Wrestlemania

The Fight between Jacob and the Angel by Marc Chagall, 1967
This is the sermon that was offered up during Morning Prayer on August 2, 2020. This service was done by campers from the Episcopal Diocese of Iowa's EPIC online camp for congregations throughout the Diocese. The scripture readings were Psalm 17:1-7,15 and Genesis 32:22-31.  A recording of this service can be found at  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBDUssj2hWA
Steadfast.
Stubborn.
Determined.
Dedicated.
Do you know what these words mean? Do you think they are all describing someone who is a person who sounds like they will keep their word?
That’s one way to describe the actions of Jacob who decided it would be a good idea to wrestle someone, a stranger, for hours during the night while his family waited across the river for him.
Why would Jacob do that? What was the point?
Here’s another set of words:
Persuadable.
Weak-willed.
Liar. 
Thief.
How many of you would trust the first person, who was steadfast, stubborn, determined, and dedicated. Or the second person, who was persuadable, weak-willed, a liar, and a thief?
You know what?
Jacob was both of these.  He was a good person some of the time and he was a bad person at other moments in his life.  Just like all of us, he was human and he made mistakes.  
We see Jacob today wrestling, and he’s pretty reckless.  He was doing whatever he could to win. But he couldn’t win. But at the same time he wouldn’t give up. That is the way Jacob lived his whole life. When Jacob was younger he had deceived his father and stolen from his brother. Jacob and his family were on the way to meet Jacob’s brother Esau and Esau had hundreds of servants that were willing to fight for him.  Jacob’s not sure if his brother will forgive him or fight him.
But first, Jacob has to fight a stranger and it goes on for hours.  That’s exhausting.  To get an idea of what this is like, hold your arms out straight from your body and tighten them.  We’ll count to ten together
1, 2, 3, 4, 5 (no cheating, keep those muscles tight)  6, 7, 8, 9, 10.
Do you feel that in your muscles?  How long could you do that?  A minute?  An hour?  Could you do that all night long?  Now can you imagine how tired you might be?  That’s sorta what Jacob did, and when he was done, God changed his name.  
I think one of the reasons God did that was because he understood that the man Jacob was that night was more than just the mistakes Jacob had made.  Jacob had learned how to be a better person along the way, and God loved that. God gave Jacob a new name, Jacob was renamed Israel.
Israel means “struggle with God.”  We all struggle with God sometimes. 
We all have questions.
When things happen in this world, like sickness, like a COVID-19 pandemic, or natural disasters, like tornadoes and floods, where people are hurt or die, we wonder why?  Why would God let this happen?  Sometimes we struggle all night long and we don’t get an answer.
But God doesn’t go away, any more than he did with Jacob.  God stays with us for as long as we need God, and God let’s us fight out our fear and anxiety and frustration.
It’s not easy being Jacob in this story.
But it’s also not easy being God. 
God fought with Jacob.
But he didn’t defeat him.
Jacob wouldn’t quit fighting God. 
He wouldn’t trust that if he stopped arguing he might learn something.
Spoiler alert:  Jacob’s brother Esau forgives Jacob.
It reminds me a bit of a poem that Shel Silverstein wrote. 
Shel Silverstein was a poet and songwriter, and my own kids really enjoyed his work.
I did too.
Anyway, here’s the poem: Ainsley will read it for us today.
God's Wheel by Shel Silverstein
GOD says to me with a kind
of smile, "Hey how would you like
to be God awhile And steer the world?"
"Okay," says I, "I'll give it a try.
Where do I set?
How much do I get?
What time is lunch?
When can I quit?"
"Gimme back that wheel," says GOD.
"I don't think you're quite ready YET."

There’s lots of things we are not always ready for.
We’re not always ready to wrestle with God.
We’re not always ready to ask our brother or sister or cousin or friend for forgiveness.
Sometimes we’re stubborn.
Other times we’re weak.
But God loves us, each and every day.
Jesus came to show us how much he loved us by living with us.
And learning what it was like to be human.
Even now, the Holy Spirit is here.
Not just to argue with us, or to wrestle with us, but to wipe away our tears.
I am not ready to take God’s wheel.  
Sometimes I struggle.
I think that sometimes you struggle.
I am certain that sometimes we all struggle.
But that’s ok.
This past week of EPIC online has been holy work for kids from across the Diocese. The Spirit has been working in their lives.
Let’s take that and go forward, knowing that God is with us.
Even when we struggle.
Even when we fight.
Even when we argue.
God is with us.
God is with me.
God is with you.
God is with all of us.

Amen.

Location: Iowa, USA

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