Proper 11 A
July 20, 2008
Genesis 28:10-19
Psalm 139:1-12, 23-24
Romans 8:12-25
Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
Do y’all remember the Smothers Brothers? In their act, one was a little more handsome and had more upstairs so to speak than the other one. He used to tell a little story to give background information for the song they were about to sing. The less handsome one would interrupt him with some silly point and when he didn’t argue it well he’d say to the better looking one, "Well, Mom always liked you best." That act could’ve come straight from The Book of Genesis.
Abraham’s beloved son, Isaac and his wife, Rebekah had twin boys. They fought with each other even before they were born. The first one born they named Esau because he was red and hairy. The younger one they named Jacob. He came into the world holding on to his brother’s heel. Now Jacob was better looking than his brother Esau, craftier too, and guess what, Mom liked him best.
By the time Isaac was a hundred years old he was blind and he was beginning to think he wouldn’t live much longer. So he called his first born son, Esau, to him. He told him to go out and hunt some game and prepare him a good meal. Then he would give Esau the patriarchal blessing that fathers gave to their firstborn sons. But you see Rebekah overheard that conversation. She sent Jacob out to kill a couple goats then SHE prepared a good meal. She dressed Jacob in Esau’s clothes and took some hair from the young goats and fastened it to his hands and the back of his neck, so he’d appear as hairy as his brother. Then she sent Jacob in to her blind husband to receive the blessing that rightfully belonged to his brother.
When Esau and Isaac realized what happened they both cried hard. Esau pleaded with his father for a blessing of his own but there was only one blessing of promise. Isaac had inherited it from his father Abraham and he passed it along to Jacob. Esau was mad enough at his brother, Jacob, to kill him. He said he would do it too as soon as their father died. Rebekah was afraid for her favorite son. Besides that she couldn’t stand Esau’s wives. Apparently Esau liked his women a little on the trashy side. One wife was a Hittite and the other one was a Hivite. Rebekah told Isaac she’d just die if Jacob brought another woman like that into the family. So Isaac sent Jacob to Rebekah’s brother’s house to pick out one of his daughter’s to marry. A first cousin in other words.
(Anyone who argues for a literal interpretation of scripture and calls the bible an instruction book for life, remind them of this story. Even in the South, we don’t marry our first cousins, anything closer than third is unacceptable.)
So Jacob was on his way to Uncle Laban’s when we entered the story today. Now what Jacob did to his brother was about the most evil thing a man could ever do his brother in those days. He stole the blessing of God’s promise to Abraham. The promise of a people to call his own, a place to call his own and a purpose for his life. With God’s promise came protection, providence, and prosperity. All the favor of God was passed through the blessing and it was passed to the brother who got it through betrayal and deception.
With his mother’s help Jacob manipulated the blessing inherited through Abraham. Evil was in heart. He knew that. He knew what he had done to his brother and how bad it was. What he didn’t know, was the power of the blessing. Not until he fell asleep and saw angels ascending and descending from heaven and heard the voice of God make the promise to him. That God would give him the land on which he slept, descendants as plentiful as the dust of the earth and through him all the nations of the world would be blessed. The same promise God made to his grandfather, Abraham. Then God also promised to be with Jacob to protect him until the promise was fulfilled.
From then on Jacob carried the blessing within him. Right alongside the memory of the evil he committed toward his brother. The blessing of God remained with him even though he stole it. He didn’t deserve it but it was his for the rest of his life. Jacob had twelve sons who became the twelve tribes of
Jacob had a favorite son too, Joseph. His brothers were jealous that their father loved him best and they did him great evil – sold him into slavery. They were separated as a family for several years. But in the end Joseph forgave his brothers. The whole family was restored. Joseph told his brothers not to feel badly about what they had done to him. He said, "You meant it for evil. God meant it for good."
It was years and years ago that I discovered that piece of scripture. I can’t tell you how often I revisit those words. You meant it for evil. God meant it for good. Besides being a measuring tool to contemplate my own intentions and sins, those words open my eyes and humble me whenever I think about judging the motivations of others. God can make use of anything and anyone God chooses and mean it all for good.
In the parable of the wheat and weeds the servants weren’t allowed to pull up the weeds because they didn’t know the difference. Only the angels are fit to make that judgment. Once when the disciples referred to Jesus as "Good Teacher" he said, "Why do YOU call me good? No one is good except God alone." He meant you have to be good to see good in someone else. Both good and evil are in us (all of us) and you know what? I suspect that bothers us a whole lot more than it bothers God. If scripture tells us anything about the God we serve it’s that God can and does, use whatever God wants to accomplish God’s purposes even if it looks like a weed to us.
I have said that when I meet our Lord face to face I have only one question. Well, really two. First I want to know about ticks and chiggers. Are they a joke or an accident or what? But after that my one question will be "Did I get anything right or did I have it all wrong from the get go?" And I fully expect to hear, "No. You didn’t get anything right. But you’re mine. You belong to me and I love you. There’s a place card with your name on it at the banquet table."
"While we were still sinners," Paul said, "Christ died for us." While we were still evil we inherited the promise of God, the gift of eternal life. As children of God and heirs to the
