BELOVED :-ADVERSARY

a

June 28, 1987, 11:00 a.m. Worship Service
John M. Buchanan -
Fourth Presbyterian Church, Chicago

Scripture
Matthew 10:34-39
Genesis 32:22-32

“And Jacob. was left alone; and a man wrestled with hin until the breaking.
of the.day.:' = =. : [8 eS neh-Genesis: 32124: E ARSV)

It had been twenty.years. .Twenty years. ago. Jacob-had so deeply..-.-~:
offended. his: family. he had to flee.for-his- life. Twenty years ago he had ©
conspired: with his, mother-to deceive-his father and cheat his:-brother:. “It:
was so unseemly, so utterly wrong, so morally outrageous, that he had to
run for it.

The last time he had crossed this stream he was a fugitive, alone, -.
scared to. death, with nothing but. the-clothes on his back... and now he was
coming home: re Po ase ES :

He had-learned ‘same..things:over: ‘the years. Hé had learned, :for ©
instance, that God-had a-way-of..showing up.:in his, life-in unexpected: times
and places.” There was: that: stunningdream years -ago, on :the way. ‘out;
fleeing for» his life.::.:a. ladder: and: angels~ and God: saying that_ this.
god-forsaken place where he was sleeping, shivering, with his head resting
on a rock + that this place was God's dwelling place... and there was that
unforgettable..promise:that ‘God would: be-with him and Keep him: ‘wherever he
went. : : ; : : : : ;

It occurred'to Jacob that it was-a good time for that promise to come
through..:.. because when he.met:.Esau.;. -he might ‘néed. some’ “keeping, same
divine protection. The. last: time he. saw. Esau; twenty years: before; “he Was
in. the-process: of cheating: him out of his. inheritance. PES

It's” a great story. tt! Sa reminder that. the story: of God is: always”.
woven into: human: stories; stories’ of men and women: who lived and. loved and
died: and who sound very: much like-us..-God, from the beginning, is not: an: ©
abstraction.. God is not very well described as the First Cause, the.
Ethical Imperative, or even the ineffable, inimitable, omnipotent source of
all -being,- but. rather:.—: fromthe beginning: - the: God of: “Abraham and Sarah,
Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob: and: Rachel. : on ive

The story.-is: at least::3, 600: years old; maybe: older. “Hearing it is
like looking at a fragment of pottery in the Museum of: Natural History:
Time alone has made it precious. It has existed:— people have’ been telling
it and hearing it and appreciating. it for 3, 600 years.

It's-a big story: = The ‘text this morning is part of a ‘conplex saga:

Let's recover the essence of. it: We believe it: contains God's word... a
word which, by God's spirit, reaches across 3,600 years to intersect. with
our stories and address US. , : , ,

Jacob was the grandson of ‘Abraham and:Sarah, the second—born twin, son
of Isaac and Rebekah. Jacob was his mother's favorite. The first-born,
Esau, was his father's favorite: Early in the story Jacab managed to
convince his brother Esau to exchange his birthright for a bowl of stew.
But that was only the prelude to one. of the cleverest scams in literature.

With the collusion of his mother, Jacob managed to deceive his old and
nearly blind father and cheat his brother. out of his inheritance. That's
why Jacob: fled. Esau, understandably; had: vowed.-to:kill:him.- Jacob ‘fled.
to his uncle's: place, and it is on the way, on the first night “out “that
Jacob:-has that remarkable dream about a ladder and angels going up.and down
and God repeats the covenant. promise — about: the land and descendants as
numerous as the sands and assures Jacob ‘that — God: will be with: him-and
keep’ him’ wherever ‘he “goes: “Where: he’ goes is to his uncle Laban's -place--
for. about twenty yearns and his proclivity to: dishonesty and: deception
didn! t-alter-much. :

..He worked as a herdsman. He married Laban's. daughters, Leah: and

-Rachely::. He fathered many’ children — for’ whomthe twelve tribes. of Israel

would: be: later named,;.and le became enormously rich. . His success is due,

again, to fraud and deception. As a matter of fact, Jacob has: been

systematically stealing Laban's sheep out from under him. And when he has ey
accumulated so much wealth it's. embarrassing, he conveniently hears God :
telling him it's time to go: home,. which he does, “secretly, at night, while

Laban is: away. on ‘a: business trip.:-Rachel even runs: back in°at: the last

minute: and steals the family. valuables from. her: father's. house: for good

measure. ms

that! s “who stands at: the stream. peering across:into: Canaan = “looking”
out: for Esau, the brother he cheated twenty years earlier. His .immense :
caravan of livestock and family is stretched out across miles of desert and
Jacob begins. to ponder what: wild: happen. when he finally. meets-up with his
brother. Jacob:.divides his. caravan into two. parts:~ in case: of attack he
will not -loose everything» ~:makes careful arrangements to give Esau
elaborate gifts to appease him, sends them all‘across the ford: at the
Jabbock and then the waiting begins. . Jacob spends the night alone. He
left home: twenty years ago, young, single, with nothing but the cloak on
his: back. And here he is twenty.years later, wives, sons and daughters,
enormously wealthy,.a man of: influence; - still a fugitive, still frightened,
waiting for the dawn: PREGA : ae :

- During ‘the night, Jacob is “attacked - not by Esau, “but” by a faceless,
anonymous stranger, a man who will not be identified, who wounds. Jacob in
the thigh and, because Jacob is now holding on to him for dear. life and
will- not. let him go, blesses Jacob again; just before disappearing at. the
first light. _ And: this chapter of the story ends with Jacob, now called:
Israel, limping: home -to- a reunion with Esau,.

What do you make of this story... this very earthy saga about a
shrewd businessman cheating his brother, deceiving his: father, stealing

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from -his ‘father- ~in-law, wrestling all night: with:a stranger just this side

of the promised. land?: A Bronze- “Age. myth? Or is” God's word for: us sin the:
story? : : eee

L: ‘think. it's. important: “to. laugh at this story. Gok: ‘Chesterton: ‘said
somewhere -that- one of: the characteristics of a good réligion is that you” :
can laugh at ite. -Jacob-is: an: endear ing’ rascal. but: thoroughly a“rascal,
The. scholarstell us?that:: the story has humor in-it¢ which, in-our too-°)¢
serious piety, we often miss:-When Jacob is stealing from Laban, actually
outwitting him, because Laban is trying to cheat’ Jacob, the. people :

Listening ‘to:the story: 3,600 years: ago” were chuckling: one of them, a Jew,

was outsmarting. one of those people — a pagan, “When Laban comes ‘storming |
into the tent: looking. ‘through all the huge ‘sacks: for: ‘his household gods—

which Rachel hasstolen; and can't find them. because’ ‘Rachel-is sitting on™

them -and won't.get:> up; thé listeners: were laughing out. ‘loud “at the” ae
ludicrous: and awkward potential of: that situation. os oe

What we ought to--make of this story initially is:that God's man is’ ‘not
God's -man because he isa purée, devoutand pious ‘saint. ‘Jacob's character.
is thoroughly ambivalent... Sometimes hé is: utterly” déceptive: “At other. Bes
times he is absolutely responsive. and faithful’ to God. And that, 1: would
submit, is a-meaningful. figure for: most of us. Most of us don't" feel. like
saints. Most of-us have done things:which we are ‘pretty certain” would -
disqualify us. from saintliness, if not membership in anybody's: exclusive’:
club of "good people." Groucho Marx -once said he wasn't- interested in
belonging to a club that would: let people like him in it... - so it is with
most.of: us and saintliness: “Many: of -us make ‘an. ‘Assumption. that | ee

faithfulness. to God .means a steadiness of character ‘and consistency of

behief-- which, in our experience, we have found” to ‘be. elusive.

That: ‘God: intersects. with Our. Story” isa novel ‘suggestion. for many’ of |
us. "Alls “theology. is Peer et eM Frederick Buechner wrote = but most
of us assume | that: applies. tovothers. : mE 8 : ees

Part. of. the charm and appeal of ‘Garrison Keillor and “Prairie Home
Companion," }.-think,- was that Keillor, without being overt about it, ‘asked
people to'see divine grace in their own lives. areas

Keillor, who retired from: the weekly National Public Radio™ program he
wrote, is: very simply ‘one of ‘the best: storytellers: I have ever heard. What
happened,. of ‘course, to those who: listened ~ and I was occasionally in that
number; is*that one identified with the very human. characters in the.
stories.and almost mystically, because their lives were so full: of rich:
significance and potential. goodness all mixed up with their silliness-and
humanness-— one almost mystically began to -examine one's ‘own story with new
sensitivity and new -awareness.:-Keillor; in telling abut ‘the people of Lake
Woebegon, with respect and gentleness, allowed ‘us to see frace; God's grace
in the mundane, everyday realities of our own lives. [See Christian.
Century, 8/15/87] :

I. can rémeinber the day when my own theology’ changed - and included, for
the first-time, the notion that» God is a Beloved. Adversary. I can remember
the conversation: »- I> was talking with friends. He = Was a new ‘pastor; as. I .
was. -She-was-an unemployed high school ‘teacher in a rural’ Indiana ~

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: community that had-more teachers than: it needed: “He -had- been: an electrical
engineer. :for:.a-few years, = They had a:very. comfortable and upwardly mobile

~ life in Dubuque. By the culture's criteria of ‘success, their current.

position didn't look like. much: - nor did it look very promising..- "How. did
you get here," IT asked. -The-answer they gave struck: me: with enduring

oo power. "If you go: outside." she said; "and: look..duéwest,: yous will: see

tracks across the. prairie.» They are from our:heels.:..God called: We. dug
our: heels in and then: God: dragged. US. And .we argued: every single mile of
~ the way. : fe ee ie ges : HUE eed

; J never forgot that.. “What a curious image of God = dragging, pushing,
pulling. my friends. across:.the corn fields..of the-Midwest... It's a. ‘mental
picture I've never been. about to forget... The reason it. struck: me: so; )-is

that it confirmed my own deepening: sense that God does not only-act in: this

world: ‘in. ways which are clear,, precise; ‘polite; in: cadence. of: the: King
James” Version, at °11:00a.m,. on. Sunday; with "“Just.as Iam" playing: on. the
organ, full vibrato. it was a great gift they gave me: a moment of...
theological insight when Iwas: able:to see-that- God<is: sometimes a. stranger
who'-accosts«us - expectedly. Who comes right into the ordinariness of our

lives, who contends -with.us.in: sleepless nights. Afterall, Tchad: tried

everything I-knew -how -to..convince ‘myself. that: ‘T- should: be doing. something,

. anything,- but preparing for ministry, :and it was. “in=-that personal wrestling
~ that 1 came: to include. the: Beloved Adversary-: as. part. of: my own most
"Personal faith. . eee :

Now 1 look back and : see. ‘the motif. a Jot. “The giants of faith, the Son
important figures: out-of our: tradition; have: ‘been. drawn to. the story: of Doe
Jacob. wrestling..with a stranger: through. the. night,.-The -reason, Ihave’
“concluded, is that. the. great spirits of: the. faith,- got.to:. be. -great. because

they, too, had wrestled and _Struggled and agonized...° Martin: Luther wrote

about..this-incident:."Words. will. not tell ‘us..what .the struggle was .like.
‘Only. those who: have ‘tasted such. an experience ‘know; no-one else can
understand. it.". [Gerhard von Rad, Biblical. Interpretations: on - Preaching,

p. At

“Luther. knew about. the “experience “because. he. too had been accosted “and
. had wrestled with God through long, sleepless: hours. ee :

: “The ‘truth is. that. if: you.and J: are..alive intellectually, but-more

: important Spiritually, we will be accosted by some strangers with whom:we
will: have. to struggle. ~The. truth is that:God-is the: one with. whom we
‘ultimately have. ‘to. .do, ‘The truth is that. God: does. not: let us.:alone until.
we come to. terms with chim,

. “The. mystics. and. artists. and philosophers | have. known that. even when the
Church. has forgotten.it. When: the Church. loses. its: voice and: its nerve-and
can: no. longer.call the culture,. the nation,. -to-account for its: behavior;
someone else will;-a painter, a: folk-singer, a poet. God will get our
attention. Frederick Nietsche was disdainful of organized religion
precisely because he understood the power inherent in the very idea of God.
In-a-novel one of. his characters argues that: God. must. be. killed: “God
looks with eyes that see.everything. ..He peers, into: man's: ground and depth,
into his. hidden shame. and ugliness. ["Thus. Spoke Zarathustra," in> Paul
Tillich, The Shaking of the Foundation, -p.. 42) 5 Paul. Tillich--wrote, "He is

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only God because he's inescapable: And only that’ which is inescapable. is
God." [Ibid,-p. 40] / pe

‘The God who is truly Ged will accost us. Will. surprise US. will, :
confront us and challenge us and contend with us through the night. If we
are looking for a God. who provides only comfort, blessed assurance. and the
emotional gratification of being alone in the garden with one who "walks
with me, and. talks with me, and, tells me I.am-his:.own," we will: likely miss -
this adversary who leaps. at. us. out. of: the darkness and wrestles us until.
dawn. :

"Every encounter with God is. not. a comfortable experience. “Bvery
religious: experience does not end up with. reconciliation, . healing. ands ves
happiness: 1 would suggest. to you that God's Way with us “is. to trouble. our
conscience and force, us..to. wrestle when .we would rather relax. Ef your
conscience. is bothered, as mine is, by the fact: that. our nation: is number ©
one in the world in expenditures for military purposes and.17th in the»
world -in: infant mortality, I. would ‘suggest at.-least-one: of. the. reasons. is: - .
that ‘there -is-a God of. justice to whom .we.are accountable » and that God has,
a way.of accosting: us when we are not “expecting. it. No one wants. to: have |
to contend with that. NO: one- wants to. have to grapple with conflicting.
claims of national security and health care. No. -one wants to:have to.
struggle with the difficult and painful public issues. of abortion, > :
birth control and: AIDS testing. -I'd far. rather. sleep than. worry. about: the
conflicting claims. of Industry. and - ‘the Environmentalists: over. toxic’ waste:
But may. L suggest that the reality. of God = the. God. of Abraham and: ‘Sarah,
of Isaac’ and Rebekah, of Jacob. and: Rachel; =the God ‘of Jesus: Christ csi ds) in:
those. contentions, exasperating and difficult struggles? May I propose
that God is -present.in-issues: we. would: prefer .to. ignore, and-that a:
religion. which disguises ‘that, which offers. itself. ‘as aX respite,. ae haven.
an. .escape:: from that, isan. irrelevant. religion,.. which never. jistened to 8
this important and magnificent old ‘story.

Jacob> never did get a clear shot at: him. “He never. did discover his.
adversary ' S name. : ; :

In his. world to know the name of something was to control it. That's.
why people in the: Old Testament cul ture don't Say the. name of. God. “There
is intentional obscurity here The mystery. remains. nae

The. trouble with a lot. of religion, “it seems - “to: me, is ‘that it ‘claims. :
to know too much. Preachers sound sometimes as. if they have wrestled. with -
God and pinned him, extracted a name from. God: This story, with the.
adversary. remaining a mystery. is a reminder that:our: truth isnot: the: whole:
truth; our insight: is not the whole picture. Some of the saddest moments -
in history have occurred when religious people have forgotten: that: This
story is a word about mystery and: about having. some empty-spaces in our
theology, our..own religion, for God.to be God, on God! Soterms, -not ours.

What’ a man! The people of Israel thought about Jacob:.when they. heard ae
this. story. Spending the night alone, waiting, and when he is accosted by:
an anonymous adversary, holding his own, wrestling: with strength: and::
determination. What a man this Jacob is, refusing to Jet go until he_
knew a name, or until he: receives a blessing... (See: Bruggemann, :

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Interpretation, Genesis]

What a man, emerging from an encounter with God, crippled, but with a
new name and a new future.

‘It-was a soul stirring, invigorating story and still is.

But what must have perplexed and dismayed and moved them deeply was
the notion that the adversary was God, that the wrestling was provoked by
God, that Jacob - holding his own through the night as the battle raged -
was clinging to an extraordinary and radically different God from any they
had ever heard of. This God becomes vulnerable. This God wrestles,
contends with, exposes self. to injury, defeat even.

And in that is a foretaste, a hint of that’ moment of amazing grace,
which Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah; Jacob and Rachel and their
descendants produced generations later in Bethlehem of Judea. God became
human and lived among us.. The word became flesh, full of grace and truth
and full also of the limits and vulnerability of humanness. Full also of
God's: stubborn contentiousness, God's absolute refusal to let us go, to
give’ up-on us. -The Gospel here is that he will accost us with love and
mercy and goodness and grace.

“He is a Beloved Adversary. But he will not leave us alone. He will
contend with us, challenge us and wrestle with us. In Jesus Christ God
will contend for:our conscience - our devotion — our commitment. — In Jesus
Christ God will fight for our-love -- our soul: ;

That's what Jacob- discovered. That's what this perplexing incident
meant. And so he did what he had to do - he hung on with ali-his might
and in the early light of dawn, limped across the border into the promised
Jand.

So may it be for you.

God will not answer all your questions.

God will not reveal all of himseif.

God will continue to surprise you and contend with you and give you
sleepless nights. You may be changed by your encounter with God. You may

pick ° up a new name-and'a limp.

But, by grace, our dear and Beloved Adversary will not leave us
alone.:

God will never give up on us: God will challenge us. God will love
us. God ~ Beloved Adversary - will be our God.

Cling to him.

Amen.

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