Holding on for a blessing

September 22^nd, 2019             “Holding On For a Blessing”           Rev. Heather Jepsen

Genesis 32:22-31

         Our reading for today continues to follow the story of God’s relationship with God’s people.  Today we meet Jacob, the son of Isaac.  While our reading for today finds Jacob wrestling at the ford of the Jabbok it is important to catch up on the back story so we know what kind of character this Jacob guy is.  Some friends here might remember his story since Jacob’s life was the subject of a summer sermon series a few years ago, but in any case it is good for us all to review.

         Like many of our Biblical heroes, Jacob is not really a good guy.  Names are a theme in these first few readings of the narrative lectionary, from naming the animals in our first reading from Genesis, to the name of Jacob’s father Isaac (he laughs) from last week’s reading.  We know that names in the Bible matter.  Jacob’s name is a fitting moniker for his life, as he is called “the one who grasps the heel” or just “the heel”.  Jacob’s name works in English as well as it does in Hebrew because he really is kind of a jerk.

         Jacob is most known for stealing his brother Esau’s birthright.  He does this in trade with Esau and then he actually completes the task by stealing Esau’s blessing from their father Isaac.  Jacob is cruel and his treachery tears the family apart.  Jacob flees for his life, only to mix it up with his equal in trickery, his uncle Laban.  Jacob is fooled into marrying the wrong sister, but gets back at his uncle by swindling him out of a large herd of cattle and sheep. 

         When we meet Jacob, the heel, here in chapter 32 he is on the run again.  He has finally angered Laban so much that he is forced to depart.  Jacob is traveling back to his home country with his two wives, their maids, and his 11 children who come from a combination of him and these four women (that’s another sermon!).  He has all his animal herds and all his servants and they are one big caravan headed back home.  What awaits Jacob at home is fear.  To come home is to face Esau, the brother he wronged so many years ago, the brother who has sworn to kill him, and so Jacob is afraid. 

         Our reading takes place the night before Jacob meets Esau.  He has sent the herds and servants on ahead, he has sent the women and children on ahead, and for the first time in a long while Jacob find himself alone.  This story here is really mysterious and folks have pondered on its meaning for ages.  Suddenly, Jacob is wrestling with a man in the dark.  The text leaves us with tons of questions: Who is the man? Why are they fighting? Who started the fight?  Did Jacob do something wrong?  And the truth is we really don’t have a lot of answers.

         Jacob is just suddenly wrestling with a man in the dark.  The two of them wrestle all night and finally when daybreak is coming the man knows he cannot win.  He and Jacob are evenly matched and so the man cheats in wrestling.  Instead of using a grappling move, this stranger resorts to a kickboxing rulebook and hits Jacob hard in the hip socket.  Jacob’s hip is knocked out of joint, and yet he refuses to let go.  Hanging on to this man, Jacob asks for a blessing. 

         What he gets in return is a new name.  No longer Jacob, “the heel”, he will be called “Israel” the one who strives or wrestles, for Jacob wrestles with God and man.  Jacob continues to ask after the name of the opponent but he has no luck.  He receives the blessing and then the dawn rises and Jacob is left alone.  Jacob believes he has wrestled with God, seen God face to face and lived.  As he limps off into the sunset we can see why this is one of the most popular stories in the Old Testament.

         Jacob believes that he wrestled with God, and that is the most common interpretation of this text, and so we are going to go with that version of events in our sermon today.  So, how do we understand a God who wrestles?  Jacob is a scrapper.  We know that from his story and the way he lives in the world.  Jacob argues with his family, neighbors, and friends.  Jacob is one who grasps, who grabs, who strives, and who struggles.  When the stranger attacks in the night, Jacob doesn’t shy away.  Rather, he girds up his loins and prepares for battle, “let’s do this!” 

         Make no mistake, this is a genuine battle.  God really is wrestling with Jacob in the form of a man.  Just like God really was in conversation with Abraham last week asking “why did Sarah laugh?” and “is anything too wonderful for the Lord?”, God really is really wrestling with Jacob.  This God desires real relationship with people, not some sham façade, so just as God sought real conversation and not pat answers under the tree with Abraham, so now God seeks to really wrestle with Jacob.  Rather than a superman holding his strength back, Jacob and God are equally matched.  This is no faux battle of cat and mouse; this is real mano-a-mano wrestling and God ends up playing dirty.

         For Jacob, this wrestling match is all about his past, his future, and his identity.  He is on the cusp of returning home to a mess he created.  This is a time of reckoning, a time to own up to his past sins and mistakes, a time to make things right with family.  Everyone knows going home again is hard, and facing the truth about our own past is even harder.  Jacob is not only wrestling with God, he is also wrestling with his identity.  Is he only a grabber, is he only a heel, or is there more to his story?

         In the wrestling match, it becomes clear that God knows who Jacob is.  God knows Jacob is a scrapper, a fighter, one who doesn’t let go and doesn’t give up.  Jacob is a cheater in life, and God cheats when he wrestles with Jacob.  God meets Jacob where he is.  That becomes abundantly clear as God wounds Jacob and Jacob still hangs on for a blessing.  When God does give the blessing it honors the tenacity of Jacob’s character.  Jacob is one who wrestles with God and man, Jacob is one who fights for what he wants, and so Jacob is called “Israel”.  God makes it clear that he knows who Jacob is, what a heel he really is, and God blesses him anyway.  And as he limps into the sunset, Jacob knows who he is as well, he is “Israel” one who wrestles, one who doesn’t let go, one who receives a blessing even if it does come with injury.

         I have to tell you, this is one of my all-time favorite stories in our scripture.  I just love this story of Jacob and God by the riverside, wrestling in the dark.  I love that God knows what a schemer Jacob is and loves him anyway.  I love that God wrestles as equals with Jacob.  I even love that God wounds Jacob in the end, as well as offers the blessing.  I love all of this because in this story I see the God I wrestle with.

         So many folks will tell you that faith is about surrender, faith is about letting go, faith is about just accepting things and moving on.  And I am sure that is true for some people, but that has never been true for me.  In my own life, faith is a struggle, faith is a wrestling match, and faith is me holding on to God with all I’ve got.  I’m holding on for a blessing.

         Just like in Jacob’s life sometimes faith is hard.  Jacob doesn’t really show a lot of faith in his story.  He is always saying he will follow God, but then is scrabbling around the edges trying to make things happen for himself.  He is scheming for the inheritance, working for the wife, and scamming for the herds.  He is grabbing and reaching and grasping and forming the world the way he is wanting things to be.  He is doing all the work of blessing himself, but he refuses to let go of his faith.  He is still looking for and asking of his God.

         Jacob’s identity is defined by this struggle of his faith, and I can see that reflected in my own life.  I am always wrestling with ideas, grasping for God, thinking new things, seeking after the truth.  I am always questioning and learning, growing and reaching.  I am always wrestling with God and faith, seeking a blessing somehow in the pain and sorrow that is life.  And like Jacob, I refuse to let go.

         Jacob is wounded by God and I don’t think that’s a chance encounter or a mistake.  Real encounters with God can be painful.  God asks a lot of us, and God brings us to our knees.  God will not leave us be, and if we refuse to let go of God we risk getting hurt in the process.  But the pain is a blessing.  As Jacob limps into the sunset he knows he is blessed.  I am sure he wouldn’t change it for the world.

         Sometimes life is easy, and faith is easy, and we just love God and have it all together.  But most of the time it isn’t like that.  Most of the time life is hard, and God seems absent or even hurtful.  Most of the time faith is a struggle and we need to be scrappy fighters like Jacob.  When the hard times come, when the attacker appears in the night, we need to gird up our loins and cry “Let’s do this!  I’m not letting go until I receive a blessing!”  I know that’s how I’m approaching my current struggle.  “You want a piece of this, (literally a piece of this foot) then bring it on!”

         The story of Jacob at the ford of the Jabbok reminds us that sometimes faith is a real struggle.  But it is a blessed struggle.  When we wrestle with faith, when we wrestle with God we are blessed with identity and favor.  We know who and whose we are.  Like Jacob, we are far from perfect, but God accepts us and loves us anyway.  And God honors us with a true struggle.  God doesn’t crush us under the weight of holiness; rather God patiently grapples with our questions, our doubts, our fears, and our sin.  God doesn’t let us go.  And we don’t let go either.  Rather we hold on for dear life.  We hold on for that blessing.  And eventually, we get it.  Amen.