Entitlement or Effort?
July 12, 2026*
By Pastor John Partridge
Genesis 25:19-34 Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23
There is an ongoing conversation in American culture that revolves around who should, and who should not, go to college. I realize that this is not always a popular subject in a college town, particularly with many college graduates, staff, and professors in attendance, but the conversation is still worthwhile. Let me be clear, I do not mean to say that some people should not go to college based on some arbitrary measure like family income, race, religion, or other socioeconomic factors. Neither, in this case, do I intend to open the important subject of young people who graduate with a degree they didn’t really want, a mortgage with no house, and few prospects for a career that will pay off their loans. Although I regard that as a genuine problem, instead what I mean is that simply by temperament, giftedness, and passion, some among us are simply not built for higher education despite many of those people being more than capable of it.
In my previous career, I often spoke with one of our machinists. He was kind, friendly, intelligent, and a good conversationalist as well as being an experienced, and highly skilled machinist. But while higher education could have prepared him to own and operate his own business as a machinist, he had no desire whatsoever to do so. Likewise, in one of our previous appointments, one of our neighbors was a skilled auto mechanic, but although he was willing to substitute as a shift manager, he too preferred to do the hands-on labor and had little desire to be responsible for the accounting and other duties required to own and operate his own business. In a different way, while our son Noah is more than intelligent enough to tackle college courses, and while he already operates his own business, he is not at all interested in dedicating four, or even two, years to academic study.
As much as many of us value higher education, if we’re honest, we recognize that not everyone has a need, a desire, or the temperament to pursue it. And that is one of the things that we see in our scriptures for today as well as the encouragement to be aware of the needs, desires, and temperaments of the people with whom, and to whom, we are in ministry. We begin this morning with the story contained in Genesis 25:19-34, in which Abraham’s son Isaac, and his wife Rebekah, have their own children.
19 This is the account of the family line of Abraham’s son Isaac.
Abraham became the father of Isaac, 20 and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah, daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram and sister of Laban the Aramean.
21 Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. 22 The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So, she went to inquire of the Lord.
23 The Lord said to her,
“Two nations are in your womb,
and two peoples from within you will be separated;
one people will be stronger than the other,
and the older will serve the younger.”
24 When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. 25 The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so, they named him Esau. 26 After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau’s heel; so, he was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them.
27 The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was content to stay at home among the tents. 28 Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.
29 Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. 30 He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished!” (That is why he was also called Edom.)
31 Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.”
32 “Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?”
33 But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So, he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob.
34 Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left.
So, Esau despised his birthright.
One of Isaac’s favorite foods was wild game and, being too old to hunt, or too busy with the family business (you will recall that Abraham was wealthy and only had one heir), and so Isaac was particularly fond of Esau who preferred living in open country and occasionally brought him his favorite food. Rebekah, however, found that her favorite child was Jacob who was more of a homebody and was a man who knew how to cook. And so, when Esau came home hungry, he demanded some of the stew that Jacob was cooking, and Jacob only offered it in exchange for the birthright, in this case two thirds of their eventual inheritance from Isaac. But despite the price, Esau accepted because, as our scripture says, “Esau despised his birthright.”
But the birthright that would be passed down from Isaac wasn’t just financial, but also spiritual. The brother with the birthright would become the spiritual head of the family, and Esau is not interested or temperamentally inclined to act in this capacity. Despite God’s promise to Rebekah that “the elder will serve the younger” Jacob finds it necessary to help God out and negotiate for that position anyway. My commentary described Esau as being too “profane,” “coarse,” and “unspiritual” to be suitable as a part of the Messiah’s family tree. But more than that, I think, is that God had created Esau as a man who didn’t want the job. He was not temperamentally suited for being the spiritual leader of the household, nor did he have any desire to oversee the extensive lands, herds, businesses, and financial holdings of their family. Moreover, Esau’s own comments imply that he thought that his lifestyle of living outside in the open country would likely lead him to die long before his brother Jacob anyway.
And when we consider temperament, giftedness, and inclination in our way of thinking, then we see Jesus’ parable of farmer sowing seeds in Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 in an entirely different light when it says:
13:1 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 2 Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 3 Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9 Whoever has ears, let them hear.”
18 “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: 19 When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. 20 The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 22 The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. 23 But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”
We have all heard this parable before and have discussed it in bible study or Sunday school, but the way we usually look at it is simply as a guide to why our evangelistic efforts sometimes fail. And what we take away from such a discussion is only that we should share the message of the gospel, which is planting seeds, wherever we can, but that we should not be discouraged that many of our attempts will not be successful. And that’s all true. But what if the passage is trying to teach us something deeper? What if we look at this passage while we keep in mind the differences between Jacob and Esau? The brothers were built differently. Esau loved hunting and the open country while Jacob preferred his job as a shepherd and staying close to home. Esau was not built to be the head of Isaac’s clan, but he was good at other things. And if we consider that when we look at the parable of the sower, the deeper truth is not only that sometimes our efforts will fail, but also that we should account for the differences in the people, and the soil, in which we plant. If we thought about planting in that way, then maybe we put out netting to keep the birds from eating the seeds, add a little soil to the rocky places, and pull up a few thorns to give the seeds more space. Instead of just flinging out some seeds and accepting failure, we should, like good gardeners, also pay attention to the unique individual needs of our audience so that we can nurture them and help them grow.
By tradition, Esau was the firstborn brother and was entitled to the birthright, entitled to his father’s blessing, and entitled to becoming the head of the clan of Abraham and Isaac. But even before they were born, God knew that Isaac was the one who would be better suited and better equipped by faith and by temperament to lead his family both spiritually and financially. Although Jacob and Rebekah both conspired to make that happen, it would have happened in any case because God promised that it would be so. In the end, Jacob inherited the birthright, not because he swindled his brother out of it, but because he was better suited to it. God chose for the birthright to pass, not to the brother that was entitled to it, but to the brother that would do the work to honor God’s gift.
Likewise, just because we plant, just because we share the message of the gospel, doesn’t mean that we are entitled to any particular result. Just as it was in his creation and treatment of Jacob and Esau, God has created each person as a unique individual with different skills, talents, and abilities, but also with diverse needs. While it’s true that not every seed that we plant will produce a crop, it is also true that we cannot simply shrug and accept that our work will fail. Instead, we must consider the differences between those to whom we have shared the message of Jesus and, like a skilled gardener, put a net over some, soil over others, and a little shade and water where needed. We shouldn’t simply assume that we will fail but instead be prepared to nurture the seeds we have planted so that we can raise crops in unexpected places.
Success, both financially and spiritually, doesn’t come from entitlement, but from faith, thoughtfulness, nurture, and hard work.
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*You have been reading a message presented at Christ United Methodist Church on the date noted at the top of the first page. Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Christ UMC in Alliance, Ohio. Duplication of this message is a part of our Media ministry, if you have received a blessing in this way, we would love to hear from you. Letters and donations in support of the Media ministry or any of our other projects may be sent to Christ United Methodist Church, 470 East Broadway Street, Alliance, Ohio 44601. These messages are available to any interested persons regardless of membership. You may subscribe to these messages, in print or electronic formats, by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at secretary@CUMCAlliance.org. These messages can also be found online at https://pastorpartridge.com . All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.comThe “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™
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