The Struggle

Jacob struggles by the riverside.

A group of members and friends of First Presbyterian, Albemarle went white water rafting yesterday on the Nantahala River in western North Carolina.  We had an incredible time, and I recommend such a trip to everyone.  I have to confess, however, that the trip was not without incident: one of the boats flipped at the very end, and it took us some time to find all of our group members.  Let’s just say I have a new appreciation for struggling by the river…

I also couldn't get this piece of Scripture out of my head, partially because I am preaching on it, but mostly because of the way the river looked.  As we floated down the river, there was a thick layer of haze that hung over the river like a thick blanket.  When we rode through the haze, you could smell and taste the fresh air.

Even though it was the middle of the day I could picture a figure emerging out of the night-time haze to grapple with Jacob by the rushing river.  I could picture Jacob and this figure wrestling in the pre-dawn fog, sometimes visible in the mist, sometimes disappearing from view.

Jacob has led a somewhat troubled life.  From the time he was born, he was marked as a trickster.  IN fact, that is what his name means: trickster.
He tricked his brother, Esau, into giving up his birthright out of desperate thirst, he tricked his father into giving him the birthright by disguising himself as Esau.  He tricked his uncle, Laban, into giving him many sheep and goats.

Now Jacob finds himself perched on a ledge, preparing to return to the land of his birth, preparing to face those whom he has wronged, preparing to meet them face to face.  And a face-to-face meeting is what he gets - just not the one he expects.

It went pretty much like this.

Jacob stands alone on the edge of the Jabbok, when he is attacked by a man.  The man wrestles with Jacob and they struggle through the entire night.  They go back and forth, pushing and pulling, struggling and shoving and scraping.  The two seem evenly matched until the climax of the action at the break of day.

This text is just as notable for its ambiguity as it is for its powerful imagery.  There are many unanswered questions, many issues that seem to be intentionally left vague.  One of the most significant questions is, "Who is the man with whom Jacob wrestles?"  The text simply says a man, and the reader is left to decide who the man is.  There have been a number of ideas posed, and each understanding of who the man is has a different impact upon the way the story is read.

Some interpreters have claimed that the man is Jacob’s brother Esau.  When Jacob left Canaan to flee from his family, the last we heard of Esau was that he intended to kill Jacob.  The man who attacks Jacob could be his brother, coming to follow through on his intentions.

If this is Esau, the story reflects a difficult truth of life: we seem prone to struggle the most with the people with whom we are the closest - with our family members, with our loved ones, with our brothers and sisters in Christ.
            

Some people believe that the story is about Jacob's struggles with himself.  As Jacob prepares to return to his homeland he must come to terms with his own nature.

This may also be something we can relate to.  Perhaps we have noticed that we can be our own undoing.  Perhaps we have been troubled and distracted and we realize that our fears and our hesitations are the things which trouble and distract us.  Perhaps our own desires or addictions have been that which undoes us.  Maybe we, too, must struggle with ourselves, must meet ourselves in a vulnerable place, must confront our inner demons.

The most compelling interpretation of the man is that it is God who comes and wrestles with Jacob by the stream.  If this is true, the most surprising thing is that it seems to be an even match.  God wrestles with Jacob all night until day break and comes out unable to prevail.  Even when God injures Jacob, Jacob refuses to let God go.

Unfortunately, this explanation raises as many questions as it answers.  Why does God choose to wrestle with Jacob? Why is the sovereign God unable to defeat a human?  What does this say about God's power?  

One of my favorite books when I was young was The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis.  If you are not familiar with the book, four children find themselves transported to a magical land called Narnia covered in snow and ice, where animals talk and even the trees are listening.  There is a character in the story named Aslan.  He is believed by the talking animals of Narnia to be a savior capable of defeating the white witch who cloaks their land in cold and makes it always winter but never Christmas.  It is no surprise that there are many parallels drawn between Aslan and God, even overt connections within the story.  There is a particular scene in which the children are discussing with some kind beavers what sort of person Aslan is.

Mrs. Beaver tells the children: "Aslan is a lion - The Lion, the Great lion."
Susan exclaims, "Ohh, I'd thought he was a man.  Is he quite safe?"
Mr. Beaver replies, "Safe?  Who said anything about safe?  Course he isn't safe.  But he is good."

God is like Aslan in this way, and Jacob can attest to this truth, or rather Jacob's hip can.  This story reminds us that God is very, very good, but being a child of God, being in relationship with God, does not mean absolute safety.  Does not mean that we will never experience pain or lose, or heartache.  But knowing that God is good means that though we've struggled through the dark of night when the day breaks, God has a blessing to give us.

After his struggle is over, after he is given a new name and blessed, Jacob gives the place a name.  He names it Peniel - the face of God.  Jacob met God face to face and lived to tell the story.  This encounter that changed him physically, changed his identity by giving him a new name, and changed him by creating a relationship with God.

Such may be true for us as well.  When in your life, have you encountered God?  Was it like Jacob's encounter? How?  How was it different?  Where are the Peniel moments, the meeting God face-to-face moments in your life?

Jacob lives through the encounter with a name change - he is now Israel.  You can be sure that every name has significance.  This passage describes the name Israel as meaning, "One who strives or struggles with God."

And, as you know, this is the name that comes to be given to Jacob's descendants: God's people.  This may seem a strange name to give God's chosen people, but it reflects a powerful truth.

In order for God to wrestle with a human, neither party can be passive in the relationship.  God must play an active role.  While Jacob pushed back and forth with God, he felt the very breath of God.  In fact, God seems to set aside some power to engage in the relationship.  God seems to accept some level of human weakness for the sake of even the possibility of creating a relationships with Jacob.  God is willing to risk a real struggle - not just a play fight - with a human being.

This is a God we know.  A God who became incarnate, who became human in Christ.  A God who suffered and died on a cross.  A God willing to play an active role in the relationship.

Humans must also play an active role.  Our participation in the relationship with God is required.

This is the story of God's people - those who are in a relationship with God,

            those who praise God,
            those who thank God,
            those who struggle with God,
            those who pray to God, who laugh with God, who cry with God,
            and those who live with God.
This is the story of God's people,
and it is our story.

Amen.