Discovering Blessing by Wrestling with God

Sermon preached at St. Mark’s Honey Brook, PA

By The Rev. Thomas C. Pumphrey, October 21st, 2007

Twenty First Sunday in Pentecost (Year C, Proper 24)

Genesis 32:3-8, 22-30 (2 Timothy 3:14-4:5)

Genesis 32:3-8, 22-30 Jacob sent messengers before him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom, instructing them, “Thus you shall say to my lord Esau: Thus says your servant Jacob, ‘I have lived with Laban as an alien, and stayed until now; and I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, male and female slaves; and I have sent to tell my lord, in order that I may find favor in your sight.’“ The messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau, and he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.” Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; and he divided the people that were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two companies, thinking, “If Esau comes to the one company and destroys it, then the company that is left will escape.” The same night he got up and took his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He took them and sent them across the stream, and likewise everything that he had.

Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket; and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, “Let me go, for the day is breaking.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go, unless you bless me.” So he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” Then the man said, “You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans, and have prevailed.” Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him. So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved.”

2 Timothy 3:14-4:5 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, and how from childhood you have known the sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.

In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I solemnly urge you: proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching. For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths. As for you, always be sober, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, carry out your ministry fully.

Have you ever had one of those frustrating days? One of those days when you can’t find the bread for the toast, and then when you do, half of it is moldy, and then when you find a clean slice, the toaster doesn’t work, and you pour some cereal only to find that the milk has gone sour. Then you can only find decaf coffee, but when you brew the coffee, you discover that this is the special fruity-fruitcake-licorice flavor coffee your mother-in-law gave you last Christmas. Then you find the newspaper sitting in the bottom of a rain puddle on the bottom step. And you wonder what sort of day awaits you… Are you ever inclined just to go back to bed? Or perhaps just to call in sick to work? Some people go in to work and let their frustrations out on their co-workers or their students or their customers. Have you ever met one of those people? Have you ever been one of those people?

I would guess that this describes each of us at some time in our lives. Some of us are more inclined to one kind of response or the other. Some days are more serious than the comic scene I just described. Sometimes losing work or losing friends or losing health or losing family members takes a heavy toll and leaves us in frustration. What happens in our relationship with God when things are frustrating—when life or God hasn’t measured up to our expectations? Some act as if there’s nothing they can do, and they give up. Others turn away from God in disgust and walk away. Others take a different path. Instead of giving up or walking out, they engage God—they press God for clarity and direction and they call God to be true to his covenant with us. While some give up and others walk out, these people wrestle with God.

Each of us gives each of these responses at some time in our lives. Especially when we feel on our own and without connection or support, engaging God and engaging life in difficult times saps our energy and challenges our hope. And yet, if we wrestle with God, hanging on to God with both arms, God will give us his blessing.

Jacob learned to wrestle with God. Today’s Old Testament reading is the story of Jacob wrestling with a mysterious figure who tells him that he has wrestled with God and has endured. Jacob is one of the first patriarchs of the Old Testament. Jacob is Abraham’s grandson and the father of the twelve tribes of Israel. Jacob started out, however, as something of a cheat and a scoundrel. Among his exploits, he cheated his brother Esau out of the inheritance of their father. Jacob flees from Esau, and goes to the land of his distant relative Laban. There he doesn’t get on too well with Laban either, so Jacob returns to the land of Canaan. As he travels there, he discovers that Esau will meet him the following day with four hundred men. In fear of his brother’s revenge, he divides his extended household, livestock, possessions, and servants and waits for daybreak all alone by the river Jabbok.

Then, unexpectedly, we read that Jacob wrestled with someone until daybreak. “When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket; and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him.” But Jacob did not let go. Jacob’s opponent protested, but Jacob said “I will not let you go unless you give me your blessing.” Then the mysterious, unnamed opponent names Jacob “Israel,” a name that means “one who wrestles with God,” and he blesses Jacob.

In this mysterious encounter, Jacob is alone and without support or defense, he is vulnerable before the approach of his cheated brother the following day, and he wrestles with God and fights fiercely, holding on with both hands, saying “I will not let you go unless you give me your blessing!” By morning’s light, Jacob becomes Israel, and his life and the lives of many are blessed. When Jacob meets Esau the following day, Jacob submits to Esau’s mercy, and they are reconciled.

I find this inspiring. So often, you and I are tempted to throw in the towel—to walk away from the challenges we face in life, or to walk away from God and God’s call to us. But we miss the blessings God has for us if we do! If we wrestle with God, however, then we will find the blessings God has in store for us.

When we feel overwhelmed by hardship or confused in our uncertainty, we can wrestle with God. There we will find God’s blessings! We can take our confusion and frustration to God and lay out the truth of how we feel and hold on with both hands and tell God “I will not let you go until you give me your blessing!

The Bible is full of those who took the challenge of God and God’s word seriously. The most human and telling of these figures, however, are those who let their humanity and doubt and uncertainty be a full part of their relationship with God. David and other Psalm writers often shout at God, crying, ‘when will you save me, God! Why are my enemies defeating me?’ My heart is breaking!’ David and Jacob and Job and Moses and Jonah and most all the prophets find challenge from God, but their lives are apparently most blessed when they wrestle with this challenge, when they stand up to God and say “I don’t understand!” or “This is too difficult for me!” or “Help me to make sense of this situation, or to make sense of what you’re telling me.”

This is one of the reasons that we read in 2 Timothy today that all scriptures are inspired by God and useful for teaching and reproof, correction, and training in righteousness.” We learn from scriptures and even from the challenge in our own lives that scriptures can bring. We grow as a church when we wrestle with God in reading scriptures together or doing ministry together. These are not perfect experiences, of course—indeed doing ministry together and reading scripture together involves some real wrestling from time to time, but we can find God’s blessings there.

Wrestling with God may not erase our hardship. But we can find great blessing in God’s arms. We can find the strength to press forward, the clarity to see the opportunities ahead, the wisdom to chart the course, and the grace to share the blessing with those around us.

So if you have one of those mornings with burn toast and bad coffee, do your best to laugh! Even if your day is full of more sober challenges, look for God and grab on with both arms. And if you are still a little fearful, just picture the image of a young child playing with his father on a lazy afternoon. Young boys, especially, seem to love to wrestle with their parents. Can you imagine a 35 pound five-year old wrestling with his 175 pound father? Physically, the father could seem fearful to the child, but the laughing, joyful child knows the safety of the father’s arms and finds the reassurance that these strong arms are the child’s sure defense, and a very help in times of trouble.

In those frustrating, despairing moments in life, grab on with both arms to the one who loves you deeply and desires to overcome the hurt and frustration in your life. Grab on with both arms, and tell God—I will not let you go, until you give me your blessing!