"Conditional Discipleship"
Sermon Presented July 17, 2005
Genesis 28:10-22
Last Wednesday night in our study of the book Reflections on Grief and Spiritual Growth, the following statement spoke truth as I have observed it in the lives of many. Donald Shelby wrote: "…when grief overcomes us, when our world is turned upside down and life hangs in the balance, people can turn from God as well as turn to God. Life's pivotal crises do not necessarily bring us closer to God; they can also separate us from God. A crisis is a spiritual boundary when God's presence may become clear and steady for us, as our faith deepens and life is filled with hope and excitement. A crisis can also be a border moment when faith in God disintegrates, when darkness descends, and when we give up on believing in anything and trusting anyone" (p. 131.)
In this essay, Shelby described a young father whose wife and four children were killed when a train struck their car at a grade crossing. Anger and bitterness toward God erupted within and he lost his love for God, never to regain it. I can understand this if he equated the death of his family to God's actions or failure to act! In contrast, the author and poet Ann Weems lost her only son at the age of 21. She grieved, railed against God and wrote many lament psalms, from which she chose 50 to include in her book Psalms of Lament. Over time she reestablished her loving relationship with God - but it wasn't easy. By continuing the conversation, she remained open to God's input, love and comfort. Her vulnerability in publishing these personal laments provides a model for confronting God as well as encouragement to those who are grieving.
We often place conditions on our Christian walk. "God, if you will just answer this prayer, I will do whatever you ask." When the crisis is over, our choices include forgetting our promise if we see a positive resolution or shutting God out, if negative.
Our text this morning concerns a man who puts conditions on his allegiance to God. (Most people aren't as brazen as he!) The man is Jacob - and to be really honest, he's not someone I would choose for a friend. He is the younger - by a few seconds - of a set of twins born to Isaac and Rebekah and a grandson of Abraham. He and his mother Rebekah trick his father Isaac into giving him the inheritance and the blessing belonging to his twin brother Esau. Now Esau has vowed to kill him. Jacob flees toward Paddan-aram where his mother's family lives. When darkness envelopes the landscape, he lies down to sleep - and there he dreams.
Genesis 28:10-22 - The lectionary text ends with the first half of verse 19, but it is the rest of the chapter that I want to focus on this morning. (Read text.)
It's a mystery to me why God chose to work through Jacob! In fact, God chose many biblical personalities as instruments of the faith who were real scoundrels. But let's consider this as good news and an encouragement that we are works in progress. Jacob is such an encouragement! Here he is, fleeing for his life because of his evil deeds, and he meets God - or God meets him - depending on how you look at it. Night has fallen and Jacob pulls up a rock - extra firm - as a pillow and settles into a deep sleep. And in this state of vulnerability, God invades his consciousness with the first step toward transformation. Jacob has a prophetic dream.
The dream goes like this. Jacob sees a ramp built between earth and heaven, with angels moving up and down the ramp. God is beside him and gives him these promises: Jacob will possess this land, he will have many offspring, he will be a blessing to all people, and God will stay with him, care for him and bring him back to his father's house. These are great promises and much more than he deserves!
When Jacob awakens, he's shaken because he knows he has met God. Although God came to him in a dream, Jacob doesn't doubt the authenticity of God's visit. God gave him an alternative to his fear, loneliness, deception and guilt by giving him a promise for a new direction. Jacob makes a monument of his rock-pillow by setting it upright and anointing it with oil, and then he offers a conditional commitment that the Lord will his God and he will give God 10% of his increase if God will be with him, keep him, give him food and clothing and bring him again to his father's house in peace. In other words, if God keeps the bargain, Jacob will be faithful. He names the place "Bethel" meaning house of God.
Jacob knew God was present and he was afraid. It may have been like someone caught in the midst of committing a crime and then experiencing grace instead of jail time. Judgment would be the expected result of his sins and not great promises of future peace and prosperity. When God blessed him, there was no condemnation for his past acts - just positive promises for the future. As Jacob flees for his life, he receives the promise of a new life from God. Thus begins Jacob's transformation.
In hindsight, we can see that Jacob was ripe for his encounter with God. He is fleeing because of fear, guilt and shame. He is alone and estranged from his family. He doesn't have the faith in or commitment to God that his parents and grandparents had. He needs a new focus for his life and God provides that focus. God provides an alternative to the path he has created for himself.
Even though Jacob has just left home, it's evident that he doesn't like the family dissension that his acts reaped, because he asks God to bring him home in peace as one condition for complete allegiance to God. Many years later, Jacob does what he needs to do to bring peace in his family. It took about 15 years for Jacob to face his brother and make amends. Much occurred during the interim to help shape him to be a leader of God's people.
Change doesn't come easy for Jacob - and it isn't easy for us. Learning to trust God and change our attitudes and actions takes time and effort. Jacob doesn't change because a family member, friend, or judge told him he had to change. He changed because he was receptive to God. God changes people, we don't. We can offer guidance to others, but we can't change their attitudes, beliefs, or actions. We can be open to God and give God a chance to work in our lives.
The July 4th issue of Time magazine featured the life of Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln was a man who changed over time. During the Lincoln-Douglas debates, he said that he had "no purpose to introduce political and social equality between the white and the black races" and that "there is a physical difference between the two, which in my judgment, will probably forever forbid their living upon the footing of perfect equality." Well into his presidency, he urged that freed blacks should leave the U.S. for another continent (P.42.) However, Lincoln changed his mind as he lived with the weight of the presidency on his shoulders. God shaped him to see the plight of African Americans from a different perspective. God can work in the lives of those who desire to do what is right - those who are open to God's input.
God acts beyond our expectations. When we deserve punishment, we often receive grace. Sometimes we may sense a need to bargain with God. The important thing is to stick with our part of the bargain as we seek God's presence in our lives.
God can't be proven scientifically and isn't discovered through our senses. We find God through our experiences. It is often during desperate times - times of pain, fear, illness, guilt and desperation that we seek God's presence. Once we experience God in a powerful way, we remember the experience and the place - the country church, library, or the bank of a river or lake. We probably won't set up a stone monument and pour oil over it, but we may return sometimes and will always remember.
Jacob's experience with God didn't cause an immediate shift in his attitude. He continued to connive and manipulate. It took time to break that habit. Transformation takes time. Sometimes we lack patience with other Christians, believing they should be further along than they are. Sometimes we lack patience with ourselves.
When God gave Jacob the blessing, there was no condemnation for his past actions - just promises for the future. As Jacob fled for his life, he received blessings for a new life. But these promises didn't negate the consequences of his actions. He still experiences a lengthy family estrangement, pain and suffering.
I want to put conditions on my prayers for Roundy. "If you do this, God, I will do this!" I am praying that God will give us ten new members or active participants in the next 12 months. But more than numbers or programs, I want to be faithful to God's call on my life, no matter what transpires. I wanted an urban ministry and God brought me here. However, I have found that urban ministry is more difficult than that in a small town. I haven't put any conditions on my prayers yet, but I may.
Our Vision Team is expecting God's direction. And yes, some may be bargaining with God. We would like to have the confirmation that Jacob had but as yet, we don't have it - no dream, no vision, no confirmation. However, I firmly believe that God will lead us in the right direction - even if the way is not what we expect.
Conditional discipleship can result in faithful discipleship. May we be open to experience God as we wait for the vision and as we bring God's vision to reality. May we be ready! May we be faithful!
