Struggle
Struggle is a Sign of Faith
Genesis 32:22-31
Rev. Tim Callow
Preached Sun. August 2nd, 2020
Jacob earned his name, we are told, because he was born grasping his twin brother’s heel. Jacob means heel. It can also mean supplanter, or usurper. Jacob certainly fits the bill. When the boys grew up Esau became a hunter and farmer, while Jacob was more of a quiet fellow who stayed in his tent. One day Jacob was making some red stew, and Esau came in from the field famished. Esau asked for some of the stew, but Jacob would only share if Esau sold his birthright. Well, Esau sold the birthright. And Jacob usurped the rights of the first born.
Another time Jacob conspired with his mother Rebecca to usurp his father Isaac’s blessing. Isaac had grown advanced in years and his vision was poor. When Isaac sent Esau to hunt and prepare game in preparation for a blessing, Rebecca ordered Jacob to fetch two lambs from the flock and put on some furs and imitate his hairy brother Esau. The ruse was a success. Isaac ate the veal, and blessed Jacob. Jacob had usurped the blessing and fully supplanted his brother. Esau vowed to kill Jacob.
Jacob fled to Haran where he met his uncle Laban. There, too, he usurped his uncle. He married Leah and Rachel, Laban’s daughters, and through the blessings of God and hard work acquired most of the flock. When the time came to leave Laban, he walked out with most of the household. Supplanter indeed.
But now Jacob had to return home, and he would face his greatest struggle. In order to return home he would have to meet his brother Esau. The one whose birthright he bought, and whose blessing he stole. The one who swore he would murder Jacob for his usurpation. Our Old Testament reading today covers the night before his day of reckoning with Esau. He has sent his company ahead with gifts designed to win his brother’s favor. He remains alone. And a mysterious man appears to wrestle him.
They wrestle through the night. But neither man can over come the other. Hosea suggests Jacob may have been wrestling an angel. But Jacob names the site Peniel, suggesting that he had seen the face of God. This is no ordinary man who has come to face Jacob. Jacob’s struggle that dark night was not merely against flesh and blood. Jacob’s struggle in the dark was also a spiritual struggle. A struggle you may know all too well.
Someone once asked me why their mother, who was a faithful member of the Church, had to endure so much suffering in her final days. Another time, during Holy Week, I went to the ICU where a husband wanted to know why God was taking his wife so soon. The barren fog of depression. Troublesome doubt that has no object, and you are not sure if it is even answerable. Faith brings its consolations, but faith also brings its struggle.
God has never promised that faith would be without struggle. After all, we worship a crucified God. Our salvation was won through suffering and struggle. Like Jacob we, at times, come face to face with the hidden God in the night, and are summoned to struggle. We are invited to ask God, “why?” We are invited to throw down our fears and our doubts. We are invited to contend throughout the night.
Jacob does not shirk from the struggle. He wrestles to the break of day. And though the day is dawning and he too must be off to meet Esau he refuses to let go. Though his hip be out out of joint he will not let go. He will not let go until he receives the blessing.
“What is your name?” The man asks. “Jacob.” He replies. “You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans, and have prevailed.”
As his nightly bout reaches its end Jacob is given a new identity. No longer will he be “heel.” He is no longer the usurper or the supplanter. He has contended with God. He has accepted God’s invitation to struggle. And he has prevailed. He is now Israel. The one who struggles with God.
Jacob went into that night full of fear and doubt. What might his brother do? Is this where God has led him? Might this be the end? Jacob wrestled God with his fear and his doubt. And in the course of that wrestling received a blessing. He was given a new name and made a new person. In his wrestling he received an answer by being made new. He contends with God and man, and prevails. Even if he gets by with a limp.
Israel is not the only biblical figure who struggles with God. Abraham struggles with God when he bargains God down to saving Sodom and Gomorrah if only five righteous people might be found there. Moses struggles with God when the people complain, and when they construct a golden calf. The prophets struggle with God, as they receive new visions and a new word that confounds even them. Jesus himself struggled with God in the Garden of Gethsemane “if it be your will take this cup from me.” Jesus struggled so mightily he sweat blood.
We must not fear the struggle. The struggle is not something we can avoid. So let’s not try to evade it with false piety. As if God can’t take the struggle, or the struggle is due to a lack of faith. Israel doesn’t struggle due to a lack of faith. Israel struggles on account of his faith. He has faith that God is big enough to take the struggle. Faith that there are answers.
Jacob also struggles because he has faith that God is just. Faith that God is love. So many prayers of lament to God assume that God is just, so where is justice? Those prayers don’t come from a lack of faith. They are prayers of faith. They are prayers seeking answers, though the answers may be more profound than words can express. Israel receives an answer more profound than words, because he has received a new name.
Israel would meet Esau that day, and they would embrace. Jacob grasped Esau by the heel and supplanted him. Jacob grasped God and received a new name. Esau grasped Israel and reconciled. That is where Israel’s struggles brought him. Through it all he found grace. Through it all, we may find grace too. Not in spite of the struggle, but through the struggle, in the midst of the struggle. Do not fear the angel by night. But contend like Israel did. Contend in prayer. Even in tears. And God who is gracious will show his face.