Jim Benfer

Sermo464 for Sunday 5-25-08

Scripture Reading: Genesis 25:29-34

The Value of Birthright

Cheryl Moeller doesn’t like being the youngest in her family,= and I quote: “Does anyone have an older sibling that still treats them li= ke they are five? Okay that’s me and I have three of them.

I love my older sisters, but they have always been my older sisters= . It started when they were born first.

I always got the hand-me-downs. By the time I got the hoola-hoop, it was square. When I got the easy bake oven, it had e-coli. And when I finally got the Ken and Barbie doll, they were already in a mid-life crisis.

Well, sometimes my oldest sister would watch us three younger siste= rs. My mom would give us four dolls and a stack of saltine crackers for a snack= . She would of course decide when it was time to feed us. We would all sit there = like baby robins in a nest with our mouths open waiting for her to drop somethin= g in our mouths – so she would ask if we wanted the cracker with or without salt. If we wanted it without salt she would take a cracker and lick the sa= lt off and then hand it to us. It took the meaning of sodium free to a whole n= ew level.

The 7-up Slurpee that we all shared... Well, that is why I have emotional backwash to this day.

How many of your remember when jelly came in those little Flintstone glasses? The neat thing was when you were done with the jelly – then = you could wash the little glass jar and then use it at the table as a glass = 211; if you ate enough jelly you could furnish a whole set -- even Martha Stewart hadn’t thought of that. One day I accidentally broke one – and = one of my older sisters said, "How come can’t we keep anything nice around here?"

I love being the youngest in the family but some people don't like their birth order. The problem? The problem is all those books out there ab= out birth order. And all of us believe it and live by it as though it were all true.

Well, I say if you don't l= ike your order in the family why not change it so you end up where really want = to be?” [1]

That’s the kind of = thinking that makes the story of Jacob and Esau very interesting. Often it is interpreted for its su= rface meaning, but I believe the story is one that is told to leave us wondering about the value of a birthright, and what that means to you and me.

It’s a lesson about= making rash decisions, but it is also a story about trying to take shortcuts to get your way. In the end we can l= earn from both brothers.

In Old Testament times, t= he right to inherit the wealth and land of the father always was given to the oldest son. There is an inherent unfairness to this practice. = Notice if you will, that the Bible seldom mentions women unless it is in the ances= try of other men. However, you and I= both know that the birth of girls happens 50% of the time, and a firstborn is al= so a girl 50% of the time. Add to = that the fact that in large families, which were the custom, many other sons and daughters were often born. The firstborn was certainly a prized position, and it was looked upon with envy= and jealousy by the other siblings. Now, let’s find some spiritual lessons we can learn from our story.

The first lesson is that rash decisions can come back to haunt us.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> This is of course, Esau’s lesson. He comes in from hunt= ing famished and disregards future things in place of what he wants right now.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> This is a prime lesson for us today. Foolishness is not def= ined by the thoughtless things we do so much as it is by the things we do think about and judge wrongly. This= is Esau’s case. His thinki= ng might be summed up by the saying, “A bird in hand is worth two in the bush.”

How it applies to us work= s much the same way. Disregarding fu= ture consequences in favor of foolish choices today will come back to haunt us too. This is the lesson far t= oo many unfaithful husbands and wives learn.&= nbsp; The same goes for rash purchases to ones credit card. But even more deadly are the cumul= ative effects of sin on a life, all because we can’t imagine their end from= the beginning. Wide, indeed is th= e road that leads to destruction and straight and narrow the path that leads to salvation.

The second lesson is that favoritism leads to no good. Neither Esau nor Jacob benefit= from the favoritism Isaac shows. In Esau, it produces an air of superiority, and in Jacob it produces jealousy = and deceit.

In my own family I have s= een favoritism’s ill effects. My mother’s dad (my granddad) used to line up the grandchildren in his presence to see how they presented themselves and also who was growing tallest. In his eyes, height = was a measure of a person’s worth. It had played itself out in his own children’s lives, with him choosing for them careers and opportunities based upon his own evaluation of their worth. Such favoritism = only leads to resentment and humiliation—not to mention lives lived trying= to disprove predictions made on rash judgments.

There's a wonderful story about a Chicago bank that once asked for a letter of recommendation on a young Bostonian being considered for employment. The Boston investment= house could not say enough about the young man. His father, they wrote, was a Cab= ot; his mother was a Lowell. Further back was a happy blend of Saltonstalls, Peabodys, and other of Boston's first fa= milies. His recommendation was given without hesitation. Several days later, the Chicago bank sent a note saying the information supplied was altogether inadequate. It read: "We are not contemplating using the young man for breeding purposes. Just for work." Neither is God a respecter of perso= ns but accepts those from every family, nation, and race who fear Him and work= for His kingdom (Acts 10:34-35). [2]

The third lesson is about usurping the birthright. Jacob, resentful of his brother’s right is looking for a way to usurp what has been given to = his brother. In Hebrew, his name = means usurper, you know, the guy who cuts in line ahead of you elbowing his way in. Looking ahead in scriptur= e we will find out that the plan really didn’t work. God’s favor is to the righte= ous, not the first in line for anything.

And that brings up a less= on for us today. It is the same less= on John Wesley tried to teach the British Anglicans of the 16^th century. We are not born into= a favored place in God’s family just because we have been baptized. What gives us favor in God’s= sight is our relationship with Jesus Christ by exercising the faith God gives. We aren’t going to cut in li= ne in heaven simply because we thought of some good deeds to do or figured out a = way to be better than our brother or sister.

Imagine that you are Irish. One day you read in the newspaper= that anyone of Irish descent can go to Ireland for two weeks, tour all around the country, stay in deluxe accommodations, meet with Irish citizens, and learn= a lot more about their Irish roots. Then at the bottom of the newspaper ad it lists the price as $100. That's all. One hundred bucks for all of the above= .

Must be a joke, right?

You look into it, and it turns out two Irish philanthropists donated a ton of money to bring people of Irish decent back= to Ireland= .

Can you believe that anyone would offer such a thing, just so some people of Irish decent can get a taste of the home coun= try? Well it's no joke. In fact the offer is even better than this. Two Jewish philanthropists are funding the Birthright program which allows 18-26 year = olds to go to Israel, for 10 days to two weeks, for even less than $100. It's for free.

Young Jewish men and women are able to travel around Israel, meet with Israelis and explore their heritage because two committed philanthropists decided that it was important for them to get in touch with their home country and their roots. [3]

Well, I will tell you one= even better. God wants to present = to you the privilege of becoming a part of his family whether or not you are an al= ien because of sin. In an outrage= ous act of philanthropy, he has given the life of his son, so that you can live forever with him in his kingdom. Add to that, that this salvation is a free gift offered to us all ju= st because God’s grace is so large that he loves us all. Quite an offer!

We are all favored sons a= nd daughters to God when we have associated ourselves by faith in his firstbor= n, Jesus. And, since in the myst= ery of the Trinity, Jesus is God—we are all his firstborn by faith. The elbowing can cease and the les= son teaches us humility. We are n= ot favored because of birth or deeds. We are favored because God loves us all the most. Thanks be to God. Amen!