Every now and then I have this reoccurring dream that I am running late for church. A few years ago in these dreams I would have been the organist who was running late to play for the service; now, of course, when I have that dream, I'm the pastor who woke up late or got stuck in traffic or some other scenario that is causing me to be late for what I'm supposed to do -- well, at least what I'm supposed to do in my dream. On one occasion, that dream happened to come true. I was supposed to be the organist for the Sunday service at the congregation at which I grew up. I worked overnight hours on the weekend, and so I came home around 6 or 7 o'clock. I thought I'd take an hour nap before heading to church. The next thing I remember is that it was five minutes to nine and the usher from the church was calling to see if I was on the way. I wasn't. Good thing our church's other organist was present to "cover" for me.
In the Scripture lesson we heard a few minutes ago, the Old Testament patriarch Jacob had an unusual dream. This dream occurred while he was still quite young, long before he would earn the description, "patriarch." But this was more than a dream. It was a vision; a vision directed by God himself! And this vision became true! It became true and made a real difference in Jacob's life, and I pray that this account from the Word of God will make a real difference in your life, too. Today you will be encouraged to see the vision: see the vision of God's grace to you, and see your response to God's grace.
Perhaps we need to set the stage for the story contained in the Lesson for today. You might recall that Jacob was the son of Isaac and Rebekah, and he had a twin brother named Esau. Esau was the firstborn, and their father Isaac was about to give Esau the birthright blessing because he was the firstborn. But Jacob tried to one-up his brother. He disguised himself as Esau and approached his nearly blind father to receive the birthright blessing. God had actually stated that Jacob was to receive this special blessing, but instead of trusting that God would make things work out, Jacob took matters into his own hands. The result? Esau found out and wanted to kill his brother. Issac and Rebekah sent Jacob on his way to stay with their relatives in a city called Haran, a 500-mile journey on foot. Jacob had traveled for two or three days when we encounter him on his journey in today's lesson.
"Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran. 11 When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. 12 He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it." Here was Jacob, all alone, running for his life, no family or friends around, probably feeling down and out, when in the middle of his sleep he receives an amazing dream or vision from God. He literally saw a stairway to heaven with God's angel messengers going up and down, perhaps symbolizing God's message of grace being brought to the world and the prayers of believers being sent to God in heaven. We may not be completely sure what the symbolism means, but we can be sure that God gave Jacob this special vision to comfort him when he felt as if he was all alone with no one on his side.
But the best part of the dream was yet to come. "There above [the stairway] stood the LORD, and he said: 'I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. 14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. 15 I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.'" Jacob, when he least expected it, when he least deserved it, received an amazing promise from God. It was the same promise the Lord had made to his father Isaac and to his grandfather Abraham. It was the promise to make his descendants into a great nation, the nation that would be known as Israel. It was the promise to send the Savior into the world through his family line, the Savior who would rescue all people of every tribe and race from their sins. It was the promise to deliver Jacob safely through this difficult time so that he could live his life and serve his Lord with peace and joy.
By now you've heard more than once that our synod is facing a serious budget deficit this fiscal year, with another larger deficit forecast for the next fiscal year. Part of the purpose of this stewardship program will be to inform you more about this situation and what can be done to alleviate it. I suppose there are two ways we could handle this, or any kind of budget deficit we face. We could ignore it, run away, and hope that the problem fixes itself; or we could face reality and deal with it head on. And let's be honest. When it comes to the WELS financial situation, ignoring the problem won't help. Already some missionaries are being called home to America because we can't afford to support as many world missionaries as we have in the past. This is a situation we need to deal with honestly and openly if we want to solve it.
We have another deficit problem, and I'm not talking about our church's finances. I'm talking about our finances with God. We don't have a deficit of money, but a deficit of holiness. I suppose we could handle this deficit in two ways. We could try to ignore it, but I don't think that's going to help us at all. We need to face this deficit directly. God expects something from us that we'll never be able to give him even on our best day. He expects people who live up to his ways, who measure up to his standards.
Think of it this way. Each of us has a bank account with God. God expects that we keep our accounts active with a generous supply of holiness, the currency of heaven. But there's a problem. We don't have any holiness. Our heavenly bank accounts are bone dry. In fact, we're drawing overdraft fees because of the debts we've incurred by our sin. But the overdraft fee in God's bank isn't a $29.00 charge. It's hell. It's a debtor's prison from which there can be no escape in time or eternity.
If you were vastly overdrawn on your personal checking account, wouldn't it be nice if some kind person came along and bailed you out by filling your account with cash? Someone has done just that. That someone is Jesus Christ, and Jesus' story contained in the Bible is far more than a divine vision. Jesus' life story is God's own plan to bail us out of hell. Jesus' fills our accounts with his holiness. At the cross, he paid our hellish debt to his heavenly Father. He now lives again, rules above, and guides his people on the road that brings us one step closer to heaven each day. Jesus fills your account with his righteousness as you hear his Word today and every day. Jesus fills your account with his righteousness as you come forward to receive his Supper today and every time we celebrate Holy Communion. This is the amazing vision of God's grace to you that the Holy Spirit has revealed to each one of us who bear Jesus' name.
God's vision of grace certainly makes an impression on us, and it certainly made an impression on Jacob in our Lesson today. "When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, 'Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it.' 17 He was afraid and said, 'How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.'" When Jacob realized the significance of everything God had said and revealed to him, his response was not some casual, "Hey, what's up God? That promise of yours was pretty cool. Oh, yeah, and my bad for doing that stuff to my brother Esau." Jacob's response was one filled with awe, respect, and a reverent fear for his holy God. After all, Jacob knew his sinfulness. It must have been in the forefront of his mind as he left his immediate family and headed to Haran. God's grace, his undeserved, unbiased, understanding love caused Jacob to simply marvel that God had continued to be so good to him.
God's grace affected Jacob's attitude, and it also affected his actions. "Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it. 19 He called that place Bethel, though the city used to be called Luz." Jacob set up a stone as a small pillar or monument, and then anointed it with oil. When something or someone was anointed, it meant that they were set apart for a specific purpose. Jacob's action shows us that he was so touched by God's grace that he couldn't help but set up some sort of monument to the monumental love God had showered on him.
God's grace affected Jacob's attitude, his actions, and also his words. "Then Jacob made a vow, saying, 'If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear 21 so that I return safely to my father’s house, then the LORD will be my God 22 and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.'" Even though our translation makes it sound that way, Jacob was not making a bargain with God. He wasn't saying, "OK God, you do this for me, and I'll do something else in return." In light of God's fail-proof promises to Jacob, he responded with his own promise. He promised to build an altar at that location someday, and seven chapters later that's exactly what he did. He also promised to give a tenth of his earnings back to the Lord. He promised to tithe. That's especially significant because God had not established the Old Testament law code yet. There was nothing that stated that a believer must give 10% (or any percentage) back to God. Jacob's tithe was purely out of gratitude to God.
I've heard people make the claim that religions were established in order to dictate and control people's behavior by using guilt. It's been said that churches hinder people from the real pleasure of life they could enjoy, because churches supposedly dictate behavior as a means of controlling people. Wouldn't it be nice if it didn't have to be that way? Wouldn't it be nice if we could follow God's will for our lives out of a sense of willingness, and not guilt or obligation?
Friends, that is entirely possible. It's true. Christ makes all the difference in our approach to Christian living, and even Christian stewardship. Our God doesn't hold a gun to our head and say, "Do this my way or the highway!" All the Lord tells us is, "Look at what I've done for you." Look at what he's done for you. He's forgiven your sins completely; he's adopted you as his own dear son or daughter; he's given his only Son into death so that you could live forever; he's showered you with his no-strings-attached love and mercy; he's reserved a spot in heaven just for you.
When it comes to my response and your response, there doesn't even need to be a question, does there? Of course we'll say "Thank you!" to God. You don't have to force me to say it. I won't look at God's law and say, "Oh, now I have to do this," but "I get to do this!" We get to follow God's will. We get to serve him in our lives. We get to support the work of the church. God's grace fills us with such a joy and appreciation that our response flows out of our hearts and into our lives. That's not guilt. That's the excitement of Christian living.
My prayer for you this morning is that you see this divine vision: not a vision of future plans for our church, but a vision of past forgiveness won for people living in the present. Take a look at God's vision, and may you find your life filled with the joy of living and responding to his grace and goodness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.