WOUNDED IN STRUGGLE, BUT CHANGED AND STRENGTHENED IN HOPE
I never knew any man or woman worth their salt anywhere, who didn’t live through and face many struggles in life. Many times we have all wanted to quit, but amidst it all with God’s love, help from others and/or our faith, we have kept on going! In the end, with luck, we’ve emerged changed yet even stronger from the experiences. One inescapable truth is that there is no life anywhere without its struggles and more often than not the real key to any emergence and survival is our hope. I’ve known and seen many persons broken in the battles of their lives, but I have seen many of them survive and then emerge even stronger in the end. Thus, I’ve experienced and learned that it is not only the battle which defeats us, but often too our own inability or unwillingness to struggle which gradually yet steadily depletes our Spirits and then immobilizes us all.
Every great culture and religion has its stories of struggle and hope! In our Judeo-Christian history it is perhaps the story of Jacob wrestling with God which best describes the very nature of struggle: Our battles with God, with ourselves, with those and the world around us. The story is straightforward, an example and model for our own lives. Rebekah, like Abraham’s Sarah before her, was barren and could not conceive a son for Isaac, Abraham’s son. Yahweh intervened and thus Rebekah produced twin boys- Esau born first, followed by Jacob. Esau became the father of the Edomites; Jacob the ancestor of Israel. Jacob tricked his brother out of his natural birthright and then also stole from him his father’s final blessing! Esau became so enraged that Jacob fled to the land of Har-an for twenty years. By the providence of Yahweh and through many personal, shady (??) dealings, Jacob gained great wealth, two wives, eleven sons, many servants. Finally, armed with many riches, fear and pride and lavish gifts he journeyed home ready to reunite with his brother Esau and then win back his Promised Land. On the banks of the Jabbok, Jacob wrestles with God, perseveres, emerges from his struggles wounded yet humbled, then receives His blessing, is renamed Israel, and now strengthened in heart and in hope!
The Roman Catholic nun and best-selling author Joan D. Chittister has written a powerful book about Jacob, herself, you and me, all of our struggles and hopes. She writes about the many dangers and gifts which every struggle presents. Let me mention just three. First, all unwanted change requires a conversion of the heart; it requires our willingness to start over again; we must believe in a God for whom creation never ceases and growth never stops. Second, the fear of losing our very soul or the terror of losing everything we have ever worked for can/will consume us. But, life teaches that the very smallest acts of courage can begin to put us back in control of life. Little acts of courage become tiny acts of hope. Third, exhaustion could be our greatest enemy, but enduring is our light of hope and out of the continued darkness it gives way to a new dawn for us all!
So what can we learn from this story today? I know that the great spiritual writers are absolutely correct as they teach and write that for the person of faith, suffering and hope must walk hand in hand through the many experiences and years of our lives. None of us is ever totally freed from all the pain or the joy, but hopefully we do learn the truth of the words that say, “The only way out is through!” and we discover also that enduring is the key to it all! Then we often find that it is exactly in the times when everything seems very good or very bad that suddenly things begin to radically change. Certainly, it is wise to keep on trusting in and reaching out to God, one another and with-in ourselves. Finally, it might be best to remember this morning some of our own stories in our own lives (like in Jacob’s life) and how the best of times can become the worst of times and how sometimes even deep suffering, when we endure, in the end can produce great joy. And like Jacob, once we grab hold of God let us never let go because He for sure will never let us go!
P.S: All of us walk through our lives with suffering and hope. None of us are immune. I know of course lots of people in Redeemer who are struggling and suffering.
I also know some people here in Redeemer Church who struggle to keep on and endure maybe even a little more than the rest of us. Like the faithful young Hispanic man member of our church, who works two jobs +, his wife one, and both struggle to keep their dignity, pay their bills and care for their two young children. They’re bright, but struggling. Last week this young father was beaten and robbed on the way to pay his monthly rent, at a local gas station on #301 as he filled up his tank, when he took a dollar out of his wallet to help a young man. Now his wallet and money are all gone. We’ll help, but our discretionary resources are slim!
Perhaps above all I ask you to ask God to continue to give us all the courage and strength to keep on enduring and the wisdom to never try to go it alone on our own! Let us always pray for one another and may we always thank God for holding on to and struggling with us all. Amen.