One of my favorite papers I wrote in seminary was on the patriarch, Jacob. Many may think of Jacob as Israel, the father of the twelve tribes and a man who trusted God, but Jacob’s story, like many of our own stories, is complicated. He was someone who was a trickster. He tricked his bother into giving him his birthright for a bowl of stew. He tricked his dad into giving him his brother’s blessing. And the result of this deception was his twin, Esau, being so upset that he vows to kill him.
So his parents quickly devise a plan to send him to live amongst his mother’s people, specifically with her brother, Laben. Only things didn’t go so well for Jacob there, as he got a taste of his own behavior, with his uncle tricking him into marrying Leah, who wasn’t the daughter he desired. He then had to give himself in more years of service to Laben in order to be able to marry Rachel, the one whom he loved.
Along the years of serving his uncle, he had sons and a daughter from his two wives and their maid servants. He also ended up being quite prosperous, multiplying his sheep and lively hood, at the expense of his uncle’s flocks diminishing. One day Jacob discerned that he was to go back to his homeland, the place of his parents and his brother. So he took his wives, Rachel and Leah, into the field and revealed to them his discernment - and they quickly agreed to go to a place that they had never been.
So Jacob and his entire family - all of their herds and possessions, start to slow trek back to Jacob’s home - not knowing what they are going to face when they get there - only knowing that God has asked them to go. Remember that the last time that Jacob had seen his brother he had threatened to kill him and he doesn’t even know if his parents are alive. He is so afraid that his brother, out of rage, will kill him and his family that he divided them up into encampments of who to send first - so if some would die they wouldn’t all have to perish.
But what awaits Jacob is something that he never could imagine on his very best day in all of those years living with Laben. Esau comes to meet his family, not to kill him or to threaten him or to send him away, but to embrace him. His vow for revenge long forgotten, Esau comes to meet his brother in hopes of seeking a restored relationship. To the point where Esau runs to greet him.
Both men meet in the embrace and weep. Out of regret. Out of compassion. And out of what now can be possible.
And Jacob, as a sign of trying to regain his brother’s favor and out of humbleness, tries to give Eau gifts - many, many gifts. While Esau attempts to turn away by stating that he has enough.
Have you ever tried to give someone a gift that they simply wouldn’t take? How did it make you feel? Maybe a small child tried to give you a gift of abundance that you simply thought was too much so you said ‘no’. What happens to that child’s face - it will often fall in dismay. I still remember wrapping, rather poorly, a hardcover copy of the 3 Little Pigs which I loved so much that my name was written in large block letters and attempting to give it to my cousin on one of her visits. Her mother quickly gave the gift back to my parents, and I was heartbroken. I wanted her to have one of my favorite possessions.
Or as an adult, have you ever tried to give someone something only to have them turn it away? While our face may not fall as it once did as a child, we still are deeply hurt, because someone did not accept our gift.
When Esau tries to say that he has enough on his own because of how God had blessed him, Jacob insisted that Esau accept his present - or take his blessing. Jacob isn’t trying to buy his brother’s favor or forgiveness, but he is trying to acknowledge the pain he once wrought when he took away his brother’s blessing.
What Esau wants more than the gifts is to be with his brother - to go and settle with him, but Jacob never actually makes it to Seir. First, he says that it is for the sake of the young children and fragile flocks. But he also won’t let Esau show kindness to him by providing men to accompany him on the journey for safety. Instead of going to Seir he settles in Succoth, where he set up an alter to worship God.
Not quite the ending we were hoping for. The brothers have been reunited, but Jacob is still cautious. He is treating his brother as a king, whom a servant pays tribute to instead of his brother, but he does bring him this token of blessing.
Friends, today we are finishing our sermon series on stewardship - perhaps in an odd place. But looking at Jacob and Esau and the gift that Jacob brought, I want to emphasize the fact that Jacob didn’t bring a gift out of obligation or to buy his brother’s favor. Instead, he offers it to him to honor him.
Church, we give to our God, not to manipulate God into giving us what we want. Or out of obligation. We give to bless the name of God and to honor him! To honor him with our treasures and to lift high his name.
We started this sermon series by talking about some of the reasons that folks may shy away from stewardship, but friends, we come wholeheartedly because what we give we give for the sake of the Kingdom of God. We don’t come to measure what we give by the neighbor that sits next to us in the pew, or perhaps even what we were able to give at different seasons in our lives. We give because we want to praise God and God alone.
So in a few moments, I’m going to invite you to bring forward your pledge card with just that in mind. We don’t give to trick God into giving us what we want. We don’t give so we can demand something from God later. We give as an act of worship. And to honor God alone.
Let us pray…..