May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it. He called that place Bethel, though the city used to be called Luz. Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If (really, "since") God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return safely to my father's house, then the LORD will be my God and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God's house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth." (Genesis 28:18-22)

In Christ's name and to his glory, dear friends: Today we begin a 4-part series of worships centering on Jesus' call to each of us: WORK WHILE IT IS DAY. God wants to refresh our hearts and memories about his mission to us. A simple way to cut to the chase about this is to ask yourself things like this - why did God put me here at this place...at this time? Why am I here? Why did he give me what he has given me? What am I doing with my life? Why do I have this time, these abilities and resources? How does God want me involved in his work? All these things we will think about in these weeks. Today, I guess, the question that will set us out on the right foot is: Why should I get involved? And hidden in the vision that Jacob saw at Bethel is our answer. Why should I get involved? God's grace to me compels me to get involved, that's why. Together, let's CATCH THE VISION.

Vision #1 Catch this. Picture it. You are in a crowded mall. There ahead of you is your doctor, the man whom you visit once a year for your check up. The man has helped you so much over the years when you've been sick. You respect him, need him, like him. Suddenly, right in front of your doctor a man in the crown grabs at his chest and grimaces. His left hand moves over to his right arm, which he squeezes in pain as he stumbles erratically several steps and tumbles to the ground. People gasp in horror. Several run to him. "Somebody help!" they cry. You look at your doctor. He glances at the man, at you, turns and walks away.

That wouldn't happen, would it? That man is a doctor. It's not what he does; it's what he is. Even without thinking he would be on that man in an instant. He'd be applying his God-given talents to the situation. After it was all over he'd say, "I'm sure glad God put me here when he did so I could help that man." You know, if your doctor didn't do that you'd be disgusted. You'd run up to him and say, "Don't you know who you are? You're a doctor! Don't you realize why God put you here? You came to buy a shirt at Jos. Banks, but God wanted you here to help this man! Why do you think God blessed you with skill and doctor know-how? It was for times like this! Can't you see that? A blind man could see it!"

Vision #2 Go back with me to the vision God gives us today in Genesis. Jacob is spending the night at Bethel. Questions like we have before us were heavy on his heart that night. Who am I? Why am I here? What am I doing with me life? He was asking because he thought he knew who he was and why he was here, but his sin had so confused him. He thought he was Isaac's son, Abraham's grandson, Esau's brother. But now he had lied to and deceived his dad. His brother Esau was angry enough to murder because of Jacob's greedy scheming. And even worse...Jacob thought he was the Lord's child and the heir of the promised Savior. But sons don't lie and scheme against father and brother, and children of God don't take matters into their own hands when impatient. And children of God are not greedy and discontented like he was. Who am I? - the son of the devil; that who I am. Why am I here all-alone? - because of my rotten sins; that's why. What am I doing with my life? - I'm wasting it! That's what. Repentant and contrite - that's the vision we see of Jacob today.

But there's more to this vision. The Lord is front and center in this vision, not Jacob and his sin. The Lord rushes in like we hope the doctor would in our first vision and applies his divine self to the problem. The vision that he lets Jacob (and us) see is of the Lord of grace and mercy. Jacob's sin had cut him off from heaven and the Lord, but the Lord stands atop the stairs to heaven and restores himself and heaven to the sinner. He says, "I am your forefather's God, but I am also your God. Your sin has separated you from me, but my forgiveness restores you as a beloved child. You are my child by my decree. As my beloved child you can depend on this - I will bless you. And I will make you to be a blessing. The Savior who will wash away the sins of the world as well as your sins will come from your family. All this I will accomplish."

Jacob awoke and he knew who he was again - God's child. It didn't depend on what he would do but on what the Lord had done. As such he would act like the Lord's child. He rededicated himself to living for and serving the Lord of grace. He committed himself to setting aside regularly 10% of his wealth to the Lord. He committed himself to building a church when the Lord brought him back to this place safely in the future. Genesis 35 tells us that Jacob lived up to his commitments. That's only what we would expect from him because of who he was (God's child), what he had (God's grace), and what assets he had (God's blessing). Have you caught the vision?

Vision #3 There's just one more vision to catch today. It is God calling us to consider carefully what we've seen and heard so far. Remember the first vision - the doctor in the mall? Compare. Just as God made that man a doctor, he has made you "Christian." It's not what you do as much as who you are. Have you been acting like who you are? God put a heart attack victim in front of the doctor and then we could tell if he was acting like a doctor. What has he placed in front of you, Christian, to see if you are acting as Christian? Dear Christian, God has place you in front of children that need parenting, spouses that need loving, parents and teachers that need cooperation-respect-obedience, a dying world that needs what you have and know in Christ. Do you see it? What are we doing with our lives, Christians? God placed you right here and gave you what you need to serve. What are you doing with your assets and time? How much we are like Jacob in Vision #2 - sons of the devil who forget, too busy with our own plans, doing what we need to so we come out on top. What a waste! God says to us, Unless you repent, you too will all perish. (Luke 11:3)

But there's more to this third vision than our sin, just like there was more to Jacob's vision than Jacob's sin. The Lord of mercy dominates our personal third vision. The Lord rushes in like we hope the doctor would in our first vision and applies his divine self to the problem. He says, "I am also your God. Your sin has separated you from me, but my forgiveness won for you by Christ restores you as a beloved child. You are my child by my decree. As my beloved child you can depend on this - I will bless you. You will be a blessing to others as your serve me.

Will not our vision continue as Jacob's? Renewed in the trust that we are God's children, will we not then plan on making the most of every opportunity to act as such? Yes! What that will mean for us is what we speak of next week. Please come for the next weeks. Today we saw why we will bet involved - God's grace to me compels me to be involved. Starting next week we will see what we can do to get involved in God's work. Let us work while it is day.   Amen.