God's Love and Care

So later I read the hymn-text, and realized that the author had our First Lesson for today in mind as he wrote the hymn that we will sing in a few moments.

Jacob was a crafty man; he had bested his brother Esau several times over by playing on Esau's weaknesses to get his birthright, and then following his mother's urging in order to get Isaac's deathbed blessing which also should have gone to Esau.

So now Jacob is on the road, fleeing from the understandable wrath of his brother.

He must lie down to rest, and he takes a stone for a pillow...and what a vision he has!

He sees the heavens opened and God's messengers coming down from God.

And the Lord's message is like that given two generations earlier to Abraham:(1)land, (2)descendants, and (3)being a blessing to all the nations of the world.

And we come to verse 15, where the Lord adds: 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 promised to you.

Here he is, a single man, fleeing for his life, alone, and he at this point sees nothing of fulfillment of God's Word; he only hears this promise.

So he could have said that it was either a dream brought on by fear and a hard pillow, or it is a true word of God given to him in visual and verbal form, which he should receive gladly.

He took the latter course, and this is the first step in his transformation from the slippery, smooth operator to the one who continues in God's covenant relationship and passes it on to the next generation.

It is a long and difficult transformation.

It took years of living and years of God's working on the hearts of both Jacob and Esau before they are reconciled to God and to each other.

There were all of those problems that Jacob had with Laban over wife and wages; Jacob the cheater was himself cheated multiple times, and still Jacob was persistent, survived, and thrived while remembering God's promise.

Jacob came to understand that it was not because of his strength or cleverness, but the gift of God that sustained him, and at length he was enabled to give gifts as generously as he had received them from God.

And all who hear his story with joy are blessed.

Everyone here knows that Carol had a difficult time.

It is just four years and a few days since we gathered for the funeral for her husband Bill, whom she had carefully nursed at home.

And then to herself receive a diagnosis of cancer; it is just overwhelming.

It would be understandable for her to turn bitter and angry about it all.

But that is not what I heard from her.

She had been receiving and developing other resources to deal with the difficulties in her life.

Her process of transformation began with the promise of Holy Baptism, when many decades ago the Lord Jesus promised to hold onto Carol and us, no matter what.

Because Jesus has conquered death and any power that would stand in his way, he can make a promise which can stand forever.

And he said “You are one of mine, forever, Carol.”

That is the foundation for all the rest of our living.

And transformation continued bit by bit she was regular in participation in the weekly gathering of God's people in worship.

One of the other things which builds upon that foundation was her involvement in the Bible study fellowship, where the scriptures are explored in a systematic way.

Such study stirs up confidence in the loving purposes of God.

Another part of her life in recent years was her participation in The Way.

One of our senior members who could not be here today wrote these words and asked that I share part of them with everyone on this occasion. She wrote:

I was approached by Mel Wentzel and Pastor Elkin asking if I would accept the role of mentor and companion to Carol for the faith-renewal program at the church called The Way.

I accepted due to the fact that I need to have my faith renewed after the death of my husband, and felt that we could be supportive to one another in the faith renewal journey.

It truly was a friendship made in heaven.

As our friendship grew, there were times of sharing laughter and tears of sadness, each of us comforting the other.

She was an inspiration to all of us in the group that year....

Now, finally, Carol has nothing more to get out of life, and only things to give to us still here, because her transformation is concluded.

She had a beautiful home and all those kinds of things, but the greater treasure is elsewhere.

One of the things which pleased her was that daughter Chris had gotten involved in the Bible study with her, and that the great treasure of faith is being passed to the next generation.

She also treasured the opportunities to be at the Table of the Lord in the worshiping congregation as much as physically possible, and encouraged friends and relatives to be here with her, up to the last several weeks of her life.

These are the kinds of treasures in which I heard her take the greatest interest.

So, next we are going to sing a hymn with Jacob of old, now knowing as the hymn-writer says that All that thou sendest me [is] in mercy given...[so that]Out of my stony griefs Bethel I'll raise.

(That was the place of worship built by Jacob in thanksgiving for God having transformed their hearts and brought Jacob and Esau back together.)

If God could do that, what wonders can he do with us?

In John's vision in our Second Lesson today, the Lord says that he will dwell with us; death will be no more, and everything will be made new.

The old pains, sorrows, illnesses, separations, heartaches, etc. will not prevail.

The last word will be of fulfillment of the Lord's promise, and it will be a good word, a word of transformation complete.

As the Psalmist sings: I shall not want. 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.