Pentecost 22 – Year C -(Lectionary
29)
October 20, 2013
Genesis
32:22-31
Struggles
which Rename Us
This is my first opportunity to
“preach,” since the wonderful celebration you organized around my 30th
Ordination anniversary – my 20th year of ministry here in
Clemson. I haven’t preached since then. Heck – I haven’t even been here. These last two weekends I was away. Bet you thought I took the pat on the back
and ran. Maybe some were hoping I had;
20 years is a long time to be at one site.
And I know (better than anyone) how tough it is for a 56 year old campus
pastor to keep up with 20-something year old students. I try.
But I did leave the football game about 2/3 of the way through the
second quarter last night. (What a
heartbreak.)
My being away these last two
weeks (and next week) is a statement about the ministry to which I understand myself
to have been called. I have always
understood the “Call” as a call to service in the Church of Jesus Christ. The particular congregation who issues the
paper call provides a base of support and takes on the essential task of
setting objectives and priorities, but the ministry is to be extended to all of
God’s children and to each of God’s purposes.
That is what it means to be “The
Church of Jesus Christ.” We are not “the
church in Clemson,” or “the congregation of like-minded, European heritage persons.” The name says something about who we are –
about who we understand ourselves to be; about who God intends us to be. Our name challenges us to be that gathering
of individuals in which the hope and purpose and vision of Jesus is lived out.
The reading from Genesis 32 is
one of which I often speak. So much so
that one of the 30th anniversary letters used the story as a
back-drop for the LCM alum’s experiences here in Clemson. In this story, the giving of a new name
acknowledges that the way we are spoken of, the way we present ourselves, the
NAME by which we are known makes a huge difference.
Our name says something about who
we are – about who we understand ourselves to be; about who God intends us to
be.
“You shall no longer be called
Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans, and have
prevailed.”
“Prevailed?” “Survived” is more
like it. Surviving struggles, or prevailing in struggle is something with which
Jacob has many experiences. In fact, the
earliest of these encounters explains why he has had the name “Jacob” up to this
point. The name “Jacob” acknowledges
struggles. Jacob has survived a couple
of tough encounters – and he has the biggest yet to come.
It never hurts to review – so
let’s do some of that. Jacob is the son
of Isaac; he is the grandson of Abraham.
Jacob was a twin – he was the youngest of the set of twins. His slightly older brother was Esau. The birth story foreshadows the encounters to
come as Jacob grows into a man. Jacob
exits his mother’s womb with a firm grasp on his brother’s heel. That is why he is named “Jacob.” “Jacob” means
“he supplants,” or “he takes by the heel.”
The name given this young man exposes who he is understood to be. The name sets a path and a pattern for how he
will interact with the world.
Jacob does supplant his brother. He tricks Esau out of his birthright –
offering Esau a bowl of soup on a day when Esau was too hungry to look beyond his
next meal. Jacob supplants his older
brother’s right to the elder son’s blessing – this time with the aid of his
mother, Rebekah. She hears that Isaac is
about to bless Esau, so she helps Jacob fix the old man’s favorite food. She helps Jacob with a disguise, so his blind
father won’t know it is the younger son he is about to bless.
When Esau learns of this latest
trick, he threatens Jacob’s life and Jacob flees. Jacob goes to the country of his mother’s
people, and there he tricks and cheats his way into obtaining both the younger
and older daughter of Laban. When his
father-in-law has had enough, Jacob makes use of genetic manipulation to obtain
the best of Laban’s flock. Now it is
Laban who is out for revenge.
Jacob “catches by the heel” so
many of those with whom he shares life. He
struggles with them, and he supplants their position over him or before him.
With enemies in front of him and
enemies behind him Jacob (he who supplants) crosses the river and spends a
night alone with himself and what he has done.
His name says it all.
Then we get to the story in
Genesis 32. I acknowledge earlier that
this story is my favorite in all of scripture.
If you are in attendance at my funeral, this will be the text read and
preached upon. The emphasis that day won’t
be so much on the re-naming of Jacob but on the struggle’s lasting impact on
Jacob.
The encounter which happens
across the Jabbock brings a combination of blessing, and permanent scar. Jacob is “blessed” as a result of this
encounter; but he is also wounded for life.
He leaves the encounter with a permanent limp.
It has been my experience in life
that the experiences which result in the greatest life-altering blessing are
also those which have a tremendous opportunity to wound.
Perhaps it is ONLY such
experiences which possess the capacity to re-name us, to give new direction and
definition to our lives.
In Genesis, this child is named “Jacob”
because of his tendency to reach out and grab the heel of the one who is before
him. He was called Jacob and he lived up
to the name. He has repeatedly supplanted
those who had a higher place – a place which he coveted and desired.
With those he had tricked lying
before him and those whom he had deceived lying behind him, Jacob goes off by
himself and in the darkness of night he encounters this strange visitor. It is the kind of encounter which changes lives
- which changes his life. No longer is
he known by the name “Jacob,” but will be called by the new name “Israel.” As the text tells us, “Israel” means one who
has striven with men and with God and has prevailed.
The name describes who he is; the
name encourages him to become what God intends him to be.
Jacob will eventually have twelve
sons. The names of those twelve sons
will become the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. Those sons will struggle against one another,
and ten of them will sell one of them into slavery. The slave son will save the others from
starvation. But his descendants as well
as the descendants of the other brothers will eventually struggle against Pharaoh
in Egypt and then against God at Mt. Sinai.
In each of these struggles – Israel will survive, Israel will prevail.
Which brings us back to issue of
our name. What is the name by which we
are known? What is the name we would use
to introduce ourselves, or describe ourselves?
Is there a different name used by those who are not part of us, but speak
of us?
The name does say something about
who we are – about who we understand ourselves to be. The name also says something about who God
intends us to be.
Amen.
