Wrestling With Angels

St. Paul’s United Methodist Church
Genesis 32: 22 - 31, Rev. Marianne Niesen August 3, 2008

 

A first-grade teacher seated her students in a circle and asked them what they wanted to be when they grew up. One by one, each child got up and announced, "I’d like to be a nurse like my mother," or " . . . a banker like my father," or "a teacher like you."

The last child to speak was the most shy and timid little boy in the class. He said "When I get big, I’m going to be a lion tamer in the circus. I’m going have my whip and chair and make them leap through hoops of fire and obey everything I say."

Seeing the amazed looks of the faces of his classmates, he was quick to reassure them, "Well, of course, I’ll have my Mom with me!"

I suppose in a sense that could describe the beginnings of the bravado of the main character in today’s scripture . . . Jacob. You remember Jacob. He was the outrageous twin brother of the hapless Esau. When they were born, Jacob came out of the womb clutching Esau’s heel, trying to grab the privileged place of the first born. When that didn’t work, he schemed with his mother to dupe his father into giving him the birthright belonging to Esau. Jacob’s name means grabber or, more accurately, supplanter and he indeed lived into his name. He spent his life appropriating for himself what wasn’t his, always scheming for more of everything.

In the scripture text today, we meet this same Jacob at a turning point in his life. He had decided to reconcile with his brother, Esau. The story begins with Jacob sending his family on ahead, across the river Jabbock, where he would encounter Esau the following day. Jacob stayed behind for a night alone - a night to prepare and ponder. He’d be facing the lion the next day - without his Mom!

As you might expect, Jacob didn’t sleep well that night but exactly what transpired is open for interpretation. You’ve just heard the Biblical story. Now listen with your eyes as you see some visual interpretations of Jacob’s unsettled night (Show 10 pictures/sculptures on screen) The most common title for this event is Jacob and the Angel but an angel is not mentioned in the text. You’ve just seen the pictures - many depict an angel, but not all. So . . . with whom did Jacob wrestle? Was it a man, an angel, God, an angry Esau or some part of hmself? Consider that the account began by saying Jacob met a man but ended with Jacob identifying the wrestler as God. Yet, if the wrestler was divine, why wasn’t Jacob defeated outright? Still, the being was able to give him a blessing - and a new name. The story is charged with mystery.

I think it is the mystery of it all that draws us in - and the fact that there is something profoundly human about this encounter. We can relate at some level. We’ve all done such wrestling . . . and our adversaries are every bit as mysterious or difficult to identify sometimes. There are illnesses that come from nowhere, a depression that won’t abate, an expected job loss, a family issue that haunts us. We know what it is like to have sleepless and worry-filled nights before a potentially dangerous or challenging day. We lie awake and review every possible option. We bemoan what we’ve done, we imagine what we could do, we review what we should have done, we worry, fret, review endless possible dialogues. We ponder why we acted as we did. There are risks we think we should take but don’t and roads we refuse to walk but probably should and commitments we’ve made but can’t keep and responsibilities we have but don’t know quite how we got them. That’s the kind of night it was for Jacob.

I think it is the profound humanness of it all that has inspired and haunted so many artists. There’s something else as well - and it’s this: Jacob prevailed - which is different from winning. To prevail is to survive, transformed and empowered. You see, despite his fear and his guilt, despite finally facing himself and his actions honestly for the first time, Jacob emerged from his battle - once again - with more than he deserved. He received a blessing and a name. And he received those things not because he had won an outright victory but because he stayed with it. He was tenacious and hopeful. He did not quit until he again got a blessing - but this time, he came by it honestly.

And the blessing was nothing less than another chance, symbolized in a new identity. It was as if, in the struggle, the old passed away and something new was born. Remember that names are important in the Old Testament. Jacob, whose name meant grabber was renamed Israel, which means God rules or God preserves. Jacob’s tenacious, hopeful struggle took everything out of him and then gave it back, with a new opportunity for life.

But, remember, this new life this new opportunity did not come without a cost. It did not have a ‘happily ever after’ finish. True, Jacob walked away from the struggle - but with a limp. As one preacher put it ‘to say that every cloud has a silver lining does not mean we are prevented from getting drenched or even spared from catching the flu. The plot of Jacob’s encounter does not read like a fairy tale. Everything does not change with the wave of a magic wand but only after sweat and struggle.’ And, in the end, Jacob got what he didn’t deserve. He was a scoundrel in so many ways - perhaps therein lies our great hope. If God can work with Jacob, certainly God can and will work with us as well. If God was in Jacob’s well-deserved struggle, certainly God will be with us.

So what does that mean for you and me, right here, right now? Let me first tell you what it doesn’t mean. One of the most popular versions of Christianity these days is one known as the ‘prosperity gospel.’ Prosperity gospel proponents assert that true believers can expect better jobs, restored health and, most importantly, material abundance and wealth. All will go well for you if you have the right self-talk and the right attitude. Quite simply, I think that’s nonsense. There are plenty of good, positive, hopeful people who, through no fault of their own, are in terrible situations. And there are plenty of others who probably deserve a little rock in their paths who seem to have the world by a sting. Don’t get me wrong. Positive thinking is fine and being blessed by good fortune is fine as well. But it is not the profound and transformative truth embedded in the Jacob story, or for that matter, in the way of Jesus.

Jacob’s healing and grace was not found in an attitude adjustment. It was found in the midst of his struggle. It was found as he faced himself and found his God. I wonder if the reason this event is commonly seen as an encounter with an angel is because Jacob chose to see it that way. Despite the difficulty he faced, he chose to see it as a God moment. There was no easy fix for Jacob. At the end of the night he was exhausted, had a limp and still had no idea what would happen when he came face to face with Esau. What he did have was hope and a willingness to see the face of God. He emerged convinced of God’s presence.

And for us? There is no personal struggle in our lives for which there is no blessing. God is with us in the struggle and through the struggle. We are not assured of abundance, wealth, personal power or vindication. We are assured of presence, divine presence. God is the one who accompanies us no matter what. And sometimes all we can do is hold on, hold tight, hang tough and demand the blessing. That’s what Jacob did. He chose to see his wrestler as divine. In the end, he didn’t deserve the blessing but still he dared to ask for what he did not deserve and in the process he received a new calling, a new birthright, a new direction. Then, newly named, he limped away and found himself face to face with Esau. And when that happened, for once, Jacob did not pretend to be someone he was not. He made no demands. Instead, he bowed humbly before Esau who did the unthinkable. Esau ran to greet his brother and embraced him. Only God can bring about such transformation.

Fundamentally, Jacob reminds us that we are promised only one thing in life - the presence of God no matter what. St. Paul said it like this . . .

 

What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? For I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

Folks, those aren’t just words for funerals or for times of big crises. Those are every day words carrying with them an every day hope. We too wrestle daily - and God is there with a blessing. We may need to look for it or even demand it . . . but it will not be denied.

As we now share in communion, listen to the wonderful hymn of assurance, Amazing Grace, and look again at the pictures of Jacob’s wrestling. His struggle is ours and so his blessing - thank God!