Oct. 20, 2019         Wrestling With God                                                            

Let’s talk about Jacob this morning. Jacob was a thief, a trickster, a cheater, a scammer. You remember the stories about Jacob, how he talked his brother Esau into selling him the birthright for a bowl of lentils? You remember how Jacob, stole his father Isaac’s blessing by dressing up in furs and pretending to be Esau. You remember how Jacob himself got scammed by Laban, working for seven years to marry Rachel, and instead got Leah. But Jacob got even in the end, using a clever trick to con Laban out of over half his livestock. Yes, Jacob was a thief, a trickster, a cheater, and a scammer, but this was all to change.

After Laban asked Jacob to leave his family and take his ill gotten gains with him, Jacob headed back to the land of his father, but along the way, he got word that his brother Esau was coming to meet him. Now Jacob was afraid of Esau, because he had stolen Esau’s birthright and blessing, so he figured Esau would be out for blood. So that sneaky Jacob, divided his group into two parts so that when Esau attacked one group, the other might flee, and he put servants bearing gifts in front, so that maybe he could buy Esau’s forgiveness. And last of all, that sneaky Jacob, stayed well to the rear, so he could get away. Even that night, Jacob, camped his people on Esau’s side of the Jabbok river, and then went back across the river to sleep in safety on the other side. And that’s when it happened. God came.

In the middle of the night, Jacob found himself wrestling with an angel, and Jacob being a good trickster, was a good wrestler, so the match went on till dawn. And at daybreak, Jacob demanded a blessing from the angel, and the angel commended Jacob for wrestling with God and with human beings, and then touched him on the hip, and his hip fell out of joint, so that he now walked with a limp. And the angel told Jacob, that from now on he would be called Israel, which means God rules my life. No longer would Jacob be the trickster, the thief, the con man, now Jacob would play it straight, and rather than seeking to use God for his purposes, he would obey God, and trust in God to see him through.

So that next day, as Esau and his men come to meet Jacob, Jacob sets himself at the head of his people, so that if Esau is angry, the attack will fall on him, and his family might escape punishment. And to Jacob’s complete surprise, Esau hasn’t come to attack his brother, but to welcome him back home with open arms!

I guess I always see this story as the moment when Jacob went from being a trickster to being God’s servant. And I think that for many of us, we spend our youth relying upon our strength, our cleverness to see us through, but at some point we lose our strength, and we find out we aren’t so clever, and for those who wrestle with God, God touches our lives. Rather than continue to play the games of humankind, we turn our lives over and trust in God. At least I think that’s what happens for those who wrestle with God, who seek to know who God is in our lives, and what that means for our lives.

Now for those who choose not to wrestle with God, I imagine their lives are still plagued with the fear and bitterness of growing old. I imagine that the peace eludes them and anxiousness abounds. But what I really like about the meeting of Jacob and Esau, is that it reminds me of the story of the prodigal son, Esau greets Jacob, not with death but with life. The story helps us to imagine that maybe we don't always have to be afraid, that life may be filled with grace and blessing, and that if we give God a chance to rule our lives, we might find something far better than we have already. For those who wrestle with God, God has touched our lives, and although we might walk differently in our lives, God is indeed a blessing that we know we cannot live without. And that’s the good news of Jesus Christ. Amen.