I have never preached on the Genesis passage, although I have preached on the Luke passage several times. We are spending our stewardship campaign sermons reflecting on interesting (my term) money stories from the Bible. I am accustomed to thinking of Jacob as a scoundrel who steals from his brother. I was surprised to read and think about Esau's role in giving up his birthright. I should have made it seem more ridiculous to give up his birthright for a bowl of soup. as you read it, you might see that I tried to point out how crazy it was, but as I preached it, the congregation did not seem to see the humor (or I could not project the humor!). I actually liked this sermon and the three approaches to using our resources, but the sermon did not seem to energize the congregation yesterday.
One of the interesting aspects that I have preached before with Jacob, is why does God insist on using a scoundrel like Jacob. I did not follow up on that in this sermon, but Friedrich Buechner is noted as saying something like Jacob was a better choice than a dullard like Esau.
“Resources Matter” SAPC; September 30, 2017; Genesis 25: 19-34; Luke 15: 11-24
Genesis 25: 29-34 Once when Jacob was cooking a stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was famished. 30 Esau said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stuff, for I am famished!” (Therefore he was called Edom. 31 Jacob said, “First sell me your birthright.” 32 Esau said, “I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?” 33 Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. 34 Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank, and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.
Introduction: Our stewardship campaign committee has started the fall by asking us to consider what good things God has done for us and through us as individuals and as a the community of faith we call St. Andrew.
Now, for the the next six weeks, we will add some reflections on biblical stories that deal with money and/or resources. I told a colleague that we were kicking off six weeks of stories about money on Rally Day, and he said, “Are you trying to drive everyone away until Advent!”
I hope you come back next week for more stories. here is my commitment to you — the stories are not geared to asking you to give more money or to maximize the pledges on commitment Sunday.
The stories we reflect on are designed to give us insight into how we live our lives as disciples of Christ as we explore how some of the biblical characters lives their lives.
there might even be some funny moments in the stories!
We being this morning with a familiar story - the one we call the Prodigal son and a less familiar story about the brothers Esau and jacob.
Move 1: We being with Esau, did not value his resources.
a. By virtue of his being the firstborn, although not by much, Esau got the birthright.
1. The family name and titles were to pass along to the eldest son. He would also receive a chief portion of the inheritance. But it was more than just a title to the physical assets of a family. It was also a spiritual position, and in the case of the people of God, God would lead the family through patriarchs, or fathers (Hebrews 1:1-2). Additionally, in the special case of Esau and Jacob, that meant the one to whom belonged the birthright was the one through who the covenant promise made to their grandfather, Abraham, would be realized. (http://www.bible.ca/ef/expository-genesis-25-29-34.htm)
2. Big deal given the notation earlier in the chapter that his father Isaac had inherited all of his father Abrahams’. estate.
3. Let me ask you a question: If you knew you were going to receive the biggest share of your father’s possessions; you knew you were going to have the chance to be the family leader; if you knew you would be that presumably the covenant with God would pass; if you had all that waiting for you as a future inheritance, what would you sell it for in the present moment?
4. Make it easier - think about an inheritance to which you might be entitled one day (mom?), and what would you sell if for today.
b. Esau gives it all up for a good smelling blow of soup when he is really hungry.
1. He’s been out in the fields, presumably hunting.
2. tired and hungry.
3. He is famished. In fact, his hunger becomes part of his rationale — “If I starve to death, my birthright won’t do me any good.”
4. There is Jacob….with some soup.
5. “Mmm, mmm, mmm. This soup sure smells good. Brother Esau, I think it smells so good that you’d be willing to sell your birthright to me for a bowl.” (somewhere some marketing group is thinking this sounds like a great commercial).
6. Like that, Esau gives up his birthright.
c. Maybe Esau did not want the birthright anyway.
1. all the responsibility those resources might bring. He’d rather go hunting than deal with that.
2. No covenant to deal with means someone else gets to talk to God and be the responsible party.
d. Question for us as we remember’s Esau’s choice - how to we deal with the resources God has given us?
1. do we care for them?
2. Do we take responsibility?
3. Or are we willing to give up those resources and just go do our own thing?
Move 2: Then there is brother Jacob whose approach to resources appears to be grab them, steal them, take them - it does not matter how you get them, as long as you get them!
a. Jacob seems to be born with this approach to resources.
1. the twin to his brother.
2. the second one coming out of the womb.
3. Named Jacob, which means “heel” or “supplanter,” begins he comes out of the womb gripping his brother’s heel;
4. even at birth trying to pull his brother back and pass him up, which set the stage for Jacob to pull his older brother by his heel and pass him up in life.
b. Jacob’s pattern of using trickery to gain resources continues throughout his life.
1. As you may remember, not only does he buy his brother’s birthright for a bowl of soup, he will eventually steal his brother’s blessing from their by tricking his father on his father’s death bed.
2. he runs away and then is involved in trickery against his uncle as they battle with each other over who gets what
3. Frederick Buechner: Twice he cheated his lame-brained brother, Esau, out of what was coming to him. At least once he took advantage of the blindness of his old father, Isaac, and played him for a sucker. He outdid his double-crossing father-in-law, Laban, by conning him out of most of his livestock and, later on, when Laban was looking the other way, by sneaking off with not only both the man's daughters, but just about everything else that wasn't nailed down including his household gods. Jacob was never satisfied. He wanted the moon, and if he'd ever managed to bilk heaven out of that, he would have been back the next morning for the stars to go with it. (http://www.frederickbuechner.com/quote-of-the-day/2016/8/7/jacob?rq=jacob)
4. If you run into Jacob, you’d better have one hand on your wallet and not sign anything until your lawyer has looked at it.
c. Not sure what motivates Jacob.
1. is he after the power that comes with lots of resources?
2. Is it just a game where he tries to control others or show his superiority? I suppose we could psychoanalyze the second twin fueling his desire to be on top.
3. maybe he driven by accumulation of wealth and resources.
4. Whatever motivates him, Jacob seems like the kind of person who will do anything to increase his own wealth and power, even cheating his brother.
c. question for us as we examine how we deal with the resources God has given us.
1. how do we handle ourselves?
2. After dealign with us, what do people think about us?
Move 3: third person we discuss this morning is a familiar one - the father of the one we know as the prodigal son. the father who sees his resources as opportunities for grace and new life.
a. You know the story.
1. the youngest son wants his inheritance as a young man.
2. he wants to go out into the world on his own.
3. Some parents might use their money as a tool to demand that the young son stay home.
“You have to stay here and work to earn your inheritance.”
Or “do what I tell you to do, and then in a few years we’ll discuss giving you some funds so you can go live somewhere else.”
4. but not this dad.
5. he gave him his money and let him go.
6. The son spends the money partying, and then he finds himself literally eating with the pigs.
7. he heads home to daddy.
b. What does the father do?
1. Does he ask for the money back? No.
2. Does he demand groveling. No.
3. Does he set up a payment plan to make sure the son pays back all that he has wasted. No.
4. Nope - he welcomes him with a ring, a robe, sandals, and a feast.
c. Not sure what that means technically about the inheritance, but it seems clear the father uses his resources freely to build bridges.
1. He gives away when many would have a tendency to keep.
2. He offers more resources to build a bridge his son can walk across to be welcomed home.
d. How do you deal with your resources.
1. are they tools used to make people do what you want, to exert your control?
2. Or do your resources become a tool to extend grace and invite people to new life?
Conclusion: A final thought. Eventually, Esau would extend grace to his brother Jacob and welcome him home.
Eventually, God would continue to use Jacob to carry forth the promise.
We do not know what happened to the youngest son who received his father’s grace.
My point — God continues to be at work in our lives, calling us to grow as disciples of Christ. How might we use our resources in ways that reflect our calling?
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