The Lord Be With You.

Response:  And Also with You.

Let us pray:  Dear God, we often like to think that we are strong enough to go it alone, or smart enough to go it alone, but we ask you now to show us the foolishness of relying on our own cleverness.  Help us to see that your loving help is a free gift, given to us out of your great love for each one of us.  Help us to accept that love, and live into the promise of your companionship – every step of the way.  It is in gratitude for your constant presence that we pray, Amen.

        I really enjoy reading the rich stories of the Old Testament.    They have every kind of intrigue – and you get lots of crazy scenarios just in the first book of the Bible – Genesis.  We read the creation story, the idyllic setting of the Garden of Eden,  but humanity gets too big for its britches, and sin enters into the picture.  Expulsion, jealousy, murder.

        God decides to start again!  Noah and his family are given a great responsibility. Yet after they are saved, the ark is parked, and Noah has a great yield in the vineyard – he gets drunk, naked and curses his son for finding him that way and covering him up!  The stories are bizarre, in many ways.

        Then comes another righteous man – Abraham.  And in the midst of his life, at the time when childbearing is no longer an option, God shows another way, and he becomes a parent.  In another bizarre twist, God calls Abraham to sacrifice that beloved son, and at the last possible moment, knife up-lifted, provides another sacrifice.

        It is that beloved son, who marries Rebekah, and she gives birth to twin boys.  Fighting before birth in her womb, these boys are about as different as night and day.  Esau, the first born, is hairy and rugged.  A hunter. A manly-man, we might say.

        Jacob – born clutching his brother’s heel trying to stall him in order to be born first – is a real mama’s boy.  Absolutely driven by his mother – who has an insatiable desire to get the birthright for that second boy.

        Deception.  Cunning, Trickery.  You name it.  Within the first 27 chapters of the Bible, we’ve just about seen it all.

        In an attempt to save Jacob from his murder-plotting brother, once again Rebekah devises a plan to do what she believes is best for her favorite son.  Jacob is sent away.  And it is during this trip that our story begins.

        Reading from Gen 28, verses 10-19.

 

Genesis 28:10 Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran. 11 He came to a certain place and stayed there for the night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place. 12 And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13 And the LORD stood beside him and said, "I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring; 14 and your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring. 15 Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you." 16 Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, "Surely the LORD is in this place-- and I did not know it!" 17 And he was afraid, and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven." 18 So Jacob rose early in the morning, and he took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. 19 He called that place Bethel  (NRSV)

 

This is the Word of the Lord.

Response: Thanks be to God.

 

        Last year I was invited to be a part of a Pastor-Theologian Group where we tackled the subject of science and religion.  This year we are going to talk about interpreting Scripture.  The first book we are reading is called Seized by Truth by Joel B. Green.

 

        Professor Green starts out by positing that we must read the Bible as Scripture.  In other words, NOT like the novel we are reading; NOT like the autobiography that we are perusing; NOT like the Sunday paper – but as SCRIPTURE – God’s Holy Word – God breathed – God inspired.  We MUST read the words as if they are indeed life-changing and life-transforming.  That while we must be informed about the word – when it was written, to whom it was written, the socio-economic and political circumstances of when it was written – we MUST transport that interpreted word to today, with all the power of changing our lives as it did for those for whom it was first written.

        Big job.

        So, I think about today’s passage – a puppet manipulated by his mother, leaving his home for his own safety after deceiving dad and yanking the birthright rug out from under his brother, and wonder, what do we get from this?  What is transforming about this word?  What can we possibly learn that will alter the way we go about our Sunday afternoon, or Monday morning at the job, or playing mahjongg, cards or dominoes with friends?

        So, I started looking at similarities in the Genesis stories.  And found one definite recurring theme.

        When one of these characters gets tempted,

                or there is a point where one succumbs to sin

        the wilderness brings them face-to-face with God.

 

        Adam and Eve – driven from the Garden – were cast out into the wilderness

        Abraham, having seen Hagar with his son, Ishmael driven away, is asked by God to go into the wild and sacrifice his beloved son, Isaac;

        Noah begins life again in the wilderness of a water-drenched land;

        and then these brothers…

        As Jacob heads out into the wilderness – on a very long journey from his home to Paddan-aram, he gets a good days journey distance from his brother, and decides to rest for the night.  Falling asleep on the rock beneath his head, Jacob has this dream.

        During the dream, the Lord God speaks to Jacob, wonderful words of promise and comfort.  Words such as:

        “Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you."

        This is the same kind of promise God made to Adam and Eve.

        This is the same kind of promise God made to Hagar and Ishmael.

        This is the same kind of promise God made to Noah.

        This is the same underlying promise Abraham had as he headed up the mountain.

        This is the promise that is given to Jacob.

 

        When we recall these wilderness times, perhaps another Biblical image comes to mind.

        Immediately following a baptism, when the spirit casts Jesus out into the wilderness – and the angels tend to him.

        Or perhaps, the wilderness of a life without Jesus’ presence, when after the resurrection and Jesus appears to his disciples, he gives them the Great Commission, ending with “but lo, I will be with you, to the end of the age.”

 

        At times we will end up in the wilderness and think that we are all on our own.  I think Jacob’s example is a good one for us.  Even though we may be taking off in one direction – perhaps we need to take a break, rest, and relax upon the bedrock of our faith.  Maybe, just maybe, the next direction will make itself known to us.  Or, at the very least, we will know that we are not alone.

        In profound moments, where we encounter God face-to-face, we want to remember that moment – memorialize it in some way.  We, like Jacob, have the tendency to want to memorialize the moment tangibly – like taking that rock pillow and erecting a pillar to mark the Holy Place, we take a piece of rock or a vial of dirt from the spot we were on, or we write our experience immediately down in a journal to read later.  Though we might long to have a tangible reminder, it is neither the dirt nor stone which makes a place holy – it is the work of the Holy Spirit alone which makes our moments holy.

        I’ve often heard folks say that when they’ve stood at the rim of the Grand Canyon, or in a forest of Giant Redwoods, or at the seashore as the waves came pounding in, or looking up at the sky in a dazzling display of stars that they encountered God – that God was revealed to them.

        And I can readily agree.

        Creation has a remarkable way of revealing God.

        And I’ve often heard folks say that they can’t believe that anyone can look at those wonders of nature and not believe in a creator God.

        And I readily agree.

        But perhaps, just like Jacob, in those moments when we gaze upon such wonders, we who believe in the creator God, have been so fully open to that God, that the Spirit has literally invaded all our senses, and we nearly drop to our knees with gratitude.

        For us, it wasn’t a dream about angels ascending and descending a ladder.

        It wasn’t the voice of God thundering in and through the heavens a message intended just for us.

        It wasn’t a heavenly chorus singing good news of great joy.

        But the Holy Spirit surrounding us and nodding along with us that yes, indeed, the Lord God is here.

        So, lets look at Jacob.  As he took rest that night, sleeping on a rock, we might think he should just wake up with a very bad neck ache or headache.  He is only one day’s journey from his home – the terrain has not changed considerably at all. It is the same as his home.

        But it is different in that he is alone.

        Away from the influence of his mom – who, though meaning well, has maneuvered him through life.

        Jacob, through this slight change of environment, is now open to the presence of God, when he was not before.

        It occurs to me that we can get rather complacent with our devotion to God.  We say the same old prayers, the same old affirmation of faith, we sing the same responses to the assurance of pardon and offering.  Do we feel the presence of God in these acts of worship?

        We read the same old stories in the Bible, in the same chair, or desk or table.  We have the same things around us – some coffee in our favorite cup, a bowl of cereal nearby, or the lamp on the bedside table with a novel waiting to be read as soon as we finish our devotional.  Has our Bible reading become perfunctory instead of revelatory? 

        Do we attend to it with a sense of duty instead of visiting with the Holy?

        Perhaps we do need a change of scenery…maybe just a change from reading the Bible in bed to sitting on the porch in the morning light.  But, in the least, we need a change of heart as we read scriptures.  We need to enter into reading the Bible as a sense of adventure – open to new vistas, new revealing moments.  Let ourselves walk with Jacob, listening to the eerie sounds of the desert when alone – no chatter of a brother and parents around – of servants finishing the days work.  Let ourselves, along with Jacob, discover the bedrock of our faith, looking for that particular rock on which to lay our heads to rest.  Let ourselves discover, along with Jacob, God’s intentional desire to reveal himself to us through the Spirit, and let the Spirit guide us to our next discovery.

        When I contemplate on this passage, and Jacob’s dream, it occurs to me that Jesus Christ as revealed in the Scriptures is our “Jacob’s dream”.  God reached out to reveal himself to Jacob through a dream…we have no need of that dream, because we have Scripture – that is our guiding light.  Jesus the Christ, as revealed in the Scriptures, is to be the focus of our devotion.    And, as we read the scriptures, we should be having “Jacob’s ladder” experiences! 

        And, as Professor Joel B. Green puts it – we should be ‘seized by the truth’ of these Scripture passages.  We should not wake up the same after reading them. 

We should be refocused

        Revitalized

                Reformed

        Reinvigorated

                Revived

        And restored in faith.

 

        Unlike Jacob, there is no need for us to erect memorials to God – we’ve built enough empty cathedrals and churches to last several lifetimes already.

        Our memorials to God, our responses to God, will be changed lives.  Marked changes in the ways we respond to our families and one another.  Marked changes in the way we live each day.  Changes that will influence others, and they will wonder what has gotten into us? 

        And we can tell them, that we’ve been searching the bedrock of our faith – and introduce them to the way the Bible and our openness to the Spirit can develop a very real joy which helps us look differently at our situations in life.

       

        Yesterday I attended the funeral of Bary Eagleson.  He was the beloved spouse of Rev. Guinn Blackwell-Eagleson who I’ve worked with over the years and who has visited with us and many others churches in our Presbytery.  Bary was 51 years old, father of two teenaged boys.  The church was packed – standing room only.  Bary’s twin brother, Gary, got up to speak about his brother.  We all know the very special relationship some twins have.  Bary and Gary had that kind of relationship.  Up until they were about 25, Bary and Gary did everything together.  Even moving from their home state of Pennsylvania to attend Rice University together.

        If it were not for reading the promises in this Bible in the very special way they were intended, Gary could not have spoken about the hope of being reunited with his twin brother someday.  If it were not for reading the promises in this Bible in the very special way they were intended, yesterday’s service would have been a hollow experience. 

        But the promises are real.  Even through the sadness of losing Bary less than one week shy of their 29th wedding anniversary, Guinn can believe that Bary has been redeemed in a resurrection like our Lord’s. 

        Even through the incredible sadness of losing their dad before they could finish their education and many plans together, his two boys could stand up there and read the 23rd Psalm of walking through the valley of the shadow of death and knowing that they will fear no evil for God is with them like it was written for them and only them at that very moment.  And that one day, they, united with their dad, will dwell in the house of the Lord FOREVER.

        That family gathered yesterday standing firmly on the bedrock of their faith…and even though they are in a wilderness moment, they can see the vision represented in these scriptures.

        Let us be challenged to harvest the grains of truth represented in the odd and funny stories we encounter in scripture. 

        And may those truths seize us, mold us, and send us out into the world as living examples of God-with-us.

        May it be so.

        In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen