in-need-of-grace-sermon-notes

What Is Your Name? In Need of Grace

Genesis 25:19-34

Through much of this summer 2018 we will be considering the life of Jacob as it’s recorded in the book of Genesis. When I read about Jacob’s life, I immediately think, “The is real life with all its messiness.”

I know there are happenings in Jacob’s story that may seem unfamiliar to us. But, in general you will relate to the fears of a married couple, to the sibling rivalry between two brothers, to the temptation to resort to deception to get our own ways, as well as to many, many other parts of the story.

None of the people in this story come off particularly well. This will not be a series in which you constantly hear me say, “Be like the people in this story.” But, you will hear me say, “Learn to walk with God by watching how he deals with these people’s lives.” – even if what you learn is that you shouldn’t do what they did.

As we begin this series, I want to confess to you that, as I have read and re-read the account of Jacob’s life, many of the big questions about God that I have long had have rushed back into my mind. I’ve decided I should tell you about them right now because I imagine you ask some of these questions too – like these:

How does a God who exists outside time and space dimensions (who actually created both time and space dimensions) meaningfully interact with people in time and space in such ways that we make real decisions and that our decisions make any difference in his plan at all?
How does God allow for our sinful choices to have genuine, often pain-filled consequences, while, at the same time, use those consequences to further his work in us and in the world?
How does prayer change anything if God is already working all things together for good?

Do you ever ask questions like those? I do. And, I must tell you that the Bible rarely, if ever, gives us nice and neat term-papers answering to these questions. Instead, God has chosen in his Word to show us how he, as the unlimited and sovereign God his, interacts with us in our world by telling us stories; i.e., by reporting his dealings with the lives of real people, people like Jacob, his brother Esau, his mother Rebekah and his father Isaac in Gen 25-36. Jacob’s story begins in Genesis 25. God’s Word lets us know that Jacob’s life is set within what we have been calling “God’s biggest story”, i.e., a story running from Gen 1 – Rev 22.

#1: Jacob is a part of “God’s biggest story” (and so are you) – This is the account of the family line of Abraham’s son Isaac. Abraham became the father of Isaac… (25:19).

Years before Jacob was born, God had met his grandfather Abraham and used a poetic verse to give Abraham a promise that he and his descendants were never to forget:

I will make you into a great nation,
and I will bless you…

and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you (Gen 12:2a,3b).

Anybody who has heard that prophecy (as all of us now have) will read Gen 25:19 about Abraham being Isaac’s father and know that all of this is a part of God’s eternal plan to bring salvation to all peoples. So, we might think, “All will surely go smoothly because this is about God’s chosen people.” Right? This is the family through whom a savior will come so it will be the perfect family – right? Well, let’s see what happens.

#2: Prayer is an essential part of God’s story -- Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant (25:19).

I’m quite sure Isaac knew both 1) about God’s promise to his father Abraham as well as 2) that he was the one chosen to have the next son in God’s fulfillment of his promise. However, after waiting until he was forty to get married, I’m also sure that Isaac and his beautiful wife Rebekah were wanting children ASAP. But, Rebekah seemed unable to have a child. Just as Abraham’s wife Sarah, Rebekah seemed to be unable to give birth to that male offspring prophesied by God. After twenty years of trying, they had no son! So, Isaac prayed. The Hebrew word translated “prayed” actually means “pleaded.” Like so many in our own world and in our church who want something like to get married or to have a child, Isaac and Rebekah beg God to provide.

Would Isaac and Rebekah have had a child if Isaac had not prayed? The Bible neither asks nor answers that question. Instead, the Bible says, “Isaac pleaded on behalf of his wife… and the Lord granted his prayer.”

The entire book of Genesis emphasizes that God is at work in this world with a plan to bless all peoples – but that he works out that plan in response to prayer. God’s people are thereby called upon to live lives in which we learn to wait and to pray – and to trust God as we do. Sarah and Abraham had to wait 25 years before Isaac was born; Jacob would have to labor for 14 years to obtain his wife; and Joseph would have to wait over 20 years before he was reconciled to his brothers. I imagine Isaac prayed for many years and with great fervor. And, when at last, Rebekah became pregnant, they knew that the child was a gift from God in answer to prayer.

Perhaps you’re in one of those difficult times of waiting right now. Maybe there are things happening in your life that you cannot make sense out of. Perhaps God is calling you to a place of prayer? In this situation in Gen 25, I believe God was teaching his people that the promised blessing made to Abraham was not going to be accomplished by mere human effort. I’ve heard preachers say, “God accomplishes His will, His way.” That’s true. But, I will tell you also that the praying of God’s people is a big factor in that truth. That God has a plan that he brings about in keeping with our prayer seems to be a lesson all who walk with God must learn.

Many years later, King David, who experienced many times of waiting on God and wondering what God was doing, told us, “Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him (Ps 37:7).” So, Isaac prayed fervently – and God granted his request. What happened then? You might think, after all that waiting and fervent praying, surely all will go smoothly.

#3: God often uses trials to further his work in us and in our world. Rebekah became pregnant. But, the babies jostled each other within her, and she said, “Why is this happening to me (25:21b-22)?”

That phrase, “the babies jostled each other”, is way too weak. The Hebrew literally says the children smashed themselves inside her, like a man trying to smash rocks with a hammer. I wonder whether all of you who have been pregnant can imagine this. With all this intrauterine warfare going on inside, Rebekah seems to understand that these children inside her are going to be trouble so she cries out in exasperation, “Why is this happening? Why should I go on living?”

In the ancient world, a mother often believed that her main reason for living had to do with her children and family. And, Rebekah anticipates that her family is going to be a disaster. In fact, she is so puzzled by this internal struggle that she cries out to God for an answer. So, notice this: In the face of infertility, Isaac’s response is to pray. In the face of a difficult pregnancy, Rebekah’s response is to pray. In answer to prayer, God gives Rebekah a prophecy in the form of a poetic verse – just as God had given Abraham years before.

God sometimes spoke prophecies that he wanted his people to remember in the form of a verse. It’s like what we find setting the stage for the plot in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings:

“One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all, and in the darkness, bind them,
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.”

You’ll see something like that when you look at the prophetic verse God gave to Rebekah:

“Two nations are in your womb,
and two peoples from within you will be separated;
one people will be stronger than the other,
and the older will serve the younger (25:23).”

In many ways, this prophecy continues to play out in many of the battles happening in the Middle East in our own day. And, the prophecy of the children engaged in battle forms the framework for all that happens afterward in the story of Jacob. https://goo.gl/images/DfvqaF All this is to say that, when trials come into your life, do not view them as being outside the knowledge and the care of God. God would use this family struggle to do his work in this world. But, can you imagine how disappointed Rebekah must have been when she learned that her family would be characterized by competition and division. This is not exactly a peaceful pregnancy where Mom is able to dream of her family being the perfect family. I imagine Rebekah wept when she heard the prophecy. I weep too as a pastor when I think about Rebekah’s pain in going through this.

This brings me to something I want to say to you as your Sr. Pastor, i.e., No matter what you are currently going through in your life, God knows and at work to bring about good. No matter what you see as you look into your future, God has much more for you than you are seeing. Your present circumstances do not capture all that God has for you. That was true for Rebekah and her family. It’s true for you too.

#4: God’s story includes the unexpected use of our failing and the redemption of failures. Joseph said, “What you meant for evil, God meant for good, to bring it about that many people should be rescued… (Gen 50:20).

The biggest shocker in all that is shocking about God’s prophetic verse to Rebekah is that the younger would rule the older. That wasn’t the way things worked in that society. You see, what was called the birthright was to be given to the oldest son. The oldest son received a double portion of the family inheritance. He also became the head of the family and the spiritual leader upon the passing of the father. And, of course, in the case of this particular family, the birthright determined who would the one through whom God’s blessing would come to all peoples. That was just the way of things in their world. Sociologists would say that it was a systemic reality. So, when we read the story, we wonder how the younger will rule the older? The deck was stacked vs Jacob.

So, let’s face it straight on – In this story, the younger gets the birthright through acts of self-promotion, manipulation and deception. Ever since people turned away from God in Genesis 3, this world has been filled with selfishness and sin. And, the story of Jacob shows us that God’s plan is not thwarted by human sin and weakness. To the contrary, God is able to use our human failure to bring about his purposes. As I said before, “God works all things together to bring about his good (Rom 8:28).”

So, in Gen 25:25-26, the first boy comes out all red and covered with hair – I mean, really, really hairy. The Bible says, “all his body was like a hairy cloak.” He gets the unfortunate name, “Esau”, meaning “the hairy one.” So, he looks like he’ll be a real man’s man, a beast of a man.

The second child comes out grabbing on to his older brother’s heel so he gets the name “Jacob”, meaning “heel-grabber”. That term referred to a person who is always trying to get ahead, to take what doesn’t belong to him. For a “heel-grabber”, the end will always justify the means.

And, we will see that the boys live up to their names. The story fast forwards in v. 27 to when the boys are young men. The Bible describes Esau as “a skillful hunter, a man of the field.”. So, Esau had become that man’s man. I could see Esau today driving a 4 X 4 with massive tires, country music blaring from his speakers, a gun rack, and a Doberman in the back.

But, the Bible describes his fraternal twin brother, Jacob, as “a quiet man, staying in the tents.” The word translated “quiet” means “ordered” – or everything planned and under control. He was a very strong man physically. In our day, he probably would have daily workouts at the gym under the supervision of a trainer. He would listen to jazz and drive a Tesla in which everything would be clean and everything in its rightful place.

You know the story. Esau comes back from one of his hunts exhausted and starving. He smells some of Jacob’s stew and says, literally, “Give me some of that red stuff and give it to me now.” Jacob seems to have been plotting for this day, plays on his brother’s lack of discipline and sense of drama and taunts him: “You want this? This rich meaty stew? It’s good!”. But, you have to give me the birthright! And Esau takes the bait. The cunning hunter fell into a better hunter’s trap, becoming prey to his own appetite. Esau valued his birthright so little that he sold it for a bowl of stew.

All this says a lot about how easy it is for us to give up eternal things for temporary pleasure. We all know how easy it is to trade what is of great value for what amounts to a bowl of beans: to exchange purity for pornography, integrity for financial gain, family for a fling. But, we’ll think more about that topic another day.

Today, I want you to see how God uses people and actions like we see in our story to accomplish his salvation plan. Just think about the four characters in our story today:

Isaac, who loves one son more than the other simply because he can get good meat from him.
Rebekah, who loves one son more than the other so much that she deceives his father to get him the birthright.
Esau, who regards God’s blessing and birthright as less valuable than a bowl of red stuff.
Jacob, who is willing to swindle his own brother in his weakness to get what he wanted.

What a mess! Are you feeling any better about your own family right now? We’ll be focusing on family matters next week -- so, let me tell you this right now. There were consequences for each of these family member’s failings and sins, serious consequences. But, something I want you to take home today is that God’s grace is truly greater than our sin.

What were the “names” of these four main characters? Isaac means “laugher” because he was the child born when his 90+ year old mother laughed about having a child. Rebekah means “captivating” because she seemed to be able to charm people to get things done. Esau means “the hairy one” and Jacob means “the heel-grabber”, “the self-promoter”. But, without question, they all had a shared name, i.e., “In need of God’s grace.” They all fell short of what God longs for in us as human beings, i.e., they fell short of God’s glory. And, so do I. And, so do you. They will have to learn that “in need of grace” is their name before God will bring them together.

And, it’s only when all of us at LAC deeply believe that we are “in need of God’s grace”, that we will ever become the kind of church that God wants us to be. That name will take away all the pride that keeps us from loving God and loving people as Jesus says we must do in his greatest command.

God’s grace was greater than their collective sins. That’s why there is hope for each of us, for all our families (even those as messed up as Isaac’s was), for our church and for our world.

At the beginning of this series, I want to offer you the hope that is yours because the God who made you is the God of grace. As I often tell you, you cannot do anything that will make God love you more than he loves you this very moment. And, you cannot do anything to make him love you less than he loves you this very moment. He loves you so much that he will not leave you just as you are. He has much he wants to do in you and through you. But, his work carries you, as John Newton’s song says, “Through many dangers, toils and snares.” So, make a recommitment right now to live for him, to pray fervently and to trust him no matter what you are going through.

No less than Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob and Esau, you and I are “in need of grace”. And, our God is the God of amazing grace.