Sermon Tone Analysis
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*Inscription: Writing God’s Words on Our Hearts & Minds*
*/Part 8: Esau Got a Raw Deal/*
*Genesis 25:29-34*
*/January 31, 2010/*
* *
*Main Point(s) of sermon:*
· Esau overvalued the soup and undervalued the birthright, something we all do.
· We must learn to delight in the glory of God above all else.
· We can’t get back what we have traded away, but we can begin again and be redeemed.
*Objectives of sermon:*
· Persuade us to stop getting screwed!
* *
*Prep: *
· Read Esau stories and Hebrews
· 077, HP 2010,
· Listen to Driscoll and~/or Teaching Co.
*Scripture reading: *Genesis 25:21-28
Prayer: Learn from sinners and saints, taking lessons to heart.
Sibling Rivalry
Q How many of you have known a kid who seems to be *sweet* and *innocent*, but really was working the system?
It’s amazing how quickly *Sarah* learned to *control* the *situation* by making Grace mad.
When Grace hit Sarah, we learned to find out what Sarah did.
“Sarah’s ‘*tagonizing* me!”
Q How many of you *were* *that* kid?
*Jacob* was that kid, and he learned how to work his brother.
His name sounds like “*heel*,” basically meaning “*trickster*.”
*Esau* on the other hand was the *big*, *gruff*, and *dull* big brother.
He was *hairy*, which meant he was *uncivilized*.
Here is a “good ‘ol boy” who *thinks* with his *stomach*.
(And given some other references, and something else.)
*Genesis 25:29-34 * 29 ¶ Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished.
30 He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew!
I’m famished!”
(That is why he was also called Edom.)
The English hides the *uncouthness* of the sentence, more like “Let me *gobble* up, please, that red stuff, this here red stuff.”
31 Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.”
32 “Look, I am about to die,” Esau said.
“What good is the birthright to me?” 33 But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.”
So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob.
34 Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew.
He ate and drank, and then got up and left.
So Esau despised his birthright.
Again, the English hides Esau’s unthinking, almost *beastlike* nature: “He *ate*, he *drank*, he *got* *up*, he *left*, he *despised*.”
Moses set up the story to show Esau is *out* of his *league* – pulling one over on him is like *shooting* *fish* in a barrel.
It’s like the *sheriff* fooling the folks in “*Blazing* *Saddles*.”
· You can just see *Jacob* running out to tell his *buddies* what a *dummy* Esau was.
Likewise, when his friends heard he got soup from Jacob, they would have suspiciously asked how much it cost him...”but he threw in some bread!”
Losing our shirts
When *preaching* the *stories* of the Bible, the purpose of good preaching is to help us *see* *ourselves* in the characters, and hopefully *avoid* their mistakes.
· Esau’s story is *our* *story* – the *human* *experience* is defined by trading things of great worth for things of little worth.
We love the stories of *priceless* *painting* being *sold* for nothing, because we want to be the person doing the *buying*, but we are *actually* the *sellers*.
The Bible is filled with stories of *bad* *trades* – this is the most *comical*, but not the most extreme:
1.
*Adam* and Eve traded *paradise* for an *apple*.
2. *Israel*: The powerful and living *God* for a golden *calf*.
3. *Pharisees*: The *praise* of *God* for the praise of *men*.
4. *Martha*: Sitting at *Jesus’* *feet* for doing the *dishes*.
5. *Judas*: The *son* of *God* for 30 pieces of *silver*.
Just as bad (in the words of Jesus): What good does it do us to *gain* the entire *world* but lose our *soul*?
(Matt.
16:26)
· Compared to that the *Native* *Americans* who sold *Manhattan* for $24 got a really good deal (yes I know this is a *myth*).
In short: We are getting *raw* *deal* every time trade *temporary* *thrills* for the *eternal* *joy* in the glory of God.
The glory of God
What is God’s glory?
It is the full radiance of his goodness.
It is the source of all that is good.
Everything that is joyful, and pleasing is in some manner a reflection of God’s glory, even if it’s corrupted.
· Like Esau, we are in the habit of trading some *little* *bit* of temporary happiness for a limitless lasting joy.
As the firstborn, he had rights to a twice as much of the estate as Jacob.
His problem wasn’t that we wanted too much, he settled for too little.
· Isaac was very wealthy (Gen.
26:12-13), multi-millionaire, so Esau literally paid millions for that bowl of soup.
· Even Michael Jackson would have passed on this trade.
My professor told us of a cop whole lost his marriage, job, and pension as a result of a one night stand.
The wife bitterly wondered if it had been worth $100,000.
Esau’s two mistakes
Q How did Esau, that cop, and us make such a monumental error, get ripped off that bad?
As I see it, he (and we) made two mistakes:
*/1.
/**/He lived for instant gratification.
/*
v.
32 “Look, I am about to die,” Esau said.
“What good is the birthright to me?”
If you can walk in and say you are starving to death, you’re not!
And it’s not like there wasn’t food around.
Drink some goat’s milk or something!
· Worst case scenario: Go tattle to dad.
The real issue was that he wanted it and wanted it now!
And this is way too familiar.
How many of you have paid way too much for something because you didn’t want to wait?
· Like Esau, we will sacrifice some future good for a present pleasure.
And this is message that is fed to us every day by the world around us “Live for today.”
In the words of Meatloaf, “A wasted youth is better by far than a wise and productive old age.”
· Tell that to the lonely, broke old guy whose past is filled by broken relationships and family that hates him.
How can you avoid being that guy?
Chose delayed gratification, over instant gratification.
*/2.
/**/He overvalued the soup and undervalued his birthright.
/*
For the most part, Moses just reports the stories without commenting on them, but in this rare instance he has to say something “So Esau despised his birthright.”
By treating it with such low regard (less important than the instant gratification of soup) he showed contempt for it.
We are tempted to make Jacob the bad guy here (and he will get his), but Esau did not deserve the birthright.
This is not simple gullibility, it is wickedness:
*Hebrews 12:16 * 16 See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son.
Our bad trades
I wish we could say we are different, but we each consistently overvalue the passing thrills of this earth and undervalue the glory of God.
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