Mudwrestling with God . . .

You gotta know the backstory: twins who hated each other, and fought constantly. One, big, brawny, and maybe not so bright. The other, smaller, smarter, quicker and 'graspy' -- all for him, nothing for anyone else. He was the center of the universe, and if he forgot that fact, his mother reminded him. He was her favorite. Twin Two steals not one, but two valuable things from slower Twin One. Twin One explodes in anger, threatening to kill Twin Two. Twin Two, smaller and more wiley -- escapes and hides out at the home of relatives in the East. Years pass. Parents die. Families grow. Twins One and Two have had no contact. Twin Two gets older, wiser, and yearns for home. So, he packs up the fam and heads in that direction. It is a long, long trip. They are camping along the way. They reach a river, and he knows Twin One is on the other side waiting for him to cross. He also knows he has to face what he has done, what he has stolen from his only brother. But it is night, and he won't cross the river to face what he knows he deserves as the consequences of his past, selfish actions. Not just yet. Everyone else is sleeping but he can't. He is alone at the river. And in the dark, a stranger appears. No words are exchanged and he can't see the stranger's face. But the stranger attacks him -- and they wrestle. The fight and fight in the dark until dawn. As the day breaks, neither has won -- and Twin Two has, finally, the upper hand. He won't turn the stranger loose until the stranger cries 'uncle' -- and blesses him. The stranger does, and in the blessing, changes his name. He is no longer Twin Two, graspy and selfish . He is now the "one who has struggled with God." Or, "Israel." Twin Two, now in older middle age -- is finally a man. He has faced God, and his own demons -- and come away, not broken, but changed. He will go on to be a good father of great people -- people charged to bring such wrestling to the world -- in order that it might be changed, as well. Twin Two/aka Israel does come away wounded, however -- marked for life in his hip joint. He limps. He who wrestled with God was not vanquished, but transformed forever. He now is marked, with courage and hope.
We'll be talking about Jacob on Sunday -- come and join the conversation.
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