Persistence of a hero

Wolverine

So Disney and Marvel comics released the new Avengers movie Endgame this week. It was so nice of them to release this movie during our series on Superheroes. Now I haven’t watched this movie yet so no spoilies. But it is clear there are going to be a ton of superheroes in it. I couldn’t tell you which ones nor would I if I could. Now I have already told you my favourite superhero is The Flash who is a DC character, but of all the Marvel characters out there, and there are a lot of them, I would have to say my favourite is a two way tie between Spider-man and one of the x-men, Wolverine.

Like I said I haven’t seen it so I know nothing, but there were rumours leading up to endgame that Wolverine might have an appearance. Granted this is unlikely and if you’ve seen the movie don’t tell me I don’t want to know, but it would be cool.

I love Wolverines story. His actual name is Logan. Logan is a mutant with the ability to heal himself. For this reason Logan is thought to be immortal. This isn’t true but it does mean he will not die of natural causes.

For this reason He fought in many wars but doesn’t appear to be older than his mid 20’s - mid 30’s. In his earlier comic books he also had these bone claws that he could protrude from between his knuckles in his hands and retract them and then his hands would heal.

In ww2 the military did experiments on him and infused his bones with antimantium an indestructible metal so now his claws were indestructible and razor sharp. Thus the name Wolverine.

These experiments however went wrong and Logan had his memory wiped Which is why I am talking about him today.

See because Logan can’t remember his past he is tormented mentally in fact it fills him with rage and at times renders him completely useless as a hero. In fact on numerous occasions Logan would leave the x-men team in search of peace and his past.

What makes Wolverine such an interesting Character is not his struggle with an outward enemy it is the internal battle and the journey he takes to relearn his past. See the only wounds Wolverine can’t heal are the broken memories of his past, and the mental wounds he faces because of all he has witnessed and all that has been done to him.

Maybe this is why Logan or Wolverine is so relatable. Who among us has never had a wound from their past that has held them back, a wound they wished would heal but no matter how hard they tried, or no matter how hard they tried to convince themselves it wasn’t there, the pain was still too much for to take.

Sometimes an unresolved past is all it takes to keep us from being the heroes of the faith God wants us to be. A failed relationship, loss of a loved one, being abused, physically, emotionally and or sexually. Dreams that didn’t come true, failed attempts to overcome temptation. All these and more have a way of keeping us stuck in the past and feeling like....

How could I ever be a hero for God?

A few weeks ago we stared this series called Heroes in the bible. We started by looking at and reading about all these amazing Heroes of the faith, and we learned anyone can be a hero for God if they just have...

Faith

But how could we possibly be a hero for God if our past is holding us back.

From there we have been looking at different heroes in the bible and learning what we can from them. We looked at Ehud, King Saul and of course last week the greatest hero of all Jesus.

This week I want to look at another hero in the bible, but what makes this particular hero so interesting is how he overcame the hangups of his past.

This morning I want to talk to you about a hero who is near and dear to my heart because he has such an awesome name.

let’s talk about my hero and yours...

Jacob

Let my just give you a little bit of Jacob’s origin story. Jacob’s story like most of our stories started in the womb. Yes life starts in a womb, so many seem to have forgotten this lately.

Jacob was a twin and he didn’t care much for his wombmate. Esau was probably a slob we know that unlike Jacob he was supper hairy so you know there is that.

Anyway Jacob and Esau always fought in the womb never respecting each others space. So on moving day both boys were in a hurry to get out of that cramped apartment that seemed to be getting a little smaller every couple minutes, of course Esau was a little closer to the door but that didn’t stop Jacob from trying to pull his brother back in so he could be first. But because Esau was first Jacob’s life was ruined, his very name reminded him of that fateful day as it meant heal grasper. Every day reminded by his own name he was not the oldest.

This was a big deal in the culture of the day. Being born second meant he wasn’t his fathers favourite. See back then parents told the truth when their children said who’s your favourite. Unlike now when we have to guess, but it’s ok I know it’s me, right mom?

Issac made no attempt to hide that Esau was his favourite and Jacob’s mom Rebekah made it known Jacob was her favourite.

And you thought your family was dysfunctional. One day Jacob manipulated Esau into giving Jacob his birth right meaning Jacob would receive all the rights of the first born after years Jacob the heal grasper finally clawed his way to the front of the line. But his father still planned on blessing Esau, his favourite. So Momma’s boy Jacob and his mommy made a plan to steal that blessing.

This resulted in death threats and caused a family to break up as Jacob had to flee for his life.

Now we jump ahead in the story after being tricked into marrying two sisters, again dysfunction, and manipulating herds to steal from his father-in-law Jacob has to return home. This meant confronting his past and trying to make nice with his former wombmate and brother.

The night before the encounter Jacob is filled with so much anxiety and so troubled by his past, he didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t sleep and he knew he wanted to be alone.

Let’s read how Jacob manages to resolve his past hangups.

Genesis 32:22–32 NLT

During the night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two servant wives, and his eleven sons and crossed the Jabbok River with them. After taking them to the other side, he sent over all his possessions. This left Jacob all alone in the camp, and a man came and wrestled with him until the dawn began to break. When the man saw that he would not win the match, he touched Jacob’s hip and wrenched it out of its socket. Then the man said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking!” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” “What is your name?” the man asked. He replied, “Jacob.” “Your name will no longer be Jacob,” the man told him. “From now on you will be called Israel, because you have fought with God and with men and have won.” “Please tell me your name,” Jacob said. “Why do you want to know my name?” the man replied. Then he blessed Jacob there. Jacob named the place Peniel (which means “face of God”), for he said, “I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been spared.” The sun was rising as Jacob left Peniel, and he was limping because of the injury to his hip. (Even today the people of Israel don’t eat the tendon near the hip socket because of what happened that night when the man strained the tendon of Jacob’s hip.)

If you don’t know the rest of the Story Jacob and Esau make up and restoration comes all because Jacob was finally able to resolve the past hangups that were holding him back.

How’d he do it you ask?

simple

He wrestled with God.

Let’s just jump to the next step...

Next Step… Go and do likewise!

What you want more?

Maybe like me you are wondering...

What does it mean for me to wrestle with God?

Ok let’s talk about that! Simply put it means...

Letting go of the past by refusing to let go of God!

Me: As I sat across the tale from a man from our church, he looked me in the eye and said, “you use your dad and what he did in a lot of your stories. Are you sure you have actually forgiven him?” I sat there for a second in silence.

I thought about it for a second, not too long as to arise suspicion but I couldn’t help but think back.

I was 12 when my dad/pastor committed adultery. He took 25 years of marriage and 10 years of pastoring and through them away.

For years I blamed him for stunting my spiritual growth. I used him as a scape goat for my own bad choices for 3 or 4 years of rebellion.

So when asked if I had actually forgiven him, I was able to say without a doubt yes, but it wasn’t easy. Like Jacob I too had many sleepless nights. Nights in which God was so patient with me. After giving my life back to Jesus, I was still hurt and angry about my past. As days turned into weeks, to months to years one thing became clear. Holding onto my resentment was keeping me from reaching my full potential as a follower of Jesus.

Day after day God would work on me, putting the pieces of my life back together like Natalie talked about yesterday. This was a painful process and many times I wanted to stop it. I wanted to ask God to stop bringing up my pain and ask Him to leave me alone, but I knew if I didn’t go through this process I would never be able to let the past go and it would always hold me back.

I don’t remember the exact day, but over time I noticed, I wasn’t angry about the past anymore. Finally I had let it go, because like Jacob I refused to let go of God and what He was doing in my life.

We: We all have hurts in our past. Some go deeper than others, and the wounds often will not heal. Maybe because like a good scab we like to pick at it keeping it fresh. Often we fight the process of healing because it is painful. But God wants to heal the wounds of our past. It takes time, it hurts and the only way to get through it is hang on to God until the healing is complete. This is what it means to wrestle with God.

God: Jacob had an incredibly turbulent past. The wounds ran deep. His choices hurt him as he was separated from his family. It hurt his father, brother and mother who lost her favourite.

No wonder Jacob Couldn’t sleep the night before meeting Esau. Jacob wanted to be alone, but God knew what he needed was a visit from God.

When God appears as a man in the Old Testament he is usually called the Angel of the Lord, a title interchangeable with ‘God’ or ‘the Lord’

Kidner, D. (1967). Genesis: An Introduction and Commentary (Vol. 1, p. 181). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

This is reinforced by the fact that the man wanted to leave before morning. As if the vail of night covered His face to some extent for if Jacob has seen the face of God in the light of day it most likely would have killed him.

Jacob also acknowledged the man as God by naming the place Peniel.

See Jacob held on to God no matter how much it hurt even having his hip dislocated wouldn’t stop him. This hero needed something only God could give. He called it a blessing, but the true blessing was God delt with Jacob’s past.

Which is reinforced by the changing of his name.

Genesis 32:28 NLT

“Your name will no longer be Jacob,” the man told him. “From now on you will be called Israel, because you have fought with God and with men and have won.”

Interestingly the word translated fought here is the Hebrew word...

Enhanced Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon I. שָׂרָה

שָׂרָה

That is what it means to wrestle with God. To hold on no matter the pain until the work of God is done.

You: What in your past is holding you back? What is keeping you from being the hero God wants you to be? You need to Wrestle with God by, letting go of the past by holding on to Him and allowing Him to finish the work He started in you no matter how much it hurts.

We: Jacob was never the same. New name, new limp, and a new freedom to be the one through whom God would fulfill His promise to Abraham. How might we as a church be transformed if we stopped allowing the past to hold us back. Truth is this is a great church with some turbulent things in it’s past.

People have been hurt, some moved on, others pick the scab to keep the wound fresh, but God wants to bring brothers and sisters back together like Jacob and Esau.

We are Stronger Together

Only God can heal the wounds of the past and it won’t be without pain. But if we hang on to God and let go of the past, this great and welcoming church could go even further in advancing the Kingdom of God, by not allowing the past to hold us back.

Next Step: If their is someone in your past you need to make things right with, with the help of the Holy Spirit as much as it depends on you reconcile those relationships.

It’s going to hurt a little especially if you have to swallow your pride. I can not telly you the number of times I’ve chocked on that dish, but we can’t hang on to the past if we choose to hang on to God instead.