Sermon: Wrestling with God

Do you remember World of Sport on with Dickie Davies ITV on a Saturday afternoon? Back in the early 70s at our home, for some reason, we didn’t have an aerial which would pick up ITV – but I always remember watching World of Sport when I went round to see my friend Nick. The only sport that ever seemed to be on was wrestling! Two of the best known characters of the day were Mick McManus and Big Daddy. Mick McManus was the one people loved to hate – he used to get a very bad press – but I’m sure in reality he was a nowhere near as nasty as he was painted. Big Daddy, on the other hand, was a kind of powerful Gentle Giant figure held in high regard for his works of charity outside the ring.

Now I don’t wish to draw the parallel too closely but when I was reading over the story of Jacob wrestling, the image of Big Daddy and Mick McManus did spring to mind. 

Jacob, like Mick McManus, was really a rather underhanded kind of character, not avert to doing a bit of cheating to win his own way. Just to remind you a little bit about him leading up to the story we heard from the book Genesis today – years earlier Jacob had tricked his brother Esau into giving up his birthright as the eldest twin. He had also taken advantage of his father’s poor eyesight by dressing like Esau and tricking his father Isaac into giving him his blessing. It may seem strange to us now, but a blessing in these times carried with it the promise of purpose and destiny – once given it could not be rescinded. Because of this duplicity Jacob had run away from home because he knew that Esau would be after his blood! 

We pick up the story many years later – a lot of water had flown under the bridge by this time. Now Jacob returning to his homeland after many years in exile wanted to make his peace with Esau but was afraid. So, to sweeten him up he sent ahead gifts. Jacob sent his wives and children on ahead of him – everything he possessed in fact in the hope the Esau would be appeased both with the many gifts and with words of entreaty from his family – and Jacob was left alone. 

Without any reason or explanation we are told that a man (the Big Daddy figure in the story) wrestled with him until daybreak. After a long time the man realised he could not get the better of Jacob and somehow managed to put his hip out of joint. But still Jacob was persistent and held onto the man until he should give him his blessing – in the end when day was breaking the blessing was given. Unlike the blessing that he stole from Esau, this blessing was earned and struggled for. It marked a change in Jacob – it transformed him and was important because it carried with it a promise – you shall no longer be called Jacob but Israel – after this struggle a new chapter was to begin in Jacob’s life. Out of it was to come something new and wonderful – a new purpose and destiny for Jacob in the land and inheritance promised to him. 

After the struggle Jacob was left limping but he was also restored in the sense of his own value and integrity. At the beginning of chapter 33, Jacob does not hide any more but has the courage and strength of character to go out to meet Esau to face the consequences but in the real hope of putting things right. We are not told directly who the stranger (the Big Daddy figure) is – but Jacob is convinced that he has met with God, so calling the place Peniel saying, I have seen God face to face.

Neither are we told who won – only that the contest went on for a very long time. The vital thing we are told is that Jacob won’t give up even when hurt. 

Like Jacob we all feel from time to time that we wrestle with God. And wrestling with God can be difficult, tiring and, yes, we may feel, even wounding. When we suffer bereavement, disappointment, sickness, when we feel confused about what is happening in our lives or what God wants of us, it is very difficult to keep persevering in the faith. We all know people who feel hurt, let down and confused after being through difficult times – these wounds can sometimes be too much for people to bear. Suffering is a mystery that is always with us and on the face of it is impossible for us to rationalise – there are no easy answers to the question “why?” that we struggle with.

But, as in the case of Jacob, we are confronted with another mystery that is difficult to rationalise – the wounds of suffering can also serve to transform us and draw us closer to God. Before we begin to think of God as some kind of despot who at best doesn’t care about us and at worst enjoys inflicting pain and wounding us, let us not forget that the whole purpose of Jesus coming into the world and suffering death for us on the cross was that our pain and suffering and that of the whole world was taken into the very heart of God. Like Jacob’s wound this wound of suffering and sin remains within God the Holy Trinity – it is not magically taken away but is transformed through perfect love. 

There is a wonderful book written by Henri Nouwen entitled The Wounded Healer which speaks of the compassion of Jesus through which our wounds are not so much taken away, but transformed through love found most perfectly in God. For this to happen, the message of our readings today tells us quite plainly that we have to persevere – to hold fast to that love we find in God alone – if our wounds are to be transformed.

And this is a very difficult message – even to the point of thinking it to be a cruel message, a message that just does not seem fair – exactly like the unjust judge in the parable. And I feel uneasy myself with this message in fear that it may sound trite. I certainly do not want to stand here and try to justify suffering as being inflicted upon us for our own good because that does not reflect a God of love, mercy and concern for us. But the fact remains that some of the greatest Christian witnesses which inspire us have been born out of immense degrees of human suffering. Take Paul as one example, who was shipwrecked, persecuted, imprisoned and attacked both physically and verbally – not to mention the intriguing “thorn in his side”. Out of his sufferings he was able to write about “always carrying within us the death of Christ so that the life of Jesus may be shown in us”. [2 Cor. 4:10] And this pattern has continued down through the centuries with the saints to Christians in our own day. All these people have one thing in common – perseverance.

In another of Henri Nouwen’s books about prayer I was startled by a comment he made. He wrote:

The goal of our life is not people. It is God. Only in him shall we find the rest we seek.

Jacob wrestled with God and gained God’s blessing – but did he win or did he lose? We don’t know! Now, that is not very satisfying but it is quite profound. In wrestling with God winning or losing is not the issue. What is important is that we embrace God – because only in embracing God will we find our rest. Then our wounds will be transformed and the mystery of God’s love will be communicated through us to others. In this way, we too become wounded healers in the likeness of Jesus.

If our goal in life is to seek God, the rest we find in him will surely be communicated to others without us even realising it. So let us take heart to persevere and embrace God in the wrestle which is the journey of life and faith.