Proper 10, 9^th Pentecost

July 13, 2008

This morning in our lessons from Holy Scripture we come across a very peculiar story about our earliest kinsmen in the faith. You will remember the epic tale about the great flood and the survivors and these people’s folly of building a tower up through the heavens so humankind could meet God face to face. You will recall, after that foolish display, Abraham is called to be the father of a great nation, a Godly nation, and how the promise of this bright new future came to rest to the shoulders of Abraham and Sarah’s only son – Isaac.

In our lessons, we learn that Isaac is 60 years old. He’s been married to Rebekah for 20 years and they have no children. The descendents as numerous as the stars are nowhere in sight. Now, at last, Rebekah is pregnant. She carries twins. They are delivered, they grow and thrive and all is well, except. Except, when the boys are in their late teens, maybe early twenties, they have a troubling interaction that changes the course of their lives forever. 

The story of Jacob and Esau reminds us that we are “the fruit of our decisions.” What we say “yes” to, what we say “no” to, creates the life we are forced to live. Our choices have long and deep consequences. One decision, one determination, rarely stays contained. One choice leads to one action, but that action creates a reaction and soon results we never saw coming unfold all around us. One poor choice, one better choice can set our course in opposing directions. We can put ourselves out for calm, sure seas or we can head for turbulent, dark, crushing waters. And the truth of our human condition is too often we lose sight of this lesson and forget to orient ourselves towards the better decisions. We fail to look past the immediate effects of our choices. 

Consider our passage from Genesis. Isaac and Rebekah long for children. Finally, after much prayer and waiting, two arrive. Instead of celebrating and honoring their blessing, Isaac picks a favorite. Rebekah picks a favorite. They have no idea where this decision will lead. Centuries of behavioral study tells us, nothing good is going to come from this dynamic. Dad likes you best; Mom prefers me. Tensions are going to run through that house like an electrified fence. You can’t see the current, but when you rub up against the issue, you’re going to feel the shock!

Isaac, the patriarch, lets his preference for Esau show. Esau feels privileged and turns spoiled. He takes his place in the family for granted. He becomes shortsighted and demanding. Isaac’s decision to embrace Esau over Jacob has consequences on Esau’s character. In one moment, that spoiled nature puts Esau on a troubled path. For a singular incident of quick gratification, for a bowl of stew, Esau trades his inheritance, his position, his whole future. What was he thinking?

Jacob is also affected by Isaac’s decision. He knows he is not father’s favorite. He knows he will lose out in affection, respect and goods. His future is already determined and it is not nearly as bright as his brother’s. And so, his resentment grows and he schemes and he presses for an advantage. Jacob’s character is impacted by the choice of his father. He is not generous. He is not compassionate. He uses his brother’s vulnerable state against him. You’re hungry? I won’t share. I’ll offer you a clearly unbalanced trade. Jacob has no idea the dynamic he’s putting into play. After the deal is made, after the stew is eaten, Esau will fill up with more than meat. Anger, resentment, suspicion will grow in his gut. Jacob and Esau are not going to have an easy, loving, supportive relationship. They aren’t going to be friends, they’re not going to look out for one another. Things are going to get nasty and unpleasant.  

We know the story. A few chapters later, Rebekah makes a really bad choice. She urges Jacob to conspire against Isaac. They trick the man into passing the title, land, crops, cattle, cash, tents, camels, figs – all that he has – on to Jacob. Consider the effects of this momentary ruse. Everyone loses and they all lose big. Isaac, in a quick second, loses all perspective and gives everything over to one son. When he learns he’s been tricked, it’s too l ate. He held nothing back for his other good and worthy son. His decision, grandiose and ill considered, costs him a closeness with the son he loved so dearly. It created resentment and mighty anger between him and his wife. No doubt, whatever affection he once had for Jacob lessened considerably. 

For Rebekah, her life turns sad in an instant. She loses the security and support of a loving spouse. Her relationship with her eldest son is ripped apart for all time. And the son she so prizes is in mortal danger. The one person she wants near her heart is forced into exile. To escape a murderous wrath, he must become a stranger in a foreign, far flung land. Now, Isaac is resentful and paranoid. Rebekah is grieved and isolated. Esau is furious, consumed with hard heartedness and he’s reduced to living as a tenant on his father’s land. He doesn’t have any resources to go anywhere else, so he is trapped in this unhappiness. Jacob is kicked out “for his own safety.” 

This is not what this family envisioned for itself. This is not the beginning of a goodly, Godly heritage. This is nonsense and it was all brought about by human decisions. Just this one time, just this one thing, we say. Our choices matter. Our selection of this action over that behavior has consequences. It is never just this one little incident. Effects ripple out wider and wider. We only control the first choice. After that, we lose the power to determine what comes next. Our small choice seems like a tiny pebble flicked into a pond and, the next thing we know, a tsunami rises up and comes crashing down on us. 

When I was in seminary, there was a young professor with a delightful wife and two precious little children. He was a rising star in the field of systematic theology. He was a well-known, well-published, well-liked scholar. After a couple of years in the seminary community, it came out that he hadn’t exactly completed his doctorate degree. He had made a slight exaggeration on his resume. The news devastated the Dean and the faculty. The students were embarrassed and felt betrayed. This just wasn’t acceptable in a community devoted to the study and living out of all things “divine.” At seminary, everyone lives around a grassy quad, everyone prays together, everyone eats together in the one dining room. We know one another really well. Suddenly there is a liar and cheat in our midst, and this person is someone we know to be  wise and kind and faithful. His one little choice, typing three little letters, “Phd,” ruined his life. One choice brought down his future. He had to leave the community in disgrace. So much heartache for so many people. One poor decision – so much pain. 

A few years later, I officiated at a funeral of a parishioner. She had three children and several grandchildren. Two days after the service, one of her daughters called me, most upset. Apparently, her mother’s jewelry box was missing. All the rings and bracelets and such were in the house, all together in a drawer, but the wooden box was gone. I asked, “and the box was valuable?” Not really, but I wanted it and my brother’s wife took it and gave it to their daughter. “Your mother’s grandchild?” Yes. She’s a thief and I hate her. So, here is a lovely, loving woman gone and her legacy is being corrupted so over an empty wooden box. Choices and their effects need to be considered. Assumptions were made all around. The daughter-in-law assumed no one would mind. A small token from grandmother to granddaughter. The daughter saw the gesture as a deliberate disregard for her feelings. Tensions ensued. Relationships were changed.

Our decisions matter. Our decisions layer one or top of another, and before we notice, our life is created, how we live in the world is established. One choice followed by another, and another puts us in a place of peace and security. One bad choice leads to another and another and soon irreparable damage is done. Our decisions matter.

But, there is also good news for us, good news and good help. By the grace of God, through the grace of God, even our poor, ill-conceived, foolish choices can be redeemed. God can and God will intervene when asked. 

In the end, at long last, Jacob and Esau reunited. They met and forgave and, later on, together they buried their father. In the end, years later, the family with the jewel box found a way back to one another. The two granddaughters are happy cousins again and the family remembers who their grandmother was, and they celebrate her for all the good reasons.

Our choices matter, every one of them, but then God can put our painful ones right. So, we ask: “Lord, help us make “Godly” decisions at every juncture of our life. As we are the fruit of our decisions, help us in our choices so that we become strong, confident, peace-filled and content.”

 Amen.