Speaker 1: Welcome to the commons cast. We're glad you're here and we hope you find something meaningful in our teaching this week. Hit the commons.church for more information. Welcome. We are so glad to have you here, especially this weekend because this is actually our first weekend where we are testing out our ability to run five services across two locations today.
Our Inglewood Parish will be launching publicly in January, but that team is over in Inglewood right now this morning running one of the three preview services that will be happening throughout the fall as we prepare. So I was there this morning helping to unpack and getting set. I'm here today preaching. Scott is preaching in Englewood as well. And if you could keep that team in your prayers this weekend, that would of course be appreciated as they figure out how to set up and tear down and serve and create more space for more people to explore the Jesus story here with us at Commons.
That said, my name is Jeremy, and I'm glad to be here because we are moving forward in the Jacob story today. And so today, I wanna talk about onomatopoeia, Jewish fan fiction, hairy arms, shortcuts, and tragic endings. That's where we're going. But first, let's take a look back at last week. Because there, we looked at this sort of funny story where Esau sells his birthright for a pot of stew.
And Scott looked at some of the contrast that is being made between Jacob and his brother Esau in that story. All the ways that Esau seems to be the stereotypically masculine character we might expect to be the hero of the story, especially considering that the story is coming from an ancient patriarchal society. We would almost expect the character that is the skilled hunter and meat eater and family provider to be the one the story will follow. Yet, it's actually Jacob, the younger brother, the one content to stay among the tents, the one who is harmless according to one rendering of the Hebrew description that the story chooses to follow. And I think Scott did a great job of talking about the parallel here to this modern conversation around toxic masculinity that's happening in our culture today.
And please understand here that Esau's skilled hunting and meat eating and family providing, these are not the toxic parts of the story. Those are the good parts. In fact, perhaps ironically, because I don't personally eat meat, I've actually come to realize that the hunters I know are some of the most self aware people in my life. I've actually come to believe that there's something about being close to the sources of life and food and the cost of that gift that brings a new sense of gratitude in and through us. And so these traits of Esau's that embodied or sometimes been traditionally associated with masculinity, they're not the problem in the story.
It's only when those traits begin to disconnect us from a sense of humility or from an awareness of our interconnectedness in community that we have a problem. And so when Esau trades his birthright, part of his connection to family for a pot of stew, this is not healthy. This is someone who has given up or perhaps lost or who for whatever reason seems to have no impulse control beyond grasping the immediate desires placed in front of him. Regardless of our gender identity, that is not something that any of us should want to emulate. And given everything is happening in the news right now and these stories that have come to light in Hollywood, this is something we need to pay attention to.
I remember when I was first in ministry, as a pastor, people told me all about the Billy Graham rule. And hear me here. I have great respect for Billy Graham. He was a very kind and generous man. One of his rules was that he would never travel with or meet alone with a woman ever.
And again, it was a different time with different expectations, and I understand all of that. And yet at the same time, if our solution to impulse control or unhealthy lust or an inability to treat women like human beings is to fundamentally treat them differently than men or to give them less access to the men who are in leadership, that is not healthy. All that he's saying is that men are toxic and can't be trusted. And that the best we can hope for is to contain their insatiable desires. Now I happen to believe that men are actually fully capable of meeting a woman, perhaps even noticing her physical appearance, and yet still treating her as a human being worthy of the same respect and dignity that any other colleague would receive.
And I like to think that makes me more of a man, not less. Listen. Women have to meet with me all the time, and they notice how beautiful I am, and they still seem to go about their day unbothered by my obvious radiance. That was a joke. They can do it.
Why can't we? Bottom line is manly men like Esau are not a problem. They are a blessing. But men and women and human beings who like Esau have no impulse control or sense of community or ability to see the world through more than their immediate desires. That is toxic.
And if you were listening to the story last week and you thought, well, this is silly. No one would do this, not even a man. Then you got the point. Because this story is meant to be absurd. It's meant to be silly.
You're supposed to think that Esau is a bit of a fool for making this trade. Because this story wants to push us as readers and and women to do some introspection, and to maybe look at where we have made bad trades, or perhaps where we have taken what was immediately in front of us over what could have been, or where maybe we need to learn some impulse control as well. Now today, we have a second unfortunate interaction between Jacob and Esau, and that is the deception of Isaac. But first, let's pray. God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, would you be present by your spirit in our midst this day?
Present as we read and as we imagine. Present as we place ourselves into this story. All in the hope that we might see ourselves more clearly in the light of your grace, where we have come to recognize what is toxic within us, where we have become aware of the shortcuts we have taken in pursuit of our goals, Where we have noticed that perhaps we have confused our way with your way at times. Would you speak truth and love and grace and peace and remind us that no one here is ever so damaged or hurt that we are not fully loved in your presence. May we be at peace in the grace that surrounds us today, and may that grace change us in surprising ways.
In the strong name of the risen Christ, we pray. Amen. Okay. So far in the story, Jacob has been this character that we might almost expect to fade into the background. He is born second.
He is grasping after his brother's heel. He plays second fiddle to his beloved older brother. And yet, of course, we have some idea where the story is going if for no other reason than the artwork on the screens behind me. You know, a lot of what we've been talking about so far is how Jacob plays against type in the story, and that reminds us that in the story of God, sometimes the things that get you noticed by the people around you are not the things that God is looking for in you. That's a great lesson and a good reminder and a nice takeaway.
And yet, this week, even that starts to face a bit of a challenge because Jacob is not just the underdog who overachieves. He's also, as we've alluded to, this kinda shady trickster. And that should make us uncomfortable at points, but it's also part of what makes Jacob so fascinating. So Jacob is the hero of the story, but then again, he's also sometimes the villain. And that gives us a really unique window into this complex relationship between God's plan for us as human beings and our participation in choices that we make for better or for worse in the world.
So we'll open our text today to Genesis chapter 27, and we'll start in verse one today. When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see, he called for Esau, his older son, and said to him, my son, here I am, he answered. I am now an old man and I don't know the day of my death. Now then, go get your equipment, your quiver and bow, and go out to the open country to hunt some wild game for me. Prepare me some kind of that tasty food I like, and bring it to me to eat so that I may give you my blessing before I die.
Now, just for fun here, that Hebrew word that's translated tasty food in this passage is the word matiamim. And a lot of Hebrew scholars think that this sounds like onomatopoeia. So this is the equivalent of when we might say nom nom nom in English. This is Isaac saying, get me some of that matcha meme that I love. To be honest here, I never actually thought that people said things like nom nom nom in the real world other than Instagram until I met my son and I watched him eat and I just realized that he just constantly murmurs all his way through dinner.
I actually am amazed to watch him do this, and I have a video for you. Take a look at this, but I'm gonna, if you suffer from misophonia, here's my apologies going into it now, but take a look at this. Here's my son eating dinner. Wait for it. There we go.
That's my favorite part. Now, that's funny and it makes us laugh and it gives me a chance to play a video of my son, which I always like to do. But notice this, if this is in some sense the Hebrew equivalent to nom nom nom, Don't you see how that begins to invite you into the story in a new way? This is not some stayed in stoic tale up on a dusty shelf only to be brought down for serious discussion. This is a funny and engaging family story that moves from humor to tragedy and back, all while dragging you along for the ride.
Bobby and I were talking before this series started. And she asked like, what's our goal with this series? What do we want people to get out of the Jacob story? And sometimes, like with our last series, I have a very specific goal and an agenda, and a place that I think we need to move toward as a community. But then sometimes, particularly in these types of series, all that I really want to do is to find a way to tell the story with as much life and energy and vitality as it once read with to an ancient audience.
The Bible is fascinating when we let it breathe. You know, so many of these stories are told in ways, in fact, they almost challenge us to dive in and read them creatively. So last week, Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of stew. This week starts with Isaac asking for some. These stories are meant to flow one into the next.
They almost tumble from one into another as the images are building up in the back of your mind. Even the word blessing here is the word barakah in Hebrew, but the word birthright in the last story is the word bekorah in Hebrew. So you really can't read these stories without at least noticing how the author is linking them together. So if last week, Jacob somehow gets a hold of his brother's birthright, now we are going to find out how he is going to get his brother's blessing as well. Now quick note here.
Blessings can be used in a lot of different situations, but here, it would come down to something like the endorsement of the father. So in a somewhat overly simplistic sense, you could think of it as the birthright is dad's money, the blessing is dad's authority. So Jacob is already going to get the larger share of the inheritance meant for the older brother. Isaac now wants Esau to get the blessing or his authority. Maybe what he wants to do is ensure that the lineage continues through his oldest son anyway.
But that brings us back to this idea of reading creatively because it brings up a whole host of new questions for us. For instance, we're not told whether Isaac knows about the deal from last week. But if he does, is Isaac trying to even things out here? Is that maybe what this is all about? If Isaac does know, we don't know.
But what if he knows about this conversation Rebecca had with God at the start of the story? Does Isaac know that the younger son Jacob will eventually rule over his older brother Esau anyway? And if he doesn't know, what does that say about his relationship with his wife? I mean, that seems like kind of a big thing to keep from your husband. But if he does know, then what does that say about his relationship with God?
Because it almost seems like he's defying God now by blessing Esau. All of this is part of what you are meant to do when you read the Hebrew scripture. In Jewish stories, we are very often told what happened or what people did, but we're not told why. And the rabbi saw this not as a deficiency in the text, but as part of the process in reading. It's a feature, not a bug.
See, in Judaism, there's something called the Mishnah. The Mishnah is a collection of texts that live alongside their scriptures, which they call the Tanakh. And the Mishnah is basically fan fiction written by rabbis to fill in all of these questions that we have when we read these stories. Now, sometimes Mishnah will present two different ways to imagine the story or three different ways to interpret what's happening in the background, but all of that wrestling and talking and storytelling and wondering was considered part of the experience of reading. Now Mishnah was always kept separate from scripture, and it wasn't held on the same level as the Tanakh, but that curiosity and that creativity and that wondering was all part of the adventure.
And so if you ever find yourself struggling to read your bible like it's just become a chore, maybe just begin to give your imagination a little more freedom to explore and wonder and wander. You might be surprised by some of the questions you uncover. Let's pick up the story again in verse five. Rebecca was listening as Isaac spoke to his son Esau. And even here, like, what is she doing?
Is she spying on them? Does she just happen to walk by and overhear? Who knows? But when Esau left for the open country to hunt game and bring it back, Rebecca said to her son Jacob, look, I overheard your father. And this already seems kinda shady, but the story continues.
My son, listen carefully to what I tell you. Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats so that I can prepare some for your father. And take that to your father to eat so that he may give you his blessing before he dies. Okay. Definitely getting shading now.
But the story continues, Jacob said to Rebecca, but my brother Esau is a hairy man while I have smooth skin. What if my father touches me? I would appear to be tricking him, and I would bring down a curse on myself rather than a blessing. And I like to think that appear to be tricking him is at least a bit of an understatement here. But the story continues.
His mother said to him, my son, let all the curse fall on me. Just do what I say. Go and get them for me. Now, story goes on to tell us that Rebecca makes the food and then she dresses Jacob in Esau's clothes, and then she covers his hands and his neck in goat skins to make him seem more like Esau. And apparently, story is not kidding around when they say that Esau was a hairy man.
Guy's a beast. But notice here, there is deceit. There is trickery. There is some kind of broken family dynamic going on between Isaac and Rebecca. There is manipulation.
There's a there's a lot going on in this story. In fact, some of the most fascinating stuff in the story is the stuff that's only hinted at by the writer. And I think it's worth noticing that sometimes the thing God wants you to get out of a tale is the thing you only notice when you've read it 42 times. But here's what I'm fascinated with today as I read. Now, I don't wanna absolve Jacob of his complicity in the event we are about to witness.
It is after all him who goes in and speaks to his father and allows Isaac to touch his arms and pretends to be his brother and takes the blessing he knows wasn't meant for him. In verse 19, it is Jacob who actually says to his dad, I am Esai, your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat so that you might give me your blessing. So there is no moral absolution for Jacob here.
But I'm intrigued by Rebecca in this story. And I think it's really easy to see her as the villain. If Jacob is called the deceiver, he does not fall far from the tree. Except here's the thing. We saw just two weeks ago that Rebecca has been told, she's been promised in fact by God that this is how it will go.
That Jacob is supposed to receive the blessing. That Jacob is the chosen one. That Jacob is the one the story will follow through. And if Isaac doesn't get that, I'll make it happen, she says to herself. This is not a docile wallflower, but this is not the wicked witch either.
Rebecca is actually this surprisingly fully fleshed character, wrestling with something that many of us do at some point in our journey. What happens when the thing we know was meant to be doesn't seem to be happening the way it was meant to. Now, maybe this is something that God has spoken to you about. And you have a very clear, very real sense that God is in and through this project, but everything seems like it's hit a dead end. And there, in that moment, a shortcut presents itself, and you know that shortcut isn't really right.
And in any other circumstance, you wouldn't entertain it, but what you're trying to do is so important, and where you're going is so good. Maybe here that makes it okay. Right? Or let's be honest about this one. You're in a relationship, and you love this person.
But you see them making bad choice after bad choice. And every time they do, it hurts somewhere deep inside of you. And maybe more importantly, you know that it hurts them too. And you know that this is for their own good. Isn't it okay, maybe even better for you to pull some strings and work in the background behind the scenes, maybe even manipulate them onto the right path if you need to.
Rebecca has sought the Lord, and the Lord has spoken to her. And if God spoke to me, like, I mean, literally, physically spoke to me, wouldn't I be willing to do whatever it took to make sure that his word came true? And if I did, wouldn't that be noble? Isn't that the point from the story that if you're on the side of the angels, it's all fair game? And this actually became really real for me about three years ago.
You know, we were on the way towards starting Commons Church and there's a really compelling vision and a sense that this was something important. And I knew, like, like, deep inside of me, I knew that if we could just get this thing off the ground and have some things fall into place, this would become a community where people would encounter the divine in all kinds of ways they never expected. Along with that, came this very real temptation to manipulate the narrative or to tell people what I thought they wanted to hear, to do everything that I could to make sure that nothing got in the way of God's plan. And I'm sure that's how Jacob and Rebecca were feeling here in this moment. Except it wasn't ever really my part to make sure nothing got in God's way, and I'm not sure the text lets us get away with such a simplistic reading here either.
You see first, we are going to see all through this story that Jacob can't just steal his blessing. He's going to have to earn his name. And no matter what shortcuts Jacob imagines, there will be no way to avoid the wrestling to come. I think this is important for us. There is no such thing as a low cost destiny.
Whatever destination God has in mind for you, the shortcut that's in front of you will not get you there quicker. It won't. Now maybe you have some innate talents or abilities that set you apart from the people around you, and maybe you have been born into a privileged place of advantage in society like I have. None of that will ever sidestep the hard work that God wants to do inside of you. And everything in the rest of the story of Jacob will bear that out in front of us.
Stealing the blessing really gets Jacob no farther ahead. In the end, we will see that Jacob works very hard for his place in God's story. Second, the text here doesn't let us off the hook either. You see Jacob goes in, and he deceives his father, and he steals the blessing, and then Esau comes home. And we'll pick up the story again in verse 36.
It says, when Esau came in from hunting and found out what had happened, he burst out in a loud and bitter cry. This is the second time he has taken advantage of me. It's hard not to feel for this guy. Skipping ahead, Esau held a grudge against Jacob. He said to himself, the days of mourning for my father are near, then I will kill my brother Jacob.
Essentially, I'll wait until dad dies, but then he's dead too. When Rebekah was told what her older son Esau had said, she sent for her younger son Jacob and said to him, your brother Esau is planning to avenge himself by killing you. Now then my son, do what I say. Flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran. Why should I lose both of you in one day?
This is the climax of the story right here. And see what's happening? This dysfunctional family where mom and dad aren't talking to each other appropriately, and parents are picking their favorite kids, and that is leading to deception. All of that is now falling apart. And Rebecca has become aware of the fact that she has now lost her son Esau because of everything that she's done.
And she's now at risk of losing her son Jacob whom she loves. And Jacob is becoming aware of the fact that everything he grabs has unintended consequences. This right here is the moment of realization where all the mess of this dysfunctional family has churned up everything in the story. And it's a hard moment as we read. And, yes, Jacob will end up exactly where God said he would be eventually.
But the text doesn't let us wrap up a nice little bow on the tail and imagine that everything we read is sugar and spice. Actually reads here at this climactic moment as the tragic collapse of a family that was meant to heal the world. The family of Abraham is about to fall apart. That's what we're reading. You see, this story isn't an endorsement of Jacob and Rebecca and doing whatever it takes to get wherever you're going.
It's actually a reminder that God is so gracious. He keeps us moving forward even when our shortcuts have taken us sideways. Jacob fulfills his destiny in spite of this moment, not because of it. And we posted a video on Facebook about a week ago talking about how some times it really seems to me like a lot of us who use the name Christian seem to think that Jesus was just a little too naive for his own good. As if when he calls us to nonviolence or to turn the other cheek or to deal with each other openly and honestly in the world, those are nice ideas, but not for the real world.
I mean, here in the real world, if you wanna get things done, you gotta crack a few eggs. Am I right? I mean, look at Jacob after all. There's a guy who knows how to get things done. But here's the thing.
If you want to call Jesus savior, first you have to learn how to call him lord. And that means that he gets to direct the way you move the world no matter the justification you make for all the shortcuts you want to take. So here's my challenge to wrestle with this week from the story of Jacob. First, if Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. And one of the questions we need to wrestle with as followers of Jesus is, am I moving to the world in a way that is representative of the truth in life I'm moving toward?
Because if not, then no matter how noble my goals are, I am only going to create more hurt and pain and dysfunction in my wake as I go, just like we see here in the Jacob story. But then second, if I do look and I do notice and I do realize that some of my choices have taken me off of the way, and maybe I really did think that I was pointed where God wanted me to go, and I realized that I've chosen another way to get there. Well, then it's also the story of Jacob that reminds me my story is never irredeemable. And that no matter how many shortcuts have taken me way off the way of Christ, God is always willing to bring me back to God. God always imagined that I would end up.
See, moral of the story here is not do what you have to do. The moral of the story is to realize that no matter what you've done, God is always willing to try again, to move you back to where he imagined you would end up. Let's pray. God, as we place ourselves into this story of Jacob, And we imagine ourselves in his sandals making his choices faced with the same situations that he and his mother Rebecca are. And we recognize that maybe we see a little bit too much of ourselves here.
That we have grasped for things that weren't ours, that we have perhaps taken shortcuts to get to where we wanted to go, That we have confused your destination with our way. God, would you help us to recognize that there is always an opportunity to make changes and correct? That your spirit is speaking to us every day, not just about where we're going, but the way that we're getting there, the path that we're on, the choices that we are making as we follow you through the world. God, the way that we move is just as important as where we go. And yet at the same time, would you also remind us that we are never written off because of our mistakes, and that you still have a plan, and you still have a destination in mind, and you still imagine a place that you are taking us as whenever we are ready to jump on our second chance, again and again and again.
God, would we always recognize you as the God of infinite second chances and good stories that you are wanting to tell. In the strong name of the risen Christ, pray. Amen.