Okay, let's pray, will we, as we come to God's word this morning.
Heavenly Father, we thank you that your word is living and active.
It is sharper than a double-edged sword.
And so, Father, thank you so much that you are a God who has revealed yourself.
Lord, we don't need to second guess who you are or what you're like.
Father, thank you that we have your inspired word.
And so, Father, we pray that your spirit would come this morning
and we pray that he would take this word
and that he would apply it deep into our hearts and into our lives.
Father, may we know something more of your greatness
and of your fatherly care for us this morning
as we look at your son, Jesus.
And it's in his name that we pray. Amen.
So with Genesis 31 open in front of us
and with the aim of trying to get us to the heart of the summons
that God will make to us through his word today,
let me just tell you about one of my,
or one of the strangest modern fads in the game of football,
which I find really, really strange.
Right? Do you know what it is?
It's when supporters purchase and then they wear
these things called half-and-half strips.
Right? Can't see that catching on in Glasgow anytime soon.
A half-and-a-half strip.
Just to prove the point, and I love seeing this photo this week,
here's a picture of a man who wore a half-and-half Rangers
and Celtic jersey and walked around the city centre of Glasgow.
And do you not just love the other man's puzzled
and slightly angry expression as he reacted to seeing it,
which kind of sums up the sentiments of an entire city.
But this is a helpful image to have in your mind
as we approach Genesis 31 this morning.
This idea of being half-and-half.
Right?
Being half-and-half.
Because Moses is going to challenge the whole idea
of trying to support two teams and cover your bases.
I think that's his aim here.
To convince us and to convince his readers
to ditch the half-and-the-half jersey
and go all in with trusting and walking in
and loving and obeying the Lord.
So this is a call this morning to put the Lord first in our lives.
And believe it or not, this chapter is supposed to read
like a bit of slapstick comedy.
And the key to getting the punchline
is seeing what Rachel is sitting on at verse 34.
If you've got it there, turn and read it.
What is she sitting on at verse 34?
You see, here's the question of the narrative
to Nick a line from 90s rapper Eminem.
Right?
Will the true God please stand up?
You see, Jacob at verse 17 has got his family
and he's got his possessions together
and he's going to follow God's call
to go back to the land of Canaan.
And Rachel, if you like,
she's done a bit of a last-minute grab
like you would do when you go on holiday.
You think, have I left anything?
Do I need anything?
And you make a grab for it, don't you?
She's done that.
And she's left her father's house.
Do you see what she's grabbed?
Verse 19, she's grabbed her father's household gods.
Now, we're not told explicitly why she did that.
It may well have been a case
that this is a one last attempt
to get your own back on your dad kind of thing.
But another possibility,
if you think about her life for a minute,
having grown up in and spent her whole life
living in Laban's worlds,
living according to his customs,
adopting his worldview, his way of life,
she's likely grabbed them
and she's taken them on the journey
as a kind of good luck thing.
Right?
I'd imagine this is similar
if you want to think about it
like many of us did when we were young.
Many of you, I imagine, may still do this.
You took a lucky mascot into an exam, right?
Remember this at school?
People plonked it right there on the desk.
It took up like a quarter of the desk.
I don't understand why people did it.
But they did it.
Because this thing was going to try
and bring us a little bit of extra luck
that we needed to get through the exam.
And that's the kind of thing
that Rachel's doing here.
It's the kind of thing
that Moses is presenting to his readers.
Spiritually speaking,
she's putting on the half and the half jersey.
She's trusting the Lord
and she's trusting the gods
that she grew up with.
And so here's the question.
Will the real God please stand up?
Meanwhile, if you go into the narrative,
it's reported back to Laban,
verse 22, that he's been tricked.
And he goes in hot pursuit of Jacob.
Do you see in the narrative here?
And you'd be backing Laban to win here,
right, for a number of reasons.
He's quicker.
He's bigger.
He's more familiar with the terrain.
But Laban hasn't counted on the fact
of what happens at verse 24.
As God meets him on this journey
and tells him not to harm Jacob.
So these two,
Laban's in hot pursuit,
Jacob's running away
and they both end up in these mountains.
Do you see?
And the kinsmen in this scene,
the kinsmen that kind of Laban
has brought along with him,
are almost meant to act
like the judge and the jury here.
So Laban has to make a plea
before his kinsmen
as to why he's in the right.
And Jacob is going to make a plea
to the kinsmen
as to why he's in the right.
And these kinsmen will make a decision
as to who is right
and who is wrong.
So both Laban and Jacob
make their pitches.
First Laban goes,
verse 26.
Why have you done this?
He says,
notice the smooth flattery
in his voice.
You,
talking about Jacob,
you prevented me
from kissing and saying goodbye
to my daughters
that one last time.
I would have sent you away
with tambourine.
Do you know,
I love the description.
Would have sent you away
with tambourines, right?
Would have thrown you
a massive goodbye party.
And you think,
that's nonsense
what we've read of this guy.
Right?
At it.
But what he's really miffed about,
what really ticks him off
in this scene,
is that somebody's nicked
his household gods.
And it's like a scene
from a movie.
Feel the tension build
as he makes his way
around the tents
trying to find them.
Did you sense it?
Is Esther ready?
Are they in Leah's tent?
They're not in Leah's tent.
Are they in Rachel's tent?
Goes into Rachel's tent.
Yes,
but he doesn't find them.
Phew.
But why doesn't he find them?
And this is the punchline
of the gag.
Why doesn't he find them?
Because
Rachel is sitting on them.
So,
will the real God
please stand up?
The irony is
that Laban's gods
can't stand up.
Why?
Because a human being
is sitting on them.
Not only can Laban's gods
be stolen,
but they can be sat on too.
And the icing on the cake here,
the comedy punchline,
is that,
do you see how Rachel says,
the way of woman
is with me.
Let the reader understand.
Right?
Which would have made
the Israelite readers
who'd be familiar
with the sacrificial system
and what it is to be
the unclean
as a person.
They would have understood
that there's an unclean person
sitting on Laban's household gods.
Do you see the point?
That these gods
really are useless
and they offer nothing
by way of protecting you
for this journey.
Whereas Jacob reports
verse 42
and take this in
I think it's the key.
He says,
if the God of my father,
the God of Abraham
and the fear of Isaac
had not been with me,
you would have surely
sent me away empty handed.
But God
has seen my hardship
and the toil of my hands
and last night
he rebuked you.
So don't skip over
the little word
that comes before
Isaac.
Not the God of Isaac.
I mean,
that would have read
really nicely,
wouldn't it?
Slow down.
No, what does he say?
No, Jacob says
the fear of Isaac.
He's talking about his dad.
What Isaac had come to learn
about this holy,
about the omnipotent,
right?
Just one of these big words,
omni,
all potent,
powerful.
This all powerful God.
the Lord
is the first
and foremost,
he is exclusively
worthy
of our
worship
and trust.
And coupled with that,
the fact that by sheer grace,
Jacob is saying
that I've made it this far,
this God is for me,
then what on earth
could stand against me?
And you see,
that's what 20 years
in the wilderness
have taught Jacob
that no one else
can save
like the Lord can.
No one else
watches over his people
like the Lord.
No one else
has a heart
for his people
like the Lord.
No one else
can control
world events
like the Lord.
And so,
will the real God
please stand up?
And again,
understanding the first readers
of this Genesis passage
is crucial
for understanding
the message.
It's not just one person
who's the first
reader of this.
It's 400,000 odd people
who are the first readers
of this.
That generation
who are wandering
in the wilderness,
God has saved them
from Egypt.
Let my people go,
they're out,
and he's taking them
to the land
that he had promised them.
Right?
And so,
Israelites wandering,
thinking,
can our God
get us home?
Thinking,
is he worthy of trust?
More importantly,
thinking about the gods
of Egypt
that were impressive,
that looked great,
and thinking about
the gods up ahead
who will be in the land
surrounded by them,
the gods of the Canaanites.
Moses is saying
loud and clear
that as scary
as that journey may be,
as unknown
as that journey
will be,
the only God,
the true God,
the one who's worthy
of your trust
and your worship,
he alone is the one
that you need to put
your full confidence
in backing behind.
It's not the Lord
plus idols.
Ditch the 50-50 scarf.
It is put the Lord first.
Love him first.
Seek his kingdom first.
And do you know what?
That journey might be scary,
and you will likely
face opposition,
but if the Lord
has called you,
he'll provide for you.
If he's called you,
he will fulfill the promises
and the plans
that he has for you.
Now listen,
if you joined the dots,
it's exactly the same
call to us today.
Do you know,
I love the fact that
as I've been preaching
through this,
I haven't really seen it before.
How God is just teaching
Jacob things about himself
and about him,
about who he is
over the long term.
Right,
you know,
when we first moved
into our house,
at the bottom of our drive
is a bus stop.
And what we thought we'd do
is when we moved in here,
it was completely open.
We just planted a hedge.
Right,
just to give us a bit of privacy
to stop people looking in.
And we started with that hedge
about that size.
And over the four years
that we've been in there,
this hedge has grew
and grew and grew and grew.
And the thing is,
I see this hedge every day.
And to me,
it's the same size
as it was then.
But all it takes
is somebody
who's not seen us
for six months
to come to our house
and they always say,
my,
look at the size of that hedge.
Look how it's grown.
The Lord is teaching us things
over the long term.
Brothers and sisters,
do you see yourself
as you look back
on yourself
five,
10,
15,
20 years ago?
Do you see how patient
the Lord is with us?
Have you stopped
to consider the lessons
that he's taught you
over the years?
It's the same for our character.
God is in this
for the long term.
If he saved us,
he is in this
for the long haul.
as he weans us off
trusting in ourselves
and that comes
way too naturally
to me living in my world.
As he weans us off
trusting in ourselves
and he weans us on
to making much of
and trusting in Jesus
and who he is.
Do you see yourself
growing
in godly character?
Do you see the lessons
that the Lord is teaching you
over the years?
You know,
when we were in the States
last summer,
we got to know
a girl and her family
called Jonah.
I remember speaking
to Jonah
on the Sunday
at church.
I say I spoke to her.
It was more like
a game of charades
because her voice
had gone.
She just picked up
an affection.
She couldn't speak
and that was the Sunday.
We saw her,
I think,
later in the week
as we went to the park
with our kids
and we saw her
on the Wednesday
or the Thursday
and her voice was back.
And I was just saying,
how's your voice?
And do you know
what she said to me?
She said,
the first time
this happened to me
when it initially happened,
my first instinct
was to pray,
Lord,
what are you teaching me
in this inconvenience?
And I thought to myself,
I never asked that question.
I never stop
in the mundane,
everyday things
of my life
to say,
Lord,
what might you be
teaching me here?
And she proceeded
to tell me
what the Lord
had taught her.
She said,
as a mom
with kids
the same age as ours,
young kids,
she said,
what wasn't an option
for her
was yelling their names.
Right?
When it's dinner time,
kids come down,
she couldn't do it anymore.
So she said,
what it taught me
was that I had to go over
to my kids
and I had to speak
to them really quietly.
And she said,
I've never had so much
eye contact
with my kids.
I learned what they were
doing in their day.
I learned what makes them tick.
Spent time with them.
And she said,
how often I just resort
to calling names
and expecting things
to happen.
And she said as well,
it taught me about
my gut instinct
just to shout
and to react to things.
And she said,
the Lord slowed me down
and realizing that
when I had to take a minute
to go and find
one of my children,
actually how his grace
is sufficient
in that moment for me.
And I thought,
I just never asked
that question.
It's never on my radar.
What is the Lord
teaching me
about himself
and about myself
in the moment?
He is committed
to teaching us
lessons in the everyday
trenches of our lives.
It takes the pressure
of us having to be
on it all the time
because we know
the one who is on it
all the time.
And we know
his heart for us.
And we know
his love for us.
And we know
his sovereignty
over every single angle
of our lives.
Can I just give you
two quick questions
maybe to tease this out?
Here's number one.
Friends,
are we growing
in our awareness
of his presence?
That's what Jacob
has increasingly
come to see here.
Just reflect
on what he said there.
Not only his escape
from,
but his protection
in Laban's presence
was only possible
by the grace
of God to him
and the presence
of God
with him.
Now you might be
sitting there today
and say,
that would be great
if I was Jacob.
God spoke directly
to Jacob.
I'd love that.
But let me just say,
if you're a believer
here today
because of where
we stand in history
and what God's
done for us,
the Jesus who came,
who lived,
who died,
who rose,
who ascended,
because he has
sent the Spirit,
we can know
the presence of God
in a more fuller way
than Jacob
could ever dream of.
Love it in John 14
as Jesus explains
to his disciples
that he's leaving them.
And I cannot think
I'm more of a bombshell
to drop on his disciples
at that point
in the game.
Jesus says
he is leaving them,
but he says,
he says,
I will not leave you
as orphans.
I will come to you.
Because as he ascends
to the Father,
he sends the Holy Spirit,
he sends the helper
to be with his disciples,
with his people.
That Jesus would send
the very Spirit of God,
the third person
of the Trinity,
to live in the heart
of every single believer.
And because of his
indwelling presence,
Jesus can say,
and we're going to come back
to this later in the year
when we get back
into John's Gospel,
he could say
that I will be in you
and you will be in me.
You know,
to say that God is with us,
it can so often
become a cliche
that just trips off
our lips,
can't it?
Like something that
Clinton Cards would put
in the back
of one of their
sympathy cards.
But it's a wonderful
liberating truth.
having the Spirit
of God
residing in our lives
is the greatest gift
that the risen Jesus
could give to his people.
It's that Spirit,
he brings a flood
of relief
and comfort
to the souls
of his people
who are suffering
and who are sick
and who are struggling
by persuading them
and reminding them
of the unending,
unchanging heart
and love of God,
their Heavenly Father
for his people.
And so it's a wonderful
thing today,
if you are struggling
of words to articulate
how you want to pray
for a brother and sister
in the congregation,
God, remember
that the Holy Spirit
is a much better
pastor and preacher
than anyone
who will ever sit up here
and stand up here.
Pray
that the Spirit
would be at work
bringing the truth
of the Gospel
to bear on the life
of your brother
and sister.
He knows
what you're going through
and he really
is with you
in all your hardships
and all your struggles.
What a wonderful thing
to be reminded of
that that's the reality
that each of us
have today
if our trust
is in this Jesus.
Here's the second question.
Are we walking
with integrity
in his presence?
Are we aware
of his presence?
Are we walking
with integrity
in his presence?
You know what really
struck me
both this week
and last week
is how often
Jacob draws
Laban's attention
to how he's conducted
himself
while he's been with him.
Have you noticed that
over the last couple of weeks?
Do you see it
in verse 36?
He says,
What is my offense?
I've looked after your flocks.
I haven't stolen anything.
Now hang on a minute.
This is the same guy
who back at chapter 27
wasn't the slightest bit fussed
when he lied to his dad
and he cheated his brother.
And now all of a sudden
just a few chapters later
character really matters
to Jacob.
You know,
I heard a quote recently
from the atheist philosopher
A.C. Grayling
once speaking at down
at Oxford University
and he said,
he said,
people in the olden days
they used to believe in God
but now today
people don't believe in God.
There's a God
that could see everything.
And he said,
if you want to know
the proof of that,
the proof of it
is that today
that we have CCTV cameras
everywhere.
And it's kind of true,
isn't it,
if you think about it,
our world.
Nobody thinks about
that there might be
an all-seeing
and all-knowing God
watching everything
and who one day
will make every wrong right.
People today
is thinking,
isn't it,
as long as it's not
hurting anyone,
then it's kind of
fair game.
But the person
who fears the Lord,
who loves Him,
who wants to serve Him,
always behaves
like there's a divine
CCTV camera
who's watching everything.
That there really is
a God who sees
and who knows
and who cares.
And do you know
what that means?
It means that every moment
is a worship moment.
Every moment
is a worship moment.
changing nappies,
trying to get into
our weeks, right?
Changing nappies,
sending emails at work,
being hospitable
and kind
to your fellow
road user.
All these little things
are chances
that we have
to worship
the living God.
Remember when I was
a student,
I had a friend
called Rab.
Rab was slightly
younger than me,
but he'd been a Christian
for way longer
than me.
Remember having
a conversation
with him one Friday night
and telling him
about how many people
in my generation
that were into this thing,
a 90s kid here,
this thing called
copying CDs,
right?
Not just copying them,
but sharing them
with their friends.
Remember telling him
about this and thinking,
isn't this a great thing
that we can do?
Never thought anything
of it.
And he said to me,
do you know what,
Shanksie?
He said,
God has called us
and saved us
to be better than that.
And he was right.
The faithfulness
on the journey
in the smallest
little things,
it matters to the Lord.
And we can worship him
with every single moment,
no matter what's going on
in your life,
friends,
the Lord sees it.
He sees it.
And it's a challenge,
but it's also a comfort
that as scary
as the journey may be,
this God,
the only real God,
he's with you.
He's with you.
So ditch the half
and half scarf
and go all in
with the Lord.
This chance to,
this call rather,
to seek him first.
You know,
my favorite promise
of Jesus,
and we read it earlier,
and the thing that I found
to be the best bit
of life advice
when it comes
to making decisions
is what Jesus says
in Matthew 6.
When he says
to his disciples,
he says,
don't worry.
Don't worry.
And he says,
take a look around
at nature.
Look at the flowers
in the fields.
Right?
We went to the zoo yesterday
as a family,
tried to do this.
See how God cares
for these things.
See how God provides
for these things.
And see how your
heavenly Father
feeds them.
You know,
someone said to me recently,
have you noticed
how much of an outdoors
book the Bible is?
It's true.
Read it.
That's why
famous English pastor
John Stott
said that bird watching
was something that he did
that was good for his soul.
Jesus says,
don't worry.
Don't worry about tomorrow.
It's interesting,
isn't it?
One of the marks
of our generation today,
and you have to say,
is chronic anxiety.
You know,
I was hearing on
social media recently,
and I don't know
whether this is true,
but this is what
the person was reporting,
that my generation
is almost so scared
to have children
because they don't want
to bring them
into this world
that's full of crippling
anxiety about what
the future might hold.
And you have to say,
if atheist A.C. Grayling
was right,
that we don't believe in God,
we've got CTV cameras,
we've moved on from that,
we have to say
that the lack of anxiety
that's supposed to come
with that
is not just materializing
in our age.
Jesus says,
don't worry.
He says,
don't worry.
And he doesn't just say,
don't do something.
Right?
Any gardener
with their salt
will tell you
that weeding without seeding
is a terrible idea.
He doesn't just say,
don't do something.
He says,
do something.
He doesn't just say,
don't worry.
He says,
seek your father.
Pray to him.
Seek the kingdom first.
And the fact that this father
is this kind of father
who knows us
and he knows our needs
should free us to be those
who seek first
the kingdom of God.
Be all in with trust
in the Lord.
And I love it,
dear friends,
just to encourage you,
I see many of you right now,
you're making big decisions
about your future.
Some of you are at a crossroads
in your life.
Some of you are thinking
about university.
Some of you are thinking
about serving different ways.
And I see you growing
in this area.
I see you wanting
to make godly decisions.
Remember we thought
about ages ago
the fact that
one of our questions
when making decisions
isn't primarily
what should I do?
But as Jen Wilkin puts it,
rather the question is
who should I be?
As we make decisions
that glorify the Lord,
put him first.
Listen,
our time is gone
but I want to finish
with this
just to massage home
the point.
Because it's August
in Edinburgh
and
and I want to tell you
about my favourite
festival act
from the last few years.
Is that okay?
Just as we close?
Some of you would have seen
this guy on the news
recently.
He is
what is
called
a festival legend.
And he'll be loving
this bit of free publicity
I'm giving him.
It's a Scottish comedian
called Robin Granger.
And he became famous
because a number
of years ago
he did his first ever
Friday night gig
and he was really nervous
and he asked
his manager
to poke his head out
and see how many people
had come to his
Friday night gig.
Do you know how many
people came?
One.
One person came.
And so his manager
pokes his head
back in
and says
do you still want
to go ahead?
Give the guy a refund
if you want.
Do you want to still
go ahead?
And he said
no come on
if this guy's
paid the money
if he's
shown his face
if he's happy
to sit in
the audience
let's go for it.
And so here he is
this is Mike
from Leicester
who he performed for
but I love that
attitude
of one person
in mind
of an audience
of one
of
only having
eyes
for one person
and that is what
Jesus is calling us
here to today.
The audience
of one
living for God's
glory alone
that is the aftertaste
I think Genesis 31
is meant to put
in our mouths
to ditch in the
half and a half jersey
and be all in
with eyes only
trusting and walking
with the Lord.
Listen let me pray
and let me just
encourage you in the
quiet as God's
word has gone forth
this morning
whatever is going on
in your life
friends bring it to him
know that he knows
know that he cares
and know that he loves
and then we'll
finish in prayer.
And so Father
I pray that you would
convince us deeply
today
as we respond
to your word
that there is truly
none like you
there is no God
as mighty
as you
there is no God
as delightful
as you
because we see
that as we
stare at your
son Jesus
and so Father
I pray that your
spirit would come
the great
comforter
and would he
deeply impress
on each of our
souls
those truths
that we've been
thinking about today
that you are
worthy
of our
first and foremost
attention
and so Lord
I pray that you
would help us
to live for those
words that Jesus
said
well done
good and faithful
servant
Father thank you
for your love for us
and we pray these
things in Jesus
worthy name
Amen