Scripture for Sunday, March 12: Genesis 28:10-22
Additional Scripture: John 1:43-50, Romans 9:6-16
Isaac's son Jacob was born to climb the ladder.
Before Jacob's infant eyes even saw the light of day, he had the advantage. His mother Rebekah, perplexed by her babies' violent struggle during the pregnancy, asked God what was going on.
God's answer was honest but not reassuring. "Two nations are in your womb," God said. "Two people will be separated from within you...and the older will serve the younger" (Gen. 25:23).
When the time came for Rebekah to deliver, Jacob was born grasping his brother's heel, poised to get ahead by pulling Esau back.
Jacob was a climber. And during his youth, climbing is exactly what Jacob did, capitalizing on others' weakness to his own advantage.
There was that time Esau had been out hunting and came home famished. And Jacob trapped the hunter with a bowl of stew.
"Oh, you'd like some stew, Brother Esau? Well, that'll cost you. I'll sell it for the low, low price of... your birthright."
Then there was the time Father Isaac was near death. Jacob secured the irrevocable blessing of the firstborn son through deception and disguise.
In our passage for this Sunday, Jacob has hit bottom. He's on the run from Esau, sleeping out under the stars with a rock at his head. This is no place for a guy who likes his creature comforts.
And to this lying, cheating climber, God comes in a dream. Heaven opens, and Jacob sees God's messengers the angels coming up and down the ladder. From the top of the ladder, God speaks:
"I am Yahweh, the God of your Father Abraham and the God of Isaac," God says. "The land you're lying on, Jacob, is yours. I am giving it to YOU and to your descendants, who will be as numerous as the dust of the earth, who will be a blessing to the other nations."
In other words, "I am the God of your fathers, Jacob; and I will be your God too."
"Look, I'll be with you. I'll protect you wherever you go. I will bring you back to this land, and I will not abandon you until I do what I have promised."
Jacob wakes up, and he knows that what he saw was more than a dream. He hasn't climbed his way to heaven; God has come to him.
"Certainly Yahweh is in this place, and I didn't know it," Jacob says.
Through the vision and his voice, God graciously shows Jacob what is ultimately important: life with Yahweh, the God of his fathers. And Jacob is afraid.
We might expect that one single, indisputable gracious encounter with God would instantly reform the cheating climber's ways. But that's not what happens.
Jacob meets God's proposal to be his God with a counter proposal, changing the terms of the offer given by God.
"IF the Lord God is with me," Jacob says, "If he protects me and gives me bread to eat and clothes to wear, and if I return to my father's house in peace, THEN the Lord will become my God."
Jacob can't simply accept the blessing at Bethel. But God sticks with Jacob, and one day at the Jabbok River Jacob recognizes this God's blessing as a blessing worth fighting for.
Thankfully, God's promise does not depend on Jacob's response. God himself makes the ultimate deal with Jacob's descendants, blessing the whole world by opening the gate of heaven and poking a ladder down to us in the person of Jesus Christ.
The cross of Christ is for climbers and deal makers. It's for people learning how to trust and people learning how to reframe our lives on the basis of God's promise. We don't have to climb the ladder to reach God; Jesus Christ willingly climbed on a cross to bring God near to us.
Reflect:
1) How might you be drawn toward "climbing the ladder" in different areas? (Social status, career aspirations, home decor, physical fitness, personal financial management, etc.) How might "climbing" be good? How might "climbing" inhibit you?
2) Who in your life helps keep you honest and focused about your motivations and pursuit of goals?
3) For additional reflection on climbing the ladder and investing your life, read David Brooks' Op-Ed "The Moral Bucket List."
