Sermon

September 29, 2002
Work While It Is Day - Week 1
Genesis 28:10-22
Pastor Robert Raasch

A Vision from God at the Hard Rock Motel

1. Consider the Grace God Showed to Jacob
2. Appreciate the Response Jacob Offered to God

Just for a minute, I'd like you to imagine this scene. It's Monday morning and you're on your way to work. Although Mondays are not exactly your favorite time of the week, today you happen to be in a particularly foul mood. You didn't get enough sleep last night. You burned the toast you were making for breakfast. The kids were acting up again. And what's worse, this morning you are not on speaking terms with your spouse. It all stemmed from an argument you had last night. At the time you felt you had every right to say what you said, and do what you did. But now it's all starting to catch up with you. You're really starting to feel bad about what happened. You're wondering if maybe the wound you caused is too deep to be healed. Maybe you've destroyed the marriage you've shared for so many years. These are the thoughts and emotions going through your mind as you sit down at your desk. With a sigh you open your brief case and what do you find? It's a handwritten note and it reads, "Darling, I still love you. And I forgive you. You'll be my sweetheart forever. Signed, Your lifelong marriage partner." Wow! Can you believe it? I mean, who would expect to receive a note like that? You certainly don't deserve that. And yet immediately it starts you thinking, "Man, how can I show my love in return!"

My friends, if you can put yourself into that imaginary scene, then you should have no trouble putting yourself into another scene that's not imaginary. Here in our text, it is Jacob who finds himself in a rather similar situation. This morning we want to put ourselves in his shoes. We want to see what he saw and feel what he felt as we take a little closer look at what we might call:

A Vision from God at the Hard Rock Motel

First, we'll:
1. Consider the Grace God Showed to Jacob

Then we'll seek to:
2. Appreciate the Response Jacob Offered to God

Now, I think you know where the title the hard rock motel comes from, don't you? I mean, isn't that one of the most unusual details in this account-the fact that Jacob used a rock for a pillow, or maybe more accurately, a headrest? I remember back in Sunday School thinking to myself, "Jacob used a rock for a pillow?!? Wow! That must have been really hard!" I expect that I appreciated my own soft pillow a little more after that story, right?

Of course, the fact that Jacob used a rock for a pillow is just a minor detail in this story, but it does give us a idea of where Jacob was at this point in his life. Obviously, he was not spending the night at the Embassy Suites. He was not accompanied by a whole contingent of servants to make his stay comfortable. And why not? Because is all by himself, running for his life. You remember the story, don't you? Jacob had deceived his father and stolen his brother's birthright. When his brother Esau found out what Jacob had done, he wanted to kill Jacob, and Jacob was compelled to run for his life.

Well, that's where we meet Jacob here in our text. He's approximately a three day's journey from home. And he's all alone with his thoughts. Put yourself in his position. What's going through your mind at this point? How about, "Man, how did I get myself into this mess? How could I stoop so low? I mean, to flat out lie to my father? To concoct this scheme with my mother? To show absolutely no regard for the rights and feelings of my brother? Oh, what a wretched man I am. Just look at the mess I've made of my life."

If you think about it, maybe it's not so hard to put yourself in Jacob's sandals. Because maybe you and I have had some of these same feelings ourselves. Have you ever thought to yourself, "What a mess I've made of things"? What was I thinking? How could I tell such a lie? Not once, but over and over again. Or, how could I allow myself to get involved with this person? I'm committing adultery! Or, how could I so completely lose control of my life? How could I allow myself to get this far in debt? How could I allow myself to become addicted to this stuff? How could I allow myself to be arrested for this crime? How could I allow such hurtful words to come out of my mouth? How could I set such a poor example for my children, or show such a lack of respect for my parents? Oh, what a wretched man I am! Here I am, all alone with my guilt, all alone with my shame. And I feel like God wants nothing to do with me.

Well, maybe you and I can relate to what Jacob was feeling there at the hard rock motel. But you know, even though Jacob feels like God has every reason to punish him, the fact is God uses this moment in time not to show Jacob how angry he is over Jacob's sin, but rather to show Jacob his grace, that is, his undeserved love for this wandering soul.

And God shows his grace to Jacob in a very remarkable way. While Jacob is sleeping with a rock for a pillow, God appears to him in a dream. Jacob sees this stairway stretching up into heaven, with angels walking up and down on it. A the top is the Lord who says to Jacob, "I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac." From there God goes on to reaffirm the promises which had already been made to Jacob's father and grandfather. God promises to multiply Jacob's descendants, to give them the land of Canaan, and to ultimately bless all nations through one of Jacob's descendants. That last promise, of course, finds its fulfillment in the Savior who would take away the sins of the world, including Jacob's. And finally, God gives Jacob the assurance, "I am with you and I will watch over you wherever you go."

Boy, talk about an unexpected expression of God's love and faithfulness! There it is. I mean, it's one thing to get a nice note from your spouse when you're having a bad day. But to have God himself appear to you and say, in effect, "In spite of your lifetime of sins, I still love you. I forgive you. I will keep all my promises to you"-well, that's truly undeserved love. That, my friends, is grace-the very same grace that God has shown to each one of us here today.

No, God hasn't come to us and spoken to us in a dream. He's done better than that. He's spoken to us in his inspired Word. Words that don't disappear when we wake up, but are right here on the page for us to study and apply to our lives. And rather than an imaginary stairway to heaven, God has given us a better connection to heaven. He's given us his Son. How does Jesus put it? "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

To think that God comes to you and me, poor, wretched, guilty sinners that we are and says, "This is how much I love you. I am willing to trade the perfect life of my son for your sin-riddled lives, so that you can be all right in my eyes-that's amazing. Amazing grace.

Is it any wonder that when Jacob is confronted by that same grace of God, he responds the way he does? Let's take a moment to: II. Appreciate Jacob's Response to God's Grace. What does Jacob say when he wakes up from his dream? "Surely the Lord is in this place and I was not aware of it." In other words, "Here I thought I had been abandoned by God, when in reality, he was here with me the whole time."

But Jacob doesn't stop there. Jacob takes the stone that had served as his pillow and makes a memorial out of it. He stands it on end, anoints it with oil and calls it Bethel, which in Hebrew means, "the house of God." Jacob wanted to publicly acknowledge that this was a place to worship the one True God.

And still, Jacob is not done. God's promises to Jacob prompt him to make a number of promises to God in return. Jacob makes a vow to God. He says, "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 so that I return safely to my father's house, then the Lord will be my God. This stone I have set up will be God's house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth." Now we have to be careful not to misunderstand what Jacob is saying. The way these words are translated in English could leave the impression that Jacob is somehow bargaining with God. It may sound like he's saying, "Okay God, if you do this for me, namely, feed me, clothe me, protect me-then I will do this for you. I'll build you and altar and give you an offering."

But that's not what Jacob is saying here. It can't be. Jacob has just been overwhelmed by God's unconditional love for him. He's taken tremendous comfort in God's unexpected promises to him. In faith he knows that God will keep his promises to him. In Jacob's mind there are no ifs, ands or buts. Jacob's vow could more accurately be stated, "God, since you will feed and clothe and care for me, and since you are my Savior God, therefore I will build an altar to your name and I will give you a tenth of all you give to me."

Now, I want you to notice three of things about Jacob's promise to God. Notice first of all what serves as the motivation for his vow. It's not Jacob's pride ("Hey everybody, look at what I'm doing. I'm building this monument for God.") Nor is Jacob motivated by guilt or the feeling that he's being pressured into this. (You know, "I suppose I should do something for God. I feel like God's really putting the heat on me.") Absolutely not. The vow that Jacob makes is purely a voluntary, Spirit-worked response to the grace God had shown to him. It was a very natural way of saying, "Thank you" to God, willingly, joyfully, faithfully.

Secondly, notice the time frame that Jacob attaches to his vow. He doesn't say, "Okay God, I'll give you 10% of whatever I have in my pocket right now." No, rather, Jacob is thinking of the future. Since he truly believes that God will provide for his needs in the future, Jacob makes a promise that also applies to the future. He says, "Of all that you give me I will give you a tenth." Whether he's rich (which in time he will be) or whether he's poor, which according to his present accommodations, he certainly seems to be-no matter what his circumstances in life, he promises to return a specific portion to God.

Finally, let's not over look the percentage figure that Jacob chooses to return to God. It might be easy for us to say, "Oh yeah, Jacob gave 10% because that's what God required of believers in the Old Testament. That was part of the Old Testament ceremonial law." But wait a minute. Jacob lived long before God handed down the ceremonial law through Moses. Jacob's promise to give a life long tithe to God was not a requirement. It was a voluntary expression of his thanks to God. Jacob's plan for giving was not motivated not by God's law, but rather by God's love, his undeserved love.

My friends, doesn't that put you and me back in Jacob's sandals again? Doesn't God deal with us the same way? God doesn't use his law to force us to give to him. Rather, he uses his love. Rather than punishing us for the materialism that is so firmly rooted in our hearts and lives, he says, "In Christ, I forgive you. I have made you new again." And when we worry and fret over whether we can make ends meet, he says, "Don't worry. I'll take care of you. You can trust me."

In fact, to this day, isn't that what our offerings represent? Yes, our offerings are a way of expressing our thanks to God. But more than that they are a way of expressing our trust in God. You might say that our regular gifts to God are a way for us to put our money where our heart is. It's a way for each one of us to say, "God I believe you. I take you at your word. And I'm so grateful for the promises you have made to me, the love you have shown to me, the gifts you have given to me-all of which are truly undeserved.

My friends, this week God is going to give you and me a chance to walk in Jacob's sandals one more time, to reflect upon the grace he has shown to us, and then to do what Jacob did. And that is, to prayerful promise what portion of God's gifts we will return to our Savior God. May God bless our grateful response to his amazing grace, in Jesus' name. Amen.

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