Where is God in my life? Jacob's discovery

You were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient. All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else. But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ "by grace you have been saved" and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God-- not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.

John 1
And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth. From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

Where is God? This is the main focus of our three week series. Last week- where is God in the world and this week- where is God in my life- next week the focus is where is God in my suffering.

Last week we entered into the lives of Adam and Eve discovered that it was Adam and Eve that hid from God- that their lack of trust separated them from God and that it is God who continues to reach out to us. The picture of the two fingers on the front of your bulletin from Michelangelo’s God and Adam painting on the Sistine Chapel- helped us see that God is the one reaching our to us. The promise- I will be with you is central to scripture- true then and as true today for us. The story of Scripture is not about God’s people desire to be with God, but rather God’s desire to be with his creation- his children. It is the reason for courage: Fear not- for the Lord God will be with you wherever you go. It keeps us going in our darkest hour: Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me.

Today we go back to Genesis, this time entering Jacob's life to see: where is God in my life? Jacob was a twin- his older brother named Esau- they were far from being identical. They did not look like each other- but were linked by a great struggle. Their father Isaac was their link to God’s blessing that Jacob so desperately wanted. The problem was that everyone assumed this blessing would go to Esau, the firstborn...

From Genesis 25 - Jacob’s birth and the beginning of the race
When her time to give birth was at hand, there were twins in her womb. The first came out red, all his body like a hairy mantle; so they named him Esau. Afterward his brother came out, with his hand gripping Esau's heel; so he was named Jacob.

Jacob’s name means striver or hustler. He had so much drive and ambition that he could have been the poster child for the American dream- even grabbing for Esau’s heel leaving the womb, trying desperately to get ahead. Like Jacob, we are a nation of wannabes. We want to be successful and respected. We want to be loved and cared for and maybe even happy. We know that we will only get one shot at life, and we are determined to get it right. maybe rather than Where is God in the world- the question should be WHO or WHAT is God in the world? We put our faith in different things, we join the race to the top, but most of us are trying really hard to get to that elusive place where life will finally be good enough.

Some of us are logging in massive hours at work each week, hoping that the boss will stop by and say- great job! To get that affirmation we cope with meetings that drag on forever, appointments with people who need to see us right away, computers that crash, phones that never stop ringing... at the end of these long days we have little time or energy for those closest to us- our spouses or children, our aging parents, close friends. And the pace is no different at home. Kids have sports schedules, piano lessons, school and after school activities and more. On top of that- we yearn to be close to God- so we go to church, volunteer for VBS, Valley Outreach and take our turn at ushering or reading or greeting.

We work so hard at life. Most of us spend year after year chasing after better jobs, better homes, better relationships, even better spirituality. We want it all and we want it now. But we still can't seem to get life right. Every day we face the haunting doubt that we have not done enough. "I should try harder- I should try something else. I should be someone else". We edge God out of our lives- our EGO takes over. Jacob would have understood our dilemma because like us, the ancient patriarch spent most of his life trying to grab what he could only receive as a gift from God. He even changed his identity to receive his father’s blessing:

From Genesis 27- Jacob’s deception
So Jacob went in to his father, and said, "My father"; and Isaac said, "Here I am; who are you, my son?" Jacob said to his father, "I am Esau your firstborn...

Jacob’s life is our life... head down, full speed ahead- like the picture on the front of our bulletin today- not even aware that God is present in our every day lives- how could we know- we’re too busy! To illustrate today- a movie clip from Bruce Almighty. Bruce Nolan, played by Jim Carrey, has been fighting his way to the top, trying to be someone he is not- trying to be Evan. Bruce has just received his pink slip, fired, Evan has won. He returns home to his friend Grace. He is angry at God, blames God... thinks that God is absent.

(Bruce Almighty clip: 19.15- 21.24)

Send me a sign...I believe there is a deeper motivation to our striving. It has not so much to do with beating out Esau (or for Bruce, Evan)- at the core it is about getting God’s blessing... earning it, but what we keep forgetting is that God has promised to give it to us- and God has always been a promise keeper: For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God -- not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, -

One day we just might wake up to the realization that we have been ignoring God’s blessings, perhaps too busy and ran right by the blessing. Consider this: A woman sits beside a bed, stroking the hair of her dying mother who has fallen into a deep coma. Things have not been good between them for a long time. She meant to work on that. But there was her demanding career, her own children to raise, and so many pressing appointments. Now she would give the world if only her dying mother could hear her say- I love you mom- but it is too late.

Or this: A young man cradles his newborn daughter. he remembers how hard his own life was and swears that this kid will never be in need. So he throws himself into his work. As the years pass by he loses count of how many piano recitals and soccer games he missed. Then one day he finds himself driving her to college. He can’t believe it. He wonders where the time went. He wonders how the child grew up so fast. He hardly knows her and he wonders how he forgot to give her the most important thing- himself. Now she is gone.

These are not uncaring people. They are good people who are driven to get the life of their dreams- heads down, pressing forward- looking to earn God’s grace. Not unlike the people shown on the front of your bulletin. Unaware that God is yearning to be with them if they would only stop, pause... be aware.

The good news is that it doesn’t have to be this way. It is possible to enjoy every day as a blessing, a gift... but most of us are too afraid of mystery and too busy to find it in ordinary places. We are so obsessed with what we do not have, that we can’t see the value of what we have been given. You see, the blessings from God are most often hidden in very plain packages. They come wrapped in things like a picnic dinner shared with a friend, sitting with a child reading a book, a face to face conversation with a friend, sharing joys, hurts and hangups.

To be blessed is to discover that God cherishes us more deeply than we do ourselves. This love is so strange and overwhelming that it transforms our lives. It leaves us not as different people, but as our true selves- unconditionally loved by a God who has eyes only for us- the real us, stripped naked- as Adam and Eve were before the bite of the fruit.

For Jacob his life was a roller coaster- fast paced filled with ups and downs, twists and turns. He comes to a low point in his life. He is frightened, discouraged, and has lost everything that he spent years collecting- his wealth, home, job, even his family. He is tired of running. He ran away from his angry brother- and now returns knowing that Esau want to kill him. Jacob is all alone. Esau and 400 men are thundering toward him. He is alone for what he fears to be his last night alive. In the darkest part of the night, a man comes to Jacob and they wrestle. The struggle is intense and long- a lifetime of frustration finally erupted from the schemer. At daylight, Jacob finds that he has been wrestling God:

From Genesis 32- Jacob wrestles with God and lives
Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket; and Jacob's hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, "Let me go, for the day is breaking." But Jacob said, "I will not let you go, unless you bless me." So he said to him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Jacob." Then the man said, "You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans, and have prevailed." Then Jacob asked him, "Please tell me your name." But he said, "Why is it that you ask my name?" And there he blessed him. So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, "For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved." The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip.

The fight- a symbol of Jacob’s life. He has actually been wrestling with God for a long, long time. His struggle with love and work were caused not by outside things or other people- and they won’t be solved by them either- but by a struggle with himself, and he will never get that resolved until his struggle with God is over. This night, Jacob finally gets to the core issue- he wrestles with God- a God who only wants to give him grace.

This struggle is not a sign of Jacob’s lack of faith, nor ours. This is the struggle of a man who believes in God’s promise but who can’t see how it is going to happen. If Jacob had no faith, he would simply accept life as a haphazard collection of injustices. But Jacob takes God far too seriously for that. He struggles to live one more day with the contradictions between how life is and his faith. He can’t fix it on his own- he has tried that- like we all do. This night, on this dark night all he can do is grab hold of God and not let go. The man says, Let me go, for the day is breaking- but Jacob replies- I will not let go unless you bless me. This is prayer, pure and simple... and from the heart.

We re-enter Bruce’s life as he is calling out to God in the middle of his dark night. God is played by Morgan Freeman.
Bruce Almighty clip: (beg scene 18)1.25.18- 1.29.16)

In the course of this struggle with God, Jacob’s hip is thrown out of its socket. What could be worse for a hustler like Jacob than to be too crippled to run through life? Wrestling with God is serious business, and the chances are that you could get hurt- or changed- it now will be very difficult for Jacob to continue his life as a hustler. This stands in contrast to our expectation that God will make us whole and complete, perfect. There is nothing in the Bible that says we will have perfect lives here on earth if we only call on God... the promise of Scripture is that I will not forsake you- not ever... This will be explored more next week- Where is God in my suffering.

Even Bruce comes out of his divine encounter with a few broken bones- scarred, yes, but blessed for he has seen God and lived. Blessed... blessed beyond measure when we can have our eyes opened and see the grace and bunches of blessings just waiting for us.

Look up people, look up -- God is closer than you think. Amen.