| Redeemer Lutheran Church 1084 W. Bullard Ave. Fresno, CA 93711 Phone: (559) 439-8500 Fax: (559) 439-8585 office@redeemerfresno.com The Reverend Clarence Eisberg Phone: (209) 725-9082 Cell: (209) 631-3108 pastor@redeemerfresno.com Worship ~ 8:30 a.m. & 10:00 a.m. Family Ministries ~ 10:00 a.m. Holy Communion ~ 2nd & 4th Sundays |
| Connecting People to Jesus and to One Another! www.lcms.org |
The Reverend Clarence Eisberg |
August 3, 2008 |
“Jacob: A Man Running From His Past” |
| Genesis 27:41-43;28:10 Today we continue to follow the descendants of Abraham and their journey with God. Human frailties and sinful behaviors are exposed, but God continues to act in grace and mercy. Abraham was the father of Isaac. Isaac was 40 years old when he married Rebekah. When Isaac was 60 Rebekah gave birth to twins, Esau and Jacob. They were as different as night and day. Esau was a hunter and Isaac’s favorite. Jacob was Rebekah’s favorite. The perfect storm boiled within the family. Genesis 27:35-45 Jacob cheats Esau out of his birth right as the first born son. He conspires with Rebekah to fool his father Isaac. He steals his brother’s blessing. When Isaac discovers the truth he is furious. He will not trust Jacob again. Esau has sworn revenge and makes plans to kill his brother Jacob. His plans are discovered by Rebekah who then helps Jacob plan his escape. Jacob runs. His life has fallen apart. His conniving, selfish behavior destroyed his family. He will never seek his mother again. He flees with no possessions. Rebekah sends Jacob 500 miles away to Haran to seek safety at the home of her brother Laban. Jacob is running from his sins, he can not escape. He thinks he is leaving his problems behind, but he is just taking his bad habits with him, transferring his problems to others. Kevin McHale, the legendary Boston Celtics basketball great, explained why troubles often follow many NBA players that discover new found wealth. “I don’t think basketball is the answer to all problems. If a guy comes into the league with a ton of problems, and they pay him half a million dollars, then he is a millionaire with a tone of problems.” (LA Times 1/3/93) Jacob made a bad name for himself. Your past always follows you. Everything we do follows us through life…and into death. People who think everything that they have done in this life disappears when they die are in for a shock. We will all stand before God. The bible tells us that “everyone has to die once, then face the consequences.”(The Message) With this behavior of deceit, cheating and lying, how was God to fulfill his promise to Abraham and his descendants? It is a fair question. But we have seen how God answered this problem before. “Adam and Eve were created by God free to obey or defy their Creator. In obedience they found life, joy and harmony. In disobedience they found destruction and death. Evil stalks the earth seeking to destroy God’s good creation. A world wide battle rages between the forces of God and Satan, between light and darkness, between good and evil. Every man, woman, boy and girl who lives or who has ever lived is caught in the crossfire.” God, acting out of love and grace works to save what he created. He seeks out Adam and Eve. He covers their sin. He forgives their sin through a blood sacrifice. He spares their lives. When Cain became jealous and sought to kill his brother Abel, God warned him. He did not listen. After he killed his brother, God in mercy spared his life. Centuries later, God sends a flood to destroy evil but spares Noah and his family. Jacob leaves Beersheba and begins his 500 mile trip to Haran. He travels about 70 miles. He’s running…in fear that his brother might be following. He has only the clothes on his back. He reached a certain place to stop for the night. He takes out a stone and uses it for a pillow. He cheated his brother, lied to his father. He is a deceiver and a manipulator…. He is alone in the dark. As Jacob falls asleep he must be wondering… “What have I done?” God works in mysterious ways. God is a God of grace. It has not changed since the Garden of Eden. He does not abandon his promise to Abraham and his descendants, but lest be honest, God has some work to do with Jacob. Genesis 28:10-11 (read) Rev. Victor Yap tells the following true story about his friend who is now serving as a seminary professor in Hong Kong. His friend actually converted to Christianity after attending the controversial movie, “Jesus Christ Superstar”. His friend wrote: “In September 1978, when I was in a very desperate and low state of mind, I went to the Ocean Theatre to watch a movie called “Jesus Christ Superstar”. The Spirit of God spoke to my heart through that movie! As I looked at the life of Jesus, I found that Jesus loved me very much.” In that moment, “I strongly felt that I was a sinner, Jesus still loved me and died for me on the cross. I still remember a shot showing Jesus’ painful look as he was hanging on the cross, but all of a sudden, Jesus prayed, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” I was cut to the heart by this prayer and tears came out as much as it could. I accepted Jesus’ love and forgiveness. He save me by this unusual means and through his unexpected incident.” In an unexpected and unusual manner God deliberately gave Jacob a dream. (Genesis 28:12-17) In an act of grace God literally through down a ladder and gave Jacob a vision of Heaven. He reaffirmed his covenant to Abraham and renews the promise to Jacob. God said: “I am with you, I will watch over you where ever you go.” It was an act of grace. Are we really that much different than Jacob? We all have the tendency to similar sins. The Bible tells us what we already know about ourselves. “All we like sheep have gone astray, we have each turned to our own way.” Eugene Petersen in his translation of the Bible called “The Message” writes Isaiah 53:6 this way: “We are all like sheep who have wandered off and gotten lost. We’ve all done out own thing, gone our own selfish way.” “All have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God”. Some would disagree with such strong words. They look around and say, “Compared to everybody else, Compared to Jacob, I’m a decent person.” Max Lucado in his book “He Chose the Nails” picks up that thought when he says: “You know a pig might say something similar. He might look at his trough partners and announce. “I’m just as clean as everyone else.” Compared to humans that pig needs help. Compared to God, we need help. The standard for sinlessness is not about comparisons on earth but at the throne of heaven. God is the standard. Jacob could not, nor can we ever attain God’s standard of holiness and perfection. You and I know that all of God’s commands are spiritual and meant for our good. I know the commandments but still I have no power to keep them. The reality of Satan and my sinful nature always sabotages my best intentions. I need help. The moment I try to do good, selfish behavior trips me up. I’m sure you can say the same. Like Jacob we find ourselves at the end of our rope. The apostle Paul wrote: “I decide to do good, but I don’t really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me everytime.” The answer is God himself in the person of Jesus Christ. During the time of Moses, God saved the lives of the children of Israel by having them put the blood of a lamb on the door posts of their homes. So Jesus offered himself on the wood of the cross as the perfect sacrifice. Jesus was the final solution for our sin. We have been restored to harmony and peace with God through the sacrifice of Jesus. Here is the human situation in a nutshell. Adam and Eve landed us in the dilemma we’re in….first sin, then death, and now no one is exempt from either sin or death. Just as one person, Adam did it wrong and brought sin and death to all, so also another person, Jesus, lived a perfect life and transferred his perfection to everyone who believes. John Newton the slave-trader turned hymn writer after his conversion, and author of the hymn “Amazing Grace” wrote: “Though I am not what I ought to be, nor what I wish to be, nor yet what I hope to be, I can truly say I am not what I once was, a slave to sin and Satan.” If you are running from your sins, like Jacob, you don’t have to run any more. God has good news. He is a God of grace, which means he gives us that which we do not deserve. God took Jacob in the condition in which he was, lost and without hope, and gave him a vision of Heaven. He promised to give to Jacob’s descendants the land on which he was lying. God promised to go with him and watch over him. Psalm 103:8 “The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding on love”. Remember those times you deceived others with words of half truth? Remember those times you used God’s name only when you cussed? Remember those promises…God, get me out of this, and I’ll never tell another lie”. “I’m done with temper tantrums, Lord,” If broken promises to God were lumber, we could build a subdivision. God is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in love” displayed at the cross. Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like Jacob, like me, like you. |
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