South Roanoke United Methodist Church

It had been 20 years since he had seen his older brother.  Jacob, son of Isaac, son of Abraham, the heir to the promise of God, had not seen his older twin, Esau, since the day Esau threatened to kill him.  From the very beginning it seems the relationship of these twin brothers was destined for struggle for the Scripture says at their birth Esau was born first with Jacob holding tightly to his twin’s heel.  And struggle they did.  The Scripture says their mother, Rebekah, felt them struggle together within her even before they were born.  It so concerned her she inquired of God about it.  They were different, these two.  The elder, Esau, a skillful hunter, a man of the field while Jacob was a quiet man, living in tents.  Esau was their father Isaac’s favorite while their mother Rebekah favored Jacob.  

Their relationship came to a head one day when Esau returned from the field famished.  Jacob was by the fire stirring a pot.  Esau said, “Boy, let me have some of that cause I’m hungry!”  Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright then you can have some of this.”  The birthright—
          the right of the eldest son to inherit the father’s estate;
          the right of the eldest son to be honored and served as the head of the                   
                    household at the death of the father;
          the right that was Esau’s—that’s what Jacob wanted.
What did Esau do?  Well, he looked at the pot, looked at Jacob, felt his hunger, and said, “Look, I’m about to die here…what use is a birthright to me?”  And so Esau’s birthright was sold to his younger twin brother Jacob for a bowl of stew.  Later on when Jacob learns from his mother that his father was about to bless his brother Esau with that same birthright and basically pass the mantle to Esau for him to hold until Isaac his father died, Jacob and his mother developed a plan.  When Isaac sends Esau to the field to catch wild game and prepare it for a meal of celebration of the giving of the blessing, Jacob gets prepared game, disguises himself as his brother Esau, and secures the blessing for himself from his now blind father Isaac.  

When Esau finally returns and discovers that he really has been tricked out of his birthright and blessing by his younger brother not once, but twice(!), he is so distraught and so angry that he vows to kill him once the period of mourning is done following his father’s death.  So Jacob leaves to live in another land far off to the north.

That was 20 years ago.  It had been 20 years since Jacob had seen his older brother Esau.  But now it was time to go home.  As he traveled with his company he sent a message on ahead of him to Esau:
          Thus says your servant Jacob, ‘I have lived in a foreign land as an alien for all
          these years until now.  I have prospered and I have sent to tell my lord I am
          coming home that I may find favor in your sight.’                Genesis 32:4b-5
The messengers returned from Esau with this reply:
          We come to your brother, Esau, and he is coming to meet you and 400      
          men are with him.                                                                                                     Genesis 32:6b
On hearing this Jacob is so afraid and distressed that he does two things.  First he divides his company in half hoping that if his angry brother destroys the first perhaps the second will yet survive.  Second, he sends presents of goats, rams, camels, cows, and donkeys in several separate herds ahead of him so that Esau will receive many gifts from him to perhaps appease his long-held anger before they meet again.  

Jacob has a very restless night.  Our text today describes that restless night.  Jacob had sent everyone else on ahead and he was left alone.  That night he not only tossed and turned all night long but he was tossed and turned by God all night long.  That night, you see, Jacob struggled with God.  With all the fear, distress, perhaps guilt, that welled up within him as he faced the prospect of seeing his brother again and 400 men with him.  Jacob wrestles with God.  

Jacob asked for it, you know.  As he made his plans and prepared to send his company ahead he pleaded with God,
          Deliver me, please, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I
          am afraid of him; he may come and kill us all, the mothers with children.  Yet
          you, O God, have said, ‘I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as
          the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted because of their
          number.’                         Genesis 32:11-12
Jacob asked for it.  Jacob asked for God to intervene, to step into the midst of his life and make things right, to keep the promise God had made.  Any reader of the story
          will understand the threat to the future of the people of God this turn                     
                   of events has brought
          will know well the names of Jacob’s children who are now threatened with death—names like Reuben, Simeon, Naphtali, Asher, Issachar, Zebulon, Joseph…every one destined to father one of the 12 tribes of Israel, the people of God who will inhabit the Promised Land—every one called by God to be the people through whom the whole world will be blessed.  Jacob asked for it.  He pleaded with God to deliver him and keep that promise.  

So God comes.  God intervenes to make things right.  God keeps promises.  God even enters into the fray on their behalf even if it means hand to hand combat with a child of God.  

So they wrestle, Jacob and God, all night long.  And Jacob hold his own—God does not prevail over him.  But in the end all God has to do is wait for the sun to come up—for when the sun comes up Jacob will see the full face of God and, as is true of any human being who sees all the fullness of God all at once, it will be too much for him and he will die.  God will win.  But before God will let that happen God strikes Jacob in the hip socket in such a way as to disable him and end the conflict before sunrise.  But Jacob still won’t let go.  So God asks him to “Let me go,” God says, “for the day is breaking.”  Jacob replied, “I will not let you go until you bless me.”  So God blesses him.  

In the morning as Jacob saw Esau coming, Jacob went ahead of his family and all the company bowing himself to the ground 7 times until he came near his brother.  Esau ran to meet him and embraced him.  The twin brothers held onto one another and they wept.  

Jacob asked for it.  As he struggled with the risky and ultimate choices and decisions of life he asked for God to keep the promise and deliver him.  God comes to Jacob, keeps the promise, and enters right into the fray to ensure it.  You see, God delivers Jacob, but God does not wave a divine hand from afar and make all things well for him.  No, God struggles with Jacob as Jacob struggles with the choices and decisions of his life.  Deliverance comes to Jacob not by God taking away the difficulties or
          overturning the circumstances or
          removing the consequences of life.
Deliverance comes to Jacob when God joins him right in the fray in the midst of difficulties and circumstances and consequences of life.  The Bible says God is not far away in these moments—God is right in the middle of them.

You know what it’s like in the night.  You know what its like when the difficulties and circumstances and consequences of life will face you in the morning.  You know what it’s like anticipating them in the night.  In the night you struggle, you wonder, you pray, you cry, you plead, you try to understand, and finally you prepare to face them in the morning.  Who is it that you struggle with in the night before you face the light of day?  Jacob knew he did not struggle alone.  And neither do you.  Jacob knew his struggle was with God.  You need to know that, too.  God is right there
         tossing and turning with you in the night asking you what it is that you
                   want
         with you in the struggle bringing out in you all the depth of character                      
                   and strength and courage that God put in you to begin with. 
         challenging, struggling, hoping that you’ll never let go until you get
                   what you want, staying with you all the way until you get what                 
                   you need.
God stays with you right in the struggle, it’s OK, God will never let it overwhelm you.  God will get you ready for the sunrise if you just hang on, stay with it, see it through.   God will prepare you for everything that the morning may bring if you just hang on ‘til you’re blessed.  Hang on….’til you’re blessed!

You see the Bible has such good news for you today.  The Bible says in every difficulty, circumstance, and consequence of life the struggle is ultimately with God.  God comes to you in your tossing and your turning, calling out of you all the character, strength, and courage God has created in you.  By God’s grace, God does not wave a divine hand from afar but is right there with you challenging, struggling, hoping that you’ll never let go until you get what you want, staying with you all the way until you get what you need.  In the night God will get you ready for whatever comes in the morning if you just hang on ‘til you’re blessed.  

Sisters and brothers, with God share your deepest worries and your highest joys.  You know in your most joyous celebrations, you celebrate with God.  In your most formidable difficulties, your struggle is with God.  God is there, right with you.  So in everything reach out to God’s outstretched arms and hang on, hang on ‘til you’re blessed.