Real Blessings and Family Dysfunction

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Good morning. I am Abigail Todd and I am part of CC Kids.

Today's scripture reading is from the book of Genesis, chapter 25, verses 21 to 23, and chapter 27, verses 1 to 4, and 15 to 34, as printed in the liturgy.

Genesis 25:21–23

A reading from the book of Genesis.

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?

So she went to inquire of the Lord.

The Lord said to her, two nations are in your womb and two peoples from within you will be separated.

One people will be stronger than the other and the older will serve the younger.

When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak he could no longer see, he called for Esau, his older son, and said to him, my son.

Here I am, he answered.

Isaac said, I am now an old man and don't know the day of my death.

Now then, get your equipment, your quiver and bow, and go out to the open country to hunt some wild game for me.

Prepare me the kind of tasty food I like and bring it to me to eat so that I may give you my blessing before I die.

Then Rebecca took the best clothes of Esau, her older son, which she had in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob.

She also covered his hands in the smooth part of his neck with goat skins.

Then she handed to her son Jacob the tasty food and bread she had made.

He went to his father and said, my father.

Yes, my son, he answered.

Who is it?

Jacob said to his father, I am Esau, your firstborn.

I have done as you told me.

Please sit up and eat some of my game so that you may give me your blessing.

Isaac asked his son, how did you find it so quickly, my son?

The Lord your God gave me success, he replied.

Then Isaac said to Jacob, come near so I can touch you, my son, to know whether you are really my son Esau or not.

Jacob went close to his father Isaac, who touched him and said, the voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.

He did not recognize him, for his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau.

So he proceeded to bless him.

Are you really my son Esau, he asked.

I am, he replied.

Then he said, my son, bring me some of your game to eat so that I may give you my blessing.

Jacob brought it to him and he ate, and he brought some wine and he drank.

Then his father Isaac said to him, come here, my son, and kiss me.

So he went to him and kissed him.

When Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he blessed him and said, ah, the smell of my son is the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed.

May God give you heaven's dew and earth's richness, an abundance of grain and new wine.

May nations serve you and peoples bow down to you.

Be lord of your brothers and may the sons of your mother bow down to you.

May those who curse you be cursed and those who bless you be blessed.

After Isaac finished blessing him and Jacob had scarcely left his father's presence, his brother Esau came in from hunting.

He too prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father.

Then he said to him, my father, please sit up and eat some of my game so that you may give me your blessing.

His father Isaac said to him, who are you?

I'm your son, he answered, your firstborn Esau.

Isaac trembled violently and said, who was it then that hunted game and brought it to me?

I ate it just before you came and I blessed him and indeed he will be blessed.

When Esau heard his father's words, he burst out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, bless me, me too, my father.

The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever.

All right.

What a wonderful recitation from Psalm 23.

And what a wonderful reading from Genesis 27.

I don't know if you have read many Russian novels, but Leo Tolstoy was a Russian novelist and he wrote a novel called Anna Karenina.

And the opening of that novel, the very first sentence, he says,

Happy families are all alike.

Every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.

If you came here today and you're feeling a little discouraged about your family,

the message of Genesis 27 is cheer up because things could be a whole lot worse.

Okay.

The holy family we meet here is actually quite unholy and therefore quite unhappy.

And that's crazy because if you're familiar with Genesis, you go to Genesis 24,

what you find there is one of the first and best love stories in all of world literature.

It's a story about how Isaac and Rebecca became husband and wife.

And then we heard a little bit in Genesis 25 there where Rebecca, his wife, is barren.

She's struggling with infertility for 20 years.

And Isaac prays for her for 20 years.

And it says that Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife and the Lord answered his prayer.

So it's an amazing love story.

But by the time you get to Genesis 27, they're not speaking to one another.

They are at cross purposes with each other.

This marriage is in trouble.

And so if you're reading the story, you're thinking to yourself,

well, what happened to this marriage made in heaven?

What happened to the spiritual union?

What happened to their covenantal intimacy?

Why are they now prayerless?

They're not even talking to God.

Why are they so dysfunctional?

Why are they so uncommunicative?

And by the way, aren't these supposed to be God's chosen people?

Aren't they supposed to be carrying within themselves the very promises of God

and the blessings of God on Abraham to all the nations of the world?

Why are they being such poor spouses and partners to each other in this story?

And what's more, how did they become such terrible parents to their kids?

Now, when we planned our parenting class for today,

we did not look ahead at the scripture lesson.

But God knows.

God has a sense of humor.

And the story is, of course, much deeper than this.

But parents, don't show favoritism to your kids.

Don't compare them with each other.

Don't say, hey, this is actually my kid and that's your kid.

Don't have divided loyalties.

And of course, if you get nothing else from today,

it's fine to dress your kid up on Halloween.

But please, do not go to the level of Genesis 27

and dress up your favorite kid

in order to deceive your spouse

that they're actually blessing their favorite kid.

I say this because the Bible is actually quite shocking.

We come to it with certain expectations.

We come to the Bible thinking it's going to give us some sort of spiritual uplift,

thinking that the Bible is going to give us some moral inspiration,

maybe a little chicken soup for the soul.

And we very quickly begin to realize

that the Bible is this soap opera of epic proportions.

Right?

It's a bizarre reality TV drama.

And in one episode after another,

we witness this just tragic downward spiral of human failure.

And today's story is actually quite bleak.

There's jealousy.

There's power struggles.

There's deception.

There's betrayal.

It's like a Russian novel.

And it basically ends with everyone falling apart,

trembling violently, crying bitterly.

Everybody feeling spiritually uplifted so far?

All right.

Awesome.

So what we're going to talk about is

we're going to talk about the power of God's blessing

and the dysfunction of God's family

and the triumph of God's grace.

The power of God's blessing,

the dysfunction of God's family,

and the triumph of God's grace.

First of all,

the power of God's blessing.

The word bless or blessing in Genesis 22 or 2027

occurs many times.

It occurs 22 times.

It's a key word in this text.

And you hear it there in verse 4 of Genesis 27

where Isaac says to Esau,

he says,

prepare me the kind of tasty food I like

and bring it to me to eat

so that I may give you my blessing before I die.

And then down in verse 19,

it says,

What does that word blessing mean?

It's a religious-sounding word.

We say a blessing at a meal.

We say bless you when you sneeze.

We say I'm feeling so blessed when life is going well.

We say, you know,

bless you or bless in the south.

We say bless your heart.

But we post pictures on Instagram

of our recent vacation,

and we say hashtag blessed.

But what does the word even mean?

It's that the English word is just so vague, actually.

It's so weak and so shallow

that we need to go back to Genesis 1

where the story of the Bible begins

with this God who brings life out of the darkness,

and he's ordering this beautiful world,

and he gives the first blessing in the Bible.

And he blesses the animals that he's made.

And what does he say to them?

He says,

Be fruitful and multiply.

Fill the earth.

Fill the sea.

Fill the sky.

So blessing is about flourishing.

It's about the multiplication of life.

Blessing is about God sharing

his life-producing ability with others.

And we read in Genesis 1-2

that God then blesses humans,

and he says,

I'm making you in my image.

You're gonna be fruitful

and multiply with life,

and you're to rule and steward over

the blessing that I've given

to this flourishing world.

And of course,

as we've been tracking the story,

Genesis 3,

pretty immediately,

humanity says,

Well, no,

we don't want the blessing that way.

We want the blessing this way.

We want the blessing on our terms.

And then the world begins to fall apart.

Fast forward to Genesis 12.

I think we have a slide on this

where God chooses one couple.

He blesses Abraham and Sarah.

He says,

You're gonna have a huge family.

You're gonna be fruitful.

You're gonna multiply with life.

And through you,

my blessing of spiritual life

is gonna go out to all the nations.

And this is God's plan.

This is God's way

that he's going to reverse the curse

on humanity

through this one family.

That the blessing of spiritual life

on Abraham and Sarah

is the thing

that's driving the drama

of the book of Genesis.

And really,

it's the thing that's driving

the drama of the whole Bible.

You just can't get the Bible

unless you get that.

And so our story today says,

you know,

okay,

without God's blessing of life,

there's no hope for this world

that's stuck in sin and death.

And right now,

this blessing

moving from one generation

to the next generation,

it really hangs in the balance.

Here you have Isaac,

the son of Abraham.

Isaac,

the son of promise,

the son of the covenant,

the son of blessing.

And he has a wonderful,

believing wife,

but they have no kids.

And in Genesis 25, 21,

his wife Rebecca

has been barren for 20 years.

That's a problem.

How's the blessing

going to go on

to the next generation?

So Isaac prays

to the Lord

on her behalf.

He intercedes for her.

And the Lord uses

the means of his prayer

to bless her with life.

And he blesses her

not just with one kid,

but with two kids

in her womb.

And the question is,

which of those sons

is going to inherit

the blessing?

And that's the question

that's driving

the entire plot line.

You with me so far?

Now, I want to argue,

and I think the text,

the narrator argues,

that even though Isaac,

Rebecca, Esau, and Jacob

are wrong

in the way that they give

and receive

this blessing of life,

this divine blessing of life,

and we'll get to that

in a moment,

they are absolutely right

in their desire to have it.

They're absolutely right

because there's no greater

treasure in the world

than this divine blessing

of life on Abraham

because through him

and through his descendants,

God has said salvation

is going to come

to the whole world.

And what's surprising

in this text

is that Isaac intends

to pass this blessing

on to Esau,

but he actually gives it

to Jacob instead.

And you may be wondering

to yourself,

like I was wondering

when I read it,

why didn't Isaac

just take it back?

Anybody wondering that?

Why didn't he just say,

Jacob, you scoundrel,

you're not even

my favorite child.

Jacob, you're a cheater

and you're a deceiver

and you're canceled, right?

I take it back.

Well, I don't know about you,

but my older brother

taught me when I was a kid,

there are no takebacks, right?

There are no do-overs.

That got pounded

into the old brain here.

And we all know that

since childhood,

but also,

it's just not how blessings work.

You know it from your own story.

You know it if you've gone

to counseling

or talked to your therapist

that the words people say to us,

whether they're words of blessing

or they're words of cursing,

they have power, don't they?

They stick in our heads,

they get lodged in our hearts,

they work their way

into the innermost parts

of our being,

and those words of blessing

or those words of cursing,

they shape our lives.

They form our narratives

and our beliefs

about ourselves in this world.

They form our thoughts

and our feelings.

They shape our sense of identity

and belonging

and meaning and purpose

in the world.

And so you can't just take them back.

Many people,

I've seen many people

spend a good portion

of their lives

seeking a blessing

that they wanted

from a parent

but they never got.

And I've also seen

many, many people

trying to get over words

of cursing

that lodged inside of them

like shrapnel

that's sort of creeping

up to their heart.

And what we should have learned

as kids

and what we should have said

to each other as kids

is sticks and stones

may break my bones

but words can make

or break my very soul.

Right?

Words have deep power.

It's not just as simple

as take it back.

And if that's the way it is

with our everyday words

and our offhanded comments,

our simple words

of affirmation

or condemnation,

our simple encouragement

or criticism,

then how much more so

with this divine

supernatural blessing

and this end of life

last will and testament

moment with the son

of Abraham

speaking formal words,

speaking legal

and binding words,

passing on not just

his parental

and personal blessing

but passing on

the life-giving blessing

of Almighty God.

Can't just take it back.

So how does this apply

to our lives?

Well, I just want to say

that every single one

of you

and every person

you meet

is made for God's blessing

and you're never

going to be content

without it.

The book of Ecclesiastes

has a wonderful

verse.

In Ecclesiastes 3.11

it says,

God has set eternity

in the human heart.

St. Augustine

famously said,

O Lord,

you've made us

for yourself

and our hearts

are restless

until they find

their rest in you.

And what Ecclesiastes

and what Augustine

is saying is,

look,

you have a God-shaped

eternity-sized

hole in your heart

and only a God-shaped

eternity-sized

blessing

is going to fill it.

And we see people,

maybe you're one

of these people,

you try to find

the blessing

in the approval

of your parents.

You try to find

the blessing

in the arms

of a lover.

You try to find

the blessing

in fancy degrees

from elite universities,

from the security

of a big bank account,

from the satisfaction

of a successful career.

You try to find

the blessing

in the comfort

of food or drink.

And it's kind

of elusive, right?

I've been thinking

about this a lot

as our daughter

is a senior

in high school

and she's applying

to colleges,

applying for scholarships,

and that means

that we've been

receiving a ton

of mail

over this past year,

an incredible amount

of mail

from admissions offices

that are recruiting

her to apply.

And these glossy mailers

are making massive promises

to my daughter

about how her life

is going to change

for the better,

how her life

is going to improve

dramatically

should this particular

school decide

to confer upon her

the blessing

of acceptance.

Right?

And everything hangs

on getting accepted,

getting in.

If the right people

say you're the right person

and you can come

to this institution,

you'll be blessed.

And this is very important

because where you go

is who you're going

to be, right?

Your degree,

the brand,

the friends,

the network,

the job prospects,

your earning potential,

we have the ability

to give you the blessing.

C.S. Lewis

was a professor

at the University

of Oxford

and Cambridge

and he gave a lecture

called

The Inner Ring,

capital I,

capital R,

Inner Ring.

And this is a lengthy quote

but I think it's worth

giving to you.

He says,

I believe that in all

men's lives

at certain periods

and in many men's lives

at all periods

between infancy

and extreme old age,

one of the most

dominant elements

is the desire

to be inside

the local ring

and the terror

of being left outside.

Think of our longing

to enter

the inner ring,

our anguish

when we are excluded

and the kind of pleasure

we feel

when we get in.

The desire

is one of the great

permanent mainsprings

of human action.

It is one of the factors

which go to make up

the world

as we know it,

this whole pell-mell

of struggle,

competition,

confusion,

graft,

disappointment,

and advertisement

and if it is one

of the permanent

mainsprings

then you may be

quite sure of this.

Unless you take measures

to prevent it,

this desire

is going to be

one of the chief

motives of your life

from the first day

on which you enter

your profession

until the day

when you are too old

to care.

Whether by pining

or moping outside

rings that you

can never enter

or by passing

triumphantly further

and further in,

one way or the other

you will be

an inner ringer.

The quest

of the inner ring

will break your hearts

unless you break it.

To a young person

just entering

adult life

the world seems

full of insides,

full of delightful

intimacies

and confidentialities

and he desires

to enter them

but if he follows

that desire

he will reach

no inside

that is worth reaching.

The true road

lies in quite

another direction.

See Lewis

thought quite a lot

about

where does

the blessing lie?

Right?

Does it lie

in that inner ring

out there?

And he personally

found that

the only inside

worth reaching

the only inner ring

worth being a part of

was entering into

the power

of God's blessing.

Stepping into

the inner ring

of the Father,

Son and Holy Spirit

which Jesus calls

eternal life

or abundant life

or divine life.

And I just want you

to know that

if you don't come

into the power

of God's blessing

and you don't let

the power of God's blessing

come into you,

you will spend

the rest of your life

looking for it

in inner rings

that make

really big claims

and really big promises

but can never actually

give you the thing.

So that's the power

of God's blessing.

And I want to talk

for a little bit about

now the dysfunction

of God's family

because now hopefully

we see

the need for

this divine

blessing of spiritual life

and why this family

was so right

to desire it

and to seek it

but I also want us

to look at all

the wrong ways

that they sought

to give it

and to receive it.

And I want to walk

through each family member

and show you

how they're all wrong

though some of them

are relatively less wrong

than others.

Okay, you tracking with me?

Basically, if you want

your family to be miserable,

if you want our church

to be miserable,

be like these people.

Okay?

In this patriarchal context,

Isaac bears the most

responsibility

as the leader of the family.

You can quibble with that

in your modern feminist ways

but that's just the world

that we're talking about.

And he's the heir

of the promises

and the covenant

with Abraham.

And so the question is,

is this old and blind man

merely the victim

of Rebekah's ruse

and her deception

or is there something

more going on

in the story?

And also in the ancient

Near East,

Esau bears big time

responsibility

as the firstborn son

and again,

you might not like

that structure

but that's what it is.

And the question is,

is Esau,

this manly man,

this hunter dude,

is he merely the victim

of Jacob's lies

and trickery

or is there something

deeper going on?

And I want to say

that like life,

this story is way more

complex than all the headlines.

Because if you look

at verse four,

Isaac says to Esau,

he says,

prepare me the kind

of tasty food,

the kind of delicious food

that I like

and bring it to me to eat

so that I may give you

my blessing

before I die.

Basically,

Isaac had been

a man of God,

he had been this person

who was persistent

in prayer

and was known

for his spirituality

but at this point

in his life,

he's known less

for his spirituality

and more for his sensuality.

He's controlled

by his mouth,

he's controlled

by his stomach

and somehow

his appetite

for meat

has become more powerful

than his theology.

And he's become

basically like Esau,

if you know the story

in Genesis 25,

Esau sold his birthright

for a pot

of lentil stew.

And so both Isaac

and Esau

surrender something

that's eternally precious,

something that is

a precious long-term good

in order to immediately

satisfy their appetites.

And what's more,

if you look at

Genesis 24 to 28,

it's very clear

that Abraham and Sarah

went to great lengths

to find Isaac

a wife

who shared

their spiritual vision,

shared their values,

shared their training

and their faith

in the Lord.

But Isaac seems

to have not done that

for Esau

and Esau

goes out

and he marries

a Canaanite wife,

basically a wife

who doesn't believe

anything about

the God of Israel,

Yahweh,

Elohim.

He not only marries

one Canaanite wife,

he marries two

Canaanite wives

who basically

just care

nothing about God,

nothing about

the promises of God,

the covenant of God.

They don't care anything

about what we read

about in Genesis 18-19

where it says,

Abraham,

you're to direct

your children

and your family

to keep the way

of the Lord

by doing what is right

and just.

Esau doesn't care

about that.

These women

don't care about that.

And what I want us

to see is that Isaac,

though he started strong,

he ends weak

and he ends passive.

And his physical blindness

is a sign

of his spiritual blindness.

His eyes can't recognize

God's leading

because he should have seen

that Esau

was actually

spiritually unsuitable,

that Esau

was actually

an unbeliever.

He despised the Lord.

He despised his family.

He despised his role.

He despised his birthright.

He held it all in contempt.

He said,

it's completely worthless

to me.

I'd rather have

this pot of stew.

And what's worse

is that Isaac

also knows

this word of the Lord

from Genesis 25,

Genesis 25:23

verse 23.

This word that came

to Rebekah

where the Lord said,

the older will serve

the younger

and my will

is for the blessing

to bypass

the older one

and for the younger one

to be stronger

and for the younger one

to be the ruler.

That God

in his sovereign freedom

said,

I want to reverse

and I want to turn

upside down

the norms of culture.

Isaac knew that

but he stubbornly

resisted that clear

word of the Lord

and said,

well that's not

how I want to do it.

And so like

Adam and Eve

in Genesis 3

who loved

that forbidden fruit

more than they loved

trusting and obeying God.

And like Esau

in Genesis 25

who loved

that pot of stew

more than he loved

his spiritual birthright.

In this story

Isaac loves barbecue

more than he loves God.

And the question for us

is do you ever

resist the Lord

like this?

Do you ever resist

the Lord's word

and his will

and his way

for you like this?

Like Isaac and Esau

do you ever put

your appetite

before principle?

Do you ever put

self-indulgence

before the just thing

and the right thing?

Do you ever put

immediate satisfaction

before long-term

spiritual values?

Have you ever

found yourself

in a place

where you're just

unwilling to submit

to the plans of God

when they differ

from your own desires?

Isaac

and his love

for a comfortable life,

Isaac and his love

for good food

has put him

in this precarious place

where he's

not only neglecting

his parental duties

but he's also

become spiritually

indifferent

to pleasing the Lord.

And that's a very

dangerous place to be.

Just so you know,

passing on the blessing

was meant to be

a public affair.

Okay?

You're supposed

to call

your whole community

together,

get your whole

extended family,

all your kids

and your spouse

and you're to have

this moment.

But Isaac says,

no, I'm going to

conspire to have

this private

clandestine meeting

with only one son

and I'm not going

to share it with my wife.

Now, guys,

I'm still figuring

some stuff out

about marriage.

But here's one thing

I do know.

Do not keep secrets

from your wife.

Ladies,

can I get an amen

on that?

Okay.

Now, ladies,

if you see your husband

trying to thwart

God's plan

that he's given

in his word,

what should you do?

Should you dress up

your favorite child

like it's Halloween

and act like a con artist?

Should you pull up

a heist on your husband

through trickery

and manipulation

and deceit

and domination?

Your husband

definitely should not

be keeping secrets

from you.

He definitely

should not be favoring

your most rebellious

child

and he should not

be flat out

refusing to obey

the Lord.

But what should you do?

You should go

talk to him.

You should go

have a conversation

with him.

You should go

and say,

honey,

I'd like to discuss

a spiritual matter

that's very important

to me.

And again,

I'm still figuring

some stuff out

about marriage

but here's one thing

I do know

is ladies,

your husband

cannot read

your mind.

Amen?

And here's the other thing,

if he could read

your mind,

he still won't get it.

You're going to have

to spell it out

for him

and then explain that

and then give

a further explanation

of that.

Like he's,

we're slow.

And what I want you

to see is that

Rebecca's spiritual

values are actually

sound.

I think she's

the most sound

person spiritually

in the story.

Right?

She goes to inquire

of the Lord.

She desires

to be faithful

to God's word.

She treasures

the birthright

and the blessing.

She wants God's

will to be done.

All of those

are good and right

things.

Her spiritual values

are sound

but her methods

are deplorable.

And she goes

about trying to

pass on God's

blessing in all

the wrong ways.

as if the right

ends justify

wrong means.

And basically

instead of dropping

to her knees

in prayer

or instead of

going to her

husband and saying

can we have a

conversation?

Both of which

would have been

the faithful

and commendable

thing to do.

Rebecca says to

herself desperate

times call for

desperate measures.

And I'm going to

do a righteous

thing in a very

unrighteous way.

And so she reacts

to Isaac's

deceitful behavior

and his failure

to be the kind

of spiritually

discerning person

that he was

supposed to be.

And she launches

this counter

conspiracy

perpetuating a

more hurtful

ruse that

exploits her

husband's weaknesses

his blindness

his appetite

and Jacob

goes along

with his mom

not only deceiving

his father

but look in

verse 19

it says

Jacob said to

his father

I am Esau

your firstborn

I've done

as you told

me

please sit

up and eat

some of my

game

so that

you may

give me

your blessing

and Isaac

asked his son

how did you

find it so

quickly my son

the Lord

your God

gave me

success

he replied

you ever

have you

have

you ever done

it's a dangerous

thing to be

a spiritual

person

to use

the name

of God

to use

the things

of God

actually to

further your

own personal

interests

and my point

is this

that if you

look hard

enough into

the mirror

of Genesis

27

and you

don't see

something of

yourself

reflected back

to you

if you

can't identify

with the

failings of

this holy

family

then you

might be as

blind as

Isaac was

blind

because at

times

we fall

as badly

as this

and I can

say that now

I couldn't say

that as a

young pastor

but I've been

a pastor

20 years

at times

we fall

as badly

as this

and if I

had time

I'd show you

all the

spiritual

and relational

dysfunctions

that catch up

with this family

in the end

all the ways

they reap

what they sow

and they're

paying just

dearly

we'll see it

as we go

through the

story

they're experiencing

all the

consequences

of just

going against

God's moral

law

and you might

be saying

well pastor

why are you

trying so hard

to discourage

us today

and I'm

actually trying

to do

the exact

opposite

I'm trying

to encourage

you

because if

God can

bring about

salvation

in a

context

of such

unprincipled

behavior

by literally

every fallible

member of

the covenant

family

the chosen

people of

God

each one

of them

self-centeredly

seeking their

own interest

all of them

acting out

of impure

motives

and misdirected

intentions

their virtues

almost always

serving as

vices

if that's

what God

can do

here

then perhaps

in his

mercy and

grace

he can

bring about

salvation

in our

own lives

as well

right

if God

can overcome

their weaknesses

and if he

can use them

warts and all

then perhaps

he can use

me

perhaps he

can overcome

your messiness

perhaps he

can use us

as well

so that's

why I like

to end

talking about

the triumph

of God's

grace

we talked

about the

power of

God's blessing

and the

dysfunction

of God's

family

but let's

talk about

the triumph

of God's

grace

you know

what's

outrageous

in this

story

it's meant

to strike

us as

outrageous

is that

the power

of God's

blessing

is almost

squandered

it's almost

lost

because

God's people

are so

dysfunctional

that's

outrageous

and the

second thing

that's outrageous

is that

God's

intentions

to bless

his elect

God's

intentions

to bless

Jacob

are actually

forwarded by

the most

underhanded

tactics

the most

Machiavellian

manipulation

you can imagine

I don't even

know how

this is in

the Bible

it's crazy

but actually

the most

outrageous

thing of

all

is that

God

consistently

brings

his scandalous

intervening

grace

into the

lives

of people

who do

not

deserve

it

into

the

lives

of

people

who

aren't

even

really

looking

for

it

and

into

the

lives

of

people

who

are

perpetually

resisting

it

and

even

after

they've

gotten

it

they

don't

even

appreciate

it

what

this

story

tells

us

is

that

God's

grace

cannot

be

silenced

by

conflict

or

alienation

nor

can

it

be chased

away

by

exploitation

and deceit

and in

spite of

all this

family's

machinations

and mischief

the divine

purpose

stands

and

despite

all the

appalling

misdeeds

of

fallen

infallible

men and

women

like us

God's

gracious

blessing

to give

life

God's

sovereign

election

of his

people

continues

on

and his

purposes

ultimately

are fulfilled

and

this

is

one

thing

we

see

over

and

over

in

the

book

of

Genesis

is

that

this

God

of

grace

he

loves

to draw

straight

lines

with

crooked

sticks

in

Genesis

50

the very

end

of

the

book

one

of

the

sons

of

Jacob

his

name

is

Joseph

he

says

this

he

says

what

you

intended

for

harm

and

evil

God

intended

for

good

and

the

saving

of

many

lives

if

the

kingdom

of

God

coming

into

this

world

dependent

on

us

and

our

faithfulness

it

would

never

happen

but

the

good

news

is

that

the

kingdom

of

God

is

totally

and

completely

dependent

on

God's

sovereign

grace

God's

gracious

blessing

of

life

that

overrides

all

absolutely

all

of our

miserable

failures

and so

the

question

as we

conclude

is

how

can

you

get

the

blessing

of

God's

triumphant

grace

in your

life

how

does

it

become

operative

in

your

life

well

it's

interesting

when you

turn the

gospel

of

John

Jesus

is

called

the

only

begotten

son

of

God

he's

the

eternally

beloved

son

of

the

father

who's

been

forever

in

the

state

of

living

under

the

blessing

of

the

father

and

then

you

go

to

the

end

of

the

gospel

and

it

says

that

Jesus

gave

up

that

blessing

by

taking

on

not

just

human

flesh

but

by

dying

on

the

cross

now

why

would

Jesus

give up

his

blessing

of being

the

eternally

begotten

and beloved

son

of the

father

the

answer

is

because

he

wanted

you

to

have

it

the

apostle

Paul

says

in

Galatians

3

he says

Jesus

redeemed

us

from

the

curse

of

the

law

by

becoming

a

curse

for

us

for

it

is

written

curse

it

as

everyone

who

is

hanged

on

a

tree

and

he

took

on

that

curse

Paul

says

so

that

the

blessing

given

to

Abraham

might

come

to

us

through

Jesus

Christ

see

on

the

cross

Jesus

is

in a

way

Jesus

is

dressing

up

like

us

and

he's

getting

the

curse

that

we

deserved

so

that

when

we

believe

in

him

we

get

the

blessing

that

he

deserved

and

he

came

to

give

you

all

of

the

blessing

that's

his

all

the

blessing

all

the

inheritance

of

being

the

first

born

son

so

when

you

look

at

that

blessing

in

verse

28

where it

says in

Genesis

27

28

may

God

give

you

the

of

heaven's

dew

and

of

earth's

richness

an

abundance

of

grain

and

new

wine

may

nations

serve

you

and

peoples

bow

down

to

you

be

lord

over

your

brothers

and

may

the

sons

of

your

mother

bow

down

to

you

may

those

who

curse

you

be

cursed

and

those

who

bless

you

be

blessed

surrounded

by all

of

his

loyal

and

adoring

subjects

and

so

the

question

as we

come

to

this

table

of

abundant

grain

and

new

wine

this

royal

feast

that's

set

before

us

is

Jesus

Christ

resurrected

from the

dead

is he

your

king

and