The Sermon on the Mount, which we’ll start studying this Sunday, is an awe-inspiring look at the kind of disciples Jesus makes. Unfortunately, some people read it and become discouraged because they feel like they’re nowhere close to the radically high bar Jesus sets for people in his kingdom.
But the stark and extreme statements of Jesus (like “unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” – Matt. 5:20) need to be understood in light of the biblical stories of how God makes real-life people like us righteous and holy.
Take Jacob. He’s mentioned throughout Scripture in a surprising way: God repeatedly refers to himself as “The God of Jacob.” Which is strange when you think about it. God has never introduced himself as the God of Moses. He’s not known as the God of Joseph, or Nehemiah, or Paul. But sixteen times in the Bible, he’s called the God of Jacob.
So Jacob must have been an extremely righteous guy, right? Consistently faithful, holy, and obedient? Yeah… not so much. Read the biblical account of Jacob’s life in Genesis and you learn that he was a self-centered mercenary, a weaseling conniver, and an apathetic father. But he was also in the slow process of being refined by God.
God’s Slow Process of Refinement
One episode from his life stands out to me. In Genesis 29, Jacob is taking a trip to find a wife, and he sees a girl named Rachel by a well. It says, “Jacob came near, and rolled the stone from the well’s mouth.” This is the stone that would take a whole group of shepherds to move. It says he watered her entire flock for her.
Not once has Jacob prayed about finding the right wife. Instead he sees a hot chick, and starts doing crazy feats of strength to woo her. He sees what he wants, and he tries to take it.
God allows you to try your own way
In God’s refining process, he’ll first allow you to try things your own way. He’ll let you live life on your own… for a while. He’ll let you try to manipulate people and situations to get what you want… for a while.
It says, “Jacob kissed Rachel and wept aloud.” Jacob’s already decided that this is the one. He hasn’t even talked to her yet, but he’s already infatuated. He’s not interested in finding God’s will, he’s interested in filling the emptiness inside of him. He’s interested in satisfying his own fleshly desires. That’s what the crying’s all about. (sidenote: ladies, if a man starts crying on your first date, this is not a good sign.)
God allows you to worship your own idols
In the course of about half an hour, Rachel has become an idol in Jacob’s life. And God will allow you to worship your own idols. Not little metal idols, like in Indiana Jones, real-life idols that take your attention away from God. Edward Welch says you can identify your idols with one simple question: “If only _________, then I would be happy, fulfilled, and secure.” Whatever you fill in the blank is an idol if it’s not Jesus.
God will allow you to worship your idols for a while. Jacob continued to pursue Rachel, and discovered that they were cousins. This still didn’t stop him. Genesis says he went to meet her father Laban, and was accepted into the family with open arms. Jacob began helping out around the house. But then, a month later, an interesting conversation took place: “Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my kinsman, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?”
God strips away your pride
When you first hear it, it sounds like Laban’s being totally magnanimous… “I want to bless you with the money you deserve, my beloved nephew!” But the words he’s using shows that he’s not just going to be giving Jacob money, he’s going to be changing Jacob’s status. Jacob’s not going to be an honored guest anymore… not even a respected family member.
Laban’s going to reduce his flesh-and-blood nephew to an indentured servant. That’s how Jacob will be viewed from now on. He’s saying to Jacob, “How much will it take for me to own you as my servant?
That’s how God starts to turn things around in his refining process: he strips away your pride.He starts to take away the things in life that make you feel secure and successful, because the only real security in life is God and the only real success in life is serving him.
We’ll continue the story next week…