" I is for Israel" The Good Book Summer Series

Genesis 32:24-28 (NRSV)

and in the Message 

This morning, we heard the second of four stories from the Old Testament as we explore some of the stories of our ancestors in faith.

Today’s text is from Genesis, the very first book of the Bible, and it’s a story about Jacob.

A few chapters earlier in Genesis, we meet Jacob and his twin brother Esau at their birth.

I wonder if you had a nickname in your family? Or if you gave one to your brothers or sisters?

When Esau arrived first, he was given a name that reflects his red and hairy appearance, but Jacob was born holding onto his brother’s heel so his name means “heel sneak” or “usurper” which refers to someone who takes what is yours and claims it as their own.

The boys’ parents were Rebeka and Isaac, the son of Abraham and Sarah. And while most parents say they don’t have favorites, the biblical text says that Isaac favored Esau and Rebeka favored Jacob. It also tells us about an encounter between the brothers when a very hungry Esau gave his birthright – or share of his inheritance – to Jacob in exchange for a bowl of hearty stew. (Genesis 25)

But it was when Isaac was very old, and his eyesight was failing, that Jacob truly lived into his name.

When Esau leaves to go hunting, with their mother Rebekah’s help, Jacob tricks Isaac into giving him his blessing before he dies. When Esau learns how Jacob has deceived him and their father, he’s angry and their mother warns Jacob to flee to her brother’s home.

Today’s story takes place more than twenty years later as Jacob is going home and preparing to meet his brother Esau.

If you have been unhappily separated from a family member, you can imagine the uncertainty and anxiety Jacob was experiencing. He was afraid. He didn’t know anything about his brother’s character. He didn’t know whether Esau’s anger had been simmering for two decades, or whether he had forgiven him.

So, he sends his family and servants ahead with gifts for his brother, and he camps alone for the night by the river Jabbok.

And as our text told us, there he wrestled all night long with another man.

Jacob was a fighter. He had fought with his brother to be born and came in second; he fought with him again, stealing their father’s blessing. So, when this stranger found him, alone in the night, Jacob did what he knew how to do – he fought.

Today, wrestling matches are six minutes long. Jacob and his opponent wrestled all night long, hours upon hours without surrendering. Imagine the exhaustion and frustration that they felt.

Our text says that when the man saw that Jacob would not yield, he touched his hip, dislocating it. But even then, Jacob did not let go of his opponent.

Instead, Jacob demanded a blessing.  And incredibly, instead of turning away from Jacob or punishing him for the deceits he had practiced during his lifetime, the man gave him a new name, saying “You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans, and have prevailed." (Genesis 32:28) and before he left Jacob, he blessed him.

The author of Genesis could have had Jacob emerge from the story more decidedly victorious, but he doesn’t. Instead, we see how Jacob wrestled with God, not against Him. He hung in there all night, refusing to be cast aside. And he came away changed. He walks with a limp. He has a new identity, no longer a “heel sneak” but a “God-fighter” or “one who strives with God” as his new name can be translated.

Now we know the story better,

what can we learn from Jacob’s stubborn and determined wrestling?

Dr. Anna Carter Florence is the author of “A is for Alabaster”, the resource we’re using for this series, and one question she asked as she talked about the chapter titled “I is for Israel”, is,

“How do things change?” from decade to decade in our lives. How different are the things with which we wrestle or for which we strive when we are 20, 30, 40 or 60?  

I don’t want us to answer too glibly or dismiss what our younger selves sought. I hope the question helps us reflect on which things endure, which ones are central to our identity as God-fighters (and followers), and which ones may be part of our own hubris or arrogance.

Because I think we are all a little like Jacob at some point in our lives:

wanting what someone else has;

unable to recognize the sufficiency of what God has already provided; and,

being afraid to face the consequences of our mistakes and the ways we hurt others.

The Good News we have from Jacob’s story is that God’s grace is sufficient, in fact, abundant. And in the face of our all-too-human responses to the world around us, God still loves us, and names us, “God’s child now and forever.”

One of the professors at Luther Seminary Dr. Rolf Jacobson, noting that Jacob was buried in the same place as his grandfather Abraham, wrote,

We don’t know if they wrote anything on his tombstone, but if it were…, it would have said, “Here lies Jacob, a thief and a sinner claimed by God in order that God might bless the entire world.”[i]

Let us pray.

Good and gracious God,

Thank you for wrestling with us and not against us.

Help us recognize you when we encounter you,

And remember the blessing we already have by your grace,

That you call every one of us “God’s child now and forever.”

Amen. 

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[i] Crazy Book. Rolf Jacobson, Editor. 132.

Lectionary 10B

Marcos 3:20-35

I preached this sermon in the Spanish service; the English translation is below.

Oremos…
Que las palabras de mi boca y las meditaciones de nuestros corazones sean aceptables a tu vista, Señor nuestra fuerza y nuestro redentor. Amén.

Una de las formas de estudiar la Biblia es participar en una práctica llamada "vivienda en la palabra". Es similar a otra práctica llamada "Lectio Divina". La idea es leer el texto como si fuera la primera vez:

Escuchar las palabras;

Prestar atención a las imágenes y a las frases;

Escuchar lo que se destaca para ti en esta lectura y observar lo que es nuevo para ti.

Es una buena práctica porque a menudo llegamos al texto con suposiciones. Si hemos estado mucho en la iglesia, creemos que sabemos lo que dice el texto. Y algunas historias a menudo se repiten, por lo que creemos que conocemos el significado.

Pero la Biblia es una "palabra viva" y el Espíritu Santo está activo.

Y somos seres humanos que cambian todos los días, por lo que incluso si hemos escuchado un texto antes, ahora somos diferentes y podemos escuchar algo nuevo.

Digo todo esto porque esta semana, escuchando el evangelio y mirando hacia atrás en cómo he predicado estos textos antes, escuché algo nuevo. En el pasado, he predicado sobre Jesús y su familia, y sobre lo que significa blasfemar al Espíritu Santo. Esta vez, escuché sobre el hombre fuerte.

Y al escuchar de nuevo, creo que el hombre fuerte es Dios.

Escuche el versículo veintisiete de nuevo:

... Nadie puede entrar en la casa [de Dios] y saquear la propiedad [de Dios] sin atar primero [a Dios]; Entonces, de hecho, la casa puede ser saqueada.

Y eso me hace preguntarme,

¿qué significa "atar a Dios"?

¿Cuáles son las formas en que intentamos contener a Dios?

¿Para limitar lo que Dios está haciendo?

Hay un artista llamado David que dibuja dibujos animados sobre la fe y Dios, y uno de sus dibujos animados muestra a una persona que empuja un cuerpo grande, puedes ver los pies y una de las manos, en una caja etiquetada como "TEOLOGÍA".[i]

Con demasiada frecuencia, tratamos de obligar a Dios a entrar en nuestras cajas, nuestras categorías y nuestra comprensión, pero Dios es demasiado grande para eso.

Cuando permitimos que nuestras ideas definan a Dios, en lugar de al revés, estamos limitando a Dios. En efecto, estamos "atando al hombre fuerte". Y
permitiendo que la casa de Dios sea saqueada;
permitiendo que el amor de Dios sea llevado y se imponga a otros como un avaro con su dinero, en lugar de dejar que fluya abundante y espléndidamente.

Hacemos esto de manera grande y pequeña:
cuando usamos el nombre de Dios para decir que alguien no es bienvenido ni amado;
cuando sugerimos que alguien debe cambiar para ser aceptado;
cuando insistimos en que nuestro camino es la única forma correcta.

Cada vez que caemos en el hábito de considerar el mundo como blanco y negro, o binario, y no permitiendo la posibilidad de más.

Dios es más grande.
Y afortunadamente, Dios es más fuerte que nosotros, y será triunfante.

Por nuestra parte, estamos llamados a estar unidos en Cristo, porque somos hermanos en Cristo, y somos más fuertes juntos.

A finales de mayo, participé en la reunión del Sínodo de Carolina del Norte; En el escenario principal, había una obra que fue comisionada para la reunión. El artista compartió estas palabras sobre la obra que presentaba una cruz plateada con un corazón rojo en su centro.

El artista y pastor Paul Birkedal escribió:

[La pieza de la cruz superior] está bordeada por tres hilos de yute individuales con un solo hilo en el medio bajando como si del cielo para tocar el corazón. En una inspección más cercana, uno podría ver la curva de hilos externos como las manos para acariciar o bendecir el corazón al igual que el amor del creador por el Hijo. Las otras piezas cruzadas están bordeadas por hilos trenzados de yute. Esto representa la participación de nuestra implicacion en la cruz de Cristo y de la fuerza que nosotros, como amado de Dios, recibimos mientras trabajamos juntos como el pueblo de Dios.[ii]

Esta vez, escuchando el evangelio, no escuché solo una persona de la Trinidad: Jesús el Hijo, el Espíritu Santo o Dios, sino cómo los tres están presentes y trabajando, y cómo debemos trabajar juntos como el pueblo de Dios, unidos y no divididos.

Oremos…

Poderoso Dios,

Gracias por tu amor ilimitado por tus hijos.

Gracias por tu presencia permanente y por la fuerza que nos das para vivir, unidos por tu amor por nosotros.

Ayúdanos a ser instrumentos de tu paz y misericordia en un mundo dividido.

Oramos en tu santo nombre,

Amén.

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[i] https://nakedpastor.com/products/god-box-cartoon-1?variant=34479267512487

[ii] “We are More Than Victorious” Synod Gathering Bulletin Cover Art on Mixed Media, Based on Romans 8:35-39 with Emphasis on v. 37 

Mark 3:20-35

One of the ways to study the Bible is to engage in a practice called “Dwelling in the Word”. It is similar to another practice called “Lectio Divina”. The idea is to read the text as if it is the first time:

To listen to the words;

To pay attention to the images and to the phrases;

To hear what stands out to you in this reading and notice what is new to you.

It’s a good practice because often, we come to the text with assumptions. If we’ve been in church a lot, we think we know what the text says. And some stories are often repeated, so we think we know the meaning.

But the Bible is a “living Word” and the Holy Spirit is active.

And we are human beings who change every day, so even if we have heard a text before, we are different now and may hear something new.

I say all this because this week, listening to the gospel, and looking back at how I’ve preached these texts before, I heard something new. In the past, I have preached about Jesus and his family, and about what it means to blaspheme the Holy Spirit. This time, I heard about the strong man.

And in listening anew, I think the strong man is God.

Hear verse 27 again:

…no one can enter [God’s] house and plunder [God’s] property without first tying up [God]; then indeed the house can be plundered.

And that makes me wonder, what does it mean to “tie up God”?

What are the ways that we try to restrain God?

To limit what God is doing?

And when we hear the verse this way, does it help us to understand the futility of trying to bind up God?

There is an artist named David who draws cartoons about faith and God, and one of his cartoons shows a person shoving a large body – you can see the feet and one of the hands – into a box labeled “THEOLOGY”.[i]

Too often, we try to force God to fit into our boxes, our categories, and our understanding, but God is too big for that.

When we allow our ideas to define God, instead of the other way around, we are limiting God. We are, in effect, “tying up the strong man.” And

allowing God’s house to be plundered;

permitting God’s love to be taken away and meted out by others like a miser with his money, instead of letting it flow abundantly and lavishly.

We do this in big ways and small:

when we use God’s name to say someone is not welcome or loved;

when we suggest someone must change to be accepted;

when we insist our way is the only right way.

Whenever we fall into the habit of looking at the world as black and white, or binary, and not allowing for the possibility of more.

God is bigger.
And thankfully, God is stronger than we are, and will be triumphant.

For our part, we are called to be united in Christ, because we are siblings in Christ, and we are stronger together.

At the end of May, I participated in the Gathering of the North Carolina Synod; on the main stage, there was a piece of art that was commissioned for the Gathering. The artist shared these words about the piece which featured a silver cross with a red heart at its center. Pastor Paul Birkedal wrote:

[The upper cross piece] is bordered by three single strands of jute with a single strand in the middle coming down as if from heaven to touch the heart. On closer inspection, one might see the outward strands curve like hands to caress or bless the heart as does the love of the Creator for the Son. The other cross-pieces are bordered by braided strands of jute. This represents the participation of our involvement in the cross of Christ and of the strength that we, as God’s beloved, receive as we work together as God’s people.[ii]

This time, listening to the gospel, I didn’t hear only about one person of the Trinity – Jesus the Son, the Holy Spirit, or God, but how all three are present and at work, and how we must work together as God’s people, united and not divided.

Let us pray…

Mighty God,

Thank you for your boundless love for your children.

Thank you for your abiding presence and for the strength you give us to live, united by your love for us.

Help us be instruments of your peace and mercy in a divided world.

We pray in your Holy Name,

Amen.

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[i] https://nakedpastor.com/products/god-box-cartoon-1?variant=34479267512487

[ii] We are More Than Victorious” Synod Gathering Bulletin Cover Art on Mixed Media, Based on Romans 8:35-39 with Emphasis on v. 37

Lectionary 9B

 2 Corinthians 4:5-12

Between Thursday and Saturday, I participated in the North Carolina Synod’s gathering at Lenoir-Rhyne University. The theme for the Gathering was “We are More”, taken from lines from Saint Paul’s letter to the Romans where he is writing about the suffering of the present day, and asks, rhetorically, how God’s people ought to respond, and whether we should despair. He answers his own question, writing,

“No, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” (Romans 8:38)

Throughout the Gathering, in worship and in conversation, we reflected on what it means to be more ̶ to be more than us and them, and to be “we”.

 And while I was there, I read the verses we have today from another of Paul’s letters, this time not to the Romans, but to the church in Corinth. In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul was writing to help the young congregation there navigate the thorny places where faith and life conflict. Knowing there were conflicts in the community there, Paul wrote to remind them of their unity in Christ Jesus.[i] Our reading today comes from his second letter, and at this point, Paul’s relationship with the believers in Corinth is more strained. (2 Corinthians 2) They have been hosting teachers whose teachings are contrary to the Gospel, and now there are divided loyalties among God’s people. There is an “us” and a “them”.

That’s why our reading begins with Paul reminding God’s people, “We do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord….” (4:5)

We find our identity in Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Our identity is sealed by the Holy Spirit at the font in baptism. To borrow from Paul again,

⁷ We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. ⁸ If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. (Romans 14:7-8 NRS)

For us, as Christians, Christ Jesus is at the center.

Never ourselves. Never another human being or ideology.

When Paul writes in this letter, “we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us.” (2 Corinthians 4:7), Christ is the treasure. The love of God, abundant and boundless, for each and every one of us; the forgiveness of our sin and our redemption and sanctification –that happens in relationship with God. It is the treasure that we are given when we are named God’s children. We don’t find it or earn it, but receive it, freely from the God who created us and loves us.

We are the clay jars. We are the fragile, mortal vessels that carry Christ into the world, whose hearts shine on the world that they may know God’s love and mercy. We are the vessels through which God’s love reaches our neighbors, that expansive “we” that encompasses both “us” and “them”.

I was challenged in our conversations to think about who I might name as “us” and “them”, in my own complicity in dividing the world into parts.

It is human instinct.

Just like Pastor Jonathan is dedicated to the Gamecocks, as far back as I can remember, I have watched Duke basketball. Maybe you’ve heard how serious the rivalry between Duke and Carolina is.

Both my mom and my dad went to Duke, and my granddaddy worked at the Medical Center there. We have always cheered for Duke!

But there was a faithful couple in my first congregation who were Carolina fans, and I did learn to cheer for Carolina, as long as they weren’t playing Duke!

In a more serious vein, you may have noticed I am a woman in ministry.

Within the Christian faith, there are siblings in Christ, even within Lutheranism, who do not condone women in ministry and who would not recognize my ordination or allow me to preach or preside at Holy Communion. It is easy for me to “other” those believers and dismiss them as unworthy of relationship. And yet, listening to Paul’s words, I must remember what we heard earlier, “We do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord….” (4:5) I don’t have to agree with others or even share the same beliefs to enter into relationship with my siblings in Christ if I begin with God’s love for us all.

That doesn’t mean it’s easy, or fun. It is really hard. Paul tells us,

⁸ We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair;  

⁹ persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;

¹⁰ always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies.

¹¹ For while we live, we are always being given up to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh. (4:8-11)

Afflicted,

perplexed,

persecuted and

stricken,

all for Jesus’ sake.

I can watch a ballgame with Carolina fans. It’s harder, but not impossible, to have a conversation with someone who doesn’t honor the ordination of women. Harder still to have honest, hard conversations with people whose beliefs are different than mine about who God is, or about how to solve the problems of the world and who should make those decisions.

The kingdom of God is broader than my opinions,

no matter how right I believe I am.

The kingdom of God is bigger than my imagination,

because it isn’t Christina’s kingdom, it is God’s.

If we are going to be “more than” we are,

we must widen our embrace to include those we would other.

To include those with whom we disagree on big things and small.

We must proclaim Christ Jesus, and not ourselves,

that Christ’s light will shine through us to a hurting world.

Let us pray…

Good and gracious God,

Thank you for the abundant and boundless love and mercy that you freely give us.

Thank you for your Son Jesus, in whom we live and move and have our being. (Acts 17:28)

Show us how to widen our embrace of those who are different from us; give us wisdom and help us love well,

Not because we are the same, not because we are in full agreement, but because we belong to you.

We pray in the name of Jesus, our Savior and Lord.

Amen.

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[i] Luther Seminary. EntertheBible.org