Sermon for Sunday 2nd August 2026, Trinity 9

Preached in Granborough by Peter Evans

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READING

​​Genesis 32.22-31

 

22 That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female servants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23 After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. 24 So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. 25 When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. 26 Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”

But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
27 The man asked him, “What is your name?”
“Jacob,” he answered.

28 Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”

29 Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.”
But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there.
30 So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”
31 The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip.

 

​SERMON

I want to start with a one question quiz.

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What do Giant Haystacks, Big Daddy and Elohim all have in common? Or perhaps, Hulk Hogan, The Rock, or Mick McManus. They all have this thing in common.

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Of course, for five of them, it’s wrestling.

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But what about the name in the middle of the list? Elohim. Any thoughts?

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Elohim is the Hebrew name for God used in the passage that Davina read to us. It means creator God or mighty one, and it’s the word used to describe God in this passage. And it turns out that God is a wrestler. Who knew that?

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Many of us will have come across this passage before. The story of Jacob is quite well known. He gave us the story of Jacob’s ladder, or staircase leading up to heaven. He is the father of the twelve tribes of Israel, and the one we all remember is Joseph – the dream interpreter – seven years of bumper crops are on their way – that Joseph. The amazing technicolour dreamcoat Joseph.

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Most of Jacob’s story hangs together quite nicely, and covers half the book of Genesis, from chapter 25 to the very end at chapter 50.

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But this relatively short passage, is a bit of mystery. Lots of “whys”. And it only begins to make any sense at all once we understand the rest of Jacob’s story.

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Now we can’t possibly do 25 chapters in one sermon, but I thought it was worth having a go at the edited highlights.

Jacob was born to Isaac and Rebekah, the second of two non-identical twins. Jacob is born almost straight after his slightly older brother, Esau, because he came out holding on to Esau’s heel. In fact Jacob means “heel grabber”. But coming out second means that he doesn’t get the birthright that goes with being first born.

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Jacob is from a famous biblical family. Jacob’s father is Isaac, and Jacob’s grandfather is Abraham. Early on in Jacob’s story, he has the famous ladder dream, in which God promises to make Jacob the father of a nation whose people will spread out across the earth. This is essentially a restating of the covenant that God made first with Abraham.

Abraham was a wealthy man, and so too was Isaac. And this money meant that Jacob, as second born, was at a disadvantage to his older brother, Esau. Because he would not inherit. But not just the money, the power as well, would also go to Esau.

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Make of this next bit what you will. Isaac knows that he is getting close to death and his eyesight is failing. He decides it is time to give his blessing to his oldest son, Esau, and pass on the birthright. His inheritance.

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Rebekah, Isaac’s wife and Jacob’s mother, gets wind of the plan and persuades Jacob (without any difficulty at all) to impersonate Esau, to steal the birthright. Esau’s clothes and an animal skin do the trick. And Jacob lies blatantly to his father Isaac and so receives the birthright blessing.

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Esau is furious, as you would expect. And vows to kill Jacob.

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Some distance between the two brothers is needed. Jacob is sent away to Rebekah’s brother, Laban.

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Jacob falls in love with Laban’s younger (and beautiful) daughter, Rachel. But Laban won’t let Jacob marry her until he has worked a dowry and married the older daughter first, whose name is Leah. Eventually, after 14 years, Jacob ends up married to the two sisters, who are also his first cousins. And the two sisters don’t get on.

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Long story short, it’s like something out of East Enders, with lots of jealousy between the two wives. In fact it makes East Enders look like a picnic in the park.

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And over the coming years, Rachel, Leah, and their two servant girls, Zilpah and Bilhah eventually bear Jacob twelve sons, who go on to found the twelve tribes of Israel.

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Jacob is blessed by God as he works for Laban, but Laban is dishonest and devious (maybe that’s a family trait – after all, Rebekah and Laban are brother and sister) and eventually, Jacob decides that he and his family need to leave, for safety reasons. He thinks that if he sticks around, Laban will kill him. So God tells Jacob to go back to Canaan. But guess what? That’s where Esau is. Who has also vowed to kill him, and was well known for having a violent temper.

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Jacob is between a rock and a hard place. Stay and get killed by Laban. Or go to Canaan and get killed by Esau instead.

Anyway, Jacob sets off, but when he gets to the river crossing a bit of caution comes into play. Jacob decides to send everyone else across first. His wives, his two slave girls, his servants and his flocks. He himself stays behind. It really has the look of testing things out from a safe distance. Just in case it doesn’t end well.

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And this is where our reading starts.

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This is the point that Jacob becomes truly alone. All the things that give him security, his wives, his children, his slaves and servants, all his goods and flocks. They are all somewhere else. Jacob has just himself for company.

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And this is where the wrestling starts. It is the beginning of Jacob’s shift from self-reliance to dependence upon God.

In this passage, Jacob is trying to get some sleep, but a man comes to wrestle with Jacob. The man cannot overpower Jacob, but the wrestling continues all night. During the night, the man dislocates Jacob’s hip, but Jacob still won’t yield and clings on. Come the morning, the man asks Jacob to let him go. But Jacob won’t unless the man gives him a blessing. Now you’ll remember that Jacob is something of a blessing addict. This was important to him.

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It is during this encounter that Jacob realises that the man is actually God. Elohim, the creator God. The mighty one. And at the end of the encounter, God does indeed bless Jacob.

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It may seem strange that God cannot overpower Jacob. But I think it is best viewed from the other way round. It is that Jacob just won’t give in. Stubborn. It’s like the Black Knight in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The Black Knight will not stand aside to let King Arthur past. And so the duel begins. Firstly, Arthur chops his arm off. “Tis but a scratch” says the Black Knight. And then chops the other arm off. “Just a flesh wound” says the Black Knight and starts kicking Arthur. Arthur then chops off both of his legs and passes by. The Black Knight calls after them.  “You chickens. Running away. Come back here and I’ll bite your legs off.”

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This is Jacob in his wrestle with God. Will not give in. Will not yield.

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And by the morning, God does indeed bless Jacob. And changes his name from Jacob, the heel grabber, to Israel – meaning one who struggles with God.

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So the big, big question, has to be why.

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What was God wanting to achieve with Jacob, by choosing to wrestle through the night and not defeating Jacob quickly.

It’s because of the sort of person Jacob was.

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We know that Jacob was a liar, deceitful and fraudulent.

We know that he was very stubborn and persistent.

We know that he massively favoured Rachel over Leah, which certainly didn’t help with the family rivalry.

We know that Jacob felt he was treated very unfairly by Laban, although during that time, God had blessed Jacob with success as a farmer.

And we know that he is a bit of a coward.

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This may be harsh, but he reminds me of the 1980s yuppie – me, me, me, it’s all about me. Hard to know for sure, but there’s not much to suggest otherwise.

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Fundamentally, up to this point at least, he was a selfish and self-centred person. With a me first approach to life.

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And this is something that God needed to fix. For reasons we cannot really know, God has chosen Jacob to be the father of a nation. And God needs someone he can work with.

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And this is what the wrestling intervention achieves.

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Jacob’s lifelong attempt to gain the promised blessing by ingenuity and striving rather than by grace must now be abandoned.

Up to this point, Jacob has tried to answer that big question in life, with his own efforts. And it’s a question that we all try and answer at some point or another.

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Am I enough?

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It’s fundamental to our self-esteem, our confidence and self-worth.

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Am I enough?

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The answer is “no”, of course. We are not enough on our own. But let’s take some examples from modern life.

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Over the last few weeks, we’ve had Wimbledon, the football world cup, some international rugby and now we have the commonwealth games. Oh, and cricket. Mustn’t forget the cricket!

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In each one of these examples, there are athletes striving to be the very best. To stand on the podium, to lift the trophy, to bask in the glory.

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All trying to answer the question. Am I good enough to win? Do I have what it takes?

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Am I enough?

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And it may seem harsh, but the answer is still no. For sure, for those who win, the history books will change, bank balances will increase, more opportunities come along and for a while, it will feel truly wonderful.

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But there is quite a lot of anecdotal evidence coming from top level athletes that suggests winning alone is not enough. Many athletes have spoken about a surprising experience - being the best is not enough. Winning does not answer the deepest questions of life.

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The tennis player, Andre Aggasi said that winning changes nothing – from a man who achieved everything that he wanted to achieve – winning changes nothing.

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Sport simply reveals a question that all of us face, and not only in sport, but in many aspects of life – how we do at school, how popular we are, how well we do at work, whether we succeed in chasing the trophies of life, etc. 

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But whatever it is, the driving force behind all of these things is the belief that achievement can tell us who we are. This is how the world works. The world in which we live.

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Now achievement matters, of course it does. Excellence matters. But these are expressions of identity not sources of identity.

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So the answer to the question – am I enough – is still no.

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And it doesn’t matter what the field is, whether it’s our careers, our stuff, the reflected glory of successful families – these things on their own do not lead to true fulfilment.

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Jacob was just the same. Seeking to do things in his own strength, and not relying on God.

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Now, of course, all the things I’ve mentioned are important. We are called to be creative, as part of God’s project of creation. Through work, for example. Loving our families and valuing our friends are really important parts of life.

But the bigger picture here is important.

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In Ephesians 2: verse 10, St Paul says:

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For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works.

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Created first, in God’s image. Then to do. To create.

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Before we do anything, we are loved by God. Our worth comes from God, not in what we achieve. Sooner or later, every worldly success fades. And the love of Christ for us is not enhanced or diminished by what we achieve, how much we win, or lose. It is for who we are.

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Loved by God. Saved by grace and not by works. Which as it happens is Ephesians 2 verses 8 and 9.

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Every single person on this planet is created in God’s image. And every single person has a God shaped hole in their lives. And every single person feels a need to fill this God shaped hole.

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People try to fill this hole with all sorts of things, but it is only filled properly when it is filled with God, with Jesus Christ living in our lives through the power of His Holy Spirit.

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Filled. And fulfilled.

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All the good things that we strive to do only bring true fulfilment when Jesus is at the centre of our lives.

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I think this is a lesson that we all need to learn. And re-learn from time to time. God first. The foundation for everything we do and do for His glory.

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Jesus’ love for us does not depend on our success or failure. We find our deepest hope not in what we achieve but in God’s grace, freely given.

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It’s so easy for us to wrestle with God, to try and prove our worth. And forget that He has done it all for us. Our true worth is indeed in God alone.

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Amen.

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With thanks to Dr Graham Daniels, General Director of Christians in Sport, for providing some inspiration and thought provoking content.