We're returning, this morning, to Jesus' genealogy. Last
week I pointed out how God uses ordinary people to advance His plan. That was
true in what led up to Jesus' birth, and it is still true as we await His second
advent. Today, we're going to look at something different from this list of
names. I'm going to describe some qualities of a few of the people included.
And while there are plenty of differences among these few that I have singled
out they all have at least one thing in common. They're all women, and God used
each one in their different situations. Listen as I read Matthew 1.1-17.
I hope you noticed the women in the list. There are five:
Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba (who is pointedly referred to as 'the wife of
Uriah') and Mary. These five women illustrate some things about the people and
situations that God uses. And the more that you understand how God acts in His
world the better it will be for you. Knowing such things results in growing in
the skill of living well.
Let's start with Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah. She is the
woman that David seduced. When she became pregnant, David plotted - and
succeeded - to get her husband killed. Soon after that David and Bathsheba
married. The child of that pregnancy died. But another child came from that
marriage, Solomon who became king and was an ancestor to Jesus.
The situation with Tamar is probably not as familiar. You
can find the details in Genesis 38. Judah, one of the twelve sons of Jacob, had
three sons of his own. The first of these married Tamar. God, with good reason,
killed him. Judah's second son was told that, according to the custom of the
day, he had to marry his brother's widow in order to produce children. God,
again with good reason, killed him also. There was one more son, but with one
excuse after another, Judah refused to submit to the custom. He refused to have
his third son marry Tamar. So, Tamar is twice-widowed but without children, a
shameful and dangerous situation. Who would care for her in her old age? She
saw through Judah's excuses and came up with her own scheme. She posed as a
prostitute where she knew Judah would be. And he, not knowing that it was
Tamar, purchased her services. As a result, she became pregnant with twins.
There is more to what happened, but what is important for us is that one of
those twins, Perez, was an ancestor to Jesus. All this scheming and such
resulted in another step forward toward the birth of the Messiah.
What do we have with these two situations? We have examples
of people at their worst. An affair, lies, murder, more lies, prostitution and
more that I have left out. Not a pretty picture. And the results of these sorry
stories? They all have a role to play in God's plan to produce the savior of
the world.
Now, let's flip the coin over and look at Rahab. She was a
Canaanite living in Jericho. And you will remember that Israel was commanded by
God to invade and conquer Canaan. As an expression of His justice against the
evil of the land, God commanded Israel to kill all the people, starting with
Jericho. You may also remember that Joshua sent spies to get the lay of the
land. Those spies entered Jericho. And whom did they meet? Rahab. She learns
that they are spies from Israel. What does she do? She becomes a traitor to her
people. She helps the spies. And she explains why.
I know that the Lord has given you
the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the
inhabitants of the land melt away before you. For we have heard how the Lord
dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and
what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to
Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction. And as soon as we heard it, our
hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the
Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath.
So, here is this Canaanite who, for all her years, worshiped
some local pagan god. But now everything changes. She realizes who is 'God in
the heavens above and on the earth beneath'. It is the God of Israel. What we
have here is one of those rare Old Testament conversions. Rahab turns from her
gods and her people, embraces the God of Israel and is rescued from the justice
of God. Later, she marries and has a child. This is Boaz, and Boaz is an
ancestor to Jesus. And once again, God moves His plan forward.
What happened with Rahab is similar to what happened to
Ruth. She also was not an Israelite. She is from Moab. And she, likewise,
worshiped some local pagan god. She married into an Israelite family that had
moved to Moab. But she, like Tamar, was widowed as was Naomi, her
mother-in-law. So, again like Tamar, we have a widowed woman with no children,
which means no resources. So, Naomi urges her to return to her family in the
hope of finding another husband with whom she can have children who will care
for her in her old age. But Ruth refuses. Listen to how she puts it.
Do not urge me to leave you or to
return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I
will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die
I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more also
if anything but death parts me from you.
Stirring words and another Old Testament conversion. This
one was motivated by Ruth's devotion to her mother-in-law. From one
perspective, this was pure foolishness, something that Naomi tried to convey to
her daughter-in-law. After all, Naomi had no more sons that Ruth could marry.
But Ruth would not hear of it. And together they returned to the land of
Israel. And, in His kindness, the God of Israel smiled on these destitute
women. Ruth marries a fine Israelite, Rahab's son Boaz. And they have a child,
Obed, who is an ancestor to Jesus. And the plan takes another step.
Then, of course, there is Mary. You all know the story of
this young girl who became the mother of our Lord Jesus. I will always be
impressed by her response when the angel Gabriel comes to tell her that God has
decided to completely ruin her life - or so it would appear.
Behold, I am the servant of the
Lord; let it be to me according to your word.
And because of her willingness to risk shame and suffering
we get Jesus, the Savior.
Five women, five real people, in the midst of life dealing
with the good and the bad, sometimes wisely and sometimes not. They are so like
us. And God used them all to bring about His plan for the redemption of the
world.
There are two lessons I'd like to point out, one from each
side of the coin. Here's the first. The world is filled with evil. Read the
news, listen to friends and co-workers, just look around you. There is so much
that is so wrong. It would be understandable if someone took a bleak view of
things. And yet, all of that evil does not thwart God's plan. So, we have Tamar
and Bathsheba and the men who were with them. Such sin and evil. And yet out of
all of that evil what do we get? We get Jesus. Out of such evil we get the
Savior of the world who comes to destroy all evil. Once again we see that God
is not defeated by the evil that surrounds His plans. He actually uses that
evil for good. He uses the evil to create victory over it. And He does that
over and over again. Because of that, you can still hope even as your world
seems to be falling apart. There is nothing in all creation that will be able
to frustrate God's plan for good, the good of all His creation as well as the
good He plans for you.
That is so encouraging, especially when you are being
attacked by the evil. It hurts, and it is ugly. And you just don't like it.
But, you are able to tell yourself, 'Somehow God will use this for good.
Somehow this fits into His plan to bring His blessings to this world.' That
does not remove the tears, but it does give hope while the tears flow. This is
a truth about reality that Aaron and Amanda are holding on to, that they need
to hold on to. And it is giving them hope in the midst of tears. And remember,
hope is simply waiting for God to keep a promise. And He will keep all His
promises. And in the days to come Aaron and Amanda will see some of the good
that resulted from the pain that they are now feeling. The evil that they are
suffering is advancing God's plan for the redemption of the world. Remember
that when you are confronted by some evil, when you are attacked. God will
somehow use that evil for good, for the redemption of the world.
Understanding how God can use evil becomes especially
encouraging when it's you who is creating the evil. Who here is sinless? Who
here has not done things that were just evil? And be sure of it, Satan will
jump on those times when you've blown it, and he will try to get you to give up
hope. He'll whisper his lies into your ears. 'Look at what you've done. How
awful. And now all is lost. Your life is over. There is no hope for you now.'
Really? Our God is unlike any other of the gods around us. Our God is able to
take evil - even the evil that we create - and use it for good. Your life isn't
over because of that great foolishness of yours. You're not stuck in some Plan
B. Your God will use the evil you just committed for good. So, what do you do
once you come to your senses and realize what you have done? Repent of that
evil and come again to Jesus for forgiveness and change. And then, watch as
your God takes an ugly, evil situation and turns it into something beautiful
and good.
Here's the second lesson, the other side of the same coin.
Three of these women, Rahab, Ruth and Mary, provide models for you to imitate.
What they did was by no means easy. Rahab had to turn away from her friends and
her previous loyalties so that she could entrust herself to this new God whom
she had been hearing about. And the crux of all of that was that bold act of
hiding the spies. Everything in her life would be affected, one way or another,
as a result of that one decision. Her fledgling faith stepped out and acted.
And it was rewarded. Then, there is Ruth. She was devoted to her mother-in-law,
so devoted that she risked her future. There was, on the one hand, the relative
safety of home, Moab, with the likelihood of another husband with whom she
could have children. On the other hand, there was a very unclear future in
moving to Israel. Who knew what would happen? Certainly not Ruth. But she was
set on her devotion to Naomi. And because of that devotion, she swore
allegiance to Naomi's God. She also was rewarded. And then, there was young
Mary. Her choice didn't include an unclear future. The future for her seemed
all too clear. At the very least, shame awaited her, the loss of her beloved
Joseph, maybe even the loss of her life as an immoral woman. She knew all of
that and yet her response was clear and bold. And we are still impressed with
her. To be sure God uses evil to bring about good. But He would rather use good
to bring about good. You can become people who, though there are risks, pursue
being good, responding with trust in the God who is real. There is more than
enough grace for you to accomplish that.
So, two sermons on the genealogy, looking at the people
included in this list. But what I was actually doing was helping you to take at
the God behind the lives of all of these people. He was involved in their
lives, using their choices to advance His plan. And He is still doing that. He
is using your lives and your choices to get to the same goal: the redemption of
the world. You matter. What you do matters - even though you may never be
remembered by future generations. Your God will remember you as your lives move
His plan forward to the return of the Savior of the world.