Learning the culture of heaven
Genesis 32:23-31
In the course of the night, Jacob arose, took his two wives,
with the two maidservants and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the
Jabbok. After he had taken them across the stream and had brought over all his
possessions, Jacob was left there alone. Then some man wrestled with him until
the break of dawn. When the man saw that he could not prevail over him, he
struck Jacob’s hip at its socket, so that the hip socket was wrenched as they
wrestled. The man then said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” But Jacob said,
“I will not let you go until you bless me.” The man asked, “What is your name?”
He answered, “Jacob.” Then the man said, “You shall no longer be spoken of as
Jacob, but as Israel, because you have contended with divine and human beings
and have prevailed.” Jacob then asked him, “Do tell me your name, please.” He
answered, “Why should you want to know my name?” With that, he bade him
farewell. Jacob named the place Peniel, “Because I have seen God face to face,”
he said, “yet my life has been spared.”
Sometimes what is proper and praise-worthy in
one culture can be insulting and injurious in another. For example, here in the United States when
you speak to someone you should look them in the eye. Not to look someone in the eye means you are
not being honest or you’re hiding something.
Sometimes, Fr. Andrew won’t look me in the eye when he knows he’s in
trouble (just kidding). But in many
other cultures, it’s more respectful to look down when you speak to
someone. In Latin American countries, to
look away is a sign of respect and honor, and to look eye to eye is improper
and dishonorable. In India we have the
custom of arranged marriages, but Americans find that appalling and an affront
to their fundamental freedoms. But I
just chuckle because isn’t eharmony and match.com and Christian Mingle just a
sophisticated version of arranged marriages?
In American arranged marriages, mom and dad are replaced by websites and
the internet: they tell you whom you should marry. It’s not easy to navigate in this world of
clashing cultures.
In Genesis
32, Jacob experiences this culture clash in a wrestling match with an
angel. But notice that Jacob is not
trying to understand the culture of the United States or India, but he’s
struggling to understand the ways of heaven.
That nighttime wrestling match was a perfect symbol of the clash of
heavenly and earthly cultures. And Jacob
learns two things about heaven: first, names are not important. The only name
that matters in heaven is the name of
God, and it’s so holy no one is allowed to pronounce it. And second, stepping into heaven always
requires some sacrifice, so Jacob’s hip is hurt and he walked with a limp. It’s never easy to adapt to another culture.
My
friends, in your relationships with each other be a little more sensitive to
this culture clash. Sometimes this clash
happens within the same family. Husbands
and wives can feel like they come from different planets, like in the book Men
are from Mars, Women are from Venus.
Parents and children feel a yawning cultural divide between them, and
find it very hard to communicate and speak the same language. But most
importantly be aware of the cultural clash between heaven and earth, and that
we must all wrestle with angels in order to learn the heavenly culture. The way we do things on earth may not be the
way they do things in heaven. Oh, and
for all the people still up in arms about same sex marriage or even arranged
marriage, you’ll be happy to know that there won’t be ANY marriage in heaven;
we’ll all be like the angels in heaven, says Jesus (Matthew 22:30). And that might make all of us limp a little
bit.
Praised be
Jesus Christ!
No comments:
Post a Comment