Eighth Sunday after Pentecost – Sunday, July 23, 2023
Gen 28:10-19a
Ps 139:1-11, 22-23
Rom 8:12-25
Mt 13:24-30, 36-43
Growing up with a Jamaican grandfather meant that I spent a lot of time at my grandparents’ house listening to Reggae. Among all the Reggae greats we listened to, one man reigned supreme in my grandpa’s discography: Bob Marley.
Now, it’s one thing to grow up hearing these songs and knowing what a legacy he left on Jamaican culture, but it’s another to experience it.
When my mom and I went to Jamaica this year and saw that we could go on an excursion to Bob Marley’s house in Nine Mile, we knew we had to go. After an early morning and a very long, bumpy bus ride up into the mountains, we arrived at our destination.
It was a surreal experience to walk the same property that he once did. We saw where he was born, his mother’s small chapel, and various bits of memorabilia from his life and his legacy.
During our tour, when we were in between rooms, we came upon this rock in the middle of a courtyard.
When my mom saw it, she quoted “Cold ground was my bed last night, And rock was my pillow, too”, lyrics I later learned were from his song ‘Talkin’ Blues’.
Our tour guide shook his head in agreement and told us that this rock was where Bob Marley himself would often come and rest his head. Relaxing his gaze, he would stare off into the mountains, and allow the lyrics, which would inspire millions of people across the globe, to come to him.
Last week we were introduced to Isaac’s two sons, Easu and Jacob, and also to the tension between the two as they fought in the womb to be Isaac’s firstborn. Once grown up, Jacob, whose very name means “supplanter”, forced Easu to give over his birthright for a bowl of stew. Jacob’s trickery did not stop there. Between the events of last week’s reading and this week’s, Jacob has also tricked his elderly, blind father in giving him Easu’s blessing as well.
After losing both his birthright and his blessing, Easu vows to kill Jacob.
Upon learning of his plot, their mother Rebekah warns Jacob, and suggests he flees to his uncle in Harran. Jacob, unremorseful about the deception he had committed against his brother and father, agrees with his mother’s assessment, and flees.
This is where we meet Jacob today, between Beer-sheba and Haran. A fugitive that is without company and unprepared for his journey, cut off from his community due to the consequences of his transgressions.
After a day of travelling, he finds himself in a strange, uninhabited limbo, and, without a tent to sleep in, he is forced to use a rock as a pillow.
Without a proper camp, Jacob is vulnerable. Vulnerable to the elements, to predators, and even perhaps, to his vengeful brother. Despite this, he makes himself even more vulnerable by going to sleep.
And this is where God decides to visit him.
God, appearing beside Jacob in his dreams, identifies Himself as the same God of Abraham and of Isaac. He continues by reaffirming the Abrahamic covenant with Jacob by telling him that his “offspring shall be like the dust of the earth”. Through the reaffirmation of the covenant, God is assuring Jacob that He is not *only* the God of his forefathers, Abraham and Isaac, but that He is Jacob’s God, too.
During the same interaction, God also provides comfort to Jacob in the wilderness, promising, “I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you”. This promise, which is Jacob’s and Jacob’s alone, gives him hope that he will return home once again and that this exile will not last forever.
Throughout this interaction, God utters no judgement against Jacob, instead, God offers grace upon grace to this man who is alone, destitute, and exiled, so that His will can be enacted and that His promises can be fulfilled.
Jacob, after receiving this grace, wakes up from his dream a changed man. A man who knows that God is with him regardless of what his journey home looks like. We see evidence of this when he takes the rock that he used as a pillow and oil, and marks this place as Bethel, which, in Hebrew, means “House of God”. Even though Jacob still has a long way to go before he arrives in Harran, he is confident that he will not be alone on his journey, for he has faith in what God has promised him.
I imagine that many of us can relate to the way that Jacob felt when he was looking at the rocks around him, trying to find one suitable enough to sleep on. To be isolated and alone, even if it is by our own choice or for our own safety, is a difficult feeling to sit with.
In these moments of isolation, loneliness, and vulnerability, it is easy to feel distant from God, especially when we feel so distant from everything else.
However, today’s reading provides us with hope by reminding us that God has always been there for His people. God was there for Abraham, for Isaac, and for Jacob. God was there for his son, our saviour, Jesus Christ, when He was crucified and resurrected for our sake. And, God is here, working within us, both as individuals and as a community, as we discern what our future as a parish might look like.
And because God is with us, we will never truly be alone. Even in those moments where loneliness and despair overwhelm us, we can trust in God’s promise to Jacob, because He makes a similar promise to us.
Through our baptism, we are given the gift of the Holy Spirit. This means that as we go through life, each on our own unique paths, that God accompanies us, standing beside us and reminding us of His presence. His constant presence in our lives also reminds and that no amount of loneliness, grief, exile, or sin, can ever keep Him away.
Like Jacob, we too can have hope as we journey through life, because we know that He is with us, and will continue to be with us, both in this life and in the everlasting life that is to come.
Amen?
Amen.
Angus Sinclair was appointed Director of Music of St. John the Evangelist on February 1, 2023. Having graduated in 1981 (Honours B.Mus.) in organ performance from Wilfrid Laurier University, he went on to distinguish himself as a church musician, recitalist and accompanist touring in both Canada and the UK. For over 40 years Angus has served parishes and congregations throughout Southwestern Ontario as director of music. He experiences his present appointment to St. John’s as a welcome homecoming, both spiritually and musically.
As our parish musician, he provides both support and leadership so that a variety of parish programs can find musical expression and attract participation. When our handbell choir is in season, he is one of our ringers. At parish dinners, he provides popular piano music for the guests to dine by. For both worship services and concerts, he will rehearse and accompany vocal and instrumental soloists from our congregation on piano, organ, or even accordion.
Angus Sinclair was appointed Director of Music of St. John the Evangelist on February 1, 2023. Having graduated in 1981 (Honours B.Mus.) in organ performance from Wilfrid Laurier University, he went on to distinguish himself as a church musician, recitalist and accompanist touring in both Canada and the UK. For over 40 years Angus has served parishes and congregations throughout Southwestern Ontario as director of music. He experiences his present appointment to St. John’s as a welcome homecoming, both spiritually and musically.