Proper 24C Sermon October 21, 2007
October 22nd, 2007 Posted in Sermons+ In Nomine Jesu +
The Rev. Evan Gaertner
Proper 24C
“Struggling with God”
Genesis 32:22-30
This sermon was preached off of notes and the text that follows is a brief synopsis of the sermon.
Jacob wrestles with a man throughout the night. At the break of the day the man realizes that he will not overpower Jacob and so he knocks Jacob’s hip out of socket. There is an exchange of words in which Jacob is given the new name “Israel.”
This Old Testament story may seem strange to you and so you pass it by thinking it is a nice story but doesn’t really mean anything to you today. I want to share with you how this for Jacob was a God story and made a difference in how we saw himself in his world. I also want to share with you that this story about a man wrestling with God is a story for you as well.
To understand this story and its place in our lives we go back to Jacob’s birth. Jacob, which means “he grasps the heel,” did exactly that. He was born grasping the heel of his twin brother Esau. As these two brothers got older there was an occasion when their father was going to give the family blessing to Esau. Rebekah their mother loved Jacob more and so she contrived with Jacob a way that he could steal the blessing from his brother.
The plot worked…
Esau was furious and so Jacob ran away in fear and formed a family…
20 years pass and Jacob plans to return to the land of the promise and blessing. But he is afraid of Esau. He seeks to massage, manipulate Esau through demonstrations of his power. He offers Esau many gifts. He is still worried and sends his family across the river at night and he remains alone.
Alone and filled with fear about his brother Esau Jacob is confronted with a man who wrestles with him all night.
This is where in the story we can start to find ourselves. Not that we have all had twenty year feuds with siblings that we have tried to make go away with bigs gifts and shows of power. Not that we have all had to send our families across a river and spend the night alone.
But we all struggle in this world trying to make things work out for our best. But Jacob’s struggle was not with Esau but rather with God. Did Jacob trust the promise and blessing that he had received from the Lord or did he have to defeat and conquer his enemies, fears, and struggles on his own? Jacob had been promised by the Lord that he would be made into a great nation, given the land and be a blessing to all the nations (Genesis 28). Now he faces in Esau a struggle that he believes only he can make go away. So he throws at Esau every play in the playbook. But he is still worried. As Jacob wrestles with God he learns that the blessing comes not from himself and what he can do. The blessing and promise comes from the Lord God.
In our baptism we have received the blessing and redemption of our Lord God. He has washed us clean in the blood of the lamb. The Lord that watches over us neither slumbers nor sleeps (Psalm 121). We are invited to trust in him and him alone for our victory over sin, death and the devil.
We can try like Jacob to defeat our enemies but we will like Jacob still find our lives operating by fear and doubt. Instead of living and acting out of fear we can find in the promises of God a freedom to act with the confidence that the one that walks with us is stronger than the one that works against us.
Soli Deo Gloria
One Response to “Proper 24C Sermon October 21, 2007”
By Rich Kumm on Oct 24, 2007
These are true words indeed!
We all try to “do it ourselves”, but it is only God who can give us the ultimate victory. The victory we can not win through our efforts.
I am glad to see this website!
It is a favorite thing of mine to read the words of one I am accustom to hearing (Rev EV.)
and his sermons are growing brighter and hotter as the mixture of God’s word, and Spirit with time will raise this man to stand firm in the tradition of the Saints. Fault can be found in all of us, but standing on the Rock, we shall have the victory!