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Jacob’s Journey Home

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Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you.” Genesis 31:3 ESV

After cheating his brother and deceiving his father, Jacob had run away and spent twenty years living in Padan-Aram. Then in today’s verse, God appears to Jacob in a dream and tells him that it is time to go home. On the way, Jacob wrestled with an angel, had his name changed, and then came face to face with the brother he had cheated. But Jacob was shocked to discover that instead of revenge, Esau was ready to be reconciled with him. But Jacob still didn’t know where he belonged. He settled down for a little while and even bought some land and built an altar just outside of Canaan, but God’s plan still seemed uncertain. Now, we may have never wrestled an angel or been through the same misadventures as Jacob, but we all have had our challenges, failures, and postponed dreams. Maybe, like Jacob, we have run from our problems, and God is still wrestling with us as He works to change our hearts. Though that that wrestling leaves most of us with a permanent limp, God also leaves us with a blessing. Are you a returned prodigal still unsure of where you belong? Don’t be discouraged, God isn’t done with you yet! A few chapters later, God appeared to Jacob a second time and gave him a specific destination: a place called Bethel, which translated means the house of God. Just as Jesus told us, He has gone to prepare a place for us in Heaven, God also has a place for us here on earth. He calls each of us to our Bethel, where we can worship and serve in peace, because our hearts have come home to Him!

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Not My Own

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“If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear. Consider carefully what you hear,” he continued. “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you – and even more.” Mark 4:23-24 NIV

Today, God is moving in great and exciting ways, on college campuses, including Ohio State, Florida State, and most recently at Samford University in Alabama. But the devil is also at work in our society, stirring passions through social media, the speeches of politicians and television. Because we live in an age of such political and social polarization; we Christians need to be careful about what we are listening to and remember to whom we belong. In today’s passage Jesus tells His disciples to listen carefully and to focus on the spiritual meaning behind His words. Just as there was a spiritual meaning behind the teachings of Jesus, so there is also a spiritual meaning behind the words of popular figures, such as Bruce Springsteen, Tucker Carlson, Taylor Swift, and Candace Owens. I recall once when our church was going through a leadership crisis, a sectional elder of our denomination came to speak and what he said has stuck with me all these years, “What’s happening is NOT what’s going on!” So today, before flipping on the news, listening to a podcast, or scrolling through YouTube shorts, remember that our identity as a Christian is not with any nation, ethnic group, or political persuasion. Jesus explicitly told Pilate, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest.” (John 18:36) God has given us a citizenship in Heaven, and if we are to carry out the assignment that Jesus has for us today, we must be careful who we are listening to. That means taking serious time every morning, not just to have a little talk with Jesus, but to spend a sweet hour in prayer. As Jesus admonished his disciples we need to watch and pray because events may turn in a moment that could change a life for eternity.

I’ll Meet you at the Hymnbook!

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There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. Ephesians 4:4-6 NKJV

Sadly the hymn book seems to have vanished from most of our churches. I understand that with new ways of preserving information that books in general are becoming scarce. I also heartily agree that simply being old, doesn’t make a song more biblical and some of the hymns could deservedly be forgotten. However, the great redeeming quality of the hymn book is that it is the one place where we all meet. Black, White, Hispanic, wealthy and poor, young and old, we often go to our own little corners to worship. Yet, surprisingly, I have found in our nursing home services that, like it or not we usually sing each other’s songs! Onward Christian Soldiers, meet at the Mighty Fortress Lutherans sing about. He’s got the Whole World in His Hands is joyfully sung with nary a dark face in the meeting and during my visit to a large African-American church in Philadelphia , I found they delighted singing “What a friend we have in Jesus.” written by a very white Joseph Scriven for his mother back in Ireland. How God may choose to bring unity among the next generation, I can’t imagine, but for now dear brothers and sisters, “I’ll meet you at the hymnbook!”