Sermons from Mission Hills UCC San Diego, California Rev. Dr. David Bahr [email protected] August 27, 2023 “Always Being Prepared” Genesis 45: 1-15 – Common English Bible Joseph could no longer control himself in front of all his attendants, so he declared, “Everyone, leave now!” So no one stayed with him when he revealed his identity to his brothers. 2 He wept so loudly that the Egyptians and Pharaoh’s household heard him. 3 Joseph said to his brothers, “I’m Joseph! Is my father really still alive?” His brothers couldn’t respond because they were terrified before him. 4 Joseph said to his brothers, “Come closer to me,” and they moved closer. He said, “I’m your brother Joseph! The one you sold to Egypt. 5 Now, don’t be upset and don’t be angry with yourselves that you sold me here. Actually, God sent me before you to save lives. 6 We’ve already had two years of famine in the land, and there are five years left without planting or harvesting. 7 God sent me before you to make sure you’d survive[a] and to rescue your lives in this amazing way. 8 You didn’t send me here; it was God who made me a father to Pharaoh, master of his entire household, and ruler of the whole land of Egypt. 9 “Hurry! Go back to your father. Tell him this is what your son Joseph says: ‘God has made me master of all of Egypt. Come down to me. Don’t delay. 10 You may live in the land of Goshen, so you will be near me, your children, your grandchildren, your flocks, your herds, and everyone with you. 11 I will support you there, so you, your household, and everyone with you won’t starve, since the famine will still last five years.’ 12 You and my brother Benjamin have seen with your own eyes that I’m speaking to you. 13 Tell my father about my power in Egypt and about everything you’ve seen. Hurry and bring my father down here.” 14 He threw his arms around his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, and Benjamin wept on his shoulder. 15 He kissed all of his brothers and wept, embracing them. After that, his brothers were finally able to talk to him. This summer we have been following the story of the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and now we’re on to Jacob’s sons. As you heard last week, Jacob had one son he treated differently than all the rest. Joseph was the youngest and the only son of Jacob’s favorite wife Rachel. This son not only received preferential treatment and gifts from his father, he flaunted them, like a really nice embroidered coat, and he tattled on the brothers, and he told them outrageous dreams – like the one when they were out working in the field gathering bundles of wheat and Joseph’s stood up straight and all the other bundles bowed down to it. The brothers were tired of his antics, so when they saw an opportunity to get rid of Joseph, they discussed all the different kinds of ways they could get away with murder. Cooler heads prevailed and they decided that instead of killing him, they would sell him to some traders passing by on their way to Egypt. Then they took Joseph’s amazing technicolor dreamcoat and smeared it with blood and brought it to their father and told him that a wild animal killed him. Jacob was beside himself in grief. His favorite son, the only child of his favorite wife, was dead. Meanwhile, the traders who paid 20 pieces of silver for Joseph arrived in Egypt and sold him to Potiphar, the commander of the royal guard and Pharaoh’s chief officer. Joseph performed his duties so well that he kept being elevated and put in charge and then put in charge of more and more until he was the chief of Potiphar’s entire household. And then the story continues, “Now Joseph was well-built and handsome.” That’s the Common English Bible translation. I was curious how other translations described him. One said he was “of a beautiful form and of a beautiful countenance.” Another, “Strikingly handsome.” And that’s why, we’re told, Potiphar’s wife grew “infatuated” with him and kept trying to seduce him. All summer you’ve heard stories straight out of soap operas. Or perhaps we should say, soap operas straight out of scripture. Here is another. Joseph kept resisting her. “Sleep with me,” she kept begging. Genesis 39:7. One time she grabbed his garment and demanded passionately, “lie down with me.” Verse 12. She persisted and to get away, he slipped out of his coat as she held on to it. Certainly, that’s happened on Days of Our Lives and all the rest. Well, realizing that he was never going to give in, she took that coat to Joseph’s master. And what started out as a sort of funny story turned tragic. She lied. “Look what the Hebrew slave did to me. He tried to sleep with me. I screamed but no one was here to save me. He took off his garment but when he heard someone coming, he ran off and left it behind.” It is a sadly familiar story. Such lies in the South led to lynching. He looked at me the wrong way. Or he whistled at me. Emmet Till was beaten until he was unrecognizable, shot, and thrown into a river with a metal cotton gin hung around his neck with barbed wire because of a lie to create a pretext. In this case, Joseph was put in jail. But while in jail, Joseph so impressed the jail’s commander that eventually Joseph, as a prisoner, was put in charge of the prisoners. It was during this time that one day Pharaoh got angry at his head bakery chef and chief wine-steward and had them thrown in jail. One morning they looked distressed. Joseph asked what was the matter. They both had dreams but didn’t know what they meant. Joseph listened and interpreted them and, in the end, the dreams became reality. Joseph said that the chief wine-steward would be praised by Pharaoh and restored to his position while, and a warning for anyone would like to cover their ears for this gruesome detail… Joseph interpreted the dream of the bakery chef that his head would hang from a tree while birds pecked at it. In reality, his head was impaled on a stick, but close enough. The chief wine steward happily returned to work and promptly forgot the whole ordeal. Thirteen years passed. Joseph spent 13 years unjustly detained for that told lie against him – another eerily familiar detail. Well, one night Pharaoh had two disturbing dreams. He stood by the Nile and saw 7 healthy-looking, fattened cows grazing along the banks. Just then, 7 scrawny, terrible-looking cows emerged from the river and promptly devoured the fattened cows. He woke up troubled. He eventually fell back to sleep and had a second dream about 7 ears of corn, full, well-formed and 7 scrawny looking ears of corn, scorched by the east wind. The scrawny ones ate the full ones, but those 7 pitiful looking ears still remained scrawny. Pharaoh summoned all of Egypt’s religious experts and all of his advisors. He described his dreams but no one could interpret them. That’s when the chief wine steward remembered a young Hebrew in jail. Pharaoh summoned him and Joseph explained that 7 years of abundant fields of grain would be followed by 7 years of a devastating famine. He told Pharaoh that he should find an intelligent, wise man and give him authority over the land of Egypt to collect and store as much grain as possible so it will last through 7 years of famine. Pharaoh and his advisors thought that was a good idea. And the man they put in charge was Joseph. And just like he said, 7 years of abundant yields of grain did indeed lead to a period of famine that affected every part of Egypt and the rest of the known world. Every country came to Egypt to buy grain. And who did they have to see? Joseph. Back home, his father Jacob and his brothers were suffering the famine like everyone else. Jacob sent his sons to Egypt to buy grain – all of them except one. His beloved Rachel had one more son named Benjamin but sadly she died shortly after childbirth. Jacob couldn’t risk losing him too. The brothers went to Egypt and met with the man in charge of selling grain from their storehouses. They didn’t recognize Joseph but he recognized them and devised a scheme seemingly designed to torment them. He spoke to them in a harsh tone and accused them of being spies looking to exploit the country’s weaknesses. No, they defended; we’re just the 12 sons of a man in Canaan. One brother is still at home with our father and one brother is gone. Joseph was that “gone” brother, and this was the first he heard that he had another brother. Joseph told them that if they are honest men to go home and bring back the youngest son to prove their words are true. But one of them would have to stay behind in prison. Rueben exclaimed to his brothers, “Didn’t I tell you we shouldn’t have wronged our brother. But no. You wouldn’t listen. That’s why we’re in this danger now.” Joseph enjoyed listening to their little exchange. Joseph had spoken to the brothers as though he were an Egyptian, through an interpreter, so the brothers didn’t know he could understand them. He sold them the grain and Simeon was tied up and put in prison. But Joseph ordered that the money they used to pay for their grain be hidden in their sacks. When they arrived home the brothers told their father they must return with Benjamin in order to get Simeon out of prison. Jacob was out of his mind fearing that he might lose yet another of his most beloved sons, not to mention that now another one of them was a prisoner back in Egypt. It was then that they opened the sacks of grain and discovered the money. Jacob angrily accused his sons of trying to torture him. “If anything happens to Benjamin, it will send me to my grave in grief.” They didn’t rush back to Egypt to free Simeon because Jacob was trying to wait as long as he could to save Benjamin’s life. But when the grain was gone and they were hungry again, the brothers went back with Benjamin to buy more. They arrived back in Egypt and met with Joseph and told him about finding the money in their sacks. “Please, we don’t know how this happened.” Joseph, through an interpreter, told them, “Don’t worry about it.” He invited them into his home and had a feast prepared for them. And he laid his eyes on his brother for the first time. And one of those little details I find funny – he gave Benjamin 5 times as much food as the others. Still rubbing it in their faces. They ate and drank together and were put at ease. While they were eating, sacks of grain were being assembled for them to take. Once again, Joseph ordered that their money be placed in the sacks of grain. Along with a silver chalice in Benjamin’s sack. Except this wasn’t generosity. He did it to trick them. Joseph had his servants follow them and before they left the city, accuse them of stealing. “The master’s silver chalice is gone. Why have you repaid his hospitality with such ingratitude?” The brothers discovered money in their sacks of grain again. They returned to Joseph and defended themselves saying they had nothing to do with it. He told them not to worry about it but if one of them has his silver chalice, he would become his slave. From oldest to youngest they opened their sacks of grain until it was found in Benjamin’s. They all tore their clothes. Judah pleaded with Joseph that if they returned home without Benjamin, their father would drop dead of grief and explained that Jacob had already lost a son who had been killed by a wild animal – Joseph himself standing in front of them. Judah begged that he be kept behind as a slave instead of Benjamin because he couldn’t go home and bear seeing the grief of their father. Joseph could no longer control himself. He sent everyone except his brothers out of the room and wept so loudly that the Egyptians could hear it. Remember Joseph had been speaking to them through an interpreter as though he were an Egyptian. But as he broke down in tears, he said in their language, “I am Joseph. Is my father really still alive?” The brothers were speechless. And that’s where today’s reading begins. Joseph said, “Don’t be upset that you sold me. Don’t be distressed. God sent me here to save your lives. Go back and bring my father and your children and your grandchildren and your flocks and herds and everyone with you. There are five more years of famine coming but you won’t starve.” And he threw his arms around Benjamin’s neck and wept and Benjamin wept on his shoulder. And then he kissed all his brothers and wept, embracing them. And finally, the speechless brothers could speak again. How often have you heard, “Everything happens for a reason?” It’s a common sentiment meant to make someone feel better, but it’s also often the most egregious thing we can say to someone. Kate Bowler discovered she had stage 4 cancer. One day a neighbor came to the door with a casserole. It was a lovely gesture. She handed it to Kate’s husband with words of reassurance, “Everything happens for a reason.” He replied, “What is it?” The neighbor looked at him like she didn't understand his question. “What is the reason?" he asked. She dropped her eyes and stepped back. So, we could look at today’s story of Joseph sold into slavery and 13 years in prison and say, “See, everything happens for a reason. If his brothers hadn’t done that to him, they could have died in the famine.” Maybe that’s true, but it's one thing for us to tell Joseph, that’s why this happened to you – so that your suffering could save us. And it’s another thing for Joseph to reflect back and say, “you know what, because of this suffering, I can do this for you.” Not everything happens for a reason. But everything that happens can serve a purpose. It is not for us to say to someone, “you are suffering so that…” But each of us can take the power and discern how “because of my suffering, I can…” And isn’t it liberating to know that every situation and circumstance that comes into our life isn’t for a reason – judgment or condemnation for some fault or failure – but every situation and circumstance in our life can be redeemed, can be used for a purpose that helps someone. I think that’s at the heart of the Christian faith. It is good news to know that, throughout life, we can take whatever happens to us, whatever someone does to us, including whatever mistakes we make, and turn it into an opportunity to serve. And in serving, find meaning. Just like Joseph. Photo: Image by <a href="https://www.freepik.com/free-photo/beautiful-country-side-landscape_62339536.htm#query=wheat%20field&position=15&from_view=keyword&track=ais">Freepik</a>
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Sermons from Mission Hills UCC San Diego, California Rev. Dr. David Bahr [email protected] August 13, 2023 “Little Brother and Big Dreams” Genesis 37: 1-4, 12-28 – The Message Meanwhile Jacob had settled down where his father had lived, the land of Canaan. 2 This is the story of Jacob. The story continues with Joseph, seventeen years old at the time, helping out his brothers in herding the flocks. These were his half brothers actually, the sons of his father’s wives Bilhah and Zilpah. And Joseph brought his father bad reports on them. 3-4 Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons because he was the child of his old age. And he made him an elaborately embroidered coat. When his brothers realized that their father loved him more than them, they grew to hate him—they wouldn’t even speak to him. 12-13 His brothers had gone off to Shechem where they were pasturing their father’s flocks. Israel said to Joseph, “Your brothers are with flocks in Shechem. Come, I want to send you to them.” Joseph said, “I’m ready.” 14 He said, “Go and see how your brothers and the flocks are doing and bring me back a report.” He sent him off from the valley of Hebron to Shechem. 15 A man met him as he was wandering through the fields and asked him, “What are you looking for?” 16 “I’m trying to find my brothers. Do you have any idea where they are grazing their flocks?” 17 The man said, “They’ve left here, but I overheard them say, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.’” So Joseph took off, tracked his brothers down, and found them in Dothan. 18-20 They spotted him off in the distance. By the time he got to them they had cooked up a plot to kill him. The brothers were saying, “Here comes that dreamer. Let’s kill him and throw him into one of these old cisterns; we can say that a vicious animal ate him up. We’ll see what his dreams amount to.” 21-22 Reuben heard the brothers talking and intervened to save him, “We’re not going to kill him. No murder. Go ahead and throw him in this cistern out here in the wild, but don’t hurt him.” Reuben planned to go back later and get him out and take him back to his father. 23-24 When Joseph reached his brothers, they ripped off the fancy coat he was wearing, grabbed him, and threw him into a cistern. The cistern was dry; there wasn’t any water in it. 25-27 Then they sat down to eat their supper. Looking up, they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites on their way from Gilead, their camels loaded with spices, ointments, and perfumes to sell in Egypt. Judah said, “Brothers, what are we going to get out of killing our brother and concealing the evidence? Let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites, but let’s not kill him—he is, after all, our brother, our own flesh and blood.” His brothers agreed. 28 By that time the Midianite traders were passing by. His brothers pulled Joseph out of the cistern and sold him for twenty pieces of silver to the Ishmaelites who took Joseph with them down to Egypt. Abraham and Sarah had Isaac. Then, Isaac and Rebekah had Esau and Jacob, twins feuding all the way back to the womb. We’ve been following the story of Jacob for a few weeks –
In today’s text, all that drama is behind them. No more drama and soap opera theatrics, right? Just brothers who love each and get along. And so, the story proceeds with Jacob’s 11 sons; Jacob, remember post-limp, is now known as Israel. But first, there’s also a story about their sister Dinah. The lectionary understandably skips over her because her story is dark and unpleasant and not generally something told in polite company, especially church. Sadly, churches are in the habit of keeping these kinds of secrets. Dinah is raped by the son of the king in the land where they are living as immigrants. When Jacob learned of this, he was angry but he also feared that when news reached his sons, they would feel honor-bound to retaliate, so he kept it a secret and, in the meantime, arranged with the king for Dinah’s and the son’s marriage, certainly without any say on the part of Dinah. Part of the marriage agreement between the fathers, the king agreed that all the males of Shechem would be circumcised, including the king, which would cancel out the need for revenge. But when the brothers learned this, they weren’t buying it. They waited and then, a few days after the circumcision, strategically while the men were still feeling the um…after-effects, they then killed every man in town, including the king and his son, looted all their valuables, livestock, and took the women and children. It is not a story with a silver lining in the end and it’s shocking that it wasn’t removed from the sacred canon of scripture, but it is the explanation why Jacob and company moved from Shechem to Bethel. More importantly, a story like this in the middle of scripture keeps us honest. So, today’s text begins the epic story of liberation and how it came to be that the people lived in, were enslaved by, and ultimately how they fled the same Egypt that had previously saved them from starvation – but that’s all to come. Today it starts with a 17-year-old twerp named Joseph, a total caricature of a bratty little brother. But first, you remember how Jacob was tricked into marrying Uncle Laban’s oldest daughter, Leah? So, Jacob never really came around to love her, not that that was the expectation of marriage. Leah was a plain Jane, while Rachel was a stunning beauty. However, unlike Rachel, Leah could produce sons – one right after the other. After the fourth son, Rachel, feeling humiliated, gave her slave Bilhah to Jacob. They had two sons who according to the custom would be considered Rachel’s children. But Leah wasn’t going to let this go unanswered, so she gave her slave Zilpah to Jacob and she had two more sons – for Leah. And then Leah conceived again and again and again – two more sons and at least one daughter named Dinah. Poor Rachel could only watch, even though she remained the love of Jacob’s life. Jacob absolutely adored her and one day to their surprise, Rachel conceived and bore a son. Jacob was over the moon! He loved that boy, too much for the taste of his brothers. Of course, Joseph made things worse by rubbing it in their faces. Sibling dynamics are fascinating, aren’t they? I’m the youngest of four – 17 years younger than my oldest sister and 15 from my brother and 10 from my other sister. The economics of farming from when they grew up to when I grew up were substantially different. One example is that they all had to wait until they were 12 years old to get a watch. I got a watch when I was 8 and it’s been grist for the mill for 50 years! However, I didn’t go around twirling and waving my arm in the air and saying nehya, nehya, nehya. At least I don’t think I did. Well, Joseph didn’t show such restraint, especially when his father gave him an absolutely beautiful coat. Plus, you heard how Joseph was a little tattle-tale. There’s also a story the lectionary skipped over about a dream that Joseph told his brothers. “We were out in the fields gathering bundles of wheat and all of a sudden my bundle stood straight up and your bundles circled around and bowed down to mine.” (Why would he tell them that!?) Not surprisingly, the story concludes, “the brothers hated him even more.” Even Joseph’s beloved father reprimanded him for that one. One day while all 10 of his brothers were out in the fields working and Joseph was hanging out at home – now wait, he’s 17 years old, so why isn’t he out working in the fields too? Anyway, one day, Jacob sent Joseph out to the fields to bring back a report on what his brothers were doing. Joseph had previously ratted them out so how do you imagine the brothers were supposed to feel when they saw Mr. Lazy-Pants little twerp of a brat brother with his big dreams coming in the distance? And yet it’s still shocking to think they began discussing how to murder him and get away with it. It’s a fascinating, detailed conversation straight out of Shonda Rhimes. As the text reports, fortunately, cooler heads prevailed and instead of murder they decided to sell him to some traders passing by. And the moral of the story: sell your brother, don’t kill him. Amen. The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. But wait. They didn’t kill him and only sold him into slavery…? A couple of details to share: There have been a lot of unfamiliar names this summer that keep coming around. Each week I’ve tried to repeat them just enough in order connect what has been happening with who. And all the way back, nearly two months ago, I told the story of Hagar, Sarah’s slave with whom Sarah suggested, given her advanced age, Abraham sleep in order to provide him with an heir. Same idea Rachel had with her slave. Hagar’s son was Ishmael and when surprise, surprise, Sarah gave birth to Isaac, it created a lot of conflict and nearly led to their death. But their lives were spared. There’s a little detail you might not have noticed in verse 25 today. It was the Ishmaelites who bought Joseph and took him to Egypt. As in, the ancestors of Ishmael, son of Hagar. Except, in verse 28, the same people are called Midianites. You can use this in Bible trivia one day. But did you also notice that the name Jacob and Israel kept going back and forth in our reading today? Well, it’s an example of the differing versions of the same story woven together. One school of thought continues to call him Jacob and the other Israel. And one calls the same people Ishmaelites and the other Midianites. These two schools of thought also call God different names – one uses Elohim and the other Yahweh. The Elohists think that the reason Joseph’s brothers hate him so much is that he is a little brat. And the Yahwist tradition, or was it the Elohist? Anyway, the second thinks his brothers hate him because of his outrageous dreams. Oh, and you missed one of the dreams recorded in Genesis. I told you about the bundles of wheat bowing down. Joseph also told them a dream that the sun and moon and 11 stars bow down to him. Not that it really matters which is more upsetting, his bad behavior or his big dreams, do you see why the brothers might have thought about cooking up his disappearance? It’s not an excuse but certainly an explanation. But OK, what’s the point of all this? We can tell the story of Joseph and think it’s cute and isn’t it funny how family dynamics can be so similar 4,000 years later? But these family stories also might be quite painful for some of us. Steve Garnaas-Holmes made a powerful observation: Robert Frost is mostly right that home is where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in. Mostly. But biblical families aren't havens of belonging, places of safety or unconditional acceptance. Nor sometimes are ours. Family is sometimes where we treat loved ones like we would never treat strangers. Home might be where monsters live under our beds, and in our closets, and maybe in our parents' room. The monster of who we are supposed to be, expected to be, made to be. Sooner or later we have to come home and reckon with family. Face to face or elsewhere; whether dead or alive. It's the final frontier: our deepest wounds, our greatest fears, our heaviest failures, the sneakiest neuroses we have to wrestle with. It’s Jacob and his angel. One day we have to go back into that literal or metaphorical house and take what's true and flush the rest. Honor the child of us, the one who protected and sustained us — and thank that child. Forgive ourselves, and say goodbye and let the others go too. Let them stay while we move on. It's how we get free. I pray for your courage to go there. I pray that, alive or dead, they will help you. But remember nothing depends on them. It's your work. Do it, and with even those who sold you into slavery, you will be ready to act with grace and honor and generosity. Next week we’ll see what Joseph ultimately does when confronted by, and shocked by, the reappearance of his brothers years later. But before I end, I have one last big question. Where was God in this story? God is never mentioned. Well, I think it’s not always necessary to say God’s name because God is always present, always near. I think like the biblical writers, we also often live with an assumption of God’s presence. And yet, when it comes to family pain, sometimes that’s still our biggest question. Where is God? Where is God? God is the strength we rely on, God is the comfort which holds us, God is the hope for another day and the dream of reconciliation to come. Joseph’s and ours. Today’s story is not done. And neither is ours. As unthinkable as it may be, one day we will reconcile with those we have mistreated and those who have mistreated us. But as we will see next week, Joseph did it on his own terms. And neither should reconciliation be demanded from us. But when the opportunity arises, sometimes confronts us, remember that though reconciliation can be frightening, strength, comfort, and hope are very real. And we don’t even need to say their names to know they are near to our heart – providing us a very present help in times of trouble. Sermons from Mission Hills UCC San Diego, California Rev. Dr. David Bahr [email protected] August 6, 2023 “Blessed Wrestling” Genesis 32: 22-29 – Common English Bible Jacob got up during the night, took his two wives, his two women servants, and his eleven sons, and crossed the Jabbok River’s shallow water. 23 He took them and everything that belonged to him, and he helped them cross the river. 24 But Jacob stayed apart by himself, and a man wrestled with him until dawn broke. 25 When the man saw that he couldn’t defeat Jacob, he grabbed Jacob’s thigh and tore a muscle in Jacob’s thigh as he wrestled with him. 26 The man said, “Let me go because the dawn is breaking.” But Jacob said, “I won’t let you go until you bless me.” 27 He said to Jacob, “What’s your name?” and he said, “Jacob.” 28 Then he said, “Your name won’t be Jacob any longer, but Israel,[a] because you struggled with God and with men and won.” 29 Jacob also asked and said, “Tell me your name.” But he said, “Why do you ask for my name?” and he blessed Jacob there This summer, we started with Abraham and Sarah who laughed at the idea that a 100-year man and a 90-year-old woman would have a child. That child was named Isaac. Isaac married Rebekah and after they also tried for many decades, she finally became pregnant and gave birth to twins named Jacob and Esau, but in a sign of what was to come, the twins put up a terrible battle inside Rebekah’s womb. And when they came down the birth canal, Jacob grabbed the heel of his twin and never stopped trying to get ahead of his older brother. He used every means of trickery and deception he could think of. Among the stories told, Jacob sold Esau some stew for the price of his birthright. Later, Jacob dressed himself with Esau’s clothes and covered his neck and arms with goatskin in order to trick their blind father Isaac, while he was laying on his deathbed, into giving Jacob power over the tribe. He was helped by his co-conspirator mother who cooked goat to taste like venison. You can read about this in sermons from earlier this summer. When Esau learned he had been tricked again, he was so enraged he vowed to kill his twin brother. Their mother sent her favorite son off to live with her brother, Laban. As Jacob ran for his life, the first night he was so exhausted that he slept with a rock for his pillow and dreamed of messengers, like God’s angelic office workers, going up and down from heaven. It’s where we get the familiar image of Jacob’s ladder. He finally made it to Uncle Laban’s and began working for him. And fell in love with Laban’s daughter Rachel. Uncle Laban promised Jacob that he could marry Rachel if he worked for free for 7 years. Jacob agreed and at the end of 7 years, he indeed married Laban’s daughter. Except that the morning after the marriage had already been consummated, he woke up and discovered he had just slept with Rachel’s sister, Leah. Uncle Laban had tricked Jacob into marrying his oldest daughter, but promised that Jacob could marry Rachel if he worked for free for another 7 years. The trickster met his match. Although, to add to this soap-opera, Jacob began a scheme to steal his uncle’s sheep. After 20 years of this dysfunctional family dynamic, Jacob felt God was calling him to reunite with his estranged twin brother. It was a frightful idea because, you’ll remember, their last interaction had involved Esau’s raging vow to kill Jacob. But the time had come. Jacob, however, didn’t tell Laban he was leaving. He just took off with his wives and his possessions, his 11 children and livestock, plus some of Laban’s possessions – those ill-gotten sheep. Rachel added to the fun by stealing her father’s household gods. When Laban discovered this, he raced after their caravan and demanded what had been stolen. He searched through everything but Rachel sat on the gods and declared it was her time of the month and she couldn’t be touched. Laban went home infuriated while Jacob’s caravan moved on toward an uncertain reunion. I wanted to remind us of this backstory because this is all part of that which Jacob is now wrestling. But this time, it wasn’t a dream on a rock pillow; it was so real, he walked away from it limping from a torn muscle. But before I talk more about this wrestling match, I want to finish the story of Jacob and Esau. Next week the lectionary skips on to one of Jacob’s sons, Joseph and his amazing technicolor dream coat. But it leaves us wondering, what happened with Jacob and Esau? So, for 20 years Jacob had imagined, fretted over, what might happen when and if he ever saw his twin brother again. God told him it was time. But Jacob didn’t want to just show up unannounced. He sent some messengers ahead to prepare his brother. They were to announce: “This is a message from your servant Jacob” (servant, not brother who tricked and deceived and stole from you). “I’ve lived as an immigrant with Laban, where I’ve stayed until now. I own cattle, donkeys, flocks, men and women servants. I’m sending this message to my master now to ask that he be kind.” His master? Jacob is laying it on pretty thick as he begs for mercy. The messengers returned and told him that “Esau is coming to meet you with four hundred men.” Hearing the report back, Jacob was terrified. He prayed to God, “you were the one who told me to do this, so you better protect me! Save me from my brother!” Jacob came up with a strategy. He divided everyone and everything into two camps. He thought, if Esau meets the first camp and attacks it, at least one camp will be left to escape.” Then he pulled aside 200 female goats and 20 male goats. He sent a servant ahead and told him, when Esau asks you who you are, tell him these are a gift from his servant Jacob. Also tell him, Jacob is right behind me. An hour later he sent a group of 200 lambs and 20 rams with the same message. They are a gift of Jacob. He’s right behind. An hour later he sent 30 nursing camels with their young. Same message. An hour later, 40 cows and ten bulls. And an hour later, 20 female donkeys and 10 male donkeys. Every time, the same message. Jacob thought he could pacify Esau and overwhelm him with one generous gift right after the other. Quite the contrast to all the things Jacob had stolen from Esau. That’s when Jacob went back across the river and spent the night alone. As it turned out not alone but a night spent wrestling with… was it angels or demons or God? Was he wrestling with his conscience or maybe his fears? All of the above? Think of all the baggage he was carrying. In the morning, he limped across the river and rejoined his family on the other side. His fears were confirmed when in the distance he could see Esau coming closer with his 400 men. Oh… crap. His plans hadn’t worked. Jacob frantically took his women servants and their children and put them together in a group out in front. And behind them, Leah and her children together. And behind them, Rachel with Joseph. And behind them, stood Jacob. He then came out from behind and approached Esau, bowing to the ground seven times. When Esau first spotted Jacob coming from behind these groups of women and children, the big hairy brute came running, not with fists ready to punch but arms wide open. Esau hadn’t sent an army of 400 to harm Jacob. He sent a great big welcoming party. Esau threw his arms around Jacob’s neck and kissed him and they wept. And then he asked to be introduced to all his sisters-in-law and nieces and nephews. And then he asked, “What’s with all the gifts you sent? I don’t need any of that. Take ‘em back!” It’s the consummate story of grace and generosity of spirit that reminds me of the story of the Prodigal Son. We may agree that the father had every right to demand a full accounting of what his wasteful son had done with his inheritance. The father had every right to be angry and skeptical that his son would have finally come to his senses. But he wasn’t angry and told his oldest son, who was angry, I’m just happy we’re reunited. I thought my son was dead but he is alive. Esau too could have recited a litany of all the ways Jacob had tricked him and deceived him but instead, he was grateful to be reunited with his twin. To finish their story, the brothers had so many livestock and family members, they were so rich and successful, that they had to part ways and live in different lands. There simply wasn’t enough room. But, for the first time in their lives, after all they had gone through, they were at peace with one another. That must have been quite the relief for their father Isaac, who was still alive. Remember he was supposed to have been on his death bed 20 years earlier when Isaac was tricked out of giving his blessing to Esau, his favorite son. Isaac didn’t die until he was 180 years old, at a time when his sons were at peace. I’m almost out of time before I’ve even talked about what Jacob’s wrestling in the night means. But first, there’s still a couple of things I want to make sure you understand. To be clear, Jacob and Israel are the same person. When you hear about the 12 Tribes of Israel, that’s the same thing as the 12 sons of Jacob. We’ll talk a little more about that next week. This night of wrestling marks the transition from Jacob, named for grabbing his brother’s heel as they were born, to Israel, which means one who strives, struggles, wrestles, with God. This is a very important story because it teaches that to be the people of God is not to be the puppets of a grand marionette but people who push and pull and argue with God and accuse God of being unfaithful and yet know that it is to God that we belong. Like any relationship, love is sometimes expressed in affection and sometimes in anger. But it still remains love. Genesis 32 is a profoundly mysterious story that raises numerous unanswerable questions.[1] Like:
Corrine Carvalho defines faith as “the stubborn refusal to let God off the hook.” Wrestling. And an adult faith welcomes that struggle. Answers to ultimate questions don’t come neatly packaged. And, in fact, answers aren’t the point. Meaning doesn’t come from having the answer. Meaning comes from the struggle to understand. It changes us, transforms us. Even renames us. It changed Jacob into Israel. So, what are you wrestling with today? Angels? Demons? Is it God or your conscience or your fears? Hold on. Persist. And remember, when you demand an easy answer, it is a blessing that God invites us to wrestle, not to be puppets. [1] Callie Plunkett-Brewton, working-preacher.org |
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April 2024
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