Wrestling with God!

Introduction

Thanks, Morgan. Good morning, everyone. It is good to be here with you. It’s preaching time. If our youth are in the room, there’s a sheet to help you follow along at the back. This is a good time to stand up, grab one, and grab a pen. That’ll help you follow along with the sermon. As I do that, I’m going to pray for us, and then we’ll get right into it.

Heavenly Father, would you please open our ears that we might listen to what you have to say to us through your word? And please, would you open our hearts that we might respond in a way that pleases you and brings honor to Jesus? Amen.

Well, I wonder what picture you have in your mind when you hear the word wrestling. Maybe you think of sumo wrestling, or maybe you think of wrestling at the Olympics, grappling, or maybe you think of some other kind of martial arts. Maybe you think of something a bit more internal. You know, you’re wrestling with something in your heart, or you’re wrestling with temptation, wrestling with an idea, something like that.

For me, when I hear the word wrestling, it takes me right back to my childhood. I grew up out in Mulawa, and I had a best friend out there that we would hang out with all the time. And if it was ever a choice whether we would go to my house or his house, we’d always want to go to his house because his parents had Foxtel. And on Foxtel, we could watch the WWE. And the WWE in the early 2000s was the good stuff, the real wrestling. As I was preparing for this sermon, I got to go back and watch some old clips, and it was just as wonderful as I remember.

I watched a clip of the Big Show choke slam John Cena into a search light that exploded, glass everywhere, sparks, and fire. It was awesome. I watched Shawn Michaels put a steel trash can on the head of Vince McMahon, the CEO, lie him on a table, and then climb a 20ft ladder and flying elbow drop onto Vince’s face through the trash can. It was awesome. I watched The Rock versus The Undertaker. The Undertaker was my favorite. The Rock was winning, so, of course, out comes Triple H with his sledgehammer and sledgehammers The Rock’s broken arm, and then The Undertaker wins by throwing The Rock into a casket and then locking it up. It’s just everything that a boy wanted. I loved it so much.

Yet, as strange as all that might sound, it’s nowhere near as strange as the wrestling match we read today in Genesis 32. That’s what we’re going to look at together and listen to what God has to say to us. So, here’s the plan. I’m going to remind you of some of the story so far, and then I want to draw our attention to three ideas: the surprise opponent, the merciful touch, and the questionable victory.

We’ve been following the story of Jacob now for a few weeks. You’ll know there’s Jacob and his dad Isaac, his mom Rebecca, and his brother is Esau. Their whole family is totally messed up. They are lying to each other, subverting each other, and devaluing each other. There is one thing they all have in common: they’re all trying really hard to control God, to micromanage God, and to fight with him, which, of course, backfires for all of them. It’s a big mess.

If you were here last week, you’ll remember that Graden was preaching. One of the things that he highlighted that I’ve just found so helpful was just how kind and gracious God is, that he loves and works through messy people like Jacob and his family, and like you and like me. The last time Jacob and Esau were in the same room together, Jacob had just tricked his father Isaac into blessing him instead of his brother, Esau. Esau, classic older brother, has vowed to murder Jacob in revenge.

Rebecca finds out that Esau wants to murder Jacob, so she manipulates and tricks her husband into sending Jacob away so that he can escape, and it works. Jacob runs away, and he heads north and meets up with his extended family. Here’s a map on the screen to show you his journey. Starts down in Beersheba, and he goes all the way up to Padan Aram. It’s a really long way. When he’s up there, he meets up with his uncle Laban, and he ends up marrying both of Laban’s daughters, Leah and Rachel. This is messy. With them, Jacob has many children. Actually, there were two other women involved as well that bore him some children, and they were called Bilha and Zilpa. Again, this is a very messy family. Now you know when we get to verse 22 in our passage who his two wives and his two servant wives are.

It’s obvious that Laban is a part of this family because he too shares the family motto: let’s just cheat and lie and mess everything up. Over the 20 years or so that Jacob is up there with Laban, they are cheating each other and lying to each other. Eventually, Laban chases Jacob away. Jacob’s on the run, and he runs south, which is a problem because down south is Mount Seir. That’s where Esau is, the brother who wants to murder him. That journey brings us into chapter 32, where it’s time. It’s time for Jacob to finally face the one person that he’s been fighting with his whole life. He’s finally going to face the one person he’s been running from his whole life. It’s time for him to face Esau.

The Surprise Opponent

So you got your Bible there. Be good to have it open so you can follow along through this chapter. We’re going to look at this first idea, the surprise opponent. In verse three, Jacob sends Esau a message, a peace message to Esau. In verse six, Esau replies. He sends a message which says, “That’s nice. I’m on my way to see you. XOXO PS, I’m bringing my army, and you’re dead.”

Jacob’s terrified, and he prays. If you scan the prayer in verses 9 to 12, it seems like a turning point for Jacob. He acknowledges that he is unworthy of God’s love and that all his wealth has come from God, and he asks God to keep his promises and to protect him. It seems humble and sincere. It seems like Jacob is surrendering to God. Here are two reasons why I think that’s not what it is at all. Two reasons why I think this prayer isn’t surrender but strategy.

A Prayer of Strategy

First reason, let’s look at the prayer that Jacob prays before this one back in chapter 28. It’s here on the screen for us to follow. “If God will indeed be with me and protect me on this journey, and if he will provide me with food and clothing, and if I return safely to my father’s home, then the Lord will certainly be my God.” That first word is a problem. If God is with me and protects me and provides me, and I get all my land back, then he will be my God. You see the attitude? I’ll follow God if he does what I want and he meets up to my expectations. If I can control him, that is not a prayer of surrender but a prayer of strategy. That’s the first reason.

Sneaky Plan B

Second reason is because of what Jacob does immediately after he prays in chapter 32. You see, he sends this parade of gifts towards Esau with some well-crafted messages to manipulate and soften up Esau. His plan is sneaky. It’s deceptive. He tells his servants that when they see Esau, they should say, “Look at all these gifts, but also don’t look at them too long because behind me, Jacob’s coming. You should look back there. Jacob’s going to be here to see you.” But Jacob’s not there. Instead, Esau’s going to find the same thing again. The next group of servants who are going to say, “Look at this wonderful gift that I have for you from your servant Jacob. If you look behind us, Jacob’s right there.”

You see what’s happening? Jacob has prayed, “God, would you please save me? But if you don’t, I’ve got a sneaky plan B to try and save myself.” His prayer is not surrender; it’s strategy. Then in verse 22, this parade is almost over. Jacob sends his family and the rest of his possessions over the river, and now he’s all alone. You can imagine what he’s thinking. Finally, I’m finally going to face the one person I’ve been fighting against my whole life. I’m finally going to face the one person who I’ve been running from my whole life. In verse 24, that is exactly what happens, and it’s not Esau. This surprise opponent enters the ring, and Jacob wrestles with this man. They wrestle all night, which implies they’re pretty evenly matched until the wrestler reveals his true power. He touches Jacob’s hip, dislocates it, and wins the match.

I have 10 nephews and nieces in my family. When one of my nephews was younger, we would play Mario Kart all the time, and we were evenly matched. Well, he thought we were. One day when he was 10 or 11, we hadn’t seen each other for a little while. He turns up at my house, and he’s like, “Uncle Miles, you’re so lame. You’re so old with your frail hands. You’re like 30 or something. You’re rubbish. I’m going to crush you. I’ve been practicing all week. I’m going to beat you.” So I revealed my true power. I’d been holding back the whole time. I picked my best character, Baby Peach, and my best cart, and I destroyed him on every single level. The way Mario Kart works, it’s really satisfying. The computers keep up with first place. Because I was doing so well, all the computers were keeping up with me. For most of the races, I was coming first, and he was coming like ninth. It was so glorious.

Some of you might think that I’m not a very good uncle for that, and you might be right. A good uncle wouldn’t have gone easy on him in the first place. I think in a similar way, this wrestler reveals his true power and easily defeats Jacob. In this moment, Jacob realizes who it is that he’s wrestling. In this moment, Jacob realizes who it is that he has been wrestling his whole life. Jacob finally faces the one person that he’s been fighting against and running from. It’s not Esau. It’s God. That’s who it is. The surprise opponent is God, which Jacob confirms in verse 30. Jacob did meet the person he’d been fighting against his whole life, and then everything changed for him.

The Merciful Touch

Let’s move on to this second idea, the merciful touch. There are many different ways to learn things in life. When I was a kid, I had four older siblings, and my parents hired a piano teacher to come out for two hours, so 30 minutes each. When my brother Joe turned 18 and moved out, I got his spot. I did not like this piano teacher at all. I remember her being strict and boring, but most of all, she wanted to teach me using a piano course called AMEB. I just remember not really being interested in any of the songs that I had to learn. I didn’t like practicing. I didn’t like scales. I didn’t really like playing. There were parts of the exam that I just could not do. A few years later, I’d barely passed a couple of the earlier exams. I got this new piano teacher, and her name was Wonder. She was this tiny, terrifying woman, and she was the best. She helped me. She moved me to this other piano course called Piano for Leisure. It had all these songs that resonated with me much more. I had a different exam structure that I worked better at, and she just helped me love piano. I wanted to practice. I wanted to learn, and so I did.

After I finished school, one of the things I did to earn some money was teach piano privately. I did it for almost 10 years. A friend of mine showed me this, not new, but new to me, a different piano course called The Russian Method. It wasn’t a very colorful book. It was quite strict, but it was awesome. It did a lot of clapping and singing, and I loved it. If I had new students, we would start going through the Russian method, and they loved it, and it was good, and we were making progress. AMEB, piano for leisure, Russian method, and plenty more. There are many different ways to learn something.

Here in Genesis 22, Jacob learns something. He learns the most important lesson that anyone can ever learn in their whole life. He learns that fighting against God, running from God, trying to control and micromanage God leads to a life of chaos and frustration. Trusting in and surrendering to God leads to the good life. That’s what he learns. The way that God teaches him is painful. In one touch, God reveals his overwhelming power, and he humbles and humiliates Jacob. He wakes him up, and it is a merciful touch.

God could have acted differently here. He could have been much more harsh. On the one hand, it could have been so much worse for Jacob, but on the other hand, he could have just left Jacob alone to flail through life with some self-inflicted frustration. God loves Jacob, and he’s a loving father, so he shows him mercy with a painful lesson. He gives him a lifelong limp of grace to teach him and remind him and prove to him that the good life really does come from trusting in and surrendering to God. He’s about to face Esau. Who knows what’s going to happen if there’s a physical fight? Jacob was already going to be at a disadvantage. This is his brother, the experienced hunter, and his army. Now he’s got a dislocated hip as well, but the good life comes from trusting and surrendering to God.

Even though I started following Jesus in year nine at school, it was really at university where I started taking Jesus more seriously. I got really involved in the university Christian group. I was super involved at church, and I could see the Holy Spirit working in my life. He was working overtime with my heart, I think. Looking back, there were just big parts of my life that I just wasn’t willing to hand over to Jesus. During my time at university, God gave me a merciful touch. Here’s what happened. I was deeply betrayed by someone who was very close to me, and it was awful. It had implications, long-term impacts on my life, my health, and my faith. I am thankful to God for that moment because that moment was the catalyst that drew me towards some mature Christian leaders who really loved me and who helped me to identify, work through, and hand over those big parts of my life to Jesus. I’m thankful for God’s merciful touch for my wounds of grace.

Maybe that sounds crazy to you that I would be thankful for something like that. If that’s what you’re thinking, then maybe you don’t yet have a full understanding of who Jesus is and what Jesus has done. The most important lesson that anyone can learn in their whole life is that fighting against God will lead to chaos and frustration, but surrendering to God and trusting in him leads to the good life, the satisfying life, a life filled with joy despite circumstances. In Genesis 32, God taught Jacob. In my time at university, God taught me. I wonder if God has taught you, or I wonder if God is something he’s teaching you right now. It was a merciful touch. God taught Jacob that trust and surrender is what leads to the good life.

The Questionable Victory

Let’s move to this third idea, the questionable victory. Last year, I watched the movie Frozen for the first time ever. I lasted 10 years without watching it, and I regret that because it’s awesome. I love that movie. Then we watch the sequel, and it’s fantastic. I love the songs. Me and Morgan sing them in the car, and there’s the one that goes, and we sing the duet together, and we love it. Right at the end of the movie, Prince Hans reveals that he’s the villain. It’s 10 years, so no spoilers. Too bad. Prince Hans is the villain, and he reveals that he wants the kingdom of Arendelle for himself. It almost works. He’s about to kill Elsa and secure the throne, but Anna jumps between them, and she saves Elsa. In that moment, she’s turned to ice. It’s game over for her. She loses for about 20 seconds because it’s a Disney movie, whatever. Then she thaws out because of some high-temperature love. I don’t know. I don’t get it, but it’s a happy ending, and actually, she wins. She won by losing.

I wonder if you noticed as Morgan read out our passage what God says in verse 28. He says to Jacob, “You fought with God and won.” What? That’s a questionable victory. He didn’t win. The match is over, and he’s on the ground, dislocated hip, clinging onto his opponent. I wonder if you notice the language in verse 25. God saw that he would not win the match. What does that even mean? This is a human versus the infinite, omnipotent God of the universe. That’s like you turn up to a trivia night, and you got there with your pen and your paper, and you look over, and the other team has their laptops out with chat GPT, right? It’s completely unbalanced. Yet verse 25, God says, “I’m not going to win this.” Verse 28, God says that Jacob won. Like what? What’s going on here?

Here’s what’s going on here. In this moment, God has limited himself. Here’s how one commentator that I read put it: if God had come down in power, he would have won the battle and lost Jacob. He limited himself. He came down in weakness so that Jacob could fight and wrestle and lose and yet win. His prize for winning was clarity and perspective. It was a lifelong limp to remind him, and it was a renewed trust in God. Jacob won by losing. In a similar way, if Jesus had come down in power with his armies of angels, he would have won the battle, and he would have lost all of us. He limited himself. He came down in weakness so that he could lose, and he did. He lost his life, and yet his sacrificial death and his resurrection secured his victory over sin and death. Jesus also won by losing.

How kind and how merciful is our God that he would limit himself, weaken himself because he loves us. How kind and merciful is our God that he transformed Jacob’s life in a way that gave him the courage to ditch his sneaky parade tactic and to walk toward Esau in front of his family. Did you notice that? Chapter 33:3, Jacob goes on ahead, and he does it with a dislocated hip, fully trusting in and surrendering to God. How kind and merciful is our God that he answered Jacob’s prayer, and that Esau not only spared Jacob, but that they were reconciled. How kind and merciful is our God that this story and what it teaches us doesn’t just live in the Old Testament. We too can have our lives transformed through the Holy Spirit to trust in and surrender to God. We too can be reconciled to God through Jesus’s victory on the cross. We too can leave chaos and frustration behind and discover the good life, the satisfying life that only Jesus can give us. We too can know and trust and talk to and sing to and pray to and cry out to and be forgiven by this kind and merciful God.

As we finish up, I wonder if there’s a part of this story that’s particularly resonated with you, a thought that you need to spend more time on, or maybe a next step that you need to take. Maybe you’ve realized that you’re fighting with God, that you’re trying to control him, trying to micromanage him, that you’re coming up with your own plan B’s just in case the thing that he does isn’t what you really want. Maybe this is a moment to surrender to him. Maybe there is an Esau in your life, a huge problem, a huge burden, a huge fight which is causing chaos and frustration. What you really need is to draw near to God and bring it all to him. Maybe you’re seeing God’s kindness and mercy in your limp, in your wounds of grace, and maybe you might even dare to thank him for them.

Maybe it’s time to go and wrestle with God, to take him on, to go and get him, to pray and shout and to cry and sing and to question, to wrestle with him so that you can be drawn closer to him. Maybe this is just a story of encouragement to just cling to God as Jacob does. In that moment, he was hurting, probably bleeding, probably crying, and maybe you feel the same way right now, and you just need to cling to Jesus. Maybe this story is just refreshment to just sit and enjoy and just let it wash over you how kind and merciful our God is, that he would limit himself, that he would weaken himself so that Jesus would lose so that he and I can have victory together.

Maybe today, it’s time to see the light. It’s time to recognize that the Esau in your life, whatever it is, or whoever it is, isn’t actually your biggest problem because your biggest problem is actually with God. Maybe it’s time to start following Jesus. Maybe it’s time to be reconciled to him. Maybe it’s time to pray and to tell God that you’re ready to follow Jesus and that you’re sorry for your sin, and you’re ready to be reconciled to Jesus. In our time in Genesis over the past few weeks, we’ve seen God make some incredible promises to some very messy people, promises that are expanded and fulfilled through the Lord Jesus, promises in which we can find the good life, the life to the full, the life of satisfaction and purpose and joy. Let’s cling to those promises. Let’s cling to Jesus no matter what.