Pastor Dismer’s sermon from Aug. 3, 2008:

“God always is ready to shower us with his blessing – with GRACE – Great Riches At God’s Expense.”

Genesis 32:22-31

Matthew 14:13-21

In our lessons today we have a story about Jacob wrestling all night with a man he believes is God, and Jesus, directing his disciples to feed 5,000 men, plus additional women and children, with just five loaves of bread and two fish! Two astounding stories!

As always, when we encounter scripture, we want to ask: What do we learn about God from this text, and what do we learn about ourselves?

To begin to answer what I find in these stories, while of course acknowledging that you may find something entirely different, let me backtrack, first, with Jacob’s story.

How did Jacob get to this point in his life? What was he doing, and why?

You may remember that Jacob was a twin. His father was Isaac, the son of Abraham, who was nearly sacrificed by Abraham on an altar. We had that story a few weeks ago.

Jacob’s twin was Esau. Esau was born first by a mere few seconds, because Jacob followed Esau out of the womb, grasping his brother’s heel. Jacob was given his name because it meant “grasper.” The Hebrew people gave names which they believed fit a person’s essential character.

In this case it did. Knowing that the oldest son always received the birthright, the inheritance, Jacob tricked his brother into giving him the birthright. Then Jacob, with his mother’s help, tricked his elderly father into giving him the blessing due to the oldest son.

The aftermath was that Jacob had to run away from his brother’s wrath. Because Esau had married a woman from the local culture who was not of his family’s religion, and this had always been a sore point, Jacob’s mother urged Jacob to run away to her brother, who lived in another country, and if possible, marry one of his cousins.

More trickery ensued. Jacob met his cousin, Rachel and fell in love with her. He asked his uncle, Laban, for her hand. Because he was penniless, Laban said work for me for 7 years and you may marry her. But, when the time came, he tricked Jacob by giving him his older daughter, Leah, as his bride. To also get Rachel as his wife, Jacob had to work 7 more years.

After that, more trickery ensued between Laban and Jacob. Laban kept changing the terms of Jacob’s wages, and Jacob managed, by trickery, to prosper more than Laban while being the overseer of Laban’s herds of goats.

When Laban discovered Jacob’s deceit, Jacob decided it was time to run away again. This time he wanted to go home. He wanted to see his parents again, if they still lived. He wanted to make peace with his brother.

As they neared Jacob’s old homeland, Jacob learned that Esau was on his way to meet Jacob with 400 men at his side. Jacob was terrified. He split up his large family, his servants and herds, and sent them on ahead of him, in groups, hoping that if they met Esau first, it would somehow help.

Then, getting to our lesson for today, Jacob spent a night alone. During the night a dark stranger came and wrestled with Jacob until morning.

The stranger dislocated Jacob’s hip, but even then Jacob would not let go of the stranger. Still a grasper. Who are you? Tell me your name, he demanded. The stranger refused. “I will not let you go until you bless me,” Jacob cried.

Then the man asked Jacob what his name was. “Jacob,” he answered.

At this, the stranger renamed Jacob. “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have wrestled with God and with men, and have overcome.” And then he blessed Jacob.”

What are we to learn about God from this story? What are we to learn about ourselves?

From my 21st Century point of view, I could so easily just say, “Good Grief! What a dysfunctional family,” and just dismiss the whole bunch of them. But wait! Are families today any different? Don’t we all struggle with situations and relatives that are less than perfect? And are we perfect ourselves?

So let’s ask again: what is there here for us to ponder? I have to ask myself, what was Jacob thinking during that night alone? Why did he want to be alone? What was he wrestling with? Is the story a metaphor for his restless night of worry?

I can guess that Jacob had plenty to wrestle with! He had been dishonest, selfish – “grasping” as his name implied – with his own family, and with Laban’s family. He may have felt guilt, fear; he may have been questioning God.

We can only guess that Jacob was exposed to some understanding of God from his father’s stories and beliefs. Our text tells us Jacob believed he was wrestling with God that lonely night.

Can we understand this? Have you ever wrestled all night – with worries, fears, and uncertainties? Have you ever cried your questions to God? Have you demanded answers that wouldn’t come, and begged for some blessing to redeem your life? I know I have.

What I learn from this text about myself is that I can identify with Jacob’s bedtime anguishing. What can I learn about God?

First of all, that He was there, willing to wrestle with Jacob, for as long as it took; willing to wait until Jacob asked the right question: “bless me!” Because that is the gift God is always waiting to give us: blessing.

Not “fixing” our lives for us, not giving us easy answers, but giving us his grace: his “Amazing Grace”; grace to live by; grace to see us through the nights of anguish and the pain of disappointments, failure and betrayal.

I recently heard this interesting definition of grace, which I think describes what Jacob needed that night before he faced his brother. It is this:

Grace is a touch of truth that lets you see the world in a new way. It is a gift, that can only be felt when you are open enough to accept it.

Jacob was about to see a new world; a world of reconciliation and forgiveness. He was about to begin a new life with a new name, and a new mission from God. He would step into his place in the lineage of Abraham, which carried the promise of God eventually fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

Another definition of grace that has been around a long time is the one which takes the word as an anagram: each letter is the first letter of a word. GRACE – is: Great Riches At God’s Expense.

We see that promise of God coming to fulfillment in the person of Jesus in today’s gospel lesson. Jesus had gone off alone to pray. His cousin, John the Baptist, had just been murdered by Herod. Jesus may well have been wrestling with sorrow and hard questions, doubts and fears, as do we all at the loss of loved ones. Yet even then, when he found a crowd had followed him, his compassion led him to consider their needs. He healed and preached, and eventually fed them – a meal of fish and bread. What do we learn from this story?

Similar lessons to those we can learn from Jacob’s story. God is never, never unavailable. God cares – always –about all our needs. God always is ready to shower us with his blessing – with grace. He will take whatever we offer – a mere two fish and five loaves – whatever that may be in our lives: a little bit of our time, some of our resources, a shaky commitment, repentance – and use it as blessing in the world. The little can become 12 baskets full, in God’s hands.

A grasping, selfish man can become a person of God. Doubting, unimaginative disciples can become instruments in God’s plan to feed the hungry. We, though we struggle through the night with our doubts and fears, our sorrow, our lack of faith, we, too, can be renamed as children of God, and people who, in God’s name, can feed the world. Amen.