Lectionary 29C Pr 24
Grace Lutheran Church
Lakeland, FL
October 16, 2022
Gen 32:22-32
Psalm 121
2 Tim 2:8-15
Luke 17:11-19
Grace to you and peace from God and from our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ. Please pray with me. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
I was between a rock and a hard spot. And I was all alone. And it was a very dark night. Let me tell you about it.
You know it is often said that the issues go back to our childhoods. Well, this certainly did. You see, I was a twin. Esau is my brother. But two people could hardly be more different. In fact, I remember our mother, Rebekah, talking about how active we were in her womb, undoubtedly wrestling with each other even there. Our father was Isaac and our grandfather was Father Abraham, but we never met him. Though father told us the stories – there were many. But I digress.
Esau was born first and mother said that I came out right afterward with my little hand clutching Esau’s heel. Esau was the rugged one and oh our father loved him. Some might say that I was a mama’s boy. I know she loved me best.
When we were quite young, I played a mean trick on Esau. And it wasn’t really a trick. I cheated him, truth be told. Cheated him of his birthright – remember he was first born and was favored under our laws and customs. I was jealous.
There was that day when he had been out in the woods and hadn’t eaten. I was cooking – it was a very savory stew. And Esau was so very hungry, he feared perishing from hunger. Seems preposterous, doesn’t it. I told him he could have some of the stew if he rebuked his birthright. So we struck a bargain. He gave up his rights and I gave him some food. We never were close after that.
The day came when our father, who was very old and blind, called to Esau to go and hunt game so that Father could have a wonderful final meal and then bless Esau – remember he was the first one born. So Esau left and Mother called to me with a plan of her own. She told me that Father was getting ready to bless Esau with the same blessing that grandfather Abraham had blessed him before he died. It was a promise from God that went like this – Fear nothing Isaac. I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for the sake of Abrahammyservant.
She could hardly stand the thought that Esau would get that blessing rather than me. So, she told me to dress in Esau’s clothes and go in to Father and pretend to be Esau.
I hated the thought of disappointing Mother and I wanted that blessing so I went along with her scheme. I went in to Father, he put his hands on me and said: See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed! May God give you of the dew of heaven and of the fatness of the earth and plenty of grain and wine. Let peoples serve you and nations bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers and may your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be everyone who blesses you.
And so it was done and I left. Well, Esau came in from the field then and went into Father for the blessing that was rightfully his. Father cried out. Esau cried out. And a small word of blessing was spoken, meager compared to what I had received. And Father died.
Mother’s plan had not taken Esau’s wrath into account. Esau said he would kill me. She came to me that night and told me to depart, to run away, far away, until Esau had cooled down. Well, I never heard word that it was safe to come home. And mother died.
Well, I went far away to the land of my uncle Laban, Mother’s brother. That first night of running was also a lonely and dark night. I had more questions than answers. And I still remember the dream I had that night – there was like a ramp or a ladder coming down out of heaven and there were angels going up and down and then there was God and God spoke to me and blessed me – no tricks involved – God blessed me and said that the land where I was sleeping would be given to me and my children and my children’s children. And God said, Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land.
On to Uncle Laban’s land for the time being. And there I took a wife, well actually two, Leah and Rachel – but that’s another story.
I was at Uncle Laban’s for years and years. I worked for him and grew his herds and his wealth. I had children – 11 sons and a daughter. My household was great. And the time came for me to leave Laban – and yes, that’s a whole another story as well. But, along with my herds and children and wives and servants, we left to go back to the land of my father. And the land where Esau and his household and herds and servants lived.
Now, mother had never sent me word that it was safe to come home. I didn’t know what I would be facing and I feared the worst. We set up camp and I sent messengers ahead with the offer of substantial gifts for my brother. They came back and said that they had met with my brother and he is coming to meet me – along with four hundred of his men.
I didn’t really know what that meant – but as I said, I feared the worst. So I decided to divide the camp into two – if Esau attacked one camp the other could escape. And then I decided to offer even more gifts – gifts from my herds and my household. So I sent servants on ahead with these gifts and told them what to say when they met Esau.
My immediate family – my wives, my sons and my daughter, and two servants – we traveled on and we came to a river called the Jabbok. I sent them on across with everything else we were traveling with. I remembered the other night I was so alone many years before – the night I ran away from Esau’s fury over my deceit.
Alone again. But then I wasn’t. There was someone else there and he – or it – began to wrestle with me. It took all my strength but I didn’t give way. All night long we wrestled. All night. I could tell that dawn was coming. I was so tired. And then he touched my hip and put it out of joint and then he said, “let me go for the day is breaking.” I felt bold and said to him, “I won’t let you go unless you bless me.”
The man said to me, “What is your name?” I told him my name is Jacob. And he said to me, “you will no longer be called Jacob but will be called Isra-el because you have striven with God and prevailed.” Then I asked him his name but he didn’t answer me. Instead he blessed me and then was gone.
I walked with a limp.
I named the place Peniel which means “the face of God.”
What about my brother, you may wonder. Well, as we set out it turns out that Esau was coming to us with the 400 men and as we got closer together, he actually ran to me. I didn’t know what to think. I knelt down and bowed to honor him and knew that I had wronged him more than once so many years ago. He ran to me. Threw his arms around my neck and kissed me and we wept.
PAUSE
I don’t know what to tell you about the meaning of this encounter. I rather think this is a bit like the parables and kaleidoscopes. Many different meanings depending upon one’s perspective. So rather than attempting an explanation, let me ask some questions.
What do you do with those things in your life that you now regret?
Have there been places you have had to return to and you weren’t sure what would be waiting for you?
What about those nights when sleep wouldn’t come
Have there been times that you felt like you were wrestling with God – and you don’t know who won?
Are you walking with a limp from God’s touch? Has your life changed?
Think about how Jesus might have been mulling over this story. Perhaps as he was in the garden or perhaps as he was awaiting trial before Herod and Pontius Pilate. Think about the wrestling that he had done in the years of his public ministry.
This is what I know – on those dark and sleepless nights, at those times of worry and regret, it is Jesus who comes close. Jesus who stays with us through it all. Jesus who himself knew dejection, Jesus who cried out in prayer, Jesus who didn’t walk with a limp but was nailed to the cross so that by his resurrection he would defeat the powers of death forever.
It is this Jesus whom we love – but more importantly – it is this Jesus who loves us. His steadfast love and mercy endures forever.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
