Author: TechCommittee

October 20, 2019                                                                         Text:  Genesis 32:22-30

Dear Friends in Christ,

            Let’s get ready to rumble!  In this corner we have Jacob (though by the end of this match he will have a new name), son of Isaac, brother of Esau, ancestor of Christ, father of Joseph.  In the other corner is the Supreme Being, Creator of the World, goes by the one-word moniker “God.”

            This match is a little different than most wrestling matches you might catch on TV.  Usually there is a bad guy and a good guy.  One adored, one spit at.  Good versus evil.  As this match begins things are not quite so clear.  Let’s clear away the fuzziness and answer the question . . .

“IS THE WRESTLER FRIEND OR FOE?”

            We know the location of the match – along the ford of the Jabbok, which is a stream.  Jacob is facing a confrontation with his brother Esau and he doesn’t know if he is friend or foe.  Jacob tries his own solution, which is going to be presenting gifts in the form of many animals to Esau.  You know, buy him off, then he won’t be a foe, right?

            Well, right before this happened God had promised Jacob to be with him and bless him.  But instead of trusting God, Jacob goes looking for his own way to appease his brother.  I’m thinking bad move, what about you?

            It’s easy looking outside in, isn’t it?  Why doesn’t Jacob just put his faith in His Creator?  What about us when we are on the inside looking out.  If we sense confrontation, we gird for battle.  Our Lord has promised to take care of us, but we don’t always trust Him.  We think we have to fight our own battle and when we do we are actually wrestling against God.  We have a hard time figuring out who is our friend and who is our foe.  I’m a baptized child of God, but is He really on my side?

            Is Jacob’s mystery attacker – friend or foe?  He has got to be a foe because he just put Jacob’s hip socket out of joint.  Hold it, stop the timer.  Look at this would you; the attacker asks injured Jacob to let him go.  No longer relying on his own craftiness, Jacob by faith realizes his attacker is a friend not a foe.  He then asks the attacker for a blessing and his wrestling nemesis God blesses him.

            So is God our friend or foe?  Being sinful, we sometimes see him as our enemy.  How could he allow me to be in this financial mess?  My wife doesn’t love me and God doesn’t love me.  How could a loving Savior let me lose my job?  I’ve been praying every day and where is the man upstairs, doesn’t He promise to answer? 

            God’s Word encourages diligence in prayer.  God’s Word teaches us that God is our friend and is there to help us in difficult times.  God’s Word teaches us that God sent Jesus to die to deliver us from our foes – sin, death, and the devil.

            Because of Jesus we have prevailed.  Jacob being humbled makes all the difference.  God changes his name to Israel.  God affirms the promise of the Messiah.  Jacob’s sins of self-reliance and lying and cheating are forgiven.  Jacob will no longer fear meeting Esau and Jacob has complete trust in God to be with him.

            God grants us deliverance when He humbles us.  You’ve been there, haven’t you?  So low, wrestling with God in your mind, wrestling with the devil in your heart, all you can do is surrender to the Lord’s will.  We have a new name – no longer children of wrath but children of God.  Our struggles with sin and doubt and uncertainty in the dark nights of our lives are forgiven in the Messiah – Jesus Christ and His Cross.

            The Lord comes to us not to engage in a wrestling match, but to give us grace and mercy in Baptism, in the Word, in the Lord’s Supper.  With faith strengthened and sin forgiven we are able to walk into each new day knowing God is our friend, not our foe.  Someday we will stand in that heavenly circle and the Lord will raise our hand as the eternal victor.

            Let’s stop wrestling with God.  You know who is going to win.  He is the ultimate wrestler who has got your back.  He fights for you, as your friend, and nothing can stand against him.  He has pinned Satan and sin and death so get out of the ring because He has done it all for you.

                                                                                    Amen.