Sibling Rivalry

Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. He said to Jacob, "Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I'm famished."...Jacob replied, "First sell me your birthright." Genesis 25:30-31

Sibling Rivalry
By Rev. William Dohle

I can't believe it! I just can't believe it!

My little brother Samuel turned 30 this past week. The little boy who use to carry around his teddy bear everywhere he went is entering his 30's! Boy I feel old!

As I was congratulating him over the phone this past weekend, I thought back at the years we were growing up...and the rivalries that we had.

Samuel and I loved each other growing up. Or at least that's how I remember it. Talk to Samuel and he'll tell you stories of how I teased him as a kid. How he and my sister teamed up against me whenever our parents left me in charge. And how I would threaten them: "I'm gonna tell Mom!"

I remember those times too...vaguely...though my memory is selective in some areas. You see, I remember having good reason to tell mom and dad on them! After all, he was sooo annoying as a kid!

Sibling rivalry is common, I think, in most families. There's always at least a little element of it. Every sibling wants to be the favorite sibling. Every child wants that special attention. And the competition is on which one will win out over the rest. I saw it in my family growing up...and I see it my children now.

Of course that's nothing new. Sibling rivalries have been happening since time began. One of the most famous rivalries was between Esau and his brother, Jacob. These twins, born to Rebekah and Isaac, were fighting straight out of the womb. Their parents didn't help matters any. Strong Esau became the favorite of Isaac while timid Jacob became the favorite of Rebekah.

The two brothers culminated their rivalry in two incidents that changed their birthrights forever. The first happened when, in a fit of stupidity, Esau gave the birthright to Jacob for a bowl of stew. The second happened when their father was on his deathbed, about to give his blessing, and Jacob, with his mother's help, disguised himself as his brother, Esau to steal the blessing.

Talk about sibling rivalry! I know I wasn't that harsh to my brother.

But God works through and in even our most deceptive moments. Jacob, the weakling, goes on to carry on the line of his grandfather, Abraham. Jacob is the one who wrestles with God in the desert. Jacob sees the angels. And, in the end, it is Jacob who fathers what becomes the twelve tribes of Israel.

And the rivalry he has with his brother? Well, God has things work out for good there too. After all, you can't be angry with your brother forever!

So if you are blessed to have siblings, rejoice! Rejoice with them in their triumphs and struggles. Rejoice in all the rivalries you use to have. Rejoice that God has given you the wonderful gift of brothers and sisters. (And if you never had siblings...well rejoice as well! For you never had to deal with any of the rivalry mess we had!)

Rejoice and ponder all that God has done, and will do, with the relationships you were born into.

Heavenly Father, we are connected to our siblings, those in blood and those in faith. Inspire in us your grace that we might see your hand at work, even in the midst of our rivalries, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Nature or Nurture?

"Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated;
one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger." Genesis 25:23

Nature or Nurture?
By Rev. William Dohle

There are some things of life I just don't understand.

I don't understand how three kids, born of the same parents, can be so very different.
I don't understand how in a family of four children, one can grow up to be a pastor, one can go back to her roots, one is kinda wandering, and the other has abandoned faith altogether.
I don't understand how a strict catholic man could produce three children who represent three very different religious viewpoints.

I just don't understand.

I have long followed the whole nature or nurture debate. The question being: Which controls your destiny more? How you were born? Or how you grew up? That question has always fascinated me, for behind it lies the underlying question of who's responsible for our actions? Do we really choose our own destiny? Or is it handed to us on a clay or silver platter?

Think of your own family, how different you are from your siblings, your parents, your aunts and uncles? Were these differences all written out before you were born? Or did you choose? And if you did choose, when was the choice made for this road in your life? Is your destiny somehow written in your genes? Or do you make your own destiny based on your decisions?

The Bible gives contrary arguments to the whole notion of free will. Take the story of Jacob and Esau. These twin brothers really had no choice in their destiny. Before they were born, they were already jostling each other within their mother. When their mother asked the Lord, why this was happening, the Lord said to Rebekah:

"Two nations are in your womb, and two people from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger."

Did these brothers have a choice in the matter? Did they choose their destiny? Did Jacob stand up and volunteer to be the younger one? No! Of course not! Their choice was made for them. And that decision controlled their destiny. Even their names said something about who they would be. Esau's name means "hairy" because he was so very hairy as a kid, while Jacob is said to have come out holding onto Esau's heel(which in ancient times meant he would be a deceiver.).

It would seem the Bible comes on the side of nature in this debate...except that somewhere down the road for Jacob and Esau, things change. The brothers, who start out hating each other, reconcile and love each other in the end. Their destiny, which seems to tear them apart, is overridden by their own decisions to love and forgive each other.

We too can rise above our upbringing. We may not be able to control our nature, but we can control our attitude toward it. We may not understand how one person sees things differently than we do, but we can rise above our prejudice and love them! We may not know why people are different, but we can love them for their differences. We can support them in their choices. We can show interest in what they are doing and how they are doing it.

And whatever is at work within us, be it our nature or the way we were brought up, we know this. "...God is greater than our hearts and he knows everything."(1 John 3:20). May God the Father, who created us, sustain us throughout our lives. May Christ forgive us for when we stumble. And may the Spirit be at work in us, transforming our minds and hearts that we might rise above both our nature and our nurture in service to our neighbors.

Heavenly Father, you created us to be your people and in Christ you have claimed us as your own. Transform us that we might be servants to others, for the sake of Christ our Lord. Amen.

Love at First Sight

"Issac went out into the field one evening to meditate and when he looked up, he saw the camels[that Rebekah was riding] approaching. Rebekah also looked up and saw Isaac...and asked the servant, "Who is the man in the field coming to meet us?" Genesis 24:63-65

Love at First Sight
By Rev. William Dohle

They meet one day in a crowded room. People milling about them. The boy looks up, just as the girl glances his way. Their eyes meet. And love blossoms. Years later they tell their grandkids, "I was in love the first time I saw her!"

There is a dream in every young heart of this scenario happening to them. Books are written of it. Movies made from it. Songs sung to it.

The possibility and promise of love at first sight grips many a romantic heart. The thought that from the first time they meet, love will blossom between them.

There are few stories of love at first sight in the Bible given its culture and the way men and women were given in marriage back then. But there is one. That story, taken from the pages of Genesis, tells us how Isaac and Rebekah first met. It tells of a journey made by Isaac's servants back to Abraham's homeland. Of a young woman who meets the servant at the well and the incredible leap of faith she made in traveling with him back to Isaac's home. It tells of her arrival and both her and Isaac's reaction to each other. It is the best example of romantic love we can find in the pages of Scripture.

But as romantic and wonderful as this story is, there is another side to this story as well. When we take these characters, not as Rebekah and Isaac, but as us and God, seeing their reaction to each other as God's reaction to us as we approach him.

Much has been said of the love of God, but I wonder if we fathom just how passionate God truly loves us. You see, God fell in love with us at first sight.

God tells Jeremiah: "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, before you were born I set you apart."(Jer. 1:5)

If this verse applies to us as well(as I believe it does) God knew us too before he formed us in the womb. At first sight, God fell in love with us.

But that's not where God's love ended, though. God didn't just love us from afar. He wanted to be close to us.

So he sent Jesus through whom God "...raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus."(Eph. 2:6-7)

So God, not satisfied with ever being apart from us, decided to come down and abide with us from now until the time when heaven and earth will come together in his heavenly kingdom.

This good news is nothing short of a romantic love story. A love story where the lover(God) sacrifices everything to be near the beloved(us).

And the best part of this love story is that it's true! And it's for you! And me!

The thing about love at first sight is... it doesn't look at flaws. There is no list of right and wrong for first sight love. No way to earn it...or turn it away. It doesn't love because the beloved did anything special for it either or earned it in any way. It simply...is! That is the love God has for us!

And no matter how romantic we are in this life. No matter how we have(or have not) experienced the grace and love of God in relationships with others, we have this love given freely to us by God. A love that started at first sight and continues through the end of time itself.

Heavenly Father, you love and care for me more than I can possibly imagine. Allow me to take a piece of the love you have for me and share it with my brothers and sisters here on earth, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Only Thing Left

"I am an alien and a stranger among you. Sell me some property for a burial site here so I can bury my dead." Genesis 23:4

The Only Thing Left
By Rev. William Dohle

My kids are SOO excited! For two weeks now they have been jumping up and down at our house, eagerly awaiting the fateful unwrapping of gifts.

This year we made it terribly frustrating for them too for we set out already most of the gifts they are receiving. Now that they've seen them, their shape, their texture, the way they shake in their hands, they are dying to open them.

Of course I know the novelty will fade. A few short minutes into Christmas and all the mystery will be revealed. And after a few weeks of playing with their toys, they will want more. More games, more things, more stuff. I know they'll want more...because I always want more. One Christmas is never enough. There's always another one just a year away.

So what do you have to hold onto? What will remain? After this Christmas and next Christmas and all the Christmases of your life are past, what will remain of you? What will people remember? What will you have that lasts?

Even the patriarch, Abraham, faced this question as he mourned the death of his wife, Sarah. What does he truly own? Abraham, who has lived, in his own words, as "an alien and a stranger among you" owns no property or land. He has no home to call his own. He doesn't even own a cave to bury his wife in! He owns no property or land in the place he's been living most of his life.

It's only after some negotiating with the Hitties that he purchases the only bit of property he'll own: a burial cave and field for him and his wife Sarah. In that cave, he places Sarah's body. Later, after remarrying and siring six more children, Abraham too is buried there.

But that's not where Abraham's story ends. For Abraham himself carries nothing with him into death but his faith. And it is the faith of Abraham that is remembered by Paul thousands of years later. It is by the faith of Abraham that we call ourselves "children of Abraham" for it is his faith that began everything.

Paul tells us: "Understand then that those who have faith are children of Abraham."(Galatians 3:7).

Abraham's faith lasts through the centuries. Far after his sheep and goats have all died. Far his tents have all gone to dust. Far after everything he owns has disintegrated, Abraham's faith lasts...even to today!

Our legacy is the same way. We too can leave with our children our faith. Everything else we might leave them will fade away with time. But that faith, the faith we have in our God planted in our children, will outlive us. It will be passed, as Abraham's faith was, from generation to generation, throughout the centuries. As the faith we have has been inherited from those who came before us, so too our faith is inherited and shared with those who come after us making that the best Christmas gift we could ever want.

"Come one and all! Enjoy the faith that will outlast all the other toys in your life. Take it, enjoy it, and share it with others. For this is the gift that will truly last forever!"

Heavenly Father, thank you for the faith you have planted in our lives. Make us aware of your precious gift, given to us this Christmas. May we give it to others as you have freely given it to us, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

No Way!

"Then God said, 'Take your son, your only son, Issac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.'...When they reached place God had told him about, abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son." Genesis 22:2, 9-10

No Way!
By Rev. William Dohle

My children, like many children I imagine, hate chores! They really despise them. For instance...We tell them one day: "Pick up your room."

And at first they pretend not to hear us.

"Pick up your room."

And they look, questioning, in our direction.

"I said, pick up your room."

And then they say, "Huh?"

"You better pick up your room!"

And then the fit starts! Our oldest throws himself on the ground in a fit. Our middle child continues to ignore us. And our daughter starts crying out for help.

"Pick up your room!"

Finally one or the other slumps into the room. The daughter is still crying for help. The middle is still looking clueless on the floor, but the oldest goes to work, however reluctantly and angrily.

All from one simple command: Clean up your room.

Imagine if that was the response Abraham had when God asked him to do the unthinkable: to kill his son. It would make an excellent comedy!

"Abraham! Take your son and go to the mountain to sacrifice him."
"Huh?" Says Abraham, half-heartedly.
"Take your son."
"You talkin' to me?" Abraham replies.
"Abraham listen!"
"Oh... do I have to!? Didn't I just do it?"
"Abraham! Go! Now!"
"Alright! Alright! I'll go! Just chill out!"

Of course Abraham doesn't do this. Abraham does what God asks him to. He takes the son he loves. He binds him up. And he raises the knife, as if the sacrifice the boy. Then, and only then, does God intervene and tell him to stop, saying, "Now I know that you fear God because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son."(vs. 12)

Thankfully God doesn't ask us to sacrifice our children. He's already done the dirty deed for us. He sacrificed his Son on the cross for us. And, unlike Isaac who is spared the knife, Jesus suffers death on the cross for us and in our stead. We needn't obey God in the impossible. Instead, we are called to obey him in the possible tasks around us.

"He has shown you, O Mortal, what is good and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God."(Micah 6:8)

Will we, like our children, make excuses to cover us? Will we put off what God is asking of us to do? Will we say it's just too hard or that we have too many other things to do? Is God going to understand if we have baseball games, football games, basketball games, or some other commitments that we've made? Or might he just be anxious for our answer...and our response?

Will we feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, clothe the naked, welcome the stranger, heal the sick, and visit the imprisoned...or not? What is your answer?

Heavenly Father, you have already done the impossible by sacrificing your Son. You have done what even Abraham wasn't required to do for us. May we set our eyes on the possible deeds around us that all might be done to the glory of your name, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Expanded Compassion

"'Now swear to me here before God that you will not deal falsely with me or my children or my descendants. Show to me and the country where you are living as an alien the same kindness I have shown you.' Abraham said, 'I swear it.'" Genesis 21:23

Expanded Compassion
By Rev. William Dohle

'Tis the season to be generous! Generous to our loved ones. Generous to our churches. Generous to those in need.

As thousands flock to the stores in search of the perfect gift for their loved ones so come those seeking help for those in need. Christmas is notorious for giving and each Christmas season you find thousands of charities asking for help, each with their target audience.

There are the Toys for Tots group...spearheaded by the Marines...out to give kids toys for Christmas.

There's the Salvation Army bell ringers, in front of the stores, ringing bells for the hungry and needy they minister to.

There is, of course, your local food bank who have, I hear, been hit hard by the needs of people searching for something to eat.

We all have our charities we give to and causes that mean something to us. It's part of who we are.

And it's part of what makes this season so great. This season of giving that extends past our individual families into the world around us.

But imagine if that compassion, that giving, had no end. Imagine extending that giving past the 25 days of Christmas and into the rest of the year. Into the rest of our lives. Imagine promising to be generous and faithful to someone, and their children, and their grandchildren, forever!

That's the promise Abraham makes to Abimelech and Phicol, leaders of the Philistines. With Abraham living in their land, these leaders aim to ensure that Abraham will return the blessings they have bestowed on him.

What Abraham does, though, far exceeds their expectations.

"So Abraham brought sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech and the two men made a treaty. Abraham set apart seven ewe lambs from the flock, and Abimelech asked Abraham, "What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs you have set apart by themselves?" He replied, "Accept these seven lambs from my hand as a witness that I dug this well."

Now this act might not make sense to us, but imagine it a more modern way.

Imagine being asked for a shirt...and giving someone a suit.
Imagine being asked for dollar, and being given a hundred dollars.
Imagine asking for a little help...and receiving the promise of help forever.
Imagine committing to giving something...and giving a little more on top of it.

That's the generosity that Abraham has!

And that's the generosity his children (us by faith) are called to have as well. It's a generosity that extends past a single season of giving into a lifetime of generous living. Generosity that isn't just concerned with doing what is right, but going beyond right to doing what is good.

A generosity that, in Jesus words, "Gives to everyone who asks of you."

It's amazing! And crazy! But it can happen! As Abraham shows in his reaction to Abimelech, we too can extend our generosity past the Christmas season and into the rest of our lives by doing just a little more than what is expected of us. We too can respond to the generosity of the Lord, the Eternal God, with generous hearts toward others.

Generous God, you have given us the world! You have given us your Son and we are truly thankful. Make us generous in all things that we might be like your servant, Abraham, going above and beyond all expectations, beyond what is right to doing what is good, through your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

He's Their God Too!

"What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there." Genesis 21:17b

He's Their God Too!
By Rev. William Dohle

The older I get the bigger the world seems to be!

Growing up, I sometimes thought the world ended at our block. Now I know that the world extends far past the boundaries of my sight. This world is a massive place! Even now, as you are reading this, there are people asleep in their beds. There are people right now, living their lives, doing good to their neighbor, working, struggling, surviving, eating, breathing, and living. You will never meet most of those people. But they exist!

This world is big! And our God is big! Our God is present with people of all walks of life. People who live in the hot jungles of Africa to people who live in the cold tundra of Canada. From the heights of the Andes to the dry desert of the Sahara. From the cities of New York to the plains of Montana. God is present in every place with believers throughout the world.

And not just with Christian believers either. God is present with those of other faiths too. Our lesson today reminds us that God has special designs for Hagar's son, the forefather of the Muslim faith. Ishmael, the oldest son of Abraham, is banished into the desert and it seems that all is lost. His own mother, Hagar, puts him under the bushes because she can't stand to see him die.

That is, until, God hears the boy crying and intervenes. In a touching exchange, God saves Hagar and her child, promising her "I will make him into a great nation."

Now, we can dismiss this. We can try to exclude people from God's grace. They don't know the truth like we do. But to do so is to ignore his presence in passages like these. These words, spoke to Hagar, are the same words that God spoke to Abraham earlier. "I will make you into a great nation." Do we dismiss this prayer too because Abraham isn't Christian? Why dismiss God's promises here to Ishmael then, just because we disagree on certain points with his descendants?

Whatever our faith is, we mustn't box God in. God is Lord of all the Universe! God has sent his Son, Jesus, to save us. But not just us! The entire universe! God will accomplish this too, not on our terms or by ways that we understand, but by his infinite wisdom and by his grace!

As Paul writes:
Oh the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments and his paths beyond tracing out!
Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?
Who has ever given to God that God should repay him?
For from him and through him and to him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen! (Romans 11:33-36)

May God open your eyes that you might see the deliverance he has given all people. May you be so touched by God that you are able to discern what he is already doing in the lives of those around you.

Heavenly Father, Mighty God, you have designs that extend far past where my eyes can see. Give me the grace to accept what you give me and the faith to trust you in my life and in the world, in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.