![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/764\/2022\/10\/rosie-kerr-Gz0PxBYPfs8-unsplash.1.jpg\")
Here are ideas for reading and preaching Genesis 32:22-31, the story of Jacob\u2019s wrestling match with the mysterious stranger, and Luke 18:1-8, the parable of the persistent widow. This is part of the <\/em>EcoPreacher 1-2-3<\/a> series to equip preachers and congregations for engaging the Bible through an ecological lens. These texts are assigned as part of the Revised Common Lectionary for Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost.<\/em><\/p>\n Eco-exegesis is a method of interpreting the biblical text through a green lens<\/a> using the principles of ecological theology.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n \u201c\u2018Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, [the unjust judge thought to himself],\u00a0yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.\u2019\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Several years ago, I worked with anti-fracking activists attempting to protect residents in a mobile home park from being evicted to make way for a water withdrawal plant along the Susquehanna River near Williamsport, Pa.<\/p>\n The plant was to supply millions of gallons of water for the fracking industry which was destroying land, water, and air quality in the region. One of the activists bemoaned the fact our efforts for justice were not changing the hearts of the company executives. \u201cBut we don\u2019t have to change their hearts,\u201d I explained.<\/p>\n I told her about Jesus\u2019s parable of an impoverished widow who repeatedly hounds an unjust judge until she gets the justice she deserves. Even though the judge remains heartless, he eventually gives in just to be rid of her.<\/p>\n \u201cOh!\u201d the activist replied, \u201cso we don\u2019t have to change their hearts.\u00a0 We just have to keep pushing to get them to do the right thing.\u201d Exactly.<\/p>\n While we were not able to stop the plant, we were able to push the company to provide more substantial financial compensation to the families for having to relocate to other places to live. It wasn\u2019t enough, of course.\u00a0 And the plant should never have been permitted to begin with.\u00a0 But like the persistent widow, we kept hounding those in power until they did at least one right thing.<\/p>\n There are lessons we can learn about persistence for environmental justice from this parable when paired with the story of Jacob wrestling\u2019s match at the river.<\/p>\n When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket; and Jacob\u2019s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him.\u00a026<\/sup>Then he said, \u201cLet me go, for the day is breaking.\u201d But Jacob said, \u201cI will not let you go, unless you bless me.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Jacob\u2019s wrestling match with the mysterious stranger on the night before meeting his estranged brother can offer wisdom and encouragement for those engaged in environmental advocacy. The work of eco-justice is frustrating, exhausting, and depleting. We face off against economic, political, and militarized forces that will use every means available to protect their wealth and power at the expense of vulnerable people and the Earth itself.\u00a0 It can feel like an endless wrestling match with an opponent who doesn\u2019t fight fairly and resorts to dirty tricks to get the upper hand.<\/p>\n Even when he has been wounded in the place where he is most vulnerable, Jacob refuses to let go of his opponent until he wrestles a blessing from him.\u00a0 Like the widow in Jesus\u2019 parable, he, too, is persistent.\u00a0 Likewise, we must be persistent in our work for environmental justice, even when we are wounded, even when there seems to be no hope of a resolution.<\/p>\n There is also an ambiguity to the story of Jacob wrestling the stranger that has spiritual implications.\u00a0 Scholars have debated about the identity of the man.\u00a0 Is he Jacob\u2019s twin brother, Esau?\u00a0 Is he Jacob\u2019s alter ego, a manifestation of his earlier years of deceptiveness and underhanded tricks?\u00a0 Or is he an angel of God?\u00a0 Jacob himself implies that the stranger actually is God when he names the place Peniel, saying, \u201cFor I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved,\u201d (v. 30).<\/p>\n Are humans wrestling with themselves, their greed, and their desire for domination?\u00a0 Is this a wrestling match against God who is holding humanity accountable for our actions that have been hurtful and destructive?\u00a0 In any case, this story assures us that there are blessings in this difficult work.<\/p>\n The essays by religious environmental activists in the book, Rooted and Rising: Voices of Courage in a Time of Climate Crisis<\/em><\/a>, give many examples of the ways in which each of the authors have found blessings even as they\u2019ve experienced heartbreak, anger, despair, and hopelessness.\u00a0 For some it is friendship with other activists that sustain them.\u00a0 Others develop a deeper appreciation for God\u2019s Creation.\u00a0 For still others, it is a more profound relationship with God.\u00a0 For each of them, persistence eventually yields a blessing.<\/p>\n The Eco-Idea is one succinct statement that tells us who God is and\/or what God does in relation to Creation and how we should respond as people of faith.<\/em><\/p>\n God can reward persistence in the face of ecological injustice with blessings in unexpected ways, even in the midst of struggle, exhaustion, and pain.<\/p>\n Eco-Questions are what we can ask to help a congregation draw out the implications of the Eco-Exegesis and Eco-Idea.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Eco-Actions are ways that a congregation might respond to the Eco-Idea and Eco-Questions.\u00a0 One of these possibilities may have salience for your ministry context.<\/em><\/p>\n Book announcement: Rooted and Rising: Voices of Courage in a Time of Climate Crisis<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n Rooted and Rising in Advent: 28 Days for Connecting with Earth<\/a><\/p>\n 10 Principles for Environmental Preaching: How to Craft Eco-Sermons<\/a><\/p>\n EcoPreacher 1-2-3 is a partnership between the Rev. Dr. Leah Schade and the\u00a0Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development,<\/a>\u00a0publishers of<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>Eco Bible<\/a>, a Jewish ecological commentary on the Hebrew Scriptures.\u00a0 EcoPreacher 1-2-3 provides Creation-centered sermon preparation that is short, accessible, and based on a solid biblical foundation. To see other EcoPreacher ideas and to sign up to receive future EcoPreacher 1-2-3 installments, click\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n Can we wrestle a blessing from our struggles for environmental justice?\u00a0 Two stories from Scripture encourage us to be persistent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2929,"featured_media":9214,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1784,24,302],"tags":[25,5,1993,1050,29,1996,1999,2002],"class_list":["post-9211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ecopreacher-1-2-3","category-environmentecology","category-fracking","tag-activism","tag-environment","tag-genesis-3222-31","tag-jacob","tag-justice","tag-luke-181-8","tag-persistence","tag-persistent-widow"],"yoast_head":"\nEco-Exegesis<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Luke 18:4-5<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/764\/2022\/10\/DebEck.Schade.Riverdale.2012.jpg\")
\u201cWe just have to be like the persistent widow.\u201d \u201cThe who?\u201d she asked.<\/h3>\n
Genesis 32:25-26<\/h3>\n
Yet, we can be strengthened by the story of Jacob who does not give up.<\/h3>\n
So, too, there is a spiritual component to environmental justice.<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/764\/2019\/11\/rooted-and-rising.cover_-200x300.jpg\")
<\/p>\n1 Eco-Idea<\/strong><\/h2>\n
2 Eco-Questions<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n
3 Eco-Actions<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n
Read also:<\/h4>\n
\nSign up for monthly installments of EcoPreacher 1-2-3!<\/em><\/h3>\n
\n<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/764\/2019\/11\/Leah-D.-Schade.RootedAndRising-300x169.jpg\")
<\/div>\n