Our Sermons

Bible Passage: Genesis 32:10
Pastor: Pastor Schmiege
Sermon Date:  November 22-23, 2023

For a few moments focus on a man that was assertive, a man who knew what he wanted and did everything possible to get it. This man was grabbing the heel of his twin brother at birth. He cheated his brother and deceived his father. His deception caused a rift in his family. The consequence of his action was 20 years of separation from his family. His brother hated him and wanted to murder him. I am sure that brief description does not sound like a man of God but rather a rebellious, wicked and sinful human being. The man I just described is a man whose life and family history is recorded in the Bible from Genesis 25 until Genesis 49. The man I described from the book of Genesis is Jacob, the grandson of Abraham and the son of Isaac and Rebekah. Jacob became known as Israel the father of the children of Israel. In today’s meditation we will see person changed from a greedy, selfish, and deceptive man to a person with:

HUMBLE REFLECTIONS ON THE UNDESERVED LOVE OF GOD

Today you come into God’s house with certain reflections on the past week or month or year. You may have made a list of things for which you are thankful. Your thankfulness may include answered prayers, daily wisdom or the ongoing reassurance of God’s love. You may have a number of stories that you can tell right now about the unending love of God for you. On the other hand you may be at a point in your life that you feel your list of thankful events are few and your questions about the activity of God in your life are greater than your list of things to thank God. The events of Jacob’s life cause us not to just look at Jacob but our entire life in the light of God’s truth in the Bible.

Isaac, the son of Abraham, eyes were no longer sharp because he was old and he thought he was going to die. Isaac chose to send Esau out into the field to catch some wild game and prepare it for dear dad. Dad promised to give Esau a blessing. Jacob with mom’s help lied to his father and cheated his brother. Esau became angry and planned to kill Jacob after his father’s death. The family rift caused a 20 year separation for Jacob. Jacob leaves home and receives the blessing of Abraham which was a promise of the Savior, promised land in Canaan and a nation with many offspring.

Jacob had been deceitful. Perhaps doubts about the validity of God’s promises were in the mind of Jacob when he received the blessing from dad. The Lord appeared to Jacob the night he left home at a place Jacob would later name Bethel. That night the Lord appeared to him and declared: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. ¹⁴ Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. ¹⁵ I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.(Genesis 28:13-15)” Jacob had left home with an angry brother and family strife. He was alone but the Lord God reassured him of his promises to Jacob.

Twenty years went by and Jacob left his Uncle Laban where he had been cheated and deceived by his uncle many, many times yet the Lord blessed him with a large family and many earthly possessions. He left for home but when he got closer to home he was told his brother was coming to meet him with many men. Jacob was fearful of the anger of his brother and fearful for the lives of his large family. The Word of God for our consideration is in your bulletin on page six.  “I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant. I had only my staff when I crossed this Jordan, but now I have become two groups (Genesis 32:10).” Please take note of the words that Jacob uses in his prayer to the Lord just before he would meet his brother. You might say his life flashes before his eyes as he remembers his actions that had caused hard feelings in the family and the necessity to leave home abruptly

Jacob the self made man admits his unworthiness before the Lord God. He realizes his sin and rebellion and deceitful actions. Yet God had given him the promise of the Savior to his descendants. He had been physically and spiritually blessed. Jacob recognized and acknowledged the undeserved love of God. He had not received the punishment he deserved but rather he received the kindness of God and day by day faithful protection, presence, answered prayer and God’s eternal forgiveness. Jacob realized he had been homeless with a staff in his hand but now he had two large groups of people with him.  My dear friends in Christ Jesus who have received a knowledge of all God’s promises in Christ Jesus take note of the difference between  a humble child of God and a person steeped in the culture of our time. In the past you can see the slogan at a national food chain or on large signs: “You deserve a break today.” Jacob felt that he deserved many things in life. But he came to realize that he deserved nothing from the Lord God yet God had been faithful to him his entire life.

If you look at the life of Jacob you may find that you may be at a place where Jacob was when he left home. He was homeless and without family. He had no one. So he thought. But the Lord reminded him that he was with him. The Lord God changed his attitude so that he was able to see the blessings of the Lord in his life.

I pray that you are able on this Thanksgiving celebration to humbly reflect on the undeserved love of God for you. You and I deserve nothing from God. We deserve not just a 20 year separation but eternal separation from God. Yet what do we receive?  We receive the blessings of a man who was the same time God. Jesus the Son of God who was promised to come from the family of Jacob did come and did stand in our place to be punished for our sins. That is why God declares his promises in the Scripture that we might see his steadfast love for us in his Son Jesus. With Jacob may we all admit our unworthiness before God. At the same time may we cling to the one true Lord God who has revealed himself to us through the Scriptures in the lives of people like Jacob. My dear friends in Jesus we daily as family and friends share our  joy and thankfulness in all the spiritual and physical blessings of the Lord. As believing Christian friends and family we are guided by the eternal truth of God’s Word to see the blessings of the Lord in the adversity of your life even as Jacob did. Humbly reflect on the undeserved love of God.