A Brutal Life

is a life that brings forth the best fruit.

Anyone that has been to church in the past decade or so has probably heard the term “let’s do life together.” And there is good reason for that. We aren’t called to be hermits just stuck alone in our homes or high atop a mountain. We are called to serve others. We are called to love others the way we love ourselves. The more I’ve thought about it, the more I think the church has missed a key component of what it means to live a Christian life.

Nobody wants to be vulnerable, really. If we can avoid it at all costs, we will. I mean, who would want to tell someone the things that upset them or the things that have gone wrong? Opening up to people means opening the door for judgement and gossip. Most of us—myself included—would probably rather suffer all alone as opposed to risk anyone ever knowing that life isn’t going so great. And that is precisely the problem with doing life together.

In a perfect world, we could all trust that those that we confide in would never betray us, tell our secrets, or judge us. Unfortunately that isn’t the world that we live in. We live in a broken world full of saints that sin. We live in a world that desperately needs real relationships now more than ever. And how do we do it?

Well, I think we can gather a little bit of insight from story of Jacob and Esau. If you’ve ever read the story, I’m sure you’re aware that Esau gave away his birthright for some soup. Long story short, basically Jacob went on to seal the deal by stealing Esau’s blessing from Isaac, his father, and Esau vows to kill Jacob. Afraid, his mother sends him to live with his uncle until Esau calms down—hopefully, they probably thought. Well, fast forward about twenty years and these two brothers finally meet. Except something is different this time. Jacob, walking with a limp, slowly approaches his brother—who he has to assume still wants to kill him—and bows down before him. They both cry, give each other a hug, and Esau invites Jacob to live with him. In spite of him losing the blessing, it seemed like Esau was maybe doing a little bit better than Jacob was in that moment. Though Jacob denied the request, I think we can learn something from such a simple interaction.

First, I think it’s important to realize that this probably wasn’t the first argument the two brothers had in their lives. I’m sure that they bickered back and forth all the time. They had probably ate that same soup who knows how many times before. And in spite of Esau giving away his birthright, his brother still made the soup regardless. Was he planning on sharing? Who knows? The fact of the matter is that even though Jacob sort of extorted Esau to get his birthright, he still gave him something that could have really saved his life. After all, Esau did say that his birthright would be useless if he were to die.

The next thing I think we can gather is that being on the run from our own actions somehow can work true miracles in our lives. Would God have wrestled with Jacob had he not been on the run? The truth is that we will never know. But, I think it’s interesting to see how Jacob is made better and more Christ like not because of his father, who seemed to be trying his best to live a life that would bless God, but because of his willingness to jump straight into the fiery inferno that the world set before him. Sin looked him in the eyes, some of it being his own, and in spite of it he comes out the other side able to forgive a brother that vowed to kill him.

And most important, I think it’s interesting to see how God moved in the lives of both Jacob and Esau—Jacob being more open to it—within their own family rather than outside peoples. The faith that Jacob had in God doesn’t seem to have been strengthened by anyone else except for his brother who was being not so nice for a while. And notice that after Jacob wrestled with God, he is suddenly faced with the realization that he was also being selfish. For crying out loud, he was going to send his wives and children to meet Esau before he did. Yet I think because of the love of God, who had gotten him that far already, He felt compelled to look his brother, and death, really, in the eyes. He bowed down before him, and instead of being met with hostility and anger he was met with forgiveness and love. Overwhelming forgiveness and love at that.

You’ve probably heard it said that iron sharpens iron when it comes to discipleship. And that is definitely true. But sometimes we forget that in order for iron to sharpen iron, there needs to be friction. If we are never truly being tried in our faith, who could we ever prove that we have it in the first place? It is easy to have faith when everyone around you feels the same way. Yet venture out into the world and you’ll soon find that you and Peter are quite alike. One innocent person asks you about this Jesus guy and next thing you know you’re acting like you have no idea who they’re talking about. Such is the Christian life if never truly tried.

It is my privilege to encourage you today that no matter where you find yourself, you have a group of people that will sharpen you in your faith and walk with God. Most of us are looking outward, hoping to find a church or a small group, yet we fail to see our own workplaces and families as life giving groups.

Who else knows you like your family? If anyone on the planet could show you what it means to forgive the way Christ forgives, it is probably your family. And if it isn’t, you have been given the great vocation of being that blessing to them. God doesn’t just toss us around like a ball in a pinball machine. He gave you the family you have for a reason. He gave you the job you have for a reason. He just asks that you let Him be the one that moves you so that iron can really sharpen iron. You don’t have to move yourself. And that, my friends, is the hope that we have thanks to Jesus Christ. Because of Jesus we have a hope that our love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, and faithfulness doesn’t come from ourselves, it comes from Him. How amazing it is that in spite of our daily shortcomings, He still died for us.

Jesus loves you.