August 3, 2008

How to Wrestle with Angels

by Rev. Dr. Jim Carlson

Genesis 32:22-31

Opening Illustration – Ride to the game in a sidecar.

Life is a struggle – and it seems like it’s with other people. But sometimes we realize something greater is at work.

At some point we realize we’re probably struggling with ourselves more than anything else.

Jacob – conned his way into Esau’s birthright and blessing. Help from his mother.

Flees from Esau, marries, becomes wealthy in his own right.

Tricked by Laban in marriage. Outwits Laban to gain livestock.

Reader has to ask how this guy can be the chosen of God.

Jacob attempts to reconcile with Esau. Esau comes after him.

Jacob sends his family into hiding. Waits alone for Esau to come.

Jacob wrestles with a man all night. Man pops out his thighbone at dawn.

Jacob refuses to let him go until he blesses Jacob. Man renames Jacob Israel.

Jacob asks his name – man refuses to tell. Jacob thinks he has wrestled with God. Surprised he didn’t die.

Jacob sees Esau coming. Happy reunion. Jacob says that seeing Esau is like seeing the face of God.

What is the meaning behind the story? Several possible.

One: Jacob wrestled with God and it was a draw. Analogy to all of Jacob’s wrestling with God.

Weakness is that Jacob doesn’t really wrestle with God in the rest of the story. Jacob does what God asks.

Two: Jacob wrestles Esau’s angel. Theological view of the conflict between the two sons.

Probably an analogy to the way Israel has wrestled with its own sinfulness and still has been preserved by God.

Nation had seen the abandonment of its religious traditions.
Nation experienced the loss of the land, the destruction of the temple, and the end of its monarchy.
How to apply this story to our own context: Lots of conflicts with other people throughout our lives.

Story reminds us that even good people have to live with consequences of their actions.

Jacob couldn’t escape possibility of Esau’s revenge. He had to confront it by initiating process of reconciliation.

We wrestle with consequences of wrongs we’ve committed against other people. Like wrestling people in real life. Dreams.

Reconciliation often takes effort and sacrifice.

Story teaches that God is with us in the wrestling

God walks with Jacob through all the conniving.

God is with Jacob in the wrestling.

God walks with us in the good times and the bad. God doesn’t leave us when we’re bad.

Story reminds us that our struggle is really with ourselves.

Jacob’s conflict is not with Esau – it’s with his own desire to come out on top – and the consequences of those choices.

Our struggles in life are not with others so much as they are with ourselves.

How well are we going to take care of our bodies?

How are we going to react to the person at work who pushes out buttons?

Will we choose to spend our money in a responsible manner or in a way that will make us miserable and desperate?

How much are we going to agonize over the life choices of our adult children?

These are really struggles with who we’re going to be as people and how we’re going to live out our faith in challenging situations.

Final Illustration: attack on the church in Tennessee

As you reflect on your life this morning, ask yourself which kinds of wrestling matches you expect to be engaging in this week.

How much of this issue is that other person, and how much of it is you struggling with your own reaction?

I hope you go away with a clearer sense of just what it is that we struggle with. That sometimes what we struggle with is actually larger than the conflict we see right in front of us.

And remember, just like Jacob, whether you’re wrestling with the neighbor next door or your boss or your spouse, through it all, if you look closely enough, you can usually see the f ace of God.