I'm speaking on the story of Jacob this weekend and am having a bit of trouble trying to figure out where to go with it. This year Doug and I are trying to work through a majority of scripture looking through the lens of God's call in Micah 6:8 to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with God. Our desire is to talk through how the people of God have done this well, failed miserably, or been challenged by God in a new way. We hope to connect the story of God into our story so that we can learn, grow and understand that we are a part of God's story.
So back to my question. Do you feel that only focusing on the reconcilliation part of the story of Jacob misses out on the bigger story of God choosing Jacob to be the one to carry on the promise of Abraham? I've read quite a bit the past couple of days on Jacob and I want to make sure that I do his story justice. Any thoughts?
This is a fun story to look at and think about. There are so many things happening in the life of Jacob that you could have many directions in which to go.
ReplyDeleteA direction that you might take could be the idea that jacob, through his entire life, struggled to "do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with God." He was the one who was always tricking people. He manipulated anyone and everyone he could. He said he was his brother Esau, he tried to trick his father-in-law out of cows, he was tricked by his father-in-law who gave him the daughter he didn't want etc. His story is filled with ways in which he was trying to be someone else or cheat someone out of something.
When he wrestles with the messenger from God or the angel of the Lord, he says enough is enough and for the first time says he is himself. No tricking or maniuplating, i am Jacob. It is at this point that God is then able to do something with his life. It is then that he is ready to be the agent of change in the world that God created him to be. It is then that he is ready to stop being the "tickester" and ready to "do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with God." You could actually do a message on being who God has created us to be and when we do that, we can be about the things that God wants us to be about.
Much of this comes from a Jewish Rabbi named Laurence Kushner in his book "God was in this Place and I, I didn't Know". It is quite good. Rob Bell uses alot of this information in some of his teachings.
I hope this helps. If I think of any more angles, I will post them.
Grace and Peace!
Sleep, I like where your head is at! This is actually where I was thinking about going but you've articulated it in a clearer way that I have to this point. It seems the more that I've studied the more commentaries are talking about the correlation of Israel the man to Israel the people. How the story of the man alludes to the story of the people. Stories about being in the promised land then leaving and then coming back but only on God's terms, etc. Pass along anything else you may think of.
ReplyDeleteJ-Rod,
ReplyDeleteJust to tag on to your's and Jeremy's thoughts - remember that God can and does call everyone to justice, mercy, and humbleness. Even the unjust, merciful, arrogant tricksters like Jacob.
(and if that doesn't work, you can always choose to have share time...)
TJ
Oh how I love me some share time with teens. Thanks for the input. I appreciate it!
ReplyDeleteShare time was the highlight of my junior high years...I'm more well rounded because of it.
ReplyDeleteThis is going to sound crazy, but thankfully it will take some time for your new blog to become insanely popular, so I'm figuring only a select few will think I'm an idiot.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking of the scene in Forrest Gump when Leut. Dan rides high on the shrimp boat during the massive storm and takes God on. Gump later says, "He made his peace with God."
I suspect that Jacob's character flaws were somewhat shaped by the failings of others (his dear mom) and somewhat innate, but God could see the heart - the potential to use all that misdirected stuff for good. Jacob had not so latent skills (they were obvious already) - they were just used for the wrong things. His wrestling with God could simply have been a function of His personality - the way that he, Jacob, was going to finally understand.
In other words, God does not completely change who we are - He works within our limits and understanding to shape us for His purposes -which of course, is to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with Him.
I often suspect that teenagers and young adults are discouraged by the "long way they have to go" to please God. You know, the Friday night personality vs. the Sunday morning one? God is not expecting either - one is rebellious, the other inauthentic - God wants to bring us to the middle - imperfect and genuinely connected to Him.
Very nice Wendy. I think your last point corresponds to what Jeremy was saying about how Jacob owned up to who he was. I have always loved your illustration of friday night vs Sunday morning and it is very relevant here. Thanks as always.
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