Texts:
Genesis
32:22-31
Date: Sunday, August 4, 2002
Author: Rev. Kenneth Wish
A
long time ago, when I was younger, in better shape and in High School, I was on
the wrestling team. Not the type of wrestling that some people watch on
T.V. these days. This was collegiate or Roman/Greco style wrestling.
There were many good things I learned from that experience including good
sportsmanship, discipline, the value of competition and the like. There
was one match that I recall that I was excited to be involved in. For this
match I knew that I would be matched up against a guy who had been a good friend
in Junior High. I was excited about this because I knew his style and I
knew that I could win. The day of the match came and I waited impatiently
for my match. Finally the time came and we met on the mat. The
referee gave us the usual instructions "Keep it clean and break when I tell
you to." We separated and began in the upright position for the first
of three, three-minute rounds. As I looked over at him right at the
beginning of the match he smiled at me. Not a friendly smile, but one that
says, "I've got you". The first round was tough. Neither
one of us scored any points. The second round started with a coin toss to
determine who got the upper position at the start, I won the toss and thought,
"Yes, I have the advantage now." About halfway through the round
he executed a reverse and won 2 points. A couple of moments later I
performed an escape and was awarded 1 point. We began from the upright
position again and I was able to get a take down for another 2 points near the
end of the round. As I went back to my bench, I was feeling good with a 3
to 2 lead in this match. During the break, my coach was telling me to keep
it clean and simple. As I glanced across the mat to my friend I saw his
coach talking to him and saw him with that same malevolent smile from across the
mat. Round three started, I this time had the lower position and was
struggling from the beginning. This round did not go for the full three
minutes. He was able to turn me onto my back and despite my best efforts
to ward it off I did get pinned. 1, 2, 3, the count went and the match was
over.
Jacob has been living an interesting life. He was named Jacob meaning
literally, he who grasps the heel which is a figurative name for a person who
deceives. Pastor Jon last week rehearsed for us just how gifted Jacob was
in deceiving people, particularly his brother Esau. Last week we saw how
in fact Jacob got deceived by his uncle Laban in the matter of Jacob's marriage
to Rachel. Following that incident in Jacob's life the relationship
between Jacob and Laban got a bit strained and Jacob fled Laban. He took with
him Rachel and Leah and his children and the flocks that were his. Laban
was missing his household gods for Rachel had stolen and hidden them.
Laban pursued Jacob and caught up with him. It was at this point that
Laban and Jacob developed a covenant of peace between them and built the pillar
and the heap of stones as a sign of that covenant. Laban then returned to
his home. Jacob headed out and realized that he was getting close the land
where his brother now lived. Jacob prepared to meet Esau.
Here was a period of fear on the part of Jacob, which one can understand
considering all the deceit that had gone on between them. Jacob in his
fear reached out to God for help. He prayed for protection and the
fulfillment of the promise God had given to Abraham. Gifts went with the
servants and Jacob stayed in the camp continuing to prepare. He took all
the rest of the people and the remainder of his belongings in the camp and
helped them to cross the river and Jacob was now totally alone. Jacob, it
seems was intending to spend time in prayer before God in preparing for this
meeting with Esau.
This brings us to the Word for this Morning. Hear the Word from Genesis
32:22-31.
Jacob, waiting for Esau. Jacob having made his plans as to how to appease
Esau and make peace with him. Jacob desiring to live and avoid Esau's
anger. As he waited, there was a man who appeared and began to wrestle
with him. This battle went on through the remainder of the night.
Jacob was fighting with God. But the battle was long. The man in
this passage could not overpower Jacob and therefore divinely intervened and
wrenched his hip, so that the structure of the battle was changed. Jacob
now knew that the battle would not last a lot longer and just hung on and
maintained contact with his assailant.
It was a long night for Jacob. The end result was that he received yet
another blessing. This time the blessing was from God and with the
blessing came a name change. His name had been Jacob - the deceiver and
now his name is Israel - he struggles or strives with God. Jacob went
through a lot to get to this point. He struggled, he fought, he suffered
injury, he hung on and would not give up this struggle.
The nature of the fight was that it was a contest of will. Jacob had been
surviving on his ability to deceive and his ability to create opportunity for
himself to be advanced in the eyes of those who were had authority over him.
His self will was strong and had guided his decisions and his life to this
point. This fight was a contest of wills. God's will and Jacob's
will.
An element of this battle was the past that Jacob had brought with him to the
fight. Jacob had become aware of his sin before God and his family.
This fight was about letting go of that old life and coming to rely on God and
God alone for life, sustenance and direction.
In this fight, Jacob's assailant asked him to let Him go, for the night was
over. Jacob by this time knowing that his assailant was God Himself, asked
for God's blessing. He received it. Notice that God asked Jacob what
his name was. This was not because God did not know his name, but because
God was asking Jacob to acknowledge his old character. Once that was done,
God then changed his name and blessed him. The fight was over. The
battle was won, Jacob was now fully God's man.
Jacob then celebrated in an act of worship. He named the place where the
fight occurred; he named it Peniel, which means the face of God. He
proclaimed this acknowledging that he had seen God face to face and yet still
lived.
Jacob has at this point come to know grace of God. It was a struggle.
A struggle of will, and struggle of self direction, a struggle of self reliance.
It was a struggle that we all experience in one form or another. We may
not physically fight with God, but as God in His grace begins to touch our lives
and show us the more perfect way, we do fight against God. We engage in
that battle of will, we don't readily give up our self directed paths, we do not
give up easily our independent, self reliant nature.
But as God's grace reaches us and softens our hearts, we then begin to seek His
blessing and do come face to face with Him. Paul, in his letter to the
Philippians following his eloquent teaching on having the attitude or mind of
Christ admonishes the believers in Philippi to "…work out your salvation
with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act
according to his good purpose." We each have the need to come
face to face with God and fight the battle so that we are able to say with Jacob
"…my life has been spared."
As I noted earlier there were many things I learned from my time on the
wrestling team. One of those lessons is that in almost every match there
comes a point when you just know that it is over. The only thing left is
to have the clock run out. You can get this feeling if you are winning or
losing. Obviously, it is a better experience if you are in the winning
position. It is uncomfortable when you might be losing and get this feeling in
the first round of the match, those matches usually ended with a one person
pinning the other. But, every once in a while one can get into a match and
that feeling just doesn't come until very late in the match if at all. In
Jacob's wrestling match, I would guess that he didn't get this feeling until God
touched his hip. At that point, I would daresay that Jacob knew that the
match was over. At that point in the match, when you are losing and you
know that it is over, the wrestler just tries to gain points and hold on so that
he doesn't get pinned. In Jacob's case, he knew that it was over, and
realized that he would be the winner in this match. This is one of those
paradoxes in our life with God. If we win the match and keep what we were
defending, we end up losing it. If, as with Jacob, we realize that we are
going to lose what we initially set out to defend, we will win the match.
Where are you in your wrestling match with God? Are you winning and
thereby preserving your self reliance nature or are you losing it and now seek
God's blessing? Jacob's life and character changed in the course of that
long night in his life. He changed only because he sought God.
Where are you in your wrestling match with God?
Benediction: The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his
face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you
and give you peace. Go forth in His Name to reveal Him to our world
through our lives.
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