just like Mrs. Doubtfire. This woman was sassy; this woman was bold, and this woman dared to approach Jesus to ask him to heal her daughter of demon-possession[2]. The Disciples were probably uncomfortable with this scene as it would have been considered scandalous for a religious teacher to be interacting in such a matter with a foreign woman who wasn’t his wife[3]. Jesus seems to at first shrug off this woman’s request, proclaiming that he could only deal with the sheep of his house the House of Israel[4]. Merely saying no isn’t going to deter Mrs. Doubtfire. This woman who is the star of our gospel lesson reminds me of the lady at Walmart who even though she might not have had a good case for a refund. She is going to be so annoying that the Clerk eventually just throws their hands up in the air, and opens the cash register. This Lady was not going to stop pestering Jesus until he dealt with her demon-possessed daughter. This woman was not trying to stop Jesus’ mission to the people of Israel; she was merely asking that he bring his ministry beyond the people of his homeland. What this lady wanted on this day was merely scraps from the Master’s table[5]. What does this story say to us on this day? I think it reminds us of something important about Jesus’ ministry how he is always finding faith outside the traditional religious establishment of his day. What this story reminds us is that the Kingdom of God is about breaking down boundaries every single day that many people thought to be previously unimaginable. We face some stiff challenges in the days ahead as a congregation. We’re getting older every day; our numbers have been declining for years and years. We pray that something will turn it all around. We assume that we are not up to the task. Some of us have given up hope. We figure we’re not preachers, we assume that we have no way to reach other people. Let me tell you a story, there once was a teenager girl named Kate. Kate was the first of her friends to get a driver’s license. One of Kate’s friend’s parents decided that they would let Kate drive their new Ford Explorer so that their daughter and her friends could have a good time. So a group of teenage girls goes out having a good time and being silly in the car blasting music when Kate loses control of the car crashes into a telephone pole. The car is unsalvageable. Kate believes her life to be over. Kate had to first call Mrs. Anderson her friends’ mom to explain everything she had done wrong. Eventually, police arrive onto the scene of the accident. Main officer asked questions to Kate; she confessed the whole truth and nothing but the truth. As every discriminating word came out of Kate’s mouth, she grew more and more convinced that she would wind up in jail. Kate sits in the back of a cop car for 45 minutes, when one of the girl’s parents came up wanting to say something to her. Kate didn’t know Jessica’s dad all that well as he approached her. The only thought that could go through Kate’s head at this time was that now she was going to get everything she deserved. As soon as Kate rolled down the window, the first words out of Jessica’s dad’s mouth were “You know one time; I totaled a Porsche when I was test-driving it.” Kate broke down in tears at this very moment. As Jessica’s dad proclaimed “We’re all just so thankful that no one is hurt. Don’t worry; this happens to all of us.”[6] As Jessica’s dad spoke forgiveness, this was the first time since the accident that Kate didn’t hate herself. A figure that Kate dreaded as a condemning judge chose to pour out grace and empathy instead. How do we face the challenges before us a church? We’re going to do what Jessica’s dad did. We’re going to proclaim grace when people become convinced that no one else in the church will proclaim to grace to them. We’re going to speak forgiveness, when people don’t believe they can receive forgiveness. We are going to embrace people when not one other person in the world will embrace them. These things do not promise us success, for Jesus wasn’t successful in earthly terms, the disciples weren’t successful in earthly terms, yet they realized that their proclamation was more important than mere success in earthly terms. It was not easy for the Disciples today to accept that Jesus dared to reach out to such a strange woman in such a strange land. We are often called to reach out to people whose behavior extends beyond what we might dare to consider acceptable. Loving someone who has hurt you or even could potentially hurt you is tremendously difficult, yet the most-meaningful love that we encounter in this life doesn’t come without struggle or hurt. The most-meaningful love of all was poured out upon the cross. So who are we trying to reach this morning? We’re going to try to reach Kate the reckless driver. We’re going to try to reach Terry and Kim the upstanding church couple who accidentally had a kid out of wedlock. We’re going to try to reach Steve, the guy who just got busted with a DUI and now needs rides to work every day. The type of woman that Jesus encounters in our Gospel is the type of person that we need to be encountering, the type of person who pours out all her hurts and needs upon Jesus’ feet. We will reach people by reminding them that no one person in this room has life all figured out. We will remind them that no matter what brought them to this place, we have a God whose grace is bigger than our weakness. We will remind them that everything that people think they know about religion might very well be wrong. These truths are what Jesus taught the Disciples on this day[7]. We encounter today the very types of people that would have been in Jesus’ mission field. We’re going to let people know that in the midst of deserving judgment that we still love you and Jesus does too. For ultimately there are more than enough table scraps of God’s grace to go around. Amen [1] This joke is based on the 1892 Italian Opera Pagliacci. This story/joke was told in the 2009 film Watchmen. [2] Matthew 15:22 [3] Matthew 15:23 [4] Matthew 15:24 [5] Matthew 15:27 [6] Norris, Kate. “Judgment Kills, Love Gives Life”. Mockingbird. Christ Episcopal Church. Charlottesville, VA. 26.Oct.2010. Web. Aug.12.2014. This story is from a collection of stories called Judgment and Love put out by Mockingbird Ministries in 2010. [7] These were inspired by a article by Corrie Mitchell at On Faith entitled “5 Churchy Phrases Millennials Want To Hear” published on August 14, 2014 First Lesson: Genesis 37: 1-4, 12:28 Responsive Reading: Psalm 105: 1-6, 16-22, 45b Second Lesson: Romans 10: 5-15 Gospel Lesson: Matthew 14: 22-33 Grace and Peace from Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
Let me begin this morning with an apparent statement that families don’t always get along. The most common tensions are related to money and possessions. For example, I had a great-aunt Bonnie Jean, who had a sister named Corrine. When their father Henry died, he left Bonnie Jean with over 900,000 dollars, while leaving Corrine without a penny. So these sisters never spoke the last thirty years plus years of their lives due to jealously. The second cause of family conflict is power dynamics. For example, I have an Aunt in California who works as a psychologist who loves giving other people advice whether solicited or not. I have a Sister who is in law school who doesn’t like hearing what to do. So when my aunt contacts my sister let’s just say that the combo of Facebook, late-nights, natural combativeness, and wine tend to produce some contentious outcomes. But a family not getting along isn’t anything new; Today’s Old Testament lesson comes from the Book of Genesis. There are more dysfunctional families in Genesis than an episode of The Jerry Springer Show. The first family in the Bible was Adam and Eve. Boy was their family dysfunctional! Genesis 3:6 describes Adam and Eve falling into sin at the same time by eating the forbidden fruit together, but as soon as the Lord confronted Adam and Eve for their sins, Adam blamed Eve for all their problems. As is the case with couples who are quick to blame each other, but never acknowledge their faults, the bickering would continue for years and years. As is often the case with dysfunctional parents (Adam and Eve), they tend to produce dysfunctional children (Cain and Abel). Cain killed his brother Abel over jealously because the Lord preferred Abel’s offering. Cain then tries to pass off any blame for his actions by declaring to the Lord “Am I my brother's keeper[1]?” Then you move further into Genesis to see the Patriarchs, the fathers of the nation of Israel only to see more family dysfunction. Abraham marries Sarah. Sarah is unable to get pregnant[2]. So Sarah encouraged Abraham to take a second wife (her handmaiden named Hagar)[3]. Abraham and Hagar have a son named Ishmael[4]. Only for Abraham to later have a son with Sarah named Isaac[5]. Plenty of family conflict followed. Ishmael and Isaac didn’t get along[6], so Sarah wanted and got Ishmael and Hagar kicked out of Abraham’s family out of anger[7]. But just as Abraham’s family was dysfunctional so was his son Isaac’s family. Isaac had two sons. Isaac’s favorite son the rugged hunter Esau and Rebekah’s favorite son the chef Jacob, it was the tale of the hunter versus the mama’s boy[8]. Well, eventually momma and younger brother trick father and older brother out of dad’s inheritance[9]. Feelings are so bad out of this that Jacob flees for twenty years fearing that his brother was going to take his life[10]. Now we come to the last major story of the Book of Genesis, the last story of family dysfunction. Today’s Old Testament lesson tells the story of Jacob’s most famous son Joseph. The thing to know about this story is Joseph was hated by his brothers, on account of a couple different reasons. The first reason was jealousy. His father absolutely adored Joseph. Joseph was the son of Jacob’s favorite wife the beautiful Rachel[11], whereas Jacob’s other children came from his ugly wife Leah or his slave-wives. So Joseph from the time of his birth was special to Jacob because of his mother. What had really gotten the brothers going was Joseph’s latest gift of a beautiful multi-color coat[12]. The coat would have been the Ancient Canaanite equivalent of ten brothers walking to school while the younger brother gets a mustang to drive. Joseph’s brothers were jealous of him like anyone’s brothers would have been jealous of him. Joseph’s brothers might not have hated him so much if it wasn’t for this fact, as can be summed up in the title of the sermon in that Joseph was an annoying little brat. Joseph had a big mouth; he lacked common sense; he was arrogant, he was aloof and uncaring. Joseph was self-impressed and in love with himself[13]. Joseph was the guy that we all know who was always bragging about his income, his or his kid’s athletic prowess, or his sake of genius. What Joseph’s brothers hated to hear him talk about were his dreams. The first dream, Joseph bragged about was of eleven sheaves of wheat bowing down to Joseph in reverence. Joseph interpreted this dream to his brothers as telling him that a day would come when they all would bow down before him at his throne. Considering Joseph was the 11th of 12 brothers, the older brothers didn’t think much of baby-bro predicting a day when they kissed his feet[14]. Let me tell a brief story, when I was working as a substitute teacher I had a student who was a short, stocky little redheaded ninth grader who could not be quiet in class. Every two seconds were a disruptive comment, so I eventually sent him out into the hall to carry out in the classroom proceedings in peace. Only for me to be told that sending this kid into the hall was a terrible idea, when I inquired as to why “I was told that he would run his mouth to the seniors then they would beat him up”. I had a hard time comprehending that such a small kid would do such a reckless and foolish thing. As soon as I opened the door, I saw this kid shooting off his mouth to kids’ way, way bigger than him. This kid reminds me of Joseph in that he just couldn’t stop his mouth from moving. So the question is not why Joseph’s brothers did try to get rid of him, rather the question is what took Joseph’s brothers so long to try to get rid of him? So the brothers then began to consider their options for the next time they were alone with Joseph in their father’s fields. They were debating between killing Joseph or just throwing him into an empty well[15]. They decided the best option would be to make a little money in the process, so they encounter some Egyptian slave traders passing through, saw an opportunity to make twenty pieces of silver[16] along with never seeing their obnoxious, big-mouthed brother ever again. The brothers then as a way of covering their tracks, took his multi-colored coat dipped it in Goat’s blood[17] and told their father Jacob that his most-beloved son was alive no more. Jacob’s grief was such that he would never recover[18]. But the story of Joseph was by no means finished. Once Joseph arrived in Egypt, he was purchased by one of Pharaoh’s officials, a man named Potiphar[19]. Joseph initially was a highly valuable worker to Potiphar[20]. But soon Joseph would become embroiled in scandal as Potiphar’s wife attempted to seduce Joseph as he was “handsome” and “well-built[21]”. Joseph turned down her advances on account of his morals[22], so Potiphar’s wife became angry enough and bitter enough at Joseph to accuse him of attempting to seduce her and away to prison Joseph went[23]. Once Joseph went to prison, he ended up meeting two men who had been sent there by Pharaoh himself in a Butler and a Baker. Now both of these men were deeply troubled as they had dreams of which they could not figure out their meaning. Joseph figured he had a knack for interpreting dreams, so he went about revealing the Butler and Baker’s future. Joseph predicted the Butler to be set free and return to working for Pharaoh within three days, whereas Joseph predicted the Baker’s dream to have a less happy ending as he was going to hang within three days. On the third day, Joseph’s ability to interpret dreams was proven to be right on the money. As the Butler goes free from prison, Joseph’s only request for the Butler was to remember him in Pharaoh’s presence[24]. Around this time, the Pharaoh of Egypt began having dreams that made no sense. Pharaoh saw seven healthy cows standing next to seven sickly cows, along with seven healthy heads of grain, standing next to seven sickly heads of grain. Eventually, cows began to eating cows, and grain began eating grain. Pharaoh had no clue what to make of any of it. So Pharaoh started asking anyone who would listen to make sense of his dreams, Pharaoh was getting nowhere until he encounters the same Butler who encountered Joseph in prison. Joseph appears before Pharaoh’s presence where he interpreted the dreams to mean that Egypt would have seven years of plenty during the harvest followed by seven years of famine[25]. Joseph’s prediction was right on the money. So not only was Joseph set free from prison after two years, he became the manager of all of Egypt’s agriculture (second in command to Pharaoh himself)[26]. Joseph was the complete story of rags to riches as he had all the clothes, gold, or feasts that he could ever want. Egypt was thriving being the only nation in the world that saved its grain during bountiful harvests, so that they made a ton of money during the famine as the only country in the world with food to distribute. The situation at this time wasn’t good at all for Joseph’s brothers as famine plagued their land. They eventually had to leave their Canaan home behind and travel to Egypt bowing down before their brother begging for grain[27]. Joseph’s dreams had come true. As Joseph’s brothers walked into his presence, they did not recognize him[28]. Soon Joseph’s brothers would be given a very strange request; Joseph would give them enough grain to tie them over, but for more grain, Joseph needed to see their youngest half-brother Benjamin. Benjamin was Joseph’s only full-blood brother. Upon hearing this unknown man’s offer, father Jacob would have rather starve then see anything happen to Benjamin in Egypt. Jacob had already lost Rachel’s older son; he was going to make sure that nothing happened to her youngest[29]. Jacob eventually relented as the famine became a matter of survival not only for himself, but everyone around him including Benjamin[30]. Joseph was moved upon seeing Benjamin[31]. For Benjamin was many years younger than Joseph and merely a young child at the time that Joseph entered into slavery. Joseph wished to reunite with his brothers, but was worried that they were the same backstabbers that had always been. So Joseph came up with a plan to try to determine if his brothers were who he thought they were. Joseph was going to frame Benjamin with stealing a silver cup to see how his brothers would react. So after his brothers received their grain, and began their journey back home, Joseph sent his guards after them with instructions to find his missing silver cup[32]. When the guards found the cup in Benjamin’s bag, the brothers were forced to head back to Egypt fearing for their life[33]. They began to figure that this was God punishing them for all they had done against Joseph years before. As the brothers stood in Joseph’s presence, they confessed their sins against their brother Joseph from years before unaware that it was their brother hearing their confession. His brothers’ repentance shocked Joseph causing him to send everyone else out of the room[34]. It was at this moment that Joseph revealed “who he was” to his brothers[35]. The one that thought might have been dead; Joseph was alive and stood before them. Finally, Joseph asked the question he had been waiting for years to receive an answer to as he said “Is my father still alive[36]?” The family would soon reunite, a reunion that would have seemed impossible years before[37]. Joseph’s story has the happiness of endings. But what is the point of this tale? Joseph summarizes the story quite well in Genesis 50:20 when he says “What you (his brothers) meant for evil, God meant for good.” On the surface, this line spoken by Joseph seems ridiculous. We often have encounters in our daily life from which we think that no good could arise out. The idea that God can bring forth good from disaster seems incomprehensible. As Joseph mouths these words, this is the part of the story where Joseph’s story becomes our story. God uses Joseph’s weaknesses to bring him to Egypt to save multiple nations[38]. God took Joseph’s pride and arrogance to lead to one day reunite with his family. God’s plan for Joseph and his brothers probably didn’t seem real obvious at the time, as Joseph’s situation took years and years to play out towards a resolution. At the moment that Joseph got sold into slavery it merely got the ball rolling on this tale. For today’s lesson reminds us of some very famous words from Romans the 8th chapter which say “And we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose[39].” We hear on this day that God works through dysfunctional families; God works through undesirable jobs, and God even might work through personal pain and tragedy. We remember that God is with us today through the pits of our lives and that God sees resolution even when we cannot[40]. Our answer to the will of God is ultimately found for us on the cross. For my good friend, Pastor Donovan Riley said explaining how God can work all things for good “God keeps the church impoverished and struggling, so we don't worship and preach the church. God keeps the pastor a broken, feeble man so we don't worship and preach the pastor. God keeps the Christian weak and needy so we don't worship and preach the Christian. God raised Jesus from the dead and made His the Name above all names so that at the name of Jesus every knee bows [in worship]; those in heaven, on earth and below the earth.[41]” Amen [1] Genesis 4:9 [2] Genesis 16:1 [3] Genesis 16:3 [4] Genesis 16:11-16 [5] Genesis 21:2 [6] Genesis 21:9 [7] Genesis 21:10-12 [8] Genesis 25:27 [9] Genesis 25:29-34, Genesis 27 [10] Genesis 27:41 [11] Genesis 35:23 [12] Genesis 37:3 [13] [14] Genesis 37:5-8 [15] Genesis 37:18-24 [16] Genesis 37:28 [17] Genesis 37:31 [18] Genesis 37:35 [19] Genesis 39:1 [20] Genesis 39:2-6 [21] Genesis 39:6-7 [22] Genesis 39:8 [23] Genesis 39:11-20 [24] This story appears in Genesis 40 [25] Genesis 41:1-36 [26] Genesis 41:37-57 [27] Genesis 42:1-8 [28] Genesis 42:8-9 [29] Genesis 42:34-38 [30] Genesis 43:13 [31] Genesis 43:30 [32] Genesis 44 contains this tale. [33] Genesis 44:13 [34] Genesis 45:1 [35] Genesis 45:2 [36] Genesis 45:3 [37] Genesis 46:28-34 [38] McDavid, Will. “Hopelessly Devoted: Genesis Chapter Thirty Seven Verses Three Through Seven”. Mockingbird. Christ Episcopal Church. Charlottesville, VA. 14. Jan. 2014. Web. Aug.4.2014. [39] Romans 8:28 [40] McDavid, Will. “Hopelessly Devoted: Genesis Chapter Thirty Seven Verses Three Through Seven”. [41] This is a quote from a 2011 Facebook post from Pastor Riley. First Lesson: Genesis 32: 22-31 Responsive Reading: Isaiah 55: 1-5 Second Lesson: Romans 9: 1-5 Gospel Lesson: Matthew 14: 13-21 Grace and Peace from Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
When I was young, I was a huge fan of professional wrestling. One of the great thrills of my childhood was attending matches at the Target Center where I got to stand about three feet away from Hulk Hogan as he marched to the ring to Rick Derringer’s “Real American." There was no more exciting thing in the world when you were 11 years old than when Hulk Hogan was able to body-slam someone who had a listed weight of well over 400 lbs. There was nothing more exciting than seeing Hogan conquering a seemingly unconquerable foe. Hulk Hogan leads us into an interesting question for this morning “what if someone an average Jake who lacked the muscles of Hulk Hogan was able to wrestle against seemingly the most unconquerable foe of all and live to tell about it?” Our Bible story for today centers around the idea of wrestling against God, and it centers on the person of Jacob. Jacob’s story begins about twenty years before our lesson. Jacob had a twin brother named Esau. I should tell you a little bit about Jacob and Esau. Esau was the first brother out of the womb. Esau was a man’s man. Esau was a rugged hunter[1]. Esau probably had more muscles than anybody in the whole land. Esau probably had a manly beard like one of the guys on Duck Dynasty. Esau was the type of guy who probably would eat a three-pound steak in a single setting then polish it off with a gallon of whole, raw milk. Esau if he lived today would have loved football, monster trucks, drinking beer, and professional wrestling. Esau on account of his manliness was the apple of his father’s eyes[2]. And then you had Esau’s brother Jacob. Jacob was quite a bit different from Esau[3]. Jacob didn’t like getting his hands dirty. Jacob liked spending time with his mom in the kitchen[4]. Jacob probably had about as much facial hair as a twelve year old boy[5]. If Jacob were alive today, he would probably love drinking wine and wearing skinny jeans. These brothers tended not to get along the best. Jacob had been jealous of Esau his whole life for what he was about to receive. Esau was going to receive his father’s “birthright." What Esau receiving the birthright means is upon Esau and Jacob’s father Isaac’s death that Esau was going to be rolling in it. Esau was going to have twice as much money as Jacob, twice as much land, twice as many flocks. Esau was going to be the big man in all the land of Canaan. Jacob knew this and Jacob was jealous of it all. Esau though had a weakness; he was arrogant. Esau thought that he was pretty hot stuff even if he didn’t have the birthright. Jacob used Esau’s weakness to his advantage. One day Jacob is cooking in the kitchen when Esau comes marching in from the field. Esau demanded something to eat[6]. Jacob said he would feed Esau as long as he sold him his birthright[7]. This offer would have seemed outrageous, an evening meal in exchange for great riches. Esau in a moment of foolishness went along with Jacob’s demands[8]. All Jacob had to do for his swindle to be complete was to receive his father Isaac’s blessing. Jacob knew that Isaac would not go along with his favorite son’s foolish decision. So Jacob decided that he needed to take advantage of his father. Jacob was going to trick his father into receiving the birthright. Jacob killed an animal, and then covered his arms with hair so that he could pretend to be his brother Esau to receive his father’s blessing[9]. Jacob takes advantage of his father’s blindness by marching into his room claiming that he was his brother Esau, stealing his brother’s blessing and now Jacob’s swindle of Esau out of his father’s inheritance was complete[10]. So to recap Jacob’s behavior to this point in the story he lied to his blind father and cheated his brother out of their possessions. Esau was so furious about this that he threatens to kill Jacob. Jacob then flees as far away from Esau as he could be[11]. Esau and Jacob would not encounter each other for twenty years. In the meantime, Jacob had gone to live with an uncle named Laban[12]. Laban and Jacob were both cunning and made for each other. Laban got Jacob to agree to work for him for seven years to get his beautiful daughter Rachel’s hand in marriage. Only for Jacob’s wedding night, Laban pulls a fast one on him by sending his undesirable daughter Leah into Jacob’s bed instead. Jacob, the con-man, had been conned. Jacob would not stop though; Jacob agrees to work for Laban for another seven years finally marrying Rachel[13]. Don’t worry about Jacob though. Jacob got his revenge on Laban. Jacob tricked Laban into giving him all of his spotted, diseased livestock, only for Jacob to develop a breeding technique which made the spotted livestock healthy, thus making Jacob into a very rich man[14]. Now twenty years later, Jacob wanted to return home with all his possessions. Jacob figured it was time for him to enjoy the benefits of his father’s inheritance. Only one big problem stood in the way. The problem’s name was Esau. So Jacob being Jacob started to think about how to outsmart Esau once again. Jacob at first sends messengers to spy on Esau, yet when Jacob hears back from the messengers he finds out Esau has 400 men to fight alongside him[15]. Jacob was still looking for ways to avoid his brother. So Jacob then decides like the conniving coward that he had been his entire life that he was going to send his wives in two separate parties across the river into the Land of Canaan, hoping to let half his party along with Jacob escape[16]. Jacob’s schemes were going him safe from Esau at least for the night. The night of Jacob’s supposed safety was going to change his life forever. In the middle of the night, a man comes out of nowhere to begin to wrestle with Jacob[17]. Jacob didn’t know who the man was at first. As Jacob begins to wrestle, he doesn’t follow his normal course of action; Jacob doesn’t make excuses or try to escape. Jacob for the first time in his life chooses to face the problem before him[18]. In this encounter, Jacob was taken to the darkest places in his life. Jacob on this night was finally forced to confront the past twenty years of scheming that had led him to this moment. The wrestler reveals to Jacob on this night that he had wrestled with God[19]. Jacob wrestled with God so he may receive God’s blessing. This encounter changed Jacob as he ultimately saw God face to face[20]. When the story says a “man wrestled with Jacob until dawn.” What we must remember is that dawn in a biblical passage is the signal of a man undergoing an epic encounter in one’s life that will change them forever. We hear the story of Jacob wrestling with God and don’t know what exactly to make of it. We wonder what such a scene might look as within our own lives. In 1997, Robert Duvall starred in a movie called The Apostle. Duvall played Sonny a Pentecostal preacher who like Jacob had his share of character defects. Sonny was a womanizer, whose wife Jessie played by Farrah Fawcett grew tired of his act then proceed to run off with his church’s youth minister much to Sonny’s dismay. Sonny’s failures to win her back fail. Sonny’s congregational elders side with his wife in the dispute and show him the door. Sonny then proceeds to snap at one of his kid’s softball games and savagely beats his wife’s boyfriend with a baseball bat into a coma. Sonny then proceeds to become an outlaw much like Jacob. Sonny stays with his Momma hiding out from the law, no different then Jacob hiding out from Esau leading to the film’s greatest scene. Sonny snaps at God for his life ending up so wayward. Sonny begins to yell at God for taking his wife, and stealing church. Sonny yells at God for answers wanting to know if it was God or the Devil messing with him like this. All Sonny wants from God is peace. Sonny’s previous few weeks finally cause him to break down as he yells out “Lord I know that I’m a sinner, and I’m a womanizer, yet what should I do Lord, what should I do, so that you blow this pain out of me?”(The Apostle)[21] This scene was beautiful because like Jacob’s wrestling it paints the tale of a messed up preacher putting it all on the line. Sonny wrestled with God, lived to tell about it, and that Sonny realized that God’s forgiveness was even more powerful than our greatest sin. Richard Hays describes this passage best when he says the message of Genesis 32 is that if we are transferred from darkness to light then God is going to have to wrestle with us in the darkness. We cannot see God any other way. Those who wrestle with God in the midst of their darkest hours will ultimately change before the dawn[22]. This idea of Jacob wrestling with God all night seems rather silly to us. We wonder what would be the point of a human prevailing against God in a wrestling match? Pastor Nathan Asseng tells the following story, a number of years ago in Iowa there was a wrestling match between Ogden High and Humboldt High. “Humboldt had a senior wrestler on the team with Down syndrome[23]”. The kid with Down syndrome possessed no physical threat to any other wrestler. “But the coaches asked if anyone on the opposing team would at least give the boy a chance to get out on the mat”[24]. A wrestler from Ogden High offered to take him on. The Ogden wrestler not only wrestled him for entire six minutes, but allowed the boy with Down syndrome to beat him on points[25]. He gave this kid, not only the ability to compete, but even more graciously the opportunity to raise his hands in victory. “At the end of this match, both wrestlers got a standing ovation, and as you can imagine, there was hardly a dry eye in the house”[26]. In the midst of Jacob’s greatest challenge, God sought to touch Jacob. God did not punish Jacob for every decision that he had made for the last twenty years leading to that moment. God instead takes down Jacob so that he was never going to be the same ever again. Jacob’s life from this moment forward was no longer going to be defined by his cowardliness, cheating, or manipulating. Jacob was instead going to go forward with the promise that his God would not be distant from his everyday struggles. What happens to Jacob and Esau? Jacob after being wounded by God has a newly found courage, the same type of courage that the disciples find after they encounter the risen lord. So, Jacob the next day rushes all of all his men finally to face Esau on the front line of battle. Yet as soon as Jacob sees Esau a shocking outcome occurs. Esau runs forward, puts Jacob in a beat hug then Esau the manly man begins weeping over his reunion with Jacob, only for Jacob to break down shortly thereafter along with him[27]. As Jacob reentered the Land of Canaan after twenty years away he was no longer the spoiled brat who had left it twenty years before. Jacob was instead ready to be the Father of a great nation. What we reminded of this morning as we hear Jacob’s story is a reminder of the nature of God. How God stuck beside Jacob for reasons that we are not able to fathom. God is not the terrifying presence that Jacob saw Esau being. We receive a reminder how we wrestle with God nearly every single day of our lives. Many of us have thrown everything that we possibly could at God from anger to doubt to despair to even cursing his name. Our God will not abandon us in the wilderness; our God will wrestle us through the darkest moments of our lives, to bring us safely forth to the dawn. Amen [1] Genesis 25:27 [2] Genesis 25:28 [3] Genesis 25:27 [4] Genesis 25:28-29 [5] Genesis 27:11 [6] Genesis 25:30 [7] Genesis 25:31 [8] Genesis 25:32-33 [9] Genesis 27:15-16 [10] Genesis 27:18-29 [11] Genesis 27:41-45 [12] Genesis 28:1-5 [13] Genesis 29:1-20 [14] Genesis 30:25-43 [15] Genesis 32:7 [16] Genesis 32:8 [17] Genesis 32:24 [18] Genesis 32:25 [19] Genesis 32:28 [20] Genesis 32:30 [21] This scene can be found at You Tube- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5v5DOEF45E [22] Hays, Richard. “Limping and praising”. Faith & Leadership. 14.Apr.2009. Web. July.28.2014 [23] Aaseng, Nathan. “Wrestling with God”. Working Preacher. 18.Dec.2007.Web. July 28.2014 [24] Aaseng, Nathan. “Wrestling with God”. [25] Aaseng, Nathan. “Wrestling with God”. [26] Aaseng, Nathan. “Wrestling with God”. [27] Genesis 33:4 |
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