The Journey of Grace

INTRODUCTION

Good morning! My name is David Sorn, and I’m the Lead Pastor of Renovation Church

Hope you had a great 4th of July! Happy 250th birthday to America! 😊

I was thinking recently about when my parents dropped me off at college for the very first time freshmen year.

I still remember a lot about that day.

I can remember how nervous and yet excited I was.

I can remember pulling off the interstate, driving onto campus with my parents, setting up my dorm room, and meeting my roommate for the first time.

But the thing that my parents remember the most was after we had it all mostly set up, I turned to them and infamously said, “You can go now” 😊

Which, I have since apologized to them for…as I think about how horrendous that would be if my own children, after 18 years of raising them, said that to me.

But I was always driven, and ready to be out on my own.

And yet, I can still remember, lying in my bed, in the dark of night on the 3rd night or so of college…

…and I had never been to camp as a kid, or really away from my parents at all, and thinking, “Can I do this? Can I really just live somewhere else, and not go home for a month or two?”

And in some ways, we’re going to see Jacob wrestling with some similar challenges in our passage today, so go ahead and grab a Bible!

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Genesis 28:10-11

We are in week 3 of our series where we are studying the Life of Jacob in the book of Genesis.

Two weeks ago, we saw Jacob convince his twin brother Esau to sell him his birthright.

And then last week, we saw Jacob pretend to be Esau, and convince his blind father Isaac to bless him as the firstborn instead of Esau.

Esau was so mad about losing out on his inheritance and more, that he decided he is going to try and murder his brother Jacob.

So Jacob is sent off by his parents to go live with his Uncle Laban far away in Harran.

We’re going to rejoin the story as Jacob is just a day or two into his journey to his uncle’s house.

THE DARK NIGHT

(Genesis 28:10-11) – NIV

10 Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Harran. 11 When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep.

So, we get a couple names of cities here, which means this is a great time for a MAP!

(Jacob’s Journey Google Map)

Lots of times on Bible maps, it can be hard to get your bearings, so I made this map in Google Maps for you

So you can see on here that Jacob left Beersheba, which in modern day is just south of Jerusalem, and began his journey northward.

We can’t be sure of his exact route he took, and he may have stuck a bit more West of this Google Maps route

But he would have journeyed northward near the dead sea, and up towards the Sea of Galilee, and then along what is the modern-day Lebanon & Syria Border

And all the way to Harran, which is actually just into modern Turkey.

Not sure if you can read it or not from your seat, but this is a journey of 566 miles.

In ancient times, that’s roughly about a month’s journey

So what is Jacob thinking in our passage…on this night…early on in his journey?

Remember, he’s all alone.

And Jacob isn’t the avid outdoorsman like his brother.

He prefers to be cooking in tents with his mom.

And so a monthlong solo journey to the northland is not his idea of a good time

He’s not even sure if he’s going to make it to his uncle’s house alive.

He could be killed by bandits or raiders.

For all he knows his brother Esau is going to catch up to him and kill him

And Jacob arrives in what was, at the time, an unnamed place…

And the Bible says “the sun had set”

This is imagery for what’s happening in his heart as well.

And Jacob lays down on what for a pillow?

A stone!

The only reason you use a stone for a pillow (ever) is because you had to leave in a hurry and don’t really have any supplies with you.

Otherwise, you roll up an extra tunic to sleep on, some sort of ancient pack, anything!

But Jacob is now impoverished, alone, scared, and on the run…

…lying in the dark, missing his mother, probably thinking about all of the mistakes he made that got him into this mess.

And my friends, this is often the first stage of what I’m going to call “The journey of grace”

(The Dark Night)

Let’s call this first stage: The Dark Night.

Before we are ready to receive God’s grace, most of us have to experience some sort of Dark Night.

That is, we must feel the need for God’s grace.

And when I say grace today, I mean God’s underserved favor (his forgiveness)

And the dark night is when you first feel the NEED for God’s grace.

Do you remember last week when we were talking about God allowing hard times to come to your kids & family members?

God often uses this dark night to prepare them to feel the need to receive His grace.

But see, when Jacob was back with his family, scheming in deceit and pride, he wasn’t ready yet to hear from God.

But now, alone, and on the run, in the dark of night, his heart is ready.

Let’s keep reading.

THE LIGHT OF GRACE

Genesis 28:12-15

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(Genesis 28:12-15) – NIV

12 He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13 There above it stood the Lord, and he said: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. 14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. 15 I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

What’s happening in this dream?

Dreams in Scripture are often symbolic, so this dream isn’t saying that there is a real invisible stairway that angels go up and down all day long.

God is showing Jacob that He is there…with Him…on this journey.

And that God is not absent or distant.

And God (the real God) is different than all of the pagan gods around them, who the pagans believed were confined to only their villages.

So if you left on a journey, your “god” wasn’t with you.

But God, the real God, will be with Jacob everywhere he goes.

(The Light of Grace)

So Jacob, in his dark night, has this incredible dream, and experiences God’s light.

This is our 2nd station, on our journey of grace with God: The Light of Grace

It’s where God meets us in our darkness and brings His light and hope.

God is giving Jacob (for the first time) a personal encounter with Him.

Up until this time in the book of Genesis, Jacob had certainly heard about God from his Grandfather Abraham, and his father Isaac, but Jacob had never met God in a personal way as they had

And what Jacob truly needed is an encounter with God.

And that’s what some of you in this room need

You believe God exists, that’s great. I’m glad you do.

But it’s not enough to just know about God, you have to know God.

You have to experience God.

And you can experience Him and know him.

Even if you feel like you’re in the middle of a dark night right now.

Maybe you’re in a season of depression.

Or you’ve been walking in shame.

Or even this weekend, you had too much to drink celebrating America, made some bad choices, and here you are in church this morning, looking for God.

It doesn’t matter…I’m glad you’re here.

And God can shower His grace on you and teach you to walk w/ Him (and His ways)…

And I know that to be true because of what we’re studying in the Bible.

I mean, think about it: Jacob didn’t ask for God’s blessing and revelation: He just received it

It’s kind of fascinating that God comes to Jacob while Jacob is asleep.

This shows, even more deeply, how passive Jacob is in all this.

God initiates the grace.

God is pursuing Jacob.

It was the Lord who sought Him first.

And this is powerful because, you tell me, what has Jacob done, up to this point, to earn God’s love?

Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Everything we’ve been told that Jacob has done so far is deceitful and shameful.

And yet, God comes to him, the sinner.

And some of you right now have been beating yourself up lately, about all of your mistakes, and all of your bad choices…

…and yet today, God comes to you, the sinner.

Maybe for the first time, maybe for the 100th time, and in your dark night, he offers His light of grace and forgiveness.

That is the goodness and kindness of God

PROMISES FOR THE FUTURE

But God’s goodness is even greater and even richer.

It’s not just that He graciously gave Jacob this dream that let Jacob truly experience Him for the first time, it’s that God gave Jacob amazing promises for the future

And this, in many ways, is our 3rd station on our journey of knowing God’s grace and love for us

(Promises for the future).

As you start walking in faith with God, and you start learning His Word, you learn about the promises of God for the Christian.

That He will never leave you or forsake you .

That He is in control of all things

That eternal life can be yours if you believe.

And on and on, and I encourage you to study and meditate of the promises of God.

But Jacob gets his first personal dose of the promises of God, and they are going to propel him forward in His now personal walk with God

Think about how each of these promises in verses 13-15 would have spoken to Jacob in his situation.

Jacob is on the run, running away from his homeland, and God promises Him that He will not only come back, but his descendants will inherit that land.

Jacob still hasn’t found a wife, and now he’s going to a place he’s never been, but God tells him that his descendants will be so numerous that they will be like the dust of the earth

And so he knows a wife and children will be coming for him…it’s a promise!

And Jacob, who’s all alone, out in the wilderness, afraid and sleeping on a stone, God says, “I will be with you wherever you go, and I will make all of this happen. I will do what I say”

This is pretty amazing.

And it’s why Jacob wakes up so inspired from his dream

Let’s keep reading in verse 16 now

Genesis 28:16-19

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(Genesis 28:16-19) – NIV

16 When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” 17 He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.”
18 Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it. 19 He called that place Bethel, though the city used to be called Luz.

(Promises for the Future)

Jacob calls the place of his dream Bethel, which means House of God…

It’s also an inspiring name for a University.

Much like the name “Northwestern,” which of course carries the deep & profound meaning of being North AND West of St. Paul

Ha, j/k

But you can see how motivated Jacob is to continue on in his journey of grace.

The promises of God propel Him forward.

And this is why we want you in God’s Word, studying it every day.

The Bible is the lamp of the truth in the darkness.

You need these promises because lots of times, your life is going to feel like a construction project at the halfway point.

In fact, I remember one time during the construction of phase 1 of this building, our worship center walls were up, and some of the roof was on, but not much more …it was just a dirt floor

(Worship Center Dirt Floor).

And I was standing in the back of the worship center (right back there) with my good friend Zach Foty, who has been our worship leader since Day 1 in 2009

And we looked at each other, and said, “This can’t be right! It looks too small. We should tell someone”

And I talked to our architect about it and they said, “no, it’s right. Trust us”

And they said, “Everyone’s perceptions are just way off during a construction project…when not all the other aspects of the project are finalized”

“It just doesn’t feel right to you, but it is”

And it’s the same in life.

You’re in the middle of a “construction project of grace” right now.

God is working on you and doing untold things in and around you.

And there will be times, where you will go, “What in the world are you doing? This isn’t right. This can’t be right”

But it IS right.

And that’s where you need to press in, and trust the architect, and trust the PROMISES OF GOD.

(Promises for the Future)

UNNESSECARY BARGAINING

Now, on this journey of grace we go on in life, I wish we continued to just make right step after right step.

But we don’t…and that’s part of why we need God’s grace so much.

And now in this next common station on the journey, you’re going to see Jacob make a wrong step…a step downward.

And it might feel a bit surprising in light of what he just experienced.

But remember Jacob is just getting started on his journey with God, so we gotta show Him some grace too

So look at what happens next:

Genesis 28:20-22

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(Genesis 28:20-22) – NIV

20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear 21 so that I return safely to my father’s household, then the Lord will be my God 22 and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.”

What is Jacob doing here?

He’s on a journey of grace with God, but he takes this step downward

(Unnecessary Bargaining)

And he begins unnecessarily bargaining with God.

He says: “If…IF God will be with me…and come through on His end, then He will be my God…and I’ll tithe (give a tenth of my money to Him), and etc. “

What’s he doing?

He’s going back to his old ways!

Remember, this is who he was!

The trickster. The bargainer.

He bargained with Esau to get him to trade his birthright for a bowl of soup!

Jacob doesn’t fully get grace yet.

God is speaking in promises, but Jacob is still speaking in conditions.

Jacob feels like their relationship is still somewhat dependent on some sort of deal, or bargain, or earned right.

But it’s not.

God’s grace just IS.

He just offers his loves you. Period. End of story.

Accept it and realize you can’t earn it; there’s no deal to negotiate

And if God has said He would do something, He will do something.

And every time we fall back into a conditional relationship with God, we’re falling down a bit on this journey of grace.

Every time we say,

“God, I’ll keep believing in you, if you heal my mom”

“God, I’ll serve you with more of my life, if you show me more of yourself”

God, I’ll be generous with my finances if you help me get a raise.

What we’re doing when we say that, is we turn God’s grace & His promises into conditions.

But listen, the God of the universe has spoken to you in this Book and said, “He can forgive you, He will be with you, He is bringing every believer to paradise”

Don’t now try and turn the tables, and set conditions for the God who made you

The creation doesn’t get to tell the Creator the terms.

And you don’t need to say, “God if you do this, then I’ll follow you more”

He’s already done it.

He’s given you everything. His Son. Eternal life.

Don’t you see, there’s no need to bargain when you already have it all.

And yet…and yet, we so often try to do just that.

All of us do…at one time or another.

We are all Jacob in our own way.

And so, like Jacob, in some ways, we’ve still got a ways to go still on our journey of grace.

Jacob is going to learn much more about trusting God through his upcoming trials with his uncle Laban, through his many years of waiting, and through wrestling with God Himself.

And like Jacob, you and I are going to continue to go up and on our own journeys of grace.

But keep pressing into His grace, walking in His grace, and trusting in His promises.

Let me pray.