SMBC Principal's Hour

This parable about a dad with two boys is one of the most well-known of Jesus’ parables. Yet its message about Jesus’ ministry and what God is like is surprising. Like the shepherd and the woman in the first part of this chapter, the father is the main character of this parable. Amazingly, the whole chapter points us to a joyful God who delights in our salvation.

There are many things we could focus on during our time at SMBC. As Jesus washed his disciples’ feet, he gives us a pattern for ministry that we must begin to practice now. Jesus’ pattern of ministry involves loving people, even when they oppose us, because it points to Jesus’ death for us.

Life is full of great expectations but also bitter disappointments. In Genesis 35 we see those two realities woven together. As we reflect on this chapter it helps us to know how to live in hope amid the ups and downs of a life following Jesus.

This sermon engages with the topic of sexual violence against women. If that topic is likely to cause you distress, then you may want to consider where and with whom you listen to this sermon.

Violence against women is always condemned in Scripture. The Old Testament often recounts violence against women to indicate the depth of Israel’s unfaithfulness and moral decline. Genesis 34 reminds us that we cannot pursue the kingdom by sacrificing those to whom the kingdom belongs.

After wrestling with God, Jacob faces the hard and daunting task of being reconciled with Esau. As these two brothers become reconciled after 20 years of a broken relationship, we see evidence of God’s work in their lives enabling them both to engage willingly in reconciliation. This snapshot from their lives provides us many helpful insights into the important life skill of reconciliation that we all need to master in our lives.

Paul talks of our being “only servants” (3:5) and “not anything” (v.7), with God alone bringing the growth. Yet he suggests that at the same time we are very much something, because our work influences the eternal destinies of those we minister to. How do these truths intersect? His answer is that our work will be tested on the final day, and the test of each person’s work turns out to be the test of the final product – the fruit of our work. So don’t waste your time! People’s eternal realities and destinies are at stake, as God – through our work – produces fruit that lasts into eternity.

On his way back to the Promised Land, Jacob seems like a changed man. But God’s training program for him hasn’t quite finished. In a strange episode, Jacob wrestles a man only to discover the person he is wrestling with is God. The episode pulls back the curtain to expose the shape of Jacob’s life to this point and it pulls back the curtain on our life too, as well as on God’s grace.

Jacob’s persistent scheming not only leads to significant adverse outcomes but also reveals his lack of trust in a God who has consistently provided for him. In this sermon, we are encouraged to look through Jacob’s own eyes and empathise with him, especially in moments of frustration with our own life circumstances. Ultimately, we’re called to choose the superior path of placing our trust in the God of the promise.

Sometimes, serving God involves angst, pressure and stress. Does it have to be like that? Certainly, there are sufferings that will come and can’t be avoided. But there are some troubles that we bring on ourselves by pursuing God’s promises the wrong way. In this text, Rachel learns a valuable lesson about how to pursue the promise. It can be a lesson for us too, if we have ears to hear.

Just as Jacob carried on in faith in God and his promises, despite being deceived and suffering the ongoing consequences of that, so we can carry on in faith too, trusting in the God we cannot see and the promises he made to his people in Christ of forgiveness and eternal life. We may not know what part the messiness of life and our own shortcomings will play in the Lord’s purposes, but we can still trust Him to bring us into His kingdom.