Genesis
32: 22-30 (NRSVA)
27 So he said to him, ‘What is your name?’
And he said, ‘Jacob.’ 28 Then the man[a] said,
‘You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel,[b] for you
have striven with God and with humans,[c] and have
prevailed.’ 29 Then Jacob asked him, ‘Please tell me
your name.’ But he said, ‘Why is it that you ask my name?’ And there he blessed
him. 30 So Jacob called the place Peniel,[d] saying,
‘For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved.’
Footnotes:
- Genesis 32:28 Heb he
- Genesis 32:28 That is The one who strives with God or God strives
- Genesis 32:28 Or with divine and human beings
- Genesis 32:30 That is The face of God
John
12: 27-32 (NRSVA)
Jesus Speaks about His Death
27 ‘Now my soul is troubled. And what
should I say—“Father, save me from this hour”? No, it is for this reason that I
have come to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name.’
Then a voice came from heaven, ‘I have glorified it, and I will glorify it
again.’ 29 The crowd standing there heard it and said
that it was thunder. Others said, ‘An angel has spoken to him.’ 30 Jesus
answered, ‘This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. 31 Now
is the judgement of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out.
32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw
all people[a] to
myself.’
Footnotes:
- John 12:32 Other ancient authorities read all things
‘If God exists, how does He make Himself
known to us?’ Life is a struggle at times. It is for all disciples and has
always been so. It’s not that there are not times of ease and rest, there are,
but in the middle of family, work and the messy stuff of life, it does feel
that the sense of struggle overshadows any sense of peace. In the wider world
we recognise that for many people ‘life struggle’ is their life. At present our
lives are full of news stories of workers losing the jobs, people struggling to
feed their families and having to use food banks, homelessness, health and
social care shortages and refugees living in squalor camps and in the shadow of
war and violence. In everyday conversation it’s not unusual to hear refugees
and immigrants being blamed for the decision of our elected representatives to
impose on communities the misery of austerity, health and social care shortages
and for rises in crime. It feels that struggle and discrimination trumps solidarity.
In this persistent experience of life it is understandable to doubt the promise
and hope of Jesus of the Nazareth discourse. Jesus promise of liberation was claimed
to have come in the Luke 4 discourse of Jesus and to be actively renewing our diverse
worlds of struggle. It is part of the
process of discipleship to be consciously aware of this struggle for change and
the feeling of contradiction and doubt that the process of struggle gives,
especially in the face of apparent persistent defeats for inclusion and solidarity.
The two passages we examine today are rooted
in such situations. Jacob and his family struggle with unpredictability and the
very real threats to life. In the struggle of life Jacob struggles with God and
His promises. Yet it is in the struggle that Jacob finds God, his own true self,
identity and positive hope for his family’s and our future. He is part of a
great liberation story and although that does not improve his immediate
situation, he does gain the hope to keep going with his family in the long trek
towards home, freedom and justice. In the
life of Jesus we see the same themes. As Jesus approaches His own death He
faces the option to reject being part of a liberation story and embrace a role
of cold and distant sovereignty mirrored in the religious elite of His time and
the Roman Empire. ‘No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour’ is the
conclusion that Jesus comes to. Jesus accepts the ‘liberation of the struggle’; the freedom to resist non-violently the powers
that struggle against us and God. Jesus achieves
the final ‘liberation from the
struggle’ in the securing of the promise of the Kingdom of God that we will all
inherit. The struggle against ‘the powers’ of war and violence, poverty, lack
of health and social care, hopelessness, homelessness, discrimination and poor
educational opportunity is the exercise of freedom. The process of non-violent resistance
and struggle will achieve full freedom as we realise the Kingdom of God in its fullness
within our lives as Jesus’ soon return approaches. God makes Himself known in
the middle of the struggles for life, freedom and justice as Jesus demonstrated
and taught.
Saint
Patrick's "Breastplate" Prayer
I bind
unto myself today
The strong Name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One and One in Three.
The strong Name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One and One in Three.
I bind
unto myself today
The power of God to hold and lead,
His eye to watch, His might to stay,
His ear to hearken to my need.
The wisdom of my God to teach,
His hand to guide, His shield to ward,
The word of God to give me speech,
His heavenly host to be my guard.
The power of God to hold and lead,
His eye to watch, His might to stay,
His ear to hearken to my need.
The wisdom of my God to teach,
His hand to guide, His shield to ward,
The word of God to give me speech,
His heavenly host to be my guard.
I bind
unto myself today
The strong Name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One and One in Three.
The strong Name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One and One in Three.
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