Advent Midweek 1, 2024
Text: Genesis 28:10-22
Title: Night in Your Family
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The Lord comes at night.
Night is a time of fear and loneliness. Night is a time of danger and doubt.
But the Lord comes at night.
Long ago, the Lord came to Jacob as he lay dreaming in Luz.
Jacob was on the run. With a little help from mom, Jacob had received the blessing that his twin brother, Esau, had been expecting. And so Esau had vowed that once his dad was dead and buried, he would kill his brother.
To save his life, Jacob fled north. He was traveling to his mother’s home country, to seek shelter there, and perhaps to start a family.
On that long road to Haran, Jacob would have been tempted to doubt God’s presence and His promise.
God had promised Grandpa Abraham that he would be the father of many nations, that he would have descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky or the sand on the seashore.
God had promised Grandpa Abraham that He would give Him land. That very land to settle on and call His own for generations to come.
This blessing had been passed down to Father Isaac, and now to him, to Jacob.
But Jacob had obtained this blessing by tricking his father into thinking that he was his brother. Did it count for Him? Would he really be heir to the Lord’s blessing? Or had the Lord rejected him, abandoned him because of his trickery?
Jacob was in the dark. Alone, on the run, afraid for his life, and doubting.
It was night.
But the Lord comes at night.
He came to Jacob in a dream. He was truly present there in that place sending His angels down to minister to Jacob.
And the Lord spoke. He confirmed that the promise he had made to Grandpa Abraham would also be for him, for Jacob.
Yes, He would give Jacob that land.
Yes, He would bless Jacob with innumerable descendants.
Yes, He would be with Jacob during his sojourning and bring him safely back home.
The Lord came at night.
It is night once more.
What brings you fear and doubt?
Perhaps, like Jacob, you are at odds with your own family.
The holidays are filled with family gatherings. Does that prospect excite you? Or does it fill you with dread? Is there peace within your family? Or are there still unresolved tensions and grudges.
If so, you are not alone.
We are often tempted to imagine that every family is perfect except for our own, that every family gets along peacefully and wonderfully, and has Hallmark worthy holiday gatherings, and our family is the only one that struggles.
Scripture is filled with the stories of families. Real families. Families where folks actually sin against one another, and fight and feud.
It’s not a good thing. It’s not a pleasant thing. But it happens. It always has.
God would eventually bring reconciliation between Jacob and his brother Esau, but the tension and rivalry between their descendants endured from generation to generation.
One day, a descendant of Esau named Herod would try to kill a descendant of Jacob named Jesus.
And once more there would be a flight to a foreign nation to escape. But that’s a story for another day.
The message that the Lord gave to Jacob that night was simple. I will be with you. Even at night. Even on the run. Even apart from your family. I will be with you.
The message that the Lord gives to you this night is that same, simple message. I will be with you. Even at night. Even on the run. Even apart from your family. I will be with you.
No matter what the holidays bring for you this year, the Lord is with you.
Whether it’s tense family gatherings, or lonely meals where you miss absent loved ones.
Whether it’s the busyness and stress of trying to get everything done in the three short weeks between now and Christmas, or it’s battling the depression and anxiety that the holidays exacerbate.
The Lord is with you. And He’s with you in a real, physical way.
On Christmas, Jesus came in the flesh. He is Immanuel, God with us.
Just before ascending to heaven, Jesus told His disciples, “Go, make more disciples by baptizing them and teaching them, and I will be with you always, to the end of the age.”
The Lord is with you. Not just in your dreams, but in your baptism. He has put His name on you. He has filled you with His Holy Spirit. He has joined you to His body, the Holy Christian Church.
If you are baptized, you are never alone.
The Lord is with you in the apostles’ teaching. In all the busyness and stress of the season, don’t neglect to hear God’s Word. Take time to read and meditate upon it in your home, and here with your family of faith. Even at night.
If you are in God’s Word, you are never alone.
When you are fearful, when you have doubts, when you feel alone, remember that the Lord is with you, and He comes to you at night.
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