Skip to main content

Healing Relationships - Genesis 32:9-13; 22-30

In our narrative lectionary reading for this upcoming Sunday we read about Jacob returning home to meet his brother Esau.  It is a powerful story of reconciliation. 

In the first section Jacob is praying, trying to prepare for this meeting.  He admits that God has blessed him.  The last time he crossed this river he was running for his life.  He had stolen his brother's birthright and then his blessing by tricking his father on his deathbed.  He left with nothing but his walking stick and his clothes, but here he was returning with so many people and animals that he had to split them up so that they could live off the land they traveled through.  He admits that he does not deserve any of it, but asks God to help him anyway.

In the second section he sends his family over the river and waits for the morning by himself.  Once alone, he wrestles with a man on the shore.  The grappled with each other all through the night until the man touched him hip and it came out of his socket.  Jacob refused to let go until the man blessed him.  The man asked his name and Jacob told him.  Jacob's name meant "heel" because he had grabbed his brother's heel.  In slang it meant trickster and it was a name he had lived into.  By admitting his name he was basically admitting to the sorry way he had lived.  The man told him that he would no longer be known as Jacob, but by the name Israel because he had wrestled with God and man and won.  The new name meant "wrestle with God". 

This is the way of reconciliation right?  We wrestle with others and we struggle with God, not wanting to face up to our part in the problem.  It is when we are alone that we wrestle the most with God.  We struggle with what God wants us to do.  We try to wrestle our way out of the task before us.  Reconciliation is hard work, it is death to ourselves.  Our old identity must die in the process.  The old self must be put to death. Know this though, the new identity is always better.  You are not wrong when you think that admitting fault may destroy your reputation, but you are wrong that it will make it worse.  Jacob stopped being "heel" he lost his reputation as a trickster, and gained a reputation as the man that won a wrestling match with God.  As you are called to loose yourselves
through reconciliation, what will your new identity be? 
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Divine | Shame | Humans

Shame is often the only thing between our creator and us. Our reading this week is from Job 14:5-6: A person’s days are determined;      you have decreed the number of his months      and have set limits he cannot exceed. So look away from him and let him alone,      till he has put in his time like a hired laborer. Job is struggling with shame and judgement.  He is wondering why God is spending time paying attention to him, a tiny speck in the great universe, a blink of an eye in all eternity.  Why would God waste time casting a glance at us, let alone fostering us, raising us, and disciplining us?  He cries out "Why won't God just let us be, to live out our miserable existence?" A friend shared a post with me on Facebook this week.  It was a video of her dog who had stolen her donut.  The dog had been under the bed for two hours before she started the video.  The video begins with a clear view of the dog and the uneaten donut under the bed.  The dog casts glances from s
Post a Comment
Read more

Justice & Privilege

The narrative lectionary reading for this week begins a 5 week series on the book of Job.  We focus on Job 1:1-12.  This first section sets the background for the parable.  It is important to note that this is clearly a parable, not a historical text.  This means we must look beyond the described events and towards a deeper meaning within the text.   The story goes like this: ___ There was once a man who thought he was good, an upright citizen, a religiously devout man.  He made good choices and avoided all forms of evil.  He was so pious that he made sacrifices in the name of his family members in case they had unknowingly sinned.  He had great wealth and privilege, and so this was evidence of his goodness.   God was so pleased with this great man, named Job, that he bragged about him to the accuser.  The accuser objected "Of course Job is good, you have provided him with wealth, power, and protection. He would curse you if he was not so privileged."  At this, God takes the
Post a Comment
Read more

Fool for Christ

Our reading from the Narrative Lectionary this week is 2 Corinthians 5.  Verse 13 stood out to me. If it seems we are crazy, it is to bring glory to God. - 2 Corinthians 5:13a (NLT) John Wimber, the founder of the Vineyard churches did a famous sermon called "I am a fool for Christ, whose fool are you?".  Reading this week's text reminded me of this wonderful sermon.  Wimber's sermon reminds us that, as christians, we are called to something truly radical.  The christian walk is strange and counter cultural.  Jesus once explained this to his disciples in John 15 "If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. You don't belong to this world, I have chosen you out of it.  That is why the world hates you."   Peter, in a letter to the church, later referred to all of us as strangers just passing through this world.   Do you feel like a stranger?  Do you feel like the world hates you?  Are you a fool for Christ? Here is the thing, you are going t
Post a Comment
Read more