Week 2: My Reputation is Too Scarred

Announcements:

Bible reading plan is on back table

2. Offering box is on back table

3. Connection team text has been sent out for the training schedule for June

Worship:

Forever

2. One thing remains

3. Great Is

Introduction:

Last week we talked about the excuse (“My Past is Too Bad”) we as underdogs can use to hinder what God is trying to do in and through us. That excuse is a biggie as many times it can keep people from even coming to Jesus in the first place! If you missed it, or want to watch it again, it is on our YouTube channel (the first 6 min we had audio issues but it corrected itself after that lol).

As we continue our series “God of the Underdogs”, we will be talking about another excuse that piggybacks off of last week’s excuse. This week, we will be talking about “My Reputation is Too Scarred.” The individual we will be learning from is Jacob. We will be in Genesis 32:22-32 this morning, and while you are turning there, I want to give us brief context as we will be giving more background information throughout this message.

Jacob is alone and about to face Esau after years of deceit, guilt, and running. His reputation is marred with labels of manipulation, deceit, and betrayal. While God has big plans for Jacob, he let his labels get in the way. Just like Jacob, we carry labels with us as well. Think of some nicknames you were given as a child. Do you remember them? Some may be funny, and other labels may be hurtful. Either way, a label can stick with someone for life. We all wear labels, whether given by others or self-imposed, and can be subjective or true, like: liar, failure, unworthy, used goods, worthless, perfect (I have to have everything perfect), dramatic, animated, tight wad, single, married, divorced, republican, democrat, independent, Christian (methodist, baptist), atheist, serious, funny, lazy, driven, fun or dud, hot or not, doormat, insecure, average, etc.

If we aren’t careful, we tend to live up to those labels and often can use them as our excuse to how we live our life. Whether we get the labels from others or ourselves, we need to come to a point to address them and hit them head-on if we are to move forward in what God has for us. What I want us to realize this morning is that God specializes in rewriting stories (as we talked about last week), redeeming scarred reputations, and giving us a new identity!

Let’s turn to our tree version, e-version, or screen version Bible and read our passage for this morning, and see how we can address the labels we are carrying.

Genesis 32:22–32 CSB

22 During the night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two slave women, and his eleven sons, and crossed the ford of Jabbok. 23 He took them and sent them across the stream, along with all his possessions. 24 Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. 25 When the man saw that he could not defeat him, he struck Jacob’s hip socket as they wrestled and dislocated his hip. 26 Then he said to Jacob, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” 27 “What is your name?” the man asked. “Jacob,” he replied. 28 “Your name will no longer be Jacob,” he said. “It will be Israel because you have struggled with God and with men and have prevailed.” 29 Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he answered, “Why do you ask my name?” And he blessed him there. 30 Jacob then named the place Peniel, “For I have seen God face to face,” he said, “yet my life has been spared.” 31 The sun shone on him as he passed by Penuel—limping because of his hip. 32 That is why, still today, the Israelites don’t eat the thigh muscle that is at the hip socket: because he struck Jacob’s hip socket at the thigh muscle.

Transition: The first observation we have is:

Body:

I. Jacob had labels

In Genesis 25:26; 27:36, we are told Jacob’s name means “supplanter”, a deceiver, under-cutter, usurper. He got his name because he was grabbing onto to his brother’s heel at birth. What a picture of Jacob already trying to usurp his brother from the womb! So, from birth, he was already a labeled man, and not in a good way either! What were his parents thinking, labeling him in such a negative way right from the beginning without him having a chance?! We have to be careful as parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles to not label our kids so quickly in the negative.

Questions:

What label(s) are you carrying today? Words from parents, friends, past mistakes, etc.? Have you lived up to them knowingly or unknowingly?

Have you labeled yourself something God never called you?

Have you ever labeled someone else whether good or bad?

Children’s saying: Sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me

That it one of the most untrue statements known to mankind!

It is important to realize the words we speak over others have a great impact on their destiny. If you don’t believe me, ask Jacob's father!

The labels we were shape who we become!

Jacob was not only labeled at birth, but he lived up to that label.

Genesis 25:29–34 “29 Once when Jacob was cooking a stew, Esau came in from the field exhausted. 30 He said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stuff, because I’m exhausted.” That is why he was also named Edom. 31 Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.” 32 “Look,” said Esau, “I’m about to die, so what good is a birthright to me?” 33 Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore to Jacob and sold his birthright to him. 34 Then Jacob gave bread and lentil stew to Esau; he ate, drank, got up, and went away. So Esau despised his birthright.” : He tricked his older brother into giving him the birthright for the family which was everything to the firstborn.

Genesis 27:6-30: With the help of his mother Rebekah, Jacob later tricked his father, Isaac, into giving him the blessing of the family that belonged to his brother. (Jacob could have also used the excuse that he is a deceiver because it runs in the family!)

Genesis 27:6–17 tells us how Rebekah got involved:

Genesis 27:6–17 CSB

6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Listen! I heard your father talking with your brother Esau. He said, 7 ‘Bring me game and make a delicious meal for me to eat so that I can bless you in the Lord’s presence before I die.’ 8 Now, my son, listen to me and do what I tell you. 9 Go to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, and I will make them into a delicious meal for your father—the kind he loves. 10 Then take it to your father to eat so that he may bless you before he dies.” 11 Jacob answered Rebekah his mother, “Look, my brother Esau is a hairy man, but I am a man with smooth skin. 12 Suppose my father touches me. Then I will be revealed to him as a deceiver and bring a curse rather than a blessing on myself.” 13 His mother said to him, “Your curse be on me, my son. Just obey me and go get them for me.” 14 So he went and got the goats and brought them to his mother, and his mother made the delicious food his father loved. 15 Then Rebekah took the best clothes of her older son Esau, which were in the house, and had her younger son Jacob wear them. 16 She put the skins of the young goats on his hands and the smooth part of his neck. 17 Then she handed the delicious food and the bread she had made to her son Jacob.

Genesis 29:23–25 “23 That evening, Laban took his daughter Leah and gave her to Jacob, and he slept with her. 24 And Laban gave his slave Zilpah to his daughter Leah as her slave. 25 When morning came, there was Leah! So he said to Laban, “What have you done to me? Wasn’t it for Rachel that I worked for you? Why have you deceived me?””

Jacob himself was deceived by his Uncle Laban by switching Leah for Rachel at the last minute on the wedding day so Jacob had to work 7 more years to get Rachel!

Laban tried to deceive Jacob again with the flock but God intervened and helped Jacob.

In Genesis 32:7 it tells us Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed as he was feeling the consequences of him living up to that label.

Question:

Have you ever used the labels you were given as an excuse to do what you were doing, even when you knew it was wrong?

That’s what everyone tells me I am so what’s the use in doing anything different?

I learned it from my family (like Jacob?)?

Even when we try to change, it seems people only remember us for what we have always been or always have done.

Illustration:

Robert Downey, Jr. spent decades in and out of rehab, sobering up, slipping up, and getting arrested. It was a downward spiral that ended with him serving time in state prison. It took him losing everything—his money, career, and family—to finally face his addiction head-on and to find his way to recovery.

At an early age, his father, who also struggled with substance abuse, introduced him to  drugs, allowing him to try marijuana at a party when he was only eight years old. In an interview with People Magazine, Downey Jr. explained how doing drugs with his father became their way of bonding, and that this early exposure to drugs led Downey Jr. to spend most nights throughout his 20’s and 30’s getting drunk and scouting dealers.

In 1999, he was sentenced to 36 months in state prison, where he spent 12 months serving time before being paroled. He was arrested two more times within eight months before being sent to rehab for six months, one of many court-mandated addiction treatment centers he visited over the years. For Robert Downey, Jr., this period of his life  was what he calls his “rock bottom,” when he reached his lowest point of addiction and lost everything. His wife left him and took their son.  He was fired from his acting job on the show Ally McBeal. He was in massive debt and on the verge of bankruptcy. It was then that he decided it was time to take a year and fully address his substance abuse. It was time for recovery.

In 2003, after nearly two decades of drug use, court appearances, embarrassing mug shots and countless headlines, Robert Downey Jr had enough. He has been clean ever since but there are those who still define him and label him by his early days of drug and alcohol abuse, no matter how long he stays sober and on the straight and narrow.

Question:

What labels or reputation have defined your identity more than God’s Word has?

We all have labels that have been given to us, and many times those labels can give us a scarred reputation or lead us to a scarred reputation if we just give in to what others see or think of us.

Jacob did that. Then he got tired of it and decided to do what he should have done to begin with, he went to God with his stuff.

But even in going to God, he was still who what others labeled him to be!

Genesis 32:9–10 CSB

9 Then Jacob said, “God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, the Lord who said to me, ‘Go back to your land and to your family, and I will cause you to prosper,’ 10 I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant. Indeed, I crossed over the Jordan with my staff, and now I have become two camps.

In Matt Keller’s book, He writes the following:

In other words, “God, let me remind you that there’s a whole lot at stake here.” He continued, “Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, and also the mothers with their children” (Gen. 32:11 NIV).

Can you hear the manipulation in his voice? Even with his back against the wall, even in this sincere moment of prayer, Jacob couldn’t get past himself. He was trying to deceive and manipulate God. For those of us who remember the TV show Leave It to Beaver, we could say Jacob was trying to Eddie Haskell God right here: “God, if not for me, save me because of the mommies and the babies!” Who did he think he was kidding? He was talking to the God of the universe, for crying out loud, and he was trying to manipulate him? His next comment was just as ugly: “You have said, ‘I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted’” (Gen. 32:12 NIV).

Jacob was doing his best to remind God of his promise to him and his family. But poor Jacob couldn’t get past the label that had been firmly fixed on him since birth. He had been labeled a deceiver, and that’s exactly who he was, even with God. What did Jacob decide to do next? “He spent the night there, and from what he had with him he selected a gift for his brother Esau” (Gen. 32:13 NIV).[1]

Jacob also thinks of bribing Esau by paying him off with the best gift he could think of, and to present it in the best way possible, so hopefully the gift will ease the blow and Esau may actually be in a more forgiving mood. (32:16). He even told his servants to introduce Jacob as Esau’s servant rather than how he actually was treated by Jacob (deceiver, liar, manipulator, etc.)

Ultimately, Jacob knew he needed God to intervene, which is why he stayed alone God.

The first observation may be basic but it is a necessary truth we all need to understand. We all have labels. Good, bad, etc. And, we all have learned to live with them in one way or another. Some of us may purposely try to live opposite of the label they are given while others may embrace it willingly and still others may embrace it apathetically because they believe they don’t have a choice.

I want us to know that we can choose which labels to accept and which ones to reject. The bigger question is: whose labels are you going to accept? Others? Yours? God’s?

Transition: This leads us to our last observation:

II. You have to be willing to wrestle

Genesis 32:27 “27 “What is your name?” the man asked. “Jacob,” he replied.”

The question was asked so Jacob could admit who he was. Confession is a powerful thing.

Matt Keller words it perfectly in his book by saying:

Until we are willing to admit who we are, we can never become who he wants us to be.[2]

We have to be honest about who we are and own it before God can take it away and replace it.

Question:

What is your label this morning? Wishwashy? Emotional? Perfectionist? Manipulator? Lazy? Driven? Single? Pessimist? Do-gooder?

When Jacob replied to God and said “Jacob” he was telling God my name is deceiver, liar, manipulator, etc. He was telling God this is who I am and have become.

Genesis 32:28 “28 “Your name will no longer be Jacob,” he said. “It will be Israel because you have struggled with God and with men and have prevailed.””

Only after Jacob confessing his true name, was God able to take it and change his name to a new one: Israel which means one who has struggled (persisted) with God and prevailed (endured). Then, Jacob was able to get the one thing he was never able to get: a blessing from a father.

Question:

Are you willing to be honest with the labels others and you have put on yourself and wrestle with what God says about you?

Are you ready for a new label? One to replace the label of screwup, reckless one, not quite good enough, too tall, too short, unlovable, unworthy, addicted, incapable of change, etc.?

You have to take time to wrestle and determine whose labels you are going to hold onto!

God of the Underdogs: When the Odds Are Against You, God Is For You 3. Underdog Excuse #3: “My Reputation Is Too Scarred”: Jacob

It takes a willingness on your part to wrestle with God. God is looking for you to take a step toward him and say, “Okay, God, I’m ready. Change me from the inside out. Not just my decisions and my outcomes. Change who I believe I am.” Are you ready to do that?

It is only after we are honest with God with who we are, then He can take it and make something beautiful from it!

Isaiah speaks of how God can bring restoration to His people and He does the same today!

Isaiah 61:3 CSB

to provide for those who mourn in Zion; to give them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, festive oil instead of mourning, and splendid clothes instead of despair. And they will be called righteous trees, planted by the Lord to glorify him.

Conclusion:

Illustration:

I grew up with the label of always doing the right thing and called Jesus, etc. At first, it didn’t bother me because my relationship with Jesus was intact and I was able to start a bible study at my high school with some other friends and hand out bibles at graduation (one of those I graduated with died in a car accident after graduation!)

But then I started buying into the labels and fixating on my label rather than who my God was. I started questioning how I can go into ministry if I haven’t gotten into trouble and what can I do to be more accepted by others. That’s when my life went downhill. I was living according to the labels was I given rather than who God is and what He says about me.

We have a choice to accept the labels we have been given all our life by others and ourselves, or we can go to God, give Him our labels and have Him give us a new label. What are His labels for us? Here are just a few (and I get send you a lot more!):

Child of God.  John 1:12 says, “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”  If you have received Jesus in your life, you are automatically made a child of God and have access to your inheritance in Christ.  You have a place of belonging, a Father that loves you, and an eternal home in Heaven.  With this truth, we are not childish, but childlike in our faith and humility, as Jabez did when he prayed, “bless me indeed!”  And because you are His child, God answers!

Loved.  1 John 4:18 says, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.” When you know that you are loved unconditionally, fear is removed from your life!  One who is loved by God is protected fiercely by God and has no fear of anything. The same way a child can rest securely in the arms of a parent, so can we rest securely in the love of God despite the challenges and obstacles of this life.

Favored.  Psalm 84:11 says, “For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.” Did you know that God has bestowed favor upon you?  As you receive that label and speak it over your life, you receive the benefit of His favor and no good thing will He withhold from you as you walk uprightly!

Blessed.  2 Corinthians 9:8 says, “And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”  The word blessed and its variations appears over 400 times in the Bible.  God wants you to know that as He blessed Jabez, He can bless you as well as you receive His label for you.

Prayer time with “The Truth” by Megan Woods playing

[1]Matt Keller, God of the Underdogs: When the Odds Are Against You, God Is For You(Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2013).

[2]Matt Keller, God of the Underdogs: When the Odds Are Against You, God Is For You(Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2013).