Scripture:
Genesis 32:22-31
2 Timothy 4:1-5
Preached 10/20/2013
No
time like Sunday morning for a pop quiz, right?
I’m going to give you a short description of a famous historical
person’s life. And your job is to tell
me who this person is. Really- I am
asking for congregational participation here, so don’t leave me hanging. I’ll give you the description of their life,
then you tell me who it is. Here’s the
description: At 22 years old, they
failed in business. At 23, they ran for
legislature, and were defeated. At 24,
they again failed in business. At 25, success! They were elected to legislature. But then tragically, at 26 their sweetheart
died, and then at 27 they had a nervous breakdown. In case you didn’t catch that hint, this was
a time they were still using the phrase “nervous breakdown.” Two years later, after their mental health
was in order again, they ran for Speaker, and were defeated. They ran for elector at 31, and lost that
election too. They ran for congress at 34,
and also lost that. Then, at 37 they
were elected to congress. However, they
were defeated for re-election two years later.
They ran and were defeated for senate twice, at 46 and 49. And, in between those unsuccessful senate
bids, at 47, they were also defeated for vice president.
So- who is this person? It’s Abraham Lincoln. All that
struggle, defeat, and even what most people see as failure, are part of the
life story of the man that led this country through war, fracture, and
re-union, arguably the most difficult time it has ever faced, and arguably one
of the leaders this country has ever had.
It seems strange that a man we view
as so successful, so great, has so much we don’t consider great in his life
story. After all, we live in a culture
that is increasingly focused on getting what you want when you want it, which
is of course, now. I recently heard a story on NPR in which
scientists studied young children, struggling with a math problem. After 30 seconds, most children had
quit. Of course, it isn’t just children
who dislike struggle. Weight loss
companies make millions, even billions of dollars a year selling pills, powers,
and shakes that promise to take the struggle out of slimming down.
This desire for ease and distaste
for struggle isn’t a problem unique to our culture though. Even in the 2nd Timothy reading, we hear
about the same thing. As the letter puts
it “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.” I doubt very highly that
that statement would have made it into the letter if the desire for hearing
only what we want to hear, or having what we want to have how we want to have
it, weren’t already occurring. It seems
like it’s almost human nature to think that what is easy must be good and
right. And, as a counterpart, struggle,
or anything that’s hard, must be wrong or bad.
Except, of course, we all know that
isn’t true. Struggling doesn’t mean
anything is wrong. Struggling itself
isn’t wrong or bad. Struggling is how we
learn to walk, and talk, and take care of ourselves. It’s how we learn to read and write, and how
we really acquire and new skills. And,
as our scripture reading this morning reminds us, struggling can actually be
very right, very powerful, and very sacred.
I absolutely love the way the author
of our Genesis text takes pains to set the scene for the sacred struggle
between Jacob and God that we read. This
story is actually a sudden break in the narrative that’s been happening in
Genesis, so our attention is already alerted.
Jacob is heading to see Esau. The
last time Jacob and Esau were together, it didn’t go well—Esau cursed Jacob for
taking his inheritance. So, there’s an
air of fear hanging over the story as the two are set to meet again. And it’s night time. And Jacob is dramatically alone, by the side
of a river, an ancient symbol of chaos and change. And then suddenly, with no warning, we have a
stranger appear and start wresting, struggling with Jacob. And the struggle continues all night long,
with no winner prevailing.
And though I don’t think any of us
have physically fought with a stranger for hours and hours on end, we do know
struggle. We struggle in our personal
lives as we learn to be in relationship with others, and with ourselves. We struggle to adjust as we adapt to the
changing world around us. We struggle as
a congregation to figure out what it means to be faithful to Christ and yet
relevant to the community around us. I
don’t think I need to go too in depth here, because the reality is that each
and every one of us knows what it’s like to struggle. We have all gone through difficult struggles,
as individuals, and as part of a community.
I’ll admit that I’m a fixer at
heart. I love to make things
better. And part of me really, really
wanted to offer you some words this morning that would make all of your, and
all of our, struggles simple go away, or at least get easier. I wanted to say that faith in God would make
all our struggles go away, or at least get easier. But in being faithful to our scripture, I can’t
do that. As the 2nd Timothy
text puts it, that would be turning away from listening to the truth and wandering
away to myths. And in truth, Jacob’s
struggle wasn’t easy. I can’t even
imagine how tired he must have been, traveling all day, worried about what
would happen when he met his brother, then up all night fighting with some
strange, strong being. And God didn’t
make Jacob’s struggle easier. In fact,
being engaged with God is what got Jacob into the struggle in the first
place. And our journeys won’t be easy
either. As we seek to faithfully follow
God in this world we will keep coming across struggles too.
So while I can’t say anything to get
rid of the struggles, what I can do is point us back at the scripture for some
valuable wisdom as we go through those inevitable struggles. Our 2nd Timothy text gives says
this: “Proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favorable or
unfavorable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in
teaching. . . always be sober, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist,
carry out your ministry fully.” And,
just as a note since the word “sober” probably caught your attention and can be
confusing. The Greek word—“Nay-pho” in
the original text is referring to what we would say is figurative sobriety—not
alcohol related. It means to be free
from confusion and excess, and could also be translated as “have self control”,
be “clear-headed,” or “keep your balance.” So, if you want to have a glass of
wine, our text doesn’t have a problem with that.
What it does have a problem with is
giving up, or getting all bent out of shape about struggle. Struggle just is. It’s an inevitable part of everyone’s life,
and it’s an inevitable part of our faith life.
So instead of giving up or freaking out, our texts tell us to just carry
on. And to keep going with our
ministry—proclaiming the Gospel, teaching, and encouraging one another, and
everyone we encounter. We will struggle,
but with the Good News of the Gospel—that Jesus struggled just as we struggle,
and Jesus struggled even to the point of death, and still, God triumphed
through him and his struggles—with that good news, and its teachings and
encouragement, we will make it through our struggles.
But it’s even better than just being
able to make it through. Jacob insisted
that God bless him before the struggle was over. And God did indeed bless Jacob. And that blessing that Jacob received wasn’t
just for him. God changed his name to
Israel, “one who struggles with God.”
That name, Israel came to represent a whole group of people who
continued to struggle with God. And we,
as Christians, claim our faith heritage from this group of God strugglers. That blessing that God gave Jacob is for us
too. We will struggle. And we will not be alone. We have a whole faith community around us,
and most importantly, we have God struggling with us. And God will not let us go until she blesses
us. Through all our struggles, God will
somehow find a way to impart blessing upon us.
A little disclaimer here: I don’t
want everyone to go out and attempt to struggle and suffer. But you will encounter struggle. So no matter how long the struggle is, or how
bone tired you might be, remember this.
God is with you. God will
bless you through your struggle. It
was through struggle that Jacob became Israel, conquered fear, and lived into
his full potential as our ancestor in faith.
It was through the struggle even to the point of death that Jesus became
our risen Lord and Savior. It was even
though struggle that Abraham Lincoln was able to become president.
And though struggle we, too, will find
victory. We will become more than we
were before. And most importantly, we
will surely encounter God and God’s blessings for us. Our path to God’s promised blessing isn’t
easy. But with prayer, with faith, and
with a lot of encouragement and persistence we will make it through. God will not let us go without a
blessing.
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