Title: ISSACHAR—THE WAY OF THE ASS OR THE WAY OF THE CROSS

Focus: Against the background of Issachar’s story, we hear Jesus’ call to take up the cross of self-denial.

Function: To encourage the people to surrender all self-interest and all of life for the sake of Jesus and his kingdom. Bearing the cross of self-denial is part of being a disciple of Jesus.

Texts: I Chronicles 12:32; I Kings 15:33-34; Luke 14:25-35

My study of Jesus’ call to carry our cross and follow him against the background of the story of Issachar is giving me a “head-ache.” On the one hand, I want to do what Jesus calls us to do; but on the other hand, I am painfully aware how much I am like Issachar. And I am afraid that you will come to the same conclusion. The story of Issachar is hard to swallow, for we must choose between the way of the ass or the way of the cross.

The way of the ass is the way of ease and calculation. It’s something that we are all prone to do, because the way of the ass is all about self-interest. That self-interest calls for negotiation and for compromise to make a deal with ourselves—often at the expense of Christ and his rule in our lives.

For example, many of us have conversations with our selves, such as: “Why would I pay thousands of dollars for Christian education while I can send my kids for free to government-run schools?” Or “Why would I give up my Friday night out at the casino to save money and give to ministry causes?” Or “Why would I not play soccer on Sundays, even if it interferes with worship services at church?” Or “Why would I pay for 2 hotel rooms, while my girlfriend and I can save money on our vacation trip by sleeping together in one room?” Or “Why would I discipline myself and wait to live as a married person, while my girlfriend and I can test our relationship by means of cohabitation or shacking up?”

Issachar’s way, or the way of the ass, is the way of negotiation, deliberation, and making deals with ourselves. The way of the ass, however, goes against the way of the cross. That’s why I say that Issachar’s story is giving me “headaches”—for I don’t like self-denial. It goes against my human nature. Yet, as a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ and as someone who wants to be serious about following Jesus, I have to preach the Word of God and bring out the story of Issachar. In fact, I want to encourage all of us to surrender all self-interest and all of life for the sake of Jesus and his kingdom. Bearing the cross of self-denial is part of being Jesus’ disciple.

The first thing that I want to say about Issachar is that Issachar was born as the result of a deal, a contract between his mother Leah and his aunt Rachel. Here’s the story: Reuben, the first-born son of Leah found some mandrakes in the field. His aunt, Rachel—who is childless—finds out about the mandrakes. She goes to Leah, the mother of Reuben and says, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”

Today, in some cultures, people value the horn of a rhinoceros or the liver of some bears. Why? Because they believe that the horn of a rhinoceros (when grounded into powder and consumed by men and/or women may cure infertility and increase sexual performance. Ground bear livers or rhinoceroses horns may lead to fertility and sexual prowess—so some people believe today.

Likewise, in Rachel’s days, some people believed that the forked roots of mandrake plants increase fertility and pregnancy. Desperate, barren Rachel is willing to try the mandrake roots to overcome her infertility.

So, she goes to Leah, her sister, with whom she is in competition for Jacob’s love. Leah, however, is not willing to give her some of Reuben’s mandrakes. Leah and Rachel are in fierce competition--Rachel, to produce children for Jacob, and Leah to win the primary position in her marriage with Jacob. She wants to win over Jacob’s love and loyalty—away from Rachel, and focused on her. And Leah believes that producing children for Jacob will lead to Jacob’s primary love and esteem for her.

No, Leah wants to negotiate and she makes a deal with Rachel: I give you some mandrakes, but you must give Jacob permission to sleep with me tonight. Desperate Rachel agrees to the deal, and thus we read that “…when Jacob came in from the fields that evening, Leah went out to meet him. ‘You must sleep with me,’ she said. “I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.’” In other words, “I made a deal with Rachel.” And thus we read that Jacob “slept with her that night.”

As a result, Leah becomes pregnant with her fifth son. She names him Issachar—which means “hired man” and sounds like the Hebrew word for “reward,” or “deal” or “contract.” Issachar’s birth, then, is the result of a deal.

His mother Leah and his aunt Rachel went the way of the ass, rather than the way of the cross.

Self-interest, making deals, politicking for the sake of advancing one’s own purposes and rivalries in life—that’s the banner under which Issachar was born. Rachel was not willing to accept from God’s hand her burden of barrenness, and Leah was not willing to look for God’s providential hand in her marriage with Jacob. Both women rejected the way of the cross. They pursued the way of the ass. It’s all about self-interest, envy, rivalry, and self-promotion, rather than following God’s leading and taking up one’s cross.

Issachar and his descendants live up to their name: they become witty, self-seeking, calculating dealmakers, always promoting their own self-interests. They live the way of the ass.

Now I say these things in light of dying Jacob’s blessing to Issachar. On his deathbed, Jacob called Issachar to himself and said: “Issachar is a rawboned donkey lying down between two saddlebags. When he sees how good is his resting place and how pleasant is his land, he will bend his shoulder to the burden and submit to forced labor.”

Here Jacob foresees with the eyes of faith the future of Issachar’s descendants in the promised land of Canaan. Issachar is like a donkey lying down between two saddlebags. Think about this: A donkey is a beast of burden; it is supposed to carry saddlebags loaded with freight for its master. But in this case, Issachar is like that typical stubborn donkey that says to its master: “Forget it. I’ll rest and do my own thing.”

In other words, just as a rawboned and bonehead donkey will look for the easy way out—the way of self-interest and comfort and ease—so Issachar’s descendants will live in the Promised Land. And just as a donkey will get up when it realizes that the whipping of its master is too painful to endure, (and that it therefore is to its own advantage to take up its burdens or saddlebags), so Issachar and his descendants will only lift their fingers and put their shoulders to communal efforts when it is in their own self-interest. That’s why Jacob said: “Issachar is a rawboned donkey lying down between two saddlebags. When he sees how good is his resting place and how pleasant is his land, he will bend his shoulder to the burden and submit to forced labor.” Issachar’s way of life tends to be the way of the ass. Issachar is our brother. It’s painful and I hate to admit it to myself, but I recognize myself so easily in him. What about you?

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Let me hold before us the mirror of Scriptures, which show us glimpses of the way of Issachar. In I Chronicles 12:32 we read that the people of the tribe of Issachar are known for understanding “the times” and for knowing “what Israel should do.” Some interpreters think that this is a reference to people in the tribe of Issachar who are familiar with the study of the stars and planets. Astrologers thus. But I don’t think so.

I think that this is a reference to the calculated, cunning, political savvy of the men of Issachar. They know what is politically advantageous for Israel. They are good at reading circumstances and figuring out how to take advantage of the moments they face. If it is to their advantage, the tribe of Issachar will work hard and contribute to the rest of the tribes of Israel. They will fight the enemies and make their sacrifices. But if they think it is not in their self-interest, they will let others do the “dirty work,” and they will go the way of ease and comfort.

In I Kings 15:33-34 we read about King Baasha—he is from the tribe of Issachar. King Baasha and his son did not seek to serve the God of Israel. They sought their own self-interest. In doing so, King Baasha typifies the character of Issachar—which is the character or way of a donkey.

Now it is against the background of Issachar’s story that we hear Jesus’ call to take up the cross of self-denial. That’s why I read the story from Luke 14:25-35.

The story is like a picture in a frame: The picture is about someone who wants to build a tower and who therefore calculates the cost—after all, that’s what smart people do. They count the cost before they do anything, lest they get a financial setback and lose face in the community.

And the picture is about a king who is contemplating war against another king. But before the king risks his army in battle, he first surveys the battle strength of his enemy. That’s what a smart king does: he counts the cost before he takes the risk. And he makes sure that he gets ahead in the conflict. That’s what a country’s self-interest demands.

Thus the pictures within this frame illustrate common sense, based on self-interest and self-promotion. It’s the way most people function and think. It’s part of our human nature to calculate the cost and seek our own advantage. After all, who wants to be reckless and risk losing face and financial prestige?

Now Jesus frames this picture of the builder and the king with a top frame and a bottom frame. The top frame comes with the call to discipleship and cross bearing. Using exaggeration, Jesus says: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” Then follows the picture of the builder and the king. And then we have the bottom frame. Now Jesus applies his point made in the picture by saying: “In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.”

Did you catch that? Contrary to what so many of us think, Jesus is NOT commending the builder of the tower for his risk and cost calculations. And Jesus is NOT commending the cautious king who ponders the cost of a battle and wonders whether it is worth it. No, the Lord Jesus rejects their approach of self-interest and self-promotion as unworthy of his disciples. Jesus rejects the way of the ass, the way of deal making, and Jesus points to the way of the cross, the way of self-sacrifice and self-denial as the way to live as followers of Christ.

The builder of the tower must be willing to lose everything for the sake of Christ’s kingdom. And the king must be willing to give up his own power, control and position for the sake of following Christ. You and I must be willing to give up everything for Jesus’ rule and for Jesus’ sake. The way of the ass must become the way of the cross for us. That’s the hard part of God’s message to us tonight.

If Noah had followed the way of Issachar, there would have been no ark. If Moses had followed the way of the donkey (and he tried), then there would have been no exodus, no freedom from slavery for Israel, no inheritance of the Promised Land.

If Jesus had followed the way of Issachar, there would have been no crucifixion, no resurrection and no life for you and me. If the apostles, such as Peter and Paul, had not been willing to give up their lives, if they had sought their comfort and ease, there would have been no spread of the gospel. Such is the way of the cross.

If we follow the way of the donkey, then we become like Demas, who loved the world more (than Christ) and who deserted the apostle Paul (II Timothy 4:10). Then we become like Simon the sorcerer, who wanted the gift of the Holy Spirit to advance his own standing in the community. If we follow the way of Issachar, then everything we do is mostly about us. And Jesus catches the short end of the stick.

I have counseled people of no particular faith background who decided to come to church with their Christian boyfriend or girlfriend, who even professed their faith publicly, and then got married in the church—all, it turns out, to please the in-laws, to woo their partner, to advance their own self-interest—for after a while they left the church and turned their backs to Christ. That’s the way of the ass.

I also have known people who did all the right religious things—but only for their own self-interest, to advance their own standing and esteem among others. Their concern centers mostly on what other people might think of them. Their religiosity or practice of faith is not based on the way of the cross, but on the way of Issachar—self-interest, self-advancement.

Congregation, Issachar’s story and Jesus’ call to discipleship force us to do soul-searching and self-examination. That’s hard. That’s the way of the cross.

I need your help; we need each other. And with the grace of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit, we will carry our cross and seek to advance Jesus’ rule in our lives. For carrying the cross of self-denial sets us free to serve Jesus with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.