Genesis 27: 1-29; Romans 3:21-26

Today is the second sermon in a four-part series on the life of Jacob.  Last week we learned that the name Jacob means “Striver” or “Hustler” and saw that Jacob lived up to his name.  He hustled his twin brother Esau, out of his birthright – trading him in a moment of weakness for a measly bowl of soup.  Spurred on by his success, Jacob goes on in today’s passage to hustle his blind dying father out of a blessing he intended for Esau.  He does it by masquerading as his brother.  So we read in Genesis 27 these words:

So he went to his father , and said “My father”; and he said, “Here I am; who are you, my son?”  Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau, your firstborn.  I have done as you told me; now sit up and eat of my game, so that you may bless me.”  Gen. 27:18-19

I feel a little old admitting to this, but when I started out as a minister, the big technological breakthrough of the day was the portable video camcorder.  Both Sony and Panasonic had developed a compact video recorder that could run on a battery pack.  Granted, the first ones were only slightly smaller than a Volkswagen, and took two hands and a shoulder to carry, but they were “portable” so people were tossing out their 8mm movie cameras and buying video camcorders in their place.  They were the talk of the town.

I remember talking about them myself with a colleague in ministry.  I said that I thought the portable video camera could be a big help to the preacher.  We could record ourselves preaching on Sundays and then replay it and learn important things about our delivery, mannerisms and idiosyncrasies, etc.  An older preacher overheard us talking about this and he said, “Video camera – I don’t need that…I’ve got children!”  Well we laughed, but it wasn’t till I had children that I understood just how true those words were.  I don’t need a video camcorder…both of my children can do a pretty good imitation of me!  In fact, my kids can do me better than I can do me!  My daughter Beth is especially good at this (must be something about being in the arts), and watching her is entertaining if not educational.

I mention that because I think most of the time masquerading is just plain funny.  It’s a way to laugh at ourselves and one another.  There’s even a reality show about masquerading out now called “The Next Best Thing.”  People come on stage and do imitations of celebrities like Gomer Pile, Roger Dangerfield, Mae West, and Bill Clinton.  Some imitators are better than the real thing!  Years ago, Charlie Chaplin entered a competition of people imitating him…he came in forth!

The most masqueraded celebrity of all time of course, has to be Elvis Presley.  Elvis impersonators are everywhere.  They even hold an Elvis weekend in Virginia Beach every June.  I met a guy recently who said he entered last year and came in second place!  I figure if this guy could take second place then there was hope for me!  Who knows, maybe next year…

Masquerading, for the most part is just plain fun.  It’s fun to dress up as someone else and pretend…if only for a night.  That’s why Halloween is so popular!  According to retail statistics, Halloween is growing in popularity more and more each year.  That’s interesting considering it has no religious or historical significance really.  People young and old just enjoy dressing up for costume parties.  It’s all the rage these days.

But masquerading is not all fun and games.  It has its dark side too.  Pretending to be someone else for the purpose of personal gain is nothing to laugh about.  Identity theft and impersonation is a growing problem world-wide.  We hear about pedophiles pretending to be youngsters on computer chat-lines in order to learn things about their victims and then arrange meetings with them.  We hear about credit card theft and how quickly someone can max out stolen cards by taking them into stores, pretending to be that person.  In spite of harsh penalties, these are growing crimes.  There is no shortage of hustlers out there.

And this is the context in which we must read today’s passage – because Jacob is not a comedian but an impostor.  He’s masquerading as Esau in order to steal his blessing for himself.  The whole idea gets hatched after Isaac announces to Esau that the time has come for them to sit down together with God and have a spiritual meal where Isaac would pass on his blessing to his eldest son.  (In ancient times, sacred events often centered around a meal.)  He then sends Esau out to kill some wild game and prepare it for this special meal together.  Rebekah overhears their conversation and hatches a plan for her beloved Jacob to get the blessing instead.  She instructs Jacob to prepare two young goats so that they taste like wild game and bring it to Isaac before Esau gets back.  Jacob objects, “My brother is hairy and I’m smooth skinned, what if Isaac touches me and realizes I am not Esau?”  Rebekah says, “Put on Esau’s best clothes and use the skins from the goats you prepare to cover your hands, back and neck.”  So he does all this and goes into see his father.  His father says to him: “Who are you?”  And Jacob tells the bold-faced lie “I am Esau, your first born.”  And as is typical with lying, one lie leads to another.  Isaac asks how he found game so quickly, and Jacob pretending to be Esau says, “The Lord granted me success.”  He didn’t sound like Esau so Isaac asks him to come close and he feels his hands and smells his clothing and is satisfied.  So Isaac eats the meal and offers his blessing to his son…a beautiful blessing that shows the deep love of this father for his son.

    Michael Barnes says that when Jacob utters the words “I am Esau” to his father, he is almost telling the truth!  His God-given identity is lost in the idolatry of his brother.  Jacob is so jealous of Esau, so fixated on his birthright that he cannot see the blessing of his own life anymore.  And in his jealously he’s actually willing to get into his brother’s skin, literally, put on his clothes, take on his persona and identity just so he can steal the blessing meant for him.  And there is something both comedic and sad about that, isn’t there?  It’s funny to think of Jacob dressed in his brother’s oversized clothes, with goats hair duct taped to his arms.  But it’s sad, too, that Jacob thinks he has to commit identity theft in order to be blessed in his life.
And being the hustler that he is, he’s able to pull it off too.  His impersonation of Esau is so convincing that his own father is fooled…for awhile.  When Esau comes back from hunting and goes in to see his dad with his meal, Jacob’s masquerade is over.  Esau is so angry he vows to kill his brother Jacob.  Fortunately, Rebekah gets wind of it and sends Jacob away to Haran to live with her brother Laban and family.  So Jacob escapes with the prized birthright but not without paying a high price…namely his own family.  He’s lost the respect of his father, the love of his brother, and the company of his beloved mother.  This is certainly no “happily ever after” ending of the story. 

Masquerading seems to be a in this family’s DNA.  When Isaac and Rebekah moved to Gerar (BC – before children)  the men in the region were taken by Rebekah’s beauty and fearing his own safety, Isaac had Rebekah masquerade as his sister.  Now where did he learn a trick like that?  From his father…when his father Abraham lived in Egypt, he had his wife Sarah masquerade as his sister!  Deceit seems to be a family tradition!  And it continues into Jacob’s children too.  Remember when Jacob’s sons sell off Joseph as a slave?  They take his blood soaked clothes back to Jacob and tell him he was killed by a lion.  Clearly the sins of one generation are visited on the next!

    Frederick Buechner defines sin this way: “Sin is whatever you do, or fail to do, that pushes them (God and other people) away, that widens the gap between you and them and also the gap within your self.”  In other words, sin separates us.  Jacob is a case in point - he sins against his brother and his father and ends up separated from both.  And Jacob is our man, isn’t he?  We’re strivers like him.  The Jacob inside us believes that the only way we’re going to get any blessings in life is by striving and hustling for them.  Blessings certainly aren’t going to drop in our lap like they do for Esau.  So we’re jealous of Esau – whoever that might be.  We want Esau’s convertible sports car, we want his corner office with a view, and we want his fancy house.  And we’re willing to dress ourselves up like him if it’ll get us the blessings he gets.  The irony of it all is that God has already blessed us, but we’re so jealous of what Esau has that we can’t see the blessings that are ours!  So we live our lives masquerading, pretending, living a lie.

“All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God,” says Paul.  Jacob is our man and look what it has born us…jealousy, hatred, prejudice, separation, divorce, even war.  “Oh wretched man that I am; who will save me from this death?”

Sin separates us from God and from one another.  And once we are separated there is only one way to reconcile ourselves again…and that’s by telling the truth.  Presbyterians know that, and it’s why we spend time in every worship service confessing our sins.  Confession is where we tell the truth about ourselves…that we are sinners, that we have caused the separation between us, that we are sorry for it and need forgiveness. 

I admire the organization Alcoholics Anonymous because it is unrelenting on this point.  If you’ve ever sat in on an AA meeting you know when a person stands up to speak they begin with these words:  “Hi, my name is John, and I am an alcoholic.”  And everyone says “Hi John.”  Alcoholics Anonymous is the opposite of Jacob – instead of dressing up, they strip down and reveal their true identity.  It’s hard, it’s humiliating, that’s incredibly honest…but it’s the only way to a new beginning in life.  It’s where we must begin before sitting down together at this table.  “Hi, my name is Bill, and I am a sinner.  I’m not here because of any merit of my own.  I’m here by the grace of God in Jesus Christ.  And by his grace we are welcomed to partake…just as we are.”

Amen