The Golden Thread of Grace

From Wellington Cathedral of St Paul

27 June 2010: pm

The Revd Judith Wigglesworth

• Psalm 60
• Genesis 27:1-40
• Mark 6:1-6

What a complicated family mess. Here we have Jacob, robbing his older brother of his rightful blessing by disguising himself as Esau and deceiving his father.

Here we have Esau, the obedient one, the robbed one. He has done as his father asked, hunted game and brought back food so he may receive the blessing from his father. Too late: his scheming brother Jacob has beaten him to it.

Here we have Isaac, deceived on his death bed, ready to bestow his blessing – and there can be only one – on his firstborn. When a son appears, he unknowingly blesses his younger son Jacob – the deceiver.

Here we have Rebekah. The fruit of her womb are now pitted against one another, the result of her scheming as she seizes an opportunity that will benefit her favoured son Jacob.

Oh, what a complicated family mess. How can any good be salvaged from this web of selfishness and lies? How can there ever be any solution, any healing, any putting-right of this mess? For an answer we need to delve a bit deeper into Genesis, looking at the chapters that precede this passage, and the ones that follow it.

Isaac, the son of Abraham, and his wife Rebekah long for a child. In the crisis of barrenness Isaac prayed to the Lord (Gen 25:21). But the answer to prayer – Rebekah’s pregnancy – yields not only joy but also hints at trouble. An oracle from God indicates that Rebekah will bring forth into the world an unnatural conflict, and an inversion: “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples born of you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the elder shall serve the younger”. (Gen 25:23)

Fast forward some years, but only a few verses, and this hint of trouble becomes real. Esau, the oldest of the twins, has become a “skilful hunter, a man of the field”. Jacob has become a “quiet man, living in tents”. (Gen 25:27). One day Esau comes in from the field, famished, and sees Jacob cooking a stew. Jacob seizes the chance to do a trade. He offers Esau food in return for his birthright. Esau agrees. The birthright of the eldest son carried with it not just leadership of the family, but a double share of the inheritance. It’s hard to understand how Esau could be so desperate that he would be willing to trade his long-term security for one meal.

So to our reading tonight from Genesis chapter 27. Jacob has already enticed Esau to sell his birthright. Now, in an act of deceit Jacob, urged on by his mother Rebekah, and disguised as Esau, tricks his father Isaac into bestowing his deathbed blessing on him. “May God give you of the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of the earth, and plenty of grain and wine. Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may your mother’s sons bow down to you…”(Gen 27:29).

When Isaac discovers that his one and only blessing has been bestowed on Jacob, Esau is left with the opposite: “Away from the fatness of the earth shall your home be, and away from the dew of the heaven on high. By your sword you shall live, and you shall serve your brother” (Gen 27:39-40). The end of this passage offers some hope: “…when you break loose, you shall break his yoke from your neck” (Gen 27:40). In the meantime, what a complicated family mess.

The saga of Jacob goes on for several more chapters in the book of Genesis. In Jacob’s journeying, he finds a wife, has children, and accumulates livestock. He also encounters God in a new way. First, after a vision of a ladder between earth and heaven, the Lord blesses Jacob with words that echo the blessing of land and descendants given to his forefather Abraham (Gen 28:10-17).

Later, after wrestling with God, Jacob’s name is changed to “Israel”. The Lord says “You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans, and have prevailed.” Jacob responds: “I have seen God face to face and yet my life is preserved” (Gen 32:28, 30). Perhaps there’s a sense of humility, even repentance, here in Jacob’s words.

So much for Jacob. What of Esau? Angry at Jacob’s deceit, he plans to kill Jacob. But with Jacob’s hasty departure after being warned of this plan by Rebekah, his plan is foiled, and we don’t encounter Esau again until chapter 32.

There are hints that the paths of Jacob and Esau are about to cross. Jacob feels guilty for his wrongdoing towards his brother. Fearing revenge, he sends out messengers to check out the lie of the land, and divides his flocks and herds into two lots in case Esau attacks them. He prays to God desperately for deliverance, and gathers together goats, ewes, rams, camels, cows, bulls and donkeys to offer to Esau as a peace offering.

As Jacob catches sight of Esau in the distance coming towards him with 400 men, he goes to meet his brother. He anticipates trouble, but imagine his shock when instead, “Esau ran to meet [Jacob], and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept” (Gen 33:4). Esau’s actions are worth a thousand words. They turn the situation completely upside down. What is more, in Esau, Jacob sees God: “Truly to see your face is like seeing the face of God – since you have received me with such favour”.

What’s going on here? Why would Esau greet Jacob with open arms, without a trace of his previous bitterness or desire for revenge? And why did God earlier bless Jacob after all the manipulative and deceitful things he had done?

An answer to these questions can be found in one word. Grace. This word abounds in the New Testament. But grace also pervades the Old Testament. There is an all too common misconception that the Hebrew Scriptures – the books we know as the Old Testament – are full of only judgement, anger and violence. But grace is woven through the complex tapestry of the Old Testament like a golden thread through a piece of multi-coloured cloth. It is there: we just have to look for it, and carefully tease out the narrative through which it is woven.

It was grace that enabled God to bless Jacob in spite of his wrongdoing. And it was grace that enabled Esau to greet Jacob as a long lost brother. It was grace that transformed a situation of guilt and fear into one of reconciliation and hope.

There is a lot more in this Jacob saga. We can read more about the different places where Esau and Jacob finally settle, and their many descendants. But what can we take from tonight’s story into our lives today?

Like Jacob we are all human. And no doubt we have all, at some time or other, done things we are not proud of, be they unkind words we have spoken in anger, or impulsive actions we have quickly regretted. But like Esau, we also have the potential within us to be generous extenders of grace. For that ability we have God to thank. Each of us has the capacity to forgive what may, in human terms, seem unforgiveable. Philip Yancey, author of a book called "What’s So Amazing about Grace" says: “A grace-full Christian is one who looks at the world through grace-tinted lenses”. (Yancey, 272)

So, even a complicated family mess like the one that embroiled Jacob, Esau, Isaac and Rebekah can be untangled and healed in some way. In the process, we can learn, grow, and perhaps gain a new recognition of God along the way. Ultimately God’s ways can triumph over human ways. Cooperation can triumph over competition, and community can triumph over isolation. This is the harder way. But it’s also the way that offers the most potential for healing and growth.

As C S Lewis said, to be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable, because God has forgiven the inexcusable in us. (Lewis, quoted in Yancey, 64).

Amen.