Genesis 28:10-19a and Psalm 139:1-12, 23-24 •
Romans 8:12-25 • Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
Do you sometimes watch the
news and feel overwhelmed by the wickedness in the world? In our Gospel reading today, Jesus tells us
that there will be a day when all that wickedness will be dealt with. Saint Paul, refers to this when he says that
the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory which
will be revealed to us in that day. The
good times are coming….
This world surely is like a field of both wheat and
weeds. There is no doubt that evil is among
us, and we naturally want it gone, but to tear out the weeds at the wrong time
could well damage the good plants, and most importantly, sometimes it is pretty
hard to know the difference between a good plant and a weed. I have been part of more than one
organisation where I witnessed someone lament that, “If only we could get rid
of the bad ones.” The most strikingly
memorable of these recollections was when that comment was made by the person
that many others considered to be THE biggest trouble maker!
Some would say, a weed is simply a plant in the wrong
place. One thing for certain, if God is
merciful to the weeds – allowing them to grow.
Then we, who can’t tell a weed from a plant, certainly need to have
God’s grace and mercy with all.
The Gospel reading today is quite a tough one as it quite
clearly says that the weeds will be thrown into the furnace. The explanation being that the causes of evil
and those who do evil will be thrown into the furnace of fire. But as I’ve
already said, we don’t know the difference between a plant and a weed and
thankfully, and most importantly, the weeding isn’t our job. We need to keep this in mind always. And our Old Testament sheds some light on
how, what, or who might appear to be a weed, could well be the very anointed and
chosen of God.
Jacob, in our reading today, felt that he was in danger. He ran away with the blessing that he’d
received from his father by deception, and he was in fear of his brother Esau,
from whom he stole the blessing. Esau
had decided that he would wait until after the mourning period for their
father, and then he would kill Jacob.
However, their mother, Rebekah had overheard his intentions and
organised for Jacob to be sent away to find an appropriate wife- a
relative of hers, from her home town – a
wife with the values like herself and Isaac, and someone who shared their
heritage of faith in God.
Jacob sets off and comes to a town. Commentaries suggest that the gates are
closed and so Jacob sleeps, probably, just outside the wall. Although vulnerable, the stone that he lay on
was probably one from the wall, and quite a usual way to sleep if one arrived
too late to enter the city.
This is the setting for the famous dream of Jacob. In this dream there is a ladder set up upon
the earth, and the top, reaching to Heaven.
On this ladder Angels are ascending and descending. It is somewhat mysterious, but this ladder is
a connection between heaven and earth…. What could it signify?
We are told that the LORD stood beside Jacob and told him
some amazing things. Firstly, God identifies
himself. This is because the peoples of
the towns where Jacob lived all worshiped other gods- Baal, Ra, Molech… and
others. So, God makes it clear when he
says "I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac”.
The text should have LORD written in capitals, as it is
actually the personal name for God that was revealed to Jacob, - this is the
name YAWEH. The covenant that was made
to Abraham was confirmed and reestablished in this dream, with Jacob.
God promised that the land on which Jacob is lying, would be
given to him and to his offspring; and his offspring shall be like the dust of
the earth; - The other important aspect, is that God tells him, “All the families
of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring. 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." The families of the earth
are blessed by the offspring of Jacob.
A quick google search will show you the many things we use today that
were invented by Jewish people – But most importantly, the whole world is
blessed and saved by the offspring of Jacob, many generations later in the
birth, life, death & resurrection of Jesus Christ.
This covenant is made to Jacob, not because of anything Jacob
had done. At this point Jacob had done
nothing but deceive and manipulate. A
very humbling reality when we consider those people in our own lives who we
feel have hurt us due to their deception and / or manipulation.
Jacob immediately wakes up and is afraid. He assumes that this land is a sacred place,
the house of God and gateway to Heaven.
Jacob’s understanding is limited, and in this statement, we realize how
little Jacob understands about the nature of God. (And God still chooses him).
It is certain that from that moment on, Jacob’s faith began
to grow. Let’s imagine we are Jacob. We know this isn’t a normal dream. We wake up knowing beyond any shadow of a
doubt that the very real God has visited us.
How do we respond?
Every interaction we have with God teaches us, but sometimes
it takes a while for us to understand.
Jacob was chosen. Not because of
anything that he had done. He was not a
holy or virtuous man, but God chose him and loved him. It is through Jacob that God would bring his
plan of salvation in to existence and only God knows why – To this day – we
can’t give a reason for God’s choice, yet we can rejoice in it, because if
there is such hope and blessing for Jacob, it shows us that there is hope for
all of us.
There is a significance in the vision of the ladder. It is suggested that the ladder is an image
signifying Jesus Christ, who connects us to God and Heaven, and in the Gospel
of John 1:51, we read Jesus own words, “Truly, truly, I tell you, you will
all see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son
of Man.”
Jacob didn’t understand the nature of God and assumed that
God was in some way physically tied to that land, which Jacob renamed, Bethel –
meaning House of God. Certainly, God
promised to give that land to Jacob’s descendants, and to bring Jacob back to
it. However, I find it interesting that
Jacob didn’t realize the omnipresence of God. That is, that God, being God and beyond our
human limitations, can be everywhere at once.
Jacob declared, “Surely God was in this place and I didn’t know it.” Are there places we go unaware of God’s
presence? How would it change us to be
aware of God’s presence everywhere we go?
I was in a conversation a few days ago, commenting how the
notion that God knows our inner most thoughts, could be quite frightening for
some people, where as for those of us who’ve been brought up with this
understanding it is a given, and even a comfort. It is comfort to know that our deepest
desires, fears and sadness, are all understood perfectly. Someone actually “gets us”…. And what’s more…
that someone doesn’t reject us for that inner thing about ourselves that
we might hate.
We all have struggles that are known only to
ourselves. There are so many people who
hide those inner struggles, or at least the magnitude of them, feeling totally
lacking in worth because of them. We can
be told that God loves us and know that He does, but it can be hard to believe
or accept.
Jacob, must have known this feeling well. Can you imagine it? His very name signified that he was a
deceiver. From the time of his birth and
his whole life he had worn the image, of who those closest to him had decided
he was – He was the deceptive one. And
then he proved it was true in his actions.
Do you think that Jacob had high self-esteem? His whole life he’d known he was lacking in
good character. Why, oh why would God
choose him? There is only one answer – So
that you and I would know that God has also chosen us.
Our psalm this week is so significant. “O LORD, you have searched me and known me.” This is the psalm that tells us that God knew
us before we were born and God deliberately formed us. He knows all that we do and all our
thoughts. He knows our words, even
before we speak them, and we can not flee from His presence because He is
everywhere – we are never away from him or his love.
In our own lives we have traits within us that are like the
weeds.. and we also have traits that are the wheat. We have good qualities and we have plenty of
other stuff too. Our wonderful
character, Jacob, who we are focusing on so much, was called to be the father
of the twelve tribes of Israel. God
changed Jacob’s name to Israel. The “weeds”
were prevalent in the life of Jacob – and both weeds and wheat are a reality in
our own lives. Thankfully we know that
we have the love of God through the gift of Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross. Rather than our failures, it is the
righteousness or goodness of Jesus that God sees in us.
Our Gospel reading speaks
about a time Jesus called “the end of the age”.
Every service we proclaim the acclamation of faith – Christ has died,
Christ is risen, Christ will come again.
The end of the age is when Christ will come again. There are many things said in the Bible about
this, but it is shrouded in mystery and explained in images and visions. What we do know, is that “The end of
the age” will be a time when Christ will sort things out. It is a time for which even our earth and all
creation waits. The letter to Romans explains to us that
the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain
the freedom of the glory of the children of God. And also, that we wait for the redemption of
our bodies.
We don’t know what God has in store for us in the future. As was for Jacob, so to for us; Jacob didn’t
know what he would go through, and it certainly wasn’t plain sailing, but it
was for the purpose of a glorious inheritance.
God has promised us a glorious inheritance also. Our mortal existence is not the end. And after this existence is not just some
cloud floating. God has a definite plan
for the future. Our creator loves us,
sent His son to redeem us, and there is a glorious future planned.
God offers us all that ladder with Angels ascending and
descending – we have access to the father, through Christ, and he says to us
all, “Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go.” He loves us.
We therefore should strive to live a life worthy of this calling, but we
rejoice and rest in the assurance that we, unworthy and unlikely as we may be…
are called, loved and we are God’s anointed and chosen people.
No comments:
Post a Comment