What do you buy your father for his 75th birthday?
Oh, my word. That was this week when you realize
that your father is three quarters of a century.
Oh, my goodness. I like to say it that way, too,
when I talk about, how is it going? Three quarters
of a century, that's wonderful. Shush. And that's
the question this last week. You see, I did really
well. for Father's Day because that was when
I got him the Lou Ferrigno signed Incredible
Hulk picture and I was like man that was awesome
maybe I should have saved that one got the tie
for Father's Day but you know a 75th birthday
it feels like it deserves something meaningful
you know it's You search for the perfect gift,
something maybe connected to a hobby or something
memorable, something that expresses gratitude
for a lifetime of love. Maybe you try to find
something that is from 1951, but it's probably
spoiled or broken by now. And then you realize
something. When someone has lived that long,
they often already have what they want anyway.
If it's valuable, they may already own it. And
if it's not exactly right, well... Come on, at
75 people get picky. The more I thought about
it, the more I realized I was asking the wrong
question. I was asking, what should I buy him
that would be perfect? But maybe a better question
was, how do I show him that I value him? I cherish
him, I'm grateful for him. No gift can really
complete a relationship. A present... It cannot
replace years of sacrifice, love, memories. It
simply becomes one small way of saying, I know
you, I love you, I'm thankful for you. The relationship
is what matters. I bought him a Home Depot gift
card. It's gonna be great. He needs a bunch of
stuff there. He's gonna be glad. We're gonna
do a hike this next week. My sister got him some
of those night vision goggles. She's very creative.
Yeah, it's gonna be good. But you know, perhaps
that's how we often approach life. We keep searching
for the perfect answer. We want the perfect decision,
the perfect solution that finally settles everything.
We want the diagnosis that removes every fear.
The conversation that fixes every relationship.
The ministry effort that reaches everybody. The
decision that would guarantee that everything's
gonna be alright. We long for certainty. But
often what we really want is certainty about
everything, except the one thing we already know,
that God loves us. And again and again, God answers
our longing in an unexpected way. Instead of
giving us certainty about tomorrow, He gives
us certainty about Himself. That's what we end
up seeing with Jacob. Jacob spent his life trying
to create certainty through his own strength.
His name tells the story. Jacob means heel grabber
or the one who grasps. From the beginning, Jacob
reached for what he wanted. He grasped for Esau's
birthright. He grasped for his father's blessing
through deception. He grasped for security and
control. Whenever life became uncertain, Jacob
tried to solve the problem himself. And eventually,
his deception caught up with him. And Esau, he
found out, and he was ready to kill him. So,
you do what any good younger brother would do
at a moment like that? Run away. Bravely run
away. And he went to live with his uncle Laban,
hoping that life would become easier. But instead,
the deceiver became the deceived. Jacob worked
seven years to marry Rachel, but Laban tricked
him into marrying Leah instead. You should probably
check first, Jacob. Jacob then worked another
seven years for Rachel. And for 20 years, if
you include the additional years where Jacob
was trying to make his fortune and Laban kept
tricking him, Jacob experienced what it felt...
to live under the manipulation He had once practiced
on others. Sometimes God teaches us through blessings.
Sometimes He teaches us by letting us see ourselves
more clearly. Not because He wants to destroy
or humiliate us, but because He wants to transform
us. Finally, Jacob leaves Laban, and he begins
the journey home. And the news comes, Esau is
coming. He has 400 men with him. And suddenly
Jacob's past comes rushing right back. You ever
experience that? The old wounds, the old regrets,
the old fears. You think you've moved beyond
something, but you discover it waiting for you
again. And Jacob responds the way that Jacob
always responds. He plans, he plots, he prepares.
He sends gifts ahead. He divides his family into
groups, but after all his planning one thing
remains beyond his control tomorrow That night
Jacob sends everyone across the river his wives
his children his servants everything that represents
his success Everything he's built and Jacob is
alone No possessions no schemes no negotiations
Just Jacob and God Genesis tells us Jacob was
left alone and a man wrestled with him until
the breaking of the day Jacob doesn't know yet
who he's wrestling If you're reading this in
the Hebrew, you'll hear something beautiful at
the Yabak Yakov begins to Yavak say it three
times fast. That's awesome at the Javak Jacob
began to wrestle The one who spent his life grasping
for blessings is now just holding on There's
an important detail in the text that we often
miss though the translation It will often say
when the man saw that he did not prevail against
Jacob But the Hebrew it actually says when he
saw that he did not prevail Who was he? The answer
becomes clear in the next verse With a touch,
God puts Jacob's hip out of joint. God is never
defeated. There's never a contest to determine
who's actually stronger. The question is not
who will win. The question is, what is God actually
doing? So God was bringing Jacob to the place
where he finally encountered someone he could
not manipulate. He couldn't deceive. He couldn't
control. And Jacob says, I will not let you go
unless you bless me. And notice the change. Jacob
is no longer trying to take the blessing. He's
asking to receive it. He's begging. That is where
transformation begins. God asks Jacob, what is
your name? Strange question, right? God already
knows his name. Why does he need to ask? But
it's not for God. It's for Jacob. Because Jacob
must say it himself. Jacob, the heel grabber,
the deceiver. The man who spent his life trying
to secure blessings by his own strength. And
God says, your name shall no longer be called
Jacob. But Israel, for you have striven with
God and with men and have prevailed. Jacob receives
a new identity. His life will no longer be defined
by grasping. It will be defined by living in
relationship with the God who met him in the
struggle. And notice what God does not give him.
He doesn't tell Jacob exactly what's going to
happen tomorrow. He doesn't say, don't worry,
Esau's not going to hurt you. He doesn't remove
every uncertainty. Instead, God gives him something
greater. He gives him Himself. Jacob still has
to cross the river. He still has to face Esau.
He still has to confront the years of guilt and
fear. But now, Jacob is different. Before God
gives him certainty about circumstance, He gives
him certainty about his identity. Jacob names
the place Peniel. For I have seen God face to
face, penny -ale, and yet my life has been delivered.
The one Jacob thought was only a man was God
Himself. The one that Jacob feared might destroy
him had come to bless him. The sun rises, and
Jacob walks away with a limp, even more vulnerable
than before. See, the wrestling changed him,
but it didn't remove him from struggle. He still
had to trust God. Maybe even more now. The certainty
was not found in the circumstance. The certainty
was found in God's presence. And that's exactly
what Jesus' disciples were learning as well.
Matthew's Gospel begins with another impossible
situation. Jesus had just learned. that John
the Baptist was killed. John was the one sent
to prepare the way for the Messiah. His cousin.
The news was heartbreaking. And Matthew tells
us that he withdrew from there in a boat to a
desolate place by himself. Jesus sought solitude.
Perhaps he wanted to pray. Perhaps he needed
to grieve. But the crowds followed him. And when
Jesus saw them, Matthew tells his, he had compassion
on them and healed their sick. The word Matthew
uses for compassion describes a deep heartfelt
mercy. Jesus doesn't merely notice the suffering.
He enters into it. He heals. He teaches. He serves.
As evening comes, the disciples begin doing what
seems reasonable. They calculate the situation.
There's thousands of people. There's not enough
food. The nearest villages are far away. The
solution? Send the crowds away into the villages
and buy food for themselves. Makes sense. It's
practical. But Jesus responds, they need not
go away. You give them something to eat. The
emphasis in the Greek is on the word you. Can
you imagine the disciples looking around, Lord,
did you learn how to count? Do you see how many
people are here? Their answer reveals what they
see. We have only five loaves here and two fish.
Only. Look what happens when you use the word
only with God. That word reveals their perspective.
They see what they lack. They see their limitations.
They see an impossible situation. And how often
do we do the same? I only have so much time.
I only have so many resources. I only have these
abilities. I only know how to do this much. We
measure God's calling by what we can accomplish.
But Jesus does not ask the disciples what they
do not have. He doesn't ask what they can accomplish.
Instead, He asks them to bring to Him what they
have. Bring them here to Me. Bring what you have.
Bring what seems too small. Bring what seems
inadequate. Bring it to Me. That's faith. Faith
is not having every answer when we begin. Faith
is trusting Christ enough to place what we have
into His hands. Jesus did not explain it before
He did it. Jacob didn't have an explanation about
tomorrow. He received a new name. The disciples
didn't receive an explanation about the miracle.
They received a command from Jesus. In both stories,
God gives His presence before He gives an explanation.
And that's still how He works. Jesus takes the
five loaves and the two fish, and He looks toward
heaven, and He blesses them. And He breaks the
bread, and He gave them to the disciples, and
the disciples gave them to the crowds. And I
want you to notice what Jesus does. He doesn't
place the food directly into the hands of the
crowd. Here you go, here you go, I'm Jesus, you're
welcome. He places it into the hands of His disciples.
and Christ chooses to work through His people.
It's not because He can't do it Himself. It's
because He delights in including them in His
work. The miracle belongs entirely to Jesus,
and the disciples have the privilege of participating.
And by the end of the day, they all ate and were
satisfied. Everyone received what they needed.
They gathered the leftovers. Was it a few pieces
remaining? Just a little bit here and a little
bit there? Twelve baskets full. They looked at
five loaves and two fish and thought, there's
not enough. And now, each one of them carries
evidence of God's abundance. Twelve baskets.
Every disciple has a basket full. What changed?
Not their resources. Not their abilities. Christ.
The issue was never whether Jesus could provide.
The issue was whether they trusted Him enough
to bring Him what they had. And that is where
these two stories meet our lives as well. Because
the wrestling, it doesn't happen only beside
the Javok River. It happens in our hearts. We
wrestle with decisions. We wrestle with disappointment.
We wrestle with grief. wrestle with guilt, broken
relationships, children and grandchildren we
worry about, health concerns, questions where
we don't have easy answers. But Meath, much of
that wrestling is the same desire Jacob carried.
We want certainty. We want to know we made the
right decision. We want to know who to blame,
and we want to know it wasn't us. We want to
know things are going to work out. And we want
to know that our efforts mattered and that the
future is set before we step into it. But God,
always the great way to start any sentence. But
God often gives us something different. He does
not always give us the answer we want, but he
does give us his presence. Our temptation is
to believe that if we can just simply identify
the problem, fix the situation, or find someone
to blame, then peace will come. We sound like
a bunch of engineers, right? But scripture gives
us a deeper picture. People are complicated.
Jacob was deceptive. Laban was deceptive. Esau
was capable of great hatred. Murderous to begin.
But God continued working through all of them.
Because the Bible doesn't ignore sin. But it
also never reduces people to just their worst
moments. Healing requires more than finding someone
to blame. Healing requires forgiveness despite
our seething anger. Healing requires admitting
that humans are just doing their best. It requires
humility. It requires patience. It requires Christ.
See, we often imagine that if one problem is
solved, everything will finally become peaceful.
This situation gets fixed, it'll all be okay.
This struggle ends, then I can finally rest.
But then life continues. One season gives way
to another. One responsibility leads to another.
The laundry keeps coming through. That does not
mean that God has failed. It means God is still
walking with us. The Christian life is not about
reaching a place where there's no more struggle.
It's about learning to walk faithfully with Christ
through every season. And the same is true in
the church. You know, we can sometimes treat
ministry like a checklist. We completed the event.
We made the visit. We helped someone in need.
Now we're finished. Get back to your life, right?
But love is not a project. Discipleship is not
an event. Faithfulness is not something we complete.
It is something we live. Jesus did not treat
people as projects. He taught, He healed, He
forgave, He fed, and then He did it all over
again. Wash, rinse, repeat. Because love continues.
The church is called to do the same. Not because
we believe that we can solve every problem, but
because Christ continues loving His people through
us. See, Jacob wrestled beside the Javok, but
in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus wrestled in
the darkness alone. And He prayed, my Father,
if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me.
Nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.
Jesus was not searching for some easy resolution.
He already knew what awaited Him. He was entrusting
Himself to the Father. See, in Jesus, we see
the face of God made flesh. The God who met Jacob
in mystery comes to us in mercy. And nowhere
is that mercy clearer than at Calvary. Because
at the cross, People challenge Jesus. If you're
the Son of God, we'll come down from the cross.
Easy peasy. Isn't that often what we want from
God? Explain everything. Show me why it happened.
Tell me how it will end. Solve it and then I'll
trust you. Jesus does not come down from the
cross. It's not because He lacked the power.
But remaining there is how He saves us. Because
the greatest victory in history looked like defeat.
The greatest act of love looked like failure,
and the greatest hero was vilified and treated
as a criminal by good people. But Easter revealed
what God had been accomplishing all along. Jacob
understood the blessing when the sun rose, and
the disciples understood the miracle when the
baskets were full. And the apostles, they understood
the cross when Jesus rose from the grave. Sometimes
we look back and we realize the Lord was carrying
me. The Lord was working. The Lord was present
even when I could not see Him. The Lord was blessing
even when I was working against Him. Not every
question receives an answer in this life. Some
wounds remain. Some prayers are unfinished. Some
struggles continue. but Christ remains. We are
not called to manufacture certainty. We're called
to faithfulness. Before God explains your future,
He gives you a new identity. In baptism by faith,
He has claimed you as His child. Before He answers
every question, He gives you His promise that
your identity is not built on your success, but
it's also not built on your failures. It's built
on Jesus. God's answer to our wrestling is not
certainty. It is His presence. And that is enough.
For if Christ is with us, no struggle is wasted.
No prayer is unheard. No act of faithfulness
is forgotten. No labor in the Lord is in vain.
Because one day, the wrestling will end. Faith
will become sight. Every tear will be wiped away
and Christ will make all things new. But until
then, He has not called us to find easy answers
without Him. He has called us to walk faithfully
with Him. And I would rather spend a lifetime
wrestling with Christ beside me than find an
easy answer without Him. In His name, Amen.