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If you have ever made an in-depth investigation of your family history, a genealogy, then you probably came across some ancestors who would qualify as so-called "black sheep of the family." Among my own ancestors my father came across a family will dating back to shortly before the Civil War. In that will it speaks of my great-great-great-grandmother selling off slaves. In fact, the will indicates that the slave family she owned was to be divided up at her death. When I first heard about this I was shocked and horrified. I could not believe it was true until I read the will myself. To tell you now in public this bit of family history is very distressing for me. It's not merely embarrassing; it is shameful to me; and yet, it is a fact of my ancestral history that I cannot erase and must acknowledge.

One of the most amazing things about the Hebrew Scriptures, the Old Testament, is its willingness to describe the ancestors of Israel in all their less than flattering human actions and traits. The Jews have had the courage and wisdom not to hide our human nature, but to reveal it in all its forms, from the most splendid to the most vile. We have only to think of David and how he is portrayed as one who follows after God's own heart, and yet this same David is one who falls to adultery and murder. Scripture hangs the family clothing out on the line for everyone to see.

Here in this passage we read about an employment deal worked out between Jacob and Laban, who is Jacob's uncle on his mother's side. The occasion for this deal is the old story line of "boy meets girl and falls in love." Jacob had met Rachel, Laban's daughter, and learned that she was related to him. How fortunate for Jacob because it apparently was love at first sight. How fortunate also for Jacob because the custom of that day encouraged the marrying of distant relatives. We are even told that on that first meeting, he was so moved by Rachel that "Jacob kissed Rachel, and wept aloud" (29:11). No doubt it was a weeping with joy. Such a bold gesture declares to us how Jacob was utterly bowled over and swept off his feet by Rachel. Matters could not have been more fortuitous for Jacob. Everything seems to work in his favor.

But unpleasant surprises have a way of entering even the most fortunate lives of people. Enter now Rachel's father Laban. If you remember how Jacob came to Haran where Laban lives, then you will remember that Jacob had stolen the blessing that by right belonged to his brother Esau as the firstborn son. By deception, trickery, and shameless lying, Jacob fooled his father Isaac into giving him the firstborn blessing. When Esau discovered what had happened, he vowed to kill Jacob. And so to save his life, Jacob's mother Rebekah sends him far off to Laban's home at Haran, in what is today northern Iraq. But in the person of Laban Jacob meets someone who is as good at trickery and deception as Jacob himself. The deal with Laban was for Jacob to work seven years, after which he could marry Rachel.

And so Jacob worked seven years and it was time for the wedding. There was a great wedding festival and Jacob thought he had married Rachel. But in the morning he discovered that he had not spent his wedding night with Rachel, but instead with Leah, her older sister. How Jacob did not know he had married Leah and how he did not know he had spent the night with Leah is not told. Maybe there was too much make-up and wedding gown, maybe too much drinking, maybe exhaustion from greeting too many guests. It seems unbelievable, but however it happened, it happened. But it tells us that Jacob trusted Laban, much as Esau probably trusted his brother Jacob. When Jacob discovered the trickery, he immediately charged Laban and demanded, "What is this you have done to me?"

Here now we find a moral lesson: That which goes round comes around. Esau could just as well have spoken these words when Jacob deceived his father Isaac and stole his birthright blessing: "What is this you have done to me?" Now it is Jacob's turn to suffer the humiliation and pain of being deceived and tricked. Laban then explains to Jacob that Leah had the right to be married first because she was the eldest daughter. The rights and priority of the firstborn are by now well impressed on Jacob.

But all is not lost for Jacob. Laban proposes to Jacob that if he will work for him another seven years, he may marry Rachel in seven days. And so Jacob agrees, and in seven days he marries Rachel, the love of his life. But all this is a sordid affair. Laban uses and abuses Jacob to achieve his own ends. And while it may be said that Jacob gets only what he has given, it is still another sad story of deception in which people are used and hurt. Of particular note is the treatment of Leah and Rachel, who seem to be played as mere objects in Laban's hand even though they are his daughters. What is absent is a sense of decency and honesty.

But there is something else absent here that is striking. I don't know if you noticed it or not, but throughout this entire drama not one word is mentioned about God. Apparently, God has no role in what takes place between Jacob, Laban, Rachel, and Leah. The only power that seems to be at work here is the power of deception and the power of custom. One begins to wonder, "Where is God in all this?"

Well, perhaps God is at work at bringing about a sense of justice in regard to Esau. The deceiver Jacob has met another capable deceiver and been duped. Perhaps the memory and telling of this story was a way of reminding people that our sins come back to haunt us. But there is no hint in this story that it carries such a moral message. On the contrary, after his marriage to Leah and Rachel, Jacob is soon blessed with eleven children who become the figureheads for the eleven tribes of Israel. In a real sense, it is the birth of a nation! Leah, in fact, gives birth to six of these children! So Laban's deception becomes a blessing in disguise. God is indeed present with Jacob, making him wealthy in children so that the promise to Abraham will be fulfilled through him, that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the heavens (Genesis 22:17).

There is a striking similarity here with what we find in the New Testament when Joseph's betrothal to Mary is marred by what appears to be a devious action. Mary is found to be pregnant before she and Joseph are married, so that Joseph decides quietly to break off the engagement. Joseph might well have said to Mary the very words Jacob spoke to Laban: "What is this you have done to me?" But again what appears to be a misdeed proves to be blessing. Of course, in the story about the birth of Jesus, God speaks directly to Mary and Joseph, unlike the story of Jacob and Laban.

In the story of Jacob and Laban, where God is neither seen nor heard directly, we find in many ways our own story. Is it not true that we ourselves live lives in which God does not directly speak to us? And yet, as believers we affirm that God is with us, working, as we say, "in mysterious ways" to achieve some good. With the eyes of faith we can perceive the hand of God moving through our lives to make us victorious and not victims.

The apostle Paul makes this affirmation himself in the face of many hardships during his missionary work when he says, "In everything God works for good with those who love him" (Romans 8:28). It is important though to make clear that Paul does not propose a "Pollyanna" perspective by this statement, as though if you are on God's side, then nothing but good things will happen to you. If anyone provides a testimony against such a silly, naive perspective, it is Paul. Because of his preaching ministry, Paul suffered imprisonment and countless beatings and often was brought near to death. He received 39 lashes on five occasions, three times he was beaten with rods, on one occasion he was stoned, he was shipwrecked three times, and he had to endure hunger, hardship, toil, and fear from every corner (2 Corinthians 11:23-28). And yet Paul can proclaim, "We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28).

As Jacob experienced abuse at the hands of Laban, we too may suffer times when other people use and abuse us, times when people take advantage of us, lead us astray with deception and humiliate us. Sometimes we even use and abuse ourselves, thinking that if we had taken this action or that action, then life would have turned out better. We all go through trials and tribulations in life, sometimes by the hands of others and sometimes by our own hands. But blessed are those who learn from their mistakes. And blessed are those who have the eyes to see and the ears to hear the presence of God in their lives. For God salvages our lives and makes something good out of them. We do not have to be victims. On the contrary, we can through God choose to be victorious.

In Chicago in 1927, Buckminster Fuller had reached the depths of despair. He was already deeply depressed over the death of his little daughter, Alexandra, when he was fired from his job without severance pay. His self-confidence was shattered in the face of these events. He felt that life had turned against him. He was sure his wife and second daughter, Allegra, would be much better off if he weren't around. In his despair he began drinking heavily, and one night walked down to the shore of Lake Michigan with the intention of throwing himself in to drown. But as the chilly wind sharpened his senses and he watched the waves crashing on the shore, he began to think about his situation more closely.

The exquisite design and order of the beach reminded him of God. His next insight was that God had given him some unique experiences that could, if shared with others, be of benefit to them. He resolved at that moment to share his experiences with others and not worry about making a living. Buckminster reasoned: if God really has use of me, then He will not allow my family to starve; He will see to it that my resolve is carried out.

Buckminster Fuller went on to make that small resolve into a large achievement. He became one of the most famous men in the world, being introduced at speaking engagements as "poet, prophet, mathematician, philosopher, scientist, architect, and inventor of the geodesic dome."1

Buckminster will tell you that God salvaged his life that night by the shore of Lake Michigan. Buckminster could have wallowed in self-pity and blamed others for mistreating him, including God. But he didn't! He resolved not to be a victim, but instead through God to be victorious.

At the end of the Book of Genesis, Joseph, the son of Jacob, tells his brothers, "You meant evil against me; but God meant it for good" (Genesis 50:20). It could well be that Joseph learned those words from his father Jacob. After all, no one better experienced these words than Jacob. There are two ways to approach life. You can go through life blaming others for life's setbacks and wallow in self-pity and consider yourself a victim. Or, you can resolve to press on forward in the face of misfortune, knowing that God goes with you and will make you victorious in the end. It will take courage and determination to do this, but in time those with eyes of faith will surely say, "God was with me all the way. It was not always obvious, but I see now that God was with me."

Curtis Fussell

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1. Adapted from King Duncan's sermon, "There Is A War Going On," in Preaching for Lent and Easter (Knoxville, Tenn.: Seven Worlds, 1988), disk, PLE7.