Today we focus in on
the honery character of Jacob, son of Isaac, grandson of Abraham, the one
designated to carry forward the promise of God to his people, and we highlight,
this morning, his curious encounter with a stranger at the ford of the
“LIMPING ALONG”
OT Lesson and Sermon
text: Genesis 32: 22-32
NT Lesson: Acts
Dr. Matthew Brown
Maybe you have had the
experience of driving by a distinctive house on a regular basis, a grand old
white frame home with inviting front porches and awnings over the windows. Set amongst the towering oaks and beefy
magnolias, it is a captivating place, and as you drive by each day you think it
would be a wonderful, no a perfect place to live. But maybe at some point you are invited to a
party at that perfect domicile and upon closer examination you notice that the
floors creak, the windows are rotting at the edges, the porch is slanted, and
the whole place could use a good painting.
The idyllic image in your mind does not match the reality you see.
You check in to the legendary
bed and breakfast, the place you’ve dreamed about for years. You had to wait eight months for
reservations. But you get no sleep in
the luxuriant down tufted bed because of the blasted banging of boiler pipes
all night long. The gushing magazine ad
didn’t mention anything about that.
You’re tempted each time you
walk by the display window and see that outfit, the same outfit advertised in
Town and Country, the outfit that seems extravagant but looks so good. But when you finally enter that door to be
Talbotized, Pradafied, or Gucci-cooed, there is that chance that after the tags
have been clipped you will notice a flaw in the fabric. Like the pin dot of a spaghetti splash on
your starched white shirt or the pink pimple plaguing your nose, most folks
won’t notice, but you do, and it just eats away at you.
The idyllic home, the perfect
getaway, the essential wardrobe addition, no matter what the cost, it will most
likely come with a flaw. Such is the
nature of things whether we are talking about architectural wonders, consumer
products, or family trees.
I’ve been reading a book
highlighting American history and as I’ve read about some of those legendary
families whose names mark many of our schools, universities, and institutions,
I am drawn to the conclusion that they were or are just as dysfunctional as the
rest of us, the only difference being that they wore more expensive clothing.
If you read much history you
will either become mired in cynicism or be pleasantly surprised by how well we
have survived, in spite of ourselves. An
examination of any family tree will reveal generous helpings of transgression,
illicit liaison, bitter rivalries, and ego-sired iniquities. Think of all the shady stories that were
discreetly left out of your family histories, the shocking stories Aunt Martha
just couldn’t bring herself to include when she compiled your family genealogy.
Well, a study of our family
tree in the Bible is no different. Look
at any of the Bible’s genealogies and behind the names you will find the
stories that raise eyebrows and evoke snickers.
That’s why I’m somewhat perplexed when my contemporaries and colleagues
pound their pulpits and fill the airwaves with calls for a return to biblical
moral values. Are they referring to
David and his illicit affair or his conspiracy to commit murder? Are they talking about Rahab the harlot, or
are they speaking of Hosea’s angst over falling in love with a prostitute, or
maybe they are eluding to Solomon’s seven hundred wives and three hundred
concubines.
From Abraham to Zaccheus,
though at times we will use the term saints, we must always remember that the
people of the Bible, like the people of the world, are sinners.
You see, the goal of the
Bible is not to reveal the high moral character of a people. Rather, it is to proclaim the power and
unrelenting love of a gracious God.
Certainly, this is the case
when we come to the story of Jacob. You
can just imagine the stories from this guy’s childhood. I’m sure you’ve seen the brand and model of
this child before. Just the mention of
his name would lead a room of adults to shake their heads. “My, my, my.”
Isn’t there always one at a birthday party? You know, the kid who pushes the other kids
out of the way, the one who steals the presents out of the birthday girl’s
hands, the one who sticks his fingers in the icing before the cake is cut. Rounder, scoundrel, scamp, contemptible,
conniving, scheming, selfish, rotten.
That’s Jacob. Think Eddie
Haskell, only more devious. Ferris
Bueller with an attitude.
His name means, “heel
grabber”, alluding to the story of his birth, when he was grabbing the heel of
his brother Esau in an effort to get out of the womb first. His growing years were marked by the time he
conned Esau out of his birthright and later conned his poor old blind father
Isaac into giving him the blessing that was meant for Esau. Do you think Esau had “issues” with his
brother?
When the con-man Jacob was
conned by a potential father-in-law, Laban, Jacob turned around and managed to
take about everything poor old Laban had ever possessed, including both of his
daughters who became Jacob’s wives.
Frederich Buechner writes, “Jacob was never satisfied.
He wanted the moon, and if
he’d ever managed to bilk Heaven out of that, he would have been back the next
morning for the stars to go with it.”
Well, you don’t live that
kind of life without creating some animosity in those whose lives you have
trampled. So you can imagine that Jacob
was a bit tense about an appointed meeting with his brother Esau. What would Esau do? Was the con-man about to get his comeuppance?
Well, as only Jacob would, he
sent his wives and his servants out in front of him. You know the old saying, “I’m behind you all
the way.” Yet, while Jacob had placed
some insulation, a human shield between he and Esau, Jacob, the trickster, the
con-man was now vulnerable and alone.
And so it was, that fateful
night, by the ford of the
That seems abundantly strange
to us. How can one picture a wandering
livestock herder talkin’ trash and trading take downs with the “Immortal,
Invisible, God only wise”? How can the
human contest the divine? This is way
beyond David and Goliath stuff. We are
speaking of the One whose word alone transformed nothing into a universe. Maybe you remember the old great line from
the Cosby show when Dr. Huxstable put his son Theo in his place saying, “I
brought you into this world, I can take you out.”
In a wrestling match between
Jacob and God, it seems to me that the Vegas odds makers couldn’t make those
numbers high enough even if Jacob managed to bribe the judges, which I’m sure
he would have done.
What does this mean? It is a strange story. And yet, it is a story that at some level
resonates with us, speaking to our own struggles with the One who formed both
molehill and mountain.
While I’m no match for that
One who set the stars in the sky, I certainly know of those times when it feels
as if I am wrestling with God. I read
many of the Psalms and I can tell that they feel as if they are wrestling with
God. I hear your stories and what I hear
is that faith so often seems to be a wrestling match. The Apostle Paul even speaks of it in terms
of a boxing match.
We want what we want and we
want God to want what we want and, well, God may have something else in
mind. Wrestling.
We see what we see in the
world and we question what God is up to, failing to consider that God is
certainly questioning what in the world we think we’re doing. Wrestling.
Relationship involves wrestling.
And anyone who has ever put knee to floor and head to heaven knows the
experience of grappling with God.
You will note in our story
that Jacob’s unnamed foe gives him, along with a limp, a new name,
If you’ve ever wrestled with
relationship, you know what it means to be bruised. It may have been your heart rather than your
hip that was thrown out of joint, but life and relationship will inevitably
bring about a certain amount of limping.
And yet, somehow, as we limp along through the wrestling match that is
life, there is or there can be the experience of great blessing in it all.
We learn in this story that
the blessing is not because of what you have done. Rather, it is because of who God is. Jacob/Israel, far beyond his deserving was
blessed and so are we.
Sometimes it seems as though
we are grappling with God. And sometimes
it seems rather frustrating. But think
for a moment about what is happening in that experience. The creator of tomorrow cares enough to
confront you today. The love of the
almighty for you is such that He is willing and patient enough to confront you
today. You may be bruised. You are certainly changed by the
exchange. But in the end you are
blessed.
Think of the young adult who
after surviving all the teenage wrestling matches with the parents, discovers
an unforeseen gratitude that they cared enough to confront her. She felt so bruised at the time (remember the
slouch, the lip, the attitude, “I’ll wear black because my life is so dark”),
but now facing tomorrow, she knows she’s been blessed. The God with whom we strive is also the God
who blesses us and places us on the path to hope.
Amen.
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