Monday, March 5, 2012

LENT 2

March 4/5, 2012

Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

Text: Genesis 28:10-17

“WHEN YOU’VE MADE YOUR OWN BED…”

1. You may have to lie in it.

2. God’s grace still covers you.

3. You won’t be alone.

Genesis 28:10-17 (NIV1984)Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran. 11 When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. 12 He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13 There above it stood the LORD, and he said: “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. 14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. 15 I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” 16 When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” 17 He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.”

“You made your bed, now you’ve got to lie in it.” I don’t know if the etymology of that phrase comes from this account of Jacob but it sure could have. “You made your bed now you’ve got to lie in it,” is what is said when someone’s words or actions have set in motion a consequence that is uncomfortable for them and boy does that fit Jacob to a T! Let me explain. If you recall, Jacob was one of the two sons of Isaac and Rebekah, twin sons. Rebekah favored Jacob. Isaac favored Esau. When Isaac was going to give the birthright that God said should go to Jacob to Esau, Rebekah and Jacob hatched a plot to “help God out.” You know this is going to end badly. It involved deceiving Isaac and cheating Esau. Great plan! When all is said and done, no one is happy and Esau is nursing a grudge, such a strong grudge it includes plans to kill Jacob as soon as daddy Isaac dies. So Rebekah and Jacob come up with another plan. Run away. Jacob will run away to Haran where Rebekah’s family still lives.

So Jacob did. He ran away from Esau, stopped for the night, lay down to sleep on the bed of the ground with a stone for a pillow. Someone could rightly have come to Jacob and said, “You made your bed. Now you’ve got to lie in it.” Jacob’s predicament was his own fault. But the rock hard pillow wasn’t the worst of what he would face. He would find out when he got to Rebekah’s family that Uncle Laban was a schnook, cheating and deceiving Jacob. What goes around comes around and it wasn’t so much fun when the shoe was on the other foot. His family was fractured. Jacob would live about 20 years away from them. Later he would face a fearful reunion with Esau after Jacob ran away from Laban. Are we seeing a pattern here? Jacob made his bed and he had to lie in it. He had to face earthly consequences for his sins.

Sometimes that happens with us too. Praise be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ that there are not earthly consequences for every sin we do. But there are some. Guilt and fear over certain sins being exposed. Some sins have civil consequences like jail time or fines. Sins of the mouth can damage relationships between husbands and wives, parents and children, friends and schoolmates. Some sins end marriages. Lies can make you lose jobs and credibility. Sexual sinning can bring physical diseases that last a lifetime, a not so subtle reminder that God means what He says about sex reserved for marriage of one man and one woman. Brothers and sisters, sometimes when you make your bed you do have to lie in it.

Do you find yourself lying in one of those beds today? Do you waver back and forth between wanting to kick yourself (why did I do that?) and wanting to kick someone else (it’s not my fault) in your frustration and hurt? Don’t give up. Don’t despair. There is hope and help. Jacob’s story goes on. He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13 There above it stood the LORD, and he said: “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. 14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. 15 I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” Let’s get this straight. Jacob has made his own bed. He lied. He deceived. And he gets a special dream from the Lord? What gives? And look at the content. It’s all blessing. It’s an announcement of Gospel promises of physical blessings of land and descendants and the Savior, Jesus, to come from Jacob’s line. The One through Whom all the world would be blessed. Why does Jacob get that? He didn’t deserve it. It’s grace my friends. God’s undeserved love. One of the reasons God has included this awesome story has to be to highlight God’s ongoing grace in the face of man’s continual sinning. Even though Jacob sinned and deserved every hardship he was enduring, God’s grace covered him.

Brothers and sisters, do you see from this how we are living the dream? We are living Jacob’s dream. Because God’s grace covers us too! We don’t deserve God’s physical blessings. Like Jacob we deserve punishment for our sins. Instead God’s grace covers us. He doesn’t give us the punishment we deserve and He does give us blessings we have not earned. Remember that when you are enduring some earthly consequences of sins. God’s grace still covers you. You are not getting the punishment you deserve. You are not suffering Hell. Jesus took that for you. God will still be gracious to you. He will still give you blessings you don’t deserve. Oftentimes though it seems we care more about getting out of earthly consequences than we do about being freed from the eternal consequence of sin in Hell. We’re just like our kids. You know. They do something wrong. They get caught. They cry. They say they are sorry. Then they wonder why they still get a spanking or timeout when they have said they are sorry. They don’t understand that the consequence helps them learn. When, in God’s wisdom, there is an earthly consequence for your sin remember that God’s grace still covers you and try to value the forgiveness Jesus gives you more than escape from an earthly consequence.

But even there God is gracious to us and with those earthly consequences we bring on ourselves God is with us. Jacob discovered that. “When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” 17 He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.” Jacob understood what God had done for him. God was with him now and God would be with him wherever he would go. He would be with him on the journey. He would be with him while dealing with Uncle Laban. He would be with him when he faced Esau. Jacob had made his bed. The results would not always be easy or pleasant but the Lord would be with him.

The Lord is with you too, no matter what you are going through or will go through. Sin has consequences. If you’ve made your bed and found yourself lying in it the Lord is with you and will help you. If a consequence is less money right now the Lord will still provide. If the consequence is a ruined relationship with others the Lord maintains His relationship with you through forgiveness in Jesus. Even if the consequence is jail time there too the Lord will be with you.

And another good thing. Earthly consequences don’t last forever. Jacob found that out. It took twenty years for him to return to his family. But when he did he found a forgiving Esau. People aren’t like God. Often they need time to get over sin and hurt. But it worked out. And it worked out even better for Jacob. When God’s time was right he was carried up that stairway to heaven where there is no sin, no consequences but a Savior to serve forever. That’s waiting for you and me too. Earthly consequences for sin will not last forever. But the glory and joy of heaven will. Jesus has made a bed that we will get to lie in. He has prepared a place for us too. How awesome to have the same God Jacob does, the God who works on the basis of grace and mercy and because of Jesus does not treat us as our sins deserve. Amen.

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