Faith,
Deep down, we all love a good fight. Yes or no? I know that doesn’t sound like the most Christian question for a pastor to ask. What do kids on the playground do once two kids start shoving each other? “Fight! Fight! Fight!”
When it comes to sports, we are passionate about football and hockey. Is it only for the skill, or is there something about the physical pummeling that compels us? The popularity of boxing is now rivaled by WWE, and the Guthrie Theatre continues to compete with the theatre of professional wrestling. Add to our fight club menu the violence of movies, television, and video games, and I think it would be pretty hard to argue against the truth that we love a good fight.
Clearly, God’s will is that we not fight. Jesus was specific. He came to bring peace. Could it be, however, in a world insistent on hitting each other, God says, “You wanna fight? Hit Me.” And could it be God even lets us win so we might be won?
I say these things to prepare us for Sunday, as we continue our journey through the book of Genesis. We will find our hero Jacob fighting all night with none other than God Himself (Genesis 32:22-32). What?! Yep! This is God in hand-to-hand combat with the father of the twelve tribes of Israel. In this fight, neither Jacob nor we will leave unchanged. When we wrestle with God, our winning is losing, and our losing is winning.
Curious? See you Sunday as we discover who we are in God’s story.
In Christ alone,
Pastor Brad
***Message notes are here.
Here are this week’s deeper dive videos:
Genesis 32-33 | Why does Jacob wrestle with God? (3:18)
What is the meaning of Jacob wrestling with God? | GotQuestions.org (4:30)