Reflection: "Blessings in Abundance"Some of life's crucial turning points are recognizable only in retrospect, when we look back and discover that decisions we made thoughtlessly or casually, actually changed the whole direction of our existence.
Sometimes, we’re keenly aware of the intensity of that struggle, but our difficulty in perception, is one of the reasons we need so deeply the guidance of God. Today’s Biblical description relates to one of the crucial turning points in the life of Jacob, as he wrestled through the night with the messenger of God by the Jabbock. Jacob was basically a con man in the process of moving from being a man who lived by his wits (his name really meant "thief"), to a man of faith whose name would be "Israel," meaning “one who prevails with God". Jacob grew up in what today we would call a dysfunctional family and he deceived his blind father Isaac into giving him the blessing meant for Jacob’s older brother, Esau. He also preyed on the weakness of the hunter Esau, who, when he was famished for food, accepted Jacob’s meal of lentils in exchange for the family birth right. The first blessing for Jacob came like many of ours do - he was in trouble, fleeing from the scene of his actions. Alone and sleeping on the ground with a rock for a pillow, he had a vision in a dream. God met him in his crisis, with angel messengers ascending and descending on a ladder from the sky. Jacob soon found out that God is bigger than he had ever thought him to be. He’d essentially seen God as being limited to the place where his family lived, but now he says, "Surely God is in this place and I did not know it." It’s the grace of God that brings assurance to this flawed and imperfect man, blessing the world through him. God didn't wait for the day when Jacob changed his attitudes and made up for his mistakes. He simply declared his intention to use and bless Jacob's life. How amazing it is that God who knows all about our weaknesses reaches through them to trust us with his purpose. We don't clean up our acts just so we can deserve his love. We can never do enough to deserve it, because it’s a gift from God and it’s called Grace. Sometimes, when we get into a real encounter with God, we find that we’re also in a wrestling match, a struggle with the one who made us. In that experience is some probing, contained in God's question, "What is your name?" The probing of the essence of who we are. In Jacob’s case, his answer was, "I am Jacob, a deceiver, a thief, a con man and a manipulator." God's answer was “Not anymore - you’re more than that and I name you Israel – a prince who prevails with God.” When we wrestle with God, he holds up a mirror in front of us and it makes us face up to what we are. This is so we can experience the conviction of our sins and shortcomings. It's the essence of the call to us to repent. We need to feel sorrow over what we are and what we’ve done. We’re called to turn away from the old life and embrace the new. Do you remember Simon Peter's encounter with Jesus when the huge catch-of-fish miracle occurred? He knelt before the Lord and said, "Depart from me, for I am a sinner." But Jesus responded, "You are called Simon but from now on you're going to be called Peter - the rock." In meeting Christ, he was called to the design that God had for him - his best self, the steadfast one. It was going to be a long road between the prediction of Jesus and Simon's solid stand for Christ, but the process had begun, and Peter had been blessed. That's what God wants to bring to every human being, to every one of us, for he’s created this new humanity. He made us in the image of Jesus, putting together something so beautiful, but most of us haven't yet discovered it. The Spirit of God comes to convince us of our sinfulness, as a prelude to this new life. Have you ever noticed that in bible stories, wherever food is present, Jesus is there? As often as he was praying, he was sharing food. Late in his ministry, he identified himself with bread and wine – then a staple Mediterranean diet and it still is today. Without food, we’re often cranky and confused. We tend to lose our way, become disoriented, even lose our balance. When the Israelites wandered in the wilderness, they were given manna to eat. It wasn’t fancy, just something to fill their tummies. The people became so bored eating manna day after day that they complained to God. Yet, when you think about it, at least they were being fed. They didn’t recognise it as a blessing from God, which kept them alive. Today’s gospel story tells another story of food – lots of food. There’s so much food, that they have heaps left over! This isn’t a banquet like the wedding of Cana story in John’s gospel, but it’s about food keep us going, food for a journey, simple food: bread and fish. Consider again the story we have of Jesus from Matthew’s gospel: “Jesus withdrew in a boat to a lonely place apart.” What we’re not told in reading just today’s portion is that he was in a boat, withdrawing, because he’d just learned about the death of John, his cousin, who’d baptized him. It wasn’t the best of times for Jesus, and he was just trying to get a moment of peace to talk to God and reflect. According to the gospel, when the crowds heard that he was near, that he was drawing apart, “they followed him on foot from the towns.” Did he tell them to go away? No, instead he blessed them, fed them, talked to them and after they had left, he again went off to be by himself. He set out to do one thing: to get some space and some time away. This proved to be difficult for him, as we read in today’s story. Does this sound familiar to you? Rest, time apart, a few minutes alone, a break, some space – it’s something that we all seek at the end of a busy day, at the close of a tiring week. Jesus was interrupted and responded graciously - and then went on with what he was doing. Parents recognize this dynamic, so do clergy, so do people with demanding jobs, family obligations, social responsibilities – this dynamic is very likely familiar to all of us. We get involved in what we’re doing, and we don’t want to be interrupted or distracted, so we ignore what’s nudging us for attention. Jesus withdrew and was constantly interrupted by people clamouring for attention: Teach us! Heal us! Give us food! Prove yourself! Jesus sought time apart, time for himself, quiet time, but he was interrupted. And his response? With grace and care, he healed the sick, and he somehow found food for the hungry. Through all his interruptions, Jesus was abundant in his distribution of grace. So yes, the story is about food, it’s also about blessing, goodwill and God’s abundant grace. Jesus fed not only their bodies, but also their spirits. This is the message of our readings today: God’s grace is available in abundance. Paul also recognised this when, in writing to the Christians in Rome, he reminded them that, through the Messiah, God had blessed them forever. In living the Christian life we’re blessed by him every day. It’s up to us to recognise those blessings and give him our thanks and praise in return. Pastor Rick
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