This morning’s passage from the book of Genesis continues the story of Jacob, who left home and has been on the run for some 20 years. He ran away after tricking his eldest brother, Esau, out of his father’s blessing and birthright. Life has gone pretty well for him during this time away. He has wives and offspring, servants and huge flocks of animals. But after the birth of his 11th son, Joseph (who would become the coat-of-many-colors-Joseph and advisor to the Pharaoh) Jacob begins to think about a homecoming. But in order to do this he needs to deal with his brother, Esau. He wishes for a reconciliation, but still fears him. Upon hearing that his brother is approaching with 400 men, he does a lot of praying and sends ahead a large peace offering from his flocks to try to make amends and appease Esau. And after sending his family and possessions ahead, he spends the night alone camped beside the River Jabbok. Burdened with old guilt and his fears of Esau, it’s not surprising that he has a restless night, haunted by the past. This primitive story speaks of him wrestling with a stranger and refusing to let go until he is blessed. He concludes from this experience with the stranger that he has striven with God. He says, "I have seen God face to face." If you read on, the next chapter relates how the next day, instead of a confrontation, Esau sees Jacob and runs to meet him, embracing and kissing him, and they weep together. Jacob begs his brother’s favor, offers him the flocks, and says, "to see your face is like seeing the face of God." All of Jacob’s planning and precautions have been unnecessary. What we have here is a story of transformation and reconciliation – the transformation from cleverness and deception, and relying on one’s own wits, to one who now faces himself and his past, and his illusions of independence, and is aware of his need to be back in relationship. It’s a story about being humbled and recognizing one’s vulnerability and dependence, and one’s inability to walk in the same way anymore. Jacob struggles until he is blessed, and he is given a new name and a promised future. And he would go on to be honored as one of the revered ancestors – Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This story is saying something about meeting God in the stranger, having to face ourselves and the other, and those things we wish to avoid. It’s also about the potential blessings we experience through such encounters, if we don’t evade and hold back. And it’s about finding peace and being brought back into relationship. Well, this is quite a summer for us. Meg called my attention to the fact that by summer’s end, it will have been for us a "Four Weddings and a Funeral" summer. But, we did have some time away, camping in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park. It was hot and humid there as well. Another camper remarked that camping is the only time it makes any sense to sit by a campfire in 90 degree heat and high humidity! This story about Jacob at the river Jabbok brings to mind our campsite in a lush setting by the rushing water of Big Creek. The rushing water sounds wonderful and can contribute to a restful night’s sleep. I had some of that. However, I don’t know about you, but when I’m on vacation in self-imposed exile from my normal busy life, I find myself thinking and dreaming a lot at night, conjuring up things from the past – some pleasant reminiscing, but also some things that aren’t so comfortable to dredge up and recall. Now, you can just dismiss these unpleasant night thoughts as "nocturnal demons" or pay attention to them as conscience or the voice of God calling attention to something important that you need to acknowledge about yourself. The unpleasant thoughts usually have to do with being dishonest, negligent or hurtful in the past. This is humbling, but also instructive, awakening our conscience and helping us to be more self-aware and intentional about living differently. I have to say that at this stage of my life, I’m able to look back with a bit more honesty about such things in the past. And there’s a blessing to be had in coming to terms with ourselves in this way, moving beyond denial and pretense, into more openness and into being more understanding and forgiving of others. In addition to wrestling with angels, Meg and I had a special experience of meeting the stranger. We met a couple and their 5-year-old child, Joseph, in the next campsite. The parents kept to themselves, but we were quite charmed by their precocious child as he chattered away and ventured beyond their site. There’s something about being grandparents now - we just can’t help ourselves. We take such delight in children whenever we encounter them! After Meg had engaged him a bit, this 5-year-old says to her, "Now tell me about yourself!" It’s been said, "a little child shall lead them." Well, before long we were visiting and talking to his parents. These were folk who lived a short distance from there, getting by on very little and also living next to a river polluted by dioxin being dumped by a paper mill upriver. They are hoping to move because the cancer rate is so high in that community. In not holding back, we all experienced the blessings that can come in encountering the stranger. We met folk from Appalachia, and they met us, folk from Washington with our color-coordinated, state-of-the-art camping equipment. We were all stretched and led beyond our differences and preconceptions into the blessings of relationship. And I think we were seeing the face of God in one another. And I think God was also reminding us of the pressing environmental problems many people are facing, most often the poor. In the Gospel passage this morning we read the miracle story of feeding the 5000. Actually, the scripture says, "five thousand men, besides women and children." So if we go beyond the gender bias of this patriarchal time, the crowd would have totaled thousands more. Matthew writes that Jesus has just been brought word of John the Baptist’s death and he goes off to be alone, but the crowd follows him. He’s moved with compassion and continues to heal the sick. When evening came his disciples wanted him to send the crowd away, but Jesus did not want to send them away hungry. He tells his disciples to do something about it. They claim they have only a little, but he blesses what they have gathered and all were fed. Some Internet humor has suggested that Jesus could have been a woman, because he had to feed a crowd at a moment’s notice when there was no food! Well, however we might try to explain the miracle aspect of this story, there are more important messages here. One is the importance of food and of eating together where all are included. This will become for his followers one of the most important ways of remembering him and celebrating their life together, just as we did in communion this morning. Another message in the story is the importance of sharing what we have, both materially and spiritually, and not holding back. Jesus says to his disciples, "do something about this." The problems and needs in our world are great, and we wonder how much we really can do. But actually, the bounty is great, it’s the distribution that’s the problem. This story suggests that there really is enough food for all, and as followers of Jesus we are called to care and act so that all may be fed. And it’s amazing what we are able to do together. So, Jacob meets God face to face in the stranger and sees the face of God in his brother. Jesus sees the face of God in the hungry faces of those gathered, and they see the face of God in him. And the message for us this morning is that when others reach out to us, and we reach out to others, we see the face of God. The possibility of blessing is in the reaching out. It’s in holding back that we miss the blessing of connection and of giving and receiving. As Christians we believe that love is what changes the way life is experienced and perceived, bringing transformation and reconciliation. So, let us continue to be a community of love and transformation by reaching out and seeing the face of God in one another and in our neighbor and in the stranger. Amen. |
