You won’t hear this on “The Full Glory Gospel Hour,” that televangelist program that airs Saturday nights on Public Access Stations. You won’t read this in the description of next year’s Vacation Bible School curriculum, but a real challenge for 21^st century Christians is how to read the Bible. Because we are centuries removed from the authors and the culture of our Holy Scripture, it is often hard to make sense of the action and meaning on its pages. And because we’ve been taught in good Anglican tradition that the book contains all things necessary for our salvation, we hesitate to take its words lightly. So, we’re caught in a persistent dilemma…Take antiquated references to heart or dismiss God’s eternal instruction. Neither option satisfies, so instead of making a simple choice, we engage in the difficult work of finding God’s true and relevant word to us through ancient images and foreign situations.

We have the opportunity to do this deliberate work, this morning with our Old Testament passage from Genesis. From the 1^st book of God’s Holy Word, we discover deceit and betrayal, favoritism and jealousy, hostility and fear.

With our modern understanding of civilized behavior, healthy family dynamics, democratic principles and ethical business practices, at first glance the saga of Jacob and Esau leaves us far from inspired.   You will recall their messy history.

God has promised Abraham a long line of descendants – as many as the stars in the night sky. Abraham gets one son – Ishmael. Abraham’s wife doesn’t trust Ishmael or his biological mother. Ishmael is banished. Abraham gets another son – Isaac. Isaac is loved and favored. But in an interesting turn of events, Isaac barely escapes being sacrificed on an altar. Isaac comes down the mountain, grows up and marries Rebekah. Years pass, no children come to them. Finally Rebekah is pregnant with twins. Esau comes into the world first, but Jacob follows immediately with his hand grasping this brother’s heel in an attempt to be the eldest.

Isaac loves Esau best. Rebekah favors Jacob. Not surprising, tension between the two brothers grows. Isaac grows old and Rebekah schemes. In her devious plot, she counts on Isaac’s poor eyesight. Esau leaves the camp on an errand for his father. Rebekah dresses Jacob up as Esau and sends him into Abraham to receive the father’s blessing.   Abraham asks “Are you Esau?” Jacob lies. Abraham asks again, “Are you Esau?” Jacob lies again “Yes, I am he.” Abraham gives everything to the liar. All the land, all the herds, all the servants, the best dishes, all the good stuff now rests in the hands of Jacob. 

Esau returns. He learns he’s been tricked by his mother and his brother. He learns he’s been left unprotected by the father who has always loved him. Esau plots revenge against Jacob. Rebekah constructs an escape plan. She tells Jacob to go to her brother Laban’s camp until Esau’s fury turns away, until your brother’s anger against you turns away and he forgets what you have done to him, then I will send, and bring you back from there.”

Until Esau forgets what’s been done to him? Jacob had better pack for a loooong visit! Jacob goes to Laban. There he meets Laban’s daughter, Rachel. He agrees to work for Laban for 7 years in exchange for the privilege of marrying Rachel. At the end of 7 years, there’s a wedding. Laban, following the family tradition, dresses elder daughter Leah in Rachel’s clothes and marries her off to Jacob.

Jacob is disappointed. He agrees to work for Laban for 7 more years in order to get Rachel as wife #2.

Years pass. Jacob has sons with Leah. Jacob has sons with Leah’s maid. Jacob has sons with Rachel’s maid. Jacob has one son with Rachel. In all, Jacob has 12 sons and a lot of tension in his household.

Hostility grows as Jacob’s wealth increases. Laban’s sons resent Jacob’s place in their father’s business. Jacob, no stranger to family jealousy, prepares to leave. Laban hatches another scheme, but Jacob outmaneuvers his father-in-law/uncle and departs with the best portion of goods.

So now Jacob has a huge family, a huge retinue of servants, huge herds, a huge number of wagons hauling huge amounts of household goods. He looks like an invading army. Were can he go? Where will he be welcomed and not seen as a threat? Jacob turns toward Seir in the country of Edom. He thinks it’s possible that Esau has gotten over his irritation and will share some land and water for a time.

He thinks this is possible but he isn’t 100 percent certain so Jacob sends messengers ahead to Esau. He offers his brothers oxen, donkeys, flocks and slaves. The messengers return saying your brother is coming to you! He’s coming and he’s bringing 400 men with him. 

Jacob doesn’t interpret this as a grand welcome home party. Quickly he divides al he has into two companies. He puts the least favored in front. Jacob figures if Esau attacks the 1^st company, the 2^nd has a chance to escape. He sends the 1^st company into the land with instructions to offer a large portion to Esau as a gift.

Jacob then reorders the 2^nd company. He puts the maids and servants first. He puts Leah and her children second and he puts Rachel and her son last. He keeps the ones he loves best closest to him. This is not our way. We work hard to be fair and to love expansively and equitably. But, this is the way of ancient Israel. Jacob sends the 2^nd company across the Jabbok River. He remains on the other side to spend the night alone in thought and prayer. While he is all by himself, something unexpected and unexplained occurs. With no introduction, a “man” appears and wrestles with Jacob. All through the hours of the night the two struggle. One gets the upper hand, then loses it. The other gains advantage and then is forced under. From sundown until near sun up, the two hold on to one another. Growing tired of the exercise, the “man” knocks Jacob in the hip joint hoping to escape his grip. Jacob holds tighter. As the sun rises, the man says, “Let me go for the day is breaking.” The man wants to be released before Jacob can see his face clearly. Jacob refuses. Jacob knows this “man.” “Give me your blessings,” he demands. God blesses Jacob and departs. Jacob gives thanks and crosses the river to join his family and to meet his brother. Jacob goes forward with a limp. Later in the day the twins meet…All is forgiven. Esau doesn’t kill Jacob. Esau doesn’t even take Jacob’s large gift. The two brothers part ways and life continues with the usual violence and deception prevalent to those days. Peace and gentleness (prevalent to our days) does not yet prevail, but the rift between Isaac’s sons is healed.

And we may wonder – with all the bad feeling, with all the lies and schemes and dirty dealing how is this possible? How did Jacob find the courage to face Esau? How did Esau find the grace to forgive his brother?

The answer comes in the wrestling. The answer comes in the night Jacob clung to God and refused to let go. It is no accident that Jacob sent his family across the river to be left alone. He knew much was at stake when the sun would rise high in the sky the next day. He was anxious and worried and guilty. Jacob knew he had done wrong. He knew he had betrayed his brother and stolen what was not his. He recognized that he had dishonored his father. Jacob had done real harm and he knew punishment was justified. He feared retribution from his brother and he feared judgment from God.

When God came to him, Jacob was eager to engage. He wanted answers. He wanted reassurances. He wanted forgiveness. And so, he hung on. He persisted. He didn’t let fatigue take over. 

Jacob held onto God. “Give me your blessing. Tell me what I must do to be right with you.” In his hour of absolute desperation, Jacob takes hold of God and refuses to let go. We understand Jacob’s motivation, but what about God’s?

We know that at any moment God could have flipped Jacob over and pressed out his last breath-forever. In a millisecond the struggle could have ended. Why, why was God willing to stay in the grip of a mere mortal? What was the Almighty’s reason for the hours of ridiculous, pointless tussling? 

Ahh, dear ones, here’s the really good news for us. Unlike most humans, God is more interested in being in relationship than he is in being “the winner.” God knows that in every struggle, every conflict, every dilemma, every battle of wills he will be notorious. There is no situation in heaven or hell or anywhere on earth that he cannot resolve to his own satisfaction. What he prefers is active engagement and interaction with the ones he loves. He can easily, easily put down rebellion. He can easily, easily answer our every whim and desire, but those effortless resolutions do not bring us closer to him. 

If God answers all our needs before we ask, if God removes all obstacles in our lives and lays waste to all interference to his plans, then when and why and how will we respond to Him? 

If God creates uninterrupted bliss for us and manipulates every situation to his liking – where do we stand with him?

In such a universe, we are not beloved children. We are not true family. We are like pawns on a chessboard waiting, waiting to be moved by an omnipotent hand – no will, no energy, no possibility to effect outcome on our own. 

God as master hand guarantees efficiency and neatness but there is no respect, no affection, no glory, praise or honor in this scheme. So, God sacrifices precision and perfection for relationship. God is willing to wrestle in the dirt, all night long for the chance to engage our souls.

God waits for our “dark night of the soul!” God waits for our height of worry, our hours between sun down and sun up when we cannot rest, when we cannot find answers to our pressing problems. God waits and then comes when we ask. 

While we may not steal our brother’s birthright like Jacob, while we may not show unrelenting favoritism to one child over the next, while we may not fear murder from a sibling, we all have something in our life that demands God’s intervention.

At some point in our lives we will be brought low. We will be on our knees literally or figuratively, overwhelmed by a problem we cannot seem to solve. Sometime, we will require divine help. We’ll need a greater mind, a better heart, a more developed set of skills to help us effect a change and an answer.

Our dark night may be over an alcoholic sister who refuses to get help. Our struggle may be a child who cannot read easily and so every chapter test, every book report, every essay for the next 13 years will be a battle. Our sleepless night may center on a marriage grown cold and disconnected or on an aging parent who forgets more and more each day and in no way appreciates our efforts to create a safer environment.

We may wrestle with God over our “call.” “You brought me to this place to do what?” “How can I function in this school, this boardroom, on this team?”

Our struggle may center on forgiveness or finding the peace to let go of justifiable resentments and hurts. Sometime in our lives we will feel overwhelmed. Sometime we won’t be able to rely on our own devises. We’ll turn to God and he will come and he will stay I the messiness of our dilemmas.

He won’t let go until there is resolution, until we ask for and utterly accept his blessing. At the end of the struggle, we will know peace! Our fears will subside. We will carry on with confidence. We will know God’s grace and we will be thankful…but, wrestling with God is not without pain. In the tussle, in the throes of getting right with God, in the flipping over and over, subjecting our wills to God’s letting go of our notions to accept God’s plans, we do get bruised and banged up a bit. As the sun rises and we have our answer, as we feel the light of God’s blessing on our faces and feel the warmth of his peace in our hearts, we may notice a soreness.

God’s grace is freely given. Sometimes we work too hard to wrestle it away. Sometimes, God uses our determined struggle to stretch us, and shape us and push us to a stronger place.

Jacob was an ancient, beleagured soul. We are modern, beleagured souls. God is the same through all time. He stands ready to meet us in the night, to wrestle our souls for good. And for his willingness to match our often belated persistence, we say, Thanks be to God and Amen!