The Blessing that Leaves its Mark

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Jacob and Esau

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Special Sermon Series: BLESS: To Bless the Space Between Us & To be People of Blessing (from The Way of Love)Readings:  Genesis 32:22-30     Ps 23     Romans 12:9-21       Matthew 25:31-40Jacob is nervous. Recently, he has had a vision, in which God told him to go back to the place of his birth. Jacob weighs the options. The truth is that he has realized that his father-in-law, Laban,has cheated him over the years.Jacob: The BackstoryFirst, there was the bridal deception. Jacob had worked for seven years for the chance to marry Rachel, the love of his life. Yet the morning after the wedding, he wakes up to find that Laban had deceived him. Jacob has actually married Leah, the older sister. Scripture tells us that Leah has “weak eyes” and likely isn’t as beautiful as Rachel. Her chances of marriage are slim to none. Daddy will have to support her. So Laban tricks Jacob.This is poetic justice, of course, since Jacob himself has been a veritable trickster since he was young. In fact, the reason he had to flee his home was because he deceived Isaac, his own father, in Isaac’s old age. Aided by his cunning mother Rebecca, Jacob stole the firstborn’s birthright, and Esau’s firstborn blessing as well. Having been cheated of all that was due him, Esau threatened to kill his brother, so Jacob escaped.Jacob: New Chapter BeginsNow, after years of learning some humility, Jacob is returning home. Yet he remembers Esau’s threat, so he sends a group of messengers to Esau to prepare the way. They return with the message that Esau is coming to meet Jacob—with four hundred of his closest friends. Jacob thinks fast. Esau may be coming to exact revenge after all these years. Jacob divides his company in half, so if Esau kills one company, the other company will still be safe. Jacob plans to send at least three separate groups ahead of him, with goats, sheep, camels, cows, and donkeys—all gifts for Esau. He hopes that Esau will receive all these gifts as blessing, and Esau’s anger will be mollified. Finally, Jacob takes his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven children, and crosses a river. He wants to keep his family safe, even if he dies.The Divine WrestlerAfter sending everyone ahead of him, Jacob tries to sleep. Yet his sleep is restless. Full of dreams. A man shows up, and throughout the night, this man wrestles Jacob. They wrestle all night long. As dawn breaks, Jacob seems to be winning this match, and the stranger has not bested him. Finally, the stranger reaches out, touches Jacob’s hip, and throws the hip out of joint—thus winning the match. Still, stubborn Jacob will not give in. He refuses to let the stranger go until the stranger blesses him.“What is your name?” the stranger asks. Jacob tells him. The stranger tells him he now has a new name. No longer will he be Jacob. Now, he is to be known as Israel, “for you have striven with God, and with humans, and have prevailed.”Jacob asks, “Please tell me your name,” but the stranger refuses. Instead, the stranger blesses him and leaves. Of course in the ancient world, when you know someone’s name, that gives you power over that person. So the stranger’s refusal to reveal his name tells Jacob that he has not been wrestling with a human being. Rather it has been a divine being who has blessed Jacob, so Jacob names the place Peniel, which means “the face of God.”Jacob has received God’s blessing. God’s blessing has left a mark—a crippling mark. Jacob may have God’s blessing—and one of those blessings is that he does reconcile with his brother Esau—yet he will never walk straight again.He will limp for the rest of his life. Jacob has received the blessing that leaves its mark.Blessing in the Past Several Weeks: Yes? No? Maybe? No Way?I have been wondering a lot about blessing the past several weeks—maybe because there seems to have been very little of it. We have experienced political turmoil in our country over the Dr. Ford/Judge Kavanaugh hearings, and the emotional fallout and triggers that have assaulted people over those hearings. (I have heard a lot of stories from people who have suffered abuse.)  Then in an entirely separate realm, some folks have struggled with personal health challenges.These things have piled on top of the usual stressful issues most people face every day with work and families. Personally, there have been times when I have wondered if the center will hold. “Is the whole world going to pieces?” I asked God one day. No answer.I don’t know about you, but there have been times when I have had to be very conscious about breathing deeply, by notreading the news or being on social media. Instead, I have paid deliberate attention to people or places of beauty, and I have been intentional about my daily morning routine of lighting some candles, focusing on reading scripture, saying my prayers, and breathing deeply.Blessing Space Between UsI have wondered about how you can bless the spaces between us if the person on the other side of the space has no desire for blessing—or does not seem to want that. If you are going to bless someone or something, do you need permission to do that? Or do you wrestle blindly with someone or something, determined to win a battle, and not know until you are wounded that you have been blessed? I don’t know. I wish I did, but I don’t know.  I keep going back to a quote by theologian Pierre Tielhard de Chardin that I quoted, in late August, at Clif Collin’s memorial service:  “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.”We are spiritual beings having a human experience. This means that we have been born into this world as blessed people, we live our lives as blessed people, we go Home to God as blessed people. We may not always feel blessed. We may not always feel like blessing others, yet I am not sure that feelings have anything to do with God’s reality, God’s truth. Sometimes I think we have to be like Jacob. We keep wrestling.  We hold on to the thing or divine presence that might bless us after a long, dark, difficult, pain-filled night. We may demand to know its name. We may weep, or struggle, or rant and rave. We may end up being wounded. Yet at the end, we know it was blessing, and we re-name places or people. We say “Now that, right there, was God, even if I didn’t know it at the time.”How to Bless People in Real WaysJesus taught us how to bless. The really good news is that Jesus said we should bless others in concrete ways—ways outlined in today’s gospel. Feed hungry people. When they are thirsty, give them something to drink.  Welcome the stranger who shows up in your midst. If someone needs clothing or a warm pair of shoes for the winter or a sleeping bag or a tent, then we are to provide those things. Jesus says to visit the sick, maybe take them Holy Communion. Jesus knows there are a lot of people incarcerated.  So go visit them, or if you can’t visit them, you can write them letters or put money in their commissary accounts.  Or we can send cards and prayer shawls to people who are sick or dying.These are many ways in which we can bless people. Yet what we must remember is that every time we do things that bless others, we may as well be doing those things to Jesus. Yes, that kind of blessing is that important.  If that kind of blessing doesn’t wound us, at least we should be in awe and wonder that we follow that kind of leader. A leader who taught us about servant ministry. A leader who taught us about real ways to live into our fullest selves as spiritual human beings in human bodies.Today, I want you to do something. (Note: Audience Participation is needed!)  I want you to turn to the person next to you, look in their eyes and say, “I bless you.”  If no one is beside you, go find someone to bless. Then let that person bless you. Receive their blessing. And think about this: blessing someone else means that the space between you is also blessed.  This is holy space. Blessed space.Paul's Letter to the Romans: Written for us todayI would like to close today by re-reading what Paul wrote to the church in Rome—because sometimes we think a piece of scripture could have been written today: “Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honour. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord.“Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all.“If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’ No, ‘if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”You are God’s person of blessing. This day, bless someone. Be a blessing. Carve out blessed space in this world. Live into God’s reality for you as you bless someone, and as you are a blessing. Name that and claim that. Because in God’s world, it is already true. Amen.© The Rev. Dr. Sheila N. McJilton