19 Oct 2025, Beyond the Wall, (Genesis 49:1–2, 22–30 | Psalm 1:1–6)

Good morning, everyone. A warm welcome to all our Year 12 students, their families, and

everyone joining us today. Today is a special day—a day of blessing, celebration, and reflection. If you’re new here, this might feel a bit unfamiliar, but let’s greet one another with peace. Peace be with you.

The Year 12 Survivor

I am... a Year 12 survivor. Yes, that’s right. More precisely, I’m someone who endured Year 12 the stress, the exams, the group projects where only one person did all the work, and the never-ending question: “So, what are you going to do next year?” As I prepared today’s message of blessing for our precious Year 12 students, those standing at the edge of exams, endings, and new beginnings, I found myself looking back on my own Year 12 days.

That was thirty years ago now, but it still feels fresh in my mind: the anxiety, the stress, and yes, the strange sense of freedom that came after it all. And perhaps most precious of all was that feeling of solidarity—of standing together with classmates who were going through the same storm.

In Christian language, we often talk about being “born again.” But if I could literally be born again, just one more time, the moments I’d return to would be the day my final Year 12 exam ended, and the day I was discharged from military service. And no not the day before my wedding!

I don’t really call them “school years.” No, they were years of survival. Classes started before 8 a.m. and often finished around 11 p.m. We needed two, sometimes even three lunchboxes. Sundays? We still went to school. I can still remember the smell of lunchboxes mixing with coffee and energy drinks, the sound of mechanical pencils scratching across paper, and the teacher’s voice echoing through the hallway: “Only 100 days left until the final entry exam!” Our eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep, but we kept pushing on.

Back then, even CNN made a documentary film called “South Korea’s Year 12 The Nation That Studies All Night.” They said, “This country is powered by high school seniors!” So, now you can see why I call myself a Year 12 survivor, right?

Today, when I look at you, our students and your parents, I feel a deep sense of pride. I know what it’s like to carry the weight of expectation and still show up every morning. In that sense, you’re survivors too.

Jacob: From Survivor to Blesser

Maybe that’s why Jacob’s story in Genesis resonates so deeply with us today, because he, too, was a survivor, someone who lived through life’s extremes. Genesis unfolds through four chosen figures, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph—revealing how God’s promise is carried from one generation to the next. They are blessed not just to receive, but to become a blessing.

Jacob lived on the edge, a life that was, in truth, a struggle to survive. His days were a long wrestle: with others, with himself, and even with God. The Bible even gives him a nickname: “the worm.” His life seemed far from any sense of blessing; he appeared small and fragile. We could say he sat the exams of life tests of character, faith, family, and failure.

He had been competing with his brother from the moment he was born. He deceived both his brother and his father to claim the blessing. Out of fear, he ran away from home and went to his uncle’s house. There, Jacob, who had always deceived others, was now deceived again and again by his uncle. Eventually, he decided to return home, only to face the terrifying reality that his brother was coming to kill him. At that moment, by the river, he encountered God—he wrestled with an angel and was left with a wounded body. But the greatest pain of his life was that he lost his beloved son Joseph and lived for decades believing the boy was dead.

That was the life of Jacob. When he looks back, his confession is simple: “The years of my pilgrimage have been few and difficult.” And yet, this is the miracle, Jacob endured. Through turning point after turning point, He continued his journey with God.

And now Jacob lies down, aware that his death is near. Here’s the amazing part: at the end of such a hard life, he is not bitter. Instead, he calls his sons to his side. With a trembling voice, he speaks their names—one by one—and with the last of his strength he blesses them. The survivor becomes the blesser. What a beautiful way to finish a life.

The Greatest Gift: A Parent's Prayer

Imagine this profound moment. Jacob, no longer the fighter or the schemer, is now Jacob the father of faith, Jacob the blesser. “Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Benjamin come, my sons…..” He gives them something greater than money or opportunity: a blessing, a prayer, a word spoken in love.

And when I picture that scene, I can’t help but think of us of all the parents and grandparents in this room, myself included. Have you ever laid your hands on your children and prayed a blessing over them? As for me, even though I’m a minister, and I know I should, I often feel shy and hesitate. Sometimes, when they’re unwell, I place my hand on their forehead and pray.

What is the greatest gift we can give our children? It isn’t money, or advice, or even opportunity. It’s our prayer! It’s the blessing that flows from a parent’s heart that trusts God more than circumstances. Imagine your son or daughter coming and saying, “Dad, can you pray for me?” or “Mom, could you please bless me? I need your prayer.” What a sacred, beautiful thing. When we bless our children, we step into the very story of Genesis, the story of God’s promise passing on, from one generation to the next. I hope you’ll give it some serious thought.

Branches Over the Wall

Now we come to the highlight of today’s story. After blessing his sons one by one, Jacob’s eyes rest on Joseph, the son who held a special place in his heart. Jacob says: “Joseph is a fruitful vine, a fruitful vine near a spring, whose branches climb over a wall.” (Genesis 49:22)

What a beautiful image that is. Jacob doesn’t say, “Be rich,” or “Gain power.” Instead, he says this: “Your branches climb over the wall.”

Jacob’s blessing was not about getting more. It was about giving more. Not about keeping God’s goodness inside your own fence, but letting it overflow, climb, and reach others. Joseph had already been successful, respected, and powerful, the Prime Minister of Egypt! But Jacob’s prayer went beyond success: “Joseph, may your life be like a vine near a spring. You’ve already received God’s water, now let that life flow over the wall. Don’t let your blessing stop with you.” It was a blessing of giving more, sharing more, and bringing life to others.

And that, my friends, is the blessing I want to offer you today, especially to our Year 12 students as you prepare to begin a new chapter of life: “May your branches grow beyond the wall… far beyond, and farther still.” May your life, like Joseph’s—may your gifts, your love, and your prayers—reach beyond yourself, bringing life to others and healing to the world. This is far more important than which university you attend, what career you choose, or what you achieve.

Grow, stretch, and reach out with the blessings God has given you—toward your neighbour, toward the world. Offer fruit to those in need, give shade to the weary, and share the love of Christ wherever you go. That is the heart of Jacob’s blessing and the very direction of God’s blessing.

Planted by Streams of Grace

Brothers and sisters, Psalm 1 says, “Blessed is the one who is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither.” That’s what God wants for you. You’re not trying to earn blessing; you’ve already been planted by the stream of God’s grace. Now it’s time to grow, to branch out, to bear fruit.

This line brings to mind a Korean blessing song: "You are a tree planted by the streams, your roots deep in God’s love. In every season, you will live by faith, always following the will of the Lord.”

So, Year 12s, as you stand at the edge of exams and new beginnings, remember this: I won’t call you “Year 12 survivors” anymore. From now on, you are people who bless others—I will call you “blessers.”

Of course, we’ll pray that you do well in your exams. Of course, we hope you get into the uni or course you dream of. But the deeper blessing today is this: May God be with you, bless you, and make your life go beyond the wall.

Tunnels are Passages

Before we finish, we want to say this out loud: Year 12 can feel like a very long tunnel—the pressure, the late nights, the countdowns, the fear that one number might define your whole future. We see that. God sees that. And yet, tunnels are not destinations; they are passages. Your worth is not a score, your identity is not an ATAR, and your future is not fragile in the hands of a faithful God. So take it easy. Let others carry the torch beside you—parents, friends, your church—and keep taking the next faithful step. You are planted by streams of grace; you will make it through. It’s God’s gentle whisper saying, “You made it. I was with you the whole time.”

So as you step into what’s next—into exams, into new beginnings, into life beyond school—go with this hope: You are not alone. The same God who walked with Jacob, who carried Joseph, who planted you by streams of grace, will go with you too.

May your life become a living blessing wherever you go, whatever you do, and whoever you meet. Be a voice of encouragement, a branch that gives shade, a light that points others to God’s love. And when you look back one day, may you be able to say, “I didn’t just survive. I learned to bless.”

Amen.