Timeline slide:
We
continue on our journey through the Old testament. 2 weeks ago, we looked at
the creation story in genesis chapter 1, where God called all of creation good,
and people were created in the image of God.
Last
week we met Abraham and his son Isaac, this week we heard about Isaac as an
adult.
Map 1:
Here
is a map showing where Abraham travelled, he started in Ur, in what is often referred
to as the fertile crescent, travelled to Egypt, then back to Canaan.
Map 2:
This
map shows Beersheba, where the first part of today’s story takes place; Haran
where Jacob is headed for, to take refuge with his mother’s brother; and
Bethel, where he had the dream.
Before
we get to the dream, some cultural background. As the eldest son, Esau would receive
double share of the inheritance, this was his birthright. So, if there were 2 sons,
the inheritance would be would be divvied into thirds, with the eldest son getting
two thirds.
Esau
had come home from hunting one day, famished, and asked Isaac for some of the
food he had prepared. Isaac gave him the food, only after Esau had given him
his birthright. Esau had given Isaac double portion of the inheritance.
The
we come to the first part of story we heard today. Isaac is about to die, and
there is a blessing to be given, a blessing also usually given to the eldest
son, though there are sometimes when that did not happen.
“This blessing was considered to be powerful in its own right,
the spoken word had its own power, and as a claim upon God’s desires: that the one
blessed would have a special purpose and vocation. Once blessed it meant a
life-changing situation, both for you and for your entire family. In other
words, to be blessed is not to be taken lightly, it changes everything.” [i]
Now Jacob has what Esau thought he would have, the larger share
of inheritance, the blessing and being the head of household/extended family
after his father’s death.
Many people will have arguments with family, but Esau and Jacob
have taken sibling rivalry to a new level. Jacob has tricked Isaac into giving him
the blessing; though I wonder was Isaac really fooled by Jacob and his covering
of goat skin.
We can’t forget Rebekah’s part in scheming against here elder
son, and now she tells Jacob to go to her brother’s place in Haran – about a
month’s walk.
And then the dream. For people of this time, a dream was a way
that divine encounters took place. Jacob doesn’t say, I dreamed about God being
here, he says God was in this place.[ii]
Surely someone who has behaved as badly
as Jacob should be rebuked, chastised, punished and shunned.
God spoke to Jacob saying:
I am the Lord God
who was worshiped by Abraham and Isaac. I will give to you and your family the
land on which you are now sleeping. Your descendants
will spread over the earth in all directions and will become as numerous as the
specks of dust. Your family will be a blessing to all people. Wherever
you go, I will watch over you, then later I will bring you back to this land. I
won’t leave you—I will do all I have promised. [Genesis 28]
And the covenant is confirmed. Abraham was
told he would have as many offspring as the stars in the sky, and now Jacob is
told descendants will become as numerous as
the specks of dust. The covenant will live thorough Jacob, the schemer, who
will meet his match with his Uncle Laban. That story is not in our set of
readings, so feel free to read the next few chapters to see what happens next.
It seems to me that God chooses on a
different basis to us. When we read of the call of David in a month or so, we
are told that God looks at the heart not looks, yet here, the heart is …?
.. well Jacob is open to meeting God,
even as he runs from his brother.
While it is easy to think of God being
present in places that are ‘Holy’, the encounter between Jacob and God happened
in an ordinary place, just where Jacob slept at the end of the day.[iii]
While it is great that people feel
comfortable in the church building, and in worship; that is not the only place
God is found. While I have had powerful experiences of God in worship and
church settings, I have also had powerful experiences of God sitting in a park
and waiting at the airport.
In reading the stories of Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob, they named the places where they sensed God as sacred places, not the other
way around.
As we baptised this beautiful child this morning, we read
that beautiful poem,
[name],
for you Jesus Christ has come,
has lived, has suffered;
for you he endured the agony of Gethsemane
and the darkness of Calvary ;
for you he uttered the cry, ‘It is accomplished!’
For you he triumphed over death;
for you he prays at God’s right hand;
for you, Chloe,
even before you were born.
In baptism, the word of the apostle is confirmed:
‘We love, because God first loved us’.[iv]
I am reading a book called Life with God;
this part comes from the notes in the front:
Through Scripture we hear[d] God whispering down through the centuries:
‘I am with you!’
‘I am with you!’
‘I am with you!’
Then, we hear[d] God asking a question that searches the human person to the depths:
‘Are you willing to be with Me?’
The Scripture reveals that saying ‘yes’ to this invitation thrusts human beings into life with God … daily … hourly … moment by moment.[v]
‘I am with you!’
‘I am with you!’
‘I am with you!’
Then, we hear[d] God asking a question that searches the human person to the depths:
‘Are you willing to be with Me?’
The Scripture reveals that saying ‘yes’ to this invitation thrusts human beings into life with God … daily … hourly … moment by moment.[v]
And that is part of our baptism, and part
of life each day; hearing that whisper from God: I am with you!
‘Are you willing to be with God?’
