새 설교 (4)

As I look back on our lives, whether briefly or extensively, As people of faith, the word "gratitude" comes to mind, and as human beings, the word "regret" comes to mind. When do you feel the most regret?

What do you regret not doing? What do you regret doing? It may vary from person to person.

Personally, I feel like I have more regrets about things I did do. Regrets like "I shouldn't have done that" or "I shouldn't have said that."

The painful thing about regrets is that they are irreversible.

When I was young, my mother taught me something when I made a mistake. It was probably a slip of the tongue.

She said, "Spill water on the floor and try to pick it up." I didn't notice and tried to pick up the water diligently. Then my mother said, "Just like you can't pick up the water you spilled, you can't take back the words you've said."

I learned about responsibility for my words and actions.

In today's Bible, we see a man in distress. A man we all know, Jacob.

According to the Bible, he went from Beersheba toward Haran. When night came, he reached a certain place and used a stone as a pillow to sleep on.

The Bible only tells us about Jacob's actions, but we need to meditate on his feelings during that time. We call this meditation.

From the moment of conception, Jacob and Esau were twins. And Esau came out first on the same day, just a little earlier. They are very close in age.

In the Midrash Aggadah, a Jewish interpretation of the Scriptures, there is an interesting explanation:

"Jacob and Esau fought while they were still in their mother Rachel's womb. When Esau came out, he tried to destroy the door of Rachel's womb with his foot, but Jacob grabbed his heel, and they both came out. Rachel's womb was severely damaged at that time, and she could no longer conceive after that."

Now, if we take this literally, it may sound like a very strange story. However, when we look at the deeper meaning behind this Midrash, we can think about how Jacob and Esau grew up.

Jacob was always overshadowed by Esau just because he was the second-born. At that time, according to customs, the firstborn could inherit more than twice the property of the second-born and held all the authority.

As they grew up, what might Jacob and his brothers have been like? Esau probably bullied Jacob, and Jacob probably resented Esau. However, an opportunity arose when Esau returned from hunting, hungry, looking for something to eat. Jacob took advantage of Esau's hunger and traded his birthright, something so precious, for a bowl of lentil stew. Esau, not realizing the value of the birthright, readily gave it away.

Jacob finally obtained what he had longed for. However, in doing so, he made himself and his entire family unhappy. His actions caused pain and unhappiness to everyone around him.

But there's an interesting point. One person's pain and regret can lead to another person's blessing.

Esau might have been regretful for losing his birthright and, later, his father's blessing. But God blessed Jacob despite his wrongdoings.

Then, in the desert, lying on a stone as a pillow, Jacob must have felt deep regret, fear, and loneliness. He must have felt afraid of Esau's angry face, sorry for his father's disappointment, and shed tears for his mother, Rebecca, who couldn't stop him and could only cry for him.

That night must have been a night full of fear, guilt, and regret for Jacob.

But God appeared to Jacob in a dream, at that moment when he was lying on a stone pillow. Jacob saw a ladder with its top reaching to heaven, and angels ascending and descending on it.

What did Jacob see in his dream? He saw God standing above the ladder and saying, "I am the Lord, the God of Abraham, your father, and the God of Isaac."

God promised to bless Jacob, just like the blessing of the firstborn he obtained deceitfully.

However, the reason for God's blessing may not be what we expect.

Jacob was the one who disrupted the peace of his family. His desire for the blessing caused unhappiness not only to himself but also to everyone else. He should have received punishment and condemnation. Instead, God blessed him.

The strange lesson we learn from the Bible is this:

God blesses those who are actively seeking Him, regardless of the means and methods they use to achieve their desires. Heaven belongs to the one who earnestly seeks it.

God is the God of Jacob, who was weak in faith, impure, and filled with regret. Yet, God chose to be with him, to lift him up, and to bless him.

The lesson is that God's presence is not reserved for the "perfectly faithful" or the "highly capable." Even when our faith is weak, when we have regrets, or when we feel that our faith is powerless, God is with us.

And Jacob realized this. When he woke up from his dream, he set up the stone pillow he had used and made an altar, and he called that place Bethel, which means "the house of God."

Bethel is wherever God is present. This can be