Lord God of our Fathers; God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ: Open our eyes to see your hand at work in the world about us. Amen
Jacob was a man who fought all of his life to get a blessing - and to get ahead. The struggle started even before he was born. Isaac and Rebekah’s twins struggled inside her so much that she asked God what was going on. And God explained that there were two nations in her womb struggling for power. And when the boys were born, Esau came out first and little Jacob came out next hanging on to Esau’s heel for dear life. But Esau was the one entitled to the birthright.
The boys were very different and Esau was his father’s favorite. But Jacob had a great need for a blessing from his father, Isaac. This quest for a blessing drove him to trick his easygoing brother into giving him his birthright in a trade off for a bowl of stew. The next deception was harder, and Jacob needed the help of his mother. When Isaac was dying Rebekah helped Jacob dress up like his brother Esau and they tricked old blind Isaac into giving Jacob the family blessing. When Esau came in and saw what had happened he begged Isaac to bless him too. And Isaac’s blessing was that Esau would live by the sword and serve his brother Jacob. And Esau hated his brother and vowed to kill him.
The quest - the need for a blessing is often the subject of music and movies, of great novels and operas, and it is often a hidden issue in many families. I remember a Tom Hanks movie, The Road to Perdition. It is a violent movie about the “Mob” set in the late 20s and early 30s. I was struck by how much the story lines were about sons struggling to get a blessing from fathers or father figures. As in the Bible, the concept of family and the family name were important, and yet the sons and brothers would cheat, lie, steal and kill at a word from the old father to get his blessing , and then they would turn on each other. I don’t want to give the story away, but as in our story about Jacob, there come moments of darkness, of wrestling, of judgment, of blessing, of light breaking in at the end. I couldn’t help but think of this first family of faith.
Out of fear for his life Jacob’s mother, Rebekah, sends him away to live with her brother Laban in Haran. On the way, as you heard today, God speaks to Jacob in a dream and tells him he is to continue the blessing. And God repeats the promises he made to Abraham and Isaac and says, “I will not leave you.” So Jacob goes to his mother’s people. The tables get turned on him a bit as he finds that Laban is just as cunning and deceptive as Jacob himself, making him work for years to finally get Rachel, the woman he really wanted. In time Jacob manages to outwit his father-in-law and accumulates great wealth at Laban’s expense.
Laban and his sons and brothers realize that Jacob has outwitted them and they become angry. God intervenes and tells Jacob to pack up his wives, his livestock and all of his possessions and go back to the land of his ancestors. And he is on the run again. Well, Laban goes after Jacob, but God intervenes again and speaks to Laban on the way and tells him not to say or do anything to Jacob. And Laban and Jacob made a pact with each other to live in peace, and Jacob and his mighty caravan went on their way.
As it happened Jacob had to cross Esau’s territory to get home. Terrified that he would be killed by his estranged brother, Jacob sent messengers to his brother to try and appease him. He found out that Esau was already on his way with four hundred men. And Jacob prayed to God saying, “I am unworthy of all the faithful love and constancy you have shown to your servant….and I am afraid for myself and my family.” And he asked God to remember the promise that he would have many descendants.
Then Jacob decided to overwhelm Esau with gifts. He chose over 500 of his best livestock and divided them into four groups. He sent servants with each group and instructed them to approach Esau one at a time and tell Esau that the gifts were for him and that Jacob was coming right behind them. Jacob figured Esau would be pretty pleased with him by the time they met. And then Jacob found himself at the river Jabbok and he did something rather strange. He sent the rest of his slaves, his wives, and children and the rest of his possessions across to the other side and he stayed on the bank and the darkness closed in around him and he was alone.
Jacob was alone…If you have ever found yourself at a turning point in life you can identify with this sense of aloneness. If you have ever struggled to get a blessing from a parent or a spouse or a friend or even a blessing from those for whom you work, perhaps you can identify a little with Jacob. There are families being torn apart and lives crippled by the conflict - the search for a blessing - to get ahead, to make a name for oneself. We know stories of people like Jacob who have stopped at nothing to get what they want. And sometimes we can’t even name what it is we want and need…. And we know too about times of being alone in the darkness with the consequences of who we are…and wondering who God wants us to be.
After the long night at the river Jacob saw his estranged brother Esau and the four hundred men coming toward him. One can only imagine how he must have felt. Jacob prepared for the worst. He put all of his slaves and Leah and Rachel and the children behind him and went toward Esau and bowing low before him. To his surprise, Esau threw his arms around Jacob and kissed him and greeted his wives and children. Then Esau asked him what was the purpose of all the livestock and slaves that had been sent ahead to him. Jacob said, “They were to win my lord’s favor.” “I have enough. Keep what is yours,” said Esau. And Jacob said, “No, if I have won your favor, please accept the gift that I offer, for truly to see your face is like seeing the face of God, since you have forgiven me.” And Esau accepted the gift and they were reconciled.
In looking at this broad view of Jacob’s life and his struggles we have seen him grow and mature. Several characteristics stand out. In the midst of all the bad and the good of Jacob’s life, Jacob was willing to listen to what God told him. And God was willing to keep working with him. The second thing was his sheer determination to hold on and wrestle and struggle even when he was under judgment and scared to death. Jacob stopped running away. He would hold on until he could find blessing in the middle of the dark night of his soul. Now Jacob can learn to live with who he is instead of what he has. The blessing of God remained with him and the twelve sons of Jacob become the twelve tribes of Israel and from Israel comes our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Good News that comes to us this morning is that the blessing of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is fulfilled in our Lord Jesus Christ and through him blessing and promise is passed on to us. Like Jacob we may think we need a lot of things and you can name them. But whether we admit it or not, Jesus is the face we look for in the darkness of the night when we are confronted with our fear, our anxiety, and our realization of who we really are.
Jesus is the name we need to hear when we struggle to hold on in the storms of life. Jesus is the one who tells us to be patient when all we do is worry about who is wheat and who is weeds and think we have to make the judgment. We are all invited to his table today – it is a little taste of the Kingdom of heaven. Jesus takes what little we are and what little we have and transforms us into someone more blessed than we ever thought possible. In Jesus we see God face to face and we receive the blessing and the promise is repeated. Amen