Sermon August 2, 2026 “Wrestling With God” by Rev. Katrina Ross Zezza

 

Sermon August 2, 2026 “Wrestling With God” by Rev. Katrina Ross Zezza

Scripture Reading: Genesis 32:22-31

We have a sign in our kitchen that I had to make awhile back, and we still have it up. It has a hand drawn picture of a masked figure kicking fiercely and a big red X indicating that this is a prohibited behavior. It says, “No Ninja Fighting in the Kitchen,” because at one point this was a rule that regularly needed repeating. A lot of kids go through phases like that, where they want to be fierce. We had nerf guns, foam swords, toy weapons of any kind really and we were into ninjas, superheroes and even villains. Puppies also go through phases like this, I found out... It seems like play fighting is an important part of their development too. So the “no ninja fighting rule” applied to our dog Yoshi as well. Yoshi is a labradoodle, but I used to call her a croc-a-doodle because when she was a puppy, she was part labrador and part poodle- and also part crocodile. I was worried that she’d never outgrow it but at about a year and a half she started being really careful, and aware of how strong she was. I think play fighting teaches us something about our strength. It seems like it’s part of the process somehow to wrestle, and growing in faith might be similar.

The story we read today from Genesis is a story about the things we need to wrestle with in order to go home to God. Jacob has been running from his twin brother Esau for 20 years, because when they were kids, Jacob deceived Esau and did something that could not be taken back. But God says, after 20 years, it’s time to go back and he will go with him. In the chapter before, God says, “Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you.” Jacob was not a perfect person, but he trusts God to lead him. So he goes home even though there’s a good chance that his brother is still angry and will try to kill him. As Jacob approaches his homeland, with hundreds of animals, all his possessions, his wives and his children, he hears that Esau is coming to meet him with 400 men. That doesn’t sound so good right? Why would Esau need to bring 400 men with him, unless he was planning to fight? Jacob hasn’t come to battle his brother, but he worries that he may be leading his wives and children into certain death. And this is when Jacob wrestles with God. He is alone in the dark and a figure comes to him. We don’t know who started the wrestling match, but it sounds like Jacob believes, in this dark hour, that the figure is there to oppose him. Jacob wants to go home, to return to his brother and his family. He trusts God to lead him there, but in this dark hour, he wrestles. 

And this struggle comes at a turning point. He is carrying the weight of his past, and its consequences. Jacob doesn’t encounter God at this point, by having everything figured out, he encounters God through his struggle. One of the most striking details is that Jacob limps away. His encounter with God leaves a mark, meaning maybe our wounds do not necessarily mean God has abandoned us. Sometimes the places where we have wrestled most deeply become the places where transformation happens.

Things happen to us in life where it feels like God is against us. And one of the most challenging questions that can come up is: How can God be both all good and all powerful when there is so much suffering in the world? How can we justify God's goodness along with his power in a world full of pain? I think we are meant to wrestle with this question. On our journey of faith, we can have dark nights, where we doubt God’s goodness. In these dark nights, some people decide that God simply doesn’t exist. But when we hold on through the struggle, something happens on the other side. As a result of Jacob’s struggle, he receives a blessing and a new name. At first, it seems almost like God is against him, but his greatest blessing comes after struggling- when he is reunited with his family and his home.

The Bible is a collection of stories inspired by God, and written by an oppressed people who were trying to find refuge. It is about their journey to faith, in spite of the suffering that they go through. It’s not a coincidence that this ancient story reminds us of the parable of the prodigal son that Jesus tells centuries later. Jesus regularly taught from the Hebrew scriptures, because they were the shared spiritual language for his followers. And Jacob’s story was a central part of their identity as Jewish people, similar to how the gospel stories make up our identity as Christians today. Both Jacob’s reunion with Esau and the Prodigal Son are about struggles we go through on our way home to God. It can be about a place, but it’s more often about relationship. In the Parable of the Prodigal Son, Jesus tells us that God is like a loving father who longs to welcome us home, no matter what we’ve done. And in Genesis, while Jacob wonders if his brother will attack him when they are reunited, it says in the morning, “Esau ran to meet Jacob, and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept.” Coming home to God is like that- no judgement, just love.

Jacob’s story is a long one, he is one of the most important and developed characters in the Bible. We can read about him from his birth as a twin to his final moments, where he blesses his sons, and there are many layers of meaning in his life story. His new name “Israel” means “One who wrestles with God,” which seems to imply that the Hebrew people as a whole- the people of God are people who wrestle with God. I think this is how faith community should be: people coming together to wrestle with the big questions in life. There’s a lack of trust in institutions in general right now, churches included, but people are in need more than ever of faith community. For churches to be trusted, I think we have to realize that people are struggling. How can we be a sanctuary in the midst of that? Understandably, people sometimes assume that church is a place for perfect people, for people who have it all figured out, and they think well that’s not me. They understandably think they might be judged or condemned or shunned if they don’t pretend to be someone they’re not, because churches have a track record for that kind of thing. But church is not supposed to be a place for perfect people, it’s a place for hurt people who need healing, and guess what- we are all hurt people. If you are in a place of wrestling: needing to find hope, comfort, direction, faith community can be a place to find it. If you are struggling to have faith, struggling to believe that life is good, a faith community can carry the candle for you, keep the faith for you while you find your way. And as a community, that’s what we strive to embody together, as the body of Christ.

Wrestling with God doesn’t mean that our faith is weak, it means that we are getting to know our strength. The Bible shows that questioning, struggling, and being totally honest in our faith is a normal part of a strong relationship with God. So… maybe we should stick with the rule of “No Ninja Fighting in the Kitchen,” but I think there should be more wrestling in the church. Maybe we need a new sign that says, “Wrestling with God is Allowed in the Church.” It is a part of our journey to faith- to wrestle, to question, doubt, even lose hope in our darkest hour. But we can also trust that in the morning, on the other side of that wrestling match, is the blessing of a deeper connection to God and a return home.