What Have We Done with Our Birthright?
a sermon based on Genesis 25:19-34
by Rev. Randy L Quinn

We in the Western world have a hard time fully understanding this story. We have a hard time for a variety of reasons.

Let me just name three things we don’t fully understand.

First, we don’t understand the significance of names.

Second, we don’t understand how one person can typify and symbolize a nation.

Third, we don’t understand the importance of a birthright.

 

Significance of Names

We all have names, but in our culture it’s not much more than a name. Some of us have been named after a family member. Some of us have simply been named because ‘the name sounded nice.’ (I know that’s what my mother says about my name.)

We hardly give any thought to the meaning of a name. We simply use it.

In February I took our confirmation class to a synagogue for their Friday evening worship service. During the service, we witnessed a ceremony that I didn’t even know existed – the naming of a child. The Rabbi picked up this two-week old little girl and prayed over her, giving her a name in Hebrew. I don’t remember the name, but I remember him telling the rest of us that her name meant ‘blessing’. She was named because she had brought a blessing to her family and to the faith community.

We rarely think of a name as having that kind of significance.

If you look at the sermon note-taking page in the bulletin, you’ll see a name there. It’s a name with some significance. It’s a name of great importance. But it’s a name most of you have never heard before. In fact, it’s safe to assume that no more than five people in this room even know how to pronounce it!

Neodesha.

It’s a name given by Native Americans for a place where two rivers meet. At that meeting place, a town was built. It’s the town in Kansas where my wife, Ronda, grew up. It’s the town where her dad grew up. It’s the town where her daughter, Tonya, grew up.

It’s pronounced “Nee-O de-SHAY.

To most of you it’s just a strange word. To them, and to some extent to me, it isn’t strange at all. It no longer carries the significance of the rivers, it simply sounds like ‘home’ to our family.

I’m sure you can think of other names that have significance to you, regardless of the origin of the name or the meaning that was originally intended for the name.

If Esau were to be named today, we’d probably call him “Red.” His name is given because of his physical appearance. In many ways it’s no different than many nicknames we give to people.

Jacob, on the other hand, is named because of a character trait that was perceived at his birth. If he were named today we might call him “Grabby” or “Sly” or maybe even “Crook”. Most of us wouldn’t really think that was what he was like, but we might get a kick out of reminding him of his birth story.

But in Genesis, it’s clear that we are to understand that Jacob is rather cunning. And his cunning nature will be a part of many stories in his life. He will not only wrestle with his brother, he will wrestle with his father-in-law, and he will wrestle with God. And it will not always be clear who the true victor will be in the conflicts that come his way.

“Grabby” is meant to be a way to understand his character every time we encounter Jacob. It isn’t very flattering, but at the same time, it isn’t just a name.

Similarly, most of us have claimed the ‘name’ Christian without much thought about its significance. How many of you would call yourself a Christian? Raise your hands. How many of you realize that the name means “Christ-like”? How many of you still think the name fits?

We don’t fully understand this text because we don’t fully understand the significance of a name. Jacob is one who will grab onto things when he gets a chance. It’s the kind of God we serve, who grabs onto us and won’t let go.

 

One person to typify and symbolize a nation?

Genesis is a book about beginnings. The name Genesis in fact means the beginning. With the stories of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, we have the beginning of the nation of Israel. Their stories are told as a way of depicting the people who are their descendants both physically and spiritually.

So the story of Jacob is intended to be read in at least two ways, one as the story of the person Jacob and the other as the story of the nation of Israel – almost as if it were allegorical.

Since we don’t normally listen to stories that way, we have a hard time hearing this story on two levels. Our natural inclination is to hear the story of Jacob and not the story of Israel. Our natural inclination is to hear this story as if it were an historical event rather than seeing it as a prophetic description of God’s people.

We find it even harder to hear in Jacob’s story a depiction of OUR story as spiritual descendants of Abraham.

We don’t think of ourselves as cheaters. We think we are basically honest and trustworthy. How can Jacob’s story be our story?

God had already said that Jacob would be the recipient of the promise. But Jacob couldn’t trust God. Jacob had to find a way to do it himself.

And I know that describes many of us. We know what God has done for us. We know that God has given us the gift of salvation, a gift given by grace alone. But we insist on trying to earn it. We insist on doing what God has already done.

It’s a form of "functional atheism." We know God can do things, but we’d rather do it ourselves.

Like Jacob, like “Grabby,” we’re busy grabbing for what God is trying to give us.

Since we don’t fully understand how a person can be a symbol of a nation, of a people, we generally miss this important aspect of Jacob’s story.

 

The Issue of Birthright.

There was a day when the oldest child inherited the bulk of a family’s estate. That day, in fact, was not all that long ago in some families. But not many people today think in those terms.

We think of ‘dividing’ an estate or looking to a will to name particular assets. And if there is no will, we know that the state will be the primary claimant.

But that really doesn’t address the issue of birthrights. Birthrights are those things that we acquire simply because of the family to which we were born, regardless of where we fit into our family. The firstborn, the middle child, even the baby of a family has a birthright.

Sometimes that birthright is as simple as a name. Sometimes we’re the children and grandchildren of people whose name gives us entrée. Just ask any of the Kennedy clan. Or perhaps one of George Bush’s children.

Sometimes our birthright is as profound as our citizenship. What would life have been like for you if you had been born in Finland, for instance? What if you had been born in Singapore?

We do nothing to earn our birthright. It is a gift of grace.

Jacob knew it’s importance, Esau did not.

But this gift of grace brings with it some responsibilities. A response is required. We can ignore our birthright and deny the grace it represents or we can accept the gift and find ways to use it to bless others.

Jacob didn’t understand that until much later in his story. Maybe Esau had already recognized the implications of his birthright and was all-too-happy to give it away.

I am the firstborn in my family. They tell me that produced certain personality traits in me, including a sense of responsibility. What makes me that way may be the way my parents punished me for what my brothers had done because I was the one ‘who should know better.’

Maybe Esau was ready to get rid of the responsibility of being the oldest. Maybe he understood better than Jacob that with the gift of grace comes a special responsibility did.

 

Conclusion:

The question it leaves for us today is simply what have we done with OUR birthright? God has chosen us. God calls us by grace.

It’s one thing for God to grab a hold of us, it’s another thing for us to find an appropriate response. It’s easy to look at the prize, but the race is not over yet.

This is only the beginning of Jacob’s story. It’s a story filled with intrigue and suspense as Jacob comes to understand what God is really about.

You can call him what you will. He is still a conniver who is trying to make things work for his own benefit. Eventually he will come out smelling like a rose. But in the meantime, he’s going to run into a lot of thorns and thistles.

Those things become clearer as we begin to comprehend the significance of his name, of the way he symbolizes the people of faith, and the birthright he obtains.

May we all learn from Jacob that God is indeed the source of all good things.

Amen.