Genesis 32: 22-31
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| Jacob Wrestles with the Angel, Gustave Doré c.1866 Public Domain |
Jacob; by far the less than ideal hero of the Hebrew Scriptures, perhaps even one of the most deceitful in all of Genesis.
It is one of the reasons I truly enjoy studying, preaching, and teaching on our Old Testament stories.
The characters we encounter are less than perfect.
There are no white hats, no black hats, just real flesh and blood grey.
To be honest, I’m not even quite certain how grey Jacob is up to this point.
Jacob is a sniveling cheat!
He has abandoned his father, mother, and brother, after cheating his brother, Esau out of his birthright.
He has stolen everything that Esau was entitled to through deceit and lies.
Then, he proves himself as not only a cheat, but a coward abandoning his family out of fear of his brother’s wrath, which is a consequence of his own actions.
Rather than facing the music he flees only to prove himself an even greater cheat and coward by resorting to the same tactics again, cheating his father-in-law, Laban, out of his property and fleeing HIS wrath as well, then lying about it all in the end.
Jacob is deceitful, selfish, and manipulative.
Sounds more like a candidate for election than some ideal biblical figure.
So after leaving his father-in-law’s lands with the majority of his father-in-law’s property, he returns to his own family's lands to bribe his brother, Esau, out of wreaking vengeance upon him.
Certainly, Jacob must be living in fear of his brother’s wrath.
Esau is described as stronger, perhaps even brutish compared to Jacob.
And so, Jacob sends gifts, probably gifts he had gained through his own deceit and cunning.
He sends them ahead of his caravan, in hopes to butter up Esau and discourage any aspirations of revenge.
Sound like a model of faith to you?
The most ironic aspect of this story we have read today, is that Jacob, while deceitful, dishonest, selfish, and a bit cowardly, proves himself to be a crafty and cunning character right up until this point.
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| Esau verkauft Jacob das Erstgeburtsrecht oder Das Linsengericht, Matthias Stomer 17th Century Public Domain |
Regardless of how slimy he may seem, you’ve got to give it to Jacob; he is a slick operator.
Yet, here in this story he commits a complete tactical blunder.
In unfamiliar lands, nearing his possibly hostile brother’s territory, he separates himself from his family, his property, and all resources he has to defend himself using a body of water to clearly isolate himself, the Yabboq river.
Yacov crosses the Yabboq river where he engages in a Yaveq match.
This Hebrew term “to Struggle” in this story is directly tied to the name of the river where this fight occurs, the action that Jacob engages in, and even his very name.
To sum it up, Jacob crosses the “Jacob river”, where Jacob “jacob’s" with an unknown adversary.
It would appear that in this story, the very character who has done everything he can to get out of struggling falls headfirst into an unavoidable struggle, perhaps a struggle that he was always destined to engage in, a struggle tied to the very nature of his name that he has avoided his entire life.
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During the eighties, I was enamored by the world of professional wrestling.
I’m still baffled by what drew so many including myself to this genre of entertainment.
There was something that drew the attention of my younger self to the likes of Jake the Snake Roberts, Superfly Jimmy Snuka, and Macho Man Randy Savage.
“Oh yeah!”
Perhaps it was the pageantry that surrounded their combative engagements like the massive flames that shot from the four corners of the ring, or the huge boa constrictor that slithered across a vanquished foe who had just been pinned to the mat following a finishing move where the hero flew threw the air like a bird.
Maybe it was the incredibly eloquent storylines, as if Shakespeare himself had been resurrected for one final act.
Maybe it was the betrayal and heartbreak that led our most beloved protagonists to their unlikely victories over the far stronger and intimidating antagonists like Andre the Giant!
I will tell you one thing for certain, though.
When I found myself gasping to maneuver out from under a state champion wrestler one fall afternoon at a wrestling meet in Grove City, Pennsylvania, embarrassed and desperate, I certainly longed for a grab bag of tricks like the flying elbow drop, the power bomb, or the figure four leg lock.
Heck, I woulda settled for a folding chair.
Because the world of professional wrestling only depicted the illusion of a combative struggle.
Professional wrestling was and is today nothing more than a soap opera with underwear and motorcycle boots.
But true scholastic and collegiate wrestling is no illusion.
It is a personal, physically combative athletic endeavor in which two opponents attempt to physically subdue and control one another in an intimately close encounter.
It is anything but fake, and it is certainly about as intimate and close as two opponents can be.
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When Jacob crosses the Jacob and then Jacob’s with his opponent,
He isn’t engaged in some casual recreational sport or some form of fake athletic entertainment show.
This is an intimate, personal, and very violent fight.
The most revealing part of the fight is in the outcome.
Jacob refuses to submit to his opponent.
Had Jacob known his opponent was divine, perhaps he would have just thrown in the towel long before his opponent's finishing move; "the hip socket disrupter".
But even in his defeat he refuses to let go.
Jacob the coward.
Jacob the cheat.
Jacob the liar.
He can’t cheat, run, or lie his way out of this one;
At least not this time.
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Now the last sermon I preached, I mentioned the importance of facing a challenge.
But facing challenge is not the same as struggling.
Some seek a good challenge but struggling implies that one is on the brink of defeat.
In fact, when Jacob’s hip is struck out of the joint, he is defeated because he cannot and he will not win.
He is helpless, defeated, yet he refuses to let his opponent go.
I would like to believe that Jacob sought out this adversary, but that is not only unclear, I think it is unlikely and illogical that he did so of his own free will.
No one in their right mind would do such a thing, especially with a divine opponent.
But Jacob’s struggle found him, regardless of how hard he tried to avoid it.
~
We live in a world and a society that resents defeat.
Today it seems we don’t even know how to prepare for defeat, because we only consider one option; victory.
We pride ourselves on winning and when winning appears unlikely we retreat to a more certain position.
But the story we gather together to hear is not a story of certain victory.
It is a story of perseverance in the midst of defeat.
And this is a community here at St. Michael, that gathers together in the midst of not only joy but defeat, whether those are struggles we share or struggles that defeat a select few.
Perhaps even struggles that only impact a select individual.
In our struggles and our defeats, we find ourselves at our most vulnerable and lonely points.
But here in this place is where we prepare for those struggles and defeats, seeking out the hope that drives us to hold tightly, refusing to submit fully, refusing to be pinned to the mat.
One of the best Rocky quotes came from what I thought was one of the worst Rocky movies made, but it is appropriate for this lesson today, none-the-less.
In the film Rocky Balboa, Rocky responds to his son’s request that he resign himself to defeat, arguing that submitting to obvious defeat is a better prospect than perseverance in the face of the impending struggle.
Rocky advises his son in reply,
"The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place, and I don't care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard you hit, it’s about how hard you get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. "
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We do not subscribe to a Gospel that promises sunshine and rainbows.
It is a gospel that is written in and to a mean and nasty place.
And we may find ourselves a bit wounded after flailing helplessly beneath our struggles.
We are not called to avoid them though.
Because it is easy to find God in the sunshine and rainbows.
It is easy to see God in the midst of our victories and joys.
But that is not the world in which we live, and it is not the model we are given in Christ.
And a faith that is untested by struggle will be far more vulnerable when we ourselves are trapped under certain defeat.
But the greatest victory the world has ever known, was born first in the bloodiest of all defeats +.
Today we have the chance to witness a father who has questioned and struggled, refusing the easy answers and never backing away from the hard questions where most would only find defeat.
_______, you’ve been offered the easy answers time and again but you refused to let go and submit.
You knew there were easy explanations for God and the world around you, but you refused to just take the easy way.
You’ve accepted the fact that you seek out an understanding of faith that will not let go in the face of struggle.
Because faith that just resigns in the face of defeat is untested, and faith can only be truly tested in struggle.
And while you will come to this font and receive a blessing, not unlike Jacob’s,
You will also remain flawed and imperfect, just as Jacob was.
You will be changed though, you will be given a new name, much like Jacob.
You will be renamed a child of God.
And as you come forward to receive this blessing in a few moments, proudly bear your limp from your struggles.
And never discourage your daughter, soon to be your sister in Christ, from knowing where you got that limp.
Because she will look to you and _________ as she grows in faith, hopefully building on the foundation of faith she will receive with you this day in these waters, hopefully being prepared for whatever struggles she may come to face herself.
We pray that your faith and hers will persevere in the face of any defeat, because of your struggles.
And if you need a model to follow, look to His +.
Amen
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| Christ on the Cross, Carl Bloch c. 1870 Public Domain |
Sources
Stallone, Sylvester. Rocky Balboa. Directed by Sylvester Stallone. USA: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, 2006.
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