Wrestling with the Savior

Text: Genesis 32:22-30

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

          Following December 7^th, 1941, it was very easy for Americans to identify who the enemy was. The Japanese had just bombed Pearl Harbor and it was clear that we were going to war. The same could be said for the relations between the US and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Adversaries were clear cut. There was no question about who the fight was against. In today’s global struggles, friends and the foes aren’t quite as clear cut. Whether or not we should even declare others as such isn’t always clear. It’s just harder to tell who’s on your side and who’s against you at any given moment. Jacob wrestles with that same problem in our Old Testament text for today.

There are many ways to handle conflict, but let’s just assume for today that when faced with an adversary our response is going to be to fight rather than to choose flight. When an opponent confronts us, we square off and prepare for battle. Some of us have probably done it on the playground. Hopefully we’re all smarter than that these days. Or at least wise enough to keep ourselves out of the situations where that would be necessary. Jacob really doesn’t have a choice. The text doesn’t describe the scene leading up to the fight. It simply says that as he was travelling along the brook Jabbok that “Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the break of day.” So matter of fact. As if this was an everyday occurrence.

If we look back on why Jacob is journeying and why he finds himself in this place we’re reminded that it’s because he has split his camps and is trying desperately not to have his whole entourage, people and flocks, destroyed by his brother Esau who he’s heard is coming after him with 400 men. The fact that Jacob has so much is an indication of the fact that God has blessed him greatly. He promised to be with Jacob. But now this confrontation with his brother seems inevitable and he just doesn’t know whether his brother is going to meet him as an adversary, or as a friend.

Despite God’s promises to bless and protect Jacob, he really thinks that he’s going to have to contend with Esau. The problem here is that by not believing God’s promises, who he’s really contending with is God. We can easily find ourselves in the same position. So often, when we think we’re contending with something of this world, what we’re really doing is wrestling with God. We square off and prepare to fight against whatever it is we find in front of us instead of seeking to understand how what we’re facing might just be a part of God’s good and gracious will. When God leads, sometimes we go where we don’t think that we want to go. It’s when we humbly resign and endure all things in faith and are the most harshly tested that we begin to learn how good God’s will actually is. Even when it’s hidden and we can’t at first understand it.

Like Jacob, we know that in Christ God promises to care for us, but we don’t always fully trust in that promise. Instead, when we’re confronted with trouble, we’ll often hunker down to fight our own battle. And the adversary in that battle might seem clear to us, but what we’re often doing is wrestling against God and His will. Because whether someone, or something, is friend or foe, isn’t as easy to discern as it might seem at first. Think about all the conflicts that are currently being waged in our world today. And not just on foreign shores, but even in our own backyards. Things are not as black and white as we’d like them to be. Every conflict has two sides and it’s not always clear which side is the right one to be on. Perhaps in some cases there is no right or wrong side to take. Perhaps some of the personal conflicts we face aren’t meant to be fought out. Perhaps some of them are meant to bring us to a place of recognition that God is desiring that we acquiesce to His will. And to do that we need to actually seek His will. Pray that His will would be done as we do in the Lord’s prayer. But also pray that His will would be clear to you.

And then stop fighting against His will. We’re God’s baptized people, but we sometimes wonder if God’s will is for our good. Which can lead us to wonder whether God is our friend, or another adversary that we need to fight against. Hint – His will is always for your good. Whether it seems like it to you in the moment or not. The point is not to do what you think is right, which is too often what we’re taught is the highest determiner of how we should make decisions and live our lives. The point is to let God’s will reign in your life.

Even when it seems like the situation before us requires us to stand up and fight. Because we can’t always be sure that the opponent standing before us is truly our adversary. Now, there are many times when we know that the challenges we face are of the enemy. And in those times, we must stand up and fight. When God’s Word is clear and the fight before us is against those who would change it, demean it, or trample on it, we know that we’re fighting against the enemy. But sometimes it’s hard to determine if that fight is truly coming at us from the evil one.

Clearly, Jacob didn’t know at first. Who would dare to wrestle with a man all night long if he knew it was God he was fighting against? Even as he’s injured, “hip put out of joint as he wrestled with him” by the simple touch of the man he fought with, Jacob must have been thinking that this was an enemy. But God is never the enemy of His faithful people. And strangely, this attacker, who obviously could overpower him, asks injured Jacob to let him go. It could only be by faith that at this point Jacob realizes his attacker is a friend. And not just any friend. But the best of friends. Wounded and defeated, Jacob asks for God’s blessing.

It’s such a strange account because the One who at first seemed like an adversary turns out to be the greatest friend. Sometimes this happens in our lives too. We’re struggling with someone and when we’re able to come to an agreement, we can turn that relationship around. Even to the point that sometimes we become the greatest of friends. That’s exactly what happens in our relationship with God. Being sinful human beings we can sometimes feel like God is our enemy. We face all sorts of trouble in this life. Financial difficulties, marital problems, loss of jobs, hardships at school, and even all those prayers that go seemingly unanswered. And in a way, our sinful state does put us at odds with God. It does make us His enemy. But only because that sinful state is where we decide that we want to reside. Because we’re not willing to see the struggles as opportunities for God to reveal His good and gracious will to us. We ought to have the greatest courage at the very time when evil befalls us. Because that’s where God shares His will.

Luther says that we can be most pleased when the most unpleasant things happen and the most confident when hopelessness and loss come over us because we know that is when God’s will is at work making all things perfect and working together for our good. And the thing that He desires most is for His people to have that relationship with Him. The relationship that looks to Him for the resolution to all the conflict our sin brings into our lives. And that seeks the understanding of how His will is working for our good, even when it seems like the opposite is what’s happening. It’s the relationship with God that will ultimately help us to acknowledge the fact that He will help us to see who our real adversary is. And it’s not Him. It’s the evil one who has already been conquered by the life, death, and resurrection of our true friend, Jesus Christ. And “If God is for us who can be against us?”

And just like Jacob, sometimes it takes that gentle but powerful touch of God, that at times may feel crippling, to realize who He is and that He’s in control. Jacob knew it as soon as his hip went out of joint. God might allow us to struggle with Him for a time, but eventually He’ll make it known that He’s in control. And that His will isn’t going to be allowed to take second place to ours. It can be humbling, but it’s also so comforting to know that God is in control. And then, like Jacob, we can recognize the great privilege we have to come before our God and ask for His blessing. Be like Jacob who said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” How bold is that? But also, how beautiful? It’s the recognition of who God is and what He has to offer. And how desperately we’re in need of it.

Before God gives Jacob that blessing he asks for, He does something else special for him. He changes his name. “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.” Sometimes the winner of the fight isn’t the one who comes out looking like they’ve won. By all accounts, Jacob, dislocated hip and all, would seem to be the loser in this battle. But God tells him that he prevailed. Which means that winning and losing in a wrestling match with God looks a lot different than winning and losing a worldly fight. Winning as we strive with God is the acknowledgement that He is fully in control. Winning is allowing His will to be done in your life. It’s perhaps the hardest thing that we can do to let go of that control we think we have, but when we do and allow God’s will to prevail, what wonderful blessings He’ll give us.

Jacob got his blessing from God. And so do we. Without any merit or worthiness of our own. We’re blessed when we lay down our will and confess our sins because God is faithful and quick to forgive. We’re blessed when we set aside our fears and doubts and allow God’s will to reign in our lives, because where His will takes us is always better than where our own will. And we’re blessed when we receive the gifts He gives in Word and Sacrament because we understand that they’re free gifts from the One who desires to give us everything we need to strengthen us for the real fight we must endure in this world. Against the one true adversary.

May we recognize the devil’s attempts to turn us from the Lord and fight vehemently against them. Even as we try our best to avoid the conflicts that stem from our own sin and selfishness. Because these fights are really and truly our stubborn will against God’s. And when we recognize that that’s a fight we will only win when we embrace His will and let go of our own, we, like Jacob, will embrace and hold fast to the God who is for us always, and who will bless us abundantly. And when we cling to Him in faith, until the end, like Jacob, we will have the privilege of seeing our God and Savior, Jesus Christ, face-to-face in heaven. May God bless you in your wrestling. And may He remind you regularly that He is always on your side. Amen.

The peace of God which surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.