Full Sermon Transcript
WELCOME
Pastor Chris Paavola:
Full disclosure. Yesterday at 7:30PM, I had an entire message prepared and it just felt like needed to shift gears and speak to kind of what we’re all feeling and what we’re all thinking about. Why try to force you to think about something else and try to get you to care about that for 20 minutes. Let’s speak to everything that’s going on with the events yesterday with former President Trump in Pennsylvania. And as I looked again at the text, it was somewhat providential because it actually does speak to what we’re talking about today. Anytime you have an event in a circumstance, it’s kind of what Ashley was just saying as she did the Lord’s Prayer with the kids. No matter what you’re going through, if you don’t know what to pray, you can always pray that prayer. And there’s something about it, it takes on a new angle or it takes on a different shade because of the circumstance you find yourself in.
When you pray things like give us our daily bread or because of what you’re going through, deliver us from evil or thine is the kingdom. I mean, all of these phrases have a different angle based on what you’re going through. And the same is true for God’s word. When you look at it, based on the perspective you’re coming from or the lens that you’re looking through and your lived experience, something else is going to be in there that’s going to speak to you. And that’s true to for us today. As we look at this account from Genesis 27, as we continue this series greater than that we’re in where we are following along the life of a man named Jacob and discovering as he does a life greater than we know with a God who’s greater than we know. And to kind of refresh your memory or bring up to speed in this very strange account, Isaac, his father, is near the end of his life and as is custom, but also because of who he is, Abraham Isaac, he’s going to give a blessing to his son.
And this blessing is more than just a fatherly blessing, though that’s very common. It’s also this mess, messianic blessing from you will come the Messiah, the promise of Abraham now Isaac and then is being given and conferred upon you. And the moment God speaks this to Jacob, who tricks and deceives his father to believe he’s blessing Esau, but it’s actually Jacob. And the moment that blessing is spoken, it’s done. You can’t un bless, you can’t undo. The cake is baked, the check is cashed, it’s finished, it’s irrevocable. Jacob is now the recipient of this blessing of the lineage of the Messiah. And Jacob leaves the scene. And then just a few moments later, scarcely had he left is how the scripture says it. The tent flap opens again and in rushes Esau and he’s got his own food and there’s his father, and he says, it is time for the blessing Father.
And he’s like, who are you? And this whole scene unravels when they discovered that Jacob has deceived them all. And instantly Esau goes through, we can see the stages of grief. He starts out with denial and he goes quickly to anger and then quickly to bargaining. And we see this language, the adjectives and the adverbs that are used very interesting. He trembles violently. He weeps bitterly and aloud and he shakes, and then he cries out to his father. What about me, father? Bless me too. Bless me. And then he says, do you have only one blessing that you can give? And there’s just this pleading, this bargaining that you see, these stages of grief that he’s going through. Then after denial is anger.
In Genesis 27, verse 41, we see Esau held a say it grudge. And it’s a word that’s actually kind of like in our language, like an Mia. It sounds like the thing that is describing, right? It sounds like a dog growling and protecting a bone ger. And then it rhymes with sludge. The stuff that just weighs you down, it dirties you. It’s gross, you don’t feel good. It’s a garage. And as it continues, Jacob Esau Hilde grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. And he said to himself, when the days of mourning for my father are over, I will take the life of my brother Jacob. And we see what happens with this grudge and this bitterness. And when you look at this text this morning, suddenly you see parallels for what we’re experiencing today. Grudge, just like it leads somewhere else. It has almost this pregnant pause to it. It leads to this growing resentment and this feeling of like, there is injustice. I need justice. There is imbalance. I’ve got to create balance. I’ve to take matters into my own hands. I’ve got this grudge. Someone else needs to suffer because I am suffering.
And when we start talking about that, suddenly we look at this text and we can shake our head at Jacob and we can shake our head at what is happening, the tragic things that are happening in our country, and we should. But eventually we get introspective and we start thinking about our own grudge, our own anger, our own bitterness. And maybe it’s anger you’re feeling right now. It could be anger about the events unfolding. It could be anger about what somebody on your timeline posted last night on your Facebook feed. And how could someone say that? And just the anger, the bitterness, the rage. It could be anger that you’re feeling this morning for getting passed over for a job. Someone else got it. I’m a better, I deserve that job. It could be anger of what someone else has, a loved one, what they’ve done to you, as horrible as it may be. And you’re angry about that thing. You have bitterness.
And this is where scripture speaks over and over about bitterness and grudges and anger because it doesn’t just stay there. What starts out as rejection becomes resentment and works towards revenge long before the story of Jacob and Esau is an inspirational story of reconciliation. It is a cautionary story of resentment. Scripture says all over, but in a very succinct way, in Proverbs 4 23, above all else, guard your hearts. It is the wellspring of your life, meaning that it’s like a well that nourishes you. And the water that’s in that well can either poison you or purify you. Guard your heart. Don’t let it become bitter. Don’t let it be poisoned. Don’t let something toxic take hold of your heart. It will nourish you and lead you towards actions that are not God pleasing. Guard your hearts from all anger. And this is why we see admonitions like we see in Colossians three, eight. Rid yourself of all anger. I know what they did to you is horrible, but rid yourself of anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Guard your hearts, rid yourselves of these things. James, in the book of James, he’s the brother of Jesus. He compares these emotions to seeds and like
Conception. And a child grows, these things will soon grow and give birth to sin, which he says leads to death. That’s the end result of all of this. And what we saw play out on our TV screens last night, that’s where it leads inevitably left unchecked, left unguarded, it blooms into something. And then in a few verses later after Paul, in his letter to the Colossians, says, rid yourselves of these things. He says, instead, let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts instead of that. Let this happen. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts. And this sounds like kumbaya. I get it. This sounds like a nicety from hallmark. Okay, let the peace of Christ, but notice the language of it. Let it happen. Allow it to happen. Let the peace of Christ rule and reign supreme in your heart. And he chooses that word carefully. Peace. And yes, that means kindness towards others, but also the ends, the ends, the ends of your vengeance, your bitterness, your rage. Because Jesus came, Jesus came, were told in Isaiah that he would be despised and rejected by all men. And then in scripture it says that he was turned over to the hands of angry men to a cross where he was slandered, mocked, and beaten.
Peter the apostle says that he received in his body the penalty, the justice, the recompense for all of our anger, all of our bitterness, all of our rage. All of our sin was heaped upon him, paid in full. I understand the word social justice, I get it. But what I don’t like about social justice is there’s never confession and there’s never forgiveness. Every justice system eventually has forgiveness. And if there’s no forgiveness, if there’s no absolution, it just goes on and on and on. I for an eye, tooth, for tooth. And Jesus received in himself the full weight of everything that you’re angry about, everything that you’re bitter about, all the resentment that you feel and a harbor in your heart. Jesus received it in his body and he said it is finished and then he rises from the dead. And as he gives you life, he also gives you peace. So let the peace of Christ rule and reign in your hearts as you respond to the world around you as you respond to the events that happen in Pennsylvania yesterday. As you get on social media, be peacemakers. Be the people of God. Be children of light. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts peace.
LIVE AS CHILDREN OF LIGHT
And in just a moment, I was thinking about just, what am I going to say And what is God’s word from this reading and Jacob say to us today? And I was looking at this anger and this grudge, and then thinking about how Jesus receives that on the cross. And then I started thinking about the rest of our service, and I realized we’re going to celebrate communion. And when you come forward to communion, you’ll come forward and you’ll open your hands and we’ll put the wounded body of Jesus in your hands. And then you’ll take the cup and drink his blood. And I started thinking about how you’re going to come forward like this. And so many of us this morning are feeling like this. Our fists are white knuckle clenched. Our teeth are gritted. We are angry about what happened yesterday, but we’re angry about so much that job promotion you missed out on that failing health, that loved one who wronged you. All of that, you’re angry. Bring that anger here, bring it, and then open your hands. And before we put the bread in your hands, let him take it. Open your hands and let him take the anger, give it to him. And then when you’re ready, we’ll place the bread in your empty hands. Amen.
