And Jacob Was Blessed

He works seven years to pay off the bride-price for the woman he loves, only to discover that father-in-law has substituted the older sister for his intended on his wedding night, so that he has to work seven more years for the one he wants.

The sisters now become wives are locked in a lifetime competition for his favor through their children.

His wages are changed to his disadvantage a number of times in the family herding and trading business.

So finally he decides that he must leave the in-laws, taking everything that he has accumulated, but has a very tense confrontation with his father in law before he could travel far.

And in the portion we read a moment ago, he wrestles all night with an angel, a messenger of God.

Although the messenger does bless Jacob, he leaves him with a permanent limp to remind him that one does not encounter God lightly.

Oh, yes, he learned about life and family, and God, but each insight came at considerable cost.

And how does the story come out?

God, who gave him the gift of spouse and family, used all of these experiences, the easy ones and the hard ones alike, to mold Jacob into a different person.

This man, who started out by being a trickster (which is what the name Jacob means) became the man who strives with God (which is what Jacob's name means when it is changed to “Israel”).

Jacob, who started as the second of the twin sons of Isaac, becomes the father of nations through his own 12 sons.

Jacob, the one who wandered far in the course of his life, is buried with his father Isaac and his grandfather Abraham and their spouses.

And the years to come, his family, with all of their bumps and bruises, still are used by God in accomplishing his will.

That is a summary look at a number of chapters of the book of Genesis.

Can we catch some parallels with Big John's story today?

John attended the school of hard knocks also.

He was diligent and passionate about his work, although it was trucks instead of sheep as with Jacob.

Whether one is talking about sheep or trucks, they need care when they need care, and not just when one decides it is convenient. The work never ends.

God blessed him with spouse and family, but there have been bumps in the road of family relationships, just as Jacob had.

Both of them traveled far in the course of their businesses, and both knew their work well.

John and Jacob were both in-charge kind of men, but both eventually lost that control of things and finally succumbed to illness and death.

There is lots about these memories that is worth keeping and adopting as our own.

We too can be:

--diligent,

--hard-working

--passionate about something

--accepting responsibility for actions

--learning from mistakes

--We too can be used by God to get things done that he wishes.

And these are all good things.

We heard one more thing about Jacob that would be excellent to remember.

Not only was Jacob blessed by God, as announced by the mysterious messenger,

but Jacob took the time to acknowledge the blessing,

to say thank you to God.

He came to recognize that his power was limited and it needed to be used carefully for the good of his whole family and community.

We are so busy in so many different directions.

Part of God's gifts to us is the energy to work at all of those things.

And as part of the blessing, we are invited to take the time to say Thank You to God.

We would be missing a key element of communication if we missed that.

For it is in prayer and praise and thanksgiving that our attitudes are changed and that we are given a calmness of spirit as we prepare to plunge into the hard decisions and actions which we must take.

Paul in today's second lesson reminds us that whatever our particular job or profession, if it is worth doing, it is worth doing well and being done to the glory of God and the aid of one's neighbors.

Make the most of your time, Paul adds.

For our Lord reminds us in the Gospel lesson today that no one knows the day or the hour when God will call us to himself.

Keep awake, watch, wait, and work, he counsels; and give thanks always.

The rain falls on the just and the unjust, says Jesus: on everyone.

But how wonderful it is when we take the time to give thanks for all of God's blessings.

It is not in order to be worthy of the blessing of God,

--there is no way for us to pay God off like we would a truck-loan.

But our continuing thanksgiving will be changing us all from the inside out, and that too will be a good thing.

Here is the quick summary that we can hold in our memory today:

Jacob was blessed by God

Big John was blessed,

and we are blessed also.

Thanks be to God. Amen.

Please note: The preceding sermon is provided as a resource for the thought, prayer, and meditation of the members and friends of St. Mark's. It is the residue of a verbal event, and thus it does not have academic footnotes and other details that would be expected in a written document. The writer gladly acknowledges the prior thought and work of many Christians before him.