Scripture: Genesis 28: 10-22
Sermon: Alone in the Wilderness
Topics: Solitude, Pandemic, Gift
Preached: July 19, 2020 am Woodlawn CRC
Rev. Mike Abma
Genesis 28: 10-22
Jacob left Beer-sheba and went towards Haran. 11He came to a certain place and stayed there for the night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place. 12And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13And the Lord stood beside him and said, ‘I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring; 14and your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring. 15Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.’ 16Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, ‘Surely the Lord is in this place—and I did not know it!’ 17And he was afraid, and said, ‘How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.’
18 So Jacob rose early in the morning, and he took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. 19He called that place Bethel; but the name of the city was Luz at the first. 20Then Jacob made a vow, saying, ‘If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, 21so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God, 22and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house; and of all that you give me I will surely give one-tenth to you.’
This is the Word of the Lord
Thanks be to God
FORCED SOLITUDE
In this passage, we find a young Jacob on the run.
He has been sent from home by his father, Isaac.
Isaac sends him to his mother’s family, which is over 500 miles away.
We know that Isaac is fairly wealthy –
he owns lots of sheep, goats, and camels (Genesis 26: 12-15).
And we know that when Abraham sent his servant to make a similar trip years ago, that servant travelled with 10 camels (Genesis 24:10).
But Jacob leaves home with nothing –
no camel,
no donkey,
just the walking stick that is in his hand (see Genesis 32:10).
So there Jacob goes,
alone into the wilderness.
alone to travel those hundreds of miles.
We know that Father Isaac had forced Jacob into this solitary travel
for his own protection.
Jacob had deceived his father;
Jacob had stolen the blessing from his brother, Esau;
And that is why Esau had vowed to kill his brother.
Even though it was for his own good,
it must have been rather unnerving for Jacob to leave home
with so little,
and all alone.
By the time of our passage, Jacob has already been on the road for a few days.
Jacob knew enough to stay away from the towns and villages –
you never knew what dangers might lurk there.
So our passage finds Jacob all alone
out in the open wilderness,
sleeping under the stars,
with a rock for a pillow
and with the hard ground for a bed.
OUR FORCED SOLITUDE
Some people have made the observation that we are all living in a season of forced solitude right now.[1]
Instead of being forced to travel away from home, like Jacob,
we have been forced to stay at home.
We have been forced to avoid other people.
We have been forced to be wary of other people.
There was a time in church history when people voluntarily chose to live lives of solitude.
Call them monks or nuns,
call them anchorites or anchoresses,
these were people who chose to live solitary lives
because they thought it would be spiritually enriching.
For them
the solitary space they lived within
was meant to be an in-between space:
a space between heaven and earth;
a space between life and death.
Living in this solitary space
was supposed to be spiritually enriching
because there you would be free from the distractions of the world
and free to contemplate the joys of eternity.
But anyone who has lived in solitude for any length of time
knows that it is harder than it sounds.
I remember in 2012,
I chose to spend about a week at St. Gregory’s monastery
in Three Rivers Michigan.
This is a monastery that follows the Benedictine Order.
You have 5 different worship services a day – the first one at 4 am.
You live your live in silence.
You eat your meals in silence.
After a while, the silence can feel a bit oppressive.
After a while, the solitude can feel a bit overwhelming.
I admit that there were times in that week when I began to wonder,
when is this week going to be over?
And, no doubt, we are all beginning to ask something similar
about our present forced solitude:
when will this social distancing,
when will this forced solitude
finally be over?
There is a reason Henri Nouwen calls solitude the furnace of transformation –
no one likes spending much time in a furnace.
GIFTS IN THE SOLITUDE
After being forced from home,
after travelling miles and miles alone,
Jacob lays down on the ground
with a stone under his head,
and all the worries for tomorrow in his head.
In that dark and lonely night
Jacob receives a wonderful gift.
He receives a dream or vision.
He sees a ladder or ramp
rising up to the heavens.
He sees angels going up and down this ladder.
And perhaps, most important of all,
he senses the Lord God himself standing beside him
and speaking to him.
The Lord identifies himself as the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac.
And the Lord gives Jacob an amazing promise:
He promises to be with Jacob wherever he goes;
He promises to bring Jacob back to this land that he promised to his
ancestors.
Jacob wakes from this dream so overwhelmed that he whispers,
“Surely the Lord is in this place
And I did not know it.”
So Jacob takes what is closest to him,
that stone that was his pillow,
and he uses that as an altar of thanksgiving,
pouring oil over it
and making that
a place of commitment,
a place of covenant,
a place of God’s promises to him
and his promises to God.
GIFTS WITHIN OUR FORCED SOLITUDE
The medieval monks and nuns who chose to live in solitude
were seeking to draw closer to God.
That is why they tried to avoid looking out their windows
to what was happening in the world.
They tried to look for God’s presence
in the small things of their limited lives.
Perhaps we can take a page from their book –
what small things in our life point to God’s presence,
and to the gifts of his providence?
This spring we bought a Mandevilla plant,
also known as a Rocktrumpet flower.
This is a climbing vine and ours has these pink flowers.
The truth is,
With its shiny green leaves
And abundant pink flowers
This plant has been a daily source of joy.
Another source of joy has been our bird-feeder.
Our bird-feeder has been attracting all kinds of birds this spring and summer.
But even when it is crowded with common sparrows,
Who are terribly messy eaters, by the way,
Even these sparrows are reminders
That just as God promises to care for each one of them,
He also promises to care for each one of us.
Flowers, birds,
the comfort of a cup of tea ……
All these things and more, many more,
Can be reminders
Surely God is in this place,
and we did not know it.
LIVING INTO THE GIFT
Jacobs leaves this place, which he call Beth el – the house of God,
and has days of lonely travel ahead of him,
and miles to go before he sleeps.
He will travel about the distance from here to Nashville, Tennessee,
on foot, and all alone.
But now he travels with a deep sense that God is with him.
Years later Jacob will make the return trip.
Genesis 32 describes that return.
Again, there is a scene where Jacob is all alone at night
by the Jabbok river.
This is an older Jacob
who left home with nothing
and now is returning
with a large family
and large flocks.
Everything shows that Jacob has spent a lifetime
living into the promise of God’s presence
and into the promise of God’s blessing.
And yet….yet when he returns, Jacob is restless.
He cannot sleep.
The worries of the day invade his night.
He paces, and he prays, “Lord, help me.”
Many people have observed a rise in insomnia during this pandemic.
People are finding it harder to fall asleep at night.
People are finding they are waking up much too early in the morning.[2]
Our minds keep churning over
the distressing news reports;
Our hearts keep missing
the people we have not seen for so long;
and our bodies will not rest, will not settle –
it is like we have the ground for a bed
and a stone for a pillow.
CONCLUSION
Our passage this morning
puts the emphasis on a place –
this place between heaven and earth,
between life and death,
this gate of heaven.
But for us to find rest,
real rest,
we need to fix our minds and hearts
not so much on a place as on a person.
We need to fix our minds, and hearts, and eyes
on the One
who came from heaven and lived here on earth;
On the One
who tasted death for us all, and rose to new life.
Jesus is the One
who stands in that place
between heaven and earth,
between life and death.
Jesus is the gate of heaven.
He stands there,
beside us
and whispers,
Do not be afraid,
I am with you always,
To the very end of the age (Matthew 28:
He stands there,
Beside us
And says
Do not be afraid of the past – for you are forgiven;
Do not be afraid of the future – for my promises are sure;
And do not be afraid of the present – for I am with you,
I am with you here; I am with you now.
This is the Blessed Assurance we live with
even in our darkest and loneliest nights.
Our Lord is with us, now and always.
This is the perfect submission, perfect delight;
The vision of rapture that bursts on our sight;
Angels descending bring from above
Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.
This is our story, this is our song.[3]
AMEN
PRAYER
O Lord, help us to know you are present with us.
Help us to have this blessed assurance,
To be filled with your goodness
And lost in your love.
In Jesus name
Amen
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