This fall, we are reflecting in worship on the same stories the youngest among us are discussing in Church School, going through the Bible from the beginning.
From our series, Living the Word:
God created humans to be in relationship with their Creator and blessed them with all they would need. Desiring the best for us, God regularly calls us back into relationship and invites imperfect people to be part of God’s beautiful story of redemption. This relationship with God requires trust, and often challenges us to step out in this trust. When God calls, God also provides all that is needed to live faithfully as a blessing to others.
This week we meet Jacob, Isaac’s youngest-by-a-heel’s-length son. Jacob, whose name literally means “he cheats.” Jacob, who before our story begins, took advantage of Esau’s (his twin) hunger to claim Esau’s inheritance for himself. In this story, we see Jacob, at the urging of his mother, take advantage of his father’s disability in order to receive a blessing originally intended for Esau. Really living up to his name, this guy Jacob.
What we don’t hear in this Sunday’s portion of Jacob’s story is that he eventually comes to a more integrity-filled way of life, wrestling with God and his own shame, and ultimately reconciling with his brother and living into God’s blessing. Through it all, God never deserts Jacob, faithful to the promises God made to Abraham all those years ago. It’s a story of trust broken and reforged, and of God’s unyielding faithfulness in the face of our own human foibles. I’m excited to dive into it with you.
Join us at 11am on Sunday in the Sanctuary and online to worship, pray, sing, and dream together.
In faith,
Amy
Image credit: Isaac blesses Jacob with Esau’s blessing, by Yoram Raanan
