Pastor’s Column – Mar 2025

The man said, ‘Let me go because the dawn is breaking.’
But Jacob said, ‘I won’t let you go until you bless me.’ –Genesis 31

I have never wrestled another person, but I have wrestled tangled extension cords, grappled with car seats, and warred with technology. I must admit that there are times when these simple tasks cause more frustration than they should. The never-ending list of chores or unresolved situations in life makes these small wrestlings more difficult. Tiny tussles are capable of breaking the camel’s back. Beyond simple menial tasks, we encounter tangled relationships, grapple with injustice, and war with ourselves. It is tempting to disengage, to walk right past the complexity and the challenge they present. I expect Jacob experienced the same temptation.

Jacob is fleeing his brother Esau, who is pursuing him with murderous intent. Needless to say, these brothers have a complex relationship. At his Mother’s prompting, Jacob takes advantage of his father’s failing eyesight to steal an irreversible blessing that was rightfully Esau’s. The blessing gave Jacob his father’s inheritance. Esau declares that he will kill his brother, prompting Jacob to run into the wilderness instead of facing up to the wrong he did to his brother.

With Esau’s army on his heels, in the middle of the night, Jacob sends his wife and eleven children across the river to safety while preparing to face his brother. While he is alone, a man, a person, perhaps God, begins wrestling with him. Jacob doesn’t run, but he stays in it. The stranger strikes him on the hip, but he stays in it. He keeps wrestling until finally, at daybreak, the mysterious figure relents, saying, “you have striven with God and with humans and have prevailed.” That’s when Jacob is blessed.

This year’s theme for Lent is Everything (in) Between. Each weekly sub-theme explores two supposed binaries, like “faith & works” or “rest & growth,” or “grief & hope.” We often consider these ideas to be opposing. However, as we explore these concepts within the scriptures, we find nuance and complexity to wrestle with. We find that these dichotomies are false. We might begin to see a full spectrum instead of black and white. We might find that God is present in between, ready to bless us.

Jacob reveals the virtues of patience and perseverance, which offers spiritual stamina to wrestle a blessing in the grey areas of life. As we encounter tangled relationships, grapple with injustice, and war with ourselves, in this season of Lent, we are assured that God draws close to those with courage to stand in the in-between.

Blessings for your journey,
Rev. Keith McDevitt