SUNDAY MORNING WORSHIP SERVICE, 25 October 2026
Sermon Text: Genesis 35:1-15
Main Points:
Introduction
I. Bethel and Shechem: The Danger of Settling for Worldly Comfort
II. Shechem: The Devastating Consequences of Worldly Assimilation
III. Return to Bethel: The Call to Spiritual Renewal
Conclusion
Today is the Sunday on which we remember and give thanks to God for the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century. We commemorate it because God used the Reformation to call His people and Church away from errors, abuses, and worldly compromises, towards a renewed commitment to the true biblical and apostolic faith. But, that’s not our only reason for observing Reformation Sunday. We do so because every believer and every earthly church must continually return to the truth of God’s Word. It’s an opportunity for us to examine our faith and recover our first love for the Lord Jesus and His Word.
Today’s passage in Gen. 35 speaks powerfully about this need for spiritual renewal. It reminds us that we cannot remain faithful to God while allowing worldly interests, human traditions, and unbiblical practices to compromise our faith. Genuine renewal requires repentance from our sins and a renewed submission to the authority of God’s Word.
This is a challenge we must each face, day after day. Have we allowed worldly ambitions, material possessions, or social expectations to shape our lives more than God’s Word? Do we profess to trust the Lord while relying on our own wisdom and pursuing the values of this world? We must examine our hearts, repent of our compromises, and allow God’s truth to renew our faith.
In Gen. 35:1, God commands Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there.” Why was leaving Shechem so necessary? Why was returning to Bethel so significant? To understand this, we must first consider what had happened at Shechem. There, Jacob had allowed his household to become spiritually careless, and his sons’ sinful actions brought the family into a terrible crisis from which Jacob could see no apparent escape.
It was in this desperate situation that God called Jacob back to Bethel. His return meant more than changing his location: it meant remembering God’s faithfulness, abandoning idols, and renewing his commitment to worship the Lord alone again. As we follow Jacob’s journey from Shechem to Bethel, let us consider God’s call for us to repent of worldly compromise and be renewed through His Word.
I. Bethel and Shechem: The Danger of Settling for Worldly Comfort
To understand the significance of God’s command in Gen. 35, we must first go back to Gen. 28, when Jacob first encountered God at Bethel.
Jacob was fleeing from his brother Esau after deceiving his father Isaac and taking the blessing intended for his elder brother. Alone and vulnerable, he slept in the wilderness with a stone for his pillow. There, God revealed Himself to Jacob and promised to be with him, protect him wherever he went, and bring him back to the land He had promised to Abraham and Isaac. In response, Jacob made a vow to the Lord. He declared that if God would be with him, keep him on his journey, provide for him, and bring him back safely to his father’s house, then the Lord would be his God.
Bethel therefore represented something deeply significant in Jacob’s life. It was the place where God had revealed His faithfulness and given him His promises. n a similar sense, Bethel represents the starting point of our own walk with the Lord – the point at which God, by His grace, brought us to faith in Christ and began His work in our lives.
But what happened when Jacob eventually returned to Canaan? After many years in Haran, Jacob left Laban with his family and possessions. God protected him, brought him safely through his encounter with Esau, and led him back into the promised land. The Lord had been faithful to His promises. Yet, Jacob did not proceed directly to his father’s household. Instead, as Gen. 33:18-20 records, he came to Shechem, a Canaanite city about 60 kms north of Jerusalem. He bought a piece of land, pitched his tent, and settled there.
Notice the contrast. At Bethel, Jacob had received God’s promise and made a vow to serve Him. Now, having experienced God’s protection and provision, he settled near a pagan city rather than proceeding directly to his father’s house. Scripture does not tell us all his reasons for choosing Shechem, but the narrative invites us to consider the danger of becoming settled in a place where worldly interests begin to shape our priorities.
There was nothing inherently wrong with owning land, keeping livestock, or seeking a secure place for his family. The problem was not simply that Jacob wanted a comfortable life. The danger was that his settlement placed his household in close contact with a pagan society, while the narrative gives us no indication that he was giving sufficient attention to the spiritual dangers facing his family.
Jacob had experienced the faithfulness of God, but would he continue to live in dependence upon Him? Would he lead his household to worship the Lord alone, as the God of Bethel deserved? Or would he become increasingly comfortable with the surrounding culture and its ways?
Brothers and sisters, this is a danger we must recognise in our own lives. We may begin our Christian journey with a clear awareness of God’s grace. We may treasure His promises, delight in His Word, and desire to live faithfully before Him. Yet, as the years pass, we can gradually become absorbed in the pursuit of comfort, security, possessions, and social acceptance.
Without necessarily abandoning our profession of faith, we may begin to accommodate the world’s values. We become more concerned about providing material advantages for our families than about cultivating their faith. We measure success by worldly standards while giving less attention to holiness, worship, and obedience to God’s Word.
The danger is that we can become so comfortable with the ways of the world that we barely recognise how deeply they are shaping us. We may still remember our Bethel, but we have settled at Shechem.
Jacob’s story therefore confronts us with a searching question: Are we living in the light of God’s promises, or have we become so comfortable with the world that we are neglecting our calling to live as God’s people? To understand the seriousness of this question, we must now consider what happened to Jacob’s household at Shechem.
II. Shechem: The Devastating Consequences of Worldly Assimilation
What happened to Jacob’s household at Shechem reveals the seriousness of worldly compromise. Gen. 34 records a sequence of events that brought shame, violence, and the threat of destruction upon Jacob and his family. This account is not only a warning to individuals and families, but also to the earthly church, as we see in the condition of the Roman Catholic Church at the time of the 16th century Protestant Reformation.
First, consider how Jacob’s household had become entangled with the people and culture of Shechem. Gen. 34:1 tells us that Dinah, Jacob’s daughter, went out to see the women of the land. Although the text does not tell us her motives, this incident reminds us of the danger of adopting the worldly values and practices of a pagan society without sufficient spiritual discernment. When God’s people become increasingly drawn to the ways of the world, they expose themselves to influences that may lead them away from God’s truth. Such vulnerability can provide a foothold for temptation and evil. Tragically, Shechem the prince of that city seized the opportunity to violate Dinah.
What this incident reveals is the danger to which Jacob’s household had become exposed. The family was not living in isolation from the religious and cultural influences of Shechem. In Gen. 35:2, Jacob would later instruct his household to put away their foreign gods and change their garments. These details indicate that the household needed to break with practices associated with pagan lifestyle.
Although Scripture does not tell us what Jacob was thinking when he settled at Shechem, we may contrast his decision with the vow he had made at Bethel years earlier – I mean, his wish to return to his father’s house. But, when he returned to Canaan, he settled at Shechem instead. Gradually, Shechem had become his home – a place where he could enjoy the comforts of settled life while becoming increasingly immersed in the surrounding culture day after day. The danger was that, while Jacob had returned to the promised land, his household was drifting away from the spiritual distinctiveness expected of God’s people.
Here we see a warning for Christians today. Worldly assimilation does not necessarily begin with an open rejection of God. It may begin with small compromises, misplaced priorities, and an increasing willingness to accept beliefs and practices that are inconsistent with His Word. Eventually, the distinction between the people of God and the surrounding world becomes blurred.
Let me illustrate this. Some Christians make life in this world their primary focus, relegating the worship of God, the following of Christ, and the service to which He calls them to secondary importance. For them, the world is their home, and the Church is merely a hobby house. The world is the main course of their lives, while the Church is only dessert – something to enjoy if time permits. Their work, ambitions, and social activities are non-negotiable, but their involvement in worship and the life of the Church can always be postponed or abandoned.
I’m not suggesting that Christians should neglect their work, families, or responsibilities in this world. Rather, I’m asking: where do we truly belong? Do we regard this world as our ultimate home, with the Church as an optional addition? Or, do we recognise that, although we live and work in this world, our true citizenship is in heaven and our lives belong to Jesus Christ? I’m speaking here about the priorities that shape our hearts and direct our lives. Jacob settled at Shechem and became so comfortable with the ways of the world that he neglected his calling to live as one who belonged to God. This is a devasting consequence of Christian’s worldly assimilation.
Moreover, such worldly assimilation can lead to more serious consequences, as we see in Jacob’s household. Dinah was violated, and her brothers Simeon and Levi deceived the men of the city, murdered them, and plundered the city. What a dreadful outcome! Settling at Shechem exposed Jacob’s household to a tragic chain of events marked by deception, murder, and plunder. Even more disturbing, Simeon and Levi turned the sign of God’s covenant into a tool for their own sinful purposes.
Lastly, consider Jacob’s desperate situation. He blamed his sons for bringing trouble upon the household in 34:30, yet his own decision to settle at Shechem also deserves scrutiny. Although God had brought him back to the promised land, Jacob had not yet returned to Bethel. He had returned physically, but had he remained faithful to God’s calling?
Now, Jacob feared that the surrounding peoples would unite against him and destroy his household. He could see the danger, but no way of escape.
Brothers and sisters, this is a sobering picture of where worldly compromise can lead. Individuals, families, and even churches may gradually accommodate the values of the world until their beliefs, conduct, and witness become seriously corrupted. They may retain the outward forms of Christianity while drifting away from the biblical and apostolic faith.
III. Return to Bethel: The Call to Spiritual Renewal
At this very point, God appeared to Jacob again and commanded him: “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there. Make an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.”
What a remarkable expression of God’s grace! When Jacob could see no way forward, God showed him the way back to life: return to Bethel – that is, literally, ‘the house of God’ – and renew his faith in the God of grace and faithfulness. Jacob had settled at Shechem as though it were his home, but God called him back to Bethel, where he had first encountered the Lord and received His promises. This was a call to remember the God who had remained faithful to him and to renew his commitment to worship God alone. ‘Arise, return to Bethel, and dwell there!’
Notice Jacob’s instant response in vs. 2-3. He instructed his household to put away their foreign gods, purify themselves, and change their garments. Their return to Bethel required more than a change of location; it required a decisive change in their lives. The idols had to be removed, and their outward conduct had to reflect their renewed commitment to the Lord.
The instruction to “change your garments” reminds us that outward conduct should reflect inward renewal. The garments themselves could not cleanse their hearts, but the change accompanied their preparation for renewed worship. Likewise, genuine repentance is not merely an outward religious act or verbal confession; it is an inward renewal of the heart that is reflected in outward commitment and obedience to the Lord.
Brothers and sisters, this is the significance of Reformation Sunday. The Protestant Reformation of the 16th century called the Church back to the biblical and apostolic faith, challenging errors and practices that had obscured the truth of Scripture and the gospel of grace. It reminds us that the Church must not allow worldly interests, human traditions, or institutional security to take precedence over God’s Word.
Yet, reformation is not merely a matter of Church history. Christians in every generation must examine their beliefs and practices under the authority of Scripture. We must ask whether our churches and our personal lives have become shaped more by worldly values than by God’s truth.
Rom. 12:2 calls us not to be conformed to this world, but to be transformed by the renewal of our minds. We need God’s Word to expose our compromises, correct our thinking, and direct our lives according to His will. Through the work of the Holy Spirit, we must learn to reject what contradicts Scripture and faithfully follow what God has revealed.
Conclusion
Having said all this, let me ask these questions. Where is your true home? Have you become so comfortable with the values of this world that the things of God have become secondary in your life? Perhaps you still profess your faith, but has your heart settled at Shechem?
Hear God’s call to you, just as He called Jacob: “Arise, go up to Bethel [‘the house of God’] and dwell there.” Today, God calls us to examine our hearts, repent of our compromises, and return to Him and His Word, thus, commit your lives to the Lord Jesus Christ.
As we commemorate the Reformation of God’s Church, let us not merely remember the past, but allow God’s call be heard and His Word to reform our lives and our church today.
Let us not settle at Shechem when God calls us to Bethel. Return to the Lord, renew our commitment to Jesus Christ, and let His Word direct our lives. ***
