Going Half and Half

Okay, let's pray, will we, as we come to God's word this morning.

Heavenly Father, we thank you that your word is living and active.

It is sharper than a double-edged sword.

And so, Father, thank you so much that you are a God who has revealed yourself.

Lord, we don't need to second guess who you are or what you're like.

Father, thank you that we have your inspired word.

And so, Father, we pray that your spirit would come this morning

and we pray that he would take this word

and that he would apply it deep into our hearts and into our lives.

Father, may we know something more of your greatness

and of your fatherly care for us this morning

as we look at your son, Jesus.

And it's in his name that we pray. Amen.

So with Genesis 31 open in front of us

and with the aim of trying to get us to the heart of the summons

that God will make to us through his word today,

let me just tell you about one of my,

or one of the strangest modern fads in the game of football,

which I find really, really strange.

Right? Do you know what it is?

It's when supporters purchase and then they wear

these things called half-and-half strips.

Right? Can't see that catching on in Glasgow anytime soon.

A half-and-a-half strip.

Just to prove the point, and I love seeing this photo this week,

here's a picture of a man who wore a half-and-half Rangers

and Celtic jersey and walked around the city centre of Glasgow.

And do you not just love the other man's puzzled

and slightly angry expression as he reacted to seeing it,

which kind of sums up the sentiments of an entire city.

But this is a helpful image to have in your mind

as we approach Genesis 31 this morning.

This idea of being half-and-half.

Right?

Being half-and-half.

Because Moses is going to challenge the whole idea

of trying to support two teams and cover your bases.

I think that's his aim here.

To convince us and to convince his readers

to ditch the half-and-the-half jersey

and go all in with trusting and walking in

and loving and obeying the Lord.

So this is a call this morning to put the Lord first in our lives.

And believe it or not, this chapter is supposed to read

like a bit of slapstick comedy.

And the key to getting the punchline

is seeing what Rachel is sitting on at verse 34.

If you've got it there, turn and read it.

What is she sitting on at verse 34?

You see, here's the question of the narrative

to Nick a line from 90s rapper Eminem.

Right?

Will the true God please stand up?

You see, Jacob at verse 17 has got his family

and he's got his possessions together

and he's going to follow God's call

to go back to the land of Canaan.

And Rachel, if you like,

she's done a bit of a last-minute grab

like you would do when you go on holiday.

You think, have I left anything?

Do I need anything?

And you make a grab for it, don't you?

She's done that.

And she's left her father's house.

Do you see what she's grabbed?

Verse 19, she's grabbed her father's household gods.

Now, we're not told explicitly why she did that.

It may well have been a case

that this is a one last attempt

to get your own back on your dad kind of thing.

But another possibility,

if you think about her life for a minute,

having grown up in and spent her whole life

living in Laban's worlds,

living according to his customs,

adopting his worldview, his way of life,

she's likely grabbed them

and she's taken them on the journey

as a kind of good luck thing.

Right?

I'd imagine this is similar

if you want to think about it

like many of us did when we were young.

Many of you, I imagine, may still do this.

You took a lucky mascot into an exam, right?

Remember this at school?

People plonked it right there on the desk.

It took up like a quarter of the desk.

I don't understand why people did it.

But they did it.

Because this thing was going to try

and bring us a little bit of extra luck

that we needed to get through the exam.

And that's the kind of thing

that Rachel's doing here.

It's the kind of thing

that Moses is presenting to his readers.

Spiritually speaking,

she's putting on the half and the half jersey.

She's trusting the Lord

and she's trusting the gods

that she grew up with.

And so here's the question.

Will the real God please stand up?

Meanwhile, if you go into the narrative,

it's reported back to Laban,

verse 22, that he's been tricked.

And he goes in hot pursuit of Jacob.

Do you see in the narrative here?

And you'd be backing Laban to win here,

right, for a number of reasons.

He's quicker.

He's bigger.

He's more familiar with the terrain.

But Laban hasn't counted on the fact

of what happens at verse 24.

As God meets him on this journey

and tells him not to harm Jacob.

So these two,

Laban's in hot pursuit,

Jacob's running away

and they both end up in these mountains.

Do you see?

And the kinsmen in this scene,

the kinsmen that kind of Laban

has brought along with him,

are almost meant to act

like the judge and the jury here.

So Laban has to make a plea

before his kinsmen

as to why he's in the right.

And Jacob is going to make a plea

to the kinsmen

as to why he's in the right.

And these kinsmen will make a decision

as to who is right

and who is wrong.

So both Laban and Jacob

make their pitches.

First Laban goes,

verse 26.

Why have you done this?

He says,

notice the smooth flattery

in his voice.

You,

talking about Jacob,

you prevented me

from kissing and saying goodbye

to my daughters

that one last time.

I would have sent you away

with tambourine.

Do you know,

I love the description.

Would have sent you away

with tambourines, right?

Would have thrown you

a massive goodbye party.

And you think,

that's nonsense

what we've read of this guy.

Right?

At it.

But what he's really miffed about,

what really ticks him off

in this scene,

is that somebody's nicked

his household gods.

And it's like a scene

from a movie.

Feel the tension build

as he makes his way

around the tents

trying to find them.

Did you sense it?

Is Esther ready?

Are they in Leah's tent?

They're not in Leah's tent.

Are they in Rachel's tent?

Goes into Rachel's tent.

Yes,

but he doesn't find them.

Phew.

But why doesn't he find them?

And this is the punchline

of the gag.

Why doesn't he find them?

Because

Rachel is sitting on them.

So,

will the real God

please stand up?

The irony is

that Laban's gods

can't stand up.

Why?

Because a human being

is sitting on them.

Not only can Laban's gods

be stolen,

but they can be sat on too.

And the icing on the cake here,

the comedy punchline,

is that,

do you see how Rachel says,

the way of woman

is with me.

Let the reader understand.

Right?

Which would have made

the Israelite readers

who'd be familiar

with the sacrificial system

and what it is to be

the unclean

as a person.

They would have understood

that there's an unclean person

sitting on Laban's household gods.

Do you see the point?

That these gods

really are useless

and they offer nothing

by way of protecting you

for this journey.

Whereas Jacob reports

verse 42

and take this in

I think it's the key.

He says,

if the God of my father,

the God of Abraham

and the fear of Isaac

had not been with me,

you would have surely

sent me away empty handed.

But God

has seen my hardship

and the toil of my hands

and last night

he rebuked you.

So don't skip over

the little word

that comes before

Isaac.

Not the God of Isaac.

I mean,

that would have read

really nicely,

wouldn't it?

Slow down.

No, what does he say?

No, Jacob says

the fear of Isaac.

He's talking about his dad.

What Isaac had come to learn

about this holy,

about the omnipotent,

right?

Just one of these big words,

omni,

all potent,

powerful.

This all powerful God.

the Lord

is the first

and foremost,

he is exclusively

worthy

of our

worship

and trust.

And coupled with that,

the fact that by sheer grace,

Jacob is saying

that I've made it this far,

this God is for me,

then what on earth

could stand against me?

And you see,

that's what 20 years

in the wilderness

have taught Jacob

that no one else

can save

like the Lord can.

No one else

watches over his people

like the Lord.

No one else

has a heart

for his people

like the Lord.

No one else

can control

world events

like the Lord.

And so,

will the real God

please stand up?

And again,

understanding the first readers

of this Genesis passage

is crucial

for understanding

the message.

It's not just one person

who's the first

reader of this.

It's 400,000 odd people

who are the first readers

of this.

That generation

who are wandering

in the wilderness,

God has saved them

from Egypt.

Let my people go,

they're out,

and he's taking them

to the land

that he had promised them.

Right?

And so,

Israelites wandering,

thinking,

can our God

get us home?

Thinking,

is he worthy of trust?

More importantly,

thinking about the gods

of Egypt

that were impressive,

that looked great,

and thinking about

the gods up ahead

who will be in the land

surrounded by them,

the gods of the Canaanites.

Moses is saying

loud and clear

that as scary

as that journey may be,

as unknown

as that journey

will be,

the only God,

the true God,

the one who's worthy

of your trust

and your worship,

he alone is the one

that you need to put

your full confidence

in backing behind.

It's not the Lord

plus idols.

Ditch the 50-50 scarf.

It is put the Lord first.

Love him first.

Seek his kingdom first.

And do you know what?

That journey might be scary,

and you will likely

face opposition,

but if the Lord

has called you,

he'll provide for you.

If he's called you,

he will fulfill the promises

and the plans

that he has for you.

Now listen,

if you joined the dots,

it's exactly the same

call to us today.

Do you know,

I love the fact that

as I've been preaching

through this,

I haven't really seen it before.

How God is just teaching

Jacob things about himself

and about him,

about who he is

over the long term.

Right,

you know,

when we first moved

into our house,

at the bottom of our drive

is a bus stop.

And what we thought we'd do

is when we moved in here,

it was completely open.

We just planted a hedge.

Right,

just to give us a bit of privacy

to stop people looking in.

And we started with that hedge

about that size.

And over the four years

that we've been in there,

this hedge has grew

and grew and grew and grew.

And the thing is,

I see this hedge every day.

And to me,

it's the same size

as it was then.

But all it takes

is somebody

who's not seen us

for six months

to come to our house

and they always say,

my,

look at the size of that hedge.

Look how it's grown.

The Lord is teaching us things

over the long term.

Brothers and sisters,

do you see yourself

as you look back

on yourself

five,

10,

15,

20 years ago?

Do you see how patient

the Lord is with us?

Have you stopped

to consider the lessons

that he's taught you

over the years?

It's the same for our character.

God is in this

for the long term.

If he saved us,

he is in this

for the long haul.

as he weans us off

trusting in ourselves

and that comes

way too naturally

to me living in my world.

As he weans us off

trusting in ourselves

and he weans us on

to making much of

and trusting in Jesus

and who he is.

Do you see yourself

growing

in godly character?

Do you see the lessons

that the Lord is teaching you

over the years?

You know,

when we were in the States

last summer,

we got to know

a girl and her family

called Jonah.

I remember speaking

to Jonah

on the Sunday

at church.

I say I spoke to her.

It was more like

a game of charades

because her voice

had gone.

She just picked up

an affection.

She couldn't speak

and that was the Sunday.

We saw her,

I think,

later in the week

as we went to the park

with our kids

and we saw her

on the Wednesday

or the Thursday

and her voice was back.

And I was just saying,

how's your voice?

And do you know

what she said to me?

She said,

the first time

this happened to me

when it initially happened,

my first instinct

was to pray,

Lord,

what are you teaching me

in this inconvenience?

And I thought to myself,

I never asked that question.

I never stop

in the mundane,

everyday things

of my life

to say,

Lord,

what might you be

teaching me here?

And she proceeded

to tell me

what the Lord

had taught her.

She said,

as a mom

with kids

the same age as ours,

young kids,

she said,

what wasn't an option

for her

was yelling their names.

Right?

When it's dinner time,

kids come down,

she couldn't do it anymore.

So she said,

what it taught me

was that I had to go over

to my kids

and I had to speak

to them really quietly.

And she said,

I've never had so much

eye contact

with my kids.

I learned what they were

doing in their day.

I learned what makes them tick.

Spent time with them.

And she said,

how often I just resort

to calling names

and expecting things

to happen.

And she said as well,

it taught me about

my gut instinct

just to shout

and to react to things.

And she said,

the Lord slowed me down

and realizing that

when I had to take a minute

to go and find

one of my children,

actually how his grace

is sufficient

in that moment for me.

And I thought,

I just never asked

that question.

It's never on my radar.

What is the Lord

teaching me

about himself

and about myself

in the moment?

He is committed

to teaching us

lessons in the everyday

trenches of our lives.

It takes the pressure

of us having to be

on it all the time

because we know

the one who is on it

all the time.

And we know

his heart for us.

And we know

his love for us.

And we know

his sovereignty

over every single angle

of our lives.

Can I just give you

two quick questions

maybe to tease this out?

Here's number one.

Friends,

are we growing

in our awareness

of his presence?

That's what Jacob

has increasingly

come to see here.

Just reflect

on what he said there.

Not only his escape

from,

but his protection

in Laban's presence

was only possible

by the grace

of God to him

and the presence

of God

with him.

Now you might be

sitting there today

and say,

that would be great

if I was Jacob.

God spoke directly

to Jacob.

I'd love that.

But let me just say,

if you're a believer

here today

because of where

we stand in history

and what God's

done for us,

the Jesus who came,

who lived,

who died,

who rose,

who ascended,

because he has

sent the Spirit,

we can know

the presence of God

in a more fuller way

than Jacob

could ever dream of.

Love it in John 14

as Jesus explains

to his disciples

that he's leaving them.

And I cannot think

I'm more of a bombshell

to drop on his disciples

at that point

in the game.

Jesus says

he is leaving them,

but he says,

he says,

I will not leave you

as orphans.

I will come to you.

Because as he ascends

to the Father,

he sends the Holy Spirit,

he sends the helper

to be with his disciples,

with his people.

That Jesus would send

the very Spirit of God,

the third person

of the Trinity,

to live in the heart

of every single believer.

And because of his

indwelling presence,

Jesus can say,

and we're going to come back

to this later in the year

when we get back

into John's Gospel,

he could say

that I will be in you

and you will be in me.

You know,

to say that God is with us,

it can so often

become a cliche

that just trips off

our lips,

can't it?

Like something that

Clinton Cards would put

in the back

of one of their

sympathy cards.

But it's a wonderful

liberating truth.

having the Spirit

of God

residing in our lives

is the greatest gift

that the risen Jesus

could give to his people.

It's that Spirit,

he brings a flood

of relief

and comfort

to the souls

of his people

who are suffering

and who are sick

and who are struggling

by persuading them

and reminding them

of the unending,

unchanging heart

and love of God,

their Heavenly Father

for his people.

And so it's a wonderful

thing today,

if you are struggling

of words to articulate

how you want to pray

for a brother and sister

in the congregation,

God, remember

that the Holy Spirit

is a much better

pastor and preacher

than anyone

who will ever sit up here

and stand up here.

Pray

that the Spirit

would be at work

bringing the truth

of the Gospel

to bear on the life

of your brother

and sister.

He knows

what you're going through

and he really

is with you

in all your hardships

and all your struggles.

What a wonderful thing

to be reminded of

that that's the reality

that each of us

have today

if our trust

is in this Jesus.

Here's the second question.

Are we walking

with integrity

in his presence?

Are we aware

of his presence?

Are we walking

with integrity

in his presence?

You know what really

struck me

both this week

and last week

is how often

Jacob draws

Laban's attention

to how he's conducted

himself

while he's been with him.

Have you noticed that

over the last couple of weeks?

Do you see it

in verse 36?

He says,

What is my offense?

I've looked after your flocks.

I haven't stolen anything.

Now hang on a minute.

This is the same guy

who back at chapter 27

wasn't the slightest bit fussed

when he lied to his dad

and he cheated his brother.

And now all of a sudden

just a few chapters later

character really matters

to Jacob.

You know,

I heard a quote recently

from the atheist philosopher

A.C. Grayling

once speaking at down

at Oxford University

and he said,

he said,

people in the olden days

they used to believe in God

but now today

people don't believe in God.

There's a God

that could see everything.

And he said,

if you want to know

the proof of that,

the proof of it

is that today

that we have CCTV cameras

everywhere.

And it's kind of true,

isn't it,

if you think about it,

our world.

Nobody thinks about

that there might be

an all-seeing

and all-knowing God

watching everything

and who one day

will make every wrong right.

People today

is thinking,

isn't it,

as long as it's not

hurting anyone,

then it's kind of

fair game.

But the person

who fears the Lord,

who loves Him,

who wants to serve Him,

always behaves

like there's a divine

CCTV camera

who's watching everything.

That there really is

a God who sees

and who knows

and who cares.

And do you know

what that means?

It means that every moment

is a worship moment.

Every moment

is a worship moment.

changing nappies,

trying to get into

our weeks, right?

Changing nappies,

sending emails at work,

being hospitable

and kind

to your fellow

road user.

All these little things

are chances

that we have

to worship

the living God.

Remember when I was

a student,

I had a friend

called Rab.

Rab was slightly

younger than me,

but he'd been a Christian

for way longer

than me.

Remember having

a conversation

with him one Friday night

and telling him

about how many people

in my generation

that were into this thing,

a 90s kid here,

this thing called

copying CDs,

right?

Not just copying them,

but sharing them

with their friends.

Remember telling him

about this and thinking,

isn't this a great thing

that we can do?

Never thought anything

of it.

And he said to me,

do you know what,

Shanksie?

He said,

God has called us

and saved us

to be better than that.

And he was right.

The faithfulness

on the journey

in the smallest

little things,

it matters to the Lord.

And we can worship him

with every single moment,

no matter what's going on

in your life,

friends,

the Lord sees it.

He sees it.

And it's a challenge,

but it's also a comfort

that as scary

as the journey may be,

this God,

the only real God,

he's with you.

He's with you.

So ditch the half

and half scarf

and go all in

with the Lord.

This chance to,

this call rather,

to seek him first.

You know,

my favorite promise

of Jesus,

and we read it earlier,

and the thing that I found

to be the best bit

of life advice

when it comes

to making decisions

is what Jesus says

in Matthew 6.

When he says

to his disciples,

he says,

don't worry.

Don't worry.

And he says,

take a look around

at nature.

Look at the flowers

in the fields.

Right?

We went to the zoo yesterday

as a family,

tried to do this.

See how God cares

for these things.

See how God provides

for these things.

And see how your

heavenly Father

feeds them.

You know,

someone said to me recently,

have you noticed

how much of an outdoors

book the Bible is?

It's true.

Read it.

That's why

famous English pastor

John Stott

said that bird watching

was something that he did

that was good for his soul.

Jesus says,

don't worry.

Don't worry about tomorrow.

It's interesting,

isn't it?

One of the marks

of our generation today,

and you have to say,

is chronic anxiety.

You know,

I was hearing on

social media recently,

and I don't know

whether this is true,

but this is what

the person was reporting,

that my generation

is almost so scared

to have children

because they don't want

to bring them

into this world

that's full of crippling

anxiety about what

the future might hold.

And you have to say,

if atheist A.C. Grayling

was right,

that we don't believe in God,

we've got CTV cameras,

we've moved on from that,

we have to say

that the lack of anxiety

that's supposed to come

with that

is not just materializing

in our age.

Jesus says,

don't worry.

He says,

don't worry.

And he doesn't just say,

don't do something.

Right?

Any gardener

with their salt

will tell you

that weeding without seeding

is a terrible idea.

He doesn't just say,

don't do something.

He says,

do something.

He doesn't just say,

don't worry.

He says,

seek your father.

Pray to him.

Seek the kingdom first.

And the fact that this father

is this kind of father

who knows us

and he knows our needs

should free us to be those

who seek first

the kingdom of God.

Be all in with trust

in the Lord.

And I love it,

dear friends,

just to encourage you,

I see many of you right now,

you're making big decisions

about your future.

Some of you are at a crossroads

in your life.

Some of you are thinking

about university.

Some of you are thinking

about serving different ways.

And I see you growing

in this area.

I see you wanting

to make godly decisions.

Remember we thought

about ages ago

the fact that

one of our questions

when making decisions

isn't primarily

what should I do?

But as Jen Wilkin puts it,

rather the question is

who should I be?

As we make decisions

that glorify the Lord,

put him first.

Listen,

our time is gone

but I want to finish

with this

just to massage home

the point.

Because it's August

in Edinburgh

and

and I want to tell you

about my favourite

festival act

from the last few years.

Is that okay?

Just as we close?

Some of you would have seen

this guy on the news

recently.

He is

what is

called

a festival legend.

And he'll be loving

this bit of free publicity

I'm giving him.

It's a Scottish comedian

called Robin Granger.

And he became famous

because a number

of years ago

he did his first ever

Friday night gig

and he was really nervous

and he asked

his manager

to poke his head out

and see how many people

had come to his

Friday night gig.

Do you know how many

people came?

One.

One person came.

And so his manager

pokes his head

back in

and says

do you still want

to go ahead?

Give the guy a refund

if you want.

Do you want to still

go ahead?

And he said

no come on

if this guy's

paid the money

if he's

shown his face

if he's happy

to sit in

the audience

let's go for it.

And so here he is

this is Mike

from Leicester

who he performed for

but I love that

attitude

of one person

in mind

of an audience

of one

of

only having

eyes

for one person

and that is what

Jesus is calling us

here to today.

The audience

of one

living for God's

glory alone

that is the aftertaste

I think Genesis 31

is meant to put

in our mouths

to ditch in the

half and a half jersey

and be all in

with eyes only

trusting and walking

with the Lord.

Listen let me pray

and let me just

encourage you in the

quiet as God's

word has gone forth

this morning

whatever is going on

in your life

friends bring it to him

know that he knows

know that he cares

and know that he loves

and then we'll

finish in prayer.

And so Father

I pray that you would

convince us deeply

today

as we respond

to your word

that there is truly

none like you

there is no God

as mighty

as you

there is no God

as delightful

as you

because we see

that as we

stare at your

son Jesus

and so Father

I pray that your

spirit would come

the great

comforter

and would he

deeply impress

on each of our

souls

those truths

that we've been

thinking about today

that you are

worthy

of our

first and foremost

attention

and so Lord

I pray that you

would help us

to live for those

words that Jesus

said

well done

good and faithful

servant

Father thank you

for your love for us

and we pray these

things in Jesus

worthy name

Amen