November 8, 2020 - Remembrance Day Service
Deborah Laforet Genesis 33:1-12
Seeing the Face of God
How closely have you been following the US election this week? I admit, as an American, as someone concerned with the growing divide and divisiveness happening in my home country, I have been watching closely.
Early on Wednesday, I decided to ask Google a question. “Why do people support Donald Trump?” The first link to pop up was from the periodical, Psychology Today. The article was from 2016, but I figured it would still be relevant so I started to read.
If I was conservative, voting for Trump, I would be greatly offended by this article. Here are some quotes from this article about conservatives who vote for Trump: “…they’re not smart enough to realize they’re dumb.” “…the conservative brain has an exaggerated fear response when faced with stimuli that may be perceived as threatening…These brain responses are automatic, and not influenced by logic or reason.” "By constantly emphasizing existential threat, Trump creates a psychological condition that makes the brain respond positively rather than negatively to bigoted statements and divisive rhetoric.” “…Of course these explanations do not apply to all Trump supporters. In fact, some may support Trump to be rebellious or to introduce chaos into the system.”
So, I guess this explains the almost 69 million people who voted for Trump, 48% of the population. It also happens to describe a lot of my family members, who I know to be Trump supporters. I’m sorry. I don’t buy it. This is another example of the left dumbing down the right. My relatives are very intelligent, they happen to be logical and reasonable, and they don’t respond positively to bigoted statements.
This article made me angry. It’s no wonder there is such divisiveness when neither side wants to see the good in the other side. I love my family. I may not agree with them but they are good, loving people. We have good, loving people on both sides, conservatives and liberals, Democrats and Republicans, who are choosing to paint the other side with one brush, not taking them seriously, seeing them as dumb or irrational, or viewing them like children or like demons. My vote this year was a vote against Trump, not necessarily for Biden, and I believe that this happened on both sides. Conservatives were voting against liberals; liberals were voting against conservatives.
I think the scariest thing about what’s happening right now is that divide. We saw this divide 150 years ago. People tend to think the Civil War was all about whether or not to abolish slavery, but the northern and southern states were so different in their ideologies and thinking, which included views on slavery but also included their views on state verses federal powers and their vision of western expansion. The divide was so great, that the southern states wanted to form their own country, something the northern states weren’t willing to let them do.
Is the tension in the states as high as it was 150 years ago? Are the protests and the shootings an indication of this? Don’t get me wrong, my Canadian friends, this divide is not only happening in the U.S. Not only do I see it happening in other nations all over the globe, but I see it here in Canada. Climate change vs economic interests, privatization vs government, personal freedoms vs the national good, secularism vs freedom of religion. These fundamental differences are happening right here in this country as well.
Our world is changing and it’s changing quickly. I think we are going through a major shift in our world: in our practices, in our beliefs, and in our values. This is going to cause turmoil. Will we be wise enough to have learned from past wars, to not let our differences bring us to a physical conflict? We’ve lost too much to war, whether we believed it was justified or not, and part of the reason we remember every year, part of the reason we are encouraged not to forget, is to learn from our past conflicts and to find peaceful ways to settle our disagreements. One way we do this is by not seeing our opponent as the enemy, or worse, seeing them as less than: less intelligent, less logical and rational, less able to control their emotions, even demonizing them and seeing them as less than human.
Today we heard a story about Jacob. Jacob’s story is vast. We can trace his genealogy, follow the adventures of his children, read of his epic failures and his achievements, and learn about his relationships with his parents, brother, wives, their father, and with his numerous children.
Today’s story was about Jacob’s reconciliation with his twin brother. Esau and Jacob were very different and each one was favoured by a parent, Jacob by his mother and Esau by his father.
Jacob was the second son, only moments after Esau, but Jacob and his mother, Rebecca, did all they could to make sure that Jacob came out on top. Esau was tricked by Jacob into giving up his birthright and then Jacob tricked their father into giving the blessing meant for Esau to Jacob. That was the final straw for Esau. He vowed to killed his brother and Jacob ran.
I don’t think Jacob ever thought he would return, that it would ever be safe to return, but after years of working for his father-in-law, he decided that it was time go home, back to the land of his parents and grandparents. So he packed up all he owned and he and his two wives and their handmaidens and his many sons and his one daughter, began the long road home. Here is where we pick up the story on this Remembrance Day Sunday. Two brothers, one having vowed to kill the other, meeting again for the first time after decades.
When Jacob finally reached his destination, he saw his brother approaching with 400 men and understandably assumes the worst: that his brother is making good on his vow to kill him. He walks ahead of his family, bowing seven times, showing his submission, hoping for mercy, and, if nothing else, that his family might be spared.
Then, the unexpected happens. Esau runs to Jacob, embraces and kisses him, and they both weep. Jacob says to Esau, “For truly to see your face is like seeing the face of God—since you have received me with such favour.”
Now, as I said before, Jacob’s story is vast and it has many angles. Just before this meeting with Esau, Jacob had spent the night on his own where he wrestled with an unknown figure. Some have called this figure an angel or even God, but scripture only tells us that it was a man and that at the end of this struggle, the man blesses Jacob and gives him a new name: Israel, which means to struggle. Before Jacob leaves this place, he names it Peniel, which means “face of God,” stating that he had seen the face of God and lived.
Jacob believes he saw the face of God that night, in a dream or in an actual encounter, and that face is what he sees in Esau. He sees in Esau what he saw in that unknown opponent, after the fight and the struggle, and in the blessing at the end of that struggle, the release, the forgiveness, the open-hearted acceptance and welcome, not easily found between two sides once at war.
What does it mean to see the face of God in our enemy? Does it mean being open to difference? Does it mean letting go of the hate and the past hurts and mistakes? Does it mean having compassion for someone we don’t understand? Does it mean seeing yourself in them, that they are not so different from you, after all?
Seeing the face of God in those we have learned to distrust and hate is not easy. This story of Jacob wrestling with this figure is symbolic of this. Jacob fought all night. He knew that the next day he would meet his brother, a brother who had vowed to kill him and a brother he had deceived and tricked. He was afraid to face his brother. This fight in the night gave him the courage he needed to go forward and the wisdom to know that God was with him, that God was with his brother, and that a blessing could come out of this struggle.
That is sometimes where we find God, after struggle and heartache, pain and suffering, sometimes that is where we find beauty, where we find hope, where we find peace.
Our prayers are with all those nations at war, all those families who are in conflict, and we pray especially for America, a powerful nation in this world who is divided.
God is waiting for us. All of us. Conservatives and Liberals. Left and Right. No matter who we are, God is for us. God will wrestle all night with us, as long as we need it. We are never abandoned. As Esau did with Jacob, God encounters each and every one of us with mercy, forgiveness, open arms, and hugs and kisses. Thanks be to God. Amen.