The story of God’s people is a story of journeys. Jacobs journey to the wrestling match at the water’s edge had taken him through some edgy terrain: He laboured for his father in law for 14 years in order to win the wife he desired. And now, he is on his way to meet his estranged brother, having secreted his wealth and sent the women and children on ahead of him. He is anticipating a day of reckoning. That anticipation leads him to a dark night of the soul. We read of the encounter with the demon Angel. Jacob seems to want the encounter to last through until the dawn, to take up all those dark hours of the night.
It looks as though Jacob might win the encounter when his adversary strikes his hip and then, in a culture where to know ones name gives power, the stranger asks Jacob for his name. Jacobs life, to date, is wrapped up in that name: Cheat. To own up to that name, however, releases Jacob from its hold. The new name he is given, Israel: “one who has prevailed” is aspirational and inspirational for Jacob. And so he goes on to meet his brother with a displaced hip but with a lightness in his step, having confessed his guilt, having experienced forgiveness and healing and being left feeling more confident of the road ahead.
Things to ponder:
When we’re experiencing those dark nights of the soul, what adversaries are we battling?
Are the divisions we experience physical or spiritual?
What names might we be otherwise known by?
Where do we see adversaries on our journey through life?
What struggles have led us to where we are?
How might our steps be lightened: by confession, forgiveness, acceptance?
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Nice! I think it’s Mark Nepo who says that Jacob comes into this struggle having shed everything that defines him — property, wives, kids. He sends it all ahead, and so comes into the wrestling match empty, naked and ready for a rebirth. That makes me wonder how much we all have to strip away to approach the holy and wrestle with it — or, sometimes things are stripped away for us, and in that empty places, there’s nothing left to do but wrestle out the blessing.
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I love this– in order to enter into this struggle, he has to let go of all of it (when, in the beginning, the struggle was about clinging to it/ obtaining it). Thanks Mary!
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in the team study several weeks ago that included this text, someone suggested that perhaps Jacob’s whole life has been the wrestling match in the dark…and now dawn breaks on a new day. I kind of like it.
I’m going with something about names, but I don’t know what yet. Hoping inspiration strikes soon, as I need to write the liturgy today. 🙂
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This is where I have arrived, Teri, as I begin writing this morning… Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
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This is one of those week where I want a contemporary narrative to tell along side the biblical narrative as I focus on coming out the other side of struggle with new purpose/identity. But I gots nothing. Zip. Zilch. Any have a suggestion? Bonus points/brownies if it’s about a woman! 🙂
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I’ve been thinking of this too. Some possibilities I’m flirting with are a veteran who suffers war wounds and thereby learns a new skill, a fall that sends someone to assisted living, going through surgery and coming out on the other side a weaker person but wiser to human fragility, LGBT coming out processes, and/or the vision quests of Native peoples. Not sure any of them are immediately as culturally recognizable as the Jacob story, but we’ll see what grows in that soil between now and Sunday 🙂
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I’m thinking about names – Jacob is left alone with nothing but his name (identity), which is not a positive one. Earlier in the chapter (verse 10) in his petition to God he humbles himself (“I am not worthy”). It’s at this point God meets Jacob and shows him his strength and gives him a new name (identity) as one who IS worthy and able. What are the names we identify with ourselves (“not worthy, not enough”, “regret”, “too late”, etc? God meets us in that place and wants us to know we ARE worthy, and gives us a new name – “beloved.” (transformation?). I know that’s a bit scatty, but it’s where I am with it today. I’d be interested in others’ thoughts!
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Something I was thinking of in relationship to this story is how it feels when one comes back into a family after having been gone for a while or had left on bad terms and how will they be received?
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I made a last-minute decision to go with the Narrative Lectionary (long story), and this week I’m playing catch-up by referencing all three stories from September. My hook is the idea that all these people are named or re-named by God (Adam, who is also a namer; Abraham and Sarah have been renamed and are given a name for their child; Jacob receives a new name to represent his struggles with God). I’m serving a church in the midst of discerning a new way to be church, considering a shared ministry with another church. We’re not at the point of talking about renaming or giving up buildings, but rather are starting with seeking a way the two churches can be in ministry together to the wider community. The rest will come later. Yet it seems like a good time to talk about names as a way of understanding that God names us and knows us because God wants to be in relationship with us. I’m hoping to open up the idea of forming wider relationships, outside the particular church, as a way of honoring God’s desire for relationship.
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I love this “naming” theme (which I learned about too late to incorporate into my preaching plan as a series). It sounds like very rich fodder for your congregation.
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Thanks for this Liz! I’m late arriving, having had three deaths in my congregation this week. I wanted to say a special thanks for “Cheat” as shorthand for Jacob– I’d always heard “He grabs by the heel,” and “Usurper,” neither of which quite grabs me the way “Cheat” does!
I also appreciate the insight about “Israel” being both aspirational and inspirational. Thanks for helping us get going on this task of sermonizing!
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I’m thinking about the name theme as well, as we are struggling with congregational identity (aspirational vs. past identity vs. current reality)
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