WEBVTT 00:00:09.720 --> 00:00:13.300 Hello and welcome to the Kalamazoo Church of Christ podcast. 00:00:13.519 --> 00:00:14.820 Thank you so much for listening. 00:00:15.300 --> 00:00:16.179 We're startup church. 00:00:16.280 --> 00:00:23.460 We just planted in September, 2020 and at the Kalamazoo church, we believe that Christianity is done best when it is done together. 00:00:23.539 --> 00:00:32.299 And so if you live in the Kalamazoo area, we would love to connect, be it coming to a Sunday service, one of our small groups, or even just grabbing coffee with a member to learn more. 00:00:32.539 --> 00:00:36.420 You can visit kalamazoo.church in order to do that. 00:00:37.039 --> 00:00:40.399 We pray that you are inspired by what you hear today. 00:00:42.960 --> 00:00:46.920 So we're going to, we're going to be, uh, well here, we'll get, we'll get there in a second. 00:00:46.979 --> 00:00:50.000 So last week you talked about Jacob and Esau. 00:00:50.100 --> 00:04:59.339 We're going to follow, we'll follow Jacob again, this, this upcoming this Sunday, this morning, we're going to look at him wrestling with, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, have to get away. 00:04:59.500 --> 00:05:04.199 And then he says, what we're going to do now, we'll pick up and read. 00:05:04.720 --> 00:05:10.459 He's trying to create every opportunity to leave himself a way out. 00:05:12.759 --> 00:05:20.199 And he's using, what we've figured out, he's using a lot of his worldly sense, earthly knowledge in order to do that. 00:05:20.199 --> 00:05:30.100 But it says in verse 22, that night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female servants and his 11 sons and crossed the fort of the Jabba. 00:05:30.759 --> 00:05:34.899 After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. 00:05:36.459 --> 00:05:40.899 So Jacob was left alone and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. 00:05:40.899 --> 00:05:48.740 When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob's hips, that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. 00:05:49.259 --> 00:05:52.620 And the man said, let me go, for it is daybreak. 00:05:53.060 --> 00:05:55.759 But Jacob replied, I will not let you go unless you bless me. 00:05:56.399 --> 00:05:57.720 The man asked him, what is your name? 00:05:58.680 --> 00:05:59.120 Jacob. 00:05:59.360 --> 00:06:01.379 He answered, we'll pause here. 00:06:02.399 --> 00:06:08.860 Now this passage, there's more questions than there are, we don't have time for the answers. 00:06:09.300 --> 00:06:12.500 And we're not going to know many of the answers until we get to heaven. 00:06:12.660 --> 00:06:17.660 Like you get, if you just, if you showed somebody this passage, it just doesn't make sense. 00:06:17.740 --> 00:06:19.819 Like it seems, where did this man come from? 00:06:20.120 --> 00:06:21.600 Who is this man at all? 00:06:21.899 --> 00:06:26.459 How did Jacob, did Jacob understand that there's like, this is spiritual? 00:06:26.459 --> 00:06:30.040 Or did he think there's just some dude that, like, where did this guy come from? 00:06:30.100 --> 00:06:31.519 He's just, he's just fighting me? 00:06:31.540 --> 00:06:34.060 How can you possibly wrestle all night? 00:06:34.120 --> 00:06:35.180 How could you fight all night? 00:06:35.259 --> 00:06:40.199 Like somebody would have had to punch the other strong enough or like wrestle or like break something. 00:06:40.279 --> 00:06:42.079 Like there has to be something. 00:06:42.360 --> 00:06:46.399 And we learned Jacob's, we figured out Jacob's even pretty old here. 00:06:46.500 --> 00:06:49.540 So what is, okay, I'm getting way too many questions. 00:06:50.060 --> 00:06:51.779 We're not going to know a lot of them until we get to heaven. 00:06:51.779 --> 00:06:57.680 But I hope to, hope to, maybe we can put some meat around this, this skeleton right here this morning. 00:06:59.319 --> 00:07:01.100 There are some things that we do know. 00:07:01.379 --> 00:07:07.879 What happens and what we do know is that Jacob says that I am going to set all my possessions ahead of you. 00:07:07.980 --> 00:07:09.839 And I'm going to stay back here by myself. 00:07:10.240 --> 00:07:13.459 And he, he would, he decided to do this. 00:07:13.480 --> 00:07:17.319 And I have to imagine all of his heart is that maybe I could get away. 00:07:17.579 --> 00:07:19.079 Maybe I could, is it time to get away? 00:07:19.079 --> 00:07:23.980 And then there's something inside of him that says, no, I have to interact with my brother. 00:07:24.160 --> 00:07:32.000 So I'm going to put all of these possessions and all of the things that I hold dearest ahead across the stream so that there's no going back. 00:07:32.220 --> 00:07:35.759 If his men come and overtake me, we're not getting past the stream. 00:07:36.160 --> 00:07:37.600 We're all, we're all, we're all done. 00:07:38.060 --> 00:07:39.420 It is his choice. 00:07:39.519 --> 00:07:41.879 But there has to be this interaction that occurs. 00:07:41.980 --> 00:07:44.319 And then Jacob is left by himself. 00:07:44.600 --> 00:07:48.560 There's no opportunity for him to, it's, it's, it's him and God. 00:07:48.560 --> 00:07:53.560 There's no chance for him to say, well, I've got to tend to the animals. 00:07:54.319 --> 00:07:56.819 I've got to be with my family. 00:07:56.899 --> 00:07:57.959 No, it's just him and God. 00:07:58.139 --> 00:08:00.759 And there's this wrestling that, that occurs. 00:08:00.860 --> 00:08:06.980 And so as I, as I thought about it and you, as you read it the first time, it sounds like, how could, where did this man come from? 00:08:07.019 --> 00:08:12.540 But I think Jacob removed everything from his life because he knew that there's something spiritual that took birth. 00:08:14.740 --> 00:08:18.759 And he's like, so whatever happens now, I'm sending them, whatever happens now is from God. 00:08:19.379 --> 00:08:26.180 It's not, I'm not used to how God is going to interact with, in this way to bring up a physical person to, you know, wrestling. 00:08:26.300 --> 00:08:27.100 I'm not used to it. 00:08:27.259 --> 00:08:30.379 But whatever happens, I'm looking for God to act and I'm looking for God to move. 00:08:30.439 --> 00:08:39.558 So even if it doesn't make sense, even if it's outside of the way that God is acting in, at least what we have reported and how God acted, I still trust God. 00:08:39.639 --> 00:08:42.120 Whatever happens now, God is moving and God is acting. 00:08:42.120 --> 00:08:45.059 And I have to imagine that was the source. 00:08:45.179 --> 00:08:51.039 I think from the beginning, Jacob realized that the image that I get is he's alone by himself. 00:08:51.259 --> 00:08:51.980 He's praying. 00:08:52.159 --> 00:08:53.940 He looks up and there's a man. 00:08:55.259 --> 00:08:57.840 It's just like, it's like, why? 00:08:58.159 --> 00:08:59.320 What does that even mean? 00:08:59.419 --> 00:09:00.179 Why is it on? 00:09:00.299 --> 00:09:01.299 Why not talk to the man? 00:09:01.360 --> 00:09:02.179 Why not interact with him? 00:09:02.200 --> 00:09:05.259 Maybe he goes up to say hi to the guy and the guy just smacks him. 00:09:05.259 --> 00:09:07.200 We don't know. 00:09:07.580 --> 00:09:14.580 But I have to imagine that from the time that Jacob, I imagine he's on his knees and he's calling out to God. 00:09:14.720 --> 00:09:15.259 He's praying. 00:09:15.799 --> 00:09:18.600 And he looks up and he sees this man. 00:09:19.200 --> 00:09:22.539 And I have to imagine he realizes something spiritual is happening right now. 00:09:23.019 --> 00:09:25.799 I've never seen God become a man before. 00:09:27.100 --> 00:09:28.460 But there's something that's going on. 00:09:28.519 --> 00:09:29.960 Maybe he sent a message or whatever. 00:09:30.440 --> 00:09:33.200 This is, this is, this is what I have to interact with. 00:09:33.200 --> 00:09:40.840 I'm going to show God through my wrestling with this man that I have the same fervor that I had when I asked for the blessing. 00:09:41.220 --> 00:09:46.460 And when I received, I have that same fervor and I have that same passion that has not wavered. 00:09:48.759 --> 00:09:50.399 And then, you know, this wrestling. 00:09:50.700 --> 00:09:54.120 So it's, it's, it just seems like a fact. 00:09:54.320 --> 00:09:57.539 But, but, but there's some, some, some imagery behind it. 00:09:57.539 --> 00:10:00.179 This board of the Jabba and right by a stream. 00:10:00.179 --> 00:10:02.820 So there's, it's probably pretty money. 00:10:03.100 --> 00:10:07.840 And like, there's, I have to imagine there's like, there's a bar fight scene, perhaps. 00:10:08.059 --> 00:10:11.379 But then there's also like some kind of like hand-to-hand combat wrestling. 00:10:11.860 --> 00:10:14.860 And then there's probably some dialogue that occurs. 00:10:14.940 --> 00:10:15.899 Like, who are you? 00:10:15.940 --> 00:10:17.659 And maybe the guy doesn't say anything back. 00:10:17.740 --> 00:10:19.240 But there's, there's, it's a mess. 00:10:19.279 --> 00:10:20.179 It doesn't look pretty. 00:10:20.259 --> 00:10:22.580 It's not like, you know, they're not wearing singlets. 00:10:22.820 --> 00:10:24.620 Like, you know, that's not good in general. 00:10:24.620 --> 00:10:29.759 But there's, there's not a, there's no rules of engagement, even. 00:10:29.960 --> 00:10:30.879 It seems like. 00:10:31.179 --> 00:10:35.779 And this is the image that we get for the whole night. 00:10:36.460 --> 00:10:37.620 It's a great deal of exhaustion. 00:10:37.940 --> 00:10:38.759 And then what happens? 00:10:38.960 --> 00:10:42.240 Like, you know, I wonder if Jacob at some point is like, what is it? 00:10:42.259 --> 00:10:43.139 When is this going to be over? 00:10:43.700 --> 00:10:46.340 Touches the guy's, or the guy touches his hip. 00:10:46.740 --> 00:10:48.120 And he's like, man, I'm done. 00:10:48.259 --> 00:10:49.580 Like, I, I got it. 00:10:49.620 --> 00:10:50.620 What if he still do? 00:10:51.879 --> 00:10:53.919 He's still, he's still holding on to the guy. 00:10:53.919 --> 00:10:55.759 So now it's at the end of this battle. 00:10:56.799 --> 00:10:58.019 Jacob knows he lost. 00:10:58.240 --> 00:10:59.600 There's no, there's no hope. 00:11:01.019 --> 00:11:02.639 And he's still holding on. 00:11:02.820 --> 00:11:04.340 It's, it's wrenched out of place. 00:11:04.419 --> 00:11:07.000 I don't even know what it would look like or how it could feel. 00:11:07.100 --> 00:11:08.240 But he's in trouble. 00:11:08.320 --> 00:11:09.360 He can't wrestle anymore. 00:11:09.460 --> 00:11:12.120 He's still holding on, trying to get this blessing. 00:11:12.299 --> 00:11:14.279 What, how audacious could he possibly be? 00:11:14.600 --> 00:11:15.580 You know, you lost him. 00:11:15.600 --> 00:11:18.960 And you're still asking like, just give it, give me the blessing, please. 00:11:20.620 --> 00:11:22.980 The guy says, he says, what's your name? 00:11:22.980 --> 00:11:23.840 Well, my name is Jacob. 00:11:24.100 --> 00:11:27.120 And by asking, what's your name? 00:11:27.259 --> 00:11:30.980 You would have been saying, hey, with a name like Jacob, I can't give you the blessing. 00:11:32.340 --> 00:11:37.379 With a name like, to be as deceitful as you are, and you know what you've done. 00:11:37.899 --> 00:11:39.259 I'm not able to bless you. 00:11:39.419 --> 00:11:40.360 How do you want to be blessed? 00:11:42.980 --> 00:11:48.230 What does this, what does this mean for us? 00:11:48.309 --> 00:11:59.230 You know, Jacob, he, he put himself in the best possible situation to interact most closely with God. 00:12:00.009 --> 00:12:02.970 He removed the other stuff. 00:12:03.190 --> 00:12:04.730 He removed all of the mess. 00:12:04.769 --> 00:12:10.690 And he decided, I'm organizing an opportunity for me to interact closely with God. 00:12:11.830 --> 00:12:14.149 I, there's no distractions anymore. 00:12:14.429 --> 00:12:17.129 It's, I can't even see very much of what's going on. 00:12:17.669 --> 00:12:20.490 It's, it's just me and it's God. 00:12:21.690 --> 00:12:28.769 You know, in our day-to-day lives, we've been so busy with so many good things that, that we can, we can just, I'm good. 00:12:28.789 --> 00:12:29.789 I'll get with God later. 00:12:29.850 --> 00:12:30.669 I'm good with God later. 00:12:30.789 --> 00:12:35.049 I'm, I'm walking with God, but I've got something else that I'm, that's really on my mind. 00:12:35.090 --> 00:12:37.129 And I would, I would challenge us this summer. 00:12:37.649 --> 00:12:38.509 Make, make opportunities. 00:12:39.190 --> 00:12:42.690 If you have to create, uh, you know, there, there's many ways to do them. 00:12:42.990 --> 00:12:53.730 Make an opportunity for you to just be with you and God, not you and God and the kids, not you and your roommates and God, and not you and your spouse and God. 00:12:53.850 --> 00:12:54.450 Just you and God. 00:12:54.570 --> 00:12:55.789 However, whatever that looks like. 00:12:55.870 --> 00:13:03.809 It might not look like an all night, uh, wrestling match, but it ought to look like, hopefully it doesn't look like a physical all night wrestling match. 00:13:05.169 --> 00:13:05.990 But I have to go. 00:13:06.809 --> 00:13:07.210 Nevermind. 00:13:07.710 --> 00:13:13.629 Uh, but it, but it should be something where you, you're interacting. 00:13:13.809 --> 00:13:14.350 It's you and God. 00:13:15.129 --> 00:13:16.970 Whatever God, whatever you want to say. 00:13:17.649 --> 00:13:20.330 I don't think you're going to interact with me, interact with me. 00:13:20.889 --> 00:13:23.509 I'm something that doesn't make sense. 00:13:23.769 --> 00:13:27.230 I, you're going to show yourself to me in a way that I'm comfortable with. 00:13:35.049 --> 00:13:38.629 Jacob, maybe he pursues, he pursues this interaction. 00:13:39.450 --> 00:13:42.889 I imagine he's talking to God rather than man. 00:13:42.950 --> 00:13:46.269 And he doesn't realize is he's got, he's wrestling with them. 00:13:46.629 --> 00:13:51.809 But what he's not is he's not a bystander to the spirituality. 00:13:52.929 --> 00:13:57.889 And that's the thing about there has to be this active pursuit of spirituality. 00:14:02.419 --> 00:14:07.840 Just because God is acting in a way that you're not comfortable with, does not mean that he's not acting. 00:14:08.740 --> 00:14:08.899 Right. 00:14:09.240 --> 00:14:09.360 Right. 00:14:14.210 --> 00:14:19.669 Everything that's occurring in your life has the ability to deepen your relationship with God. 00:14:20.250 --> 00:14:20.690 Everything. 00:14:21.190 --> 00:14:21.309 Right. 00:14:23.210 --> 00:14:25.070 There's a, there's a struggle that's going on. 00:14:25.169 --> 00:14:28.190 And Jacob should have said, get out of my way. 00:14:28.710 --> 00:14:30.509 And perhaps that he would have been blessed with this. 00:14:30.570 --> 00:14:32.570 And I'm going to, this is spiritual. 00:14:32.710 --> 00:14:33.889 And so I'm going to make it spiritual. 00:14:34.070 --> 00:14:35.330 And so I'm going to wrestle with this guy. 00:14:35.690 --> 00:14:37.330 And then I'm going to ask that he blesses me. 00:14:39.929 --> 00:14:56.389 Every challenge that God has given you, every interaction that you've had, hear me, I don't want to, I don't want to step outside of, uh, I don't want to wade in territory and just sort of read in way too deep. 00:14:56.730 --> 00:14:57.309 I'll make a path. 00:14:57.389 --> 00:14:57.490 Yeah. 00:14:57.529 --> 00:15:03.330 But even every form of trauma that you've experienced, that has the opportunity to drive you nearer to God. 00:15:03.450 --> 00:15:20.539 Now, God didn't, like my children, just like God, and some of those children, we don't want trauma to occur, but we understand that there has to be things that they have to go through, in order for them to be strong on the other side. 00:15:20.539 --> 00:15:22.919 So for us, I imagine the same is true. 00:15:23.399 --> 00:15:28.940 That every form of trauma that you've experienced, it has the opportunity to draw you closer to God. 00:15:30.700 --> 00:15:33.740 It also has the opportunity to draw you further away from God. 00:15:34.159 --> 00:15:45.740 You can look at, uh, survivors, and you would be able to say that there are many of them that points to a specific moment as being, but I knew God did not exist. 00:15:45.740 --> 00:15:58.600 You could find so many others in the same sphere, who experienced similar trauma that would point to, this is the moment that I knew that there has to be something to draw us forward. 00:16:02.940 --> 00:16:07.500 Everything that occurs on a day-to-day basis has the opportunity to draw you closer to God. 00:16:07.500 --> 00:16:08.980 Ask a man like this. 00:16:13.259 --> 00:16:24.259 It says, then the man said, your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans, and have overcome. 00:16:25.500 --> 00:16:26.980 Jacob said, please tell me your name. 00:16:27.620 --> 00:16:28.940 And he replied, why didn't you ask my name? 00:16:29.639 --> 00:16:30.720 And he blessed him there. 00:16:31.460 --> 00:16:39.120 So Jacob called the place Camille, saying it is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared. 00:16:40.039 --> 00:16:45.279 The sun rose above him as he passed Camille, and he was limping because of his hip. 00:16:45.840 --> 00:16:52.840 Therefore, to this day, the Israelites have got the tendon attached to the socket of the hip, because the socket of Jacob's hip was touched near the tendon. 00:16:57.809 --> 00:17:03.149 So we learn explicitly that Jacob's, now he interacted with God. 00:17:04.309 --> 00:17:09.549 Imagine how you could have felt, that perhaps for a moment, God, could this be God? 00:17:09.650 --> 00:17:11.430 No way, God doesn't act like that. 00:17:11.549 --> 00:17:13.769 God doesn't become human. 00:17:14.150 --> 00:17:15.650 That wouldn't make any sense. 00:17:15.730 --> 00:17:16.549 That can't be God. 00:17:17.309 --> 00:17:20.068 Why would he interact with me in the way that he's interacting with you? 00:17:20.250 --> 00:17:22.190 No, I could not imagine God. 00:17:22.650 --> 00:17:26.809 I wouldn't have said what I said to that guy if I knew that that was God in the flesh. 00:17:27.029 --> 00:17:30.349 How did he allow me to even wrestle and interact with him? 00:17:31.910 --> 00:17:33.529 Is that wrestling with an angel? 00:17:33.670 --> 00:17:37.750 Is that wrestling with some kind of strongman who's wrestling with God? 00:17:41.670 --> 00:17:44.269 He could have ended with Jacob at any point. 00:17:45.309 --> 00:17:47.630 He could have been in our long wrestling match. 00:17:47.670 --> 00:17:48.829 That's a long wrestling match. 00:17:48.829 --> 00:17:50.410 A normal one is about six minutes. 00:17:50.490 --> 00:17:54.250 I think in college it goes three, two, two, so I think it's seven minutes. 00:17:55.930 --> 00:17:58.589 I don't know how long WWE wrestling matches go. 00:18:00.650 --> 00:18:03.349 Even collegiate wrestling matches, they go about seven minutes. 00:18:03.470 --> 00:18:07.509 If it was an hour-long wrestling match, you'd say, man, they were fighting. 00:18:07.710 --> 00:18:08.970 They were going after it. 00:18:09.029 --> 00:18:09.849 It was intense. 00:18:10.390 --> 00:18:11.349 Again, this is the whole night. 00:18:11.450 --> 00:18:13.450 At any point, God could have just said, I'm done. 00:18:15.450 --> 00:18:16.769 Boom, I touched your socket. 00:18:17.009 --> 00:18:18.529 Man, man, I just smacked you. 00:18:18.670 --> 00:18:19.589 You're on the ground. 00:18:19.769 --> 00:18:20.630 You have no hope. 00:18:20.769 --> 00:18:21.309 You're not going anywhere. 00:18:26.660 --> 00:18:27.839 What could it possibly mean? 00:18:27.980 --> 00:18:29.960 The man realized he couldn't hold a powerbomb. 00:18:30.799 --> 00:18:32.660 This is me. 00:18:33.460 --> 00:18:35.000 How could that be true? 00:18:35.220 --> 00:18:36.839 But then also he's able to touch his socket. 00:18:37.099 --> 00:18:43.579 I think he realized, God realized I'm not going to overpower this man's will. 00:18:43.720 --> 00:18:45.279 He really wants me to bless him. 00:18:45.460 --> 00:18:48.599 He really wants something amazing to happen. 00:18:50.839 --> 00:18:52.299 He can't beat the man. 00:18:53.039 --> 00:18:54.299 He's going to fight. 00:18:54.640 --> 00:18:55.460 He's going to claw. 00:18:55.660 --> 00:19:01.839 Even when I wrench his hip, he's still holding on tight because he wants the blessing. 00:19:03.200 --> 00:19:04.440 We serve a God. 00:19:05.000 --> 00:19:06.480 Think about how amazing this is. 00:19:06.539 --> 00:19:09.140 We serve a God who is not insecure. 00:19:09.819 --> 00:19:10.640 This is what I mean. 00:19:10.680 --> 00:19:15.500 We serve a God who is not insecure enough to say, you should just know who I am. 00:19:15.640 --> 00:19:16.660 Don't fight. 00:19:16.819 --> 00:19:17.220 Don't wrestle. 00:19:17.619 --> 00:19:18.339 I am. 00:19:18.799 --> 00:19:20.079 That's all you have to know. 00:19:21.119 --> 00:19:22.319 We don't serve a God like that. 00:19:23.079 --> 00:19:25.119 Certainly, he says, I am who I am. 00:19:27.119 --> 00:19:28.519 He's okay with us wrestling. 00:19:29.019 --> 00:19:30.740 He's okay with us fighting. 00:19:31.359 --> 00:19:32.579 Is this true? 00:19:32.740 --> 00:19:33.579 Is this real? 00:19:33.980 --> 00:19:35.099 How could you do this? 00:19:35.140 --> 00:19:35.960 He's okay with that. 00:19:36.039 --> 00:19:37.680 Actually, he welcomes it. 00:19:37.720 --> 00:19:38.259 He's excited. 00:19:38.380 --> 00:19:39.079 He's not insecure. 00:19:40.200 --> 00:19:43.079 I can't have followers if they don't wrestle with me. 00:19:43.140 --> 00:19:43.599 No, no. 00:19:44.000 --> 00:19:47.799 On the contrary, if they're going to be real followers, then they have to wrestle. 00:19:50.460 --> 00:19:53.519 In what way are you wrestling with God this morning? 00:19:59.079 --> 00:20:01.240 Is there a passage that doesn't make sense? 00:20:01.599 --> 00:20:04.460 Is there a doctrine that you're unsure about? 00:20:05.119 --> 00:20:11.619 Or probably more relevant, where are your character in wrestling with God? 00:20:14.309 --> 00:20:15.529 Where are your character? 00:20:15.730 --> 00:20:17.789 Do you know the Bible is saying this? 00:20:18.130 --> 00:20:22.829 I just can't make myself follow him. 00:20:23.549 --> 00:20:24.210 I want to. 00:20:24.430 --> 00:20:25.029 I'm sure. 00:20:25.329 --> 00:20:26.170 I just can't do it. 00:20:30.240 --> 00:20:32.220 God says, you can wrestle with me. 00:20:33.019 --> 00:20:37.480 We can struggle through this together, and I'm going to struggle right alongside you. 00:20:37.519 --> 00:20:40.680 I'm going to be right alongside you during your struggle, I should say. 00:20:41.839 --> 00:20:42.819 I know who I am. 00:20:43.160 --> 00:20:44.599 God said, I know who I am. 00:20:44.680 --> 00:20:45.500 I know that I'm big. 00:20:45.579 --> 00:20:46.799 I know I can do whatever. 00:20:47.440 --> 00:20:51.339 And so, anything that you learn, if you're looking for, I'm going to show myself. 00:20:51.539 --> 00:20:53.279 If you're looking for me, I'm going to show myself. 00:20:53.480 --> 00:20:56.539 We can rest secure in that. 00:20:56.680 --> 00:20:58.980 If our God is so secure, then we can be secure in him. 00:20:59.099 --> 00:20:59.200 Amen? 00:20:59.579 --> 00:20:59.819 Right. 00:21:06.089 --> 00:21:08.029 So, his name is changed. 00:21:08.230 --> 00:21:13.150 This deceiver is changed to one who struggles with God. 00:21:13.349 --> 00:21:14.650 Think about that. 00:21:15.170 --> 00:21:17.730 Even the Lord, he couldn't name them all. 00:21:17.829 --> 00:21:19.309 You're the great follower of God. 00:21:19.410 --> 00:21:22.029 Instead, he says, no, you're all this whole group of people. 00:21:22.190 --> 00:21:27.670 The people that are going to come after you, the Israelites, they're going to be known as strugglers with God. 00:21:27.789 --> 00:21:30.690 Even in the name, he accepts. 00:21:30.690 --> 00:21:32.230 He accepts, and he understands, and he desires. 00:21:32.490 --> 00:21:37.609 There's this interaction that you'll have with me at every point, all the time. 00:21:38.289 --> 00:21:44.829 If you're not struggling with God, then it's worth asking, are you following me? 00:21:52.140 --> 00:21:56.779 From here on out, he says, you're going to be a struggler with God. 00:21:56.920 --> 00:22:04.380 From here on out, we learn that Jacob is no longer called Jacob, but is called Israel. 00:22:06.119 --> 00:22:09.240 Everywhere else in the Bible, he's called Israel. 00:22:11.359 --> 00:22:12.359 That's not true. 00:22:13.259 --> 00:22:28.180 This is the cool thing for us, because Jacob actually, even after he's renamed, he's still called, after he's renamed Israel, he's still, the man is still referred to as Jacob twice as much as he's referred to as Israel. 00:22:30.839 --> 00:22:32.339 What does that mean? 00:22:32.339 --> 00:22:38.579 How is that an archetype for us, as we struggle, and as we try to overcome, and as we work alongside God? 00:22:38.720 --> 00:22:47.279 I think it means some things for us that are for the external, and then internally, too. 00:22:47.420 --> 00:22:59.740 I think it means that if you're going to come to Jesus, it's more that you are in the process of continuing to lose your identity, that your identity is totally different right away. 00:22:59.960 --> 00:23:00.940 What I mean is this. 00:23:01.839 --> 00:23:04.559 It's similar to how anybody would get married. 00:23:04.720 --> 00:23:10.319 When Bianca decided to, me and Bianca, when she decided to marry me, her name was changed. 00:23:10.700 --> 00:23:14.900 Her name was Bianca before, but instead of Fuentes, it became same. 00:23:16.940 --> 00:23:18.700 On the ID part, it changes right away. 00:23:19.759 --> 00:23:20.859 It's different right away. 00:23:21.460 --> 00:23:22.359 Objectively different. 00:23:22.500 --> 00:23:24.920 She's a different, you could say she's a different person. 00:23:25.019 --> 00:23:25.519 She's renamed. 00:23:25.839 --> 00:23:32.519 She went from a Fuentes to June 14, 2014, she became Singh. 00:23:34.059 --> 00:23:35.720 Legally, I don't know how that stuff works. 00:23:36.160 --> 00:23:40.420 I really don't know, but at least on her ID, it said Singh right away. 00:23:42.680 --> 00:23:50.940 The process of going from somebody who's one way to someone who's a different way, that's ongoing. 00:23:51.099 --> 00:23:56.640 The process of deciding I'm going to be, I know that I'm married, but I'm going to, yeah, I'm going to act. 00:23:56.940 --> 00:23:58.000 I'm going to act. 00:23:58.119 --> 00:24:09.200 I'm not going to, and she would tell you, and I don't mean to, there's nothing bad, so if I overstep, whatever, but even the process of who I go to when things aren't going well. 00:24:10.220 --> 00:24:12.720 Do I go to mom, or do I go to Jared? 00:24:13.279 --> 00:24:15.299 Who do I go to for financial questions? 00:24:15.440 --> 00:24:18.099 Do I go to mom, or do I go to Jared, or the Singhs? 00:24:18.180 --> 00:24:19.720 What does that process look like? 00:24:20.220 --> 00:24:39.180 It's ongoing, and it takes some time, and it changes right away, and yet over the course of time is when it continues to be pulled, and I think the same is true for us spiritually, is that our identity, at some point or another, anybody goes from lost to saved. 00:24:39.359 --> 00:24:59.759 There's a point in which you do, but the process of how do I continue to work towards becoming someone who's like Jesus, that's going to take forever and ever and ever, and there's external pressures of people who will still call you by your old name. 00:25:02.099 --> 00:25:17.460 They'll be confused by how you act and how you live, and they'll assume that you're going to still operate in this way, and yet we realize that that's not, that'd be different, so there's an external pressure from somebody calling you by your old name. 00:25:18.599 --> 00:25:23.480 People aren't calling you by your old name then maybe your name hasn't changed yet. 00:25:26.000 --> 00:25:28.220 You don't feel that tension, as you said. 00:25:29.299 --> 00:25:31.200 Then there's the internal one, right? 00:25:31.259 --> 00:25:34.460 This internal, we're a new creation. 00:25:34.700 --> 00:25:35.480 Our identity's different. 00:25:35.619 --> 00:25:37.299 We should be walking with God again. 00:25:37.680 --> 00:25:41.420 Why do I still not always want to do that? 00:25:41.619 --> 00:25:45.779 Why is reading my Bible something that feels like a chore? 00:25:45.920 --> 00:25:47.359 It doesn't feel like a great blessing. 00:25:47.619 --> 00:25:57.259 Why is deciding to love people, to act like Jesus, and to deny myself, why is that something that is still occupying so much of my energy? 00:25:57.480 --> 00:25:59.420 I shouldn't want to act like Jesus. 00:25:59.460 --> 00:26:00.759 I shouldn't want to deny myself. 00:26:01.200 --> 00:26:02.299 He lived the best life. 00:26:02.859 --> 00:26:03.819 We all know that. 00:26:03.880 --> 00:26:04.240 I agree. 00:26:04.319 --> 00:26:06.440 He lived the best life, so I should want to walk with him again. 00:26:07.000 --> 00:26:14.200 There's an internal struggle that my identity is different on my ID card, and yet there's an internal, there's an internal. 00:26:14.400 --> 00:26:20.279 I'm continuing to work my identity out to be just like a great follower of Christ. 00:26:23.339 --> 00:26:26.140 We're gonna bring it in for a landing here. 00:26:26.559 --> 00:26:28.940 Then we're gonna talk about what we've learned from this stuff. 00:26:30.759 --> 00:26:34.799 In Genesis 33, this is really, it's a cool passage. 00:26:36.119 --> 00:26:39.279 It's encouraging and discouraging all at the same time. 00:26:40.920 --> 00:26:43.420 Because we know that, what does that mean? 00:26:43.480 --> 00:26:45.240 What does it mean to be a cruelly ill prophet? 00:26:45.759 --> 00:26:49.099 I want to talk about that just a little bit. 00:26:49.940 --> 00:26:57.640 The prophecy, God says through Isaac, the guilt of your brother, you're gonna throw it off the table. 00:26:58.339 --> 00:27:02.559 Jacob, he's gonna eradicate you. 00:27:02.700 --> 00:27:03.880 He's gonna bring you down. 00:27:04.000 --> 00:27:07.380 I will be a servant of his or even worse, bring him down. 00:27:10.039 --> 00:27:11.779 Today, the brothers are gonna meet. 00:27:13.539 --> 00:27:18.539 There's this interaction that occurs with how we can say this out. 00:27:19.180 --> 00:27:25.140 Jacob, in verse one, and you can see on the screen here, there's maybe a little bit of a summary. 00:27:25.680 --> 00:27:29.500 Jacob looked up and there was Esau coming with his 400 men. 00:27:30.960 --> 00:27:35.140 He divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two female servants. 00:27:35.299 --> 00:27:42.019 He put the female servants, he had children in front, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph in the rear. 00:27:42.180 --> 00:27:46.500 He himself went on ahead and bowed to the ground seven times as he approached his brother. 00:27:48.539 --> 00:27:51.680 Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him. 00:27:52.140 --> 00:27:56.539 He threw his arms around his neck and kissed him, and they wept. 00:27:57.619 --> 00:27:59.980 Esau looked and saw the women and children. 00:28:00.880 --> 00:28:02.119 Who are these with you? 00:28:02.539 --> 00:28:03.079 He asked. 00:28:03.980 --> 00:28:08.940 Jacob answered, these are the children God has graciously given your servant. 00:28:09.619 --> 00:28:12.599 The female servants and their children approached and bowed down. 00:28:13.059 --> 00:28:15.779 Next, Leah and her children came and bowed down. 00:28:15.900 --> 00:28:19.519 Last of all came Joseph and Rachel and they, too, bowed down. 00:28:19.680 --> 00:28:22.960 Esau asked, what's the meaning of all these rocks and the earth I'm in? 00:28:23.380 --> 00:28:25.259 To find favor in your eyes, my lord, he said. 00:28:25.720 --> 00:28:29.079 Esau said, I already have plenty, my brother, keep what you have for yourself. 00:28:29.920 --> 00:28:37.140 No, please, said Jacob, if I have found favor in your eyes, accept this gift from me, for to see your face is like seeing the face of God. 00:28:37.140 --> 00:28:45.819 Now that you have received me favorably, please accept the present that I brought to you, for God has been gracious to me, and I have all I need. 00:28:47.039 --> 00:28:49.420 And because Jacob insisted, Esau accepted it. 00:28:50.099 --> 00:28:53.259 Then Esau said, let us be on our way, I'll accompany you. 00:28:53.920 --> 00:28:54.359 I'll see you. 00:28:57.660 --> 00:29:15.279 If this was a Disney movie, then what would happen next is that they would go hand in hand and they would reunite, totally reconcile, and they would become a powerful nation, put people together, and all would be well. 00:29:15.599 --> 00:29:19.460 And yet we learn that that's not what happens, actually. 00:29:19.700 --> 00:29:26.980 We're not going to read about it, but what happens is Jacob insists, no, we're not going to go together, I'm going to stay behind. 00:29:27.299 --> 00:29:34.119 So Esau goes ahead after some convincing, and then Jacob and Esau, we don't really learn what happens in their relationship. 00:29:34.279 --> 00:29:37.519 Esau totally forgives them, and yet there's not this reconciliation that occurs. 00:29:39.480 --> 00:29:43.119 There's not the reconciliation because Jacob perhaps is still scared. 00:29:43.240 --> 00:29:45.240 There's still a little bit of a deceiver inside of him. 00:29:45.359 --> 00:29:47.059 He's like, I just can't trust you. 00:29:47.400 --> 00:29:48.420 I don't know. 00:29:48.519 --> 00:29:52.680 At whatever point you decide that you're going to fight back, I don't want to be that guy. 00:29:55.660 --> 00:29:56.599 Theologians, they're split. 00:29:57.420 --> 00:30:19.539 They're split if Jacob was deceiving and if he was justified in his deceit, that Esau was really playing a fool, oh yeah, we're all good, and then he's actually going to fight them, or some say that he just still kind of lived in his old, he got a little bit of favor and he lost himself again. 00:30:21.900 --> 00:30:24.059 However you feel, what does it look like? 00:30:24.099 --> 00:30:34.819 What I put before you is that this guilt that's talked about, that people throw out, is this guilt of competitiveness that Esau is able to pull off this election. 00:30:38.299 --> 00:30:46.920 It's this guilt that I'm so, I can't get this out of my head that somebody's better, that I deserve what they have. 00:30:48.099 --> 00:30:50.059 They don't deserve, they wouldn't do anything for it. 00:30:50.059 --> 00:30:51.259 They're not even very spiritual. 00:30:51.799 --> 00:30:55.740 They messed with me and now they're in a better spot than I am. 00:30:55.980 --> 00:30:56.980 They don't deserve it. 00:30:57.220 --> 00:30:58.859 How could they possibly get to this spot? 00:30:59.640 --> 00:31:01.420 Why has God decided to bless them? 00:31:01.420 --> 00:31:03.099 Why did they grow up in this family? 00:31:03.220 --> 00:31:04.500 How could they get that blessing? 00:31:04.539 --> 00:31:05.359 It's just arbitrary. 00:31:05.380 --> 00:31:07.519 There's no sense to it. 00:31:09.359 --> 00:31:10.960 We don't see any of that with Esau. 00:31:11.140 --> 00:31:18.720 As we can, perhaps, perhaps he really was trying to kill Jacob, but that's not what we're told in Scripture. 00:31:18.880 --> 00:31:19.960 That's just not how we're taught. 00:31:20.079 --> 00:31:20.799 That's not how it's taught. 00:31:24.240 --> 00:31:27.460 Please, Esau has got it. 00:31:27.859 --> 00:31:32.839 As messed up as you've treated me, as messed up as I am, God has given me enough. 00:31:33.319 --> 00:31:40.480 There's a couple of concepts, a couple of mentalities in business that I think work itself here. 00:31:40.640 --> 00:31:44.440 There's one, it's kind of a scarcity mindset versus the abundance mindset. 00:31:44.680 --> 00:31:50.220 A scarcity mindset says that we're all in competition, that there's a limited amount of money to go around. 00:31:52.440 --> 00:31:54.319 There's a limited amount of opportunities. 00:31:54.720 --> 00:32:05.519 If we're going to actually become, we can't be friends, we can't work together, we have to be competitive with one another because that's the only way. 00:32:05.980 --> 00:32:13.200 If we work together and we talk about our ideas, you're going to take my ideas and then you're going to take my business and you're going to take my money as well. 00:32:13.900 --> 00:32:15.119 That's the scarcity mindset. 00:32:16.579 --> 00:32:18.839 Abundance mindset says there's a wealth of opportunities. 00:32:19.579 --> 00:32:27.519 There are so many opportunities and so let's work together to achieve the best possible opportunities for all of us. 00:32:27.519 --> 00:32:35.420 We're going to share resources, we're going to share ideas, and it's the idea that a rising tide raises all ships. 00:32:36.220 --> 00:32:43.240 Let's do everything we can to increase this value that we can create together. 00:32:45.960 --> 00:32:48.400 I think Esau is like, this is how I'm interacting. 00:32:49.440 --> 00:32:50.500 God is good to me. 00:32:50.880 --> 00:32:52.359 Maybe God's been better to you. 00:32:52.440 --> 00:32:53.119 God's good to me. 00:32:55.579 --> 00:33:03.839 I think as we interact with others, as you interact with people day to day, we need to learn from Jacob and we'll talk about, we've got to learn from Esau as well. 00:33:05.059 --> 00:33:11.140 We should interact like, God, maybe he's blessed me a little bit more than he's blessed me, it's fine. 00:33:12.099 --> 00:33:12.900 But he's blessed me. 00:33:13.960 --> 00:33:16.039 There's many opportunities to go around. 00:33:16.180 --> 00:33:17.960 There's no competition like this. 00:33:18.420 --> 00:33:21.519 It's something that we need to work to guide you. 00:33:22.539 --> 00:33:29.799 Because only when we remove ourselves from this competition is when we'll be at real peace, when this boat will be taken from us. 00:33:31.240 --> 00:33:35.039 We're going to bring it in for a communion here in a moment. 00:33:35.160 --> 00:33:35.859 What are we going to learn? 00:33:36.440 --> 00:33:37.640 We've read some scripture. 00:33:38.299 --> 00:33:39.940 We have more questions than answers. 00:33:40.299 --> 00:33:48.940 If you want to continue to read through and share what you've learned, wrestling with God is necessary to live a fruitful life. 00:33:49.099 --> 00:33:49.880 Our God is secure. 00:33:50.880 --> 00:33:56.039 You're not going to, if you're actively seeking God, you're not going to be offended. 00:33:56.819 --> 00:34:04.019 If you're actively seeking to walk with, talk with, interact with, even wrestle with God, he's not going to be offended by you. 00:34:04.140 --> 00:34:05.460 He wants those to come closer. 00:34:08.400 --> 00:34:15.860 Jacob, he can learn that there's a grit that even in his old age and his young age, it's valuable. 00:34:16.239 --> 00:34:17.659 There's passion and grit. 00:34:17.760 --> 00:34:22.280 Passion is like, I'm going to go after something because I really want it. 00:34:22.280 --> 00:34:28.380 And then the grit is when the rubber hits the road and it's very difficult, I'm still going to pursue it. 00:34:28.460 --> 00:34:36.460 We can grow in our walk with God if we decide that when I'm passionate, when I really want to focus on God, let me focus 100%. 00:34:36.460 --> 00:34:39.619 And when it's tough, I still need to be grateful. 00:34:39.739 --> 00:34:40.860 I still need to go after God. 00:34:42.659 --> 00:34:45.000 Our identities, they're continually being shaped by Christ. 00:34:45.139 --> 00:34:50.579 It's not a one-time thing that I check the box and then I'm all done, that there needs to be a continual walk with God. 00:34:51.280 --> 00:35:03.039 And then lastly, that throwing off this guilt of competition will lead to an internal peace that is a better way to live, but then it's more attractive to everybody around us. 00:35:04.460 --> 00:35:04.780 Amen. 00:35:09.269 --> 00:35:18.090 As we get ready to take communion, just a couple thoughts that I have and the relevance to this passage, the passage of scripture that we looked at. 00:35:18.570 --> 00:35:25.690 I want to ask you guys to pray to God and talk to God about what you're wrestling with in this world. 00:35:28.210 --> 00:35:29.489 Is it something big? 00:35:29.590 --> 00:35:30.369 Is it something small? 00:35:30.489 --> 00:35:31.929 Maybe it's something you know right away. 00:35:32.070 --> 00:35:34.250 Perhaps it's something you have to work through. 00:35:36.610 --> 00:35:46.110 One of the amazing things, this is what many theologians will say, is that we understand God as a man, like when he did that, right? 00:35:46.269 --> 00:35:57.449 This is one of the interactions that people say is the pre-incarnate, that Jesus actually was the one who was wrestling with Jacob at this time. 00:35:59.510 --> 00:36:07.210 As we take communion, we remember Jesus' death and his burial and then his resurrection. 00:36:09.230 --> 00:36:16.309 Communicate with him, where are you wrestling and where do you fully believe and where we can help you or help you out. 00:36:16.849 --> 00:36:17.650 Let's pray. 00:36:21.809 --> 00:36:24.590 Dear God, Lord, Father, we love you. 00:36:25.989 --> 00:36:28.750 I just want to call out to you, Lord. 00:36:28.929 --> 00:36:32.789 I want to pray for all of us this morning. 00:36:33.250 --> 00:36:39.110 Lord, there are areas that are obvious that we're wrestling with, Father. 00:36:39.250 --> 00:36:42.949 We're wrestling as a community, but we're wrestling individually, Lord. 00:36:43.030 --> 00:36:55.429 I realize that so many of these wrestling matches have to occur, you know, us first, one-on-one, and then bring everybody else in afterwards. 00:36:55.610 --> 00:37:00.269 Absolutely, but so many, there's this internal thing that we just have to wrestle. 00:37:00.489 --> 00:37:01.670 We have to relinquish control. 00:37:02.110 --> 00:37:14.809 We have to desperately cling to you, us desiring your blessing and not us working based on our own interpretation and way of understanding this world. 00:37:15.230 --> 00:37:41.250 Lord, we come before you, Jesus, and we're so grateful that you decided to become man, not just in your wrestling with Jacob, but at every point, even after you rose again, but then during your life, especially, that you walked on this earth, that you decided to, Lord, that you decided to have all of the constraints that we feel, that you decided to feel them. 00:37:41.489 --> 00:37:42.789 You decided to feel hunger. 00:37:42.909 --> 00:37:45.110 You decided to feel exhausted. 00:37:45.110 --> 00:37:54.110 You decided to feel the little aches and the pains because you love us. 00:37:54.190 --> 00:37:55.909 You wanted to show us that that's gonna do it, Jesus. 00:37:56.050 --> 00:38:10.090 We're so grateful that you went on the cross for us, that you gave us the opportunity, that we have a hope that's not just, it's not just tied to what we do, but it's tied to who you are, Lord. 00:38:10.130 --> 00:38:27.369 We wanna pray that we will grow in our identity as Christians or as followers, that we'll work towards the process of becoming Christians or followers, that we'll work towards it, absolutely, but only because you've done it first and you already see us as king. 00:38:27.929 --> 00:38:29.010 Lord, we love you. 00:38:29.070 --> 00:38:30.650 Thank you for your sacrifice, Jesus. 00:38:30.969 --> 00:38:32.329 This is the world we pray for. 00:38:32.809 --> 00:38:33.070 Amen. 00:38:35.070 --> 00:38:39.710 Thank you so much for listening to the Kalamazoo Church of Christ podcast. 00:38:40.030 --> 00:38:43.369 If you're in the Kalamazoo area, we'd love to get connected. 00:38:43.369 --> 00:38:51.010 Please go to kalamazoo.church and fill in your information to come to a Sunday service or any other event that we have going on. 00:38:51.230 --> 00:38:53.630 In any case, you'll be hearing from us next week.