Power with a Purpose

In May of 2002, when the modern era of comic book film adaptations was still in its infancy, Spider-Man starring Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker and Willem Dafoe as the Green Goblin was released into theaters. It was a fantastic film for its time. The movie tells the story about the young high school kid, Peter Parker, and his journey to becoming the superhero Spider-Man. Shortly after he gets his powers, he gets into a fight with the high school bully. Dear old uncle Ben sits Peter down for a pep talk and says one line that has been quoted endlessly for over two decades: “With great power comes great responsibility.” Uncle Ben doesn’t know anything about the changes going on in Peter’s life, but those words permeate the internal wrestling he goes through to process what to do with these new found powers.

You and I don’t live in a fantasy world where superheroes exist, but it doesn’t mean that superpowers don’t exist. They exist. The problem is they don’t look like the ability to fly, superhuman strength, X-ray vision, or the other stuff you see in comic books. In fact, I would argue that every one of you has been granted a superpower, but with great power comes great responsibility.

We live in a hyper-individualistic world. Our culture is me-centered. How does product X improve your life? How does service Y benefit you? Our always on individual devices allow us instant access to the world’s knowledge and entertainment at a moment’s notice. But you have been given gifts and abilities, superpowers that make you uniquely you. And that power is to be exercised responsibly.

How do we exercise our God-given power responsibly in a world that champions individual freedoms?

Jacob was a cheater. That’s what his name meant. He cheated his brother out of his birthright through the sale of some stew. He cheated his father and his brother out of a blessing. The irony is that God providentially declared the blessing was going to be his, but the deception employed to get it showed there was a lack of trust in God to give it to him.

Then Jacob was deceived. He got a taste of his own medicine when his uncle Laban swapped one daughter for the other on Jacob’s wedding night. The woman he thought he married was not the woman he woke up with. From then on, Jacob was a different man.

Jacob worked for his uncle for a couple decades before he decided it was time for him to return home. As he approached Laban to submit his letter of resignation, he didn’t exactly get well-wishes.

Genesis 30:25–36 NASB95

Now it came about when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, that I may go to my own place and to my own country. “Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me depart; for you yourself know my service which I have rendered you.” But Laban said to him, “If now it pleases you, stay with me; I have divined that the Lord has blessed me on your account.” He continued, “Name me your wages, and I will give it.” But he said to him, “You yourself know how I have served you and how your cattle have fared with me. “For you had little before I came and it has increased to a multitude, and the Lord has blessed you wherever I turned. But now, when shall I provide for my own household also?” So he said, “What shall I give you?” And Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything. If you will do this one thing for me, I will again pasture and keep your flock: let me pass through your entire flock today, removing from there every speckled and spotted sheep and every black one among the lambs and the spotted and speckled among the goats; and such shall be my wages. “So my honesty will answer for me later, when you come concerning my wages. Every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats and black among the lambs, if found with me, will be considered stolen.” Laban said, “Good, let it be according to your word.” So he removed on that day the striped and spotted male goats and all the speckled and spotted female goats, every one with white in it, and all the black ones among the sheep, and gave them into the care of his sons. And he put a distance of three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob fed the rest of Laban’s flocks.

There is some good news and some bad news here. The good news is Jacob has done an excellent job working for Laban. Livestock was a measure of a man’s wealth back in this time, and Laban’s flocks had grown tremendously under Jacob’s care. The bad news is Jacob was so good at his job that Laban didn’t want to let him go.

Have you ever worked for someone, but you knew it was time to go? Maybe working for them was miserable. Maybe a better opportunity came along. Maybe you just knew God was calling you to something else. Did they ever start bargaining with you to get you to stay? “What if we triple your salary? What if we give you a huge bonus, or a company car, or paid vacation for a month?” But you know good and well it is not about the money or the benefits. Every chapter of a story must come to an end. This is what is playing out here. Jacob wants to go, but Laban counters with, “Name your price.”

Now, there is no price that will keep Jacob, but he has a plan: Leave on his terms, not on Laban’s terms. So he asks for every speckled or spotted sheep or goat, and every black sheep as his payment. Anything else found in his possession would be regarded as stolen. Laban agrees.

Now, what you need to know is that the common breed of sheep in that area at the time was a breed of sheep called Awassi. They were typically white or brown, with a brown or black head. However, some were known to have spots or even stripes. Why would Jacob want these sheep? We read often in later parts of scripture that God desires sacrifices from unblemished lambs, and spotted or striped fur lines didn’t fit the bill. But these sheep weren’t bred for sacrifice. They were bred for meat and milk production. Jacob seems to know something Laban doesn’t. The spots or stripes in their coats were a rare trait, and rare equals value. So to the untrained eye, a sheep is a sheep. But to Jacob, he sees enormous wealth potential.

So what does he do? Let’s check it out.

Genesis 30:37–43 NASB95

Then Jacob took fresh rods of poplar and almond and plane trees, and peeled white stripes in them, exposing the white which was in the rods. He set the rods which he had peeled in front of the flocks in the gutters, even in the watering troughs, where the flocks came to drink; and they mated when they came to drink. So the flocks mated by the rods, and the flocks brought forth striped, speckled, and spotted. Jacob separated the lambs, and made the flocks face toward the striped and all the black in the flock of Laban; and he put his own herds apart, and did not put them with Laban’s flock. Moreover, whenever the stronger of the flock were mating, Jacob would place the rods in the sight of the flock in the gutters, so that they might mate by the rods; but when the flock was feeble, he did not put them in; so the feebler were Laban’s and the stronger Jacob’s. So the man became exceedingly prosperous, and had large flocks and female and male servants and camels and donkeys.

Jacob was smart. He went to work breeding animals. Now, he took the branches of the trees he used and stiped their bark so there were sections where the bark remained and sections where the bark had been stripped away. He throws them into the water the sheep are drinking and it influences their breeding. As the sheep reproduced, they produced more striped and spotted sheep, which went to him. Then he started paying attention to which animals appeared to be strongest. Then they would breed, increasing his odds of producing sheep with both the coats he wanted with the strength he was looking for.

I went to the county fair a couple weeks ago. I watched a couple of goat shows. I’ve been around long enough to understand that a lot of work goes into preparing for a goat show that lasts maybe 10 minutes. Then the judge starts talking, and I don’t have a clue what he’s talking about. For someone who did not grow up in this type of culture, I can venture to guess that your ability to show well has a lot to do with the genetics of the goat you are showing. It would not surprise me one bit if people were sinking lots of money into some genetic engineering trying to produce the perfect goat.

That’s what Jacob is doing here. But Jacob doesn’t know anything about genetics. He does know a thing or two about reproducing traits and probabilities. The sticks from the trees don’t have any magical effects. It’s an ancient practice believed to have some influence, but it doesn’t work because the trees have magical properties. It works because God had already committed to blessing Jacob.

God gives every person a unique superpower.

Jacob’s superpower was the art of shrewdness. The word shrewd is not a term I use in my everyday vocabulary, and it may not be in yours. So for the sake of clarity, let’s start with a definition. The art of shrewdness is the ability to understand and judge a situation and use it to your advantage. Shrewdness is Jacob’s superpower. But just like any superpower, it can be used for great good or great evil.

Jacob used his superpower for evil when he cheated his brother and father. Jacob uses his superpower for good by multiplying his wealth so he can get out from under his uncle, who wants to keep him right where he is. God had greater purposes for Jacob. He was always going back to the Promised Land. But now his uncle is an obstacle to that endeavor, and he is crafting a plan where he can stand on his own two feet and go about God’s business.

Do you know what your superpower is? Do you know what gifts and talents God has blessed you with? Some of you know how to build successful businesses. Some of you know how to teach. Some of you know how to count money better than anybody. Some of you know the grit that is required to do something you hate for a long time. Some of you are good with your hands, and some of you can dominate spreadsheets. Everyone is given a superpower by God that makes you uniquely you. Do you know what it is? More importantly, do you know how to use it for the kingdom of God?

God expects every gift to be used with responsibility.

You have been given a great power. With it comes a great responsibility. Your talent, your skills, the things you are good at are not given so you can serve yourself and make your life more comfortable. These intangible assets are given to you so you will use them for the good of others and for work in the kingdom of God.

Your superpower, the skills and talents God has given you, is best used when put to work in the community. For those of you who were teachers, you made a difference in the lives of your students whether they recognized it or not. Those of you who are still employed bring value to the marketplace, but not for your boss. It’s for the people you serve or connect with.

How does the average refinery employee use his superpower for the good of those around him? How does the federal prison worker use his superpower to impact the lives of both his fellow coworkers and the inmates? How does the teacher go beyond teaching lessons and impacting the lives of her students?

We are called to use our God-given power responsibly to enrich the lives of others as a platform for sharing the life-giving message of the gospel of Jesus Christ. A couple years ago, I began asking the question, “What would it look like to bring more resources into Live Oak county so those in our county would not have to leave the county to get access to them?” What if that answer in part was by understanding and connecting the resources that are already here?

What has God given you the capacity to do? Does that gift currently serve you, or does it serve those around you? How are people benefiting from what you have to offer today?