Sermon for July 31, 2011 (18th Sunday in Ordinary Time)

“Undeserved Gifts” (Genesis 32:22-31; Matthew 14:13-21)
July 31, 2011 (18th Sunday in Ordinary Time)
Rev. John B. Erthein

It can be hard to ask something of someone, especially if you have the sense that you are asking for something unnecessary, like a privilege or luxury. I think of the man who asks his wife if he can play poker with the boys that night, and he would be out late as a result. While his wife is bathing the kids and putting them to bed, the husband would be playing cards, smoking a cigar, drinking a beer, and sharing racy jokes with his pals (the great poker playing scenes in the movie and TV series The Odd Couple comes to mind. I know I am dating myself by mentioning that).

Or the wife has everything she needs in the way of clothing, but she just has to have that new dress or hat. But since her husband is the breadwinner, she has to get his OK to buy of keep the article of clothing. And that reminds me of an episode from I Love Lucy (my tastes in TV comedy are old fashioned) where Lucy and Ethel return from a shopping trip. Lucy pulls out a box containing a pretty dress, and expresses her hope that Ricky will let her keep it. Ethel says “I hope Fred lets me keep what a bought,” and she pulls a toilet plunger out of her bag. Obviously Ricky and Fred have different ideas of what constitutes “luxury” or “undeserved gifts.”

Today we encounter two of the better known stories from Scripture, both of which illustrate the nature of undeserved gifts. First, there is Jacob’s wrestling encounter with a stranger. Jacob actually had been seeking solitude, walking around while thinking. I’ve done that myself on many occasions. Jacob is apprehensive about his upcoming reunion with Esau. You will recall that Jacob had obtained Esau’s birthright and fatherly blessing (from Isaac) by dubious means. He eventually settled in with Laban’s family for a long time, partly because he was cheated by Laban. At one point, Jacob and his family fled from Laban’s property and had a confrontation that ended well enough for Jacob, because of God’s gracious provision, but it was still a harrowing encounter.

Now Jacob is preparing to meet the brother who would have reason to hate him. He has prayed to God to spare him from his brother’s likely wrath. He then takes his wife and family members and possessions and sends them across the ford of the Jabbok river, really a stream. He remains behind. In the dark of night a mysterious man appears suddenly and engages Jacob in a wrestling match. The match lasts for hours. Jacob displays tenacity in refusing to release the stranger. The stranger cannot vanquish Jacob even when he dislocates Jacob’s hip (although in Hebrew the possibility exists that the stranger hurt a more sensitive part of Jacob’s anatomy, which makes Jacob’s persistence even more impressive.). Jacob will not let go out the stranger until he receives a blessing. This very request suggests a dawning realization on Jacob’s part that he is wrestling with an angel of the Lord, or perhaps the Lord himself! And Jacob receives the blessing. Indeed, he receives a blessing that he probably could not have imagined. This stranger tells him that he has a new name to match a new identity. No longer is her Jacob, a name that implies grasping and supplanting. Instead, his new name is Israel, which means one who has struggled with God and with men, and has prevailed. And after this amazing encounter, Jacob names the place “Peniel,” because “I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.” Notice that Jacob expresses no sense of triumph over his struggle with God, but an attitude of awe and gratitude that he even survived the encounter. Slowly but surely, Jacob is learning a proper faith that is accompanied by humility.

When I think of this encounter, I think about the power of God as opposed to our power. Realistically, who among can expect to prevail over God, who is infinite in power, who created the whole cosmos and gave us life? And yet, on this occasion, God did not use his awesome power to swat Jacob away like a fly. He did not grant Jacob’s request easily, but he did grant it. I think this shows that God is willing to hear our prayers, and will indeed respond to our faith, but that we also must show patience and perseverance and even endure setbacks. A true faith is a deeply rooted faith, one that will withstand the pressures and disappointments and sorrows of life. And for all of his faults and flaws, Jacob demonstrated such a faith. His faith was the reason for God’s blessing him, not any of his works. I think one reason why God chose Jacob as a patriarch was to show that one is saved by grace through faith. God was not required to choose Jacob, and God is not required to choose any of us, by virtue of our works or character. But by God’s mysterious providence, he chooses some for salvation and service.

And we witness another example of the graciousness of God in the story of the feeding of the multitude, an event recounted in all four Gospels, indicating an especially big impact. This story provides a very interesting counterpoint to the one from Genesis. Like Jacob, Jesus is under a terrific amount of stress. In Jesus’ case, he has learned that the man who was perhaps his greatest friend, John the Baptist, was beheaded by the cruel Herod Antipas, fulfilling a reckless promise he made to his evil wife and daughter at a typically decadent dinner party.

Jesus has withdrawn to the wilderness for a couple of reasons. First, he is leaving the territory controlled by Herod. Herod thinks Jesus may be the resurrected John the Baptist. It would be potentially hazardous for Jesus to stick around. Now, we know from later in the Gospels that Jesus would willingly give himself up to suffering and death … so he was not acting selfishly in this incidence. Rather, it was not the appointed time for him to die. He still had an earthly mission to fulfill. It would have been against God’s perfect plan for Jesus to die at that particular time.

Second, Jesus is attempting to withdraw from large groups of people to have a time of relative solitude and rest. He is searching for some quiet time in the midst of great stress, something that Jacob did as well.

Of course, a great difference in the stories is that Jacob is the one who makes a request of God. Jesus is the one who receives a request. And, as Matthew’s account makes clear, it was a request that only would have added to Jesus’ stress. Jesus had wanted to get away from large crowds of people. But somehow, a huge mass of people, 5,000 men at minimum (and I say “at minimum” because it is not entirely clear whether or not they were accompanied by additional women and children). But whatever the exact number, a very large group of people decided, for whatever reason, to follow Jesus into the wilderness. And there were no provisions to be had … not a McDonald’s or even a Whataburger in sight.

Jesus had had a horrible experience, learning that his friend John had been killed. And suddenly a huge crowd shows up, anything but invited, but obviously hungry and in need of food. Jesus and his disciples have a few loaves and fishes (and when the Bible says “loaves,” these are likely not what we think of as loaves, but rather large slabs of pita bread or flat bread. There was barely enough to feed the disciples. And yet Jesus commands them to feed the great multitude. And there turns out to be more than enough for all five thousand (or perhaps ten thousand?).

Traditionally, this passage has been understood to describe a miracle … the blessing of Jesus Christ allowed the scanty amount of food to be multiplied to such an extent that everyone received his fill, and there was enough left over to fill twelve baskets
… reminds me of some of the meals we’ve had here! In recent times, with the rise of skeptical and rationalist biblical criticism, it has become fashionable in the academy to treat this event as some kind of psychological happening … that Jesus convinced everyone to share the food they had already brought. I think that reduces the story to a kind of kindergarten lesson: “see, children, it’s good to share!” But according to one of the most learned expositors of Matthew’s Gospel, R.T. France, the text does not support the idea that Jesus engaged in “psychological manipulation.” The intent of the author was to affirm that a supernatural miracle occurred! I just mention that because it disturbs me that supposed church leaders sometimes favor these rationalistic, miracle-defying interpretations, simply because that matches their own experience, regardless of what the Bible says about certain events. Their attitude reminds me of a French philosopher who once declared that if the entire population of Paris told him they witnessed a bodily resurrection, he still would not believe it because it could not occur in the natural order of things.

My comments on miracles are not merely to show my concern about modernistic interpretations of Scripture. The miracle Jesus performed showed two great things about our God. First, it showed God has the amazing power to make something great out of something very small. This is a consistent pattern of God’s. He created the universe from nothing at all. He created the line of Israel from the unpromising beginnings of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, all of whom had serious obstacles in fathering children. He brought the church into being from a small band of Jesus’ followers to the ever growing Body of Christ, a church that has immensely changed history and the very way we think about reality. God brings great abundance out of small beginnings.

God has the power to perform miracles, and God has the desire to comfort and uplift his people. Remember that his people bring nothing to the table other than themselves. That is why the miracle of the feeding of the multitude is so important. They came with nothing and God blessed them with abundance. And this was so even though Jesus was likely tired, and stressed, and desired solitude. But he placed the needs of others ahead of his own. The king became the servant. That is the God we worship and adore. He gives us everything, and expects nothing, for there is nothing we can give to him that can merit his love. He loves us because he chooses to. He provides for us because he chooses to. He saves us by grace through faith on his own accord.

So what is there, really, for us to do? There are two things we can consider. First, search your heart and ask yourself honestly, the most honestly you have ever asked yourself this question: are you truly born again? Do you truly trust in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior? Do you know that if you come to him that he will give you the food of eternal life, just as he gave loaves and fishes to the multitude in the wilderness. And do you want this in your heart? Do you want this assurance more than anything else in the world? Do you want to know this so deeply that you will cling to the promises of God and be blessed by them, much as Jacob held on fiercely to God in their struggle?

Search your heart with these questions, and may God’s Spirit bring you to the place of salvation. Amen.