2026 07 19 Pentecost 8 Proper 11
Genesis 28.10-19a Psalm 139.1-11, 23-24 Romans 8.12-25 Matt 1324-30, 36-43
One of my favourite
psalms tells us; O LORD, you have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from far away.
You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my
ways. God KNOWS us. How good is it to be truly known, understood
and loved?
In our readings today
we discover that Jacob experienced God’s knowledge of him first-hand. Jacob lay down in a strange land, afraid that
he was being hunted by his brother, and probably quite fairly, as he had
deceptively received his father’s blessing.
So here he was away from the familiar, and he was probably feeling
vulnerable and far away from God.
Jacob’s grandfather, Abraham,
had been told by God, that God would make him into a great nation. Abraham was told that his offspring would be
numerous, and most importantly, Abraham was told that all the families of the world
would be blessed in him and his offspring.
This blessing was to come through Isaac, the son born miraculously. Isaac had twin sons, but Esau was the first
born. Jacob had just received the
blessing of the first-born, through deceptive means and Esau was angry with him
for this fact – murderously so.
Therefore, without accusing the twin brother to his father, his mother
had convinced his father that Jacob should go to their relatives in the land of
Haran to find a Hebrew wife, rather than a Canaanite one, such as had been
taken by Esau.
Jacob left his family
and life of plenty, he is now completely defenceless. Notice that he takes a rock for a
pillow. He is truly in the hands of God
and has reached “rock” bottom, a point where he knows he needs God. He falls asleep and dreams that there are
angels ascending and descending. Then
God speaks to Jacob in the dream, and reveals himself as the God of Abraham and
Isaac.
Jacob knew these
stories. Jacob knew that his grandmother
miraculously gave birth to Isaac, his father.
Jacob knew that God had promised to make Abraham into a great nation through
his father Isaac. Jacob knew lots of
stories about the faith of his family, although knowing all these things
because someone tells you, is a whole lot different from knowing them for
yourself.
An important aspect
that we often overlook is knowing.
Knowing God…knowing his love for us… Knowing his
promises. It was in the knowing God and
knowing his faithfulness that enabled Abraham to make that momentous trek up
mount Moriah to sacrifice his son Isaac.
Abraham knew – and knew that he knew, that God had promised to make him
a great nation through Isaac. Therefore,
Abraham knew that God would provide a way to save Isaac. THIS IS SO IMPORTANT! Abraham didn’t just go up that mountain with
a vague hope in God. He KNEW. When we know the brightness of our future, we
can bear the sacrifice. Abraham knew
God, and what’s more, he trusted God and believed that God would be faithful to
his promises, even if those promises were a long time coming, and involved so
many ‘speed bumps’.
It is the sure vision
of a future that kept Abraham moving forward, focused and faithful to God, and
it is a sure vision of a future that we need to keep us moving forward also. Scripture tells us that Abraham believed God
and it was credited to him as righteousness.
This is what it meant to believe God; to live your life in such a way
that shows your belief, your trust and unshakable faith in the promises of God. And that belief is proved when we continue to
hold fast to our faith through the tough times.
During the plague of
the Black Death in the 1300s, and during many other plagues in the medieval
period, thousands of priests, monks, nuns and laypeople courageously stayed in
infected cities to nurse the sick, feed the hungry and bury the dead fully
knowing it would likely cost them their lives.
They were courageous because they knew – and knew that they knew – that
their eternal life was completely assured and glorious.
Note what St. Paul
tells us in his letter to the Romans, when he says that he considers that the
sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to
be revealed to us. Saint Paul began his
life as a successful persecutor of the Christian Church. He was successful in all areas of his life,
but God revealed himself to Saint Paul, and Saint Paul would never be the same
again. Something about that experience,
and or the relationship that he had with God, meant that Saint Paul could and
would endure all kinds of suffering.
Knowing God and knowing that God promises us a future, does not mean
that we will not experience hardships or suffering, but it does give us the
resilience to continue through trials, to be faithful to God.
It is through these
tough times, such as the black death plague, that we discover if we really are
the children of God – or just pretending…
When I was a teenager, I had a 92 year old piano teacher who had been
buried in an earthquake in Italy as a child, along with his father and a
priest. Obviously, they were rescued and
lived to tell the tale, but a significant part of the story relayed to me, was
how the priest proved to be completely lacking in faith. We don’t really know how we are going to react
in tough times, but often it is through suffering that those things that are
“weeds” or “tares” in ourselves become exposed. The way that our reading talks about the wheat
and tares it sounds like some of us are wheat and some tares, but in reality,
we all have aspects in our lives that are weeds / tares…. The tares are a plant
that looks very much like the wheat when both are young, but the tares HAVE to
be separated at harvest because they are actually poisonous. At maturity the difference is more obvious,
the wheat head bows over, but the tares stand tall. Perhaps another subtle reference to the
children of God bowing to God, acknowledging our need, but the tares stand with
pride.
A process of sorting,
divinely appointed and sorted by God, happens when we experience tough
times. In those times we work out what
really matters and we acknowledge our need for God. As we read in the text it is God’s job to do
this when we are mature enough, otherwise the weeds will overcome us and we
will be destroyed in the process.
The thing that keeps
everyone going through the tough times is the belief that things are going to
get better. People will go in for
painful knee surgery, back or hip surgery – put themselves through pain,
because they know that outcome is for the good in the long run. Jacob, in our first reading, had the stories
and promises from God, but at the time when he was most vulnerable, God
revealed himself to Jacob and confirmed that promise, personally reestablishing
his covenant with Jacob. Jacob now knew
that he could endure through hardships because his future was connected to
God’s promise. What’s more, is that God
promised to be with Jacob.
We share in this promise. God is
always with us through His Holy Spirit. Also,
have you ever wondered the significance of the angels going up and down the
staircase?
Scripture tells us
that God sends his angels to minister and protect his people, but also,
according to some scriptures, we understand that Angels have guardianship over
different locations. The descending and
ascending Angels imply that those from that land that Jacob was leaving, were
ascending and those assigned to the land that Jacob was entering were
descending so that they could go with him to protect him. This was a confirmation of God’s promise to
protect Jacob and must have been a huge reassurance.
Let’s put ourselves
in Jacob’s shoes; There you are, possibly being hunted by your brother who
wants to kill you – and he is a skilful hunter.
You may have been told that God has a future for you, but you are scared
that you might not live to see your future.
Then God stopped you in your tracks, showing you that he HAS promised
you a future and what’s more, that he will protect you on your journey. Not only that, but you witness that divine
protection in the form of the Angels. That
is something that changes your outlook on life!
Last week we
reflected on how Esau lived for the here and now, but this week we notice that
when what is in front of you is a threat to your life, it is hard to see
anything but that threat. This may be where we are at personally. It is also where we are at as a church. We can only see the threat, and fear for our
lives. We are trying to make sense of
our reality which we see with human eyes.
If we only see the physical, our vision is only partial. There is a spiritual reality that encompasses
the physical and the spiritual. Someone
with that kind of vision can have a whole different outlook.
It may be that right
now there is a very real and physical threat which is overwhelming you. This is why we are the body of Christ – we
need each other. It is too big a burden
to carry on our own. Jacob was shown a
vision of the Angels that would be with him so that he knew he wasn’t
alone. His story is recorded to be a
reassurance to us also. Neither are we
alone, but we need to be reminded that God is with us and he sends his Angels,
and we need to call on each other to support us when we are afraid and feeling
vulnerable.
God has promised us a
future, and God has promised that he will never leave nor forsake us. We can never be too far away for God’s
love. NOTHING - neither angels nor demons, nothing future
or past can separate us from his love, his calling and his promise is sure, and
nothing can take that away from us. God
sees us and knows us. Nothing in us is
hidden from him, and he completely loves us.
Jesus has freed us from the guilt of our sin. Like Jacob, it is time for us to let go of fear
and past failure. We have a future that
God is calling us to walk into –- let’s do it!
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