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SERMON
Next Sunday, being the first Sunday of Lent, we'll begin a sermon series on encounters with Jesus. So today marks the end of our current set of studies in Genesis. Looking back over the past several months I realize that we've painted, with admittedly broad brushstrokes, a history that spans all the way from the creation of the world, and through the fall of humanity, to the remarkably intimate way in which God the Creator chose a particular people (and some rather unlikely candidates) through whom he proposed to work out his plan for the salvation and healing of this broken world.
That family history began, you'll remember, with God extending a call and covenant first to Abram, then to Isaac, and finally to Jacob. And all three generations in that family proved to be far from perfect. In fact, left to their own devices, none of those patriarchs would have survived. But God not only proved himself to be gracious and patient with them. We begin to see here in God a peculiar affection for unlikely candidates. He has a way of transforming losers into unexpectedly gifted saints. And I thank God daily that he's still in that business!
According to the record, Jacob began his career as an underhanded swindler, willing to use people to get whatever he wanted. In fact his name, Jacob, means "usurper" or "deceiver." Having flimflammed his brother Esau out of his birthright, and then having stolen his father's blessing, Jacob was obliged to run for his life to his uncle Laban. But Laban, who at first generously took in the poor fugitive, turned out to be every bit as manipulative and self-serving as Jacob had been.
As we learned last week, after seven years of hard labor, Jacob was stuck with the wrong wife (Leah). Then Laban had the audacity to make Jacob give up another seven years of his life in indentured servitude to pay for the woman he loved (Rachel). Poor Jacob was getting a serious dose of his own medicine. But you'll notice that by the end of those fourteen years Jacob had eleven sons. So, despite Laban's underhanded tactics and Jacob's understandably bitter resentment, God's promise to Jacob of a multitude of descendants was being fulfilled.
Now you would think that, after fourteen years of loyal service, Laban should have offered Jacob a golden handshake - some sort of bonus. That would have only been fair. But Jacob, given his record of duplicity, was hardly in a position to insist that life was supposed to be fair. And knowing that, Laban reminded Jacob, in words dripping with condescension, that the only thing his son-in-law had earned with those fourteen years of hard labor was two bickering wives; other than that, Jacob didn't have a shekel to his name. Desperately wanting to return home, Jacob couldn't afford to leave. Laban had him over a barrel.
It would take another six years of hard labor (along with some shrewd negotiating and divinely inspired selective breeding of Laban's flocks) for Jacob to amass some significant personal wealth. But he pulled it off! This twenty-year episode, and especially the last six years, traces a significant change in Jacob's way of doing business. There is something deeply satisfying in seeing how Jacob outmaneuvered the opposition and got exactly what he wanted, not by trickery, but by honoring the terms of their agreement. He played it strictly by the rules, and God honored Jacob's integrity with the woman he loved and great material blessing - while mean old Laban got just what he deserved. This story does more than underscore the point that the Lord "thwarts the plans of the crafty." It's just one more wonderful confirmation of the fact that God keeps his promises.
But despite God's promised presence and protection, Jacob knew that Laban wasn't likely to let him go without a fight. So he waited until the busiest time in a herdsman's calendar to quit. When sheep-shearing began, Jacob knew that Laban and his men would be working from dawn to dusk. So that was when Jacob absconded with his wives and children and servants and flocks and headed out for Canaan.
When it was discovered that they were gone, Laban and his clan followed in hot pursuit. But before they overtook Jacob in the hills of Gilead, God intervened and warned Laban in a dream not to lay a hand on his servant Jacob. Laban wisely complied with God's direction. So you can imagine the tension when they finally met. At times the negotiations seemed almost farcical with blustering accusations and counter-accusations - and even a game of "hide and seek the household gods." (You can read the whole crazy story in chapter 31.)
But in the end they settled their differences with a covenant, a non-aggression pact. In effect, Laban drew a line in the sand and said to Jacob, "You stay on your side and I'll stay on mine. And to make sure neither of us violates this agreement, to insure that neither of us crosses this line to do harm to the other, I'm going to invoke your God to be the line judge. And may he do serious harm to either of us if we violate this trust." Actually the words he used were these: "May the Lord keep watch between you and me when we are away from each other." Those words were not originally meant as a parting blessing but a warning.
By the grace of God, Jacob was able to avoid a near-disaster with his in-laws. But that danger paled in comparison to the one he now had to face. After twenty years of self-imposed exile, Jacob now had to deal with his brother Esau - whose parting words to him, you may remember, had been, "The next time I see you, little brother, I'm going to kill you." So Jacob sent a messenger ahead to Esau with a kind of "olive branch" - hoping against all reason that his older brother would forgive and forget. Soon the envoy returned to report that he had delivered Jacob's good will message and that Esau was coming out to meet him - accompanied by four hundred men. Things were not looking good for Jacob.
At that point, it says, Jacob prayed, "O God… Save me from the hand of my brother Esau." Then realizing that mere words were hardly sufficient evidence of his good intentions, he sent flocks and herds of sheep and goats and camels and cows and donkeys ahead as gifts in the hope of making peace with Esau and atoning for his having cheated his brother out of his birthright and blessing. That night, perhaps unable to bear the strain of waiting any longer, Jacob sent his wives and children and all his possessions across the Jabbok River. With no artificial light, Jacob suddenly found himself utterly alone in the dark. Have you ever been there - to the place Jacob found himself that night?
Just then the unexpected struck. From somewhere out of the deep darkness came an assailant who grabbed him and threw him to the ground. That's how the wrestling match began. And though Jacob could have hardly realized it at the time, this would be the crucial battle of his life - a confrontation infinitely more important than any he ever had or ever would have. It was Jacob's last stand. And, win or lose, this struggle would mark him for life and shape his destiny.
Did you notice that the reader is left every bit as much in the dark as Jacob as to the identity of his assailant? Only later do we learn that this was, in some mysterious way, God himself who had accosted Jacob. What I find particularly fascinating is that they wrestled all night. And only when it was apparent that Jacob wasn't about to give up did his mysterious adversary touch his hip socket and wrench it. Even so, when the assailant said, "Let me go," Jacob refused.
How do you suppose Jacob could have wrestle God to a draw? I can see only one plausible explanation. If he could dislocate Jacob's hip with one well-placed touch, he must have allowed Jacob to wrestle that long and that hard. But why? I suspect it's because Jacob would only be ready to come to terms with God when he had exhausted his options. So for a while he would allow Jacob to gain the advantage, then turn the tables. Finally, I suspect, just as Jacob found himself reaching deep down for his last ounce of strength, this adversary touched his hip socket and Jacob was undone. True, Jacob still held on for dear life, but the message was clear: "You can fight me as long and as hard as you want, but I will always be in control of the situation. Now let go." Have you ever been there - to the place Jacob found himself that night?
But with a kind of last heroic effort, Jacob said, "I will not let you go unless you bless me." That is: "You don't realize how desperate I am!" (You have to give him points for determination.) But then back came the one question that mattered more than anything else at that point. This mysterious stranger asked him, "What is your name?"
I wonder if, at that point, Jacob recalled the last time he had been asked that question? Twenty years earlier he had asked his father, Isaac, for a blessing. And when Isaac asked him his name he had replied, "I'm you son, Esau." Now here he was asking for a blessing once again. But this time it was his heavenly Father asking the same question: "What is your name?" How would he answer? Have you ever been there - to the place Jacob found himself that night?
"Jacob," he replied. "My name is Jacob." But in that simple answer Jacob knew that he was saying, "My name is heel-grabber, usurper, deceiver, cheat. My name is liar to my father, back-stabber to my brother, and the dishonor of my family name. My name is 'I am not worthy of the blessing I seek.'" With one word Jacob confessed that all that was part of his name - his identity.
And right here, as always, honest confession comes up against the great mystery of God's grace. The Lord replied, "No. Your name will no longer be Jacob. I'm giving you a new name - Israel - because you have wrestled with God and with men and have overcome." What had Jacob overcome? Had he gotten the best of God? Had Jacob won that wrestling match? Not on your life. Then what had Jacob overcome? He had overcome his past - he had finally left his past behind. He had wrestled with God until he realized that his net worth depended totally on the grace of God.
God gave Jacob a new name - Israel. Do you know what the name Israel means? If you think the name Israel means, "I have fought with God and won," you're dead wrong. That's what the name Jacob means: "I did things my way, I fought my way to the top and I even forced God to work for me." That's what the name Jacob means. The name Israel literally means "God fights and God rules!" That is the real meaning of the name God gave to Jacob. And therein lies the marvelous paradox of faith. Faith is realizing that your name, your identity, your worth, and your only security in this life and the next is all wrapped up in the fact that "God rules" and you don't. The paradox of faith is that when Jacob lost that wrestling match, he finally won for himself the blessing that he had been working so hard to attain on his own. And there is a profound sense in which, if you are a Christian, if you have given control of your life to Christ, then your name is Israel, too.
One can only guess at the ways in which that nocturnal wrestling match changed the course of his life. One thing was sure: Jacob would never forget that night. It says that Jacob left that place limping because of his hip. His hip problem was a constant reminder that it wasn't just a dream. "No naming without a laming," as one commentator put it.
We can also be sure that, by the grace of God, Jacob left that morning a different man. I say that because, the night before, he had been frightened to distraction at the thought of confronting his brother Esau. He had been holding back, alone, hiding behind his family and the gifts he had sent ahead, hoping that they would somehow mollify Esau and perhaps persuade him to spare his life. But with the new day, when he saw Esau coming with four hundred men, Jacob walked out in front of everyone and there bowed before the brother he had wronged, ready to take whatever Esau might choose to do to him. That was not like the old Jacob.
But grace can do some amazing things to our relationships. It says that when Esau saw his brother, "he ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him, and they wept." And then Jacob said to Esau, "To see your face is like seeing the face of God…" (scary… but good).
Have you ever been there - to the place Israel found himself that day? If there is anyone from whom you need forgiveness or with whom you need to be reconciled, please don't try to handle it on your own or hide from it. You don't need to. Follow Jacob's example. Wrestle with God about the things that are troubling you. Get things right between you and him; and let him take control of your life. Let him give you a new name and a new identity grounded in his grace. And then, in that grace, approach your brother or sister with humility. God will take care of the rest. What have you got to lose?
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