Sermon Tone Analysis
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Clutching the ring
The new Amazon series Rings of Power has renewed interest in the great British author J.R.R. Tolkien who wrote the Lord of the Rings trilogy in the middle of the 20th century.
Tolkien’s stories were not simply great fiction, but Tolkien’s attempt to tell us a little about ourselves.
The story of the Lord of the Rings is the quest of a character named Frodo Baggins.
Frodo Baggins has been assigned to destroy a ring that corrupts whoever is wearing it.
That ring has enormous power, but it also brings out the worst in people.
The only place the ring can be destroyed is a placed called Mount Doom.
At the very end of the trilogy, Frodo makes his way up Mount Doom to destroy the ring.
He’s attacked by another character named Gollum who doesn’t want the ring destroyed but wants the ring for himself.
Gollum takes the ring away from Frodo, but in doing do, falls into Mount Doom clutching the ring.
That’s the end of Gollum.
That’s the end of the ring.
The world is saved from evil.
And the entire story swung on a character who wanted the ring so badly he would die to get it.
Clutching an identity
Our present attention this morning is on Jacob, a man who has been on a quest.
Jacob is the grandson of Abraham.
He is the son of Isaac.
Jacob knows about the covenant and Promises that God made to his grandpa and his dad.
But he’s not all that interested in embracing the Promise like his dad or grandpa.
Jacob wants all the blessings of the Promise.
He’s not so sure that he wants the God of the covenant.
Jacob wants to know: what’s in it for me?
This quest is all about Jacob.
From the very outset, if you read the rest of Jacob’s story here in the Bible, it is obvious that Jacob believes the blessings of the covenant can be obtained by sheer willpower and masterful cunning.
Jacob has lived up to his given name, the one who clutches or the one who grasps.
His entire life has been marked by wrestling... Jacob was born holding Esau’s heel.
He “wrestled” with Esau over a birthright and blessing, the outcome of which meant obtaining the legacy of the covenant blessings first promised to Grandpa Abraham and his dad, Isaac.
And yes, Jacob’s wrestling even extended to him trying to take on God himself.
Jacob leaves home.
He’s not on good terms with his brother.
He will build his life and pursue his dream somewhere else.
As he is headed away from home, Jacob is paid a visit by God at night.
The story of the ladder going into heaven is the story of Jacob trying to bargain with God.
It’s God’s ladder, but Jacob thinks the ladder is how he must climb to God.
Jacob wants to make the ladder his own.
God makes a promise to Jacob, promising Jacob that he will bless him and bring him back to the Promised Land.
And he repeats the promise to Abraham that all the families of the earth will be blessed through Jacob.
But Jacob wants to set the terms of the covenant.
He thinks God can be bargained with, wrestled with… Jacob acts as if God owes him.
Jacob says, “Yeah, you do all that for me, then you can be my God.” Jacob is in it for Jacob.
God… if you’re so good, you will do this for me.
And then I will serve you.
Then I will believe you.
If not, well then, you must not be God.
If you don’t live up to my expectations, I don’t need you.
And the question becomes… can God’s promises be taken by force?
Is it possible to secure God’s promises by being smart enough or good enough or successful enough?
Can you set your own terms with God?
Does God owe you anything?
Can Jacob wrestle the covenant from God?
At Bethel, where Jacob met God at night, Jacob seemed to think so.
Jacob is determined to be the hero of his own story.
Jacob Wrestles
Our text this morning is found in Genesis 32.
Many years have passed since Bethel.
Jacob did get rich.
He ends up with a very big family.
Lots of children and grandchildren.
Jacob seemingly has it all.
What he does not have yet is the land of promise.
He’s living in a foreign land.
God pays Jacob a visit again and says, it’s time to go home.
So, Jacob gets everything arranged, he gets the moving trucks or camels and his family heads back to the Promised Land.
Before Jacob can enter the Promised Land, though, this matter of Jacob’s self-reliance must be resolved.
While much has changed in the interim between Bethel and Genesis 32, not *enough* has changed.
Jacob still acts like Jacob.
God shows up again to Jacob in the middle of the night.
This time, there’s no ladder, there are no angels, there is no glory.
Jacob expects glory.
What he gets is mystery, vulnerability, and darkness.
There is no party.
What Jacob gets is a wrestling match in the middle of the night.
It is no coincidence that what transpires here in this passage is at night.
God is about to resolve once and for all the self-centered bargain made by Jacob at Bethel.
In that resolution, God is going to deal with Jacob’s self-absorbed conniving.
He cannot take self-sufficiency into the land.
His self-reliant striving must be brought to an end; his self-rule will be brought into submission to another; his self-serving resolve must be broken.
Genesis 32:24 “Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak.”
If you’ve been following Jacob’s story this is totally unexpected.
This is no bright, earth-shattering heaven’s gate.
This is the blackness of night.
What is this?
This is the sweat of a wrestling match with a mysterious man-figure whose identity is not cloaked in glory but humanity’s darkness.
Faced with the mundane rather than glorious greatness, Jacob resorts to his old ways.
He’s the wrestler.
He’s wrestled Esau.
He wrestled his father.
He wrestled with his father-in-law Laban.
He tried to bargain with God.
And now, for Jacob, this stranger who meets him at the gateway to the “Promised Land” is just another man to be wrestled with and conquered.
Genesis 32:25 “When the man saw that he could not defeat him, he struck Jacob’s hip socket as they wrestled and dislocated his hip.”
Jacob resorts to wrestling and, true to form, Jacob wins.
Jacob prevails in his wrestling.
Despite being maimed by his opponent with an apparent power that is not of this world, Jacob seemingly wins.
If this has been a test of resolve, a test of internal fortitude, a test of his own ability to get things done, certainly Jacob has passed the test.
He is ready to move on to the Promised Land and claim what is his.
After all he has been through, Jacob’s self-reliance seems vindicated.
Or has it been?
Things aren’t what they seem.
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