Sermon Notes - July 31st
July 31, 2005
“I Have Seen God Face to Face”
Genesis 32:22-31
1. Well, what I want to talk about this morning is dreams.
--- Dreams and God.
My Great Aunt, the grade school teacher who started me off on my
religious life at an early age … believed that dreams were very
important and that they could hold the key to future events.
Where she got this idea I don’t know. Was she just superstitious? Or did she get it from the Bible? For certainly the Bible is full of stories about people having dreams … such as Joseph being warned in a dream to take Mary and Jesus to Egypt to escape King Herod.
And today’s story about Jacob wrestling with God … is also about
a dream … a powerful dream … and is one of the most famous
stories in the Bible.
2. As I grew up and throughout most of my life … I have tried to take
dreams seriously … not that I remember most of them … in fact I
remember very few … because most of the time they happen while I
am sleeping … and it is only at that very moment I wake up that I
remember them … and if I don’t commit them to my
conscious brain … I forget right away.
Why is that? I am not sure. But it seems that dreams belong to the so called “unconscious” … part of the brain … and not much is known about it except that it is there.
Now my great aunt … as far as I know … had never read about Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung and other psychoanalysts and their theories about dreaming and the unconscious. But, as I later discovered, she was definitely on to something in her own rather strange and spooky way. I remember this very well … and I also remember that she was probably the most spiritually Christian person I have ever known … for she always had a tremendous sense of God’s presence right here in this world – right now.
And one of the ways she believed God communicated with us is through dreams. Which was also the way people believed in things when the Bible was written.
This understanding of dreams, unfortunately, has been dismissed in modern times by a great many people … and by the church as well … pretty much … so, when I eventually came to read about Freud and Jung I was naturally very interested in what they had to say about dreams … because I somehow could not bring myself to believe that dreams are just accidental and have no purpose in life. “Dreams must be for some reasons …” I thought. So I began to study theories of about dreams and also to try to analyze my own dreams just as these men had done.
However, I was disappointed to find out that, for the most part, despite their profound discoveries … these men no longer believed in God. This would not do for me. So, back in the 1980’s I discovered two Episcopalian ministers, John Sanford and Morton Kelsey who managed to put together a Biblically sound understanding of God and at the same time incorporated dream theory into their religious understanding. I read many of their books, listen to their tapes and actually attended some of their lectures and conferences. But, until recently, they have not been widely understood. Although, I did notice, last week, that there were several seminary classes at the summer school I attended last week which were on dreams. So, maybe, people are starting to pay attention.
Now, the main reason, it seems, that we have tended to discount the importance of dreams is because many people believe they are just fantasies and are irrational.
3. And, of course, they are irrational. But, then, who said life is all rational? And, as I shall point out this morning … while they may seem like fantasies … dreams actually point to very deep truths in our lives … and I have from time to time done dream interpretations for people I know … which actually seem to prove it. However, since dreams are very personal, I don’t like to talk about other people’s dreams too much and besides, just like our religious faith itself – dreams often make sense only to the person themself – that just the way it works – I think. For dreams are very personal – just like our relationship with God.
Also, at the bottom of our need to understand dreams, is its importance for our understanding of that most misunderstood book – The Bible.
For, it seems as though we have become a nation where one group of people think that only they have the correct and literal and fundamentalist interpretation of the Bible and the other side are those who think the Bible is mostly hogwash. Or, as someone said recently, regarding the Bible, one group gets it wrong and the other group “doesn’t get it.” This is not good.
So, my point is to try to get you to understand that while the Bible is not to be taken literally on the one hand … we should, on the other hand, begin to take it seriously … because it is, after all the record of the origin of our understanding of God … and it is the beginning of God’s revelation to us of his presence and concern for us as human beings beginning all the way back to Abraham and culminating with Jesus and St. Paul.
4. So, let us take a look at the great story of Jacob … and his encounter with God in a strange and powerful dream.
And I owe some of this interpretation to the writings of John Sanford … in his book “The Man Who Wrestled With God.” And appropriate title, for, as we shall see, in the Genesis story after Jacob’s encounter with God, his name is changed from Jacob to Israel. And Israel means “He who wrestles with God.” That’s what it means!
Have you ever wrestled with God? Have you ever struggled to understand God’s purpose for your life or the meaning some event or illness in your life? Have you ever felt like your prayers were more like an argument or like you were pleading your case?]
I think we all have had that experience in one way or another. So, I think we will find that Jacob’s story is not all that unusual even if it may seem so at first glance.
First of all, then, a quick overview … for those who have forgotten the story …
Now, if you remember my sermon back in June about Abraham and his two sons Isaac and Ishmael you will remember that it resulted in a great conflict between his two wives Hagar and Sarah and ended by Ishmael and Hagar being banished into the desert where Ishmael went on to become the ancestor of Mohammed the founder of Islam … well this is another story about two sons and the trouble it can cause when it comes to who will inherit the birth right.
What happened is that Abraham’s son Isaac married Rebecca and they had two sons … but they were un-identical twins. The oldest, the first to be born was Esau and the second was Isaac.
They could not have been more different. Esau was big and strong and a hunter. Esau was a practical person but not a deep thinker. He was good natured and confident but he was also impulsive and rash.
Jacob, on the other hand, was quiet and intelligent and very clever but not physically strong like his brother. Jacob was much more like his mother who was also smart and a very spiritual person --- unlike her husband Isaac, who was a pretty ordinary everyday kind of guy. In fact, you get the feeling that Rebecca was the real brains in the family. So, naturally, she liked Jacob better than Esau -- who was more like his father. Also, Jacob, being like his mother, tended to stay home and help around the house. Do you get the picture?
5. Well, now the rules in those days were that the oldest son would inherit the father’s property and be the head of the family. Was this a good idea? Who knows? But that was the way it was. As we all know, you have to have rules in society otherwise there is chaos and in the case of inheritances there can be all kind of fighting going on – which is why we have wills and things like that even today.
In fact, fighting over money and inheritances is as common today as it was in the Bible. And, yet, sometimes the rules which apply fairly to most cases aren’t always the best in every situation. Isn’t that true.
Now, in ordinary circumstances, this would be no problem … but for the Israelites this was no ordinary inheritance … because it concerned the passing down of God’s promise from Abraham.
So, what happened in this case was that the younger son, Jacob, turned out to be the brighter and the best leader … but because pf the rules the inheritance was supposed to go to the other son – the less talented one. Now, of course, Isaac does not seem to have given it much thought. But Rebecca, who is the more spiritually aware of the two, must have thought about it a lot. In fact, even during her pregnancy she felt the two boys fighting in her womb, and she prayed to God … and God said to her … “the one shall be stronger than the other and the elder shall serve the younger.”
And when Jacob is born he is clutching his brother Esau as if he was trying to prevent him from being born first.
Does this sound a little strange … I don’t think so. For, what woman has not pondered the fate of her unborn child while pregnant? And is there not always some level of competition and conflict among siblings in most families? And, in terms of the bigger picture, who has not pondered the mystery of human life – that unquestionable miracle out of which we all as human beings are created and which raises all kind of questions about our fate and God’s purpose?
6. So, Rebecca remembered her prayer and God’s answer … and (to skip along quickly now) when the time came … she helped her son … Jacob … to steal the blessingds from her other son Esau … by tricking her old and blind husband Isaac. Which only further points out how dumb Isaac was – to put it bluntly.
And Esau wasn’t actually much smarter, because earlier, he had already sold his birthright to Jacob for some bread and a pottage of lentils. And then, later on, Esau goes out and marries two women who were Hittites which was a no-no because you didn’t marry someone from another tribe. And the Bible says, Esau’s two wives made life bitter for Isaac and Rebecca. So, do you see why Rebecca understood that Jacob should be the chosen one??
So, was it God’s plan to steal the birthright or Rebecca’s? Was it God’s plan that Jacob should become the leader of Israel or was it a meddling mother trying to get the best for her spoiled son? Or, was it a little of both? These are things to ponder …
For, we must remember, this story was at least 300 hundred years old before it was written down. And after it was written down, it was copied and edited it many times before it became the Bible we know today. So, first of all, please understand that this is not some kind of literal word of God dictated to Moses as many people thought for hundreds of years. Yet, it is a very profound story which was retold and reworked countless times with things added and things removed until they got it right. And, as it stands, the story contains some of the most profound insights into human life and our spiritual nature ever written. How can this be?
7. Well, consider for a moment what kind of person Jacob is and who he will become.
First of all, despite Esau’s shortcomings, Jacob, himself, is not a very desirable character either from our standpoint. Right? Why is this?
Well as John Sanford puts it:
Most of us who are raised in the Judeo Christian ethic try to live in the right way. We believe it is better to be fair, open, and honest and loving or at least try to appear to be a person who cares and who would not stoop to lying and cheating. But, he goes on, there is always the other one in us, the one who would cheat and lie and does not care about others, but is selfish and striving. And though, we may try to live by the Ten Commandments, we must also remember that these would not be necessary if there was not a tendency in all of us to break them … and, in psychological terms we call this other darker personality - the shadow.
Sounds like the old radio show, with the famous line “Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men – the Shadow knows.” Well, sometimes we forget, as Sanford reminds us … that …
… we all have a shadow personality which contradicts the image we present to others. And, what makes Jacob different is that he actually identifies with what, for most of us, would be our shadow personality. Without batting an eye he sets out to get just what he wants for himself … and he is ruthless with his brother Esau -- all without a moment of guilt.
But, Esau, on the other hand, also has a shadow side as well. Jacob’s dark side is active … and he is willing to break the rules … where Esau’s dark side is passive … for he seems to be able to give away his birthright without a thought – something he should not have done. And he makes a lame excuse to himself to cover his guilt saying that he was starving … which was not true. So, we realize that the shadow is not only what we do wrong … but also what we do not do … it is not only our strength but also our weakness. In the end, the Bible does not consider Esau all that great either for it says that “That was all Esau cared for his own birthright.”
8. So now, as we say, the “plot thickens” and Esau threatens to kill Jacob and he must run away and live with his uncle Laban. While on his way he is alone in the desert and very fearful for his life since, unlike Esau he is not very able to fend for himself. During the night he has his first encounter with God – who appears to Jacob in a different dream about a mysterious ladder to heaven. And, for the first time, Jacob begins to develop a spiritual side. Something every young person must do, once they are out from under the protection of their parents and have to fend for themselves.
Why is it, for instance, that most young people first have religious
Experiences when they go away to camp or to college or in the army? Is it not because they are alone for the first time?
Well, Jacob finally gets himself to his uncle Laban whereupon he runs into Laban’s beautiful daughter Rachel and he falls in love. So, he makes a deal with uncle Laban to work for him for seven years in return for marrying Rachel. But, there is another problem --- for it turns out that, according to the custom, Laban’s older daughter Leah is the one to be married first. So, uncle Laban, who is just as clever as his sister Rebecca, arranges to trick Jacob and so, thinking he is marrying Rachel, Jacob ends up with Leah. Of course, it is Leah who, according to the Bible is the less desirable of the two women. No wonder Laban wanted to marry her off first!
Now does this make you smile. Does it make you want to laugh? It should. No doubt, telling this story around the campfire, as it was in those times, would bring great amusement. So, don’t get the idea that the Bible is not a funny book at times. After all, here is the tricky young man Jacob getting outsmarted by his even cleverer uncle! Can you see that this is all about Jacob growing up and becoming a man … and gradually losing his self-centeredness and beginning to let go of his devious personality?
Does this sound a little like a soap opera? Well, it is!! After all, they didn’t have television in those days. They didn’t even have writing paper, at first. And these were stories told by word of mouth which happened to get written down later. And they were told for spiritual understanding and also for entertainment. After all, who doesn’t love a good story? That’s why they are in the Bible – for us to wonder about, and laugh about, and learn to apply to our own life that we might grow in wisdom and in our understanding of God’s purpose for our lives.
Well, there is more, because, seeing the Jacob really loves Rachel, Laban offers her to Jacob as well all for another 7 years of servitude. Which Jacob does and now he is married to both women and they get into competition for having children and he ends up with eight, including the last who is the famous Joseph the hero of another story.
9. But God is not done with Jacob yet. Because when you are chosen by God … there is no going back … whether you want to or not. This is because God does not go back on a promise.
This is why God does not give up even when we as human beings don’t always act in the best of ways and even break the rules. For this is not a story about super human people. Not at all. This is about God taking what is given and working with it … no matter what. And that is the story of most of our lives – isn’t it. After all, we are not saints – most of us. After all, most of us start out life like Esau and Jacob – pretty full of ourselves. And yet God doesn’t stop caring about us … and that is God’s promise.
So, now we come to the climax. For, after more adventures, it turns out that Jacob has worn out his welcome with uncle Laban and it is time to return to his homeland and to meet up with Esau. After all, you can’t run away for ever, can you? And sooner or later we must come to terms with things in our life … even if it is painful … because it is the only way we can grow spiritually and experience the goodness of God.
Sometimes, this happens in a very troubling and frightening way … for spiritual growth is not always easy. At least this was the case for Jacob.
10. What thoughts must have been going through Jacob’s mind as he set out with his wives, children, servants and everything he owned -- to return to meet his brother who many years before he had cheated … and deceived … and who had threatened to kill him. Not a pleasant thing to anticipate – for sure.
Well, we may not all have been in exactly the same circumstances … but, if you compare this to any similar life threatening experience – I think you might identify with Jacob. After all, this is really a LIFE THREATENING EXPERIENCE.
Now, as we have noted, Jacob has not been the most religious person, despite his earlier encounter with God. And Jacob’s strong suit throughout his life … has been to get what he wants by being clever. And while this has made him successful in some ways it has also made him one-sided and ruthless at times. He is not, we would say, the most admirable of people. And what is it, that we would wish for him to have … if it were up to us?
Of course, honesty, decency, kindness, and generosity … all of the things he has repressed into his unconscious. For, if the dark side of the decent person is the bad stuff … then the dark side of the bad person is the good stuff. Isn’t that the way it is? But how to get Jacob to accept his better side?
Well, one way is to scare the daylights out of him!! And threatening him with immediate death … comes about as close to fright as we can think of doesn’t it? And then, give him some time to think about it. Better yet, give him all night to think about it … out in the desert all alone.
Who has not tossed and turned all night in the face of some difficult problem. Probably everyone.
Well, there is Jacob alone with his fears … the uncertainty that the next day brings … thinking about his whole life … and perhaps praying to God … although he has not been all that religious … and then falling asleep …and waking up … and falling asleep … all night long.
11. And in the midst of this he has a wonderful and terrible dream in which he is in a terrible struggle with an unidentified man … a dark force from his unconscious … and Jacob is fighting for his life … with everything he has got … in this life and death struggle … and he can’t win!! But, he can’t lose either!!
And then he wakes up … but before he does … he asks the man to bless him … and he does … and his name is changed to Israel … the man who “wrestled with God.”
But, before the man leaves, he wounds Jacob in his hip so that Jacob will always remember this moment. And also, to signify that in all encounters with God … we are forever changed in some way. And because of this Jacob knows that it was God who he encountered.
After that, Jacob has the courage to go forth, to ask Esau for forgiveness, and they are reconciled joyfully … for Esau also, it seems, has grown up and matured and Wallah! It is a happy ending – a kind of comedy … a Divine Comedy.
12. Does this seem rather far fetched? Well, I just learned of a new book entitled Dreaming Beyond Death by a hospital chaplain, Rev. Patricia Bulkley, who describes how many people who are in the process of dying have extraordinary dreams in their final days and weeks of life. These dreams, she writes, help them grapple with their fears, find the larger meaning in their lives, and even mend fences with their relatives.
Yet all too often caregivers dismiss these dreams as delusional or unworthy of attention.
Regarding these dreams, the author points out that…
There are certain overarching themes that emerge—going on journeys, reuniting with deceased loved ones, seeing stopped clocks. Often the imagery is straightforward. In one woman's dream, a candle on her hospital windowsill is snuffed out, engulfing her in darkness—a symbol of death that scares her, until the candle spontaneously relights outside the window. A man struggling to find meaning in his life dreams of a square dance in which the partners leave visible traces of their movements, like ribbons weaving a pattern. "There really is a plan after all, isn't there?" the man asked Bulkley after that dream. "Somehow we all belong to one another."
13. But not all pre-death dreams are comforting.
They can also frighten the dreamer, who imagines being chased through crumbling cityscapes or hurtling in a driverless car toward a freshly dug ditch or entering the sanctuary of a cathedral, only to have a tornado break through the roof and suck the visitor up into the whirlwind. "I've had patients who woke up pounding on the mattress, very agitated, struggling with the idea that they're going to lose this battle," says Rosalind Cartwright, chair of behavioral sciences at Rush University Medical Center. These dreams are warnings of unresolved issues. But by forcing attention to the underlying problems, nightmares may ultimately help the dreamer find peace. "Ignore them at your peril," says Cartwright.
Well, doesn’t this sound like something we have just heard about … doesn’t this sound like Jacob wrestling with God? And we thought that these people back in the Bible times were just ignorant and uniformed … when perhaps it is we … who need to look deeper at the spiritual realities which pervade even our own times.
The authors resist the notion that pre-death dreams prove the existence of God. Yet the dying often interpret them as affirmations of faith. On her deathbed, a female cancer patient of Bulkley's was stricken with doubts about the nature of God. For three nights in a row, she dreamed of huge boulders that pulsated with an eerie blue light. To her, they represented a divine being that was unidentifiable, but very real. "I don't need to know anything more than that," she told Bulkley. "God is God." But she had one final dream. In it, the boulders morphed into steppingstones. In the distance a golden light glowed. "It's calling me now, and I want to go," she told Bulkley that morning. She died the next day—at peace. You can read all about it in this weeks Newsweek magazine.
14. Well, enough said. Let us just conclude with the idea that the story of Jacob is by no means some out of date story which happened to some people long ago which has no relation to things today.
Sure, we don’t have multiple wives and pass on blessings to our children exactly the way they did in those times. Nor do we want to take everything in the Bible as the literal truth – because it is not. But, then, God is not about literal truth. God is about mystery … as well as rationality … and behind everything that happens … we affirm that there is a higher power … a purposeful divine nature … which seeks to work its will in our lives … in a spiritual way …
And God does not give up … just because we don’t always pay attention … or even if we are, like Jacob, just downright dishonest or clever … or whatever … No, God doesn’t give up … not no and not even when we come to very end of our life here on earth.
That is something we can count on. And if you aren’t all that convinced about this dream thing … you are not alone … but I would be happy to talk with you about it more sometime …
And next Sunday we will deal with one of the greatest Biblical dreamers of all – Jacob’s son – Joseph – the guy with the famous Technicolor dreamcoat!
“I Have Seen God Face to Face”
Genesis 32:22-31
1. Well, what I want to talk about this morning is dreams.
--- Dreams and God.
My Great Aunt, the grade school teacher who started me off on my
religious life at an early age … believed that dreams were very
important and that they could hold the key to future events.
Where she got this idea I don’t know. Was she just superstitious? Or did she get it from the Bible? For certainly the Bible is full of stories about people having dreams … such as Joseph being warned in a dream to take Mary and Jesus to Egypt to escape King Herod.
And today’s story about Jacob wrestling with God … is also about
a dream … a powerful dream … and is one of the most famous
stories in the Bible.
2. As I grew up and throughout most of my life … I have tried to take
dreams seriously … not that I remember most of them … in fact I
remember very few … because most of the time they happen while I
am sleeping … and it is only at that very moment I wake up that I
remember them … and if I don’t commit them to my
conscious brain … I forget right away.
Why is that? I am not sure. But it seems that dreams belong to the so called “unconscious” … part of the brain … and not much is known about it except that it is there.
Now my great aunt … as far as I know … had never read about Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung and other psychoanalysts and their theories about dreaming and the unconscious. But, as I later discovered, she was definitely on to something in her own rather strange and spooky way. I remember this very well … and I also remember that she was probably the most spiritually Christian person I have ever known … for she always had a tremendous sense of God’s presence right here in this world – right now.
And one of the ways she believed God communicated with us is through dreams. Which was also the way people believed in things when the Bible was written.
This understanding of dreams, unfortunately, has been dismissed in modern times by a great many people … and by the church as well … pretty much … so, when I eventually came to read about Freud and Jung I was naturally very interested in what they had to say about dreams … because I somehow could not bring myself to believe that dreams are just accidental and have no purpose in life. “Dreams must be for some reasons …” I thought. So I began to study theories of about dreams and also to try to analyze my own dreams just as these men had done.
However, I was disappointed to find out that, for the most part, despite their profound discoveries … these men no longer believed in God. This would not do for me. So, back in the 1980’s I discovered two Episcopalian ministers, John Sanford and Morton Kelsey who managed to put together a Biblically sound understanding of God and at the same time incorporated dream theory into their religious understanding. I read many of their books, listen to their tapes and actually attended some of their lectures and conferences. But, until recently, they have not been widely understood. Although, I did notice, last week, that there were several seminary classes at the summer school I attended last week which were on dreams. So, maybe, people are starting to pay attention.
Now, the main reason, it seems, that we have tended to discount the importance of dreams is because many people believe they are just fantasies and are irrational.
3. And, of course, they are irrational. But, then, who said life is all rational? And, as I shall point out this morning … while they may seem like fantasies … dreams actually point to very deep truths in our lives … and I have from time to time done dream interpretations for people I know … which actually seem to prove it. However, since dreams are very personal, I don’t like to talk about other people’s dreams too much and besides, just like our religious faith itself – dreams often make sense only to the person themself – that just the way it works – I think. For dreams are very personal – just like our relationship with God.
Also, at the bottom of our need to understand dreams, is its importance for our understanding of that most misunderstood book – The Bible.
For, it seems as though we have become a nation where one group of people think that only they have the correct and literal and fundamentalist interpretation of the Bible and the other side are those who think the Bible is mostly hogwash. Or, as someone said recently, regarding the Bible, one group gets it wrong and the other group “doesn’t get it.” This is not good.
So, my point is to try to get you to understand that while the Bible is not to be taken literally on the one hand … we should, on the other hand, begin to take it seriously … because it is, after all the record of the origin of our understanding of God … and it is the beginning of God’s revelation to us of his presence and concern for us as human beings beginning all the way back to Abraham and culminating with Jesus and St. Paul.
4. So, let us take a look at the great story of Jacob … and his encounter with God in a strange and powerful dream.
And I owe some of this interpretation to the writings of John Sanford … in his book “The Man Who Wrestled With God.” And appropriate title, for, as we shall see, in the Genesis story after Jacob’s encounter with God, his name is changed from Jacob to Israel. And Israel means “He who wrestles with God.” That’s what it means!
Have you ever wrestled with God? Have you ever struggled to understand God’s purpose for your life or the meaning some event or illness in your life? Have you ever felt like your prayers were more like an argument or like you were pleading your case?]
I think we all have had that experience in one way or another. So, I think we will find that Jacob’s story is not all that unusual even if it may seem so at first glance.
First of all, then, a quick overview … for those who have forgotten the story …
Now, if you remember my sermon back in June about Abraham and his two sons Isaac and Ishmael you will remember that it resulted in a great conflict between his two wives Hagar and Sarah and ended by Ishmael and Hagar being banished into the desert where Ishmael went on to become the ancestor of Mohammed the founder of Islam … well this is another story about two sons and the trouble it can cause when it comes to who will inherit the birth right.
What happened is that Abraham’s son Isaac married Rebecca and they had two sons … but they were un-identical twins. The oldest, the first to be born was Esau and the second was Isaac.
They could not have been more different. Esau was big and strong and a hunter. Esau was a practical person but not a deep thinker. He was good natured and confident but he was also impulsive and rash.
Jacob, on the other hand, was quiet and intelligent and very clever but not physically strong like his brother. Jacob was much more like his mother who was also smart and a very spiritual person --- unlike her husband Isaac, who was a pretty ordinary everyday kind of guy. In fact, you get the feeling that Rebecca was the real brains in the family. So, naturally, she liked Jacob better than Esau -- who was more like his father. Also, Jacob, being like his mother, tended to stay home and help around the house. Do you get the picture?
5. Well, now the rules in those days were that the oldest son would inherit the father’s property and be the head of the family. Was this a good idea? Who knows? But that was the way it was. As we all know, you have to have rules in society otherwise there is chaos and in the case of inheritances there can be all kind of fighting going on – which is why we have wills and things like that even today.
In fact, fighting over money and inheritances is as common today as it was in the Bible. And, yet, sometimes the rules which apply fairly to most cases aren’t always the best in every situation. Isn’t that true.
Now, in ordinary circumstances, this would be no problem … but for the Israelites this was no ordinary inheritance … because it concerned the passing down of God’s promise from Abraham.
So, what happened in this case was that the younger son, Jacob, turned out to be the brighter and the best leader … but because pf the rules the inheritance was supposed to go to the other son – the less talented one. Now, of course, Isaac does not seem to have given it much thought. But Rebecca, who is the more spiritually aware of the two, must have thought about it a lot. In fact, even during her pregnancy she felt the two boys fighting in her womb, and she prayed to God … and God said to her … “the one shall be stronger than the other and the elder shall serve the younger.”
And when Jacob is born he is clutching his brother Esau as if he was trying to prevent him from being born first.
Does this sound a little strange … I don’t think so. For, what woman has not pondered the fate of her unborn child while pregnant? And is there not always some level of competition and conflict among siblings in most families? And, in terms of the bigger picture, who has not pondered the mystery of human life – that unquestionable miracle out of which we all as human beings are created and which raises all kind of questions about our fate and God’s purpose?
6. So, Rebecca remembered her prayer and God’s answer … and (to skip along quickly now) when the time came … she helped her son … Jacob … to steal the blessingds from her other son Esau … by tricking her old and blind husband Isaac. Which only further points out how dumb Isaac was – to put it bluntly.
And Esau wasn’t actually much smarter, because earlier, he had already sold his birthright to Jacob for some bread and a pottage of lentils. And then, later on, Esau goes out and marries two women who were Hittites which was a no-no because you didn’t marry someone from another tribe. And the Bible says, Esau’s two wives made life bitter for Isaac and Rebecca. So, do you see why Rebecca understood that Jacob should be the chosen one??
So, was it God’s plan to steal the birthright or Rebecca’s? Was it God’s plan that Jacob should become the leader of Israel or was it a meddling mother trying to get the best for her spoiled son? Or, was it a little of both? These are things to ponder …
For, we must remember, this story was at least 300 hundred years old before it was written down. And after it was written down, it was copied and edited it many times before it became the Bible we know today. So, first of all, please understand that this is not some kind of literal word of God dictated to Moses as many people thought for hundreds of years. Yet, it is a very profound story which was retold and reworked countless times with things added and things removed until they got it right. And, as it stands, the story contains some of the most profound insights into human life and our spiritual nature ever written. How can this be?
7. Well, consider for a moment what kind of person Jacob is and who he will become.
First of all, despite Esau’s shortcomings, Jacob, himself, is not a very desirable character either from our standpoint. Right? Why is this?
Well as John Sanford puts it:
Most of us who are raised in the Judeo Christian ethic try to live in the right way. We believe it is better to be fair, open, and honest and loving or at least try to appear to be a person who cares and who would not stoop to lying and cheating. But, he goes on, there is always the other one in us, the one who would cheat and lie and does not care about others, but is selfish and striving. And though, we may try to live by the Ten Commandments, we must also remember that these would not be necessary if there was not a tendency in all of us to break them … and, in psychological terms we call this other darker personality - the shadow.
Sounds like the old radio show, with the famous line “Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men – the Shadow knows.” Well, sometimes we forget, as Sanford reminds us … that …
… we all have a shadow personality which contradicts the image we present to others. And, what makes Jacob different is that he actually identifies with what, for most of us, would be our shadow personality. Without batting an eye he sets out to get just what he wants for himself … and he is ruthless with his brother Esau -- all without a moment of guilt.
But, Esau, on the other hand, also has a shadow side as well. Jacob’s dark side is active … and he is willing to break the rules … where Esau’s dark side is passive … for he seems to be able to give away his birthright without a thought – something he should not have done. And he makes a lame excuse to himself to cover his guilt saying that he was starving … which was not true. So, we realize that the shadow is not only what we do wrong … but also what we do not do … it is not only our strength but also our weakness. In the end, the Bible does not consider Esau all that great either for it says that “That was all Esau cared for his own birthright.”
8. So now, as we say, the “plot thickens” and Esau threatens to kill Jacob and he must run away and live with his uncle Laban. While on his way he is alone in the desert and very fearful for his life since, unlike Esau he is not very able to fend for himself. During the night he has his first encounter with God – who appears to Jacob in a different dream about a mysterious ladder to heaven. And, for the first time, Jacob begins to develop a spiritual side. Something every young person must do, once they are out from under the protection of their parents and have to fend for themselves.
Why is it, for instance, that most young people first have religious
Experiences when they go away to camp or to college or in the army? Is it not because they are alone for the first time?
Well, Jacob finally gets himself to his uncle Laban whereupon he runs into Laban’s beautiful daughter Rachel and he falls in love. So, he makes a deal with uncle Laban to work for him for seven years in return for marrying Rachel. But, there is another problem --- for it turns out that, according to the custom, Laban’s older daughter Leah is the one to be married first. So, uncle Laban, who is just as clever as his sister Rebecca, arranges to trick Jacob and so, thinking he is marrying Rachel, Jacob ends up with Leah. Of course, it is Leah who, according to the Bible is the less desirable of the two women. No wonder Laban wanted to marry her off first!
Now does this make you smile. Does it make you want to laugh? It should. No doubt, telling this story around the campfire, as it was in those times, would bring great amusement. So, don’t get the idea that the Bible is not a funny book at times. After all, here is the tricky young man Jacob getting outsmarted by his even cleverer uncle! Can you see that this is all about Jacob growing up and becoming a man … and gradually losing his self-centeredness and beginning to let go of his devious personality?
Does this sound a little like a soap opera? Well, it is!! After all, they didn’t have television in those days. They didn’t even have writing paper, at first. And these were stories told by word of mouth which happened to get written down later. And they were told for spiritual understanding and also for entertainment. After all, who doesn’t love a good story? That’s why they are in the Bible – for us to wonder about, and laugh about, and learn to apply to our own life that we might grow in wisdom and in our understanding of God’s purpose for our lives.
Well, there is more, because, seeing the Jacob really loves Rachel, Laban offers her to Jacob as well all for another 7 years of servitude. Which Jacob does and now he is married to both women and they get into competition for having children and he ends up with eight, including the last who is the famous Joseph the hero of another story.
9. But God is not done with Jacob yet. Because when you are chosen by God … there is no going back … whether you want to or not. This is because God does not go back on a promise.
This is why God does not give up even when we as human beings don’t always act in the best of ways and even break the rules. For this is not a story about super human people. Not at all. This is about God taking what is given and working with it … no matter what. And that is the story of most of our lives – isn’t it. After all, we are not saints – most of us. After all, most of us start out life like Esau and Jacob – pretty full of ourselves. And yet God doesn’t stop caring about us … and that is God’s promise.
So, now we come to the climax. For, after more adventures, it turns out that Jacob has worn out his welcome with uncle Laban and it is time to return to his homeland and to meet up with Esau. After all, you can’t run away for ever, can you? And sooner or later we must come to terms with things in our life … even if it is painful … because it is the only way we can grow spiritually and experience the goodness of God.
Sometimes, this happens in a very troubling and frightening way … for spiritual growth is not always easy. At least this was the case for Jacob.
10. What thoughts must have been going through Jacob’s mind as he set out with his wives, children, servants and everything he owned -- to return to meet his brother who many years before he had cheated … and deceived … and who had threatened to kill him. Not a pleasant thing to anticipate – for sure.
Well, we may not all have been in exactly the same circumstances … but, if you compare this to any similar life threatening experience – I think you might identify with Jacob. After all, this is really a LIFE THREATENING EXPERIENCE.
Now, as we have noted, Jacob has not been the most religious person, despite his earlier encounter with God. And Jacob’s strong suit throughout his life … has been to get what he wants by being clever. And while this has made him successful in some ways it has also made him one-sided and ruthless at times. He is not, we would say, the most admirable of people. And what is it, that we would wish for him to have … if it were up to us?
Of course, honesty, decency, kindness, and generosity … all of the things he has repressed into his unconscious. For, if the dark side of the decent person is the bad stuff … then the dark side of the bad person is the good stuff. Isn’t that the way it is? But how to get Jacob to accept his better side?
Well, one way is to scare the daylights out of him!! And threatening him with immediate death … comes about as close to fright as we can think of doesn’t it? And then, give him some time to think about it. Better yet, give him all night to think about it … out in the desert all alone.
Who has not tossed and turned all night in the face of some difficult problem. Probably everyone.
Well, there is Jacob alone with his fears … the uncertainty that the next day brings … thinking about his whole life … and perhaps praying to God … although he has not been all that religious … and then falling asleep …and waking up … and falling asleep … all night long.
11. And in the midst of this he has a wonderful and terrible dream in which he is in a terrible struggle with an unidentified man … a dark force from his unconscious … and Jacob is fighting for his life … with everything he has got … in this life and death struggle … and he can’t win!! But, he can’t lose either!!
And then he wakes up … but before he does … he asks the man to bless him … and he does … and his name is changed to Israel … the man who “wrestled with God.”
But, before the man leaves, he wounds Jacob in his hip so that Jacob will always remember this moment. And also, to signify that in all encounters with God … we are forever changed in some way. And because of this Jacob knows that it was God who he encountered.
After that, Jacob has the courage to go forth, to ask Esau for forgiveness, and they are reconciled joyfully … for Esau also, it seems, has grown up and matured and Wallah! It is a happy ending – a kind of comedy … a Divine Comedy.
12. Does this seem rather far fetched? Well, I just learned of a new book entitled Dreaming Beyond Death by a hospital chaplain, Rev. Patricia Bulkley, who describes how many people who are in the process of dying have extraordinary dreams in their final days and weeks of life. These dreams, she writes, help them grapple with their fears, find the larger meaning in their lives, and even mend fences with their relatives.
Yet all too often caregivers dismiss these dreams as delusional or unworthy of attention.
Regarding these dreams, the author points out that…
There are certain overarching themes that emerge—going on journeys, reuniting with deceased loved ones, seeing stopped clocks. Often the imagery is straightforward. In one woman's dream, a candle on her hospital windowsill is snuffed out, engulfing her in darkness—a symbol of death that scares her, until the candle spontaneously relights outside the window. A man struggling to find meaning in his life dreams of a square dance in which the partners leave visible traces of their movements, like ribbons weaving a pattern. "There really is a plan after all, isn't there?" the man asked Bulkley after that dream. "Somehow we all belong to one another."
13. But not all pre-death dreams are comforting.
They can also frighten the dreamer, who imagines being chased through crumbling cityscapes or hurtling in a driverless car toward a freshly dug ditch or entering the sanctuary of a cathedral, only to have a tornado break through the roof and suck the visitor up into the whirlwind. "I've had patients who woke up pounding on the mattress, very agitated, struggling with the idea that they're going to lose this battle," says Rosalind Cartwright, chair of behavioral sciences at Rush University Medical Center. These dreams are warnings of unresolved issues. But by forcing attention to the underlying problems, nightmares may ultimately help the dreamer find peace. "Ignore them at your peril," says Cartwright.
Well, doesn’t this sound like something we have just heard about … doesn’t this sound like Jacob wrestling with God? And we thought that these people back in the Bible times were just ignorant and uniformed … when perhaps it is we … who need to look deeper at the spiritual realities which pervade even our own times.
The authors resist the notion that pre-death dreams prove the existence of God. Yet the dying often interpret them as affirmations of faith. On her deathbed, a female cancer patient of Bulkley's was stricken with doubts about the nature of God. For three nights in a row, she dreamed of huge boulders that pulsated with an eerie blue light. To her, they represented a divine being that was unidentifiable, but very real. "I don't need to know anything more than that," she told Bulkley. "God is God." But she had one final dream. In it, the boulders morphed into steppingstones. In the distance a golden light glowed. "It's calling me now, and I want to go," she told Bulkley that morning. She died the next day—at peace. You can read all about it in this weeks Newsweek magazine.
14. Well, enough said. Let us just conclude with the idea that the story of Jacob is by no means some out of date story which happened to some people long ago which has no relation to things today.
Sure, we don’t have multiple wives and pass on blessings to our children exactly the way they did in those times. Nor do we want to take everything in the Bible as the literal truth – because it is not. But, then, God is not about literal truth. God is about mystery … as well as rationality … and behind everything that happens … we affirm that there is a higher power … a purposeful divine nature … which seeks to work its will in our lives … in a spiritual way …
And God does not give up … just because we don’t always pay attention … or even if we are, like Jacob, just downright dishonest or clever … or whatever … No, God doesn’t give up … not no and not even when we come to very end of our life here on earth.
That is something we can count on. And if you aren’t all that convinced about this dream thing … you are not alone … but I would be happy to talk with you about it more sometime …
And next Sunday we will deal with one of the greatest Biblical dreamers of all – Jacob’s son – Joseph – the guy with the famous Technicolor dreamcoat!
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