Wrestling with the God who Feeds 5000+

August 2^nd 2026

Scripture: Genesis 32:22-31 & Matthew 14:13-21

‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst, for they will have their fill!’ I’m sure that these words from Jesus’ sermon on the mount were ringing throughout crowd as 5 loaves and 2 fish turned into a feast for thousands. This story of the blessing of abundant food, given without being asked for or demanded, makes an interesting contrast to our first reading, where Jacob engaged in an all-night wrestling match for his blessing, never backing down until he received what he demanded. Perhaps this shows that blessings throughout our lives come to us in a variety of ways. There is no ONE way to encounter God and to be blessed with Divine favor.

Perhaps you can recall times when life’s miraculous abundance, blessings too exuberant to add up, entered your life when you least expected it. Perhaps you too can recall times in your life when you relentlessly begged God for a blessing you couldn’t live without. Perhaps most days you found yourself somewhere in between. All forms seem biblically valid! All forms have one thing in common, God bestows the blessings. Whether we ask for it or not, God blesses our lives in both subtle and extraordinary ways.. not because we’ve earned it, either, but because God WANTS to.

There is a popular psychologist who says there are 5 different love languages humans speak: words of affirmation, touch, acts of service, quality time, and gift giving. It makes sense that the God who created humanity would encapsulate all 5 of these love languages (and then some). Blessings, to me, seem in a way like God’s love language of gift-giving. But human nature isn’t just made up on how we give love; the other side of that coin is how we receive love.. and I know a whole lot of people who struggle with receiving love.

God wants to bless each and every one of us simply because God made us and God loves us. We complicate things and take deep dives into who is worthy or deserving. We ponder, ‘what have I done to deserve this God? I am not even worthy of your attention!’ To have God’s blessing is a radical thing, because God’s blessing on our lives means that God sees us, calls us by name, and claims us as God’s own. God sees us amongst the crowd and makes it embarrassingly known to all that, ‘hey everybody, this one’s with me! I love them SO much!’ The hard part is allowing ourselves to be loved.. without asking why or how.

This blessing on our lives provides us a foundation on which we can build our lives. This blessing allows us to find rest and reassurance in our belovedness despite what the world might say and despite the way other people hurt us along the way. Referring back to our first reading, when Jacob was born, he was a twin. As he and Esau grew older, Jacob felt inferior to Esau and was afraid that Esau would get their father’s blessing and he would be left in the dust. So Jacob connived a scheme to take everything from Esau and he did! But then he had to flee and he lived his life afraid that Esau would one day seek revenge and steal his blessing.

What Jacob didn’t realize was that he was already blessed. That there was no need to backstab and cause destruction; all he needed to do was build his home on the foundation of God’s blessing that he already inherited. He lives with these consequences, marginalized and afraid for most of his adult life. The excerpt we heard today comes at the time when he was forced to return home with his wives, children, and everything he owned. He catches word that Esau and his men are closing in on him and, of course, he assumes the worst! He sends his family and possessions safely down an alternate route and he camps alone, awaiting his brother’s wrath.

It’s hard to know the identity of the being who joins Jacob that evening. Some have said it was a man, others have called them an angel, while Jacob, in the end, calls them God. Another perspective, however, is that Jacob spent his night wrestling with himself in a dark night of the soul. Perhaps this was the night Jacob wrestled with all the choices he had made and all the versions of himself he had to be over the years. Jacob had to wrestle with a new blessing. A blessing he had to experience an ego death to accept. The blessing that was his from the start. Sometimes God’s blessings come when we take the time to be with ourselves, explore our souls, and gain insight that makes us new. Jacob comes out of the experience with a new name: Israel, and while he comes out limping, he comes out fully and newly alive.

Jacob’s blessing of new life is solidified when Esau finally catches up to him and does not raise a sword in revenge, but raises his arms in embrace. Esau’s forgiveness of Jacob solidifies Jacob’s transformation into his new abundant life; the life God always intended for him. Jacob will come to tell Esau that his face is like God to him. Esau’s forgiveness is not deserved or earned. Esau, living the years not in anger, but in his inherent blessing from God, shows Jacob what could have been his all along. Esau is God in the flesh to Jacob in that moment.

Similarly, back to our gospel story, after Jesus goes off for his own alonetime following the brutal death of John the Baptist, he comes back to encounter a crowd which needs healing and hope. Jesus doesn’t ask them for proof of insurance, IDs, or copays. He doesn’t ask anyone to fill out any forms, provide their income bracket, or show proof that they are trying to get a job to provide for themselves. He simply treats them as human beings created by God and bestows a blessing of inherent worth. He blesses them with dignity, respect, and compassion. And when the disciples are finally like, ‘Okay, Jesus, you’ve done enough, let’s send them on their way so they can get their own dinner.’ Jesus says, ‘what do you mean!? We can feed them!’

And I get it! In a world where 5+2=7, not 5,000 I’d panic too! But when we just BELIEVE GOD, miracles happen. Who would have guessed? When we believe God and learn to receive God’s blessing that we are of inherent worth and value, then we don’t have to sell our soul to corporations or disown our siblings or fight to our death to prove ourselves. When we believe God that ‘blessed are those who hunger and thirst for they will be satisfied,’ we end up with 12 baskets of leftovers. How?! That’s beside the point.. The point is that God WANTS to bless you. Yes, YOU! You can wrestle for it if you wish.. you can say, no I’m not hungry, and pass the basket of food to the next guy.. but you don’t have to. Abundant life is waiting for you. It’s baked into your DNA. Can you receive it as your own? I think learning to receive this loving blessing will be essential to the building up of God’s kingdom come on Earth as it is in heaven.. because only when we live out of this basic abundant truth will we rest, lay down our weapons, and be at peace (within ourselves and with one another). Amen.