Our Sermons

Bible Passage: Genesis 28:10-17
Pastor: Pastor Berg
Sermon Date:  February 25, 2018

Do the names, Invocavit, Reminiscere, Oculi, Laetare, and Judica, mean anything to you? For most of you, I’m guessing they don’t. But the names I just listed are the traditional names for the first five Sunday in Lent. They got those names, which are Latin names, from the first word of the old entrance song called the Introit.” The traditional name for this Sunday is Reminiscere, which is Latin for “Remember.” The introit quotes Psalm 25:6, “Remember, O Lord, your compassion and your mercy, for they are from eternity.”

Perhaps, similar thoughts were running through Jacob’s mind as he plopped his head down on the rock. Jacob was at one of the lowest points in his life when God appeared to him in this fantastic dream. It was clear that God did indeed remember Jacob. He showed him compassion and mercy. But how did it get to this point? Again, an overview of Jacob’s story is in order.

Last Sunday, we left with Abraham and Isaac on the mountain, sacrificing the lamb which God had provided. They returned from worshiping, just as Abraham had said. And eventually, Isaac married Rebekah, who was from Abraham’s relatives. Like Sarah, Rebekah was barren. And like Sarah, God answered her prayer and she became pregnant, with twins no less! God told Rebekah, before the twins were born, that these two boys would be the beginning of two nations. But here was the kicker: unlike the normal order of things, where the oldest got the birthright, the double blessing, God said, “The older will serve the younger.”

When the boys were born, the oldest was named Esau, because he covered with red hair and the youngest was named Jacob, because he came out of the womb grabbing Jacob’s heel. The boys couldn’t have been more polar opposites. Esau was a hunter, a lover of the outdoors, and covered in hair. Jacob preferred to stay among the tents. And here’s a warning for all parents: Isaac and Rebekah clearly played favorites! The Bible says, “Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.” As you can imagine, this would not go well.

Clearly, Isaac and Rebekah knew God’s will, that Jacob was the one to receive the blessing and the promise of the Savior. And you can bet that Jacob and Esau knew it too! Yet, like his grandfather Abraham, Jacob didn’t trust God enough to let that blessing come in God’s time frame. First, Jacob bribed the birthright away from Esau with some red stew when Esau was famished from hunting. And later, with Rebekah’s urging, Jacob dressed up like Esau, even putting sheep skin on his hands and arms to trick his father Isaac, who was blind at this time, into giving him the blessing, the promise of the Savior.

As you can imagine, when Esau found out that he had not only given up his birthright, but now had been left out of the blessing, he was furious. As soon as Isaac died, Esau was determined to get his revenge, to kill Jacob. Jacob had no choice. He had to go. And so, on the pretense of going to find a wife from among his relatives, Jacob heads toward Haran.

So how do we feel about Jacob right now? The little Pharisee that resides inside each of us doesn’t feel sorry for him at all. “He’s getting what he deserves! He brought this all on himself. Serves him right for lying and cheating and deceiving!” And there’s a lot of truth in those words, isn’t there. Jacob is definitely dealing with the consequences of his sinful actions. And yet, isn’t there part of us that empathizes with Jacob? We know what he feels like as he lies there on the ground, alone, running for his life. We know what it’s like to feel the guilt of our sins weighing us down. We know what it’s like to think that our sins are so big that there couldn’t possibly be forgiveness for them. We know what it’s like to think that we aren’t going receive anything from God except for punishment.

That’s what makes this story so perfect for Lent. Lent is for sinners. Was there ever a more beautiful promise for someone who was so obviously a sinner? Listen again! “Jacob set out from Beersheba and traveled toward Haran. He came to a certain place and decided to spend the night there, because the sun had set. He took one of the stones from that place, put it under his head, and lay down to sleep in that place. He had a dream in which he saw a stairway set up on the earth with its top reaching to heaven. There were angels of God ascending and descending on it. There at the top stood the Lord, who said, “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. The land on which you are lying, I give to you and to your descendants. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south. In you and in your seed all the families of the earth will be blessed. Now, I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back again into this land. Indeed, I will not leave you, until I have done what I have promised to you.”

Jacob could never have imagined what he was about to see. With the ground for his bed and a rock for a pillow, God appears to Jacob. He sees a stairway from the ground to the sky, reaching up to heaven—a wide stairway with angels going back and forth from the earth to heaven. And there at the top of the stairway is the Lᴏʀᴅ himself. Where Jacob is lying is very near the place where Abraham had built an altar after he had received the promise of God, and now Jacob has the very same promise repeated to him. “The land on which you are lying, I give to you and to your descendants. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south.” In this time of uncertainty and guilt, God comes to Jacob and reminds him that he is never out of touch, he is personally interested, personally invested in Jacob and his future.  “Now, I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back again into this land. Indeed, I will not leave you, until I have done what I have promised to you.” And if the words of God were not comfort enough, Jacob sees the angels moving back and forth between heaven and earth. We can’t help but think of what Mark told us in his gospel last week, how the angels served Jesus during his time in the wilderness. And looking forward, how they would serve him in the garden during his fervent prayers. We remember what Jesus told Nathaniel, “He then added, “I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

But most importantly, Jacob hears these words from God: “In you and in your seed all the families of the earth will be blessed.” That promise the promise of the Savior. That promise is what truly gave Abraham and Isaac and Jacob hope. One day, Messiah would come and bless all people by taking away their sins.

Friends, we can certainly empathize with Jacob. We can easily put ourselves in his shoes. We know what it’s like to suffer the consequences of our sinful actions. We know what it’s like to make sinful choices that cause strife for our families. We know what it’s like to have the guilt of our sins bear down on us and cause us to wonder if God could possibly forgive. The words of the hymn writer say it so well: “In hopelessness and near despair, I cry to you my Savior! My guilt is more than I can bear. I have not earned your favor. You know me as I really am: how much is truth, how much is sham; why should you heed my pleading?”

But then God comes to us, not with wrath, but with grace. God comes to us with his precious promises. He assures us that he is always with us, that he will never leave us or forsake us. He promises that he is never out of touch: he’s personally interested, personally invested in us. And we see that so clearly in Jesus. God sent his Son to bridge the gap that sin had caused. Jesus is the stairway in Jacob’s dream. Jesus is the link that allows us to stand in God’s presence. Because of what Jesus did for us by living and dying and rising in our place, we can be sure of God’s love for us!

That’s why Lent is for sinners. For in Lent, we realize that Salvation and Suffering Go Hand in Hand. For especially in Lent, we take the time to contemplate our sins. When God allows us to suffer, whether it be through our own sinful choices or whether it’s because of our relationship with him, that suffering reminds us of our sin. But that’s not all that suffering does. Especially during Lent, our suffering reminds us of Jesus’ suffering and what it means for us! Because Jesus suffered and died, it means we won’t suffer hell. Because Jesus suffered and died, it means we won’t die eternally. Instead of punishment, we receive love. Instead of wrath, we receive mercy.

When Jacob awoke from his dream, he realized how blessed he was. He realize that despite his sins, God was still with him, God’s promises remained. Notice how he reacted: “Jacob woke up from his sleep, and he said, “Certainly the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” He was afraid and he said, “How awe-inspiring is this place! This is nothing other than the house of God, and this is the gate to heaven.” That’s what grace does! That’s the effect God’s undeserved love has on us. And we get to experience it every single time we set foot in God’s house. This is God’s house. This is where we sit at the foot of the stairway, and that stairway is Jesus, and at the top of the stairway is our God pronouncing us forgiven, loved, chosen. This is where each and every week, not just on this Reminiscere Sunday, but every week, God remembers his great mercy and love. Amen.