How To Unlock Heaven’s Flood Gates In Your Life
a sermon based on Genesis 28:10-22
by Rev. Frank Schaefer

          Have you ever been in a situation in which you felt you were at the end of your rope?  A situation in which you felt human strength is not enough to get you through?

          There is a story of a monk who went into the mountains to pray.  For as he was praying on the mountain, a voracious bear suddenly charged him.  In a moment of desperation he tied one end of the rope he was carrying to a tree, grabbed a hold of the other end and threw himself over the cliff.  As his feet dangled 500 feet over the ground, with the bear breathing down his neck from above, and with his hands cramping up and the rope slowly slipping through his hands, he cried out: “O.k. LORD, I’ve almost reached the end of my rope, you may step in any time to help me out here!  And just when he had finished his prayer, the rope started to crack right above him.  This time the monk cried out even louder: “Is there anybody else up there?”

          Perhaps that’s not unlike Jacob felt, at the end of his rope.  The only difference is, just when he least expected God’s help, he was thrown a ladder from heaven, with angels climbing down and up.

          Why?  After swindling the blessing from his dying father, Jacob was fleeing from his brother Esau who, understandably was very mad at him and, according to Gen 27:41, wanted to kill him--and you thought you had problems in your family!!

          And so Jacob was on his way, like a fugitive running by day, and hiding by night.  He was scared, he didn’t have much to his name, for heaven’s sake he had to use a stone for a pillow (not much of a pillow). Needless to say, it wasn’t a great time in his life.  His self-esteem must have been very low, his faith wasn’t strong.  He was far from home, without friends, in the wilderness.

          And in the middle of this seemingly God-forsaken wilderness, just when he has hit rock bottom, God gives him the most incredible dream.  You know most cultures and religions believe that God has given human beings the ability to dream, and that God speaks to people through dreams at times.

           And what a great dream it was.  He sees the Flood Gate of heaven opened up right there where he lay and angels, messengers of God coming down to earth doing the work of God.  And not only that, but Jacob also hears the voice of God, telling him that he and his offspring is indeed chosen and blessed by God, and that he was not to worry, that God would be with him wherever he went.

          Wow, how would you like a dream like that.  Would that make you feel great? would that make you feel special?  Privileged? Proud?

          What is so remarkable about this encounter with God is that God opened the Flood Gates of His blessings on Jacob in a place and at a time in which he expected it least!!  When he was completely down and out.

          And this is exactly why Jacob’s ladder is the good news.  The message is: God reaches out to us when we least expect him to, when we’re in sin, when we’re in the wilderness, when we don’t have faith in ourselves . . . nor God.

          If you are in the wilderness this morning, lost, confused, with problems all around, lonely, rejected, depressed God wants you to know: “I love you child.  I elected you through Jesus Christ, I knew you even before you were conceived in your mother’s womb.  You are mine!”

          And God also wants us to know that whether we see it or not, God is at work in our lives.  Jacob’s ladder with the angels coming down and going back up is a powerful symbol of God’s active presence in our lives.  God is saying: “trust me! I’m with you even though you cannot see me.  And I will not leave you or forsake you.

          And in this lies the key to unlocking the Flood Gates of Heaven: to believe in Jacob’s ladder.  Do you believe that there is a Jacob’s ladder in your life?  Do you believe God enables you to have dreams and visions for your life?  Do you believe that God is present even when you fail and that God is able to turn those failures into opportunities?

          In her poem “Aurora Leigh” Elizabeth Barrett Browning puts it like this:

Earth's crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God;
But only he who sees, takes off his shoes
The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries. . . .
 

Open your eyes to see the ladder of Jacob—the dreams and opportunities God has placed in your life.  And when the vision starts forming, trust God and go forth in good faith.  Amen.

Alternative (creative ending):

Tell the following story:

        A famous rabbi once shared about his secret of how to overcome the wilderness moments in his life:  He said, “whenever I face that valley of the shadow of death, I rely on the symbol of Jacob’s Ladder.”  And he continued: “I close my eyes and I visualize a staircase to heaven with angels coming down to earth on one side and climbing up on the other side. And then I start to take deep breaths: when I breathe out, I picture the angels that come down to earth, and when I breathe in I picture the angels that climb up into heaven.  And with every breath I take I feel like I’m climbing up higher toward God until I feel such a peace as if I was in heaven, talking to God himself.

End with doing this prayerful meditation exercise:

Have your congregation close their eyes and imagine a dual ladder that reaches into heaven. Have people picture. . .

Angels walking down as they breathe out.

Angels walking up the ladder as they breathe in