January 12, 2003 Genesis 28:10-22
10 Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran. 11 When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. 12 He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13 There above it stood the LORD, and he said: “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. 14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. 15 I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” 16 When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” 17 He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.”
18 Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it. 19 He called that place Bethel, though the city used to be called Luz. 20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear 21 so that I return safely to my father’s house, then the LORD will be my God 22 and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.”
David Wittig was thought of as a “visionaire” when he was promoted to CEO - someone who could lead Westar into the 21st century and beyond. He must have needed to eat more carrots. Whether he planned for great things or not, his vision or the vision of those who hired him did not come to pass. I wonder how many times it happens in our lives that the things we plan and envision end up turning out a lot different than we thought. Did you envision yourself being where you are at in life now? Probably not.
Jacob planned to receive a great inheritance from his father. He had visions of great blessings and an easy life once he received the blessing. The last thing he planned on was to go live in Haran. But let’s recall the history. Jacob had bribed the birthright away from his brother Esau during a time of hardship, and flat out stolen his blessing through lies and deceit. As a result Esau said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.” His brother was going to kill him. So his mother had to come to his rescue after her hair-brained idea and send him off to his uncle Laban. This was not going according to Jacob’s plan or vision for the future. But God also had a vision for Jacob’s future- a comforting one. God wants us also to -
See the Vision!
I. See God’s Grace to You (Vs. 10-15)
At this point in Jacob’s journey, you can’t help but think he was kicking himself for what he had done. There were no cars for him to ride on this approximately 500 mile journey. Beersheba was located very near to what we would call Jerusalem today. Jacob had to travel straight north past the Sea of Galilee into what would be the southern part of Turkey today. He had to travel through the lands of foreigners, by himself, and go to a cousin that he had never met before. His whole life was turned upside down when he stole that birthright. Tired, alone, and most likely scared, Jacob laid down for the night. He had traveled for 2 to 3 days, about 70 miles. Without a pillow, he used a stone, and most likely put his coat down for a little bit of padding. After striving to steal God’s blessings, look at where it got him. He was tired, alone, and sleeping in the middle of nowhere. With a deep sense of guilt he must have been thinking, “what on earth have I done?”
God had to reach through to this broken young man. Even though he had lied, cheated, and stolen the birthright - the PROMISE of God which he had been given still stood true. He didn’t want Jacob to despair of His love! There was only one small problem that God had to overcome. He couldn’t just show up on Jacob’s doorstep and say, “I’m going to bless you!” One sight of the almighty God in full glory, and Jacob would have died from being in the presence of the Almighty. He had to find a different, less glorious manner, of appearing to Jacob. Therefore, Jacob had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. There above it stood the LORD. Much has been made of this dream - groups ranging from Led Zeppelin to Huey Lewis and the News have sung about this dream. It is an interesting dream. What do the angels mean? What does the stairway stand for? Why are they going up and down the stairs? Jesus once compared Himself to the stairway (John 1:51). He is our one pathway to God. The ascending could be thought of as them taking our prayers and requests to God, and their descending could be thought of as their giving God’s blessings and answers to us. That’s it. There really isn’t much to the visual part of the dream. What is more important part of this dream is the MESSAGE that God gives Jacob.
"I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. 14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. He told Jacob, “I am the LORD.” “LORD” means “I am.” God was showing Isaac by this name that He continues to exist throughout all generations. He was there for Jacob’s grandpa - Abraham. He was there for His father, Isaac. And he would continue to be there for him. The same God who made sure that Abraham would have Isaac when he was 100 years old, would see to it that Jacob would make it to Haran. God would make sure that Jacob would find a wife, be fruitful and multiply. And boy would he multiply! His descendants would be like that of the dust of the earth. And they would possess the very land that Jacob was lying on.
This wasn’t all he had to say. God went on to say, “All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. 15 I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you." God assured him that in spite of his sins - there was a hope for not only him, but for all of these people around him. God repeated the Messianic promise which He had given to Abraham as He said, “all people on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.” Jacob needed to be assured, especially in the presence of this HOLY God, that His sins would be atoned for. In the midst of all of his troubles, God assured him that his sins of stealing the birthright and deceiving his father would be paid for by his own descendant.
With that assurance, Jacob knew that even though he had over 400 miles left to go through a completely foreign and heathen country, God would look over him. Jacob could rest easy for the rest of the night and the rest of His life. He had the most powerful God looking over Him and protecting him. He had God’s promise that He would not be left. God would fulfill His promises.
It would be good for us to remember this. The 1990’s saw unparalleled economic prosperity in our country. People at all levels of the economic scale moved up and prospered. You would think that with this prosperity we would all be financially set. But instead, Americans spent like never before. With a buy now and pay later mentality, we have been purchasing new homes, going on vacation, and experiencing every new technological toy imaginable - internet, computers, cell phones, flat screens and HDTV’s. Congregations purchased new carpeting and new fireplaces and new gymnasiums - trying to cater to every creature comfort imaginable in America - thinking that these new innovations might bring more members in and make our members more happy. We opened new missions and envisioned ourselves booming like never before. But now - with one downturn in the market - many people are worried about their futures. They have spent themselves out. Even our synod is in a financial crisis. What is worse is that missionaries are being sent home. So now - like Jacob - we lay here in the midst of a depressed economy - looking up at the sky - in a daze - wondering what has happened to our great plans. How are we going to meet our budget? How are we going to pay our credit cards? How are we going to stay afloat? It’s as if we’re all worried now how we’re going to survive - personally, congregationally, and synodically. This isn’t what we planned for.
What does God say to us today? He may not give us a vision of his angels, but He gives us many more words. God says to us yet today - Remember who I am! I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. The same God who protected Jacob on his way to Haran - is still with us!God has promised us in Hebrews 13:5, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” David once wrote - I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread. They are always generous and lend freely; their children will be blessed. Ps 37:25-26. Note the confidence he had in his words - that God would continue to provide for His people. God has NEVER forsaken his children. EVER! When can you say you have ever gone hungry or not had a place to sleep? Even when Jacob was having to run away from home due to his own lies, God stayed with him and assured him of his love, forgiveness, and presence. Our God is a FAITHFUL God. He remains faithful to us, even when we are facing the downfall of a depressed economy. It is now that we need to cling to God’s promises and trust Him when he says that He will provide. He promises to be with us. He still loves us. The same Savior that was promised to Jacob has come and died for us. Don’t lose faith! Cling to God’s promise! See the vision and hear God say to you - I’m still here!
II. See Your Response to His Grace (Vs. 16-22)
Just the other night our oldest came into bed to sleep with us. This doesn’t happen very often, so we asked the next morning, “why did you sleep with us?” He told us that he had a nightmare. He climbed into bed with us to have the security of knowing that his mom and dad were guarding and protecting him. It must have worked, because he slept well the rest of the night. Jacob no longer had his mother and father by his side. This was a scary situation for him to be in - the first time away from “home” - with seemingly no one to turn to. How comforting it must have been for God to assure Him that he would provide for him! This dream didn’t just give Jacob a good night’s sleep, as we’ll see.
When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” 17 He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.” First of all, Jacob was filled with a deep sense of awe in being in the presence of God. His mind was filled with it, and he couldn’t help but proclaim - “how awesome is this place!” But his worship wasn’t done.
Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it. 19 He called that place Bethel, though the city used to be called Luz. Jacob got up early in the morning to worship the Lord. Even though he was poor, he set up his own worship site by setting apart this small rock and putting oil on it and calling it Bethel, the house of God. Imagine Jacob saying to people, “here’s my church.” “Where?” they would ask. “Right here,” he would say, “this rock.” Most would laugh at such a thing - but God didn’t.
Jacob wasn’t done responding to God’s grace. Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear 21 so that I return safely to my father’s house, then the LORD will be my God 22 and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.” At first glance this might look as if Jacob is making a deal with God. But he had already responded to God’s promises with awe and worship - believing that what God had promised would happen. Why would he then try to make a bargain with God - and act as if he wasn’t sure this was his God or not? It doesn’t fit the context. No, what Jacob is saying is a straight forward conditional - “if what you have promised comes true (which I know it will), then when it happens I will respond - not only by setting up a place of worship but also by continuing to give you a tenth of all I get for the rest of my life.” Years later, after God had blessed him with a wife and children - God directed him to go back to Bethel and finish the altar he had built - and Jacob did that very thing.
What is interesting to me is that God never told Jacob, “it’s time to set up this stone and build an altar here. He didn’t tell Jacob to give a tenth - no such thing was ever suggested by God - and the ceremonial law had not even been given at this point. Jacob just responded in the way he felt best to God’s grace and the comfort he had received. It was pure thanks that led him to say what he said and give what he gave - because he knew that all that he had was a gift of God’s.
Isn’t that the same response that God’s grace evokes within us? You didn’t have to build this church - you could have just worshiped in your homes. You could have just put up a little shack - but you wanted a place to worship God that was worthy of His name. You don’t have to come to worship to go to heaven - yet week in and week out you come and sing praises to God and listen to his Word and take His sacrament. In the same way that God’s grace motivated Jacob to spend a LIFETIME thanking God - so you have dedicated your lives to serving your Lord. This includes your offerings as well. It isn’t offensive to us when we talk about tithing - oh - a part of us might say to ourselves, “I deserve the money that I make!” But then God’s Word beats our Old Adam down, and God’s grace enables us to say, “this is God’s.” It doesn’t bother us to talk about tithing - about giving our first fruits - no matter how much we make - to our Lord.
To me, this is one of the most rewarding things that I can experience as a pastor and a father - to see the eagerness of people to serve. Every week we have a member come to clean the church. If I stop by, they’ll almost always have a smile on their face - sometimes even the kids will be vacuuming and sweeping. That’s great to see. Every week we have teachers dedicating their time and talents to teach Sunday School - organists playing music - treasurers counting money. They love to serve and use their gifts- that’s great to see! When my kids want to help me wash the dishes - even though they get water all over the place - they’re excited about it - and that is so nice to see. When the synod recently announced a shortfall in their offerings and the need to recall missionaries, an elderly old lady in Russell immediately wrote a check that next Sunday for 75 dollars - eager to help! She wasn’t angry about the shortfall. She was only eager to help. That is so neat to see and experience - people responding to God’s grace - time and time again. That, my friends, is what Stewardship is about - seeing God’s vision of grace, and responding - just as Jacob did. Amen.
