Remember the Lord your God (Deuteronomy 8:10-18)

 Thanksgiving Day

November 21, 2012

 

Dear friends in Christ.

Ever since Thanksgiving became a holiday, many families have had the practice of taking time to think about and remember things that happened during the past year—things for which they are truly thankful.  Sometimes the things they remember are recent events in their lives, while other times the things they remember are things that happened a lot earlier during the past year.  Well, in the same way that we often take time to remember the things for which we are thankful on Thanksgiving, as Christians there are often times that we look back over our lives and remember the things that the Lord our God has done for us.  Though there are times that the difficulties of life sometimes cause us to forget our God’s faithfulness, so often when we look back we remember how the Lord has led us through our lives and how he has delivered us from troubles.  So often we remember the blessings he has given, the victories he won for us and the encouragements he has bestowed upon us in our lives.  So often, when we take time to remember the Lord our God, we are reminded of the great things that he continues to do for us.

The same was true for Moses and the Israelites.  For as we meet them, Israel is camped on the East Side of the Jordan River preparing to enter the Promised Land of Canaan for a second time.  The first time they were here, preparing to enter the Land, they sent Joshua, Caleb and 10 other spies into the land to scout it out.  When they returned, they reported that the land did indeed flow with milk and honey, but the people who live there are powerful and their cities are fortified and very large.  When the Israelites heard this, they did what they normally did in a time of crisis.  Instead of remembering the Lord and trusting him to deliver them, they began to doubt the Lord’s promise and grumble and complain. Joshua and Caleb tried to encourage the people to, “go up and take possession of the land, which the Lord has given us.”  But the other ten spies went and stirred up the people so that they began to grumble against Moses and Aaron. They even elected a leader who would lead them back to the land of Egypt. Because the people turned away from the Lord and sinned by not following his will, he made them wander in the wilderness for forty years.  One year for every day the spies had spent exploring the land. 

Now that the forty years of wandering were over and a new generation of Israelites was getting ready to cross the Jordan and enter the land of Canaan.  But before they entered, Moses calls on them to remember the Lord their God, he says: When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. 11 Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. 12 Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, 13 and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, 14 then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery." (Deuteronomy 8:10–14, NIV84)

With these words, Moses was calling on the people to remember the Lord their God because of his many blessings.  He was calling on them to remember how the Lord had blessed them as they wandered through the wilderness with manna and quail.  They always had water when they needed it and their clothes did not wear out during all those forty years.  Now the Lord is about to bless them again by leading them into the Promised Land of Canaan.  This was a land that Moses described as: “a good land–a land with streams and pools of water, with springs flowing in the valleys and hills; a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills,” (Deuteronomy 8:7b-9).

This is why Moses exhorts them not to remember the Lord who blesses you, because when they settled down in this land of plenty and their flocks and riches increased, it would be easy for them to forget the Lord. The same is true for you and me, and that is why Moses is reminding us to remember the Lord our God today.  He is reminding us to remember the Lord our God who has blessed us in so many ways.  Here we are living in one of the greatest countries in the world.  We have some of the most fertile farming land in the world.  We have running water; electricity that is seldom interrupted and there hasn’t been a shortage of gas since the 1970’s. Our God has truly blessed us and our nation of plenty.  That is why we have gathered here today.  We have gathered to remember our Lord who has blessed us and thank him for all his blessings.  We thank him for our nation of plenty.  We thank him for our friends and family.  We thank him for blessing us through in the past and years to come.  But most important of all, we thank him for the blessing of our Savior who came to earth to free us from our sins. Jesus death was our death and his resurrection assures our resurrection.  He is the greatest blessing we have ever received.  Yes, our Lord has indeed blessed us and that is why we have gathered here, to remember our Lord.  But that is not the only reason we remember the Lord today, we also remember him because he keeps his promises.

When we take a look at our history, we are able to see just how true it is that God keeps his promises.  The same was true for Israel, for as they stood by the banks of the Jordan River preparing to cross over, Moses was reminded them how the Lord kept his promises to them.  He says, “[The Lord] led you through the vast and dreadful desert, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. 16 He gave you manna to eat in the desert, something your fathers had never known, to humble and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you. 17 You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” 18 But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today." (Deuteronomy 8:15–18, NIV84)

As Moses spoke these words, he was reminding them of how the Lord had kept all the promises that he had made to his people Israel.  Even now, as they stood on the border of Canaan, preparing to enter and take possession of the Promised Land Moses is calling on the people to remember the Lord their God.  He is calling on them to remember the Lord their God as they crossed the river and took possession of the land.  He is calling on them to remember the Lord their God as they built up their homes and cities and businesses.  He is calling on them to remember the Lord their God as they became a new nation, as their flocks increased, and as their wealth began to grow.  Even in all this, Moses was calling on the Israelites to remain humble in their faith, remembering that it was the Lord their God who had given them all that they had. 

Moses is saying the same thing to you and me today.  He is calling on us to remember the Lord our God who keeps his promises.  He is calling on us to remember the Lord our God who has blessed us with everything we have.  He is calling on us to remember all his grace and blessing that he bestowed upon us through the death and resurrection of his Son, through which we have received the forgiveness of sins, and the promise of eternal life. 

So, as you gather with friends and family to celebrate Thanksgiving this week, or simply celebrate quietly by yourselves, continue to remember all that the Lord your God has done for you.  Remember how the Lord has led you through your life and brought you to this point.  Remember how he has delivered you from countless troubles.  Remember the blessings the Lord has bestowed upon you, the encouragements he has given through numerous people, and the victories he has won for you.  Remember the joy that the Lord has planted in your hearts through the forgiveness of sins and grow in your faith and trust in the Lord you God, about whom it can be truly said, “Not one of his promises has ever failed.”

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN

The Lord Has Blessed You! (Numbers 6:22-27)

March 6, 2011

Dear friends in Christ.

How have you been enjoying exploring God’s Islands of Adventure? Personally I have loved this Bible reading challenge, because so many of you are reading and studying the Scriptures for yourselves on a regular basis. Though only a few people have added their names to ships that have been anchored on the different Islands, so many of our members have told me that they are reading on a regular basis. More and more people are coming to Bible Study to study the Word of God together and discuss different things they have learned, and I have enjoyed preaching on different lessons from the Chronological schedule of readings that so many of you are following. I have enjoyed it, because I have seen just how the Lord has begun blessing us as a congregation through this Bible Reading challenge, for that is what the Lord does as we grow in our faith through his Word.

In fact, this is the very thing we want to study as we take a look at the Aaronic blessing recorded for us in Numbers 6:22-27. I invite you then to open your Bibles to our first lesson, to Numbers 6:22-27. Now, as you are turning to Numbers six, let me give you a little bit of background. The Nation of Israel had been camped at Mt. Sinai for roughly 10 months now, and during their time there they had seen amazing things, been unfaithful to the Lord, forgiven by the Lord, blessed by the Lord and accomplished great things for the Lord. They had seen the Lord appear to them in a fiery cloud on the top of Mt. Sinai. They watched as Moses climb the mountain and disappeared into that cloud of fire and smoke. They grew impatient for Moses return and persuaded Aaron to fashion them a new god, a golden calf. They felt the sword of the Lord’s judgment when Moses returned from the Mountain. They repented and were forgiven. They watched as Moses again returned to the top of the Mountain for another 40 days. But this time, when he came down, there was no golden calf. Rather, whIen Moses returned to them with his radiant face glowing with the glory of the Lord, they set to work constructing the Tabernacle. Now, as the Lord speaks to Moses in our lesson for today, the Lord bestows upon his people, both Israel and all of his followers, what we have come to know as the Aaronic Blessing: Take a look at verse 22: “The LORD said to Moses, 23 “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them: 24 “ ‘ “The LORD bless you and keep you; 25 the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; 26 the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.” ’ 27 “So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.” (Numbers 6:22–27, NIV84)

In such a simple way, with such well chosen words, the Lord our God bestows the gift of his blessing upon his people Israel; both physical descendants of Israel as well as spiritual Israel, people like you and me who are now Israelites through faith in Jesus. What a comfort it is to know that whenever we hear these words of blessing spoken to us, it is as if the Lord himself is speaking to us, placing his name on us and blessing us! Though it could be said that this is a blessing that we take for granted because we hear these words spoken so often, they are still filled with great comfort. Though it could be said that we have emptied the word bless of all its meaning by constantly using it after people sneeze, when we take a close look at the word bless, we find that it is an amazing word filled with layers if meaning.

For example, if you turn to the Dictionary, you will find that the word bless means, “to invoke divine favor upon someone”; to convey well-being or prosperity on someone”; or “to endow, as with a talent.” This pretty much describes how we view blessings in our lives, yet, if you dig a little deeper and take a look at the Hebrew word in our passage, you would find that the Hebrew word for bless is barek or barak depending upon how you pronounce it. Hearing that, many of you are probably thinking that our President’s name must mean “bless”. Interestingly that is exactly what it means, in Swahili, which I understand is the language either his Father or Grandfather spoke. However, based on what I could find, when it comes to Hebrew it seems that his name means lightning. This is all based on the length of the vowels and which Hebrew letter is used for the K sound. Anyway, as I was saying, the Hebrew word for bless is barek or barak, depending on how you pronounce it and it is a word that carries the idea of conveying favor upon a person. But it also carries the idea of kneeling down on the knees, either with a straight back, or bent over with your face toward the ground as in a position of worship or humility. This paints the picture that the person who is blessing you is greater than you and you are showing appreciation to that person by humbly accepting his gift of favor upon you. But the thing that is even more interesting is what you discover when you take a look at the etymology or the Word History of our English word bless. When we do this we find that it is a word that comes to us from the Old English which conveys the meaning of wishing happiness upon someone or consecrating someone. If we look back even farther we discover that the word can be shown to derive from a Germanic root that literally means “to consecrate with blood”

Though the Hebrew word itself may not convey the idea of consecrating with blood, when we take a look at how the Lord our God has blessed us, we quickly realize that it is the Lord who blesses us with his favor through the forgiveness of sins that Jesus won for us by washing us clean with his blood and setting us apart as his brothers and sisters, children of God through faith in him. Thus, when we hear those words, “The Lord bless you and keep you” we are assured that it is the Lord our God who is not only continually bestowing his favor upon us, but he is also the one who is keeping us, and guarding us because we belong to him. Just as he assures us in Psalm 91:11, “He will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways;” (Psalm 91:11, NIV84)

How often hasn’t the Lord done this for us? How often hasn’t the Lord blessed us when we least expected it or simply needed it the most? How often hasn’t the Lord provided for you exactly what you needed in the very moment you needed? How often hasn’t the Lord protected you from harm? How many situations can you point to in your life that you can see the Lord’s protecting hand keeping you safe from trouble and danger? This is how the Lord our God has blessed us in the past and will continue to bless us into the future as he promises when we hear those beautiful words, “ ‘ “The LORD bless you and keep you; 25 the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you;” (Numbers 6:24–25, NIV84)

What is the first thing that you do when you walk into a dark room? You flip the light switch and turn on the lights so that you can see where you are, where you are going, and what is in the room! This is something that is so ingrained into our nature that we do it without thinking about it. We often do it when we walk into a room on a sunny day. We even do it when the power is out. Though we know the power is out, we naturally reach out and flip the switch to illuminate the room, only to stand there, befuddled for a moment or two, until we realize that the power is out and there can be no light. The Lord our God works in much the same way, each time we hear that the Lord is causing his face to shine upon us, we understand just how greatly he is blessing us. For throughout the Scriptures, whenever the Lord hides his face from his people they face suffering, hardship, destruction and even death. However, when he shines his face upon them he graciously blesses them with his loving presence.

The Lord has done the same thing for us! In fact, each week as we hear this blessing, we are assured that the Lord our God will continue to cause his face to shine upon us and be gracious to us! Each week we are reminded of how the Lord our God did that for us through his Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior. For Jesus, our Savior is the shining light of the Lord’s grace to us. As the Scriptures tell us, “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being,” (Hebrews 1:3, NIV84) Jesus is the one who came to us, revealing his gracious love for us in all that he did. Though we had done nothing to earn it or deserve it, Jesus willingly carried the concrete slabs of our sins to the execution chamber of the cross. As the crowds gathered expecting to hear his final confession or pleas that he was innocent, they only heard him whisper, Father forgive them. As they taunted him, expecting him to reply, they heard only silence. Though they expected only to hear the strangled gurgle of suffocation when Jesus died, they heard him cry out in a loud voice, they felt the earth quake, and the rocks split. This is how the Lord our God has blessed us, how he has caused his face to shine upon us and been gracious to us! Though we had been lost in the dark midnight of sin, the dawn of the Lord’s grace rose upon us and the Light of Christ our Savior was shown in our hearts. Though we had done nothing to deserve it, it was Christ our Savior who: “redeemed me, a lost and condemned creature, purchased and won me from all sins, from death and from the power of the devil, not with gold or silver, but with his holy precious blood, and innocent suffering and death. All this he did that I should be his own and live under him in his kingdom and serve him with everlasting righteousness, innocence and blessedness, just as he has risen from death, and lives and rules eternally. This is most certainly true.”

How greatly the Lord has blessed us that he should make his face shine upon us and be gracious to us, or that he should even turn his face toward us and give us peace. (Numbers 6:25–26, NIV84) Yet this is exactly what the Lord our God has done for us. He has blessed us not only by causing his face to shine on us but by turning his face toward us and giving us peace. Now I realize that the final clause of the Lord’s blessing sounds very similar to the second clause. Interestingly the same Hebrew word is used in both verses when speaking of the Lord’s face. Yet while verse 25 speaks about the Lord causing the light of his face to shine upon us, verse 26 speaks about the Lord fixing his loving gaze upon us; not only fixing his loving gaze upon us, but giving us his undivided attention. In such a simple way the Lord is assuring us that he is intensely interested in each and every one of us, and he will give us the individualized attention that each and every one of us needs!

What a comfort it is to know that the Lord our God cherishes us so much that he blesses us with his peace, which is the peace that goes beyond all understanding, the peace of the forgiveness of sins! This is the uplifting peace that the Holy Spirit pours out in our hearts as he assures us of the forgiveness of sins won for us by our dear Savior Jesus. This is the peace that builds us up when we are weak and sustains us when we cannot stand. This is the peace through which the Lord our God assures us that we have been completely forgiven of all our sins, that our slates have not only been washed clean but have been completely replaced without any chalk to keep a record of wrong, and that continues to assure us that we are, once again, in a right relationship with the Lord our God.

What greater blessing could there be than this blessing that the Lord our God bestows upon us each and every week! For it is through this very blessing that the Lord our God places his Name on us and blesses us as his people. It is through this blessing we are assured that he is watching over us, guarding us, and protecting us. It is through this blessing that we are assured of his peace and that we are in a right relationship with him through the forgiveness of sins. Though there are times when we take this blessing for granted, as you hear it one more time, let it wash over your heart and mind as you hear it one more time: “ ‘ “The LORD bless you and keep you; 25 the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; 26 the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.” ’ (Numbers 6:24–26, NIV84)

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling
Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church --Le Sueur, MN

Let Your Boast be in the Lord (1 Corinthians 1:26-31)

February 6, 2011


Dear friends in Christ.

According to a story in the Grand Rapids Press, the owner of a small foreign car had begun to irritate his friends by bragging incessantly about his gas mileage. So they decided on a way to get some humor out of his tireless boasting, as well as bring it to an end. Every day one of them would sneak into the parking lot where the man kept his car and pour a few gallons of gas into the tank. Soon the braggart was recording absolutely phenomenal mileage. He was boasting of getting as much as 90 miles per gallon, and the pranksters took secret delight in his exasperation as he tried to convince people of the truthfulness of his claims. It was even more fun to watch his reaction when they stopped refilling the tank. The poor fellow couldn't figure out what had happened to his car.

Well, in some ways, this was what was starting to happen to the Corinthians in our lesson for today. In fact, I invite you to open your Bibles and take a look at what the Apostle Paul has to say to the Corinthians in 1:26 and following. Now, as you turn to 1 Corinthians 1:26-31, you will find that the Corinthians weren’t boasting and bragging about the incredible mileage their chariots got. Instead, they were beginning talk pretty loudly about which preacher they liked the best because they had started to misunderstand the message of the Gospel. They had begun to focus their attention on the preacher rather than the message. They had started focusing on the Spiritual gifts rather than on the giver of the Spiritual gifts. They had begun focusing on things that made them look wise rather than on the wisdom of salvation that came through faith in Jesus Christ, and through all of this they were boasting and bragging about how wise they were, what gifts they had, and who they followed. So when Paul wrote these words he called on them to let their boast be in the Lord. Take a look at what Paul writes: “Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him. 30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31 Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”(1 Corinthians 1:26–31, NIV84)

In such a simple and loving way, Paul reminds them that when they were called to faith, there were not too many in that congregation who could claim great wisdom according to human standards. There were very few of them were influential or of noble birth. Yet, it was the Lord who chose them to be his own and through the teachings of the gospel, he had made them wise for salvation. He had chosen them to be his own. He had called them to faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior. He had given them every reason to boast in the Lord because it had not been by their power or by their might that they had come to faith, instead they had been called to faith by the working of the Holy Spirit through the Word of God.

The same thing is true for you and me. For if we honestly look at our lives, we must realize that there is no reason why the Lord should have chosen us. Yet, because the Lord did choose us to be his own, how often haven’t we secretly thought to ourselves that the Lord chose us because we were so special? How often haven’t we considered how smart we were that as soon as we heard the Lord’s Word we came to faith. How often haven’t we thought to ourselves that we did the Lord a favor in letting him chose us? Maybe you’ve never had thoughts like this, but I can guarantee that we have all been pretty confident in our own accomplishments at one time or another. I can guarantee this because we have all been confident in our own accomplishments as Christians. Just for example: if I asked you the question, “why are you so confident that you will be in heaven when you die?”, what pops into your head first? Is it the answer, “Because Jesus died for me.”? Or is it the answer, “Because I’ve been a good person.”? Too often, when we try to answer this question, our sinful nature plants that thought in our brains and tries to lead us down the path of trusting in our own accomplishments. But this is not just a onetime battle, this is a battle that rages constantly within us.

For our sinful nature seeks every opportunity to lead us away from the idea that God chose us and tries to make us think that we chose God. It tries to make us think that we are pretty good people on our own who don’t necessarily need God’s salvation. It tries to make us think of our sins as only minor infractions of God’s law and not the soul destroying projectiles that they are. It tries to make us think that God owes us something because we have struggled so hard to keep his law even though it is nearly impossible for us to do. This is when we begin to rely on our own wisdom rather than on God’s wisdom. This is when we begin to rely on our own accomplishments for salvation rather than on what our Savior has done for us. This is when we need to hear those very same words that Paul wrote to the Corinthians nearly 20 centuries ago, “Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him. 30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31 Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”(1 Corinthians 1:26–31, NIV84)

In such a simple way the Lord assures us that it was not we who chose him, but he chose us. He did not choose us because we were the strongest or the wisest. He didn’t choose us because we were the most influential or the noblest. Instead, he chose us because he loved us, and so that he might display his almighty power through us. He chose us so that he might make us wise for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ our Savior. Thus our boasting is no longer in ourselves, but our boasting becomes our proclamation of what Jesus did for us and how he saved us by his death and resurrection!
This is where the sinful world has problems. For, in the eyes of the world, any teaching about Jesus Christ is simply foolishness, because the world cannot figure out how Jesus death could possibly have forgiven sins. The world cannot figure out how Jesus Christ, a rather unremarkable character of the Bible could possibly have been the Son of God. The world cannot figure out how Jesus, a lowly child, and a weak human being, could have accomplished all that the Bible says he did. To the world, Jesus is nothing more than an annoying friend with a small foreign car bragging about his incredible gas mileage.

But to us, Jesus is the Son of God, our Savior. Jesus is the one whom Jacob prophesied in Genesis 49. In fact, if you still have your Bibles open, turn with me to Genesis 49:8-12. Now, Genesis 49:8-12 happens to be part of the Bible Reading that is scheduled for today if you are following the Chronological schedule. Not only is Genesis 49 part of that schedule, but it is also where Jacob is blessing his 12 sons shortly before his time on earth comes to an end, and in these particular verse he is passing the promise of the Savior on to his Son, Judah as he says, “Judah, your brothers will praise you; your hand will be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s sons will bow down to you. 9 You are a lion’s cub, O Judah; you return from the prey, my son. Like a lion he crouches and lies down, like a lioness—who dares to rouse him? 10 The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is his. 11 He will tether his donkey to a vine, his colt to the choicest branch; he will wash his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes. 12 His eyes will be darker than wine, his teeth whiter than milk.(Genesis 49:8–12, NIV84)

Though this prophecy would not come true for many, many years, Jacob placed his faith in the promise of the coming Savior. His boast was not in the things he had done, but his boast was in the Lord who had provided for him, cared for him and called him to faith in the coming Savior. This is the boast that you and I carry with us today. It is the boast of all that our Lord has done for us! Though there is nothing special about us, it was the Lord who loved us and called us to be his own. Though we had done nothing to deserve it, it was the Lord who called us to faith by the working of the Holy Spirit in baptism. Though we may not be the wisest, the noblest, or even the most influential, the Lord has called us to be his own, he has given us the gift of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ our Savior, and his has called us to make that message known throughout the world. Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling
Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church -Le Sueur, MN

Are You Ready for a Rumble? (Genesis 32:22-30)

January 30, 2011


Dear friends in Christ.

Roughly twenty years ago, a man named Michael Buffer introduced a phrase that has become known as the “clarion call to the pure integrity of the competitive spirit.” (from: http://letsgetreadytorumble.com/main.html) It is a phrase that captures all the excitement and anticipation that the crowds feel as they are about to watch two men step into a ring, or two teams enter an arena. It’s a phrase that many sports teams, both professional and colligate have used to create a higher level of excitement before play begins. This phrase is Michael Buffer’s trademarked phrase: “Let’s get ready to rumble!”

Now, even though I am simply speaking these words to you with my normal voice and am not using them in any way to introduce the start of any type of competition, I’m sure that many of you immediately heard Michael’s distinctive voice echoing in your minds and calling out those words, as he does, at the start of so many competitions. In fact, I’d be willing to bet that as soon as I spoke those words, some of you felt a twinge of anticipation and excitement flow through you. After all, these words have become embedded in our American culture as the beginning of some of the most exciting events!

But even though Michael Buffer’s introduction has been preparing fans for the start boxing matches and countless other sporting events, what is it that prepares us to contend with our Lord, so to speak, in prayer? How is it that we approach our God with our prayers? Do we use our prayer time as an opportunity to speak to the Lord on a regular basis? Or do we use our prayers as a last resort, when nothing else has worked? Do we think of them as time to speak to our Lord with praise and thanksgiving as we pour out the hurts and the desires of our hearts to him? Or do we view prayer as a battlefield, a contest, a struggle, a rumble, if you will, with our God?

Well, that is exactly what it was for Jacob in our lesson today. Jacob’s prayer was nothing short of an all night rumble with the Lord! So before we turn to our lesson this morning, let me ask you a question: “Are you ready for a rumble?” If you are, if you are ready for a rumble with the Lord your God, then I invite you to turn to our lesson today. I invite you to turn to Genesis 32:22. Now, in Genesis 32:22, Moses records a rumble that is so much bigger than the Rumble in the Jungle of 1974. For this rumble that Moses records for us took place between the Angel of the Lord—the pre-incarnate Christ—and Jacob, the Forefather of all the Israelites. Take a look at what Moses is telling us with the beginning of verse 22: “That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two maidservants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23 After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. 24 So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. 25 When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. 26 Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” 27 The man asked him, “What is your name?” “Jacob,” he answered. 28 Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome.” 29 Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.” But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there. 30 So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.” (Genesis 32:22–30, NIV84)

Now, put yourself in Jacobs shoes for a moment and just think about how this patriarch was feeling! Here he was, getting ready to cross the Jabbok River, on his way to his Father’s house after 20 years with his Uncle Laban. Though Jacob had every reason to be joyful for his homecoming, he was still filled with fear because one question had not been answered; had Esau’s anger faded? Had Esau forgotten what Jacob had done which caused Esau to hate him and plan how he would kill Jacob after his father had died, thus causing Jacob’s mother to send him to Laban? After all, it was Jacob’s actions that had ignited the flame of Esau’s fury. Not only had Jacob tricked Esau into selling his birthright for a bowl of soup, Jacob had also disguised himself as Esau, tricking Isaac into thinking that Jacob was Esau and thus stealing the blessing that Isaac had intended to give to Esau. Though Rebecca had sent Jacob away with the promise that she would send word when Esau’s anger had cooled, no word had come, and Jacob was on his way home; fearing the worst. Though he had sent messengers to Esau hoping to gain Esau’s favor, all that Jacob received in return was the message that Esau was coming to meet Jacob with 400 men. So that night, Jacob prepared himself for a rumble. But the rumble he got was not the one he expected. Take a look again at verses 24-26: “Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. 25 When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. 26 Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” (Genesis 32:24–26, NIV84)

In fact, just listen to how the Prophet Hosea describes Jacob’s rumble with the Lord: “4 He struggled with the angel and overcame him; he wept and begged for his favor. He found him at Bethel and talked with him there— 5 the LORD God Almighty, the LORD is his name of renown! (Hosea 12:4–5, NIV84) Jacob was so worried and fearful of Esau’s coming that the longed for the Lord’s blessing. So badly did he want that blessing that Hosea tells us he wept and begged and Moses tells us that he wrestled with the Lord all night long. Even when the Lord wrenched Jacob’s hip so that he could do nothing more, Jacob threw his arms around the Lord’s neck and would not let him go unless the Lord blessed him. This was Jacob’s Rumble with the Lord!

So, are you ready for a rumble like that? Are you ready to wrestle with the Lord all night in prayer if that is what it takes to gain his blessing? Or are you content to simply step into the ring for a few minutes, voice your petitions, and then jump out again before the Lord has the opportunity to leave his corner? Though there are times when the Lord answers our prayers just as quickly as we speak them, there are other times when the Lord wants us to rumble with him. There are times when the Lord is pleased to let us wrestle fervently and vigorously with him in prayer. In his amazing love, the Lord longs for us to approach him as Jacob did and “wrestle away” if you will, from God’s hands the very blessings he desires to give us. He wants us to approach his throne of grace with confidence so that we might win the victory over the Lord on the basis of our humble faith expressing itself through prayer.

When Jacob did this, he received the Lord’s blessings. He understood that his real strength came from the Lord’s gracious hand and not his own schemes or devices. Yet Jacob was not free from the terror that had gripped him when he learned that Esau was coming with 400 men. Yet after this Rumble with the Lord, Jacob was prepared to meet his brother because his ears were still ringing with the Savior’s promises and blessing. For when Jacob met Esau, he would no longer be the heel grabber, but he would be known as Israel. He was the one who struggled with God and overcame. Jacob’s new name became a constant reminder of the blessings he had received from the hand of the Lord—blessings that were his, only by grace, especially the blessing that the Savior would come from his line.

This is what the Lord wants for each and every one of us. He wants us to be Israels also. He wants us to be people who struggle; who rumble with God and over come, and through faith that is what we are! Through faith in Jesus be are God’s children and we rumble with the Lord God as Jacob did. We rumble with the Lord when we come to him with our sins and beg their forgiveness and our Savior pours out on us all the grace and blessing of his forgiveness. We rumble with the Lord when we are troubled in Spirit, and our Savior comforts us with his peace. We rumble with the Lord when we approach his throne boldly and confidently with our hardships, our frustrations, our heartaches, our annoyances, and pray for his strength, his courage, and his blessing. In fact, it is through this account of Jacob’s rumble with the Lord that the Lord teaches us that we can come to him and wrestle with him and win! Though the Lord may not always answer our prayers exactly as we might want or expect, when he blesses us with his peace we are ready to face any situation in this life with confidence and peace.

So, are you ready for a rumble? Are you ready to approach God’s throne of grace with confidence that he will hear you and answer you? Of course you are! You are ready to take everything to the Lord your God in prayer. Though there are times when the answers will come quickly, we also know that there will be times when the Lord is ready for a rumble. These are the best times, because every time we walk away from a rumble with the Lord we are better for is. We walk with his confidence, knowing that we have once again earned the name Israel, and we walk in his forgiveness. We walk in his forgiveness, knowing that we are at peace with him, that he has blessed us, and no matter what we might face he will give us the strength we need and carry us through.

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling
Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church --Le Sueur, MN