CMLC 2025-10-19 Sermon

Howdy. Right over there on the side, right by

the playground, there is a lock on that gate.

It is possibly the most annoying lock that I've

ever had to deal with in my life. I put this

key in there, and I'm trying to unlock it, and

it won't turn. And I'm checking, and I'm like,

is this the right, yes, this is the right key,

and I try again. And then I jiggle it. And I'm

kind of wiggling a little bit there and 10, 12,

15 times and it will not open. And I'm just frustrated

until finally the 21st time that I try to turn

it and it opens. You've got the right key in

your hand. Maybe it's old, maybe it's worn a

little bit, it's a little too smooth, you had

to jiggle it a lot to get it to turn. But you

keep trying because deep down inside you know

it's the right key. It fits. It belongs there.

You just have to keep turning. You have to keep

trying. You have to keep holding on until it

finally clicks. We do this all the time in everyday

life. Parents have to do this when they keep

showing up for their kids. Even when it feels

like, I don't know that I'm getting through.

I don't know that anything's changing, but you're

still there time and time again for them. Or

whenever people have to do this at work and they're

trying to do right by someone that they work

with who just keeps responding poorly and just

banging your head on this saying, when will the

way that I am doing things get what I am hoping

for? And it's the same thing that Jesus is talking

about in Luke 18 today. The story of the persistent

widow who keeps coming before the unjust judge.

The judge is supposed to be doing the right thing.

He's supposed to be taking care of her needs

and giving her what is right. But he refuses.

And you don't know why. But she doesn't stop

because she believes there is something just,

something right, something worth clinging to.

We understand that kind of persistence when it

comes to people, but when it comes to God, do

we really believe it? Do we really believe that

God is going to respond, that He cares for us,

that He delights in what's good and right, and

that He actually wants us to keep asking, to

keep turning to Him, to keep clinging to Him?

You see, This happens all the time, but it's

also on the kids side, too You know kids know

which parent is going to give in Sorry mom They

don't even bother going to the other one first

because they know that they're gonna say no they

know Which one is going to say yes, and that's

where they start because they know which door

is gonna open they persist until it does because

they know that's the parent who's gonna give

them the candy that they want and Same thing

can happen at work oftentimes everybody knows

that one manager or co -worker that will eventually

Get what it is that you want. They're not even

nervous about asking They know that if they go

the usual path. It's gonna be a no Probably for

good reason, but if they just go to this one

direction persistence will get them what they

want. In the world, we believe in persistence.

We believe in negotiation, effort, repetition.

But when it comes to God, we start to wonder,

is He even listening? Am I saying it right? He's

not giving me what I want. Do I have to get the

combination just right for God to finally respond?

And that's where we get it confused. Because

often, instead of seeing God as the key to the

lock, is instead we start treating our prayers

like a combination lock. We start thinking that

with God we have to enter the right combination

of what do I do? How do I pray? How should I

live? Which people should be in my life? And

then we over and over again keep wondering what

we've been doing wrong, but Y 'all, God is not

a combination lock. This is not something where

He's waiting for us to have the exact right words

or perform the right perfect formula where you

turn the lock and you're like, oh, that didn't

work. Maybe I got the numbers out of order. He

isn't looking for the right combination from

us. He is the key. And He invites us to keep

clinging to Him, not because we've figured Him

out. but because we trust Him that He will turn

when it is the time to open the door to us. And

that is why we come to Jacob's story today. The

man who literally wrestled with God. There are

days whenever I wake up and I wonder what do

I have to do today? Do I need to get the sermon

written? Do I need to go meet with somebody that

doesn't want the same goals I do? Do I need to

make sure that I have taken care of all these

tasks? I don't wake up and think to myself, today

I am going to find God in the middle of the wilderness

and grab Him and wrestle. Jacob, though, spends

the entire night grappling with the mysterious

figure. A man, the Hebrew says, though it's clear

this is no ordinary man. Jacob is about to see

his brother Esau the next day. The very brother

that he had cheated out of his entire inheritance.

The brother he ran away from. The brother who

was always bigger and stronger. And in the midst

of that anxiety, the frustration, but some guy

comes along in the middle of the night. And you

know that moment where you don't really care

who or what it is? And you are going to get into

it with them because they're there. And he wrestles

all night long and refuses to let go. Even when

his hip is thrown out of joint, Jacob still clings

to him and says, I will not let you go until

you bless me. That's faith. It's the faith of

knowing that if I hold on, you will bless me

one way or another. It's not tidy. It's not polite.

It's not what we learn in confirmation with our

catechism. It is desperate. It is clinging. It

is the faith that cannot let go. It's the faith

that says, I don't understand everything, but

I'm not letting go of you for one second. And

the limp that Jacob carries afterward, becomes

His testimony. Because every step He takes reminds

Him of that night, of that struggle, of the pain,

the encounter, but also the blessing. See, the

Hebrew, though, it doesn't tell us a lot about

this person. It says, ha 'ish, aleph, yod, shin,

a man. But the identity unfolds itself over time.

Jacob later said in verse 30, I have seen God

face to face and yet my life is preserved. So

the Jewish and Christian teachers understood

this is a theophany. This is a visible appearance

of God. The angel of the Lord representing God's

presence in tangible form. But others also see

the outward expression of Jacob's lifelong inner

struggle. His brother wasn't the only one that

he had dealt with. His father, who always loved

the older brother more than him. His uncle, who

managed to trick him into marrying the wrong

person. And then now with God himself. He's always

wrestled to control his own destiny. And now

he meets the one that he cannot manipulate. Even

as in Hosea 12 it says he strove with the angel

and prevailed. He wept and sought his favor because

the prophet frames this wrestling match with

an angelic being as a representative of God's

will and blessing. Because this is God meeting

Jacob in the struggle. Not in peace, not in comfort,

but in confrontation and communion at the same

time. Frankly, we know what it's like. to wrestle

with something that won't change. We see something

that's wrong in our life or in the world around

us, and we know it's not supposed to be that

way. We ache for change, but nothing changes.

After a while though, maybe we stop praying because

God didn't seem to hear us. We stop believing

because what are we believing in? We stopped

wrestling because, well, we already lost. So

maybe we just let go. You know, a friend of mine

said earlier this week that it reminded him of

a line from The Terminator, you know, the giant

cyborg robot coming along and killing everybody.

Now, you might think, oh, it's Arnold Schwarzenegger

saying, I'll be back. But it's actually a better

phrase. It is in your nature to destroy yourselves.

Isn't that so very true? And not just in a world

where every day we find out that AI is getting

smarter and could very well destroy us all, and

yet we still keep using it every single day.

But also what we do spiritually. Giving up on

the very thing that would keep us alive when

we quit going back to the One who does bless

us. Because when the path is revealed, when the

blessing does come, then we'll know it was His

doing all along. You know, I've got to tell you

something though about this passage. There was

something I had a chance to study a little bit

in college. The Hebrew text where it says, when

the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob.

And I need to tell you something. It's not what

the Hebrew says. The Hebrew says when he saw

that he did not prevail against him. How do you

know who it is? There's a lot of pronouns in

there. And there's a lot of masculinity happening

in this particular story. But they guessed they'd

assume it because of what they saw later on.

But is it the man who couldn't prevail against

Jacob? Or is it Jacob who realized he couldn't

prevail against the man? They're both struggling

the whole night, right? If it's the first one,

the one that we keep assuming in the English

translation, then it shows the tenacity of Jacob's

faith. He simply refuses to let go until God

blesses him. the way that we all should. But

what if it were the second? What if Jacob saw

he did not prevail against the man? Because then

it would reveal the moment of surrender. When

Jacob realizes he cannot win on his own, and

instead clings not to win, but independence.

Because either way, Faith shows us it's the moment

when you know you cannot win but you still won't

let go See that when the man touches Jacob's

hip and dislocates it It's not an act of cruelty

It's actually consecration It's a single touch

from God. That's enough to remind Jacob that

he is not God's equal the limp is a lifelong

testimony and said, I met God not that I won,

but rather that I lived. The wound is not a punishment.

It's a transformation. It's the breaking of his

reliance on himself. It is the part where he

no longer thinks, I know how to handle this situation

because he doesn't. Jacob can't run anymore.

How could he? He can't fight. All he can do is

cling. And the one who used cunning and control

must now depend entirely on grace. And in that

weakness, that's when God gave him His new name,

Israel. When was Jacob ready to be the father

of a nation? It's when he became the one who

strives with God. It's through the weakness that

He received His name because the wound and the

name came together. It marked Him and renamed

Him at the same time. And every step after that

was a sermon that the blessing didn't come from

His strength. It came from God's mercy. It's

not that we get the blessing when we're done

with the striving. It's the blessing that comes

because of it. You know, one of the things that

we often miss is that wrestling, it's not just

resistance, it's formation. You know how often

times a parent is wrestling with their child?

And sometimes, every once in a while there's

some goofy character that, I don't know, is doing

the wrong thing. But sometimes people might say,

What, are you trying to win over the child? How

immature is that? But that's not why parents

wrestle with their child. When a parent wrestles

with their child, it's not to defeat the child.

It's to help them grow. It builds coordination,

courage, confidence. A friend of mine was telling

me about being in wrestling and saying, well,

technically the person you're wrestling, that's

your opponent. And it's like, yes, true. But

when the match is done, you still go out for

pizza afterward. Because the thing is that oftentimes

the wrestling is not because that's the life

and death, but that it's when we are strengthened

for the fights that are. Because the thing is

that whenever something gives us a chance to

be built up, it is for our good. And that's what's

happening in Jacob's story. His wrestling with

God is preparation. He's being strengthened for

the reconciliation that awaits him with Esau.

When he sees his brother and he realizes how

weak he truly is, then he has to go to him and

hope and pray for mercy. And that's what he receives

from his brother. But from then on He is now

prepared for what is to come See the struggle

in the dark is shaping him for the light that's

coming Because here's the thing about the man

Trying to finish the battle before the Sun rose

Because if the Sun were to rise Jacob would see

him and no one can see God and live because maybe

God is causing you to wrestle because it's the

only way to help you survive what is to come

next. So yes, wrestling feels like opposition,

but sometimes it's invitation. The Father calls

us to engage, to push, to grow, to become the

people who can stand in the day ahead. Because

through the wrestling, we become the people who

can withstand. People who can live in blessing

without forgetting the one who gave it. Because

when Jacob rises, he is now different. Not just

because of the limp, but because of who he is.

He sees Esau differently. He sees his family

differently. He sees himself differently. That

night's wrestling wasn't just about him. It was

about what God would do through him. See, the

blessing of God, it's never about just one person.

It's always about what's happening as a community.

Maybe you're realizing the limp that you are

getting because of the struggles you're having.

Maybe that is supposed to be a testimony to someone

who is to come. Maybe your struggle might be

the very place that God is actually going to

heal someone else. Maybe when you're finally

willing to look yourself in the mirror and say

something isn't right, and something has to change,

maybe that's not you losing. Maybe it's the first

time when God is finally going to use you so

that He will win. Because the places where you

could prevail, but you didn't, might become the

places where God's strength is what finally prevails

through you. Because faith is not about winning.

It's about refusing to let go. To the only one

where life and hope truly exists. Even when you

know you can't prevail because He's the one that

you trust. So today, we are the people who are

not meant to let go easily. Let's be honest.

We've been through a lot for a while now. But

the wrestling is not because of whether or not

we have won. The wrestling is about what God

has been doing in us so that we're ready for

whatever is to come. Not in me. In you. Because

it can never be about one person. When we see

something broken, let us not give up. Let us

pray. Let us wrestle. Let us cling in prayer,

in love, to grace. Because when the dawn breaks

and the blessing comes, we will look at the limp

and know that we have seen God and lived. Because

the limp is our witness. The limp is the blessing.

So may we keep turning that key knowing that

that's the one that's meant to be. May we keep

clinging to our God who wrestles with us, not

to harm us, but to make us ready. And may we

realize that it's not mastering the right combination,

but knowing the one who holds the door and keeps

it open. So when we walk through with our limp,

May we know the blessing that has been there

all along and may that blessing ripple outward

to our community, to our nation and to a world

that God is still redeeming. Thanks be to God.