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Genesis
37:3-4, 12-35 James
1:1-15
Facing
the Giants
When I was a child I
heard the story of “Jack and the Beanstalk.”
I know many of you here know that story.
I don’t know if people tell it to their children anymore, it’s
not politically correct, you know, Jack stealing the giant’s things and
finally killing him by chopping down the beanstalk.
But we knew it was only fantasy, and didn’t give it much thought.
Does anyone remember how the story ends? After Jack cut down the beanstalk, which killed the giant, he
grew fabulously wealthy from the goose that laid the golden eggs, married
a beautiful princess, and “they all lived happily ever after.”
That’s how most fairy tales end.
Unfortunately some people believe real life is supposed to work
like the fairy tales. They
believe that at some time in their lives they should be able to face and
overcome all their problems, then live happily ever after.
You know, you start out in life, young and ambitious; you kill a
few giants, slay a few dragons, marry Sleeping Beauty or Prince Charming,
move into a little castle in the suburbs, and live happily ever after.
Such people face a rude
awakening, because we never reach a point in this life where all the
giants and dragons are gone. There
is always another lurking around, waiting for the right moment to pounce
on you and lay waste to your kingdom.
You may think, “If I can just get through high school, or
college, if I can just get that dream job, or marry Prince Charming or
Sleeping Beauty, or get that house, or get that raise or that promotion or
that whatever, then everything will be O.K. and we can all settle down and
live happily ever after.” But
it just doesn’t happen. That
dream job with the big salary has big responsibilities and big problems.
Sleeping Beauty snores. Prince
Charming has morning breath, and each of the little princes and princesses
is a unique bundle of blessings and challenges that sometimes seem
overwhelming. Each phase and
stage of life brings its own challenges and issues and giants to us.
And I have news for you. The
giants get bigger and meaner as you grow older.
We make the same
mistake in spiritual things. There
is a brand of theology that is very popular today which teaches that once
we come to Jesus all our problems end.
Nothing can ever hurt us if we are in Christ.
We will be untouched by sorrow and loss and suffering.
If we do encounter circumstances that would cause pain to others,
we will somehow be protected and we won’t really feel it.
These people also are in for a rude awakening. Let me tell you, Christians feel pain when we suffer, just
like everyone else. We hurt
when people mistreat us. We
grieve when we loose someone we love.
We bleed when we are cut, and we die when our time comes, just like
everyone else. And God
doesn’t protect us from these things, instead He promises to give us
strength to persevere through them. He
doesn’t navigate the storms of life around us, so that they miss us, He
gives us strength to go through the storms.
The stories of Jacob
and Joseph are examples of this. I
know many think they teach us that we will never experience sorrow.
Joseph, especially, reminds me of “Jack and the Beanstalk. Like Jack, Joseph faced a few tough times, a few “giants”
but finally prevailed and “lived happily ever after.” But a closer look reveals many battles and sorrows in their
lives. Jacob, for example,
grew up in his brother’s shadow. His
brother, Esau, was the popular one, the one to whom everything came
easily. He was probably big, handsome, had a winning personality, a
man’s man, and a ladies’ man, and the favorite with everyone.
He was certainly his father’s favorite.
And he had the good fortune to be the first-born of the two.
Yes, they were twins, Jacob and Esau, but Esau was the first to be
born, even if it was only by a few minutes.
That means he was in line to inherit the leadership of the Hebrew
people. He would become the human leader of the people of God.
Jacob spent his life
coveting his brother’s position. Jacob
was sneaky and cunning and a Mamma’s boy, and the opposite of Esau in
every respect. And he both won the prize of his brother’s position, and
lost it, all in the same day. He
won it by deceiving his father. He
lost it when he was forced to flee for his life from Esau, who threatened
to kill him. He fled to the
house of his uncle, Laban, and there he found a con artist who was far
better at cheating and scheming than Jacob ever hoped to be.
And Laban cheated Jacob several times during his years there, until
one day Jacob had to leave this sanctuary too, and had no where to go
except home. To make a long
story short, Jacob made peace with Esau, and made peace with his father,
and returned to Canaan a rich man, probably expecting to finally settle
down and “live happily ever after.”
But his problems were not over.
You know how his sons fought, and finally, in a fit of jealous
rage, sold Joseph into slavery. We can only imagine the grief Jacob experienced over that.
And so, let me say
gain, there is always another giant, another dragon, another demon waiting
to strike. We never in this life reach the point of absolute peace.
Therefore, gird your selves for action.
Arm yourselves for battle. Put
on the whole armor of God and stand fast against all the attacks of the
great dragon who roams the earth like a ravenous lion, “seeking whom he
may devour.”
But know this; that God
is with you. The thing that
stands out most in all the stories of the Old Testament and New Testament
is that God is with us. We
are often our own worst enemies, bringing much of our own sorrow onto
ourselves. We go astray from
God. We break His
commandments, we rebel against His holy will, and we follow too much
“the devices and desires of our own hearts.”
And yet God is always there. He
never gives up. He didn’t
give up on Jacob, or Joseph, or Israel, and He will not give up on you
either. He will never leave
you, never desert you. He
will never forsake you. He
will always be there to give the strength you need to fight one more
dragon. You may feel broken
and defeated. You may be
angry at God, as though He has deserted you by not giving you a fairy tale
life. But fairy tales only
happen in “Never, Never Land.” In
real life we sometimes get beat up. In
real life sometimes the giants win. But
God is with you. Know that,
and fight on.
But also know this, God
is at work for good in this world. God
works in all things to do good for you, and God will win.
The one overwhelming fact that stands out in the Old Testament,
whether it is in the stories of individuals like Moses, or Abraham, or
Deborah, or in the collective history of the nation of Israel, is that God
is working out His plan and purpose for His people and this world, and His
plan is to do good for you. And nothing can prevent His ultimate victory.
The failings and sins of His people could not stop Him.
The opposition of unbelievers did not hinder God.
He was at work for good in this world through Israel, to bring
forth the Savior. He was at
work for good in Israel and in the lives of the Old Testament characters. And
He is at work for good in your life.
And just as Jacob and Joseph, and the nation of Israel stood and
persevered by His power, so also will He cause you to stand and persevere,
and bring you at last to His home in Heaven where all the dragons and
giants and demons are banished forever, and you will rest in His light and
peace forever.
Therefore, trust God.
Believe that He is with you, and trust Him through the storms and
the darkness and the battles of life.
Believe that He is working good for you in all things.
Expect opposition from the world and the forces of evil, and do not
be surprised or dismayed because of it.
But face the giants, overcoming them with the spiritual weapons of
faith and grace.
In the name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, Amen.
The Anglican Orthodox Church
P.O. Box 128 Statesville, NC 28687
The Most Rev. Jerry Ogles, Bishop Metropolitan
The Rev. Dr. R. Dennis Campbell, Vicar, Holy Trinity
Anglican Church,
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