MY MOTHER’S FAVORITE CHILD

Scripture: Genesis 25:19-34, 27:1-29

INTRODUCTION

From Genesis to Revelation, there are a number of women in the Bible who deserve our recognition and admiration for being truly remarkable mothers.

As Sarah gave birth to Isaac, she became the mother of the people of Israel with descendants down through the ages of time. Hannah was the mother of Samuel, and through her love and nurture, he grew up to be one of the great priests and judges of the Hebrew nation. In the New Testament, Elizabeth was the mother of John the Baptist who announced the coming of the Messiah. Eunice, the mother of Timothy, raised him to be one of the visionary leaders of the early church. And of course there was Mary, the mother of Jesus, who was chosen by God to give birth to the Savior of the world.

In each of those women who were mothers, the qualities which defined their lives are described in the book of Proverbs, chapter 31: Strength and dignity are her clothing…She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her blessed, and her husband also, who praises her. Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all. (Proverbs 31:25-29)

However, with all of that being said and true, there is at least one mother in the Bible who has not received the same accolades as the others. The 25^th chapter of Genesis tells us that her name was Rebekah, that she was married to Isaac and that after many years of praying for a child, they were blessed with two little boys – twins named Esau and Jacob.

They were not identical twins – the scripture makes that clear by describing the infant Esau with reddish skin and lots of hair, and Jacob as a child who was fair in complexion. But the real difference was that Esau was born first, then Jacob came out of the womb second, holding on to the heel of his older brother. And that was just the beginning of the struggle.

According to ancient Hebrew custom, the eldest son was the one who received the family inheritance, called the birthright, and the father’s blessing, which was, in essence, the spiritual favor of God. So as Esau grew up, becoming a hunter and farmer and close companion to his father Isaac, it was simply assumed that the birthright and blessing would be passed on to him. But there is a verse in this story which tilted that family’s life and future in a different direction – Genesis 25, verse 28, which says that Isaac loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

You see, Jacob was his mother’s favorite child. The Bible doesn’t give us all the details, and we don’t know exactly what the reasons were or why. Yet it was apparent, from the day he was born, that Jacob was the apple of Rebekah’s eye. While Isaac and Esau were off plowing the fields and hunting for game, we can imagine Rebekah and Jacob staying home to take care of the chores and cook in the kitchen. They were bonded together, this mother and her second son. And because Rebekah favored the younger over the older brother, it was inevitable that Jacob would grow up with the hope and aspiration that someday he would be number one.

And so it happened one afternoon, as Esau came in from the field famished from his work, that Jacob was making a lentil stew. The aroma of the food aroused Esau’s hunger and in that moment, Jacob took advantage of his brother. Give me your birthright, and I will give you something to eat said Jacob, and Esau agreed. Although the Bible doesn’t say so, my guess is that when Jacob told his mother about the birthright which he had taken from his brother, they decided to keep it a secret from Isaac. And as all of us know, secrets like that in a family can tear the fabric of trust apart.

But what finally divided this family was a conspiracy of far deeper consequence. Years later, the Bible says that when Isaac was old and his eyes were dim so that he could not see, he called Esau to him and said “Prepare a meal and bring it to me, so that I can bless you before I die.”

As Rebekah overheard those words, she realized that this would be the opportunity to gain the upper hand for her favorite son. So together with Jacob, she conceived a plan to trick the father and outwit the older brother, and the plan worked exactly as they had expected it would. The blessing was given to Jacob and there was nothing that Isaac or Esau could do to revoke it.

In case you don’t know how the rest of the story turned out, I would encourage you to read on through the book of Genesis to chapter 37, for it tells us how this divided and broken family fell on hard times and then found forgiveness and reconciliation at the end. In fact, Dr. Craig Barnes, pastor of the National Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C., wrote his own book about the story, entitled “Hustling God,” and this is how he describes what happened:

“Jacob and Esau …struggled with each other from the day they were born. Their parents’ marriage has been reduced to trying to outwit each other in giving advantages to their favorite sons…By the time the blessing was given (to Jacob), the family would never be the same again. The son Rebekah loved so much had to flee from home, and she had to live with Esau and his anger. (Page 34)

(Many years later), it was time for Jacob to confront his brother Esau…When he saw him, he fell to the ground and bowed seven times…but Esau ran to meet him, embraced him, kissed him on the neck and they wept together (Genesis 33:1-4).”

And Barnes concludes: “It is striking that Jacob expected to have a great struggle with Esau, but from him he received grace. Jacob expected to receive grace from God, but that came only through a great struggle…It is possible to repent and turn back to our blessed identity (Page 14)…for grace (and forgiveness) reflect God’s determination to give us what we need and not what we deserve.” (Page 120)

II.

Well, that’s the story about Isaac and Esau and Rebekah and her favorite son Jacob. And if you are wondering why I chose this story for our Mother’s Day sermon, here is the reason: In our families, with all of our struggles and imperfections, God can help us love each other and live together through forgiveness and reconciliation.

In my own family, I grew up as the oldest of four children. And like most siblings, from time to time, my brother Paul and I and my sisters Rebecca and Priscilla competed for our parents’ attention. It wasn’t all that difficult between the girls and me – we got along just fine. But the relationship with my brother, two years younger than I, was much more complicated.

I was an aspiring athlete, he was a gifted musician, and as we went through elementary school and junior high, the competition took a strange twist. When members of the church or friends from the neighborhood would drop by for a visit, it didn’t take long for my mother or father to encourage them to come into the living room to listen to Paul play the piano. So we would all sit there quietly as my brother dazzled everybody with a Chopin etude or a Mozart sonata.

Secretly, I would think to myself, “If only I could get these people out into the backyard, I would show them how well I hit a baseball or throw the football or shoot the basketball – then I would shine!”

But that was never part of the program, and for a long time, I thought it was all so unfair…until I realized years later that my brother, who had contracted polio at the age of four and miraculously walked out of the hospital when he turned five, would never be able to excel on the athletic field. So our parents did everything they could to help him get well and to encourage him to develop the gift of music which God had given to him.

Today, my brother Paul, with his Ph.D. as a pianist from Indiana University, plays concerts with orchestras in Minnesota where he lives and has his own music school where he teaches and gives young people the opportunity to become the best that they can be.

Was he my parents’ favorite child? As we were growing up, it appeared so. But now I know that our mother and father loved each one of us individually and equally the same, and gave to us the confidence and courage to become the people we are today.

Dr. Frank Harrington, rest his soul, once told a story about the British painter named Benjamin West, and how he first became aware of his artistic skill. One afternoon, his mother had to go out, so she left young Benjamin with his sister Sally. He found some bottles of ink with different colors and told his sister, “Sally, I’m going to draw a picture of you!”

In creating the masterpiece, Benjamin made a mess of things, leaving blotches of ink on the table and all over the floor. When his mother came home and found the mess, she ignored it, looked at the paper with the picture of Sally and said, “Benjamin, you have painted a beautiful portrait of your sister,” and then she kissed him. Many years later, the famous artist Benjamin West said, “It was my mother’s kiss that made me a painter.” (Originally taken from a book by Dr. Chuck Swindoll, “Growing Wise in Family Life,” Page 136)

CONCLUSION

Now I’m wondering this morning how many here in this sanctuary or in our radio and television congregation could say the same thing about our own mothers who have loved us, encouraged us, and given us their blessing to embrace our opportunities, to face our struggles and difficulties and to make the most of our God-given possibilities as we walk through this journey called life?

I can’t speak for all of you, but in my own case I can honestly say that my mother, who died far too young at the age of 51, and my father who welcomed me home as a prodigal son - they guided me and provided me with all that I needed to become the preacher and pastor and person who is standing in this pulpit now.

You ask, “Well, what about those people who can’t say the same thing, whose parents played the game of favorite children as Isaac and Rebekah did, or made some painful mistakes along the way as they raised their sons and daughters? And what about those of us who hurt our mothers and fathers as we were growing up? The only answer I can offer is the one that Jesus gave to save us from living the rest of our lives with resentment in our hearts and the strain of broken relationships in our homes. He said Forgive one another, as I have forgiven you. And on this Mother’s Day, 2001, that is what our Lord has called all of us to do.

In the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.