I did not notice the two names for Benjamin until late in my sermon preparation. It did make the sermon, but if I preached this text again, I probably would make that a more significant part of my sermon. I probably could have used the Martin Luther King, Jr. illustration in a more impactful way.
“People of Promise” May 5, 2024, SAPC, Denton; Genesis 35: 6-20; Richard B. Culp
6Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him, 7and there he built an altar and called the place El-bethel, because it was there that God had revealed himself to him when he fled from his brother. 8And Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and she was buried under an oak below Bethel. So it was called Allon-bacuth. 9God appeared to Jacob again when he came from Paddan-aram, and he blessed him. 10God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; no longer shall you be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name.” So he was called Israel. 11God said to him, “I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall spring from you. 12The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your offspring after you.” 13Then God went up from him at the place where he had spoken with him. 14Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he had spoken with him, a pillar of stone; and he poured out a drink offering on it, and poured oil on it. 15So Jacob called the place where God had spoken with him Bethel. 16Then they journeyed from Bethel; and when they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel was in childbirth, and she had hard labor. 17When she was in her hard labor, the midwife said to her, “Do not be afraid; for now you will have another son.” 18As her soul was departing (for she died), she named him Ben-oni; but his father called him Benjamin. 19So Rachel died, and she was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem), 20and Jacob set up a pillar at her grave; it is the pillar of Rachel’s tomb, which is there to this day.
Introduction: As God’s people, we live our lives in the context of the promises God makes to and the hope that generates from those promises.
Move 1: This morning, the text reminds us that we are people of promise again and again and again.
a. The story we read in Genesis is a typical travel story from the Old Testament.
we are told where Jacob and his family are traveling
we are given the names of the places, and sometimes why the place is given its name.
we are told any significant stories that happened at each place so that we can tie the story to a place when the story is told again.
1. In this case, if we trace Jacob’s traveling back to when it started in Chapter 12, we would discover that he is roughly covering the same ground that Abraham traveled.
Imagine that - Abraham, Jacob’s grandfather, the patriarch of God’s people in his time had traveled the same path that Jacob, his grandson, now the patriarch of God’s people, is now traveling.
Abraham, called by God into a special relationship with the promise of descendants as numerous as the stars
now followed by Jacob, who will continue to live into the same promises that will be made to him.
2. the God of promise, who is at work in generation after generation.
the God of promise who engages us.
b. We might also notice that Jacob is traveling through what will one day be the Promised Land.
Jacob on a journey through a land that one day will hod forth all the promise and hope for God’s people as they flee the slavery of Egypt and wander through the wilderness toward the Promised Land.
1. that, of course, is why it is called the Promised Land
the land promised first to Abraham
then to Isaac
then to Jacob
2. the land the Israelites will take possession of in the future
4. the promise that lies ahead of them
place they will grow into who God calls them to be
5. From our vantage point, we know the Promised Land has continued to hold meaning and hope for God’s people.
the slaves in the United States sang about the Promised Land - the place where they were no longer held in bondage, the place where all their hopes were realized.
Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1968 "I've Been to the Mountaintop", in which he said:
I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land. So I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Promised_Land)
the journey Jacob travels reveals the promises of God and the hope God’s people have.
b. the promise is about life and death
1. This journey has the sad news of Rachel’s death tied to the joyous birth of Benjamin, the long-awaited, long hoped for second son for Rachel.
life giving way to death in the midst of new life.
2. it its interesting that Benjamin seems to have two names: Ben-oni, the name Rachel gives him, which means son of sorrow
and Benjamin, the name his father calls him, which means “son of the right hand,” or “son of days” (New Interpreter’s Bible, Volume 1, 585), which ties him to the life he will live not the sorrow of his mother’s death at his birth.
2. Rachel giving him the name that comes out of her sorrow.
Jacob giving him the name that describes how he will live.
The promise and hope in the face of death.
3. The promise and hope we discover in new and powerful ways in the coming of Christ - who life gives us hope;
who death lead to resurrection and new life;
and the new way of understanding the depth and power of the God of promise and hope.
Move 2: We also see in Jacob’s story that to be people of promise carried with it the promise that we will be changed.
a. Jacob to Israel.
he did not change his name because he lost his birth certificate
he did not change his name because he decided he didn’t like his old name and needed a new one
He changed his name because God gave him a new name to signify his new life,
the new hope that Jacob finds as he lives into God’s promises.
b. To be people of promise means being changed.
When you look to God to claim God’s promises, you better be ready to be changed.
Conclusion:
We can have hope as we face our war-torn world and dare to work as people of reconciliation because we are people of promise.
we can have hope as we look at our deeply divided country and dare to try and find common ground because we are people of promise.
we can have hope as we look to our world with all its injustices and dare to work for justice because are people of promise.
We can have hope as we look at our own lives and our failings and dare to believe we can be changed because we are people of promise.
we can have hope as we come to our Lord’s Table and dare to believe that we will meet the Risen Christ because we are people of promise.
Amen.
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