Reflection by Pat Edmonds on August 2, 2020
Scripture Reading: Genesis 32:22-31
You may have wondered what a sermon entitled WWF could possibly be about. Well, it’s not about the World Wrestling Federation or even the World Widlife Fund. WWF is an acronym for Wresting with the Father, although even reknown theologians do not all agree about with whom Jacob was wrestling. Is Jacob wrestling with God? – or with an angel of God? – or is he wrestling with his own conscience? – or even his brother Esau himself ? The story of Jacob in Genesis Chapter 32 is wrapped in mystery and has about it an almost dreamlike quality. Wrestling with a supernatural power at a bridge or crossing is an ancient archetype, often found in fairy tales and folklore.
As we continue Jacob’s story we come upon a pivotal moment in his history. You will recall that Jacob has some definite character flaws. He is sneaky, deceitful, conniving, crafty, dishonest and selfish. He always seems to get what he wants! His nickname is “Heel Grabber” as he supposedly came out of the womb holding onto his brother Esau’s heel. Jacob with his mother’s help deceives his blind father and steals Esau’s birthright. He also swindles his father-in-law and ends up having to work an extra seven years in order to have the bride of his choice. But give Jacob credit, he has some strengths as well. Although his methods are not always respectable, his skill, determination and patience have to be admired. Jacob is a determined man. When he sees something he wants, he doesn’t rest until it is his. When he has a goal in mind, he pursues it relentlessly.
But as we meet Jacob in this chapter he has reason to be worried, maybe even a little scared. He is about to meet his brother Esau again for the first time in 20 years. Try to imagine the thoughts going through Jacob’s mind. He is about to meet face-to-face the brother he had deceived. He has come to the Jabbok River and crossing it means crossing into Esau’s territory. In the previous verses of this chapter, hoping to appease his brother, he sends gifts across the river ahead of him. He sends his servants with 220 goats, 220 sheep, 30 camels, 40 cows, 10 bulls and 30 donkeys. Then later that night he sends his wives and sons across the river with his servants and all his possessions. And Jacob is left alone wondering what the next day may bring.
He has done all that he can think to do, even pray. Have you ever noticed that God does not always answer our prayers in the way we expect? God answers Jacob this time with a wrestling match. Again we cannot be certain with whom Jacob wrestled. The description is vague, although clearly male. The important part of the story is not who or what the “being” is, but that Jacob wrestles. Jacob is determined no one will mess up his plans so the wrestling match is on. Jacob fights desperately but in the end Jacob is struck on the hip socket and his hip is put out of joint. Yet the wounded Jacob holds on and demands of the victor, “GIVE ME YOUR BLESSING.” Jacob is given the new name of Israel for he had striven with God and humans and had prevailed. Jacob is blessed, but carries forever the reminder of his encounter by the pain in his hip. Jacob wants to know his opponent’s name but the stranger refuses. God won’t be named or controlled by humans. Nevertheless Jacob wrestles all night and in the morning has a new name and a new beginning.
In life we all have struggles, regardless of who we are. We all have issues in our life that we wrestle with each day. Some of us may have had to struggle just to get out of bed this morning. Some of us struggle with what we want to eat as opposed to what we know is good for us to eat. Some of us struggle with fear of failure. We struggle with right and wrong. Some of us struggle with where to go to church – or whether to attend church – although lately there are not so many choices about what to do on a Sunday morning! Life really is full of struggles!
Struggles in life did not start with our generation for people have been struggling for a long time. For even the apostle Paul said he had to struggle. In Romans 7:15 & 19 Paul states, “ I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want, is what I do.” The good Paul wants to do, he does not do; and the evil he does not want to do that he finds himself doing. I’m sure some of us at some time, or many times, in our lives have experienced this as well.
I recall when a teenager I knew once announced that on Saturday she was going to a bush party! Her mother was not too keen on the idea as she had heard via the grapevine what went on at bush parties. But the teen was adamant about going. Since it was in a rural area the parent asked her to get directions so she could be driven and picked up. Well the weekend came and went. The parent checked to see if the teen had missed the party. Her reply was, “I was going to go, but this stupid little voice in my head said – really that’s not the kind of thing you do, is it? So I decided not to go!” I’m sure an awful lot of struggling went on prior to the decision – whether the teen wrestled with her own conscience or with the moral code she had grown up with, who knows? But the outcome was good, the parent was relieved and the teen had taken another step along the road to maturity and good decision making.
This story about Jacob reveals the very real, human experience of wrestling with oneself and seeking to be delivered. Jacob is blessed by persevering in the fight. Some blessings, like Jacob’s mysterious wrestle, come out of struggles. We too can be blessed if we face our own past and risk the wounds that it takes to find healing. Jacob’s experience also affirms that it is okay for people to wrestle with God, to struggle with doubt, to engage God in mind-to-mind combat. Another thing this story of Jacob affirms for us is the need to be alone with God – to rid ourselves of all the burdens and possessions that weigh us down and spend some time with God alone. We need to be free to pray and hear the still, small voice of God speaking to us.
No matter how violent our struggles with God may be, if we persevere and continue to seek God, God will bless us. In fact we are blessed by and through the struggle. Anyone who has struggled with doubt and has come through to the other side can testify to their deepened faith and hope. In our wrestling with God, we may not come away with all the answers, and we may walk away limping, but God will always bless us and give us a new beginning. If we are determined; if we persevere, God can change our attitude, our heart and our very lives. God can cause the “old things to pass away” and we can become new and different people. The struggle is worth it! Thanks be to God!