TEXT: Genesis 28:10-19; Matthew 13:24-30

Genesis 28:10-1910 Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran.11 He came to a certain place and stayed there for the night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place.12 And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.13 And the Lord stood beside him and said, "I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring;14 and your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring.15 Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you."16 Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, "Surely the Lord is in this place-and I did not know it!"17 And he was afraid, and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven."18 So Jacob rose early in the morning, and he took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it.19 He called that place Bethel; but the name of the city was Luz at the first." . Matthew 13:24-3024 He put before them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field;25 but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away.26 So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well.27 And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, 'Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?'28 He answered, 'An enemy has done this.' The slaves said to him, 'Then do you want us to go and gather them?'29 But he replied, 'No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them.30 Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.' "

"FINDING GOD WHERE YOU LEAST EXPECT"

TEXT: Genesis 28:10-19; Matthew 13:24-30

Develop New intro built upon trying to hide

Anytime that I talk to someone about coming to one of our church services I hear some variation of one of three themes, "Pastor, I haven't been living the way I know that I ought, so I can't come to church. When I get things right again I'll be there. Count on me!" Or, "Why should I go to church services when you can worship God anywhere. I'm going to the beach." Or, "God? That's just a figment of imagination used to keep social order. Not for me." Sometimes the only reason that I am reluctant to use one or the other of them is that you pay me to be here. No, not really-but you know the feeling. "I'm not worthy."

Now, theological understandings of "the nature of Good and Evil," or "how the Bible came to be" will not solve the struggle within us. We are connivers in some area or another. We live in a "go for the gusto," grab it while you can, the ends justify the means, kind of world. We have been promised great things, and no one is going to make it happen for you but you, so go for it now! You know the mentality. You have lived it as have I. "Theology?" You may as well forget it, unless of course you are a scholar. Was that the J, E, P or D tradition that gave us the account of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob-or of Sarah, Rebecca and Rachel? Depends on your perspective. Most likely it doesn't really matter. For the truth is "in the story," in the telling and re-telling of the story. And it is not theology which gets me up and going each day in the face of my struggle to be the person whom I believe God would have me be, but rather the story. In this case the story of a conniving "momma's boy" kind of trickster who cheats, and lies and steals from his very family to have the opportunity to be "numero uno."

You have heard the story read at least once and perhaps twice this morning already and now I come to tell it. It is the story of a man, of every man and woman. It is the story of a dream and of a promise. It is the story of transformation. It is my story. And perhaps it is yours. For in the hearing of it, we discover how the problems which Spirit filled living and weed picking gardening are overcome. It is the story told by J and E milleniums ago which rings as true for Manhattanites on the precipice of yet another millenium.

I. Bethel in a time of Distress (28:10-19)
Jacob was on the run from his brother Esau after robbing him by deception of not only his birthright but his blessing. Without home, shelter, or protection of friends, Jacob pulls up a rock and settles down for a night of restless sleep.

A. He is at Bethel. Historically this area had been know as the "house of el." God had been there all along, and Jacob just didn't know it. In fact, Jacob to this point seems to not have acknowledged God at all.

there is no "climbing Jacob's ladder" on the part of Jacob-the spiritual has it wrong-The famous dream has been popularly misinterpreted. we often want messengers to take our petitions to God, we see the avenue as designated "one way" like our avenues in NYC However, there is a two-way street here. And glory be, God isn't at the top, although the presence of God is indeed there, God is standing beside Jacob on Jacob's ground
B. Ladder is reminiscent of stairs up ziggurats or up the side of places like the pyramids of the Mayan culture. Jacob did not climb any ladder. We don't climb the ladder. It is an avenue of grace. God was beside him and those climbing up and down the ladder are doing so to minister to him. Neither Jacob, nor we as individuals, can climb any ladder to God. God always comes to us.
C. God ministers to Jacob and God ministers to us. God makes an irrevocable promise to Jacob. It is a promise of:
1) God's presence
2) God's power
3) God's protection
4) God's providence
D. Like humanity since the garden, Jacob misinterprets and bargains with God, saying, "if you do this for me, then I'll do that for you."

How like the Christian community today: "We'll build you a house and if you, God, do this or that for us, then you can count on us to do our part."

(something here about promise keepers: God as promise keeper and Jacob as well)
the immanence of a transcendent God
the presence of the significant in places of insignificance

the grace of God to an ankle grabbing usurper and deceiver
the dynamic of our modern willingness to accept the message of a dream than it would be for us to accept a direct divine appearance - Walter Brueggemann reminds us that the "world is a place of such meetings" and that God can, and does, use such moments as a vehicle for getting through to us even today

dream reflects not simply a mental world, but an actual world that can be slept on, touched, and built on,

dream comes entirely at divine initiative-Jacob not in control of what is happening within himself

God's presence never means "passivity"

II. Bethel is a sacred place not because it is an outward, geographical place, but rather important for what can occur there.
A. Bethel is special in that it is a place…
1) Of meeting God
2) Of revival
3) Of new life and purpose
4) Of new name
5) Of remembering promises on our part and on the part of God
B. Bethel is a place of sanctuary and thus the significance of this place: a place to draw apart from the stress of our world and be met by God-not because it is the only place, but because it is a place.

CONCLUSION:
Place of worship is never to become a place of final objective but an on-going reminder of God's presence for the journey
God can bind self with unconditional promises to tricksters and deceivers
God is a promise-keeper, as so we must be as well