Wrestling Matches
Rally Day
Genesis 25:19 – 33:18; reading 32:22—32 in the service
Gettysburg Presbyterian Church
Harry G. Winsheimer
Septemeber 7, 2008

A father took his little daughter to worship.  The preacher had the  revival style that may be described as enthusiastic and energetic, a lot of body language.  He got into his sermon. He yelled; he pounded the pulpit; he waved the Bible.  This was confusing and frightening to the little girl.  People acting like that normally were angry and threatening punishment.  With wide eyes she watched, snuggled up to her father, and whispered, "Daddy, what'll we do if he jumps down from the stage?"

We chuckle.  What if she connects the threatening body language with God being angry and hostile? Maybe twenty years later, when unemployment rips apart her life, old feelings may surface of God being angry and coming down to punish her.  We may hear her say, “What did I do to God to deserve this?”

Life happens, things change, we are emotional, and another spiritual test springs up.

What words or events mean to one of us is not paralleled by everyone taking the same meaning.  We are not all the same soil, as Jesus put it. 

Take Joe, as an example.  He wants to do right for God.  As a teen Joe decides to follow the biblical teaching to be celibate until marriage.  Then, Joe meets Jane and discovers that what theoretically seemed to be a rational value isn't so easy to do when around Jane.   The temptation is powerful.  Joe and Jane marry.  Joe is an outspoken advocate of fidelity in marriage, and adamantly against homosexuality; he campaigns against the church ordaining homosexual persons.  At age nineteen, their son John comes out of the closet – a crisis.  A few years later, Jane dies – another crisis of faith.  In time, Joe realizes that he is still a sexual man.  He has desires that he never expected again to have to manage.  Then, he starts to wonder about the chastity value that he has always advocated; should it apply to older people?  He thought his views of sexuality were settled early, but he found himself in several wrestling matches over time. 

Remember the story of Jacob from the book of Genesis?  Isaac and Rebecca had twins. Esau and Jacob, they named them.  And what a pair they were not!  The twins were as different as night and day.  Isaac preferred the older, Esau, who was a man's man, a hunter.  Rebecca favored Jacob, whom she so spoiled that he was a self-centered brat.  One day Esau failed to kill any game, and came home desperately starved.  Jacob had food. Esau said, "Give me some of that red stuff."  Jacob answered, "I'll give you some, if you give me your inheritance."  Esau said, "All right!  I am about to die; what good will my rights do me?"   

Later, Rebecca and Jacob tricked father into giving his blessing to younger Jacob, instead of to older Esau.  In Hebrew culture, the older son received the blessing and responsibility of becoming the head of the clan.  To trick a blind old man into giving the blessing to the wrong son was as low as you can get.  Esau was furious!  He had a right to be!  He was a hunter.  He could kill.  Jacob took off!  He did not stop running until he was out of the country, probably saving his life.

Scared and tired, Jacob lay down.  He dreamed.  He dreamed of a stairway from earth to heaven, with angels coming down and going up.  And there was the Lord standing beside him.  "I am the Lord, the God of [your grandfather] Abraham and [your father] Isaac," said the Lord.  "I will give to you and to your descendants this land on which you are lying.  They will be as numerous as the specks of dust on the earth."  Jacob woke up, realizing that he had met God!  And he worshipped God there in the morning, and named the place "Bethel," which means "house of God."  So, today, many churches are named Bethel.  Further, he vowed that if God would protect him on his journey as a refugee, he would return home.  He would serve God.  He would worship again at Bethel.  He would give one tenth of his income to God.  Genesis 28

Jacob became a new person.  He worked hard.  He married two sisters (not a good idea). He earned wealth.  He had many children.  He did well.  God did protect him. 

Years passed.  Finally Jacob felt that it was time to keep his promise to God and return home.  But, what would his brother do?  Would Esau kill him on sight?  Scared, Jacob sent flocks and other gifts ahead as bribes to soften up his brother.  Still a coward, he even sent his family ahead, while he stayed safely on the near side of the river.  Nice guy!

Again Jacob had a dream.  For a second time God encountered him.  He dreamed of wrestling with a man.  He wrestled all night.  The man represented God.  He would not let God go, even as dawn approached.  His life of conflicted emotions, broken relationships and compromised spirituality climaxed.  He needed resolution!  He refused to let God go until he had resolution!  Finally, God blessed him because he had struggled with God and people.  Did you catch the reason?  Because Jacob had struggled through, God blessed him.  The struggle has value!

The American mentality is to avoid or reduce struggle.  To be stress free is part of the fast-food, instant gratification mindset.   Sorry, but in spiritual wrestling there is no McDonald’s drive through!  In spiritual wrestling there is no phoning Domino’s for home delivery!  Spiritual conflict with growth is a wrestling match.  The struggle is necessary to get to resolution and for blessing. 

I am certain that quite a few of you are struggling with a spiritual issue. That is okay.  The spiritual giants of the Bible struggled.  The leading saints of the church struggled.  It is necessary and okay to struggle.

With what issues do you struggle?  Are you wrestling with God?

Sometimes on our journey, we need to wrestle with God, before we can be blessed.   That was the experience of Jacob.

Expect many wrestling matches over spiritual issues.

Do we have wrestling in the high schools here?  We did not in my high school, but did in college.  In fact, my first date with Charlotte was a wrestling match.  (Make of that what you will.)  A wrestler does not wrestle one time and discontinue training.  The wrestler learns from that match, and trains for the future.  Every match during the season is different.  The next opponent may be taller, or stronger, or quicker.  The wrestler must continue to train.  So must we.

As with Jacob, the wrestling may need to be repeated.  Living is dynamic.  The world changes.  We change.  What we wrestle with today may be different from what tested us ten years ago.  What we thought was settled, becomes unhinged.  Always we are developing, adjusting, coping.   

What do you teens talk about with each other?  It is not what I talk about with my friends.  I am married for forty-nine years, e.g., and don’t talk about dating.  What do you thirty-somethings talk about?  You men probably talk about work.  Maybe you mothers talk about children and work.  What do you fifty-somethings talk about?  Your grandkids.  What do I talk about with my friends?  The latest visit to the doctor.  When I was a teen, I talked about getting tan, as tan as possible. This time of year I was as tan as I could get, and was frustrated that other guys got darker. Now, I talk about getting rid of my skin cancer that I got because of those tans.  My point is: what strikes us as meaningful is different at different times in our lives.  What I resolved about the faith may not be sufficient when I am ten years older and in a different life-situation.  So, Christian education and spiritual wrestling can never stop.  Biblical and theological thinking are life-long processes. 

Included in that process is learning the language and stories of the Bible and the church.  I am distressed that so many youth know more about the language and stories of Harry Potter than about Jacob.  (That is why I gave so much time to Jacob. I can no longer assume that you know the story of Jacob.) To talk about Harry Potter, you have to know the story and the words used in the Harry Potter fantasy world. To know about the Christian life, you have to know the language of Christianity.  You need to know the Christian stories.  You need to know the theological issues.  You need to know when, where and how they interface the values of society.

We are blessed if we have done our homework before we are tested by a new life situation.

The Boy Scouts have the motto, “Be prepared.”  Hurricane Gustav headed toward Louisiana.  All levels of government ordered preparations.  This time officials were not going to wait and see.  The government and the people boarded up; they evacuated; they got ready.  It is the same with coping with faith crises.  If we continuously keep in touch with God, study the Bible, worship, reflect upon the faith and Christian living, then we will be stronger when the hurricanes come.

Jesus set an example.  He knew the teaching about observing the Sabbath Day when his disciples were accused of breaking the Sabbath because they took a few heads of wheat from the stalks along the road, rubbed them between their hands, blew away their chaff, and ate the grains. (Have you done that?  I have.  Not gourmet.) Jesus rebuked the accusers, saying: Have you never read what David did that time when he and his men were hungry?  He went into the house of God, and he and his men ate the bread offered to God….  And Jesus concluded, The Sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the Sabbath; so the Son of Man [Jesus] is Lord even of the Sabbath. Mark 2:23-28  Sabbath, Lord, Son of Man – concepts which are important to understand.  Because Jesus knew the Old Testament, he could call upon it when he needed it.  If we have done our homework, then we may call upon that knowledge and experience when tested.

Are you preparing?  Are you keeping in strong spiritual condition, ready to wrestle?

How may we prepare?

Study and reflect upon the faith with the Holy Spirit.  We speak of this as Christian education or nurture.  It is a process of integrating our emotions, spirituality, relationships, concepts and actions.  It is study, mediation, opening of our selves to the Holy Spirit.  It is submission to the authority of Jesus Christ.  It is surrender to the saving work of Jesus Christ.  It is learning; it is thinking; it is feeling; it is relating; it is doing.  It is bringing it all together and wrestling it through toward Christian wholeness, Christian maturity.  

Today in Fellowship Hall are descriptions of numerous opportunities to grow in our faith and to serve.  Do visit the tables before you leave.  Ask questions of the people staffing the tables.  We have Bible studies on Sunday mornings.  We have small groups studying on Sunday evenings and other times. The circles of Presbyterian Women have Bible study during their monthly meetings.  Presbyterian Women offers studies by the Internet and e-mail, called eMinistry Teleclasses.  There are many opportunities over the year to participate in studies of the Bible and reflections on living the faith. 

Conclusion
The good news is that God is never finished with us!  The Holy Spirit always is working with us!

If you are struggling spiritually, that is good!  God is wrestling with you.  Hang in there until resolution and blessing!

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