Despite the Deceit

Intro:

“A lie is not just told in words. A lie is told in the way we live our lives, pretending to be what we are not, in our actions that belie our words, in our false promises and broken faith. The worst lies are not those we tell others, but those we tell ourselves.” – St. Augustine

-            We live in a world full of deceit. Where social media magnates and tech companies are not fully transparent about their data collection and usage practices. Where deepfakes can make anyone believe anything.

-            Where politicians pander to their voters in order to gain power and prestige without truly caring about improving the lives of those that they

-            But its not only on a grand scale. Each of us, out of desire to preserve ourselves, has a heart that is full of deceit. This is a protection mechanism. The job of our brains is to find ways to protect us. And when we feel threat or harm, our tendency will always be to do what we need to do in order to survive. The problem with this is that it often comes at risk of harm to others. Protecting ourselves sometimes means throwing someone else under the bus.

o  Story of going to a party in high school, spraining my ankle, and telling dad I fell in a hole he was going to plant a tree in.

-            The problem with deceit goes beyond simply telling lies to others - it's also a form of self-deception. When we deceive, we create false narratives about who we are, convincing ourselves of stories that aren't true. Ironically, while we often use these lies to make ourselves appear greater or more impressive, they actually diminish us. By hiding behind falsehoods, we end up appearing smaller and more insignificant than who we truly are.

o  Because at our core… at your core… do you know who you are? You are a son. You are a daughter. Deeply loved. For exactly who you are.

o  When we discover this, the deceit can fade into the background because we discover that who we truly are is far better than any story we could ever make up about ourselves. Why? Because the God who created us and redeems us is far better than we can imagine.

-            In the midst of deceit, God works. DESPITE our active self-sabotage. Despite our cunning and lying and destruction. This doesn’t excuse our destructive behavior. But it helps us to understand that there is a better way to live. And in the midst of it, we can’t thwart the never stopping, never giving up, always and forever love of God.

-            And this is what we see in our text this morning. We see the story of a family that is so wrought with lies and deception that they can’t seem to escape it. However, despite their tendency towards lies, God works to fulfill his promises. Bringing about a promise that is far greater than any blessing that we could ever manipulate.

Read Genesis 27:18-29

The Scheme-

a.  As you all saw last week, we’re looking at the story of twin brothers, Jacob and Esau

                                                                                          i.        Now, when we think of twins, often we think of two brothers or sisters who are inseparable. They’ve spent nine months in the womb together, and a lot of them look alike and sometimes have similar interests.

                                                                                     ii.        Some famous twins include:

1.  Boomers had Robin and Maurice Gibb of the Begees

2.  Olsen Twins Mowry twins for millennials

3.  Dylan and Cole Sprouse for Gen Z

4.  And Gen X had Arnold and Danny

                                                                                 iii.        We’ve got some AMAZING twins in this church!

1.  And if you think about it, my favorite twins (no offense Tristan and Micah), please pray for my favorite set of twins: Alex and Ben Moore. Last week, Alex was in a tragic accident and fell four stories. He survived, but is having multiple surgeries per week, is in excruciating pain, and they don’t know if he will make it. And if he does, he will probably not be able to walk or work again (him and his borther are professional musicians).

2.  But as I think about them, Ben is right there with his brother through all of this. Keeping people updated. Caring for his brother all day every day.

3.  This is what I think of when I think of twins.

                                                                                 iv.        (Back to title slide)But not so with Jacob and Esau. From birth, there was tension between the two. The Lord told them that there would be tension. That the younger would one day rule over the older.

1.  And you saw that Eventually, Esau sold his birthright to his brother Jacob.

                                                                                      v.        In our story this morning, the deceit continues.

b.  We fast forward, and their father Isaac is on his deathbed. He loves the wild game that Esau brings him, and asks him to go out and prepare some food for him.

                                                                                          i.        In the ancient world, there was some domestication of animals, but those animals would have much more likely served the purpose of providing milk. It would have been much more likely for these nomadic people that most of their meat would have come from hunting.

                                                                                     ii.        So Isaac sends out Esau and there is a scheme by Rebekah, their mother, for her favorite son Jacob to receive the blessing. She tells Jacob that while Esau is out hunting, to go and bring two goats that she can kill and prepare a meal for Isaac.

1.  She clothes Jacob in Esau’s clothes, puts goatskin on him, and sends him in to receive the blessing that only the first born was to receive upon the death of his father.

2.  She wants her favorite son to be in charge. So here she is, in tandem with Jacob, seeking to deceive Isaac.

c.  Why do they do this?

                                                                                          i.        Dr. Ely Levy says this:

                                                                                     ii.        “The conflict between the twins—as we are told of it—centers on Jacob’s attempts to usurp the rights of the firstborn from his brother, and idea already planted in our minds by the divine oracle (Genesis 25). This culminates in Rebekah’s plan to subvert Isaac’s intent to bless Esau. The text informs us that Isaac is old and blind, therefore primes for this ruse. This blessing represents a kind of divine inheritance. The story implicitly assumes that Isaac can only bless one of his sons: the other son will get nothing.”

                                                                                 iii.        To be blessed by Isaac is to be blessed by God. And we will do this, no matter what it takes. Even if it means doing it through deceit.

d.  Have you ever been there?

                                                                                          i.        Feeling like you need to deceive others in order to get what you want?

1.  Like you need to do and say the right things in order to get God on your side?

2.  Have you ever bargained with God? God I’m going to do this for you. But I’m going to do it and you better do this for me.

                                                                                     ii.        If I’m honest, this is how I often feel about things like keeping the 10 Commandments in schools. Its almost like: “God, we’re doing this because we want to prove to you and everyone around us how righteous we are. So you better bless us in return.” Psalm 33:12, taken sorely out of context, is often coupled with it. “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.”

1.  Those are all good things. There is nothing inherently wrong with wanting to have God be sovereign over our nation. There is nothing inherently wrong with having the Ten Commandments posted.

2.  But what good are the Ten Commandments. What good is it to say that this is a Christian nation, if the church continually turns its back on those in our communities who are in need of the most help. If we are not living out the beatitudes of Jesus, those things are nothing more than putting on goat skins and saying “We are worthy of your blessings.”

e.  Seeking to steal divine blessing by dressing ourselves up as something we are not is a gross misappropriation of our call as followers of Jesus to love those who the world, maybe even our own tribe, deems unlovable.

f.      For Jacob and Rebecca, stealing and wearing the clothing of the first born son was adequate to receive the blessing of Isaac. But it didn’t change who he was. This resulted in a blessing being stolen and a brother being cast out.

The Blessing

a.  So what exactly was this blessing, and what was it intended to do.

b.  The purpose of the blessing, as it was to Abraham a few chapters before, as it was to Isaac, is to give an inheritance of land, people, and abundance.

                                                                                          i.        Is the blessing of God limited? No. The blessing of God is to be for all people through the one that he has chosen! The blessing of God through Abraham is that all people would be blessed. So, doesn’t it seem silly that Jacob would try to steal the blessing?

c.  Let’s take a look at the blessing. And I want to ask this question as well… is he truly deceiving Isaac, or is Isaac in on it?

                                                                                          i.        Genesis 27:27-29—Lets read it

                                                                                     ii.        Now here is my question… is this blessing for a hunter? Or is this blessing intended for a farmer?

                                                                                 iii.        The smell of a field that the Lord has blessed. This is talking about a field that produces crops. Dew from the sky and from the richness of the land. An abundance of grain and wine.

                                                                                 iv.        This is a blessing calling for other peoples to bow down to him. The establishing of a kingdom of sorts. In the ancient world, cities were equated with agriculture. Farming allowed for cities to be built because they stayed in one place. This is the blessing of a farmer, and agriculturalist. One who stays put. Not one who roams and hunts.

                                                                                      v.        It seems to me like Isaac is maybe in on this. Another reason that I think that this is the case is that, in Genesis 26, right before this story of the “stolen blessing” happens, we are told that “When Esau was forty years old, he took as his wives Judith daughter of Beeri the Hethite, and Basemath daughter of Elon the Hethite. They made life bitter for Isaac and Rebecca.”

1.  This is what we are told right before the story of the stolen blessing. Is this a clue in the text that Isaac maybe wasn’t fooled after all? I mean, do we think Isaac is stupid? I don’t think he is. I think that this is a larger scheme that is at play in order to manipulate the blessing in order to give it to the younger son. To pass on God’s blessing to someone who doesn’t deserve it.

                                                                                 vi.        Regardless, we see that from Jacob, despite the cunning, the deceit, the trickery, that God works despite what is at play. From Jacob come the Israelite people. And we see throughout scripture that, because Jacob/Israel receive the blessing, it is through them that God works.

1.  Does this make the trickery good? No. Does it justify the deceit? Absolutely not. But what it does do is serves as a foundation for a larger narrative that is at play throughout scripture.

2.  There is a unifying narrative that there is a firstborn son who does truly receive the inheritance that God sets forth. There is a first born son through whom all peoples will be blessed.

3.  And God brings this about despite human blunder and deception.

The Promise

a.  Lets fast forward to the New Testament

                                                                                          i.        Romans 8:28-30--28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[i] have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

                                                                                     ii.        Colossians 1:15-21--15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of[g] your evil behavior. 

                                                                                 iii.        We don’t have time to do a deep dive into these passages. But what do we see here? We see that there is a true firstborn who is the rightful heir of God’s promises.

b.  And what does this firstborn do?

                                                                                          i.        In him there is no deceit. There is no lying. There is no thievery. Rather, faithful obedience, love, and mercy. That is available to all people.

1.  We don’t need to wear clothing that doesn’t belong to us. Why? Because he graciously gives us his clothing.

2.  Galatians 3:26-29--26 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

                                                                                     ii.        How are we children of God? Through faith. What is faith? It is a trust that is lived out through allegiance. It is a being so confident that we are heirs to everything that Jesus has, that we have no need of fear.

1.  We have no need of culture wars. We have no need of identity politics. We simply are who we are, we are heirs of the promise.

2.  This is the blessing. We don’t have to live on the outside something that we are not on the inside.

3.  Rather, we are invited in, called sons and daughters. And we don’t expect the world to look like us. I expect the government to not look like the church. I expect my neighbors to live in a way that isn’t representative of Jesus.

4.  But if we are heirs, brothers and sister, if we are sons and daughters, then we are to hold one another to a standard of being like Christ. And what does it mean to look like Jesus?

                                                                                 iii.        It doesn’t look like dawning clothing that says “we are Christians” and then treating our neighbors like they are a threat to us.

Conclusion

a.  The words of Jesus throughout the New Testament should come as a stark warning for all who wear the clothing of Jesus, but are not reflective of who he is.

                                                                                          i.        Matthew 7:21-23--21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”

                                                                                     ii.        What is he getting at here? Our being does not come from what we claim. What we wear on the outside. Our being comes from him. From from within. From recognizing that he is above all things and before all things. And after all things. And from him and to him and through him all things hold together. And living your life in a way that shows that you believe that is true! (Conclusion Slide)

1.  So often we feel like we need to defend God. We need to stand up for God. We need to exclude others because we’re afraid they’re going to remove God.

2.  That thinking is backwards. And it shows a lack of confidence in who God is and what he has done and what he is doing. When we live this way, it ostracizes people. It creates enemies. You don’t have enemies. Why? Because enemies exist when you are at risk of losing what is rightfully yours. But guess what? Security in Christ means nothing can take that away!

3.  Don’t be like Jacob. Living a life of deceit. Do you know where his deceit got him? It led him to a place where he was constantly being deceived. By his father in law. By his own sons! Because he wasn’t secure in his identity as a son.

4.  Throughout scripture, we see God working despite what people are doing. Why? Because he loves this world too much to let us destroy it.

5.  Our confidence. Our being. It flows from who God already says that we are! When this happens, there is no threat from the outside. There is no need to pretend that we are something that we are not. Rather, we just live as we are, knowing that we are secure. And that frees us to live lives where we love mercy, seek justice, and walk humbly with our God.

6.  In a fractured world, how are you living? Is it a life of mercy because you have been mercifully invited in to receive your inheritance?

7.  Or is it a life that claims one identity, but ostracizes and vilifies others?

8.  “A lie is not just told in words. A lie is told in the way we live our lives, pretending to be what we are not, in our actions that belie our words, in our false promises and broken faith.” Live like Jesus.