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This season of Lent that we're 
in, one of the things I love 

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about Lent is, is that it's in 
so many ways different from 

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Christmas. 
Now, don't get me wrong, I love 

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Christmas. 
I love Christmas a lot. 

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Christmas is big. 
It's loud, it's bold, it's 

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bright, it's full of lights and 
colors in their movies and TV 

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shows and music and, and, and 
it's hard to be anywhere in the 

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world right now and not know 
it's Christmas time when it's 

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Christmas time. 
Lent is very different. 

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Lent is much quieter. 
Chances are, at least in the 

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United States, if you don't, if 
you aren't part of a church that

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celebrates and remembers Lent, 
you might not even know what it 

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is, much less that it's 
happening. 

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But it is these 40 days, not 
counting Sundays before Easter, 

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and it's a time that we remember
Jesus's 40 days of temptation in

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the wilderness. 
He went out of the wilderness. 

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He separated himself from all of
his attachments, from all sorts 

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of resources, including food and
water, to simply focus on God, 

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listening to God, surrendering 
himself to God. 

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And that's what lint is like. 
It's a time not for bigness and 

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boldness and brightness, but for
quietness, for stepping back, 

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for stepping away, for 
listening, for reflecting, for 

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trying to hear more clearly what
God is asking of us. 

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Whether to pick up a new thing 
or to let go of a thing, to to 

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say a thing or to stop saying a 
thing, To invest in something 

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with our time, energy and 
resources, or perhaps to 

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withdraw from something, our 
time, energy and resources. 

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But this is what the season of 
Lent is about. 

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And it's a it is a good time of 
year for us to reflect and 

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remember and consider the status
of our relationship with God. 

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And during this season of Lent, 
I'm asking everyone to reflect 

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on this question of how can we 
be faithful to God in a system 

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that's stacked against us? 
And, and make no mistake about 

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it, we live amongst powerful 
influential systems over which 

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we have little to no power. 
Political systems, economic 

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systems, ideological systems, 
philosophical systems, social 

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systems, educational systems, 
all sorts of systems that are 

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out there that are vast in 
nature, vast in scope, vast in 

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influence, and we have very, 
very little power influence over

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them. 
It's good to vote. 

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I love voting, vote whenever I 
get a chance to vote. 

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But simple truth is, is in a 
statewide or national election, 

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my vote does not make much 
difference. 

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And and who I really want to be 
in charge. 

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Yeah, no one really asks. 
I tell some people anyway, but 

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no one really asks how do we 
live lives faithful to God in 

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that kind of situation? 
Particularly since these systems

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by and large push us against 
faithfulness to God. 

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They push back against that. 
They make it harder to be 

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faithful to God rather than 
easier to be faithful to God. 

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One system that it's easy to see
that dynamic in is economic 

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systems. 
We live in a a largely 

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capitalist economic system here 
in the West, in the United 

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States. 
And I'm not here to hate on 

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capitalism. 
I'm not here to praise 

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capitalism. 
The the simple fact is, 

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capitalism is the worst sort of 
economic system there is, except

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for all the others that we've 
tried, you know, none of them 

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that's perfect. 
They all have their flaws. 

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And capitalism has its flaws. 
And one of the flaws of 

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capitalism is that it fosters, 
encourages and promotes greed. 

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Capitalism thrives on people 
that are greedy because greedy 

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people produce more. 
And producing more not only 

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benefits the greedy person, in 
some ways it benefits other 

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people too. 
That's why we had folks like 

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Ivan Boesky in the movie Wall 
Street that back in the 1980s 

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when the stock market was 
booming at that particular 

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period, proudly proclaiming that
greed is good. 

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Encouraging people to be greedy,
encouraging people to, to spend,

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spend, spend, spend and acquire,
acquire and build up wealth and 

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build up wealth and build up 
wealth and get as much as you 

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can, which is the opposite of 
what Jesus teaches. 

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Rather than devoting ourselves 
to the pursuit of wealth to 

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devote ourselves to the service 
of God and the love of other 

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people, The political, economic,
philosophical system, social 

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systems that we're in right now 
definitely push us against God. 

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You know that the, the, the, the
social systems we're in right 

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now, the, the general consensus 
seems to be that the loudest 

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voice wins that, that the goal 
is to shame and obliterate and 

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destroy your opponents, rage 
bait them into doing something 

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embarrassing so that you can 
destroy them and humiliate them 

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in public and shame them and 
disgrace them so no one will 

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listen to them anymore. 
Don't listen, don't respect. 

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Just react and shout and and and
judge and condemn and shame and 

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humiliate and destroy. 
The opposite of what Jesus calls

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us to do, who has told us that 
love builds up, it doesn't tear 

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down. 
So how can we be faithful in 

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these systems in which we live 
over which we have so little 

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power? 
To answer that question, I want 

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us to consider this question of 
strategy versus tactics. 

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And, and I learned this from 
Emmanuel Katangale. 

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He wrote a book a number of 
years ago called The Mirror to 

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the Church. 
And he is a, a native of Rwanda 

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and his family left Rwanda 
before the genocide. 

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And he did a, a good chunk of 
his growing up in Africa, 

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neighboring country to Rwanda, 
another country in Africa, and, 

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and now resides in the United 
States where he's a professor, 

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seminary theology, that sort of 
thing. 

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And, and he talks in this book 
about the difference between 

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strategy and tactics and, and 
what that means for the church. 

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And this is what he says about 
strategy. 

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Strategy is how people in power 
plan the way they want things to

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work. 
Strategy is always realistic, 

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even when it is ambitious. 
It lays out a step by step 

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process for moving with 
predictable results from where 

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we are to where we want to be. 
Strategy is the posture of the 

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powerful. 
It sets goals and commits to 

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measurable outcomes. 
It is not comfortable with 

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uncertainties, but always count 
accounts for them as a 

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predictable variable. 
Strategy is for boardrooms. 

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Strategy is for political 
bigwigs. 

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Strategy is for, you know, 
sports teams that that are are 

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have the resources and the 
determination to beat their 

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opponents. 
You control variables, you 

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predict outcomes, you make 
decisions based on what you can 

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control, and you try to control 
as much as you can. 

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Strategy is the posture of the 
powerful. 

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The problem is, in this world in
which we live, followers of 

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Jesus are seldom the powerful or
the most powerful voices in the 

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room. 
And this is what Katangale has 

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to say about that. 
He says On the other hand, 

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tactics are tools for the weak, 
the wisdom of the weak about how

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to survive in a world they do 
not own. 

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Tactics assume that the system 
we live in cannot be reformed or

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reorganized in its entirety. 
Instead of instead tactics plot 

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to subvert reignings, the 
reigning system at those places 

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where it is weak. 
Tactics are worked out on the 

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fly and passed on in the jungle 
under the cover of night. 

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Like strategy, they are 
realistic. 

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But tactics do not pretend to 
know for certain what will 

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happen in the future. 
Tactics depend on the art of 

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improvisation. 
When situations change, tactics 

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change with them, Katangale 
says. 

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And I agree with him that the 
church is called to tactical 

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thinking rather than strategic 
thinking that we seldom are in 

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power. 
In times when the church has had

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great power in the world, things
have gone badly. 

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We don't handle power well. 
And Jesus, when he left earth, 

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did not leave behind a strategic
plan for the church to bring 

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about the Kingdom of God on 
earth. 

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That's why Jesus came. 
Jesus came proclaiming the 

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arrival of the Kingdom of God, 
still in process, that has still

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not been fulfilled. 
But he did not leave behind a 

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grand strategic plan for us to 
establish the Kingdom of God on 

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this earth. 
Instead, Jesus left us with 

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tactics to live out principles 
of the Kingdom of God, even in 

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situations, perhaps especially 
in situations where we are weak,

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where we lack power, Jesus gives
us tactics for attacking and 

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undermining weak spots in the 
world systems. 

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And that's what we're going to 
be talking about throughout Lent

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here as well as we're looking at
this question of how are we 

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faithful and systems stacked 
against us? 

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Another way to frame that is to 
say, what are the tactics that 

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we can use to live faithful to 
God in these systems that are 

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stacked against us? 
So we're going to start by 

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talking about Jacob's tactics. 
Jacob had a problem and Jacob 

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was out of power. 
Jacob was not the power broker 

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in this encounter that John has 
already read a little bit of 

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today. 
Jacob was returning home where 

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his older brother Esau was, and 
nearly everything in the 

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cultural system, political 
system that was around him gave 

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greater power to Esau than it 
did to Jacob. 

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Jacob, first of all, had 
dishonored his father Isaac. 

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He'd lied to and deceived his 
father to steal the blessing 

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from his father that his father 
was intending to give to his 

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brother Esau, and he dishonored 
his father. 

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And dishonouring your father, 
particularly when your father is

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the patriarch of your clan as 
Isaac was, is an egregious 

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violation of custom and 
tradition and social norms that 

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put Jacob on the wrong side of 
custom and tradition out of 

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power. 
Second thing was that Esau was 

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the older brother. 
They were twins, but Esau was 

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born 1st and again, custom and 
tradition said that means Esau 

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will inherit the lion's share of
the father's wealth and estate 

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and in fortune and influence, 
and the younger brother will 

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serve the older brother, is what
custom and tradition said. 

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But Jacob once again subverted 
custom and tradition, not just 

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when he stole his father's 
blessing that placed him in 

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power and authority over his 
older brother, but also when he 

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gypped Esau out of his 
birthright and manipulated him 

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into giving up his birthright. 
Jacob had wronged his father. 

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Jacob had wronged his brother. 
The last word he had heard from 

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his brother was I am going to 
kill you. 

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He got out of town and he spent 
20 years out of town. 

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And now God said go back. 
And Jacob is afraid because 

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Jacob is in the weaker position.
He has become wealthy, but he 

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doesn't have near the power that
his brother has. 

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And so when he sends word ahead 
and a gift ahead to his brother 

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that he's coming back and his 
servants return and say, your 

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brother's coming to meet you and
he's got 400 men with him, and 

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Jacob doesn't know how his 
brother's going to respond. 

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It's possible that at that 
point, Esau didn't know how he 

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was going to respond, that it 
might depend on Jacob's attitude

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toward him of whether he came in
peace or with violence. 

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We've seen some of Jacob's 
tactics. 

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I'm going to read a little more 
of the story, and then we're 

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going to talk about the tactics 
a little more fully here. 

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Three key tactics that Jacob 
had. 

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This is what happened when Jacob
and Esau meet. 

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Esau ran to meet Jacob and 
embraced him. 

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He threw his arms around his 
neck and kissed him, and they 

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wept. 
Then Esau looked up and saw the 

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women and children. 
Who are these with you? 

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He asked, and Jacob answered. 
They are the children God Grace 

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has graciously given to your 
servant. 

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Then the female servants and 
their children approached and 

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bowed down. 
Next Leah and Hill, her 

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children, came and bowed down, 
and last of all came Joseph and 

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Rachel, and they too bowed down.
Esau asked. 

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What's the meaning of all of 
these flocks and herds I met? 

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To find favor in your eyes, my 
Lord, Jacob said. 

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But Esau said, I already have 
plenty, my brother, keep what 

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you have for yourself. 
No, please, said Jacob, if I 

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have found favor in your eyes, 
accept this gift from me, for to

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see your face is like seeing the
face of God. 

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Now that you have received me 
favorably, please accept the 

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present that was brought to you,
for God has been gracious to me 

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and I have all I need. 
And because Jacob insisted, Esau

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accepted it. 
We see in the two passages the 

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one John read earlier when I 
just read three key tactics that

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Jacob and his position of 
weakness used in coming back and

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seeking to reconcile with his 
brother. 

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The first tactic was he divided 
his assets. 

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This was Plan B. 
This was the worst case scenario

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plan. 
This was if everything goes as 

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wrong as it can go, this is, 
this is what we've got to do. 

227
00:13:46,680 --> 00:13:50,760
He divided his assets, thinking 
I'll put half of my stuff and 

228
00:13:50,760 --> 00:13:53,720
half of my family in one place, 
the other half of my stuff and 

229
00:13:53,720 --> 00:13:57,000
the other half of my family in 
another place and hopefully at 

230
00:13:57,000 --> 00:14:01,400
least half will survive even if 
the other half is destroyed. 

231
00:14:03,160 --> 00:14:06,240
Plan B, the backup if things go 
very wrong. 

232
00:14:07,200 --> 00:14:12,440
Second tactic was generosity. 
He sent gifts ahead to Esau, 

233
00:14:12,840 --> 00:14:16,120
very extravagant gifts, very 
generous gifts. 

234
00:14:16,880 --> 00:14:21,160
These two things alone are not 
going to be enough to engender 

235
00:14:21,160 --> 00:14:24,840
goodwill with his brother, whom 
he has wronged so grievously. 

236
00:14:26,600 --> 00:14:30,280
Because when when you've been 
wronged as badly as Esau was 

237
00:14:30,280 --> 00:14:33,400
wrong, you don't going to be 
content to be bought off, 

238
00:14:34,040 --> 00:14:36,000
particularly if you're already 
wealthy. 

239
00:14:36,280 --> 00:14:41,120
And Esau was already wealthy. 
Jacob was having a marginal 

240
00:14:41,120 --> 00:14:43,560
impact on Esau's wealthier at 
best. 

241
00:14:45,000 --> 00:14:46,760
And nobody likes to be bought 
off. 

242
00:14:47,680 --> 00:14:50,680
Nobody when they've been really,
really hurt, when they've been 

243
00:14:50,680 --> 00:14:53,160
really humiliated and offended 
and humbled. 

244
00:14:53,360 --> 00:14:57,240
No one wants to just take money 
from a rich guy in exchange for 

245
00:14:57,240 --> 00:15:00,960
that because that's no real 
punishment to the rich guy for 

246
00:15:00,960 --> 00:15:04,640
the wrong that they've done. 
So I think without the third 

247
00:15:04,640 --> 00:15:07,680
tactic, the third tactic is by 
far the most important. 

248
00:15:07,680 --> 00:15:10,600
It is the key and that's 
humility. 

249
00:15:11,840 --> 00:15:15,000
Jacob came back to his brother 
with humility. 

250
00:15:16,960 --> 00:15:20,880
It was not. 
Jacob did not come back 

251
00:15:21,160 --> 00:15:24,920
asserting his God-given rights 
of authority over his brother. 

252
00:15:25,520 --> 00:15:27,960
He had his father's blessing 
that gave him authority over his

253
00:15:27,960 --> 00:15:30,360
brother. 
He had God's word to his mother 

254
00:15:30,360 --> 00:15:31,960
that gave him authority over his
brother. 

255
00:15:32,120 --> 00:15:35,880
He did not come back demanding 
and asserting his God-given 

256
00:15:35,880 --> 00:15:39,960
rights. 
He did not come back trying to 

257
00:15:39,960 --> 00:15:43,960
browbeat and bludgeon and 
manipulate his brother to force 

258
00:15:43,960 --> 00:15:45,960
him into a position of 
subservience. 

259
00:15:46,200 --> 00:15:48,960
He didn't do that. 
He didn't raise up an army of 

260
00:15:48,960 --> 00:15:51,560
his own. 
He didn't. 

261
00:15:51,560 --> 00:15:53,800
We see nothing about him arming 
his servants. 

262
00:15:53,800 --> 00:15:55,280
He's got male and female 
servants. 

263
00:15:55,440 --> 00:15:57,600
We hear nothing about his arming
his servants. 

264
00:15:58,320 --> 00:16:04,120
He came back with humility. 
It was my Lord this and my Lord 

265
00:16:04,120 --> 00:16:08,160
that, and your servant this and 
your servant that. 

266
00:16:08,360 --> 00:16:15,200
And here, Lord, see my family, 
bow down to you, submitting to 

267
00:16:15,200 --> 00:16:18,480
your authority, humbling 
ourselves before you. 

268
00:16:18,840 --> 00:16:21,720
It was the humility that made 
all the difference here. 

269
00:16:24,000 --> 00:16:28,200
Not demanding and asserting his 
rights, not grasping power and 

270
00:16:28,200 --> 00:16:32,200
position and privilege, but 
humbling himself and giving 

271
00:16:32,200 --> 00:16:34,560
generously. 
Humility was the greatest of 

272
00:16:34,560 --> 00:16:37,080
these, and it made all the 
difference. 

273
00:16:37,320 --> 00:16:40,120
Humility in a system stacked 
against you. 

274
00:16:40,360 --> 00:16:42,040
Humility is your greatest 
virtue. 

275
00:16:43,480 --> 00:16:47,080
It's the greatest virtue you can
have to approach that system 

276
00:16:47,080 --> 00:16:49,400
with humility. 
Again, the exact opposite of 

277
00:16:49,400 --> 00:16:51,000
what our culture is calling us 
to do. 

278
00:16:51,280 --> 00:16:53,160
Our culture calls us to 
arrogance. 

279
00:16:53,320 --> 00:16:58,160
To loud, assertive arrogance in 
which we state our truth at the 

280
00:16:58,160 --> 00:17:02,200
top of our lungs and shout 
others into silence, or protest 

281
00:17:02,200 --> 00:17:05,119
others into silence, or 
violently push others into 

282
00:17:05,119 --> 00:17:07,359
silence, or shame others into 
silence. 

283
00:17:07,599 --> 00:17:10,079
Rage. 
Bait others into embarrassing 

284
00:17:10,079 --> 00:17:12,359
situations. 
That's what the world says. 

285
00:17:13,240 --> 00:17:17,599
But Jesus says when you're in a 
position of weakness, humility, 

286
00:17:18,760 --> 00:17:20,520
humility is your greatest 
resource. 

287
00:17:20,760 --> 00:17:22,480
This is the example Jesus gave 
us. 

288
00:17:22,480 --> 00:17:25,520
Paul reminds us of that in the 
book of Philippi, in his letter 

289
00:17:25,520 --> 00:17:28,760
to the church in Philippi, the 
book of Philippians, when he 

290
00:17:28,760 --> 00:17:35,840
said Jesus have the same mind, 
think the same way that our Lord

291
00:17:35,840 --> 00:17:39,520
and our Savior Jesus thought, 
have the same mindset he had. 

292
00:17:39,720 --> 00:17:44,520
He was God, He was equal with 
God, but he didn't grasp and 

293
00:17:44,520 --> 00:17:48,040
cling to that. 
He didn't come asserting the 

294
00:17:48,040 --> 00:17:50,200
power and authority of God over 
us. 

295
00:17:50,480 --> 00:17:55,000
Jesus, Paul says he humbled 
himself and made himself a 

296
00:17:55,000 --> 00:17:57,120
servant. 
The word is really slave. 

297
00:18:00,560 --> 00:18:04,040
Jesus gave up power, he gave up 
privilege and he came humbly 

298
00:18:04,240 --> 00:18:08,480
among his people. 
And Paul said this is how we 

299
00:18:08,480 --> 00:18:11,600
need to think as well. 
And Paul understood what it was 

300
00:18:11,600 --> 00:18:15,360
to be in the weak position. 
Everywhere he went, Paul sharing

301
00:18:15,360 --> 00:18:18,320
the good news of Jesus Christ, 
there were large numbers of 

302
00:18:18,320 --> 00:18:21,040
people that believed and there 
were large numbers of people 

303
00:18:21,040 --> 00:18:24,400
that tried to kill him. 
And the people that tried to 

304
00:18:24,400 --> 00:18:27,120
kill him always seemed to 
outnumber and have power over 

305
00:18:27,120 --> 00:18:29,840
the people that believed. 
And over and over again he was 

306
00:18:29,840 --> 00:18:31,800
whipped. 
Over and over again he was 

307
00:18:31,800 --> 00:18:33,800
stoned. 
Over and over again he was 

308
00:18:33,800 --> 00:18:36,080
imprisoned. 
Over and over again he was 

309
00:18:36,080 --> 00:18:37,440
abused. 
Over and over again he was 

310
00:18:37,440 --> 00:18:39,800
kicked out. 
He did not come in with the 

311
00:18:39,800 --> 00:18:42,200
power. 
He came in with humility. 

312
00:18:43,840 --> 00:18:47,880
And he invites us to do the 
same, to have that same kind of 

313
00:18:48,600 --> 00:18:50,880
tactic. 
And So what is humility? 

314
00:18:50,880 --> 00:18:53,080
If we need to come in, if we 
need to have humility like Jesus

315
00:18:53,080 --> 00:18:55,520
had humility. 
Too often we think of humility 

316
00:18:55,520 --> 00:18:59,240
as thinking less of ourselves. 
Like, I'm a worm, I'm awful. 

317
00:18:59,240 --> 00:19:02,320
I'm a terrible person. 
You know, if bad things happen 

318
00:19:02,320 --> 00:19:05,600
to me or if these people do bad 
things to me, that's OK because 

319
00:19:05,600 --> 00:19:07,760
I'm a bad person and I really 
deserve it anyway. 

320
00:19:07,960 --> 00:19:10,560
That is not humility. 
That is humiliation. 

321
00:19:10,560 --> 00:19:15,680
It is a different thing. 
Humility is not thinking less of

322
00:19:15,680 --> 00:19:17,840
ourselves. 
Humility is thinking of 

323
00:19:17,840 --> 00:19:22,200
ourselves less. 
It's getting ourselves off 

324
00:19:22,200 --> 00:19:25,080
center stage. 
It's realizing we're not the 

325
00:19:25,080 --> 00:19:28,560
star of our own life, was it? 
Shakespeare said. 

326
00:19:28,720 --> 00:19:31,840
You know, life is a stage, 
something like that. 

327
00:19:31,840 --> 00:19:36,600
I was never good at Shakespeare.
We're not the star, you and I. 

328
00:19:36,960 --> 00:19:39,440
We're in the chorus, we're in 
the ensemble. 

329
00:19:40,080 --> 00:19:43,640
We're not the star. 
We get off center stage and we 

330
00:19:43,640 --> 00:19:47,080
help other people shine in the 
spotlight. 

331
00:19:48,360 --> 00:19:52,040
Instead of making sure that 
we're getting everything the way

332
00:19:52,040 --> 00:19:55,040
we want it, we make sure other 
people are getting what they 

333
00:19:55,040 --> 00:19:58,600
need. 
Instead of making sure we have 

334
00:19:58,800 --> 00:20:02,040
the power and position to to to 
make sure we're taken care of, 

335
00:20:02,040 --> 00:20:04,600
we make sure that others are 
taken care of. 

336
00:20:05,080 --> 00:20:07,200
It's not thinking less of 
ourselves, it's thinking of 

337
00:20:07,200 --> 00:20:11,040
ourselves less. 
And it's still not despising 

338
00:20:11,040 --> 00:20:13,800
ourselves. 
It's thinking rightly about 

339
00:20:13,800 --> 00:20:18,280
yourself, the strengths and the 
weaknesses, the good and the 

340
00:20:18,280 --> 00:20:23,400
bad, the warts and the beautiful
things there. 

341
00:20:23,600 --> 00:20:27,880
It's all important. 
Because very often the way that 

342
00:20:27,880 --> 00:20:31,040
we are most able to be a 
blessing to other people is with

343
00:20:31,040 --> 00:20:33,200
the things that we have that are
good and strong. 

344
00:20:34,200 --> 00:20:35,640
So often that's the thing we 
got. 

345
00:20:35,840 --> 00:20:39,360
You know, you do not want my 
help doing your taxes. 

346
00:20:39,680 --> 00:20:42,040
You don't. 
If you're struggling to get your

347
00:20:42,040 --> 00:20:45,160
taxes, you do. 
I will never be able to bless 

348
00:20:45,160 --> 00:20:47,200
anyone by helping them with 
their taxes. 

349
00:20:47,400 --> 00:20:52,480
I might help you go to jail. 
Might can't help you with your 

350
00:20:52,480 --> 00:20:55,120
taxes. 
You want help with taxes, talk 

351
00:20:55,120 --> 00:20:57,520
to Amy. 
You want to help with public 

352
00:20:57,520 --> 00:20:59,920
speaking, you come talk to me. 
We can work on that. 

353
00:21:00,280 --> 00:21:02,720
I can tell you how to sit down 
and talk to someone, maybe do a 

354
00:21:02,720 --> 00:21:05,360
little negotiating. 
I got some strength and some 

355
00:21:05,360 --> 00:21:09,000
skill in that department. 
I can be a blessing that way. 

356
00:21:09,280 --> 00:21:11,280
I'm not going to bless anyone 
with my singing. 

357
00:21:11,560 --> 00:21:14,320
I'm not going to bless anyone 
with my dancing, Not going to 

358
00:21:14,320 --> 00:21:19,400
bless anyone with my taxing. 
The things that you're good at 

359
00:21:20,320 --> 00:21:23,720
are often the very things that 
God wants to use in you and 

360
00:21:23,720 --> 00:21:26,160
wants you to use to be a 
blessing to others. 

361
00:21:27,640 --> 00:21:30,720
So it's important to recognize 
what those things are too, and 

362
00:21:30,720 --> 00:21:34,880
lean into those things to think 
rightly about ourselves and then

363
00:21:34,880 --> 00:21:38,200
to put other folks center stage 
so that we can bless them. 

364
00:21:40,400 --> 00:21:44,840
That's the that's the best thing
we can do when we're in that 

365
00:21:44,840 --> 00:21:47,880
position of weakness. 
Maybe the greatest example of 

366
00:21:47,880 --> 00:21:49,720
this is history. 
When Paul and Silas, when they 

367
00:21:49,720 --> 00:21:54,040
were in jail, I think it was in 
Philippi, I think it was in 

368
00:21:54,040 --> 00:21:57,240
Philippi. 
They were in jail being 

369
00:21:57,240 --> 00:22:03,200
tortured, and there was an 
earthquake that came, and the 

370
00:22:03,200 --> 00:22:06,520
doors of the jail burst open and
the chains that were chaining 

371
00:22:06,520 --> 00:22:11,000
them to the floor were broken, 
released, and they were free. 

372
00:22:11,840 --> 00:22:15,560
And if they had been the center 
of their own story, they would 

373
00:22:15,560 --> 00:22:18,080
have gotten out of Dodge as 
quickly as possible. 

374
00:22:19,200 --> 00:22:20,880
We're gone. 
We're free, we're leaving, we're

375
00:22:20,880 --> 00:22:23,760
out. 
But they made the jailer the 

376
00:22:23,760 --> 00:22:27,960
center of the story. 
And they knew that if they left,

377
00:22:27,960 --> 00:22:29,680
the jailer would get their 
punishment. 

378
00:22:31,320 --> 00:22:36,520
And so they stayed in jail to 
love and serve and show 

379
00:22:36,520 --> 00:22:40,960
compassion to their jailer, the 
one who had been torturing them.

380
00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:45,120
And he repented and his whole 
family with him. 

381
00:22:48,080 --> 00:22:50,040
That's the mindset Jesus calls 
us to have. 

382
00:22:50,280 --> 00:22:53,360
That's humility. 
That's the greatest asset we can

383
00:22:53,360 --> 00:22:56,560
have, the greatest virtue we can
have when we're trying to be 

384
00:22:56,560 --> 00:22:58,800
faithful in a system stacked 
against us. 

385
00:22:58,920 --> 00:23:01,240
But there's another piece to 
this, the other side of the 

386
00:23:01,240 --> 00:23:03,000
coin. 
In a system stacked against you,

387
00:23:03,200 --> 00:23:05,840
relationships are your most 
valuable resource. 

388
00:23:06,360 --> 00:23:09,800
Humility is your greatest asset,
but your greatest virtue. 

389
00:23:09,960 --> 00:23:12,480
But relationships are your most 
valuable resource. 

390
00:23:12,720 --> 00:23:15,200
It took Jacob 20 years to learn 
this. 

391
00:23:15,960 --> 00:23:18,640
When Jacob left home, 
relationship didn't matter to 

392
00:23:18,640 --> 00:23:21,760
him. 
He was happy to sacrifice 

393
00:23:21,760 --> 00:23:24,480
relationship with his brother in
order to cheat him out of his 

394
00:23:24,480 --> 00:23:27,440
birthright. 
He was happy to sacrifice his 

395
00:23:27,440 --> 00:23:30,600
relationship with his father in 
order to steal his father's 

396
00:23:30,600 --> 00:23:32,720
blessing. 
He was happy to sacrifice his 

397
00:23:32,720 --> 00:23:35,960
relationship with his brother in
order to get from his father the

398
00:23:35,960 --> 00:23:38,800
blessing meant for his brother. 
He was happy to The 

399
00:23:38,800 --> 00:23:42,440
relationships to him were just a
means to an end. 

400
00:23:42,640 --> 00:23:47,560
The people were tools to 
increase his power, his position

401
00:23:47,760 --> 00:23:49,960
and his wealth. 
And that's how the world says 

402
00:23:50,120 --> 00:23:53,680
should act. 
Use people to get power and 

403
00:23:53,680 --> 00:23:55,400
wealth and position for 
ourselves. 

404
00:23:56,320 --> 00:23:59,640
Use people to make ourselves 
better. 

405
00:24:01,640 --> 00:24:05,320
But Jacob learned after 20 years
of working for someone just like

406
00:24:05,320 --> 00:24:09,600
him, Laban, who lied and cheated
and stole and ripped him off, 

407
00:24:10,920 --> 00:24:13,400
Jacob learned the importance of 
relationship. 

408
00:24:13,920 --> 00:24:18,600
I kind of think having two 
wives, 2 concubines, and 11 kids

409
00:24:18,880 --> 00:24:20,840
probably taught him a thing or 
two about the importance of 

410
00:24:20,840 --> 00:24:26,400
relationship too. 
And by the time he came back to 

411
00:24:26,560 --> 00:24:33,760
Esau, rather than using people 
to gain wealth, he was now using

412
00:24:33,760 --> 00:24:39,440
his wealth to gain people to 
build relationships. 

413
00:24:39,880 --> 00:24:42,040
The relationships were the key 
thing. 

414
00:24:42,240 --> 00:24:45,520
Remember this what he said, if I
have found favor in your eyes, 

415
00:24:45,520 --> 00:24:47,880
he said to Esau, accept this 
gift from me. 

416
00:24:48,720 --> 00:24:53,800
For to see your face is like 
seeing the face of God now that 

417
00:24:53,800 --> 00:24:58,640
you have received me favorably. 
Before he was using his brother 

418
00:24:58,640 --> 00:25:02,760
to get rich. 
Now he's using his riches to 

419
00:25:02,760 --> 00:25:07,160
reconcile to his brother. 
And that's the difference 

420
00:25:07,160 --> 00:25:09,480
between night and day. 
It's the difference between 

421
00:25:09,480 --> 00:25:14,040
heaven and hell. 
This is what Jesus taught us. 

422
00:25:14,040 --> 00:25:18,480
Remember, he said, he said, I 
tell you, use worldly wealth to 

423
00:25:18,480 --> 00:25:22,080
gain friends for yourself, so 
that when the wealth is gone, 

424
00:25:22,320 --> 00:25:24,320
you'll be welcomed into eternal 
dwellings. 

425
00:25:25,880 --> 00:25:28,880
Capitalism tells us to use 
people to get rich. 

426
00:25:31,040 --> 00:25:34,520
Our social systems tell us to 
use people to get cliques to get

427
00:25:34,520 --> 00:25:36,600
famous. 
Another way of getting rich. 

428
00:25:38,200 --> 00:25:43,960
Jesus says use your riches to 
get people because one day the 

429
00:25:43,960 --> 00:25:46,400
riches are going to be gone. 
I've been to a lot of funerals. 

430
00:25:46,400 --> 00:25:48,720
I've officiated a lot of 
funerals over the years. 

431
00:25:49,120 --> 00:25:53,480
One thing I have never seen as a
hearse pulling a U-Haul, not 

432
00:25:53,480 --> 00:25:58,280
even once. 
I want some point in your life. 

433
00:25:58,720 --> 00:26:02,760
Every material bit of wealth 
that you have will become 

434
00:26:02,800 --> 00:26:07,520
utterly meaningless. 
Who will be welcoming and 

435
00:26:07,520 --> 00:26:13,120
receiving you into the eternal 
dwellings may depend on how you 

436
00:26:13,120 --> 00:26:17,320
use that wealth that you have in
this life, however much or 

437
00:26:17,320 --> 00:26:20,280
little it might be. 
Jesus said you can't serve both 

438
00:26:20,280 --> 00:26:23,840
God and money. 
If you want to serve, if you're,

439
00:26:23,840 --> 00:26:26,800
if money is what you're after, 
if money is your goal, you're 

440
00:26:26,800 --> 00:26:29,040
going to serve money, which 
means you're going to, you're 

441
00:26:29,040 --> 00:26:32,320
going to despise God. 
And if you're going to despise 

442
00:26:32,320 --> 00:26:34,800
God, you're going to despise the
people created in his image. 

443
00:26:35,160 --> 00:26:39,480
You'll use the people to get the
money, but if you serve God, 

444
00:26:39,720 --> 00:26:41,680
then you can use the money to 
get the people. 

445
00:26:42,560 --> 00:26:44,200
You can use the money to get the
people. 

446
00:26:45,360 --> 00:26:50,160
That line, Jacob said, seeing 
you. 

447
00:26:50,800 --> 00:26:53,760
Yeah. 
Jacob left 20 years earlier, a 

448
00:26:53,760 --> 00:26:57,520
knucklehead who thought power 
and wealth were more important 

449
00:26:57,520 --> 00:27:00,760
than relationships. 
He came back a man who 

450
00:27:00,760 --> 00:27:04,440
understood that relationships 
were more important than power 

451
00:27:04,440 --> 00:27:07,040
and wealth. 
And he humbled himself before 

452
00:27:07,040 --> 00:27:09,960
his brother and offered his 
service to his brother. 

453
00:27:11,760 --> 00:27:15,560
And that that in in that 
reconciliation that he had with 

454
00:27:15,560 --> 00:27:18,560
his brother, Jacob saw the face 
of God. 

455
00:27:20,040 --> 00:27:22,400
I think it's what Jesus was 
talking about when he said 

456
00:27:22,760 --> 00:27:25,600
later, hundreds of years after 
this, and he told his followers,

457
00:27:25,600 --> 00:27:27,760
look, if you're coming to 
worship, if you're coming to 

458
00:27:27,760 --> 00:27:30,680
church, you're going to make 
your offerings and your worship 

459
00:27:30,680 --> 00:27:34,400
to God before you ever do that. 
If you've got a brother or 

460
00:27:34,400 --> 00:27:37,200
sister out there with anything 
against you, you go and be 

461
00:27:37,200 --> 00:27:41,000
reconciled to them before you 
come and try to be reconciled to

462
00:27:41,000 --> 00:27:44,200
me. 
And Jacob was living that out, 

463
00:27:46,200 --> 00:27:50,160
seeing the face of God and the 
reconciliation he had with his 

464
00:27:50,160 --> 00:27:53,520
brother after wronging his 
brother so grievously. 

465
00:27:53,920 --> 00:27:58,120
I don't know if that line from 
Jacob is what inspired the 

466
00:27:58,120 --> 00:28:01,320
lyricist for Les Miserables. 
I, I, I, I, I should have 

467
00:28:01,320 --> 00:28:02,440
checked that out. 
I didn't. 

468
00:28:03,440 --> 00:28:05,600
I probably will eventually. 
Or maybe one of you already know

469
00:28:05,600 --> 00:28:09,000
and you can tell me. 
But at the end of the musical 

470
00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:13,320
Les Miserables, the main 
character, Jean Valjean sings To

471
00:28:13,320 --> 00:28:17,040
know to love another person is 
to see the face of God. 

472
00:28:18,960 --> 00:28:22,760
We live in a world in which 
people are very skeptical about 

473
00:28:22,760 --> 00:28:25,880
God. 
In the existence of God, how Can

474
00:28:25,880 --> 00:28:28,040
you believe in someone you 
cannot see? 

475
00:28:28,600 --> 00:28:31,360
But Jesus has told us how to see
God face to face. 

476
00:28:32,720 --> 00:28:34,400
He said it. 
He said at the end of times, 

477
00:28:34,400 --> 00:28:37,080
it's going to be like this. 
It's going to be like God's 

478
00:28:37,080 --> 00:28:39,520
dividing all the peoples of the 
world up into two groups, the 

479
00:28:39,520 --> 00:28:43,120
sheep and the goats. 
He's going to say to the sheep, 

480
00:28:43,120 --> 00:28:49,120
come join me in my eternal rest.
For when I was hungry, you gave 

481
00:28:49,120 --> 00:28:51,440
me something to eat. 
When I was naked, you clothed 

482
00:28:51,440 --> 00:28:52,760
me. 
When I was. 

483
00:28:53,080 --> 00:28:55,240
When I was sick and in prison, 
you visited me. 

484
00:28:55,600 --> 00:28:57,400
When I was homeless, you 
sheltered me. 

485
00:28:57,880 --> 00:29:03,320
But you, you goats over here, 
depart from me forever because 

486
00:29:03,320 --> 00:29:05,080
when I was hungry, you didn't 
feed me. 

487
00:29:06,240 --> 00:29:07,760
When I was naked, you didn't 
clothe me. 

488
00:29:07,880 --> 00:29:09,800
When I was sick and in prison, 
you didn't visit me. 

489
00:29:09,800 --> 00:29:12,040
When I was homeless, you didn't 
give me shelter. 

490
00:29:12,040 --> 00:29:14,880
And they said to him, when did 
we see you and do this? 

491
00:29:15,000 --> 00:29:17,280
When did we not see you and fail
to do that? 

492
00:29:17,280 --> 00:29:19,160
Or when did we see you and fail 
to do this? 

493
00:29:19,440 --> 00:29:23,640
And Jesus said, whatever you 
have done or whatever you have 

494
00:29:23,640 --> 00:29:27,160
failed to do, for the least of 
these brothers and sisters of 

495
00:29:27,160 --> 00:29:29,760
mine, you have done or failed to
do with me. 

496
00:29:31,600 --> 00:29:35,920
If we want to see the face of 
God, we just need to find a 

497
00:29:35,920 --> 00:29:41,240
desperate person and love them. 
Find a person in great need and 

498
00:29:41,240 --> 00:29:46,840
give to them, put them in the 
spotlight in a good way. 

499
00:29:47,480 --> 00:29:50,480
Honor them, build them up, 
encourage them, provide them the

500
00:29:50,480 --> 00:29:55,000
thing that they need, and then 
we get to see the face of God 

501
00:29:56,280 --> 00:30:02,880
right there in front of us. 
To do that requires humility, 

502
00:30:03,920 --> 00:30:07,280
and it requires seeing 
relationships as more important 

503
00:30:07,280 --> 00:30:11,880
than power and wealth. 
So our greatest virtue, as we're

504
00:30:11,880 --> 00:30:14,480
trying to be faithful in this 
world that's stacked against us,

505
00:30:14,680 --> 00:30:18,440
our greatest virtue is humility.
Not our God-given rights, not 

506
00:30:18,440 --> 00:30:21,480
our power, not our wealth, not 
our assertiveness, not our 

507
00:30:21,480 --> 00:30:23,480
talented, not our greatest 
virtuous. 

508
00:30:23,480 --> 00:30:26,200
Humility. 
And our greatest resource are 

509
00:30:26,200 --> 00:30:28,680
the people around us. 
We need each other. 

510
00:30:29,640 --> 00:30:34,720
We need the family of God. 
We need the people in this 

511
00:30:34,720 --> 00:30:38,120
community around us, even the 
ones that are not a part of this

512
00:30:38,120 --> 00:30:40,600
church. 
We need these relationships. 

513
00:30:42,240 --> 00:30:43,840
That's where we're going to see 
the face of God. 

514
00:30:45,320 --> 00:30:49,960
That's where we're going to find
love when we need love, as we 

515
00:30:49,960 --> 00:30:54,080
give ourselves to Christ and to 
others in humility, in Jesus 

516
00:30:54,080 --> 00:30:55,120
name, Amen.