Date: July 23, 2023 

Scripture: Genesis 28:1-9a

Scripture Reader: Wendy Baker

Sermon Title: “Touched with Heaven”

Preacher: Rev. Dr. Bob Jon

You can also listen on Podcast from iTunes and Spotify. Search for “Podcasting from Rev. Bob Jon.”

There is a story about a Yiddish-speaking newcomer to America who brought his pregnant wife to the hospital. However, during the delivery, he found out that he and his wife were having twins, and he fainted. He did not wake up for a couple of days, so his brother was brought in to help name the children. When the man woke up and found out that his brother named the babies, he panicked and said, “My brother? Oh no. He is illiterate and does not even speak English. So, what did he name the girl?” “He named her Denise.” “Denise? That’s not too bad. I kind of like it. What about the boy?” “De Nephew.” 

It is not easy to name a child because the name would be his or her identity. When my wife and I were expecting Daniel back in 2013, we knew that we were going to name him Daniel. But my father told us that he would give the Korean name. A couple of weeks before his birth, my father told us that he wanted to name our new child, “Pyung-Kang” which means peace in Korean. He said, “I was praying to God, and God said that every time you call him “Pyung-Kang,” I will give you peace.” Well, Daniel is turning ten next month, and we are still waiting for it to happen. 

When Rebecca, the wife of Isaac, was conceived, the two children in her womb struggled against each other. She was concerned and said, “If it is to be this way, why do I live?” She prayed to God, and God spoke to her, “You have two nations in your womb. The one shall be stronger than the other, the elder shall serve the younger.” The first one came out, and his body was covered with so much hair. So, they named him Esau. The second one came out holding the heel of the second one. So, they named him Jacob, which means, “He supplants, follows, or is behind.” 

And his name defines who he is. He is someone who comes after his older brother. When his father catches some game, he would give the big portion of the meat to the older one, Esau, and the smaller one to Jacob because he supplants. He follows his brother. When they argue and get into a fight, his father would tell Jacob to be respectful of his brother, like he obeys the father. When Isaac dies, most of the family inheritance, along with the blessings from God, would go to the older one, Esau, not Jacob, because he is the one who supplants his older brother. 

So, Jacob tries to reverse the order. I cannot remain as someone who supplants my brother. I need to take the birthright away from him, even if I need to manipulate him. So, that’s what happens. One day, after Esau came home from hunting, he saw his brother Jacob cooking a red lentil stew. “Give me some.” “No, first sell me your birthright.” And Esau sold his birthright to Jacob as if it meant nothing to him. The second time, Jacob conspired with his mother Rebecca. He put some hair on his smooth skin, pretending to be his brother and got the blessing from his father, blessings of power, wealth, and status. 

When Esau found out that he was deceived again by Jacob, he was breathing murderous anger. According to Genesis, this is what he said to himself. “As soon as my father dies, I will kill my brother Jacob.” His mother, Rebecca, heard this and urged her son Jacob to escape to her brother Laban in Haran. So, Jacob was running away from his brother and his beloved home. This journey was not an easy one. Beersheba, where Jacob’s family lived, is a modern Israel and Haran is Turkey today. It is about 546 miles. It takes at least 16 or 20 days. Jacob was probably hungry, thirsty, and exhausted. He was probably worrying about his mother. Will he ever see his father, Isaac, again? 

When we stop and think, I can imagine it might be difficult for us to identify with Jacob’s trouble. What is the big deal with being born as the second child? There are plenty of people who are the younger ones and succeed in many ways, like careers, sports, and money. I have shared with you before that my younger one, Joshua, is a little picky when it comes to food. There is a very limited list of food he is willing to try. But I have noticed recently that he has been consuming more food because he wants to outgrow his older brother Daniel. He sometimes shouts at his brother, “I am almost as tall as you!” 

But Jacob aspired for the blessing from God. In 1 Chronicles, there is a person named Jabez. It is very likely that we miss the name of this person because there are only two verses that mention his name throughout the whole Bible. In narrating the list of descendants of Judah, the Bible says that Jabez was honored more than his brothers and his mother named him Jabez, meaning, “I bore him in pain.” And he prayed to God, “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory and that your hand might be with me and that you would keep me from hurt and harm!” And God granted what he asked. 

Unlike Esau, who did not understand the importance of the blessing, Jacob yearned for God’s blessing. He aspired it. He wanted to be the route through whom the blessing of God would come upon his house, his children, and his descendants. When the next generation called upon their God, they would pray to God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob. Jacob wanted to change his name as someone who does not follow his brother, even by willing to trick his brother and father. But it would not be him but God who could turn his life around. It would be God who could alter his path. God does this by showing a sacred dream to Jacob at night. 

When the sun had set, Jacob took one of the stones and used it as his pillow. In his dream, he saw a stairway set up on the earth, and its top was reaching to heaven. He saw the angels of God ascending and descending on the stairway. And there, God spoke to Jacob “I am the Lord, I will bless your offspring and make them numerous. And I will be with you and will keep you wherever you go. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” When Jacob woke up from his sleep, he exclaimed, “God is in this place, and I did not know it.” He set up a pillar with the stone he used for his pillow, poured oil on it, and called this place Bethel, meaning “the house of God.” 

There was a time when Jacob had everything. His family, his home, food to eat, place to play. But he had nothing now. He was at the bottom of his life, running away from his family because his life was threatened by none other than his brother. On his perilous journey, he was exhausted, hungry, and thirsty. And when he felt he lost everything, failing in many ways, Jacob realizes that the place where he stood was the house of God, touched with heaven. The ordinary place with stones became a sacred place where God anointed him, blessed him, and promised him that God would bring him back home safely. 

I grew up in the countryside of Korea. Since my father was the pastor, people at my church often called me the junior pastor. People expected that I would be a pastor someday. So, when I became a senior in high school, I naturally applied for a theological education in college. The town where I was raised had such a poor quality in education. No one expected the young people to achieve their dreams or something but stay in the town mostly to become farmers. So, when I got into a college in Seoul, the capital of Korea, many people were surprised and celebrated with my family together. 

But when I got into college, I quickly lost the purpose of being there. I did not want to be there. You know I studied for my whole life so I could be there. But I felt like I just wasted my whole life. So, right before the mid-term exam in my sophomore year, I told my mother that I wanted to drop out of college. Within a couple of hours, my mother came up to meet with me. She had tears in her eyes. She was born during the Korean War in 1952. Her father died when she was only 12 years old. Due to the poverty in single-family and post-war, the expectation for her was not to go to college but get a job to support her family. And what a pride I was for her. So, I decided not to drop the college but continue. 

When my sophomore year finished, I joined the military as it is mandatory for all Korean males, even today. In a way, the military was the place where I was running away just like Jacob. I was confused. I lost the purpose. I felt so uncertain of my future. When I was in the boot camp, I was stripped of all my identity. I lost my clothing. I lost my name. Everyone shaved their head and was called by their assigned number, not name. No one cared who you were or what you did, whether you were rich or poor, whether you went to college or not. Sure, we were there to serve our country and protect our families and friends from North Korea. But everyone was hoping that the next two and half years would go quickly. 

And one night, my unit was called for a shooting exercise. I was sitting with hundreds of other young men, waiting for my turn to shoot at the target. The light from our weapons split the dark sky, and the sound filled the air, “Bang! Bang!” like the fireworks from July 4 here. There I sat and looked up at the night sky and saw so many stars shining brightly. And suddenly, I felt the time stopped in the midst of loud shootings. I just felt awed and amazed at the thought that there is God who created all those countless stars and universe cared enough about me. Suddenly, I felt full in my heart with the promise of God that God would protect me in the military and would go with me wherever I go in the future. 

We might not deceive others as Jacob did. But many people work hard to pursue their dreams, improve their life circumstances, or claim the blessings of God. While doing so, we are so caught up with what is happening in us individually or in our relationship with others that we often forget that it is God who blesses us, promises to be with us wherever we go, and protects us in our journey. Stanford Professor of Education William Damon says, “In these days of intense focus on individual performance and status, a real risk in the development of today’s young people is self-absorption. For the sake of both their mental health and their character development, all young people need to hear the message, “It’s not about you.” 

Dearly beloved, God knows us if we have been running away from our troubles or struggles, just like Jacob was. Certainly, we all have different journeys with the crosses to bear. Wherever you are in your journey, I pray that we see the ladder of God that connects between where we are today and heaven. Although our troubles or struggles often block us from sensing the presence of God, we can later exclaim, “God has been with me all this time, and I did not know it.” I pray that God turns our homes into Bethel so we can claim that this is the house of God where the peace, love, and joy of God overflow. I pray that God indeed makes Aldersgate Bethel where we can encounter God and rejoice in God’s grace for us. 

Amen.