August 6,2023
"Wrestling"
Sermon by Rev. Trip Porch
August 6, 2023
My siblings and I mess with my dad a lot whenever we are out to a restaurant because without fail, he always orders a combo platter. It’s like he looks over the menu and sees so many good options that he can’t decide and so, why make a decision? Pick the combo platter which has a sample of all of the hits from the restaurant.
We mess with my dad about this but here this week as I looked over our scripture, I found myself in the exact same boat.
Like a lot of the Hebrew bible, this is a story that is so rich and complex that there is so much I want to unpack and dig into and learn from in our story today that despite wrestling with this text all week I have found it impossible to choose.
Here’s how one Commentator explains it…
She says… “Genesis 32:22-32 is a profoundly mysterious story with numerous unanswerable questions.
The narrative begins with a puzzle: why does Jacob go to all the trouble of fording the Jabbok with his wives and children only to head back across it to spend the night alone? The questions only multiply as the story continues: who is this being with whom Jacob wrestles and what prompts this nightlong battle? What is the significance of all the names at this end of this chapter, especially the new name Jacob receives? As the dawn breaks, we can’t help but ask what sort of blessing Jacob has received as he limps back to his family. And then to add to all of that the weight of the background of this Story… Jacob’s complex history with his twin brother Esau whom he wronged so terribly the last time he saw him he was threatening his life which led Jacob to run away. And then the fact that this story takes place as he is on the way to meet his brother again, he is afraid and anxious. Unsure of what this encounter will bring and how Esau will react. Does he still hold a grudge? Does he still want to kill him?
We have the story of Jacob Struggling with another person but behind it we also have the story of Jacob’s internal struggle as Jacob prepares to face the consequences of his actions.
The commentator concludes…There may be too many of these type questions to answer in a single sermon … and that’s OK.”
So this is where we find ourselves today, with a mysterious-dreamlike text that is also incredibly familiar and relatable …with as many interpretations as there are people in the room, a combo platter text.
So, what can we learn from this story? Well, here is what I am taking away from it.
First, I think this story teaches us that God is not afraid to get down in the mud with us. God is not afraid to meet us in our pain and our brokenness. The God of this story is not aloof, not elsewhere, but in the flesh and in the weeds with Jacob and his struggles. This is not a God who lets sleeping dogs lie but is confrontational, who calls the question and forces the narrative to move along. Maybe Jacob sends his family along and crosses back over the Jabbock River because he plans to run away again too daunted by meeting Esau. But God confronts Jacob, and forces him to reckon with reality. Wrestles with him till daybreak and forces him into a new identity… one who does not run away, but faces their struggles and overcomes.
I also think this story teaches us that wrestling with God is a good thing. It's a way of getting to know God better. It's a way of growing in our faith. In fact, reading this story I was reminded that this story is the origin of the name of our campus ministry, Jacob’s Porch. When our Lutheran partners were considering how their ministry could be named they turned to this story of Jacob who is a pretty messed up imperfect person. He is a liar, he is a thief, he is a coward, and yet God doesn’t abandon him.
And so what do you name a ministry to college students… An age group of people who feel like they don’t belong in a traditional church, who are struggling with faith, wrestling with questions, and who identify with the outsider more than the insider? Name it after one of the imperfect and flawed characters of the Bible whose iconic story tells us that wrestling with God is a part of faith, and in fact it’s a part that often leaves us blessed and transformed.
And finally, I think this story teaches us that God is not afraid to change us. God is not afraid to transform us into the people we were meant to be.
If we were reading the job description of the person God would build up a people from and considering ideal candidates, Jacob would check none of the boxes.
And yet this messed up person who God chooses. It’s who God sees potential in. This Jacob is who God picks to build a new nation… Jacob receives a new name in his transformation… Israel which means the one struggles with God, and that is the name that would go on to be given to all of God’s people. To everyone that holds on to this faith, struggles with it, wrestles with it until we receive a blessing.
So, if you are feeling lost or broken or afraid, I encourage you to find a place where you can wrestle with God, because there is blessing in the struggle.
I encourage you to find a place where you can safely let your pain and your brokenness out and allow yourself to let God meet you in your mess.
Because I promise you, God is waiting for you.
And even in the greatest struggles God is there
and transformation, new identity, and blessing can come on the other side.
Amen.
WE GATHER IN AWE AND PRAISE
PRELUDE "Be Thou My Vision" Irish hymn, arr. Melody Bober
WELCOME Rev. Trip Porch
*OPENING PRAYER Liturgy from thirdspace.co.uk
Divine Wrestler, contending with us until daybreak,
holding us in the grip of your argument,
grappling with our questions and doubts,
Hold on to us now, in this hour of worship,
with that fierce love that will never let us go.
You who strive to deepen us through struggle,
and strengthen us through adversity:
Bless us, as you name us, as those who have prevailed.
And help us find, in the struggle, a new identity,
that leaves us utterly changed. Amen.
*HYMN “Come, O Thou Traveler Unknown” CANDLER/YE BANKS AND BRAES
*PRAYER OF CONFESSION Rev. Mary Gene Boteler
God has stricken us
And will bind up our wounds
We bring to God all that is comfortable and self-satisfied in us, and we let it go. God has stricken us
And will bind up our wounds
We bring to God the times we have avoided the struggle, taken the line of least resistance, colluded, and let them go.
God has stricken us
And will bind up our wounds
And because we believe that God does bless us, we bring to God our questions and doubts and uncertainties,
and we offer them. Bless us as you name us
As those who have prevailed
We bring to God all that we find hard to deal with, tasks, relationships, feelings, and we offer them
Bless us as you name us
As those who have prevailed
We bring to God all the messy, unwinnable struggles and adversities that we face, and offer them
Bless us as you name us
As those who have prevailed
Lord hear our confessions in the silence, and in your mercy, forgive us…
*ASSURANCE OF PARDON
*RESPONSE OF PRAISE 582 “Glory to God, Whose Goodness Shines on Me” GLORY TO GOD (Vasile)
*PASSING OF THE PEACE
One: The peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all,
All: And also with you.
WE LISTEN FOR GOD’S WORD
SPECIAL MUSIC "Wayfaring Stranger" American spiritual, arr. Mark Hayes
PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION
SCRIPTURE: Genesis 32:22-31 MSG
But during the night he got up and took his two wives, his two maidservants, and his eleven children and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He got them safely across the brook along with all his possessions.
But Jacob stayed behind by himself, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When the man saw that he couldn’t get the best of Jacob as they wrestled, he deliberately threw Jacob’s hip out of joint.
The man said, “Let me go; it’s daybreak.”
Jacob said, “I’m not letting you go ’til you bless me.”
The man said, “What’s your name?”
He answered, “Jacob.”
The man said, “But no longer. Your name is no longer Jacob. From now on it’s Israel (God-Wrestler); you’ve wrestled with God and you’ve come through.”
Jacob asked, “And what’s your name?”
The man said, “Why do you want to know my name?” And then, right then and there, he blessed him.
Jacob named the place Peniel (God’s Face) because, he said, “I saw God face-to-face and lived to tell the story!”
The sun came up as he left Peniel, limping because of his hip.
One: Holy Wisdom, Holy Word
All: Thanks be to God
CHILDREN’S MESSAGE Dorothy Kyle
SERMON
*HYMN NO. 506 “Look Who Gathers at Christ’s Table!”
TIME OF OFFERING "What a Friend" Charles Converse, arr. Jack Schrader
*OFFERTORY RESPONSE #710 “We Lift Our Voices” OFFERING
COMMUNION
INVITATION TO THE TABLE
GREAT PRAYER with Lord’s Prayer using debts and debtors
SHARING THE BREAD AND CUP
PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION
God, you bless us. Help us receive these blessings and, in turn, be a blessing to someone else. For we ask these
things in the name of Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
*HYMN “When We Are Tested” SLANE
TIME OF COMMUNITY SHARING
CHARGE AND BENEDICTION
POSTLUDE Voluntary in D William Selby
Acknowledgments: Unless otherwise indicated, all texts and music are printed and broadcast under OneLicense.net license #A-702452
PRAYER MINISTRY
For 8/06/2023
Please remember in prayer the following members and friends.
Arthur Lee
John George- FIL Greg Hitzhusen
David Binau
Russ Hupp – friend of the Ayers
Keith Harrison
Gary Everts – friend of the Slushers