4th Sunday af. Pentecost, Lectionary 15, July 10, 2011

"Birth of Jacob and Esau" by Benjamin West (1738-1820)

Genesis 25:19-34

19 This is the account of Abraham's son Isaac. Abraham became the father of Isaac, 20 and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram and sister of Laban the Aramean. 21 Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. The LORD answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. 22 The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, "Why is this happening to me?" So she went to inquire of the LORD. 23 The LORD said to her, "Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger." 24 When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. 25 The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau. 26 After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau's heel; so he was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them. 27 The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was a quiet man, staying among the tents. 28 Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob. 29 Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. 30 He said to Jacob, "Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I'm famished!" (That is why he was also called Edom. ) 31 Jacob replied, "First sell me your birthright." 32 "Look, I am about to die," Esau said. "What good is the birthright to me?" 33 But Jacob said, "Swear to me first." So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob. 34 Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left. So Esau despised his birthright. 

Last week we heard the story of how Isaac found his wife Rebekah.  And we had a somewhat storybook ending. 
     
Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah, and he married Rebekah. So she became his wife, and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother's death.
     
      But as we all know, life goes on beyond the story book ending.  And are lesson today picks up with the REST of the story.  Again it looks as though the promise is in doubt.  Isaac has found his beloved wife.  But they have no children.  At the beginning of our lesson we read:
     
      Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. The LORD answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant.
      Oh well.  That was easy.  Isaac prays, Rebekah gets pregnant.   That’s how it works right?  You want something, pray for it and it happens.  Just like that.
      Well no.  Read a little more carefully.  How old was Isaac when he married Rebekah?  He was 40 years old.  Oh old was he when Rebekah gave birth?  He was sixty years old. 
     
      It was 20 years between the time Isaac took Rebekah into his mother’s tent and the time when his twin sons were born.  Twenty years.  Twenty years of praying.  Twenty years of month after month of disappointment for Rebekah.  Twenty years of wondering when was God going to fulfill his promise to Abraham that he would be the father of a nation.
     
      And then, when finally the prayer is answered and Rebekah becomes pregnant, it’s still not the happy story book ending we are looking for.
      Right way, even before her children are born, Rebekah can feel her two sons fighting in her womb.   She has a message from God that this is not going to be the warm happy family life she has been fantasizing about these 20 years she has wished for children:
Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.
     
      She wanted sons.  She is going to get sons.  Two of them.  Two sons who will tear her family apart.  Be careful what you pray for.   Even people of the promise have difficulties.
     
      Rebekah gives birth to twins but they are very different.  Esau is a man’s man.   Red and hairy and a good hunter.  He is a man after his father’s heart.  Jacob is a quieter soul, sticking around the tent with his mom.  He even cooks.  

      For twenty years Rebekah and Isaac only had each other.  Now that they have finally gotten their dearest wish, the very thing they prayed for becomes a wedge between them   “Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.”   And as we know wedge will become so great that Rebekah will take part in a deceit against her husband for the sake of the son she favors.
     
       You get the sense that Esau isn’t too bright.  Jacob is obviously, as we will find out, the more clever of the two.  He may be younger and not as big or strong, but he is going to use his wits to get the better of Esau.
     

      Sometimes we hear these stories of people not behaving well and wonder, what is such a story doing in the bible?  If we look at these stories as morality lessons, we will be very confused for sure.   Because we read this story and we know that parents are not supposed to have favorites.  Brothers should not trick one another and wives should not lie to their husbands.
     
      So what is going on?  In this culture the older brother gets everything, the younger brother nothing.  Jacob is younger, smaller and weaker than Esau.  And yet he ends up with the blessing.   In our day we might hear this story and feel some sympathy for Esau.
     
      But who were these stories originally for?  They were for the people of Israel, a smaller, younger weaker nation that was surrounded by stronger, bigger and more powerful nations.   These stories remind that their ancestor Jacob was the younger and weaker brother, who had to depend upon his wits to survive.   And finally when even it looks like his wits will let him down, he will have only God to depend on.
     
      Jacob for all his clever tricks is not going to have it easy later in life.  He will be tricked by his uncle and saddled with an extra wife.  His sons are going to be out of control to the point that they sell their younger brother into slavery.
     
      What are we to make of all this?  Well life is difficult and messy.  We don’t all have the best family lives.  We don’t make the right choices.  God works through us as we are, warts and all.  God’s promises are not dependent upon us and our good behavior and right choices.  God has a plan and God uses us and even our mistakes.  God is patient and is always working on us.  Jacob will change.  But it takes time.  We don’t change overnight.  It’s a process.  We need to be at least as patient with ourselves as God is with us.  God uses imperfect people.  If there’s anything we can learn from these stories is that God seems to choose the imperfect people. 
     
        In the end it’s not about us.  It’s about God.    We don’t always want to admit it, but that’s really good news.  That IS the gospel, the good news of grace.  It’s not about us.  It’s about God.   God works in and through this crazy mixed up world of ours.  God works in and through our crazy mixed up lives.  It’s not up to us to be strong enough or clever enough or good enough to push through God’s plans.  In fact as we see in this stories and in our own lives, it’s when we try to help God’s plans along that we mess things up the most.  Like when Abraham and Sarah decided to help God out by having a son with Hagar.  Or  maybe Rebekah was trying to help out God ‘s prophecy about the older brother serving the younger when she hatched her plan to lie to her husband and ended up losing both her sons and probably damaged her relationship with her husband as well.
     
      But the good news is that even when we screw things up, we cannot stop God’s plan.  God has a plan to love and save the world.  That was the plan back when he called Abraham and blessed him to be a blessing.  It was the plan when he watched Jesus die on the cross and raised him to life again.  It was the plan throughout the centuries of the best and the worst of our history as Christ’s church and it is the plan today.  The good news is that it is God’s promise and God’s plan and God will use us in spite of ourselves.  Amen.