Proper 24 - Year C

Welcome Statement

Good morning Church. Last week we had an important reflection on what Miracles really meant in both the Old and New Testament, and about how God has evened the playing field through the creation of a Just Kingdom.

The Lectionary pivots us to a different place in the story of God’s people. We go all the way back to Genesis, when Jacob and Esau were estranged brothers. At this point in the story Jacob has already left and ran away, but now he is startled by someone in the middle of the night and proceeds to have a wrestling match.

Philippians 4?

Old Testament Reading - Genesis 32:22-31 NRSV

Genesis 32:22–31 NRSV

The same night he got up and took his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He took them and sent them across the stream, and likewise everything that he had. Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket; and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, “Let me go, for the day is breaking.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go, unless you bless me.” So he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” Then the man said, “You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans, and have prevailed.” Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him. So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved.” The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip.

Wrestling With God

I think we all at some point, in our hearts or minds, have wrestled with God, our purpose, our wants, needs, desires, the yearning to fully know Jesus Christ, our anxieties and fears, wondering where God is in all of it. This Old Testament story, is so fitting for this issue, it comes so early into the story of the Israelites, right where Israel is essentially born, as God renames Jacob to Israel, meaning all Israelites are the offspring of Jacob. This is important, we look all the way back to how Abraham is told his family will be a blessing among the nations, the Chosen people of God flow through Jacob. But it is fitting its so early in the story, because humanity has struggled with, both in strife and despair, with God since the creation story. Adam and Eve disobey God, more importantly, the reject God for their own abilities to become like him in the wrong way. Here, we see a redemption arc, Jacob, a slippery sneaky person, who is a trickster with the things he does, has been blessed and redeemed by holding onto God for all its worth. Jacob refuses to let go, This is a battle in a sense of the Ego, Jacob’s hip is broken out of socket, but he is spared death, he is made aware of the power before him, and begs for a blessing. He is renamed because of his faithfulness to God to refuse to let go. Despite the adversity, he turns aroud

https://www.gotquestions.org/Jacob-wrestling-with-God.html

Man, Angel, or God?

One of the things in this story that is tricky is, at first it refers to the one wrestling Jacob as a man. But then we get to verse 30 and we see the reference to God. The problem is have a different person wrestling Jacob depending on if we render Elohim as God, or as Angel. The first point here is the man physically wrestles with Jacob. So there is this physical component we have to contend with as well. If it is just an angel, why can the angel bless him? If you recall other stories where it was clearly laid out, the Angel of the Lord (if that is who is here), can act in the role or authority of God, and is basically his physical mouth piece on earth. The Angel of the Lord sometimes is argued to be the pre-incarnate form of Jesus Christ, which is possible, but it’s tough to really know. So we know by that token, this Angel is operating under authority, Elohim just means any sort of divine being but it’s always referred to with intent. So to get all this confusion aside, we really are indeed seeing Jacob wrestle with God, face to face, as we see he contends with the fact that he survived a direct encounter, a direct encounter with just an angel wouldn’t necessarily mean death. That is the fascinating piece of this Angelology.

Wrestling with God in Modern Day

Today, we don’t have literal wrestling matches in the dirt or mud with God, but we do find ourselves constantly wrestling with all of the obligations, roles, and responsibilities we carry, trying to wonder what the meaning is in it all. We go to church on sundays, but we might ask, why? Why is all of tihs worth it? Why is this Kingdom thing the real deal? That’s the life long question, it’s a journey, we can’t reduce it to a single sermon on what the meaning of life is, because the meaning of life is distilled into multiple books of the Bible. We see that on the surface the single most simple reason is to glorify God, to celebrate his majesty, but we see, God desires more than just glorification, he says he desires mercy, not sacrifice. So that becomes interesting, he desires we live full and whole lives, that doesn’t mean we are guaranteed to be physically well off, but our spirits are made whole through Jesus Christ. The yoke which binds us with a burden, the Cross, becomes the guardrail with which we are broken of our chains. Yes it holds us to a narrow path, but that path gives us a direction, a purpose, intsead of being given 30 different possible roads, we get just one road, God’s plan, for our individual lives as well as our Church’s life. We find we are supposed to take care of this Earth, our glorification isn’t just by standing and singing songs, but its through our everyday actions. Jesus is quite clear about this in Luke 18:1-

New Testament Reading - Luke 18:1-8

Luke 18:1–8 NRSV

Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Grant me justice against my opponent.’ For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, ‘Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.’ ” And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

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Relentless in the Pursuit of Justice

The pursuit of the Kingdom and of God’s Justice, is never a pointless goal. We call on God to come into our pain, and to redeem us, and others around us, our neighbors.

Weariness from The World’s Rejection

Point about what causes people to cling to power, to reject life’s meaning, and to become apathetic

Wrestling with Faith

Jesus closes with the question on when the Son of Man returns, will he find that faith. That is a question for all of us. He doesn’t look for a shallow faith, one that can’t stand against the tide, rather, he looks for a battle hardened one, one that finds itself with scars, like Jacob’s faith had, like Job’s faith had, when God proclaimed he was the faithful one in his own predicament, not those who accused him. We are redeemed as we reject death’s stranglehold on our lives. That is the truth. The question is, will we live it out? Or will Jesus find that our faith is smoldered out? Christ declares something really important, I see it on a sign everytime I drive down this way by one of our fellow Baptist Churches:

John 16:33 NIV

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Closing Statement

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Closing Prayer

Heavenly Father, Thank you for showing us the way to your Kingdom. Thank you for your patience with us as a loving father as we struggle to know you and your Son. Lord, you have granted us the Holy Spirit to help us work through our cries and despair. When we see your Kingdom in disrepair, your Church, don’t let us be discouraged, remind us that you always resurrect through all tries. You have called us to be a Just and Loving people, let us be moved to speak your word to others, to lift others up, and to show mercy even when we feel other’s don’t deserve it. In your name I pray.

Amen.

Doxology / Benediction / Closing

Paul in his 2nd letter to Timothy, encourages him to keep the faith for the coming Kingdom:

2 Timothy 4:1–2 NRSV

In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I solemnly urge you: proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching.

We must take heart, Christ has overcome the world, we must be persistent regardless of good times or bad times, This Church, this community, is the intersection of Heaven and Earth, it is a sort of minituare Eden, we must never take it for granted, so that we can fully realize what God has in store for us, not condemnation, but everlasting life in his Glory and Love. TAKE HEART FOR CHRIST HAS INDEED OVERCOME THE WORLD!

May you Have a Blessed Sunday, and rest of your Week! Amen!