The Lord Builds Bridges!

2nd Sunday in Lent, 3/1/15
Genesis 28:10-17


The Lord Builds Bridges!
I. To care for his people temporally
II. To bless his people eternally


Even though we’re more than 40 miles north of it, the replacement of the Brent Spence Bridge which crosses the Ohio River in Cincinnati will affect us, even if it’s only in the use some of our highway tax dollars. For those of you who regularly cross that bridge, its replacement could be a long, painful headache. But what really makes my head spin is the cost estimate. Right now it stands at $750 million. That’s right now. By the time the first piece of construction equipment appears on site, you can bet that figure will be close to if not above $1 billion. All for a bridge about 1 mile long! That makes our prolonged realignment of I 75 here in Dayton seem like a bargain at $150 million.

But those figures are nothing compared with the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge Eastern Span. Mind you, this is just the eastern span—one-half of the bridge. I guess we’re used to hearing that things in California cost more, but even this one might set you back. $6.4 billion! For a bridge over a bay of water!

And yet if you asked people asked how much they would be willing to spend to build a bridge to God, my guess is you would get a lot of disinterested responses. “Don’t care! Don’t feel the need for one. Won’t ever use it. Not one dime of my money.” How much would you be willing to spend? How much would you be willing to sacrifice?

Don’t bother trying to calculate an answer. First, none of us has that kind of money. Second, even if we did, it’s not humanly possible. Third, and most important of all, it’s not necessary. It’s not necessary because the Lord himself is in the bridge-building business. That’s what he’s all about. His word and his sacraments are his bridges to sinful human souls and lives.

We see him building a bridge to Jacob in this morning’s text. In reality he does the same for us every day. The Lord builds bridges. Let’s see what that means for us as we reacquaint ourselves with this familiar event.

Part I.

Speaking of bridges, here’s some sage advice: don’t burn them. For instance, when you’re leaving one negative employment environment and heading into one you hope is positive, don’t burn your bridges. Don’t throw your supervisors, managers, or the company president under the bus. It’s far better to leave on amicable terms because you never know if you’re going to need one of them to do something for you. Who knows? Your new job might not be what you hoped and the day may come when you have the opportunity to return to your former employer. Don’t burn your bridges!

At this point in his young life, Jacob had burned plenty of them. In fact, you might stay he demolished them. Jacob wasn’t enjoying a camp-out in his backyard when this event took place. He had basically worn out his welcome there. First, he had successfully fooled his father, Isaac, into thinking that he was his brother Esau. At this point in his life Isaac was so old that his sense of sight was gone and no doubt his other faculties were somewhat diminished, too. Jacob took advantage of his father’s frailties and stole the blessings of the first-born son. When Isaac became the wiser, the Bible says he “trembled violently” (Gen. 27:33).

But that reaction was nothing compared to his brother Esau’s. We learn, “Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself, ‘The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob’” (Gen. 27:41). Jacob’s mother informed him of Esau’s plot and she and Isaac advised him to flee. In other words, as we meet Jacob here, his world has just come crashing down around him and he has no one to blame but himself. He’s literally running for his life.

He had walked about 60 miles—perhaps 3 days—and then stopped to rest for the night. With nothing but a rock for a pillow, Jacob lay down and fell asleep, and that’s when the Lord’s bridge-building began. “He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. There above it stood the LORD, and he said: ‘I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac.’” Notice that Jacob didn’t claw and climb his way to the Lord. The Lord came to him. As deceptive and treacherous and conniving as Jacob had acted recently, who would blame the Lord if he gazed down on Jacob and his plight, smiled to himself and muttered, “Now what are you going to do, smart boy? You’re getting what you deserve”? But we hear none of that. Instead, he appears to him as the LORD, that name for God which conveys his grace, love and faithfulness towards sinners, sinners just like Jacob. He comes to Jacob to help Jacob.

Did you notice the progression of the angels on the stairway? First they go from Jacob up to the Lord and then they return from the Lord to Jacob. They’re bringing Jacob’s needs to the Lord and are sent back with the Lord’s help. What a dream! Exactly what Jacob needed to see and hear!

Listen once more to what Jacob heard. The Lord declared, “I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” Running away from his family, Jacob felt all alone. But he wasn’t alone. The God of his father and grandfather was going with him. In fact, he promised he would not leave him. He would protect Jacob and he would even bring him back home. Humanly speaking, Jacob’s future was as insecure and unsettled as could be. But spiritually speaking, his future was as solid as his God.

That’s because the Lord builds bridges. He builds bridges to care for his people temporally.

Later on Jacob names this place where the Lord built a bridge to him “Bethel.” Have you ever been to Bethel? I don’t mean literally; I mean figuratively. Have you ever been at a place in your life in which you had no clue what was going to happen next? Is your Bethel the place where you faced the grim reality that the mess you’re in is all your fault? Have you deceived people and paid for it? Have you hurt the ones you love and who love you? At your Bethel are you fairly certain that the holy God has every right to let you suffer the consequences of your sins? Is your Bethel population 1—you’re all alone? It only seems that way. Because the Lord your God is in the business of bridge building and since you’re his dear child by faith in Jesus, he’s attached to you and you to him. He didn’t call you “Child of God” for nothing at your baptism. That’s a promise he always keeps. And he also promises to guard and protect you along the way of life. Listen, he sent his Son to die for you. He forgives you. He won heaven for you. He has plans for you. Watch them unfold each day as he guides your life. As Jacob did, walk on your way each day in faith, knowing that the Lord will care for you temporally—all the while you’re here on earth.

Part II.

There are situations in life in which we realize that our efforts are not producing the results we wanted and so we decide to bring our activity to a halt. Perhaps in the future we’ll make another attempt, but maybe not.

Thankfully, that’s not the Lord’s attitude. He didn’t throw in the towel with Jacob. He wasn’t tempted to look for another family line to fulfill his promises. Look at what the Lord did with a messy situation. He restated some of the greatest promises he ever made. In doing so, he sticks with his original plan. He promised, “I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south.” Those are the same promises he made to Abraham. At this point Jacob was all by himself, but the time would come when an entire nation of his descendants would inhabit this very land. Incredible!

But the Lord saved the best for last. He declared, “All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.” You’ve heard that promise before. It was made to Abraham and King David. It’s the promise of the Savior, the greatest promise the Lord ever made to a sinful world.

That meant the Lord was binding himself to Jacob no matter what. God would fulfill his plan no matter what Jacob or anyone else did. He would direct all of history to make sure it happened. Not even world leaders could get in his way. When they tried, the Lord stepped in and neutralized them. But that really shouldn’t surprise us, because that’s what the Lord is all about. He’s all about saving sinners. He’s all about bringing sinners into his heavenly home.

The Lord builds bridges. He builds bridges to people to bless them eternally.

Have you ever made a mess of things to the point that you’re overwhelmed by guilt? We’ve all been there with you. It’s at that point that you wonder how God could still love you.

But rest assured, when you finally stand in the glory of heaven, you won’t exclaim, “Of course I’m here in heaven. Look at all the effort I put in to get here.” That won’t be the case at all. Instead, you’ll exclaim, “I’m here in spite of myself, my sins, my guilt, my transgressions. I’m here because my gracious and loving Lord built a bridge to me in word and sacrament. He brought me to faith and kept my in the faith through all of life’s difficulties and troubles. He reminded me that the Savior who sacrificed himself for my sins is now here welcoming me into his heavenly kingdom because that’s what he does. That’s what he’s all about.”

What a moment that will be—when we cross the bridge from this temporal life to eternal life! Praise and thank the Lord that he builds bridges! Amen.