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Genesis 25:19-34;27:41-45;
33:1-10 October 4, 2009 “JACOB AND ESAU”: A
SEQUEL TO This morning we continue our series of sermons on some of the old bible stories, with today’s story being the story of Jacob and Esau. Most of us are familiar enough with the story of Cain and Abel to know that we’re not dealing with a Norman Rockwell kind of family. While Cain was a farmer; Abel was more of a shepherd, and if you know the story of our own frontier, you know that those two occupations were like mixing oil and water. Also, in the theology of this ancient story, if not in actuality, God favored Abel over Cain and so, out of jealousy, Cain killed his brother, and then, when asked about it, he offered those cold and deceitful words that now live in infamy, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Well, we all know how Hollywood loves to do sequels, and that seems to be the situation, a few generations later, in the story of Jacob and Esau. Jacob and Esau are the beloved children of Isaac and Rebekah; the only problem being that one was more “beloved” than the other. They were twins, but not identical twins and Esau was born only slightly ahead of Jacob, and indeed, as they were being born, Jacob was holding on to Esau’s ankle. Nevertheless, with the law of primogeniture being what it was, Esau being the old brother would have inherited all of Isaac’s wealth. Now, as was the case with Cain and Abel, Esau was more of a hunter and a gatherer; while Jacob liked to stay at home and help his mother around the house. Obviously, Isaac and Rebekah hadn’t studied the bible sufficiently to learn something from the tragedy of Adam and Eve’s family, and neither had they taken “Parenting 101”, for they showed inexcusable favoritism for one child over the other. While Esau was outside doing what he had to do, Jacob was inside, currying favor with his parents, scoring all kinds of points with his mother – washing the dishes, sweeping the floor, reciting his scripture lessons with absolute precision, and so, without going into all the details, his mother, Rebekah conspired with Jacob to steal Esau’s birthright. Using subterfuge and camouflage, Jacob received Isaac’s blessing instead of Esau. As you can imagine, when Esau finds out about this, he is filled with rage, and you can only imagine how hurtful it must have been for him to know that his own mother – his own mother -- had sold him out! Now, those of you who know this story know that I have glossed over a lot of biblical material sufficient for about a 3 hour sermon, but suffice it to say that at this point, these two twins – Jacob and Esau – were turned into bitter enemies by their own parents, such that it does indeed seem as if we’re in for a sequel to the Cain and Abel tragedy. I think it’s axiomatic that blood may be thicker than water, but when blood is turned into fire and ice, nothing is quite so ugly, nothing is quite so vicious as a family feud, as perhaps some of us can attest. These old bible stories are more than stories; they are really archetypes for the “same-old, same-old” dynamics that keep playing themselves out in the human family; they are stories that keep on being repeated and played again and again throughout the history of the human race. “Cain and Abel” become “Jacob and Esau” who become blood brothers fighting on opposites sides of the Mason Dixon line. They are soldiers from the North and soldiers from the South. They are Catholics and Protestants at the time Queen Elizabeth. They are the Campbells and the Macdonalds, the Hatfields and the McCoys. They are Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda. They are Palestinians and Israelis. They are Shiite and Sunni Muslims. They are, perhaps, members of our own families that fight and fight so viciously over such things as things – material possessions, land, inheritance, things that were done or things that were said maybe as long as 50 years ago, and in far too many cases these conflicts are rooted in the feeling that one child is favored more than the other – the sin of Isaac and Rebekah and perhaps the inevitable by-product of the law or the custom of primogeniture. Indeed, I read somewhere that those who came over from Europe and settled in the South may have been the younger brothers of those who would become the aristocrats of Europe, and so who knows what psychological role “primogeniture” may have played in our country. … Worthy perhaps of speculation. Be that as it may, allow me to tell this story of “Jacob and Esau” from the perspective of a Hollywood director. The story of “Cain and Abel” had been a smashing success. Under the direction of Quentin Tarentino, the movie version of “Cain and Abel” was a veritable Dionysian festival of blood and violence, and how can we ever forget those closing words, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” And so now with this story of Esau being cheated out of his own inheritance by his brother and his mother, this is almost too good to be true. Not only fratricide but also perhaps matricide in living color and slow motion. If you were to do the casting for this movie, who would you choose for the leading roles? What action heroes would you choose to play the role of Esau and Jacob, maybe Johnny Depp as the one who was betrayed and maybe Matt Damon as his smooth talking, mama pleasing brother? …Or, maybe the other way around. I don’t know; your ideas are probably better than mine, but you get the idea. But you can imagine how ecstatic this movie director is as he reads this script. The story of Jacob and Esau would be the ultimate in what an action packed thriller should be. The director picks up the script and reads
on, and he can hardly believe his eyes. It just keeps getting better and better
which in Hollywood means “bigger” and “bigger” and more and more horrific. Now,
not only Jacob and Esau – two gunslingers fighting it out to the bitter end, but
now their entire families as well, hundreds of them on either side – men, women
and children and their farm animals as well. Picture one of the unbelievably brutal and bloody battles in the movie “Lord of the Rings”, only this is even “better”, for here, it is not human versus subhuman, but rather family member versus family member, brother against brother and mother against son, in-laws against in-laws and cousin against cousin. This movie would cross over boundaries that had previously been considered taboo, and that’s saying something for Hollywood, where nothing seems taboo. So, let’s set the scene. According to our scripture lesson, the families of Jacob and Esau are standing on opposite sides of a large field, a field that the director would turn into the cinematic version of the killing fields of Cambodia or the open meadows of Gettysburg. On Esau’s side there are 400 men of valor, and seeing this, Jacob moves his wife and his children to the back, and showing the same kind of “moral character” that he exemplified when he stole Esau’s birthright, despicably he moves his servants and their children to the frontline, but at least he does the honorable thing by doing this. He stands in front of them all, maybe in this gesture finding some means of redemption, for surely it seems as if the cards are stacked against him. Finding courage and nobility and redemption is sometimes slow in coming, but Jacob seems now to be showing the true mettle of his spirit as he walks out in front of his large family, and as he walks, you can see him bowing himself to the ground as if in a state of contrition and penitence. “A curious thing”, the director says to himself, but then he says, “This is okay; we can work with this; this is just Jacob being Jacob, ever the trickster, ever the one to use subterfuge and misdirection; surely he is hiding a dagger that he will use at just the right moment.” But then the director reads on and he is flabbergasted by what he reads. Rather than drawing his sword for this final battle, faster than Usain Bolt running for the Olympic gold medal, faster than Ladamian Tomlison running for glory on the football field, Esau ran for a different type of glory. Ignoring the danger, he runs and then he throws his arms around his brother. Jacob says how sorry he is and offers him all that he has, but Esau says, “I have enough, my brother; keep what you have for yourself.” And Jacob, who out of shame and guilt, hadn’t been able to look anyone in the eye for a long, long time, looks at his brother – eye to eye and man to man – and says some of the most remarkable words of theology ever to be heard, “to see your face is like seeing the face of God.” Isn’t that what we should be saying to each other; isn’t that what we should be teaching our children to say to someone else – the stranger, the other, the one that has harmed us, the one that we have harmed? “To see your face is like seeing the face of God” .. Not a God up there and out there someplace, not a God who is removed or distant or angry or standing in judgment, but a God that can be seen and seen so clearly on the countenance, on the face of someone else. “To see your face is like seeing the face of God.” Quite disgusted, this Hollywood director throws the script of “Jacob and Esau” on the floor and goes on to something, but I say, the world is so desperately in need of those willing to pick up that script and allow themselves the opportunity to be a part of this great, great story. The world doesn’t need any more sequels to the story of Cain and Abel; we already have more than enough of these. And so this morning, as we receive this Sacrament of Holy Communion, I am asking you to please, do not pick up one of these pieces of bread unless you are ready to make your life and your relationships a sequel to this wonderful, even miraculous story of Jacob and Esau. On Monday of this week at the invitation of one of my Jewish friends, I went to a synagogue in Westerly for their service of Yom Kippur, and I love in their prayers for that occasion how our Jewish friends will touch their chest with their fist, as if to say, “I have played the role of Jacob. I have cheated others out of their inheritance. I have done that which I should not have done.” Through contrition and penitence and forgiveness and reconciliation, we have all that is necessary to break the cycle of violence and finally, once for all, to bring the story of Cain and Abel to an end. Not only in the world out there in all the enmity and hostility that plays so rough with the human family, but also in our own immediate families and communities we have what it takes to make them the joyous and peaceful blessing to the world they were created to be. And so this morning if you choose to receive this piece of bread, I hope you will say to yourself. “I want to be on the battlefield of life. I want to play the role of Jacob and touch my chest and publicly acknowledge the wrongs and the injustices I have done, and also I want to play the role of Esau; I want to throw caution to the wind and I want to run and run just for the sheer joy of reconciliation, of being able to forgive, of being able to offer forgiveness. The script is on the cutting room floor. The script is somehow quite mysteriously present in these torn up pieces of bread. It is up to you and me to do with it as we please. Amen.
David W. Good Old Lyme, Connecticut
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