But God...Has Seen My Hardship
Notes
Transcript
Handout
(S1) — SERIES — BUT GOD…
—Adam/Eve: But God called out...Give ‘em a pass
—Noah: But God remembered…flood
Today, Jacob (elephant in the room)—If anyone doesn't deserve a BUT God…
Rap Sheet—cheater, deceiver, trickster, grifter, liar, manipulator, con-artist, thief...
Jacob was always looking out for number 1—A mess of a guy...
His rap sheet may not be yours, but if we are honest, we all have a bit of Jacob in us.
“Our spiritual walk follows a crooked path. Our cheese keeps falling off our cracker, and our bad habits scuttle our good intentions. We wonder does God have a place for us?” M.L.
(S2) — Mirrors can be a very truth-telling
—Can’t hide the gray, iron out the wrinkles, keep everything from dropping...
Throughout Jacob’s life God was trying to get him to look in the mirror—As much as he tried Jacob couldn’t hide who he had become.
I’ve had more than one of those mirror talks with God, maybe you have also—Why would he put up with someone like me?
I was kind of a mess before I met Jesus! Still a work in progress...
If you have ever felt like like God has given up on you, then this BUT God is for you…
(S3)
“42 But God has seen my hardship and the toil of my hands...”
But God had seen Jacob at his worst, yet his story teaches us about grace, mercy and God’s relentless love.
“Our failures are great, but God’s grace is greater. He uses flawed folks, and doesn’t cast us out when we deserve it. He does, however let us reap what we sow.”
Jacob is why Jacob’s story is so messed up, yet through it all God never gave up on Jacob.
GOD NEVER GIVES UP ON YOU!
PRAY
(S4)
A relationship that started out good, and then all of sudden goes really bad?
— Loss of trust, respect, disagreements, conflicts, selfishness, lack of empathy, miscommunication...
— Don’t look to Hollywood for relationaship advice...
Today’s scripture lesson—The outcome of a relationaship gone bad. Leads to a confrontation between Jacob and Laban, his father-in-law
(S5) —Their relationaship wasn’t alway on rocky ground—It started out with a kiss
Jacob had been sent away by his mother Rebekah after deceiving his brother Esau....
— He fled 400 miles to the north to place called Harran.
— While watering his flocks, he comes across a raving beauty named Rachael
Genesis 29:10–11 “When Jacob saw Rachel daughter of his uncle Laban, and Laban’s sheep, he went over and rolled the stone away from the mouth of the well and watered his uncle’s sheep. 11 Then Jacob kissed Rachel and began to weep aloud.”
Jacob fell in love! NOT LIKE...but the slobbery, weepy, fall for you in love—All the makings of a good Hallmark movie
Love can make us do the craziest things. Some of us are to old to remember...
Things were good between Laban and Jacob, until they weren’t—Remember its Jacob
What do we know about him? He came from a great familial line
—He was the son of Isaac/Rebekah—Grandson of Abraham/Sarah
—Heir to the covenant of God to Abraham—
“I will make you into a great nation, and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.””
— Heir of God’s promise—I will be with you wherever you go
(S6) — God had a plan for Jacob, but there were a few bumps along the way—Jacob had a problem!
PULL THE WOOL OVER YOUR EYES
Before Rachel, Jacob always had Jacob in mind—Always only looking out for himself
— Not content with his birth-order— Heal-holder—taking another's place by force
Genesis 25:24–26 “When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau. After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob
— Not content with his birthright
Genesis 25:29–33 “Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished!” Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.” 32 “Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?” But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob.”
— His fathers blessing
Genesis 27:36 “Esau said, “Isn’t he rightly named Jacob? This is the second time he has taken advantage of me: He took my birthright, and now he’s taken my blessing!” Then he asked, “Haven’t you reserved any blessing for me?””
If anyone doesn't deserve a BUT God…
Yet Laban excepted him into the family, shared not only his flocks, but his daughter(s)...
(S7)
Jacob was in love with Rachel and said, “I’ll work for you seven years in return for your younger daughter Rachel.” Laban said, “It’s better that I give her to you than to some other man. Stay here with me.” So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her. Genesis 29:18–20 (NIV)
But Laban like Jacob had his issues—He was mainly concerned with SELF PRESERVATION
THE TRICKSTER GETS TRICKED BY THE TRICKSTER
— Famous daughter swap—gets duped by Laban and unknowingly marries Leah instead
— Still in love with Rachel, he commits to another seven years, which turns into 14, than 20...but Jacob can’t stop being Jacob
Another act of deception with Laban’s flock..this time he is caught red handed. He heard what Laban’s sons were saying
Genesis 31:1–2 “Jacob has taken everything our father owned and has gained all this wealth from what belonged to our father.”
2 And he noticed that Laban’s attitude toward him was not what it had been.”
Jacob flees only to be pursued and in today’s scripture he finds himself at a crossroad—face to face with Laban
— Ever have one of those CONFRONTATIONS YOU COULDN'T AVOID?
(S8) — JACOB’S complaint to LABAN
40 This was my situation: The heat consumed me in the daytime and the cold at night, and sleep fled from my eyes. 41 It was like this for the twenty years I was in your household. I worked for you fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks, and you changed my wages ten times.
Feeling sorry for Jacob yet? He was not alone in his misery
(S9)
“42 If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, you would surely have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my hardship and the toil of my hands, and last night he rebuked you.””
Two lessons here—
1. We reap what we sow...
— Gods’ words to Adam...
Genesis 3:17 ““Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life.”
2. Not all was lost with Jacob—God had not given up on him
Adams sin, like Jacobs sin filled life...is too a burden we all bear…and God sees our hardship…and too has not given up on you and me—Jesus is proof of that!
(S10)—LABAN’S complaint to JACOB
“43 Laban answered Jacob, “The women are my daughters, the children are my children, and the flocks are my flocks. All you see is mine. Yet what can I do today about these daughters of mine, or about the children they have borne?”
One was interested in self serving the other interested in self preservation—Neither of these life choices helps the relationaship—It does the opposite.
— Like Jacob, the church has reaped what it has sown—Decline—ineffectiveness...But God... has seen our hardship and hasn't given up on this church—His church!
(S11)
On resolving this conflict, Jacob and Laban were about as far a part as you can get—stuck between a proverbial rock and a hard place—It only took one of them to move the stone!
Laban offers a concession—Jacob Agrees
“44 Come now, let’s make a covenant, you and I, and let it serve as a witness between us. 45 So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar. 46 He said to his relatives, “Gather some stones.” So they took stones and piled them in a heap, and they ate there by the heap.”
(S12) — A COVENANT is formed—The gap is bridged—God is at the center of it
Covenants are not like contracts. Not meant to be broken, but to preserve the relationaship
— Jegar Sahadutha (Laban)— Sacred pillar,
— Pillar of Galeed (Jacob)—”heap of witness”
—Mizpah (watchtower)—may the Lord Keep watch between you and me
The relationaship is restored—not best buds, but they go their separate ways in peace. In fact what started with a kiss, ends with a kiss
Genesis 31:55 “55 Early the next morning Laban kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them. Then he left and returned home.”
Jacob had a blind spot—He would move stones to impress Rachel—God had his hand on Jacob and never gave up on him. God has a blind spot for you and on Easter morning, he moved one stone to prove it...
Not all was lost, because messy Jacob was always a part of God’s plan
—Rachel would give birth to a son named Joseph.
— Leah would give brith to six of 12 sons (Judah)—Among his descendents were a shepherd boy named David and a carpenter from Nazareth named Jesus
Jacobs story points to a bigger conflict—The heart of the problem—SIN. The human heart in conflict with God
(S13)
This covenant that would repair this relationaship was the foreshadowing of a New and Greater Covenant who would bridge the Gap
1 Corinthians 11:25 “25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.””
Jesus would take our mess so God could use it for good
Hebrews 9:15 “15 For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.”
Jesus bridges the chasm we cannot cross on our own—By his death and Resurrection he became the way to a better relationaship with God
What do we do now? Why does this matter?
1. Are there any conflicted relationships in your life that need mending? How can you put your relationaship with Jesus at the center?
2. What is your mess? One area of your life that you have not fully surrendered to God?
When I look in the mirror now…I still see a mess, but now I see a work in progress and Jesus who hasn’t given up on me.
“Our failures are great, but God’s grace is greater. He uses flawed folks, and doesn’t cast us out when we deserve it.
(S14)
Jacob didn’t deserve a BUT God, and neither do we! Jesus made the way to a better relationship with God
If God can use Jacobs mess—He can use yours!
If God can use Jacobs mess—He can use yours!
I believe—I know—That God has not given up on you!