Ep 129 | Cover to Cover 8 | Pastor Chris Ryan | Feb 22, 2026

Hello, this is Pastor Ryan Clark.

You are listening to a message from St.

John's Lutheran Church in Buffalo, Minnesota.

I have $10,000 cash, or wait a minute, these two out-of- the-box Oreo cookies.

Which do you want? Huh? Oreo? Are you sure? Yes.

That's $10,000 cash.

Do you want Oreo cookies? Are you sure? Yes.

Okay, go ahead.

Oh Lord, open my lips and my mouth shall declare your praises in the name of Jesus.

Amen.

Well, it looks like that little guy had a little decision to make right.?On

one hand, he could choose $10,000 cold hard cash, or he could have two Oreos, fresh from the package, and it appears he made a rather unfortunate decision, right? He chooses those two Oreos made all the more bizarre by the fact that those Oreos don't even appear to be double stuffed or anything like that.

The decision becomes even more shocking when you realize just how many Oreos that young man could have purchased with $10,000.

I did a little research here, went down to the local Walmart, turns out you could buy a package of Oreos for $4.97.

That means if you walked in there with $10,000 cash, you could fill up your cart with 2,012.07

packages of Oreos, and if you gave them the $10,000 they would have to let you leave with all those Oreos.

Quite a purchase, right? This video, along with many other, like, it, it demonstrates something to me that children, they don't always understand the true value or cost of things, do they? Those silly children.

And if you look at our Bible readings from this week, they demonstrate that adults don't always understand the true value or cost of things either.

The host silly adults.

Am I right? In fact, if you look at our readings from this past week, they feature a man in their name, Jacob or Israel, depending on where you're at in the story.

And he is a man who doesn't have a clue what things truly cost.

He is way off base when it comes to how much it is going to cost him to reconcile with his twin brother, Esau.

And because he doesn't understand that cost, it costs him all kinds of time.

He could have been enjoying that relationship with his twin brother.

And the truth is we make the same mistake that Jacob makes, except we make it with our most important relationship.

And because we make that mistake, it costs all, all kinds of time.

We could be enjoying that relationship as well.

Let's dig into that story of Jacob and Esau as well as another one, and see if we can prevent ourselves from making that same mistake.

If you'll recall the story of Jacob began all the way back in last week's readings.

In Genesis 25 where we read that Jacob's father, Isaac, prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife because she was childless.

The Lord answered his prayer and his wife Rebecca, became pregnant.

The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, why is this happening to me? In other words, those twin boys, Jacob and Esau, they were already fighting in the womb, weren't they? And it can be rather easy for twins to get in tussles now and then.

I would know after all, I actually am a twin.

That's my twin brother John up there on the left.

I'm on the right.

That's us just a few years ago.

And the truth is, we have had our share of tussles over the course of our life, and I think that's because there's a bit of a natural rivalry.

With twins, and I think the reason that rivalry occur is because twins are always getting compared to one another.

When we were born, the question wasn't, well, how much did Chris weigh, or how much did John weigh? The question was, who weighed more? John did.

Well, who walked first? John did.

Who talked first? John did.

Who did better at school? John did.

He was actually our valedictorian, but don't worry, St.

John's family, I was right there in the class rankings 39th runner up.

You can see with all these comparisons, right, how it can really create tension and Jacob and Esau.

They would've had those natural comparisons and natural tensions, and to make matters worse, their parents actually go out and they choose their favorite twin.

Isaac prefers Esau, Rebecca, she prefers Jacob, and that would've rose the tension even more.

And tensions really begin to simmer over, if you will, in Genesis 25: 29-34.

A story we heard last week.

In this story, Jacob takes advantage of poor Esau's great hunger, and Esau trades away that birthright for a bowl of stew.

And like Pastor Clark said, this was a really big deal.

The birthright was given in this culture to the firstborn son and it entailed him to a double portion of the paternal inheritance.

Since Esau only had one brother, this means he was gonna get two thirds of that inheritance and his brother Jacob was gonna get just one third.

But they make that trade and poor Esau loses out on quite a bit.

In Genesis 26:14, we read that their father, Isaac, had so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him.

Genesis 26:14

Even the Philistines envied him.

He was doing that well, and Esau has now lost out on one third total of that.

That's gonna make you pretty mad, isn't it? To make matters worse, a few chapters later in Genesis 27, we have this story where Jacob, through very underhanded, mean steals.

The blessing meant for Esau, and once again, this is a really, really big deal.

And this culture, a deathbed blessing, it was a binding prophetic act.

Once Isaac pronounced it, he couldn't take it back.

The deception was legally permanent.

And what were those words that were spoken over Jacob that would now be legally permanent? Well, now he was gonna be the legal, spiritual leader of the family, and that meant that all the promises of the Abrahamic covenant, they applied to Jacob now and not Esau.

Jacob now was gonna have so many descendants that they outnumbered the sands on the seashore and the stars in the sky, all nations on earth were now gonna be blessed through Jacob, not Esau.

One day Jesus is going to be Jacob's direct descendant, not Esau.

It's gonna make you even madder, isn't it? And to make matters worse, listen to the deathbed blessing that Esau gets spoken over him by his father, Isaac.

Esau, my boy.

Your dwelling will be away from the earth's richness, away from the do of heaven above.

You'll live by the sword and you will serve your brother Esau.

Your life is gonna be less abundant, but don't worry, it will be more violent than your brother, Jacob's.

The truth is, Esau has every reason to be mad, doesn't he? He's lost out on a third of the total inheritance to his brother.

He lost out on the spiritual leadership of the family and those covenant promises given to his family.

He's gonna have a more violent life now.

He's gonna have a less abundant life now.

And Jacob realizing that Esau has every reason to be mad.

What does he do? He hightails it out of the land of Canaan, and he spends 20 years hiding from his brother.

Well, as we get to our readings from this past week, we have God talking to Jacob and he tells Jacob that he needs to go back to the land of Canaan.

That's where all the promises are going to happen for you, Jacob and Jacob, he's glad to go back.

He's just a little worried about one thing, isn't he? His brother, Esau is gonna be waiting there, and he's had 20 years to think about all those things that happened to him.

He is gonna be even angrier.

And so in Genesis 32 and 33, Jacob attempts to answer this question, how can I make my brother less angry with me? What can I do to bring peace and reconciliation between myself and Esau? And he comes to the conclusion that the best way to do this is to give his brother, Esau, a whole lot of gifts.

He says, to find favor in Esau's eyes, I'm gonna send him 200 female goats, 20 male goats, 200 ewes, and 20 rams.

I really messed up, so I better throw in 30 female camels with their young and 40 cows and 10 bulls and maybe 20 female donkeys and 10 male donkeys.

That ought to just about do it.

By the way, a little Google research here told me that this was around $650,000 worth of animals at today's value that he sent to his brother, Esau.

If you are making a $650,000 apology to somebody, you know, you've been a bad boy or a bad girl, right? And Jacob knows he's been a bad boy.

And by the way.

He doesn't think this $650,000 worth of gifts is gonna cover his brother's anger quite yet.

And so he strategically sends out his family members a little bit ahead of himself so Esau can see them, his wives, his kids.

He wants Esau to see that he's a family man.

And you wouldn't wanna hurt a family man.

Now, would you? And then lastly, Jacob falls down before him.

He calls himself your servant.

He knows he's no longer worthy to be.

His brother, that ship has sailed.

He falls down before him.

He bows down, not once, not twice, but seven times.

And then he looks up to see how Esau is gonna respond to all that.

And what does he see? He sees his brother Esau running at him as fast as he can, and I can only imagine what was going through Jacob's head when he sees his brother sprinting at him like that.

After all that time.

Uh-oh! You know, as I was thinking about the story of Jacob and Esau this week, I couldn't help but notice, and I've never seen this before, just how many similarities there are between the story of Jacob trying to reconcile with Esau and the prodigal son attempting to reconcile with his father.

Both stories are stories where reconciliation was absolutely needed, right.

In the story of the prodigal son, the son goes to his father and he says, father, give me my share of the estate.

In other words, I want what's coming to me one day when you die, and I can't wait for that to happen.

So let's pretend like you're dead right now and you give me what's gonna be mine one day.

A pretty horrible thing to say, right? And the crazy thing is the dad actually gives him the money and you know what happens next? What took his father maybe a whole lifetime, or that family, maybe several lifetimes to acquire in wealth, that son wastes in a matter of months.

He wasted on prostitutes, drugs, alcohol, all kinds of horrible things.

And when the money all dries up, his friends all leave.

He's penniless, he's broke.

He gets a job feeding pigs.

But he doesn't make enough money to even feed himself, right? And so it says, when he came to his sense, after all that hitting rock bottom, he said, I will set out and go back to my father and say to him, father, I've sinned against heaven and against you.

I am no longer worthy to be called your son.

Make me like one of your hired servants.

So he got up and went to his father, the prodigal son.

He knows that reconciliation with his father, it's gonna cost him and it's gonna cost him big.

His dad has every right to be mad.

After all he knows it's gonna cost him his spot in the family.

He's not gonna be a son.

He's gonna be a servant.

It's gonna cost him this huge, I'm sorry, speech.

It better be a really good one, right? And so he spends his way back going to his father, practicing that speech over and over again.

And he's so caught up practicing that speech that when he gets to his home block, he doesn't even realize he's there and his father sees him before he sees his father.

And when he looks up and finally sees his father, what sight does he observe? He sees his dad running at him as fast as he can, and I can only imagine what was going through the prodigal son's head when he sees his father running at him like that after all that time.

Uh-oh! Like I said, a whole lot of similarities here between those two stories both involve people who have seriously wronged the other, and an anger response absolutely justified.

Both involve someone who thinks reconciliation is gonna cost them quite a bit, their spot in the family and more.

Both involve someone who goes to apologize and.

They have the other person, they hurt running at them as fast as they can, and they're bracing for the worst.

And in both stories, the offender sees that the worst is not gonna happen, and that they were way off when it comes to the price they needed to pay for reconciliation.

The story of Jacob and Esau, Jacobs bow down, Esau's running at him and he embraces him.

He throws his arms around his neck, he kisses him, they weep.

That is not what Jacob was expecting now, was it? And to add to that and what's gonna be our highlighted verses of the day, Genesis 33, 8 and nine.

If you have your Bibles with you, go ahead and highlight those.

They paint the picture.

I'm at least trying to paint in this sermon.

Esau asks Jacob, what's the meaning of all these flocks and herds that I met? What's the meaning of these $650,000 worth of animals you sent my way? And Jacob says, to find favor in your eyes, my Lord.

But Esau says, I already have plenty, my brother.

Keep what you have for yourself.

I don't need all these gifts, my brother.

You're not my servant, you're my brother.

And I'm just glad that I have my brother back after all this time.

The prodigal son.

He's yelling out that, I'm sorry, speech.

As his dad is running at him, he says, father, I've sinned against heaven and against you.

I'm no longer worthy to be called your son.

But the dad cuts off that speech and he gives him a big hug, and they're probably weeping together as they reconcile.

And then the father says to his servants quick, bring the best robe and put it on him.

Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.

Bring the fat and calf and kill it.

Let's have a feast and celebrate for this son of mine was dead and is alive again.

He was lost and is found.

You're not my servant.

You're my son, and my son, I don't need this big, I'm sorry, speech.

I'm just glad to finally have my son back after all this time.

A lot of similarities there, right? And both stories.

They have this great ending.

Where reconciliation happens very similar.

And as I was thinking about these two stories together, I couldn't help but notice that there is of course, a third story that is very similar to those two.

You know where I'm going with this? It's our story, isn't it? Your story.

My story.

Our story is one where reconciliation was absolutely needed.

Our sin shattered the relationship.

That we had with God.

The truth is we act just like the prodigal son at times, don't we? We go our own way.

We demand independence despite the Father's provision, despite the fact that he gives us everything we could ever need, and when we go our own way and we go away from God, what's that called? That's called sin.

Yeah, and when you do that, you are making a far worse decision than some poor little boy choosing two Oreos over $10,000.

You're not just leaving $10,000 on the table when you sin and go your own way.

You're leaving some of those benefits that you get with your relationship with God.

On the table, you're saying, I don't need those things.

I'll just get what's mine.

I don't need that joy, peace, love, intimacy, guidance, rest, et cetera, et cetera.

This could be quite the list and you're gonna continue that same journey the prodigal son had.

So often when we sin, we see that sin has its season that maybe we have fun for just a little bit, right? But then we're gonna hit rock bottom, we're gonna be worse for the wear, and we're gonna be missing that relationship that we had with our father.

When you find yourself like that, don't make the same mistake that Jacob made with his brother Esau.

Don't make the same mistake the prodigal son made with his father.

Don't think to yourself, God has gotta be so mad at me for what I did.

He expects so much better from me.

I better do what I can to help him get over his anger.

Because when we start thinking thoughts like that, we begin to try to pay a price that has absolutely 100%.

Already been paid.

We think we have to make things right with God, and I've seen people do this in all kinds of ways.

Just a couple of examples up there.

I've seen people think, well, I better hang onto these feelings of guilt and shame and really think about what I did not forgive myself and just relive that same bad sin over and over again.

And if I feel bad enough, enough remorse.

Well, then God will be willing to take me back after I felt so bad.

After all that time.

I've seen people think they need to earn God's love back.

I'll be a perfectionist.

I won't do that sin.

Once I get a big enough streak in days going, I'm not doing that sin that I struggle with, then God will say, you know what? I see that you're actually trying this time.

Welcome back.

The truth is, and it's my very important point of the day, the price for reconciliation between you and God has already been paid.

Jesus paid it all on the cross and you owe nothing.

God is not mad at you.

When you sin, he knew you were gonna sin and he still died for you anyways.

He doesn't need you to feel really guilty and full ashamed so that your relationship with him can continue.

He doesn't need you to do things to even out the bad you did and to prove you're worthy of his love.

You're not worthy of his love, by the way.

But on the cross, Jesus paid the price for your sins, for your reconciliation between you and God.

And as our reading said today, He gives you His worthiness.

And by the way, when you think thoughts like God must be so mad at me for what I did, you know what you're saying? You're saying that Jesus' death, it wasn't valuable enough to truly forgive your sins when you think you need to do things to even out the bad that you've done.

When you think you need to be perfect to get that relationship back that you once had with God, you're saying Jesus' death, it wasn't valuable enough to truly forgive your sins.

My friends, it absolutely was.

So when we sin and we sin regularly, don't we? We shouldn't go full prodigal son thinking we're no longer a part of the family.

We shouldn't go full Jake Book and think we need to make things right before we return to that relationship with God.

No.

The second you realize that you have sin, don't hesitate to run back to God, and you're gonna see that he is running to you.

Fall down before him, confess your sins, be lifted up by him forgiven, and once again, receive all those things that God wants you to have.

His joy, peace, love, intimacy, guidance, rest, et cetera, et cetera.

This could be quite the list.

You get those things, not because you deserve them, but because Jesus already paid the price for reconciliation between you and God.

When you sin, God is not mad at you, and he's not mad at you.

Thanks to Jesus.

Thank you, Jesus.

Amen.

You've been listening to a sermon from St.

John's Lutheran Church in Buffalo, Minnesota.

If you would like more information about St.

John's and any of our ministries to our community and beyond, you can go to our website, www.

stjohnsbuffalo.

org.

Thank you and God bless you.