“Standing on Uncertain Ground” – sermon for July 20, 2014
Genesis, selections from ch 27 and 28 Esau seethed in anger against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. He brooded, “The time for mourning my father’s death is close. And then I’ll kill my brother Jacob.” When these words of Esau were reported to Rebekah, she called Jacob and said, “Your brother Esau is plotting vengeance against you. He’s going to kill you. Son, listen to me. Get out of here. Run for your life to Haran, to my brother Laban. Live with him for a while until your brother cools down, until his anger subsides and he forgets what you did to him. I’ll then send for you and bring you back.”
Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran. He came to a certain place and stayed there for the night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down. And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And God stood beside him and said, “I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring; and your offspring shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and 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.” Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, “Surely God is in this place—and I did not know it!” And he was afraid, and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”
So Jacob rose early in the morning, and he took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. He called that place Bethel. Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God, and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house; and of all that you give me I will surely give one-tenth to you.”
Matthew 13: 24- 30 Jesus put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. And the servants of the householder came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?’
He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The slaves said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ But he replied, ‘No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’”
“Standing on Uncertain Ground” – sermon for July 20, 2014 by Rev. Doreen Oughton
I love stories about families. They are my top choices for books and movies, so what a treat to have a summer lectionary filled with the family stories from the book of Genesis. They are quite a family, aren’t they – Abraham and his progeny. Isaac, the boy that had been bound for sacrifice by his father is now a grown man, married, and, like his parents, left waiting for many years before the promised children arrive. Isaac and Rebekah have been married for twenty years when the twins are born. We learn that the boys were battling in the womb, and then skip over their growing up years and pick up the story in their young adulthood. They are still living with their parents, and as with so many families, each parent has a child they connect with a little more closely. Isaac favors his oldest, the rough and tumble Esau, and Rebekah cherishes her Jacob, who likes to stay in, with her, who is quiet and even cooks. I am sure she remembers and replays the words God spoke to her, “the older will serve the younger.” Jacob, we are told, is quiet. It is easier to observe when quiet, easier to understand people, what makes them tick. And sometimes that knowledge can be used in self-centered ways. And this is what Jacob did.
Have you ever read a book or watched a show and not known who to root for, with every character somewhat distasteful? That’s how I feel about these stories. Jacob and Rebekah are crafty, manipulate and scheming. Esau is reckless and impulsive. And Isaac is just so passive. If I had to rank order them, though, I’d put Isaac as the best person in the family, and then Esau, who, though impulsive, seems to mean no harm. Rebekah, well, she’s a bit much, pushy and calculating, in her attempts to move God’s plan along. Jacob, I would say, is the worst of the bunch. Now maybe his mother his filled his head with God’s words to her that the older would serve the younger, and he also is trying to move things along. But he just seems so self-centered and deceitful. In addition to the birthright manipulation, he pulled off a big con on his dying father to get the powerful blessing that was rightly Esau’s. Jacob lies repeatedly during the exchange, as Isaac asks over and over again who it was that was sitting with him, expressing his uncertainty and confusion as he lay on his death bed, unable to see. Lying and deceiving a dying father. Wow Jacob!
And here he is, on the run from his brother. Traveling alone to another country, to relatives he has never met. I would imagine that even cocky Jacob might be anxious, perhaps frightened. It gets dark and he finds a place to sleep and drifts off. He dreams – not of his brother coming after him, not of God angry and disapproving of his behavior. No, his dream is of a ladder to heaven, with angels coming and going, and God standing beside Jacob promising him blessing and protection and land. “I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised,” God says to Jacob. And we are to understand, as Jacob did, that this is at least as much vision as dream. It is truly a message from God.
` God’s ways are not our ways. I stood ready in judgment of Jacob – not worthy of such grand promises from God. But God has nothing to say of Jacob’s transgressions. God does not make these promises with conditions – does not say get yourself together, I’ve got work for you. Doesn’t really ask anything of Jacob. God mentions Abraham, of whom God asked much, and Isaac, whom God seems to have backed off after the binding incident. And Jacob is filled with fear and awe, acknowledging that the place is a gate of heaven. Isn’t it interesting then, that as Jacob makes his own vow to God, it is a conditional one – “If God will be with me and keep me,” as he goes on to spell out all the ways that ought to happen, then he will accept God as his God and will tithe.
And again, God takes no issue with this arrogance, this entitlement, but focuses only on the fulfilling the divine promises. I love how this passage is paired with the gospel reading from Matthew about the wheat and the weeds, or tares. The sower has sown good seeds, and does not seem particular perturbed that an enemy has mixed in some weeds. The focus remains on nurture, on fruition of the good seeds, even if that means nurturing the bad ones as well. It’s too hard to tell which is which seems to be the message. Or they are too entwined to separate without damaging the good stuff. As much as I love the message – focus on nurture – I am struck even more by the lack of distress over the weeds – just as I am struck by God’s lack of concern over the behavior and character of Jacob. There is something about this stance that feels so freeing to me. God is focused on something bigger or deeper or different in some way than keeping tabs on our sins! And I’m not relieved because it makes me think – yay, I can sin all I want and God doesn’t care. I’m excited because it reminds me that God’s work and promises are about God, not about us. We don’t determine what promises God will make or keep – God does. God keeps God’s promises because God is unconditionally faithful to the divine vision, not because we’ve earned something, not because we help God’s plan move along.
I also love that right here in the gospel we have validation that there are areas where it is not so clear what is wheat and what is weeds, what will bear good things and what will choke off growth. We can see the ambiguity large scale – do we respond humanely, with compassionate action to busloads of desperate children from other countries, or do we shore up our boundaries to protect our fragile economy? We know ambiguity on a smaller scale – do you take a second job to ease the family’s financial strain, or is it better to have more time with them to offer the guidance, security and attention children need? Do you choose the college of your dreams that will require going into debt, or attend the less expensive school? We don’t know how things will turn out – we can’t know. And this parable, to me, says we don’t have to worry overmuch about it.
Not only do we not know how our decisions will play out, we don’t know what God will use in our lives to further God’s own vision and promises. We may think God will use our best gifts, our most wonderful characteristics, whether it is a beautiful singing voice, a compassionate heart, bounteous financial resources, a passion for justice. But perhaps God will instead use our competitivenes, our jealousies, our weakness, our self-deception and selfishness to further the kindom. Even within ourselves we can’t be certain what is wheat and what are weeds. We just go on doing the best we can to make decisions, to live our lives, to nurture what seems to be good in ourselves and the world around us, knowing that sometimes we are watering the weeds.
Isn’t it wonderful to imagine that even when we’ve blown it, God is still with us. God is in no rush to judge, but advises patience, works with what is there. God told Jacob, and I believe tells us, that God will not leave us until the promises are fulfilled, promises of blessing for all the families of the earth. Isn’t it wonderful that each week, at least, we can come together to be reminded of God’s promises, of God’s love, of God’s forgiveness and invitation. In closing, I invite you take a moment and think of a decision you have had to make recently, or one that you are wrestling with now. If nothing personal comes to mind perhaps you could think about some of the national and international dilemmas that we are facing as a nation and as a world. .. Let’s just sit a moment with the complexity, accept the ambiguity…….
And now let this prayer, by David Lose, wash over you:
Dear Lord, our lives are colored by ambiguity and we don’t always know the right or best thing to do. But we do know that your love is guiding us and that you have called us to live as your people in the world. When we face hard choices, give us eyes to see the best path forward and the courage to follow it. When we make mistakes, forgive us. When we are hurt by our choices, comfort us. When we hurt others, help us to reach out to them in love. And above and beyond all these decisions, remind us that you still love us and call us back to this place that we may be forgiven, renewed, called, and sent forth once more as your beloved children. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
