Sermon for July 17, 2011 (16th Sunday in Ordinary Time)

“The Heirs to God's Promise” (Genesis 28:10-19a; Matthew 13:24-43)
July 17, 2011 (16th Sunday in Ordinary Time)
Rev. John B. Erthein

Last week we met the patriarch Jacob, who seemed like a sharp young man who knew what he wanted and used whatever means to get it. He got his brother Esau to surrender his birthright (by the way, the birthright of an eldest son was to receive twice the inheritance of any other son) for a bowl of lentil stew. Later he received his father Isaac's blessing by an act of deceit, disguising himself as Esau and thus fooling the b;ind, elderly Isaac.

But in this passage, the successful and cocksure Jacob we know has been replaced by a far more self-reflective and even troubled man. Jacob is older now. He is journeying to Haran in order to find a wife. He is older than 40 and perhaps in his 70s. He travels alone with almost no possessions. He sleeps under the stars with a rock for his pillow. He has simply stopped for the day, deciding to spend the night at a seemingly random location. And there the incredible happens … Jacob has a vision of angels and of God.

Jacob sees a ladder or stairway extending all the way to heaven, with a vision of God's angels constantly ascending and descending. This vision indicates that heaven and earth are not separate realms, but are closely and intimately connected. Further, one might expect God to be at the top of the ladder, but in fact God was next to Jacob. God did not call to Jacob as the messenger of God did, but he spoke to him, indicating a close presence. Jacob also would declare “Surely the Lord was in this place!” After awakening from his dream, Jacob realizes it came from God, and that, contrary to his own belief, he was not alone in that place. Indeed, he felt ashamed that he had not recognized that God was in the place he chose. He is also so amazed that God was at that place that he expresses fear about it, referring as “awful” or “frightening.” And indeed, the unexpected presence of God can be frightening to someone who has something to be frightened about. Jacob may have been reflecting upon some of his less than noble activities in obtaining Esau's birthright and Isaac's blessing.

But what does God say to Jacob? God does not explicitly condemn Jacob's previous actions. Instead, God renews the promise he had already given to Abraham and Isaac: the patriarchs would stand at the head of a great nation whose adherents would spread throughout the earth. This was an extraordinary promise for two reasons. First, Jacob was unmarried and childless, and yet God is promising him unlimited descendants. Not for the first time, God brought abundant life out of a seemingly hopeless situation. Both Abraham and Isaac married women who were barren, but miraculously conceived the children who would be heirs to the promise. Jacob, who is not even married at this point, is given the same promise.
Second, this promise points to God's gracious sovereignty. God did not choose Jacob because of Jacob's sterling character. Jacob was a flawed man. And yet God chose him as the vessel of mankind's eventual redemption. If anyone thinks that God favors them because of their inherent virtue, just think about Jacob. God chooses some for salvation not because of their character and works, but in spite of them,

And yet, however flawed the vessel, God's promises are sure. It is extraordinary how God has made such great things out of such modest beginnings. The family line of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was like a tiny, sputtering flame, in constant danger of extinction. But from this modest beginning, a great nation would arise, the nation of Moses, the lawgiver, the nation that God chose to keep the Law, the nation of great kings like David and Solomon, the nation of the prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah.

However, by the time of Christ, this nation of Israel had been reduced to a backwater province of the Roman Empire. Indeed, since the glory days of David and Solomon, Israel had been divided and conquered more than once. She had been subjugated by Babylon, then Persia, then Greece. There was a relatively brief period of independence between the periods of Greek and Roman domination. But it was hard to imagine how Israel could ever become what God had promised Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Then came Jesus Christ, born as a Son of Israel, who ministered first to the Jews, but whose saving message would extend outward throughout the world. In the passage from Matthew's Gospel, Jesus is explaining in parables how the kingdom of God will expand. He uses metaphors that sound pleasantly homey today but were not always understood by his listeners. By God's grace, we have the Bible and about 2,000 years of devoted interpretation to show us what Jesus meant.

Jesus' first parable concerns the wheat and the tares. You will see that Jesus graciously explains this parable to his disciples after sharing it publicly. The wheat was planted by the good farmer, and is good itself. These represent the elect in the church. But the tares are weeds that were planted by an evil trespasser. These represent those in the visible church on earth who are nonetheless children of the devil. While it is tempting to seek out the weeds and pull them up, meaning to try and purify the church now, Jesus tells the disciples to wait until the time of the harvest, so that the good wheat is not pulled up with the bad tares. At the harvest time, meaning the end of the world, God himself will separate the wheat from the tares, placing the wheat safely in his barn, the kingdom of heaven, while bundling up the tares and burning them … which in Revelation is referred to as the eternal lake of fire, reserved for the devil and those who belong to him.

But notwithstanding all trials and setbacks, in spite of the many tares contained in the field of wheat, the Gospel continues to spread as it has from the beginning. And Jesus foresaw that and communicated that by further parables. He compares the kingdom of heaven to a mustard seed, one of the smallest seeds that nonetheless grows into a great plant, larger than most other plants in the garden. And certainly, that is how God has brought about the church … from the smallest, most fragile beginnings, the church has grown into the largest body of people in the world. So many times, beginning with Abraham, the Covenant people should have been exterminated. And yet, there was always a remnant in Israel that kept safe the core of the Gospel.

And how is it that the church grows? Jesus refers to the practice of leavening new bread. A small portion of yeasty bread was always preserved so that it could be implanted in the new bread dough. The leaven would expand into the whole new loaf. And a small piece of that loaf would be saved for the next loaf, and so that continued, an amazing multiplication of leaven. From one initial loaf, the whole population of Israel could be fed … make that the whole population of the Roman world … make that the entire population of our very planet! And is that not how the church has grown, and must continue to grow? The leaven equals the born again believers who will share the Gospel with others, who in turn will share the Gospel with others, down through the generations, until the very end of the age. Praise God for bringing mighty things out of small beginning!

The Bible assures us that we are the heirs to God's promises. No matter how insignificant we may feel in the world; no matter how ashamed we may be of our past conduct; God is there for his elect. If God has indeed chosen you from before the foundation of the world, he will not break his promise. If it is his will for you to receive salvation, you will receive it. And so will millions of others, regardless of race, or gender, or income, or nationality, or any other human difference. So again, praise God … for his amazing grace that saves sinners from themselves, a grace that saves us over and over again, a grace that is unconquerable, a grace that is spreading to people in every nation, a grace that will truly lead us home. Amen.