Wrestling with the Blessed

Message Title: Wrestling with the Blessed
Theme: Made to Be
Season: Ordinary Time
Main Text: Genesis 32:22-31
Scripture Reading: Matthew 14:13-21
RCL Scripture: Genesis 32:22-31; Psalm 17:1-7, 15; Isaiah 55:1-5; Psalm 145:8-9, 14-21; Romans 9:1-5; Matthew 14:13-21
Focus: Jacob is blessed and his name is changed to Israel.
Function:  To claim our new name, break generational curses, and start a new life.
Other Notes: COMMUNION SUNDAY

SCRIPTURE READING: Matthew 14:13-21 ¹³ When Jesus heard about John, he withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by himself. When the crowds learned this, they followed him on foot from the cities. ¹⁴ When Jesus arrived and saw a large crowd, he had compassion for them and healed those who were sick. ¹⁵ That evening his disciples came and said to him, “This is an isolated place and it’s getting late. Send the crowds away so they can go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” ¹⁶ But Jesus said to them, “There’s no need to send them away. You give them something to eat.” ¹⁷ They replied, “We have nothing here except five loaves of bread and two fish.” ¹⁸ He said, “Bring them here to me.” ¹⁹ He ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. He took the five loaves of bread and the two fish, looked up to heaven, blessed them and broke the loaves apart and gave them to his disciples. Then the disciples gave them to the crowds. ²⁰ Everyone ate until they were full, and they filled twelve baskets with the leftovers. ²¹ About five thousand men plus women and children had eaten.

INTRODUCTION:

1. AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT: Are you good at waiting? If you knew a surprise was coming, would you try to figure it out or would you wait in ignorance until the surprise came? (Peeking at Xmas presents)
2. Story about – Anticipating going to Disney world and not being able to sleep.
   1. ASSIDE: Now Florida has Leprosy & travel is discouraged to their state.
      1. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/8/2/why-are-leprosy-cases-surging-in-us-state-of
      1. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/leprosy-endemic-central-florida-cdc-what-to-know-disease/
      1. https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/leprosy-in-florida-how-do-you-know-if-you-have-the-infection

TRANSITION:  Jacob is waiting, how does he wait for the bad thing?

MAIN TEXT: Genesis 32:22-31 ²² Jacob got up during the night, took his two wives, his two women servants, and his eleven sons, and crossed the Jabbok River’s shallow water. ²³ He took them and everything that belonged to him, and he helped them cross the river. ²⁴ But Jacob stayed apart by himself, and a man wrestled with him until dawn broke. ²⁵ When the man saw that he couldn’t defeat Jacob, he grabbed Jacob’s thigh and tore a muscle in Jacob’s thigh as he wrestled with him. ²⁶ The man said, “Let me go because the dawn is breaking.” But Jacob said, “I won’t let you go until you bless me.” ²⁷ He said to Jacob, “What’s your name?” and he said, “Jacob.” ²⁸ Then he said, “Your name won’t be Jacob any longer, but Israel,^[c] because you struggled with God and with men and won.” ²⁹ Jacob also asked and said, “Tell me your name.” But he said, “Why do you ask for my name?” and he blessed Jacob there. ³⁰ Jacob named the place Peniel,^[d] “because I’ve seen God face-to-face, and my life has been saved.” ³¹ The sun rose as Jacob passed Penuel, limping because of his thigh. 

EXPLAINATION:

1. Context:
   1. Last week Jay spoke! And he did an amazing job. Thank you for taking the stage when I couldn’t leave the bathroom.
   1. Jacob married Leah & Rachel and has had 11 sons (unknown how many daughters) through these women and their two servants.
   1. If you remember, Jacob left his home because of a rivalry he created between him and his brother Esau. Jacob is now returning home with his household.
      1. In preparation for this reunion, Jacob has been sending his brother gifts. (Sweetening the deal?)
2. On the eve of this reunion, Jacob is reasonably restless. He walks along the river, meets an unnamed man, and wrestles him.
   1. We get no context to who this man is or why they are wrestling.
   1. All we get is a hint from Jacob’s new name and the man’s words “you’ve wrestled God and man and won.”
   1. We assume this means that Jacob wrestled God, even though the text doesn’t explicitly say as such.

INTERPRETATION:

1. Throughout this study in Genesis, we’ve been considering who God made us to be. A few weeks ago, we talked about the fact that God uses us and others regardless of our qualifications. Now our text states Jacob has wrestled not only man but God as well … and WON.
   1. Jacob won against God?!?!?!
   1. Does this make anyone else uncomfortable?
      • “Gen 32 needs to be taken as a whole with its theophany (vv.1-2), prayer for deliverance (vv.9-12) and encounter with God (vv.24-31).”
2. Jacob is wrestling with his past. Jacob is coming home, looking for his future. Jacob is attempting to mend a relationship that he destroyed.
3. AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT: What do you do when you are waiting for something difficult to pass?
   1. PERSONAL CONNECTION: I cannot count the number of times I have wrestled with God in prayer and in planning as I anticipate a difficult event to come.
   • “Give it to God” …. Yeah, yeah, yeah… except WOOPS! That thing I gave to God is back in my hands again…
   • Scripture reading – what man thinks we can do vs what God thinks

APPLICATION: “What if we imagine, Working Preacher, that church is a place we can come to each week and bring all our other names with us, confessing them honestly and then leaving them behind, departing the assembly simply as Christians, those who bear the name of Christ and armed with the love, commitment, and courage of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of Israel, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Power of Names by David Lose)

• Jacob is changing his name and changing his narrative. Now, to be honest… he still isn’t a perfect guy. He clearly plays favorites with his children and that leads to terrible things BUT God changes Jacob’s name and sets him on a different path.
• To live is an invitation to wrestle – to exist is an opportunity to change our story, to change our name.
  1. We are not the name others give us; we are the name God gives us.
  1. We have a chance to change our names and invite others into this same fate.
• I invite you to reflect on the names you’ve been called. Reflect on the names you have given yourself (kind or unkind). I invite you to break the names of the past and start new:
  1. Fight Generational “demons,” Living sober, breaking toxic relationship habits

CONCLUSION: define my future, redeem my past, change my name.

COMMUNION: Lord’s table, God’s name, & our Redeemed name