Did you sing “We Are Climbing Jacob’s Ladder” when you went to camp?  Did you know that the ladder was part of a dream that Jacob had when he was running away from a feud with his twin brother?  Wait .. there’s more to this story …

Stone Pillow

Genesis 28:10-19a; Psalm 139:1-12, 23-24

Several years ago a sociologist of religion, Kirk Hadaway, wrote a book called Rerouting the Protestant Mainstream about the qualities of congregations that were thriving in spite of the overall drop in membership and attendance in Protestant churches. One of those qualities that has stayed with me was this: in a thriving church, people expect God to be present in worship.

I thought of this observation when I read the words of Jacob in today’s lesson:

“Surely the Lord is in this place – and I did not know it!” How often we are like Jacob, and only recognize the presence of God once in a while, when something in particular has brought it to our attention. This story of Jacob sleeping in the wilderness is a kind of case study of how we wake up – as he did – to the presence of God in our midst.

To begin, Jacob is in trouble. His twin brother Esau is angry because he stole his birthright, and so Jacob is on the move. His mother Rebekah has sent him to her brother Laban, where he will soon find a wife (in fact, two wives), but for now he is just on the road.

I am going to guess that Jacob was traveling without many luxuries, and that that is why he chooses to use a stone for a pillow. I am also going to guess that it wasn’t especially comfortable (though I know there are places in the world where it is common to use something hard as a headrest at night).

It is sad, I think, that being in trouble and uncomfortable are so often helpful in recognizing the presence of God. I would personally prefer to be aware of the divine when I am comfortable, well rested, and serene. That is our stereotype of a pious or holy person, I think – someone who is generally sweet, tranquil, and vaguely ethereal. Stereotypes aside, our own experience is probably closer to Jacob’s: our God-detectors are more sensitive when we are worried, afraid, and uncertain than when we are confident, brave, and sure.

So Jacob is in the wilderness, asleep with his head on a stone, when he has this remarkable dream: “…there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.” [Genesis 28:12] The Hebrew word that is translated as “ladder” might refer to something more like a staircase, but either way, this is a striking image of the connection between our everyday world and the kingdom of God. The angels are ascending and descending on it – moving back and forth between the earthly and the divine.

This closeness between human life and the divine realm has been expressed in many ways through the ages. Some of you will remember New Testament scholar Marcus Borg, when he spoke here five or six years ago, talking about “thin places.”
These are the moments and circumstances in which we suddenly and dramatically feel close to God – as though the divide between our own lives and the divine has become nearly transparent.

Whether we imagine ladders, staircases, or thin places, the lesson is the same: God is close at hand, and the space between God’s kingdom and our everyday lives is less than we usually think.

As the dream continues, Jacob hears the voice of God – a voice that comes with extravagant promises of two kinds. First are the promises of land and offspring – a reprise of the promises made to Abraham and to Isaac. Second are the promises of divine presence: God promises to go with Jacob and keep him, and to bring him back to this land.

The promise of land has significantly different meaning for us in the twenty-first century than it did for Jacob. He was a wanderer, searching for a home. He did not, as we do, look back on centuries of unrest, turmoil, and conflict in the Middle East. He did not have to deal with the modern realities of politics, weapons, and petroleum which shape our understanding of the land which God promised to him. Because we have such a dramatically different perspective, this may be a time when it is helpful to hear this passage in a less concrete and literal way.

In this deeper and more symbolic sense, I think the words of God to Jacob can be heard as a promise of a place. There is, I believe, a deep human longing for a sense of place, a physical location that we can name as being “our place,” a place of safety and refreshment, a place of affection and connection, a place of identity. God promised Jacob that there would always be such a place for him.

In a similar way, we need to be careful about how we hear God’s promise of offspring to Jacob. Twenty-first century life makes us wary of increasing populations, so that a vow to give so many descendants that they will seem like dust on earth sounds a little ominous. The key phrase here is this: “all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring.” [Genesis 28:14] God promised Jacob that there would be a future, a future of blessing, in which his family would play a part.

The second set of promises, however, speaks to us clearly through the centuries: “Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” [Genesis 28:15] This is not, I suppose, exactly the promise we are most wanting to hear. The promise we are most wanting to hear is the pledge that we will be protected by our faith, that we and our loved ones will be immunized against suffering and tragedy. We want to hear that loving and trusting God will make our lives easier, happier, and prosperous.

God pointedly does not make any of those promises – not to Jacob and not to us. God’s vow to us is not for protection or promotion, but for presence. We are assured of a companion, not of a rescuer.

That wakes up Jacob, and it should wake us up, too. That makes Jacob say, “Surely the Lord is in this place..” and it might move us to say so, too.

We enact something of Jacob’s story each time we are gathered here for worship. It is no accident that early in our service we offer a prayer of confession. That prayer is our way of acknowledging that we are in trouble – perhaps not the same trouble as Jacob found himself in, but trouble with living honorably, faithfully, and justly in this world. The shortcomings that we confess are the stones on which we are trying to rest. Our prayer is followed by words of assurance – a brief reminder of God’s promises of mercy and new life.

Each week we also share something of Jacob’s dream as we connect the words of scripture with the realities of our everyday lives. The sermon often does that, but so does the work of the people and the shared joys and concerns. All of these are ways through which we strengthen our understanding of the ways that God is alive – and speaking – in our church, in our community, and in the world.

And each week we hear, sing, and speak words that reiterate God’s faithful presence with us through all of our journeys, God’s companionship with us through our joys and trials, our delights and our despairs. That is why we close our service with words of scripture that we read together, and with a benediction, literally “good words,” to carry with us through the coming week.

Nothing could have been farther from Jacob’s mind than the worship style of a twenty-first century Christian congregation. All the same, he turns out to be a good – if unintentional – teacher for us, and a gentle reminder that God often comes to us in times of trouble and wandering, when we have nothing but a stone for a pillow.

Amen.

Prayer for July 20, 2008

Almighty and everlasting God, creator of all things seen and unseen, hear now our silent prayers, as we open our hearts to you in the sacred quietness.

God of faith and hope, we bring before you our prayers for those we have named this morning – we especially remember … Bring to each of them the gifts of mercy and grace that are most needed, according to your wisdom and love.

God of our hearts and minds, this morning we offer our prayers for those circumstances in our lives that we cannot usually bring ourselves to say aloud. Help us to name before you and one another the disappointments, shames, sorrows, and shortcomings that eat away at our faith and our well being.

We pray for everyone who has been betrayed, cheated, or defrauded.

We pray for those who have lost their employment, or who are employed at work that is demeaning, dangerous, or disheartening

We pray this morning for those who live with addictions and alcoholism.

We pray for our relationships that are conflicted, dispirited, and unfulfilling.

We pray for those who are troubled about their sexuality, and about their intimate relationships.

We pray for ourselves and our loved ones who live with mental illness.

We pray for those in financial difficulties, whether of their own making or the result of unexpected events

We pray for those with whom we are in conflict, disagreement, or from whom we are estranged.

We pray for ourselves and our loved ones who live with chronic health conditions.

.And we pray for the secrets of our hearts that we can speak only to you.

All of these things we pray in the name of the one who listens with loving attention to all of our sorrows, and who bears them with us, even Jesus the Christ, and we pray together now in the words that he taught us …