November 3, 2013 "Not Without A Limp" Pastor Howard-John Wesley

God how we thank you for being the foundation upon which we can build our lives establish our faith and survive this journey called life thank you for the gift of your word which is lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path pray now O God by the moving of your holy spirit that he would speak in this place for your servants are listening the name of Jesus we do pray amen I had great difficulty with one of my children on Thursday Thursday is Halloween and as was the case every each and every Halloween the boys came home from school Mary with bags filled with candy not really a problem with Deus he doesn't like sweets that Cooper Cooper's got a sweet tooth that is insatiable if left up to his own devices Cooper would eat himself happy with skittles and Snickers the trouble I had was I a cat keep telling him you can't eat your candy till we have dinner Cooper's a little devious at times you got to keep an eye on them because if you're not watching he'll put candy in his mouth and I kept telling Cooper you can't eat the candy he wasn't listening to me and finally his brother du said to him said Cooper you can't grow to be big and strong like me if all you eat are sweets I'm glad that my oldest realizes that in order to grow to develop in strength you've got to have a diet that's greater than skittles Snickers pies candies cookies and cakes but you've got to learn to develop a palate for some things that are not always so pleasant suggests you that the reason so many saints of God are weak and not growing because contemporary Christianity has fed us a diet it causes us to only consume the sweet things of God if you look at the scope of preaching in the modern day Church and teaching it is heavy on the stuff we like it rightfully so who among us doesn't enjoy the sweet side of God's goodies bag we like messages about grace and rightfully we ought to hear about a God who forgives we need to be reminded about a cop a unconditional love we need to know about the mercy of God we love to hear about the God who gives second chances and all of that is sweet to our mouths I suggest you that that in and of itself does not give you a full portrait or picture of God then the realsense brothers and sisters God has another that's not always so sweet yes God is filled with grace and yes God loves you unconditionally but we serve a God who is a mystery who you'll never fully understand our God who not only has compassion but a God who will convict you in the core of your spirit we have a God who is able to make you lay down and sleep at night in a God who can Rob sleep from you and keep you up til you get your life together we do serve a God who answers prayer sometimes his answer is aloud resounding no we serve a God who uses pain and problems to groom us for his glory God who's got more in his toolbox then hallelujah and thank you Jesus in essence we serve a God whose strange at times he now he's God who is no respecter of person but yet he providentially orders different life styles and paths for each and every one of us he's no respecter person but to some he orders affluence and prosperity and some of us struggle to make ends meet some of us are granted children summa laude some of us know what it's like to pay bail bonds so God says everyone who loves him will not die at ninety eight peacefully in their sleep after burying the 18th hole on TPC and the difficulty in dealing with this God if we can get deep for just a moment is that you cannot choose when you will embrace and accept and acknowledge the providential hand of God at work you cannot look at a well lived life affluent doing well and suggest that that is the hand of God and look at some Saint struggles and gets cancer and dies at 38 and suggests that God had nothing to do with that come by tell you that the same God who orders sunshine commands and controls the rain the God who will lead you to green pastures is the God who can Center you in a storm you've never been in the same God who can make you smile and shout can leave you confused and crying the God who makes promises that you can stand on build your life upon is the same God who sometimes acts in ways that you cannot understand God has another side and if you journey through Scripture you will find every now and then God reveals a portion of God's self that's not so sweet I believe it's expedient that we learn to deal with that because the same God that shows his not-so-sweet side in Scripture will show it in your life and if you would grow you better learn how to deal with a God who knows how to do more than tickle your fancy a God who doesn't just move at your desire and on your demand a God who doesn't FedEx blessings after you say Amen but a God who sometimes works in ways that I don't always understand and if I could be honest I don't like I know you're more save than I am and everything God does is well with your soul but for the rest of us I want to invite you for the next few weeks on a journey examining the not-so-sweet side of God I want to look at some snapshots of Scripture that take us into an examination of some passages that don't make us shout and say Amen but make us go huh what why would God do that or look at some passages that you don't learn in a wanna some passages that they didn't give you when you gave your life to Christ because they knew you may leave out of that room what examines some portions in scripture where the God we encounter is not the God we thought we knew now let me give you two words a warning before you begin this journey 1 I know that this series does not match the season we're in we're about to get into the holidays it's about to be Advent I'm supposed to be making my way to Bethlehem to talk about the wise men in the Shepherd and birth Jesus Christ I know I know and my apologies to you all who are liturgical II minded and when an Advent series but this is what I feel called and compelled by the Spirit to cause us to wrestle with an image and a God who we don't always understand and I'm well aware that I can't do this all around the nation this is Phi Alpha Street because I desire to Pastor some of the most biblically a-student exegetically minded Christians on this side of Earth and so this is only for the safe space of we as a family and I want to suggest secondly that I know this series isn't for everybody if you've got some Boxton beliefs about God that you don't want challenged or changed if you feel that you know everything about God and you're comfortable and staying in that place in position now's the time to whip out your phone and start playing Angry Birds because this series ain't for you if you need to shout every Sunday this might not be for you if you need all the pieces of your portrait of God to fit nicely together sitting for you because I realize that this journey may raise more questions than it gives answers and my job as a pastor is not to make you think what I think just to make sure you're thinking that you're asking the real questions that you're growing because you've learned to ingest the stuff that ain't so sweet about God and this morning as we get into part one I want you to share with me and what I believe is one of the most celebrated shouting scriptures in the book of Genesis but we shout prematurely because we miss the disturbing God that we encounter in the 32nd chapter of the book of Genesis in the 32nd chapter of the book of Genesis there is an episode that many of us are familiar with and if you've been around church for any appreciable amount of time you know that any good preacher has some sermon from Genesis chapter 32 where we find Jacob wrestling at night 32nd chapter of the book of Genesis begin reading in the 22nd verse hear these words this testimony of this episode of the rough stuff with God and he meaning Jacob arose that night and took his two wives to female servants and his eleven sons and crossed over the fort of jae bok he took them sent them over the brook and sent over what he had then Jacob was left alone and a man wrestled with him into the breaking of day now when he noticed the capitalized H the man saw that he capital H did not prevail against him little H Jacob he capital H man touched the socket of his little H Jacob hip and the socket of Jacob's hip was out of joint as capital H he wrestled with little H him and capitulate he said let capital M me go for the day breaks but he lil H said I will not let you capital y go unless you capital y bless me so he capitulate said to him little H what is your name he said Jacob and he capital H said your name shall no longer be called Jacob but Israel for your struggle with God and with men and there prevailed then Jacob asked saying tell me capital why your name I pray he capital H said why is it that you asked about my capital M name and he capital H bless him little H there so Jacob called the name of the place penny L if I have seen God face to face and my life is preserved just as he crossed over Penuel the sun rose on him and he limped on his hip therefore to this day the children of israel do not eat the muscle that shrank which is on the hip socket because he capital h touched the socket of Jacob's hip in the muscle that shrank look at that 24th and 25th verse again then Jacob was left alone and a man capital M wrestled with him until the breaking of day now when capital H he saw the capital H he did not prevail against little H him he touched the socket of his hip the socket of Jacob's hip was out of joint as capital H he wrestled with little H him do me a favor look at somebody tell him not without a limp not without a limp to really appreciate what happens in the 32nd chapter of Genesis you've got to rewind and your sunday-school memoirs to place where you remember that this Jacob we talked about has a fraternal twin brother by the name of Esau and Jacob and Esau are the epitome of sibling rivalry as a matter of fact their struggle with one another begins before they're even born the Bible says that while they're both in their mother's Rebecca's womb they are fighting to see which one will come out first because the oldest the first born will be the inheritor of all of Isaac's estate which he inherited from Abraham which in essence is all of Canaan they're fighting with one another Esau is born first but Jacob is holding on to Esau's heel that there's no delay between the birth time of Esau and the birth time of Jacob when Esau comes out Jacob is holding right on and they turn out to be as different as night and day Esau is not an honor roll student but Esau knows how to fight he's a warrior and he's beloved by his father Isaac Jacob he's a mama's boy Jacob can't hunt Jacob can't fight Jacob is that slickster trickster that tries to talk himself out of everything things get bad between Jacob and Esau when one day Esau is hungry and Jacob convinces Esau to sell his right of being the oldest child for a bowl of oatmeal and he saw falls for it but it gets even worse when Isaac is laying on his death bed Isak their father is getting ready to die and in custom he's got to pass on the blessing to the oldest son says the oldest son will inherit all of his possessions therefore he calls Esau the oldest the firstborn to his side and tells him I want to bless you fixed me my favorite meal Esau goes out to hunt and to kill to bring his father his favorite meal when Rebekah his mother realizes the Esau is gone she goes to the freezer pops up in the microwave gives it to Jacob tells Jacob to go to your daddy and pretend to be Esau Jacob shows up with a hot meal pretends to be Esau and Isaac being deceived blesses Jacob with all of his inheritance Esau who rightfully should have it shows up finds out what has happened and Esau the warrior makes a promise if it's the last thing I do I'm going to kill Jacob Rebecca's mama realizes Esau ain't playing and Jacob can't talk his way out of this so she tells Jacob to run Jacob runs and you read in your Bible he goes and lives with his uncle Laban for a little while gets two wives things deteriorate Laban kicks him out and Jacob only has one place to go back to Canaan where Esau is waiting Jacob being the slickster trickster that he is tries to send Esau a peace offering maybe I can buy him into a good relationship Jacob sends his livestock in his gold he even sends his wives and his children hopeful that when Esau sees the prosperity he's offering and when he saw sees his sisters-in-law and his nieces and nephews that he saw will be alright the Bible says when he saw gets Jacobs offering he gathers 400 men to go look for Jacob Esau has not led it go I told you I was going to kill you so Jacob is left alone family gone possessions gone the night time comes and the Bible says that a man shows up to wrestle with Jacob now the reason I highlighted the capital letters is because it's not just some brother from down the street that shows up the Bible is intentional that this is God who has come in human form and disguised himself who comes to wrestle with Jacob I want to make sure you get this God in human form shows up to wrestle with Jacob and I suggest you that we try to get so fast to Jacob saying I won't let go to you bless me that you miss some disturbing things about God look what God does God shows up to wrestle God shows up and starts a fight now before you miss it there's no reason there's no rhyme there's no explanation God just shows up and fights it's not because Jacob has done anything wrong it's not because God says he's upset with Jacob it's not punishment for some act of disobedience no God just shows up to fight you Joe come here this this is this is not this is not the God I'm used to I like the God who shows up and says I've heard you'll cry and I've come to deliver you I prefer the God who shows up and says let me walk you to the valley of the shadow of death I like the God who says come unto me all you who labor and a heavy burden and I will give you rest but that's not the God we encounter this God shows up and all he does he shows up with no reason and starts a fight but who among us hasn't encountered that God when for no discernible reason you find yourself in a struggle with no explanation as to why God will let you go through this can I push it and he comes in darkness disguised as a man God doesn't show up saying I'm the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt he shows up disguised as a man in darkness leaving jacob to wrestle with the uncertainty of who or what this really is here is a God who initiates a season of uncertainty but who among us hasn't wrestled with that God I know your Bible is big and I know you want to act like you read it all but the truth be told there are moments when you are absolutely uncertain about what God wanted what God was doing and where you were in life God doesn't always make his will crystal clear sometimes even the faithful of God walk in uncertainty can i push it this god who comes to fight disguised in darkness begins to wrestle with Jacob and look at what verse 25 says I want to make certain you've got it opening I'm not making this up in verse 25 it says when the man capital M realized that he could not prevail against little H him when Big H realized he couldn't prevail against little H Jo I thought I read it wrong so I looked it up in other translations maybe the New King James just you know didn't get it right the new American Standard says when Big H realized he had not prevailed near the national version when Big H realized he could not overpower message version when Big H realized he couldn't beat Jacob New Living Translation when Big H realized he could not win that's not the God you grew up with in Sunday school our theology says we serve a God who can move mountains God who can speak the sea will be still a God who can heal any disease with a touch of the hem of His garment God who can handle every enemy in your life but here is a God who picks a fight with little H only to realize he can't win can I push it stay in verse 25 so when Big H realizes he's not beating little H he breaks Jacobs hip timeout flag on the play unnecessary roughness unsportsmanlike conduct g.od 15-yard penalty first our a god who breaks hips because he picked a fight he can't win we serve a God who blesses and breaks and although this passage gets to that shouting I won't let you go there's a disturbing God we encounter here why does God break Jacobs hip you picked this fight why does God calls Jacob to limp for the rest of his life how can a compassionate loving God touch us in ways that break us I prefer the God that heals me I prefer the God who blows sunshine in my face I prefer the God who holds me in the midnight hour but I'm not comfortable with the God that breaks hips why does he break I'm not the smartest one in the room I'll give you a couple ideas that come out of Scripture maybe God breaks Jacobs hip the same for the same reason - God sometimes breaks us in life to get us to submit and surrender to submit and surrender y'all asked this question what kind of fight could God be in and God not prevail come come on that's not the God they taught me in church what kind of struggle could divinity engage humanity and humanity get the best ok flippy because you ain't caught it yet what a battle can you be in with God and you seemingly stand toe-to-toe with God what struggle is there in life where God doesn't always prevail there is only one struggle where we seemingly can stand toe-to-toe we God and that's the struggle to surrender our will to his come on us who is why yet alpha Street come on come on because you see we are made and gifted with free will and choice which means that all of us can be like Adam we can choose to disobey God's will we can choose to go left when God said go right we can be as stubborn as a mule when it comes to obeying the will of God and choose to live life on our own terms doing things our own way plotting out our own life in utter disregard for what God wants out of us and that many people who seemingly stand toe-to-toe with God but God knows that life outside of his will is not in your best interests that life and other disobedience to his command will lead to your death and destruction in this life and in the next God knows it is not his desire for you to stand outside of his will and he loves you too much not to use everything in his sovereign omnipotent to get you to surrender to his will so why does God break Jacobs hip I'ma tell you Shh because he can because he's God God says if I've got to break your hip to get you to surrender and stop fighting me that I will do whatever it takes to get you to surrender to my will versus your own y'all we serve a God who if blessing you doesn't change your life God has enough love to break you in the right place to get you to lay down and surrender and declare I'm not fighting anymore God I surrender to your will can I tell you what happens when God breaks Jacobs hip what the text suggests is that Jacob is no longer fighting against God he's just holding on to God now that I've been broken I'm not fighting now that I've been broken I'm not struggling now that I've been broken all I'm Bute it's holding on to whatever it is you have whatever it is you're going to do God just don't let go of me now some Saints and alpha Street on this Sunday morning who are bold enough to confess that you haven't always been saved and sanctified that you have struggled against the will of God you have lived in places God did not desire you've walked down the road God did not order and God had to break you in the right place and when the Lord broke you and when the Lord took things from you and when the Lord allowed you to struggle that's when you gave up the battle and fell on your knees and say Lord have your way do I have any broken Saints who know that the Lord had to strip you the Lord had to break you the Lord had to take from you and now all you do is cling to God hey he breaks to get us to submit and surrender because the truth is told we don't surrender when we see the light we surrender when we feel the heat and God stands at the sidelines of every breaking do you hear me now now that you lost everything are you ready to give up now that I've had to take you through the breaking are you ready to cling to me are you ready to submit and so if God loved you enough to sacrifice his son in death surely he knows he loves you enough to break you when you needed that's not to God we like he breaks to submit and surrender and I would suggest to you secondly that he breaks Jacobs hip to deepen Jacob's desire for God here's the problem God you showed up as a man if you showed up as an angel maybe I wouldn't have fought I mean if you had a sign on it said I'm God I wouldn't have wrestled with you remember where Jacob is is late at night he sent everything on Esau is coming with 400 men and in his sleep somebody jumps on him who does he think it is Esau Gotham a fair don't show up in the middle of the night like Esau opened up the heavens that light shine down and see me let me see you descend from heaven so I know it's you why does God show up as a man because you must remember Jacob has difficulty discerning when he's with God this deed is deep okay you got to go back to chapter 28 when Jacob was at Bethel and the Lord speaks to him Jacob wakes up and if you look at Genesis chapter 28 verse 16 this is what Jacob says I was with God in the place of God and didn't know it it's a shame to be in God's presence and not know it so if that's Jacob's problem why show up as a man if Jacob was already confused and can't get it right that's why he breaks the hip because when does Jacob realize it's not a man but it's God when his hip is broken stay with me Saints read how the Lord breaks Jacobs hip here's what he does here's what lets Jacob know the same knee saw this is God because my hip was broken and all he did was yuujiro viable says all he did was touch him and his hip was broken jacob realizes can't no man do what just happen to me that must be the hand of God so that now he can discern the hand of God and when he discerns it's God's hand watch what happens when he's been broken he says well if you're gonna break me you got to bless me that I don't believe God can touch me and I not be blessed by it if there's a breaking there has to be a blessing and deep down within me I just believe that whenever God touches and whenever God breaks that there must be has to be a blessing in it somewhere it's got to be God wouldn't take me through this and not bless me now this alpha trig a deep what is the blessing he desires heretofore Jacob has always wanted things Esau his birthright Isaac's inheritance Rachel's hand in marriage that's all he's asked for our things but now when it comes time to be blessed read your Bible that's what Jacob says tell me your name now Judy this is not because he doesn't know it's God he asked God's name in the same way that Moses asks in Exodus 3 good gosh I might as Bible study in Exodus 3 actor Moses has experienced God he says tell me what name I can use so that I can prove to other people that I know who you are and this Jacob who has been broken says I don't need you to bless me with anything I don't need you to bless me with anyone I don't need you to bless me with a knew this or knew that just let me see you in a new way let me know you at a deeper level let me experience you like I've never experienced you before that the end result of the breaking is that our hunger for God in ways that I did not before the Lord took me through this and I come I tell you that in every breaking God desires to awaken a hunger within you that says I just need to know God better my processes that's why I tell you to be careful of religious cliches because some of them are not theologically accurate can I tell you one that you need to watch out for I know you know what I'm started you're gonna finish it God will never put more on you wrong mmm that's the sweet God but the real God will load on you and load on you and load on you until your strength is broken and you begin to cry out to God and declare I can't handle this by myself I can't get out of this by myself God I need you more than I need anything or anyone in life God says I will burden you until I break you and you hunger after me that's a disturbing God he breaks to submit and surrender breaks to deepen our desire and he breaks thirdly in Jacobs life to change his character said he says what your name is I'm sorry what is your name little H says Jacob big A says I don't like that name that name means trickster conman that's who you were but I want to give you a new identity a new name Israel so I've got a break Jacob in order to birth Israel that the breaking was meant to give birth to a new identity that's greater than what you were can I pause right here and suggest in a way that may make somebody shout may make somebody bling make make somebody cringe you better be careful of judging people who are going through a breaking season because the breaking of God may be God's birth thing of something greater on the other side and you better be careful of judging me before the new me comes out of the broken me that God can break me and change me in a way that makes me better than what I was says Jacob Israel con man touched by God trickster seen God face to face who you were and who you're going to be I said the text this Bible States Bible study and this what God says i'ma call you Israel because you've wrestled against God and man and you have prevailed remember God saw he couldn't prevail but now God says to Jacob you have prevailed but marry Jacob didn't win how can the Lord say Jacob prevailed when Jacob didn't win come come on wrestle wrestle please please I bring my shop button next week he said how does jacob prevail because God says Jacob didn't Israel did Israel prevails over Jacob who you will be is greater than who you were what I'm going to do to you through this breaking will make you stronger on the other side then you were before you win in this thing that what you will do tomorrow is greater than what you experienced on yesterday because you're Israel is greater than your Jacob now Saints here's why you got to make sure you catch that correctly because this name change of God from Jacob to Israel is unique in all the Bible how so why because everywhere else when God changed name that's the only name they go by so when Abram becomes Abraham nobody calls him Abram again when sir I becomes Sarah nobody calls her sir I again when Simon becomes Peter he's known as Peter when Saul has changed to Paul he never recalls himself as Saul again but here Jacob's name is changed to Israel but there's still moments when he's identified as Jacob because everybody has an Israel with some Jacob tendencies I know you just want your neighbor to know the better you why you're in the sanctuary but there's some of us that know I still got some tendencies from my Jacob era now can I give you the shout the shout isn't even though he's sometimes called Jacob when God identifies himself God says I am the God of Abraham I'm the god of Isaac and I'm still the God of Jacob then when you're Jacob shows up I'm still yo God when you're not everything you ought to be I'm still your God when you slide back into your old ways I'm still know somebody tell him you got some Jacob in you but my Israel is greater than my Jacob who I become through this breaking it's greater than who I was I got let's go is time for Sunday school he says I break to get you to submit and surrender I break to deepen your desire I break huh to cause you to change your character he says fourthly I break to teach you to celebrate survival I just believe some folk need too much to give God praise he says here it is I want to make sure you're biblically astute I'll make sure you get this we sometimes shout over Jacob saying I won't let go to you bless me but what he says in that statement Deacon mark is problematic it's problematic because the Lord has told him let me go cuz the son is about to come up now why does he say that since I buy it because he's God and according to what God tells Moses in Exodus you can't see my face and live if you see my face I'm so holy and you're so sinful that the mere expression of my holiness will kill you so he tells Jacob let me go so you can live if you hold on to me while the Sun comes up I'm trying to told you boy you gonna die let me go and Jacob in an act of disobedience says I won't let go until you bless me I'm willing to die to get my blessing here's with Lord says the Lord blesses him right there so that he can survive because the Lord knows if I don't do something to make this boy obey me he is going to die so I bless him even though he's been disobedient human I told him to let me go he wouldn't do it but I blessed him anyway so he would survive here is the Grace and the mercy of God all at one time I'm not what I should be didn't do what I should have done didn't become what I should have been but the Lord blessed me anyhow and for that I'm grateful so he lips into his next day and he says y'all understand I'm I got a name this place penny L because I saw God and my life was preserved God spared me from what should have happened to me I should have died but he kept me I should have lost it but he preserved me and so I'm grateful to have a lip cuz at least I'm walking I'm grateful to have a limp cuz at least I'm breathing I'm grateful to have a limp cuz I survived the struggle that I went through I could have lost everything but God preserved me and I thank God then I've got a lip now I've got to go and I'm done but I will tell you that when you thank God that you survived the struggle and victory for you is no longer beating somebody but just living through it when you get to that place you are going to aggravate folk on your pew because people in church want to connect your prosperity to your praise and so if you're standing out it must be because you got to do this or do that but there's some fool who stand up and shout and wave hands and bless God when they get nothing to shout about other than the fact that they're still alive and I made it through and I bless God when empty hands I bless God with a broke pocketbook I bless God with a hoopty in a driveway survived is they anybody here I can just thank God with your limping self thank God with your brokes help Hank gone with Toledo self they go I'm praising him cuz I survived it don't take nothing new to make me give him glory if you knew the struggle I had last night if you went through what I've been through you wouldn't look at me like that so do me a favor if you know you survived give your neighbor an SOS tell them scoot over so cuz when I think of how it reserved me happy with our thanks about healthy he's he's preserved me if you able would you stand on your feet here it is because that there there's quite possibly some Jacobson Church today you know it's like to deal with a God who breaks to get you to surrender the Lord asks you today how much do I have to do to get you to stop fighting what else do I have to take what else do I have to shape what else do I have to break in your life did you say Lord whatever your will is to surrender to Jesus Christ that that's what I hear Melvin all to Jesus I surrender all to him I freely give you

Channel: Alfred Street Baptist Church

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Length: 52min 17sec (3137 seconds)

Published: Wed Nov 06 2013