Gratified

The sermon I preached this Sunday, more or less as it never comes out the way it is written. This is the first of a four part series "Wrestling with God"
Genesis 25:19-34
Within the book of Genesis is the unfolding story of the Patriarchs, the father’s of our faith, Abraham, Isaac, and is it Esau or Jacob? We find ourselves today midway through the book at chapter 25.

Abraham has died and his son Isaac is set to carry on his legacy through his relationship with God and yet his wife is unable to conceive, he’s forty years old and he prays to God on behalf of his wife. It’s funny, I don’t want you to miss this because verse 21 says he prayed and verse 22 says the Lord answered but if you look at verse 26 it says Isaac is 60 when the twins Jacob and Esau are born. Wait, hold up, 20 years have passes between the prayer being prayed and the answer Isaac was looking for. In contrast, if you read the story just prior to this in chapter 24 Abraham has sent his servant to find a wife for Isaac. Read 24:42-46. Even before this servant prayed for God to reveal the identity of the woman to which Isaac should marry she was there God was answering. Twenty years have passed since Isaac has prayed this prayer for his wife and just now it is being answered. What is God up to? The boys grow up and they have different likes and dislikes, different gifts and skills, and one is more a quiet mama’s boy and the other daddy’s little wildman. Esau is the older, the firstborn and therefore according to tradition is set to inherit a double portion of what his younger brother would as well as the privilege of becoming the leader of the family upon the event of Isaac’s death. This was his prized birthright. Then we come to this pivotal moment.

Esau has been out climbing and hunting and basically wearing himself out when he comes home overcome by hunger. (Hangry anyone else become irritable and unreasonable besides me when they are hungry?) He is so overcome that he gets more than a little dramatic when he says he is about to die of hunger and will do just about anything to get a bowl of stew. And that is pretty much what he does. Wait, seriously? I mean who would forfeit their future, possessions, leadership, stats, authority, integrity, respect, over something as temporary as a bowl of stew?

Ok has anyone here ever made the mistake of going to the grocery store when they were hungry? Confess! What happens? Maybe we don’t make the best choices. Maybe we go a bit off plan or off the list because Everything looks good! Meeting this immediate need, feeling some sense of gratification, no matter the cost, the calories, the guilt that is experienced later, we feel compelled, we must feed the hungry beast within, even at the cost of a birthright. Even at the cost of his future. I mean what good is a birthright when you are starving? What good is saving for a rainy day when ipad2 is released or the coolest new hybrid (I mean I will be saving the planet, right?). Or maybe it’s your personal integrity. I mean you are the only one that really knows if you slip up a little in that department, right? It won’t hurt anyone else, right? Sometimes those marriage vows can be a little inconvenient too. What good are they when the one you made them to barely gives you the time of day, so what if you reciprocate some of that attention you’ve been getting from that certain someone. We all have appetites whether they be physical, or emotional, or spiritual. We all have them. And the pressure of these moments distorts our perspective. It becomes the only thing of importance. We almost have tunnel vision. The big picture seems to fade away. Esau says he is about to die. Is he? We get tunnel vision and fail to see long term. Shopping while hungry can be hazardous to your waistline and to your wallet.

The dictionary defines gratify as to reward, to be a source of or give pleasure or satisfaction to, to give in to, to indulge. What did Esau forfeit by indulging his appetite? And at what cost do we indulge our own appetites? What if God was know of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Esau instead? What future might God have had in mind for Esau? What future does God have in mind for you? I mean God more than instantly answered the prayer of Abraham’s servant when he was sent to find a wife for Isaac and yet 20 years passed from the time Isaac prayed for his barren wife until Esau and Jacob were born. Do we forfeit our future by quote, filling our bellies anyway we can? Because our short term satisfaction has in many cases long term implications and consequences. But the pressure of those moments when our appetites are screaming somehow causes us to lose sight of those long term implications and consequences.

There are many things in life we all like to think we know how we would handle if encountered with them, then, there are those who believe it is impossible to really know unless you are in it. I believe if we look at the context of this story we can reframe our appetites in the broader context of what we have been called to, 5 or even 10 yrs from now…I know the speed of life today. It’s all you can do to think ahead more than 5 minutes, but “indulge” me for a moment

What do you want?
For your Marriage, Your Children, Your Ministry, Your Health, Your Work, Your legacy?

Because you have no idea what God wants to accomplish through you…or frankly how long that will take.

Ultimately no one can force you to be who, or what you were created to be; but don’t you want to make your life count? Each of us was bought at a costly price with the blood of Christ. The frightening thought is that we each have the choice, we don’t have to make it count, we can cruise through gratifying our every appetite with no thought of the implications. But there is something bigger going on, God has called us to something greater through Jesus Christ. When we profess our faith and become followers of Jesus we are called to come and die that we might truly live. Die to life in the flesh and begin life anew in the Spirit and the Spiritual life transcends our physical existence. Our physical bodies will someday die but our spirit will live on to eternity.

Paul says in Romans 8-you are no longer in the flesh, you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit dwells in you
5 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.

And to the Galatians 5 16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.
The bottom line is, if we base our whole life on the immediacies of physical existence we will lose it all because one day we are going to die. It is God’s gift that we are more than our physical existence, our spiritual nature is our greatest birthright, don’t forfeit that! God means to strengthen, uplift, partner. God has something in mind that you and I cannot see and it might be life changing when you walk out of this building and it might be 20 years from now.

God sees the fullness of time. Our lives were meant to have meaning and purpose for God, our Creator. Your life, my life was bought at a costly price with the blood of Christ. When we profess our faith in Christ, knowing we are unable to do life on our own, he bids us to come and die, die to the flesh, and live life in the Spirit, the Spirit that lives in us for eternity. The Spirit that testifies with our spirit that we are children of God and we have been given the greatest inheritance, a new birthright as sons and daughters of God. Do you live like it or do we like Esau despise our birthright? You have no idea what God wants to accomplish through you, but God does. God holds eternity in God’s hand and calls us sons and daughters. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and...you?