For the past four years, I have been
following the news of a High School wrestler, Chance Marsteller. Weighing in at
170 pounds, the red haired wrestling phenom with thick wrists and legs built
like telephone poles has been wrestling for my home High School in south-central
Pennsylvania. Since he was in the eighth grade, journalists have referred to
Chance as the LeBron James of wrestling.
This past winter, Chance won his fourth
consecutive state wrestling title. He finished his High School career with an
undefeated record of 166 and 0. He will be attending Oklahoma State University this
fall and his goal is to make it to the Olympics.
I wonder if this is the kind of wrestler
that Jacob faced in our scripture reading from the Book of Genesis. Up to this
point in the story, Jacob has proven to be an excellent wrestler.
He was able to wrestle away the family
birthright and blessing from his brother, Esau and his father, Isaac. With the
help of his mother, Rebecca he flees for his life and stays with his Uncle
Laban.
After many years, he decided to return
home, but not after wrestling away the best of Laban’s flocks and resources. He
will be using these gifts that he took from Laban as a peace offering to give
to his brother, Esau.
On his way to meet his brother, Jacob he
even sends his family ahead of him while he spends the night by himself. What
happened to Jacob that night, gives new meaning to the phrase, restless night.
Jacob ends up wrestling with an unidentified man the whole night until
daybreak.
This mysterious wrestler is unable to pin
Jacob down. He is no match for Jacob who has learned from his birth how to
wrestle away whatever he wants and from whomever he wants. Sometimes our greatest
strength can also be our greatest weakness if not used in the right way.
Jacob may know how to get what he wants,
but he has yet to learn what it means to get what God wants. God wants Jacob to
continue to live out the faith that began with his grandfather, Abraham and
continued with his father, Isaac. Jacob just isn’t there yet. He still sees
himself as the man who can fool just about anyone, but he can’t fool God.
Much is at stake because God does not have
a plan “B.” God’s covenant to rescue the world from sin and death is dependent
upon Jacob getting his act together. Jacob has only been thinking about
himself. At this point of the story, we’re left wondering if Jacob will ever
quit tricking people and start trusting God.
The all night wrestling match between this
mysterious being and Jacob, interestingly enough takes place at Jabbok, which
is located just across the border from the Promised Land and the place where
God would establish his people. In addition to its geographical significance,
the words, “Jabbok” and “Jacob” are very similar in sound. They both mean, “to
wrestle.” It’s a play on words. A lot is at stake at this place called, Jabbok.
This wrestling match lasted through the
night and into the morning hours. I don’t think Jacob was expecting it to last
so long. Rob Strauss, a professional wrestler said that the sport of wrestling
is “a little like wrestling a gorilla.
You don’t quit when you’re tired – you quit when the gorilla is tired.” Jacob’s opponent just would not quit. He gave
Jacob everything he could handle and then some.
Jacob eventually wins the wrestling match
but not without paying a price. Jacob’s opponent ends up striking him on the
hip socket and putting his hip out of joint. Even in pain, Jacob doesn’t let go
of him. Jacob will not leave from this match without a prize. But the prize is
something that will change the course of his life.
Jacob’s prize was a new name. Instead of “Jacob,
the wrestler” he will be known as Israel, the name that would one day refer to
God’s chosen people. As a new day was beginning, Jacob received a new beginning
as well. Instead of striving for his own benefit, he would now be striving for
God and God’s people. Our story ends with Jacob limping away because of his
wrestling injury.
We might not be a championship wrestler
like Chance Marsteller who ended up winning four state titles, but all of us
experience life’s wrestling matches. All
of us wrestle with who we are and who God is calling us to be.
Marcus Aurelius, the ancient Roman emperor
once said, “The art of living is more
like wrestling than dancing.” I
think he was right. We live our lives more on a wrestling mat than we do on the
dance floor. What are some of life’s
wrestling matches that we face in our everyday lives and how can our faith help
us?
Here’s the first wrestling match we all
face from time to time. It relates to our identity. Jacob was given a new name
at the end of his wrestling match. From that point on, he was known as Israel. Jacob
went from being known as the one who tricked people to get his way to one of
the leading patriarchs of our faith.
There’s a wonderful tradition in the
church to help us remember our identity. Whenever someone is baptized, we don’t
use their last name, only their first and middle names. The reason for this is
that it reminds us that our new name is Christian.
When we are baptized, Christ gives us a
new name. We become known as a child of God. We belong to Christ. That’s why we
can call each other brothers and sisters in Christ. It’s because we all have
the same last name. We are family. We are children of God.
The good news of our faith is that we
don’t have to figure out who we are. We already know who we are. We are God’s
people. We belong to Christ. That’s our identity.
Up until this point, Jacob was trying to
be somebody that he wasn’t. Jacob thought that his true identity was related to
the order of when he was born and he spent the first part of his life trying to
be his older brother rather than Jacob. God wants us to be who we were created
to be and not somebody who we think we should be.
What a freeing concept to know that we
don’t need to try to be somebody other than who God created us to be. Jacob
needed to be the best Jacob that he was created to be.
We used to own three white West Highland
terrier dogs. We now just have one. Whenever my brother would come out to
visit, he could never call them by name because they all looked exactly the
same to him.
Penny and I could easily tell them apart
even though they had subtle differences. We could tell them apart by how curly
their hair was, by the sound of their bark, and by the way they walked. When
God created us, he made each one of us unique. We each have a unique blending
of personalities, interests, spiritual gifts, and passions. We don’t need to be
somebody else because we already have everything we need.
There will be times when we will forget
who we are, so let’s remind each other of our identity.
Another wrestling match that we face in
life is related to our priorities. It’s pretty clear that Jacob’s priority was
to do whatever he needed to get ahead. His priority was not to live out who God
called him to be.
Sometimes, we get our priorities out of
order. We forget what is most important in our lives.
Keeping our priorities in the right order
is often a wrestling match especially since there is so much competition for
our time and attention. We want to do what is most important but so many things
can come at us at the same time.
I remember trying to use a numbering
system to help me prioritize my responsibilities. Even though I had good
intentions, I discovered that most of the time I was responding to the urgent
rather than working on what was most important. It seemed like I rarely had
enough time to focus on what I believed to be the most important things in my
life.
What are those important things in your
life? Your relationship with God? Quality time with family and friends? Making
a difference in our community and world?
Remember to put first things first.
A third wrestling match that we face in
life is related to our stewardship. Stewardship involves how we manage our
resources. Up to this point in the story, Jacob used his resources for his own
benefit, rather than for how he can be a blessing to others.
Rev. Stan Sutton who is now retired and is
the former treasurer of our West Ohio Conference shares that he and his wife
could have been wealthy. He said that they started to give ten percent of their
income to the church when he was attending seminary.
As he reflects back on their many years of
tithing to the church, he thinks about how all of that money could have been
invested instead. That money could have grown exponentially to a sizable sum
and would have given him a nice financial cushion for his retirement.
He says how many members of his extended
family don’t give to the church. They like to invest it or save it. They
haven’t been able to understand why Stan and his wife have given so much of
their money to the church over all of these years.
He tells them that he and his wife believe
that the money they have given to the church has been invested in a different
kind of way. Their tithe to the church has fed the hungry, built an orphanage
in Africa, provided education for the poor, built new churches to reach more
people for Christ, and supported countless numbers of vital ministries in and
through each church they have served.
He says that he and his wife might not be
wealthy, but they’re rich toward God. How we manage our money and resources is
something that we wrestle with all of the time. How much should we spend and
save for ourselves? How much should we
give away to be a blessing to God and the church? Jacob’s wrestling match led
to a change in his life. Instead of using his resources for his own end, he
began to offer what he had for God’s purposes.
This brings us to the fourth wrestling
match that we face in life. This is related to our legacy and what do we want
to leave behind. If Jacob wouldn’t have turned toward God, we would probably
only remember him as someone who tricked others to get his way.
Thankfully, we also remember Jacob as the
one who became the father of the twelve tribes of Israel. It was through Jacob
that God’s covenant to rescue the world from sin and death was able to
continue. Jacob was able to live out what began with his grandfather, Abraham
and his father, Isaac.
How do you want to be remembered? We won’t
be here forever but our legacy will live on. The decisions we make today add up
to the legacy that we will leave behind.
The good news is that we don’t wrestle
alone. God is by our side during every match. Whenever I struggle with a
decision or feel like I’m wrestling with something in my life, I think of Jesus
who came to save us from our sins. Jesus learned to wrestle whenever he faced
important decisions regarding his identity, his priorities, his stewardship,
and his legacy.
On the night before he died on the cross
for our sins, he faced his own wrestling match as he prayed for God’s will to
be done. He died on a cross, but then he rose again and offers us forgiveness,
hope, and new life.
As we receive the Sacrament of Holy
Communion, we are reminded that we don’t wrestle alone. The one who gave it all
is right there with us.
