19 October 2025

"How Do You Receive a Blessing?" (sermon)

Two Rivers Pastoral Charge
Sunday October 19, 2025
Scripture:  Genesis 32:22-31


To me, this story about Jacob that we read this morning has almost a cinematic feel to it.  There probably isn’t enough story there to turn it into a feature length movie… unless you are Peter Jackson who managed to turn a single novel, The Hobbit, into three movies.  But I can see this story about Jacob working well as a short film.

So let’s start with our casting.  Our main character here is Jacob, son of Isaac and Rebekah, grandson of Sarah and Abraham.  Jacob, who was the husband of the sisters Leah and Rachel (yes, both at the same time), and consort of his wife’s slaves Bilhah and Zilpah.  Jacob who was the father of twelve sons and one daughter.

I think that we would probably have to cast a conventionally handsome actor in the role of Jacob, but we wouldn’t want a muscley action hero type actor.  Jacob tended to get by on his wits rather than on his physical strength.

Jacob was more than just a bit of a trickster.  You might remember that when he was younger and his father was dying, he tricked his older brother Esau out of their father’s blessing.  In fact, this complicated relationship between the brothers goes right back to their birth – they were twins, and when they were born, Jacob, the second-born, came out of the womb holding on to Esau’s heel, almost like he was trying to pull his elder brother back, and pulling himself into the first-born position.

So Jacob is a trickster, but when you carry on with his story, the trickster gets tricked by his father-in-law.  When Jacob fell in love with Rachel and asked to marry her, the condition was that he would give seven years’ labour to her father in exchange for his bride. But then seven years later, at the wedding, her father tricked the groom by covering Rachel’s elder sister Leah’s head with the veil and presenting her as Rachel. And so Jacob was tricked into giving his father-in-law seven more years of labour in order to be allowed to marry Rachel.

But don’t worry too much about him – you can’t keep a trickster down for long, and shortly before today’s story, Jacob turned the tables on his father-in-law.  He was in charge of his father-in-law’s livestock, and used his trickery to make sure that his flock ended up with the largest and strongest sheep, while his father-in-law ended up with the weak and sickly lambs.  And then when his wives’ brothers clued in that their father was being tricked, Jacob made plans to move his whole family, all of those wives and children, back to his homeland.  But Jacob didn’t wait for his father-in-law to catch him, but snuck them all away without saying goodbye.

And now Jacob, our hero – or maybe anti-hero – is on his way back to his homeland, back to encounter his brother Esau, with whom he didn’t part on the friendliest of terms, after he had robbed Esau of his birthright.

So back to casting.  For Jacob, like I said, we probably want someone who is conventionally handsome, but not a big buff action-hero type.  I’m thinking someone like Benedict Cumberbatch or Ryan Reynolds.

His family – his wives and children – they all have minor roles in our film. At the beginning of the story, Jacob helps them all across the river to go on ahead of him, but he remains behind for the night.  So I don’t think that we need to spend a lot of time casting them.

But our other main character in our story is this shadowy figure that Jacob meets that night on the shores of the River Jabbok.  Did you notice that we are given very few clues as to the identity of this figure?  Jacob had been praying to God in the scene just before our story, praying to be saved from his brother’s justifiable anger; and at the end of our story, he names this place by the river Peniel, meaning “face of God.”  So we might assume that the figure that Jacob encounters by the river is God.  But in the flow of the story itself, this figure is only named as a man.  Not God, not an angel, but a man.  No name, no description, other than the fact that this being is strong enough to dislocate Jacob’s hip, something that usually takes the force of a car accident to achieve.

In making our film, I think that I would want to keep this figure shrouded in as much mystery as possible.  I would want to keep their face in the shadows so that we can never see their face clearly.  And maybe dress them in a long dark robe so that their precise movements are hard to make out.  It would have to be a tall actor with a commanding physical presence, or maybe we could use camera trickery to make the actor look significantly taller than our actor playing Jacob.  Interestingly, Tilda Swinton was the first actor who popped into my brain as I was mentally casting my film, but if she isn’t available, maybe we could ask Johnny Depp or Denzel Washington.

The main action sequence in our film is a wrestling match between the two characters – Jacob and our mysterious being. We aren’t told why they began to wrestle, but they wrestle through the night, and then, just as the dawn is beginning to break on the horizon, with the two of them locked in each other’s arms, we have our main dialogue.

The mysterious stranger demands, “Let me go!” but Jacob replies, “I won’t let you go until you bless me.”  Our stranger asks, “What is your name?” and Jacob replies, “Jacob.”  Our stranger, in that moment, re-names Jacob Israel, which means “One Who Struggles With God,” but when Jacob-Israel demands to know the stranger’s name, our stranger refuses to answer, asking why Jacob wants to know.  Finally, our stranger blesses Jacob, and then… disappears?  The stranger is there in the story, and then they aren’t. We can probably have some fun with the visual effects at this point in our movie.

And then our big cinematic moment comes at the end of the film, with the sun rising in the background, and Jacob limping towards the river to go and rejoin his family, limping not only because of his hip injury, but limping as an outward, visible signal of his inner change – changed by the blessing that he received, changed by his wrestling with God, changed by the new name he has received.  Roll the credits.

To me, the most interesting question to ask of this story is the one that I hinted at a while ago.  Why did Jacob wrestle this stranger, there on the riverbank?  Why did Jacob think that he needed to wrestle a blessing out of God?  When I think of God, I think of love radiating out in abundance, for God is love – the very substance of God is love.  And yet Jacob feels the need to wrestle a blessing out of God.  Jacob, who has spent his life tricking others and being tricked by others, thinks that he needs to trick a blessing out of God, rather than realizing that God’s blessing is there for the taking.

To me, a blessing isn’t about material good fortune – it isn’t about fancy vacations or a fat bank account or even about good health.  To me, when something is blessed, it is set apart to be the thing that God made it for. A blessing dedicates a person or a thing to God.  I suspect that when this building was first built, it was blessed, set apart to be a place of worship and service.  We end each worship with a blessing, setting us on a path to be God’s people in the world in the days ahead.  Jacob is blessed to be Israel, the father of many nations of people who will love and serve God.

I wonder if one of Jacob’s character flaws might have been that he wasn’t able to see God any differently than he saw other people.  He went through his life thinking that he needed to fight others for what he wanted; and then when he met God, he could only see God in the same light.

I’m thinking of our movie that we are making, and how we might portray that moment when Jacob first encountered God, I mean, a “shadowy stranger,” on the banks of the river as the sun was setting.  I imagine Jacob looking at the stranger with longing in his eyes, knowing that this stranger had something that he wanted, but unsure of how to ask for it.  I imagine Jacob yearning to know God better, just as his parents and grandparents had, but unsure of how to approach God, and then falling back on his usual patterns of how to handle life’s challenges with violence and trickery.  But all the while, God’s love and God’s blessing were there for the taking – no trickery required; no violence required.

Now what about you?  How do you approach God for your blessing?  Do you relate to Jacob, scrambling for everything in life, and wrestling this blessing from a seemingly-reluctant God?  Or do you feel like you want to turn around and run the other direction, fleeing from the path that this blessing might put you on?  Or do you shrink back, not certain whether you deserve this blessing that God is about to give you?  Or do you stride forward confidently, knowing that this blessing is there waiting for you?

But no matter your approach, you, my friend, you are blessed.  You are blessed by a loving God, blessed to be the person God created you to be, beautiful and beloved.  You are blessed for a journey that may not always be easy, but it will be a journey with God always at your side.  You are blessed, so that your life might be a blessing to the world.  Amen.

 

 

Now picture Jacob-Israel, silhouetted by the rising sun,

limping,

preparing to cross the river to re-join his family

Image Credit:  “Grand River Sunrise” by Rachel Cramer on flickr

Used with permission.

12 October 2025

A Thanksgiving Prayer

Two Rivers Pastoral Charge
Sunday October 12 - Thanksgiving Weekend

God of overwhelming grace,

         this Thanksgiving, we pause,

                  and we choose gratitude.

With each breath we take, we thank you for the air we breathe.

With each meal, we thank you for making the plants grow.

With each hug, each smile, each handshake,

         we thank you for the people that you put into our lives.

With each morning that we wake up,

         we thank you for giving us the breath of life,

                  for filling us with your Holy Spirit.

 

As we gather around Thanksgiving tables,

         celebrating the abundance of the fall harvest,

we thank you and pray for all of the people who make it possible.

We pray for the farmers and for the farm workers.

We pray for the drivers who transport the food.

We pray for the manufacturers and processors.

We pray for the people who work in grocery stores

         and farmer’s markets

         and gas stations

         and farm stands.

We pray for the people who prepare the food,

         who set the table,

         who issue invitations,

         who serve the food,

         who wash dishes.

Thank you, God, for the gifts of all of these people,

         and we ask you to bless them and bless their labour.

 

And yet even on this Thanksgiving weekend,

         Loving God,

                  we know that all is not perfect in the world.

And so we pray for everyone who is sick or injured,

we pray for everyone who is lonely,

we pray for everyone who is mourning,

we pray for all caregivers,

we pray for everyone who lives in fear,

we pray for everyone living in war zones and places of violence.

We pray that your love might reach to every corner of the world,

and we ask that you transform us, by your Holy Spirit,

         into people who reflect your love into places in the world

                  that still rest in the shadows.

 

God of all people and all places,

         our prayers today stretch around the world.

In the WCC Ecumenical Prayer Cycle,

         this week we especially pray for the people and churches

                  of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Panama.

We pray for the people of Gaza,

and we pray that the tentative ceasefire

         might grow into a just and lasting peace.

We pray for peace in Ukraine,

         and also for peace in places that don’t reach the news cycle.

We pray for an end to this drought –

         for rains to fall that will fill wells and fill rivers

                  and quench the thirst of the dry land.

As the world feels ever more divided into isolated silos,

         we pray for your Holy Spirit to break down walls that divide

                  so that we might truly hear one another.

We pray for safety for all who are marginalized –

         for immigrants and refugees,

         for all members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ Community,

         for racialized people;

and we pray for your kingdom to unfold soon

         as a place where all people are equally valued.

 

And we pray too, for the people and situations

that are closest to our hearts,

as we name them now, aloud or in the silence of our hearts.

(pause)

 

Merciful God,

         finally we pray for ourselves.

You see us as we truly are.

You know the needs and desires of our hearts.

You know our secret joys and our secret sorrows.

Embrace all of us in your warm, enveloping love.

Fill our hearts with the peace of Christ.

Nudge us forwards, by your Holy Spirit, when we feel stuck,

         comfort us when we need comforting,

and most of all, draw us into your eternal dance of love.

 

All of our prayers, spoken and unspoken,

         we gather together and hold up to the light of Christ,

                  entrusting them to your care.

 

We pray all of this in and through Jesus Christ,

         in whose name we are called.

Amen.

 

 


5 October 2025

"A Mustard Seed of Faith" (sermon)

Two Rivers Pastoral Charge
Sunday October 5, 2025
Scripture:  Luke 17:5-10


In school, they give out prizes for all sorts of things.  Last spring, my nephew Charlie got the prize at his Grade 8 graduation for the top student in Geography.  Another nephew, Eddie, was on the Dean’s List at the end of his first year of university.  And another nephew, Jonathan, was given the Sandrine Craig Award by his school, awarded to a student who chooses kindness, cooperation, commitment, and respect, and acts as a moral compass in their classroom, speaking up for those who need help.  (And yes, that wording is straight from his certificate.)

So here’s a question – if Jesus were standing in front of us, what sorts of awards might he choose to give out?  He probably wouldn’t be giving out awards like Best Mark in Geography, or Best Goalie in the league.  So what sorts of awards might he give out?  (Invite suggestions – e.g. the kindest person award; most generous person award; choir practice attendance award; most sandwiches made for Romero House prize)

But if you think about it, this is a pretty silly thought experiment.  Because if we are giving out an award for the kindest person, that would imply that everyone else wasn’t kind.  Or, maybe, that only one person could win at kindness, so if you weren’t in the running for the award, you might as well not try.

In reality, Jesus wants all of us to win the kindness prize, or the most generous person prize, or the most compassionate person prize.  These are things that are expected of all of us – it isn’t a competition.  It would be pretty silly for Jesus to stand here and say, “I give the runner-up prize in generosity to (name)”; or “The third-place winner in the compassion category is (name).”

It's not a competition – instead these are things that are expected from all of us – the bare minimum, you might say!  But even if they are the bare minimum, all of our gifts and all of our contributions are celebrated.  God’s grace means that there is enough celebration for everyone.  Rather than celebrating the winner in the kindness category, everyone’s contribution of kindness is celebrated in the world.  Even my nephew’s award for kindness and cooperation and respect isn’t quite in keeping with God’s dream for the world – in God’s dream for the world, everyone will be celebrated for kindness and cooperation and respect, and not just one person.

So where does that leave us?

In the reading from Luke that we heard this morning, Jesus is using the example of slavery – an analogy that would have made sense to his original listeners, even though it isn’t part of our lived experience in our time and place.

Jesus says that a slave is expected to do their work, and doesn’t expect special commendation for doing their job.

Our job, as followers of the Way of Jesus is to follow the teachings of Jesus, and like the slave in Jesus’s analogy, we shouldn’t expect special commendation for doing what is right.

We are to love God with our whole being.  We are to love our neighbours – all of our neighbours – and love here should be an active verb, not a passive feeling.  We are to live with respect in Creation, as part of God’s community of creation.  We are to seek justice and resist evil.  We are to proclaim God’s hope, peace, joy, and love with our words and with our actions.

And even though we aren’t to seek special commendation for doing these things, I don’t think that it is wrong to celebrate these things in all people.  After all, Jesus said that you only needed to have faith the size of a tiny mustard seed in order to make a difference in the world!

And so even if we, by our own efforts, aren’t able to solve climate change in the world, we are called to do what we are able to do to live with respect in creation so that all of creation can flourish.

And so even if we, by our own efforts, aren’t able to bring about world peace, we are called to do what we are able to do to bring about peace in the spheres in which we move.

And so even if we, by our own efforts, aren’t able to create a world where nobody is hungry, we are called to do what we are able to do to feed hungry people in our neighbourhood around us.

There is no prize for these things – as Jesus says in the teaching, “we have only done what we ought to have done.”  And yet we can celebrate these things when we see them happening, because we are witnessing the kingdom of God in action!

And so as we journey the Way of Jesus together, how are you going to share your gifts with the world?  How are you going to plant and nurture your mustard seed of faith?  And how are you going to encourage your fellow travellers to do the same?

And may the Holy Spirit inspire us and guide us so to do!  Amen.

 

 

 

A Mustard Seed of Faith
Image Credit:  JaBB on flickr
Used with Permission