Sermon for Sunday September 30th, 2007
Be Yourself, Everyone
Else is Taken by Wayne Lawson
Genesis 27:19-27:24
TITLE: BE YOURSELF, EVERYONE ELSE IS TAKEN
SCRIPTURE: GENESIS 27:19-24 / I SAMUEL 17:37-50
I want to spend a few minutes this morning building this message about the
importance of being you. As we continue to grow this ministry and define various
leadership roles, I believe that it will be important for us to understand the
value of simply being yourself and not focus upon anyone else, or attempt to be
something that we are not. I challenge us this morning to understand the gifting
that God has placed in you and operate in your gifting, simply be yourself,
everyone else is taken. We run into many problems not only in Church but also in
life in general when we never become comfortable with whom we are, and the great
value we have to offer. We each have a treasure hidden in our lives that we take
for granted and if we aren’t careful, we allow the enemy to rob us of the very
thing God has entrusted to us. We have then, in essence, under-priced God’s
precious gift to us.
I believe that God is calling us to take an assessment today and see if we have
placed too low a price on the gifting that God has provided for us as
Christians. Perhaps there is even a second question here - Have you
short-changed your gift by trying to be like someone else? I have often heard
over the years many Christians say they don’t have a gift or unsure as to the
gift they have and how to operate in it. Let’s try to address all of these
issues this morning.
Let’s run over and visit our initial text read in our hearing. As writer
Frederick Beuchner pointed out in The Magnificent Defeat, “This was not a
blessing in our sense of the word, a vague expression of goodwill that we might
use when someone is going on a journey and we say, ‘God bless you.’ For Jacob
the blessing is a word of great power. It conveys the very energy and vitality
of the blesser’s soul into the one blessed. Just like Elijah when he was carried
into heaven by chariots of fire. As he was taken up he dropped his mantle on his
successor by the name of Elisha who then received a Double Portion of the
Anointing. From that point Elisha would go out and do extraordinary things for
God. So, this final blessing by Isaac of his son is to be the most powerful of
all blessings. Let us also remember that once it is given it can never be taken
back.
There was a rivalry between these twin brothers. The boys mother, Rebecca, would
tell you it could be traced back right to the womb. When she was pregnant with
them it was like WWF wrestling match going on inside her. It was so intense that
she feared for her life and prayed to God about it. God said to her: “Two
nations are in your womb, and two peoples born of you shall be divided; the one
shall be stronger than the other, the elder shall serve the younger.” In other
words, God was pronouncing blessing upon the youngest child in her womb. Now,
that’s not the way it works in Hebrew culture – everyone knows that the first
born is the preferred child, not the youngest! But God decreed it would be
otherwise and Rebecca heard it.
In our text, we find the twins father, Isaac is advanced or old in age and his
eyes have begun to dim. Old Man Isaac waits now for his eldest son, Esau, to
appear. After awhile, he hears someone enter the tent and say, ‘my father’. “Who
are you, my son?” The boy Jacob lies and says that he is Esau. He says it
boldly. Isaac almost believes, but not completely. The weak-eyed father asks,
‘Are you really my son, Esau?’ The boy Jacob lies a second time. In the silence
of that black, goatskin tent, Isaac reaches out both of his arms and says, ‘Come
near and kiss me, my son.’ Let’s identify the first problem - Jacob’s hands are
smooth. His brother’s hands are hairy. But the boys’ mother Rebecca is in on the
whole thing with Jacob. She has covered the backs of Jacob’s hands with the hair
of animals. Jacob stretches his hands into Isaac’s and Isaac is fully deceived.
He blesses him saying, ‘See, the smell of my son is the smell of a field which
the Lord has blessed.’ Then Isaac gave Jacob the great blessing. Jacob is now
the recipient of the blessing that belongs to his brother and takes advantage of
his own father’s blindness. Right here he has broken three of the Ten
Commandments – “You shall not steal.” “You shall honor your father and mother,”
“You shall not bear false witness.” Yes, I agree with you studious Bible
readers, there was a fourth commandment violated as well – the one against
coveting – however, this one had gone by the wayside years before.
Lest we be too harsh on Jacob, I have heard many Bible teachers and others claim
that Jacob was a thief. But the Bible in the New Testament – HEBREWS 12:16 tells
us plainly that Esau “FOR ONE MORSEL OF MEAT SOLD HIS BIRTHRIGHT” and in the Old
Testament record GENESIS 25: 29-34 it states clearly that he “SOLD HIS
BIRTHRIGHT UNTO JACOB” and bound the sale with an oath, for “ESAU DESPISED HIS
BIRTHRIGHT.” The real Jacob is not the schemer – trickster nor is he perfect.
Rather it is the journey of a man to become his best self. Jacob is our
patriarch because of his journey, not despite it. When we consider our lot in
life or our current position or status it is because of our Journey, not Despite
it. Jacob is not many figures, but one - one with an intricate and complex
character, but one, nonetheless. For us to understand who we are, we must
understand Jacob’s struggle and how important it is that we can all identify
with it.
• We all struggle with life choices
• We all regret some of the choices we have made
• We have all been on a journey, away from the name we feel we sometimes
deserve, and towards the name we wish to deserve
• Inside each of us is Israel: the one who struggles with God
• As did Jacob, we too, can become Israel if we grow and learn from our
mistakes, and journey to be our best selves
So we see in Jacob a tragic flaw from the offset. He believed if he was going to
get ahead in this life he was going to have to hustle and strive and be knifing
- even if it meant hustling his own brother. And the strange irony of it all is
that Jacob didn’t need to hustle. God had already promised him this blessing.
While he was still in the womb God proclaimed to Rebeccah that the younger one
would be the blessed one. And when you have God’s blessing what more do you
need? The problem was that Jacob didn’t believe it - even though he must have
heard it many times from his mother while working alongside her, but he still
didn’t believe it.
• All he could see was Esau – the strong one
• All he could see was Esau -- the popular one
• All he could see was Esau -- the first born
• All he could see was Esau -- the skilled hunter
• All he could see was Esau -- the preferred one of his father and the rest of
the world
• He figured the only way he’d ever be blessed would be to steal it from Esau
I wonder how many of us are like Jacob, always watching somebody else, coveting
their gift in spite of the gift God has given us. Esau is pictured as a
self-centered, irresponsible man, caring far more for sports than for the
responsibilities that come with being an adult. He did not want to be saddled
with the responsibility of family affairs and business. Jacob was the exact
opposite of Esau. Jacob was a mature, quiet, settled man who looked after the
affairs and responsibilities of the family. He stayed right with the tents, the
workers, herds, and affairs of the family. It is unfortunate that they were not
able to embrace their differences and work together. This is how it is within
the church at times. If we are not careful we begin to watch what everybody else
is doing and then desire to be like them instead of embracing what God has given
us. I am always concerned when I travel and visit smaller churches and they have
50 members and 20 of them are in the pulpit. It is usually a clear indication of
a church that does not understand the importance of embracing the various
giftings that operate within each of us – I like to encourage them to be
yourself, everyone else is taken.
Being who you are is the most natural thing there is and takes less effort than
trying to be someone that you are not. I may never preach like T.D. Jakes, but
that is okay, I am not T.D. Jakes, I may never teach like Creflo Dollar, but
that’s okay, I am not Creflo Dollar. I many never speak before tens of thousands
like Billy Graham, but that is okay, I am not Billy Graham. All too often, in
the church, we spend too much time trying to be like somebody else. I am glad I
am who I am, and there is no one else just like me.
Jacob wasted 20 years of his life hiding from his brother - simply because he
wanted to be like his brother. In spite of what God had already promised him
while he was still in the womb, Jacob could not take his eyes off of being like
his brother. It would ultimately cost him years of frustration. He would never
see his mother alive again, not even able to attend her funeral in an attempt to
add closure. You see my brothers and sisters; it is not worth it in the long run
– be yourself, everyone else is taken.
David understood this at a very early age. When we consider the life of King
David, we can really understand the value of Being Yourself. David would become
the most loved and respected King that ruled over God’s people. Here it is
thousands of years later and we are still talking about his life and what he
accomplished. Unlike Jacob, David had more than just one brother to contend
with. David was the eighth and youngest son of Jesse from the kingly tribe of
Judah.
The biblical King David of Israel was known for his diverse skills as both a
warrior and a writer of psalms. In his 40 years as ruler, between approximately
1010 and 970 B.C., he united the people of Israel, led them to victory in
battle, conquered land and paved the way for his son, Solomon, to build the Holy
Temple. But most of us really don’t understand what it was that bought David
before King Saul. We don’t know what his gifting was that moved him to become
the most prominent King in history. His first interaction with Saul came when
the king was looking for someone to play music for him, and the king’s attendant
summoned the skilled David to play for him. Saul was pleased with David and kept
him in his service as a musician.
It was not his courage or his leadership that bought him before the King. David
was gifted as a skilled musician. Apparently someone had heard David play
various instruments and it was that Gift that bought him before the King. Could
you imagine if David had been more concerned about trying to be like his
brothers. David appreciated what God had placed in him. My brothers and sisters,
I really think that is key - we must learn how to appreciate what God has
imparted unto us. When we learn how to appreciate our gift, it is only then that
God will be able to move us into another realm – just be yourself, everyone else
is taken. We all know that David would come to prominence because of the battle
that was brewing between the Israelites and the Philistines. There was a giant
in the land by the name of Goliath. The Philistine Army was the most feared of
any in the Ancient Near East. Their superior armaments during the middle of the
eleventh century, BC, enabled them to threaten Judea. They had already colonized
areas along the coastline. So, here we have Goliath the Philistine of Gath, a
giant, who is nine feet tall and a champion warrior. No one in the army of
Israel really wants to face up to such a giant. The entire Israelite army,
including King Saul, was filled full of fear and felt defeated before they even
considered facing such a giant. It didn’t help matters much when Goliath took
advantage of every opportunity to verbally insult them and the LORD God. What
were they to do?
David the musician shows up and stands before King Saul. After a conversation
King Saul sends this boy David out to fight against the giant. He then attempts
to equip David for his encounter with the giant. Saul clothes David with his own
armor. He puts a bronze helmet on David’s head and clothes David with his own
big coat of mail. David straps Saul’s sword over the armor. Then David tries to
take a step. He quickly realizes that he had not earned any of that equipment.
He quickly remembers the Gift that he has – the gift beyond being a Musician.
David remembers that he is good at throwing rocks. That is the gift that David
had which ultimately would bring him before the King and set him on the path of
his destiny. We know the rest of the story; he would be victorious over the
giant.
What would cause David to walk in his Destiny is the fact that he understood his
gift was Throwing Rocks. What a strange gift to have. We must identify the Gift
that God has given us and understand no matter how big or small we think that
gifting is -- to simply operate in it. We read in PROVERBS 18:16 A MAN’S GIFT
MAKETH ROOM FOR HIM, AND BRINGETH HIM BEFORE GREAT MEN. This strange gift of
throwing rocks would usher David into his destiny - it would bring him face to
face before King Saul because he was Gifted at Throwing Rocks. I don’t know
about you but I am glad today that David was comfortable with who he was, he
understood how important it was to be yourself, everyone else is taken.
• If my gift is throwing rocks – I’ll throw Rocks in Jesus name
• If my gift is Playing Instruments – I’ll play in Jesus name
• If my gift is serving on the Usher Board – I’ll serve in Jesus name
• Whatever my gift is, I’ll wait, because God promised my gift will make room
for me and take me to great places.
Paul understood this when he talked and counseled with a young preacher by the
name of Timothy. Paul would go on to tell Timothy that he would grow to be a
great preacher one day and then gave him sound advise according to I TIMOTHY
4:14 NEGLECT NOT THE GIFT THAT IS IN THEE, WHICH WAS GIVEN THEE BY PROPHECY,
WITH THE LAYING ON OF HANDS OF THE PRESBYTERY.
-- Your gift will take you to places you never dreamed
-- Your gift will elevate you in due season
-- Don’t neglect the gift that God has given you
-- Don’t set your sight on what others have and are doing
-- Allow God to continue to grow the gift that He has placed with you