Sermon 23rd July 2023 – 8th Sunday after Pentecost
Text: Genesis 28:10-19a – Between a rock and a hard place
There is a saying that one is sometimes caught between a rock and a hard
place. Basically, it means you are in a difficult situation where you have to
choose between two equally unpleasant courses of action. Going forward is
fraught with difficulty. Going back is fraught with similar difficulties. You
have to choose. It is believed to have originated from days in the mines where
workers faced grueling conditions underground digging through hard rocks, but
the alternative was harsh conditions above ground without any source of income.
However, some believe that the saying may have originated from our Old
Testament reading where Jacob is on the run from his brother Esau who is
wanting to kill him. We heard last week how Jacob stole his brother’s
birthright by taking advantage of his hunger and only allowing him food if
Esau, the first-born twin, gave up his birthright to Jacob. But his swindling
didn’t stop there. As Jacob’s father was nearing death with his eyesight failing,
Isaac decides to bless his first-born Esau but doesn’t recognize the deal made
between Jacob and Esau.
So, while Esau is out hunting, Jacob’s mother devises a plan to dress
Jacob up as Esau and steal Esau’s blessings. When Esau finds out what has
happened and that he has missed out on his father’s blessing, he goes on a
rampage and swears to kill Jacob. So, Jacob flees to his mother’s hometown to
stay there in safety.
While on his way he stops to rest at Bethel and sleeps using a rock as a
pillow which he will later set up as an altar to God. So, in our Old Testament
reading Jacob is between a rock and a hard place. He is on the run not knowing what lay ahead of
him but behind him was Esau. So, Jacob is caught between the rock of the
unknown and the hard place of Esau. But as he lay with the rock as his pillow
God’s protective hand is revealed to him showing an alternative solution to
being caught between a rock and a hard place. Jacob dreamed that there was a
ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of
God were ascending and descending on it. God speaks to Jacob and says: Know
that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go; for I will not leave you
until I have done what I have promised you.” Then Jacob woke from his sleep and
said, “Surely the Lord is in this place—and I did not know it!
So it’s not about trying to work out which direction he should take but
that wherever he goes that God is with him. And this is the same promise God
makes to us. It is the promise Jesus made to us as he ascended to Heaven – “surely
I am with you always till the end of the age”. Our life journey can often feel
like it’s stuck between a rock and a hard place. Sometimes we’d like to go back
to when life was simpler – less complex. The future seems so uncertain. But we
keep journeying with the promise we hear in Psalm 23 – Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death, I will not be afraid, for you are
with me.
Have you lain in bed at night, so full of worry and despair that your
pillow feels like a rock? You can’t get
comfortable and relax no matter how you toss and turn because the turmoil in
your mind is tying your body in knots. Maybe
you’re wondering how you’re going to get through the next day, week, year. And
then comes the amazing comfort from God. You can’t put it into words but I’ve
heard from so many people talk about a presence they felt that they can’t
explain – perhaps like Jacob’s experience of angels ascending and descending. Such
as Jesus explains in Matthew 18: “Beware that you don’t look down on any of
these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels are always in the
presence of my heavenly Father.
Jacob’s dream is interesting - the ladder to heaven with angels
ascending and descending! But God never asks Jacob or anyone else to climb the
ladder. That’s not the purpose. God comes to us. The purpose is not to escape
our turmoil but to have God’s angels minister to us like they did to Jesus in
the wilderness. Again in Matthew’s gospel – chapter 4 - Then the devil left
Jesus, and angels came and took care of Jesus. It was the angels of God who
were ascending and descending on it coming to us
And notice where God was: “And the LORD stood beside him.” Where is God
in this situation? Not at the top of the ladder looking down. No! God has come
down the ladder to Jacob. This is exactly what happened at Jesus’ birth. God
descending from heaven, coming down to us, standing right beside us to guide us
and to promise to be with us. He shall be called Immanuel – God with us.
That is the very story of Jesus Christ being born as a human and
dwelling with us. And Jacob understands the significance of what he is
experiencing. “Jacob woke from his sleep
and said, ‘Surely the LORD is in this place– and I did not know it!’” He responds to this profound experience by
turning the stone that was his pillow into an altar. Our world at present seems to be stuck between
a rock and a hard place with cost of living pressures – interest rate rises on
mortgages – fears about climate – political debates. In fact, Paul says that the whole creation has
been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we
ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we
wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.
God promises to redeem all things in the fullness of time. And what a joyous time that will be as we join
with Paul in saying – I consider that
the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory
about to be revealed to us. God promises that the sin and death of our times will
one day be redeemed: That is a promise not just to Jacob but also to us. Life
can be tough. The future can seem as if we’re not going to make it.
But be assured that God is watching over you. That his angels are
present with you watching and guarding you.
What Jacob saw was not his imagination but God unveiling the reality
that exists. Unfortunately we can’t see the spiritual realm that exists but
that doesn’t mean it’s not there as Jacob said: “Surely the Lord is in this
place—and I did not know it!” And if we
could see it we would join with Jacob and say: “How awesome is this place! This
is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” And that
is also what Paul discovered in Colossians 3 where he says: Your life is now
hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you
also will appear with him in glory. That glory is here now but will only be
fully understood in eternity.
So until that day let us take comfort because the sufferings of this
present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us.
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