From A Mess to Mercy

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=50 BGCOLOR="#333366" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>From A Mess to Mercy</B></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=165 BGCOLOR="#CCCC99" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="132" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="VOID" RULES="NONE" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 35 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id543.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="From a Great Expectation to a Great Less"><U><B><IMG SRC="007151d0.gif" border=0 width="21" height="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id547.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Source of Prosperity"><U><B><IMG SRC="008151d0.gif" border=0 width="21" height="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="20"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="35" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="20" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="13"></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="27"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <div> Previous/Next Sermon</div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="www.stanbaker.org"><U><B>Home</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id2.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Biblical and Theological Studies"><U><B>Biblical and Theological Studies</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Church Ministry"><U><B>Church Ministry</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id15.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Sermon Notes"><U>Sermon Notes</U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Links"><U><B>Links</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id5.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Personal"><U><B>Personal</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> www.stanbaker.org</div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=430 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>"Genesis 29:31-30:24, “From a Mess to Mercy,"</B></div> <div> <B>Berean Bible Church, November 6, 2005</B></div> <bR> <div>      Maybe you are familiar with Punk'd on MTV, or Desperate Housewives on ABC. We thought Hollywood was so smart and creative in the messy stories they create. But people have been acting in messy ways for a long, long time. When you read the Bible, you don't always find people of faith all cleaned up and righteous and having their act together. You find people of faith living in messes, sometimes as consequences of their own actions, other times because of the actions of other people and no fault of their own. The great thing is that God can be present and active in your life, even when things are really messy.</div> <div>      Jacob went on the run from his family. He had stolen the blessing from his brother, so he was running for his life, and to find a wife. Well, he was “punk'd” by his uncle Laban, and the morning after his wedding night, he discovered he married the wrong sister, Leah – not the woman he loved. A week later, he was able to marry the woman he loved, Rachel. In all of this, God was teaching him some lessons, but he was still under the blessing and protection and presence of God in his life. But things were going to get very messy. This is an early story of some “desperate housewives.”</div> <div>      Even in our messes, God is still actively involved in the lives of his people. Please read <A HREF="http://www.biblegateway.com/bible?passage=Gen+29:31-30:24" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.biblegateway.com/bible?passag"><U>Genesis 29:31-30:24</U></A>.</div> <bR> <div> <B>I. God sees the needs and hears the crys of those who look to him.</B></div> <div>      [Note: God's plan, ideal for marriage is one man and one woman in a lifetime committed relationship (going all the way back to the beginning, as Jesus did when he was asked). Leviticus 18:18 <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >NLT</FONT> says, “While your wife is living, do not marry her sister and have sexual relations with her, for they would be rivals.” This story shows why this law was later given.]</div> <div>      Both women were frustrated. One had kids but was unloved by her husband. The other was loved by her husband but unable to have kids. And Jacob had to live with them both (“if mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy”, and if <I>2 </I>mamas ain't happy ...!). [<U>2 lessons:</U> ... If you have two or more wives, love them equally. If you are one of two wives, don't fight over your husband. <I>Just kidding</I>.]</div> <div>      God saw the pain of Leah, and he gave her kids – lots of them (29:31-35). God eventually saw the longing of Rachel. She had the love of her husband, and God eventually gave her a child (30:22-24). Even when times are tough, God sees your pain and hears your cries, and he responds with love and kindness.</div> <div>      Both women employed a variety of strategies to get what they want. The strategies were borne out of their rivalry, to fix the messes of their lives – sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. Leah used the strategy of having kids to get her husband to love her. Rachel used the strategies of a concubine and mandrakes. The use of concubines was a primitive infertility option. On the mandrake strategy, mandrakes were apparently an aphrodisiac, and thought to help cure infertility. Rachel wanted them, so she could get pregnant, but Leah ended up pregnant as a result of the deal they made.</div> <div>      It is not wrong to use available and methods and strategies to reach the right goals, but your strategies can never replace faith in God and in his promises. He sees what you need, he sees your situation and he responds. He hears your cries for help, and he answers. He may not fix everything immediately. But you can trust him as he works out his plan over the course of your life.</div> <bR> <div> <B>II. God was working out his plan to bless of the whole human race.</B></div> <div>      God was keeping his promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to bless them with many descendants. This was a big step forward in the fufillment of the promise. The nation of Israel was divided into 12 tribes, coming from these 12 sons.</div> <div>      Eventually, God would bring about his blessing to the whole world, through Jacob's son Judah, whose line of descendants ultimately led to Jesus of Nazereth. The point of all of this was not just to bless Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and their family, but to bless all of us through them, by providing salvation, forgiveness and a relationship with the eternal God through Jesus Christ.</div> <div>      In Acts 3:24-26 Peter says to people of Israel, “Starting with Samuel, every prophet spoke about what is happening today. You are the children of those prophets, and you are included in the covenant God promised to your ancestors. For God said to Abraham, 'Through your descendants all the families on earth will be blessed.' When God raised up his servant, Jesus, he sent him first to you people of Israel, to bless you by turning each of you back from your sinful ways.” John 1:16-17 says, “From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” The greatest blessing is found in the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ. He is an expert at cleaning up the messes of people's lives, messes created because of our sin and the sin of others. He heals, he loves, he forgives.</div> <div>      Jeffrey Collins works to help those suffering from AIDS. He wrote in Christian Reader magazine, “It had been a trying week at our Love & Action office. At five o'clock on a Friday, I was looking forward to having a quiet dinner with friends. Then the phone rang.  "Jeff! It's Jimmy!" I heard a quivering voice say. Jimmy, who suffered from several AIDS-related illnesses, was one of our regular clients. "I'm really sick, Jeff. I've got a fever. Please help me."  I was angry. After a 60-hour workweek, I didn't want to hear about Jimmy. But I promised to be right over. Still, during the drive, I complained to God about the inconvenience.  The moment I walked in the door, I could smell the vomit. Jimmy was on the sofa, shivering and in distress. I wiped his forehead, then got a bucket of soapy water to clean up the mess. I managed to maintain a facade of concern, even though I was raging inside.  Jimmy's friend, Russ, who also had AIDS, came down the stairs. The odor made Russ sick, too.  As I cleaned the carpet around Russ's chair, I was ready to explode inside. Then Russ startled me. "I understand! I understand!"  "What, Russ?" Jimmy asked weakly.  "I understand who Jesus is," Russ said through tears. "He's like Jeff!" Weeping, I hugged Russ and prayed with him. That night Russ trusted Jesus Christ as his personal Savior—a God who had used me to show his love in spite of myself.” (Jeffrey Collins, "It Happened on a Friday," Christian Reader (March/April 1998), Vol. 36, no. 2 (Lead Weekly email 3-9-04), Evangelism, Service). </div> <div>      Jesus is one who helps people who are living in their messes. He cleans and transforms lives with his mercy and compassion. He lifts us up and sets us solid us ground, time after time, when we turn to him. Don't ever forget.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> copyright, 2005, Stanley Baker</div> <div> www.stanbaker.org</div> </td> </tr></table></body>