Scandalous

This morning I was a guest at gathering of men who meet once a week to fellowship, read a chapter from the Bible, and pray together. While deciding which chapter to read this morning one of the men joked that they were going to make the oldest member (who's 90 btw) read Matthew 1. Of course, the joke was that it would be funny to hear him (or anyone) try to pronounce all the ancient Hebrew names in the genealogy of Jesus found in that chapter. But that's not to say there's nothing of value in this long list of names.

Matthew's record of the lineage of Jesus is very strategic, though not exhaustive. He intentionally leaves some kings out and structures his account so that there are 3 sets of 14 generations. 14 from Abraham to David; 14 from David to the exile; 14 from the exile to Jesus. Much can be said about this, but what should be made clear is that this was not a mistake or lack of diligent research, but rather a literary device making a case for the royal ancestry of Jesus.

There are interesting technical features to be studied up on, but what has really stood out to me as I've been reading the Christmas story this season is the scandalous women found in the genealogy in Matthew 1! Women were not typically cited in genealogies anyway, let alone the brand of woman that are mentioned here. So, why on does Matthew draw attention to these four women: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheeba (who, btw, doesn't even get named). What do these women have in common, if anything, and what do they have to do with the Christmas story? Let us consider ...

Tamar - posed as a prostitute and slept with her father in law, Judah, the tribe from which the Messiah would come.

Rahab - a lying gentile prostitute, she lied to the soldiers in Jericho, hid the Hebrew spies and helped them get away. And for this, she and her family were spared. She ended up marrying a Hebrew, Salmon, and having a son named Boaz, which brings us to ...

Ruth - a gentile who stayed in Israel after the death of her husband, and used less than chaste means (though this is debated) to attract and secure a husband, Boaz. In spite of the scandalous origin of this relationship, they bring the grandfather of King David into the world.

"Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah's wife" - I mean really?! There had to be a better way to say that, a less scandalous way to say that! Poor girl doesn't even get named. In fact, the very thing that made her relationship with David scandalous is what is used to describe her: she "had been Uriah's wife." Bathsheeba was taken to be the wife of King David as a result of his lust, adultery, and murder. Hardly the sort of proud family line you want to trace your heritage back to.

So, four scandalous women (though it should be noted, Judah and David were way more scandalous than the women mentioned in association with them) ... but wait, those aren't the only women mentioned in this genealogy ...

Disheartened

I just received an email from the River City Sports and Social Club to come to their Christmas party. Admission: a wrapped toy, $10 value to help "Sergeant Santa." Ok, hanging out with friends, providing presents for underprivileged kids, these seem like legitimate reasons to have a party. But the poem that came with the invitation really got me, consider the following lines:

Twas the end of the year, when all through the bar
not a player was sober, not even the "star."

No thought about sleeping, there's kegs to be tapped,
And Sudsy is looking for more than just a night cap.

The players were nestled face first in the keg
while seasons of football replayed in their head...

He whistled, and shouted, and called them by name,
"On football, now dodgeball! Now wiffleball & volleyball!" "On kickball"

And somewhere I heard on this eventful night,
"Just do it for the kids and give it all your might!!"

Picture a typical Nativity scene ... get that scene in your head, all that is represented there... what part of this party has anything to do with Christmas? Nothing. "But wait, the magi brought presents to Jesus ... and Jesus was God's gift to the world! So giving gifts lines up, right?" Yes, but the magi brought gifts to honor and worship the King of Kings ... and Jesus was a gift given to sacrifice himself for the sins of humanity. No parallels there. But, wait there is one big parallel: worship. Worship is the common denominator in this party and the first Christmas. But the worship offered by shepherds and magi (even though I realize the magi weren't there the night Jesus was born) and declared by angels was appropriate worship; it was directed to the One who is worthy of being declared worthy. The worship that will take place at this party will be given to idols, to the false gods of alcohol and recreation, and ultimately, to the false god of self. And this saddens me.

We live in a world of idolatry, where people seek to fill their emptiness with false promises of fulfillment, and the quicker the results the better (i.e. - a couple beers equals decent buzz in a matter of minutes). Now, this particular event also includes buying a gift for a poor kid, which will inevitably serve to ease whatever conscious may be left in those that are worshiping alcohol. The faulty system of moral balances ("I did something good by bringing a present, so I earned a night of drunkenness") will ensure that all the beer is consumed. But this Christmas party is particularly interesting (read sad) because it is all done in the name of the One who deserves worship, and yet, He will get no recognition, no worship... in fact, He will be blasphemed by practices of false worship.

I know I can't be mad at the world for being the world, but I think it is highly appropriate to be disheartened, and broken, at the thought of a club like this with a substantial following, whose gods are sports and beer. This should drive all true worshipers to brokenness and prayer, and give us open hearts to share truth with those living far from God. In this season especially, may we have our eyes and hearts open to share with those whose hearts are empty. I think I'll be attending this party ... and bring a Gift.

The Reason He Came

Matthew 1:21 says "She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” Our sins were always in view when Jesus left glory to reveal God's love. So not only did He leave the glories of Heaven and enter into the existence of a human being subjected to the same pain, sickness, temptation, hunger, and trials of humanity ... He did it for an undeserving helpless people. The valor of doing something heroic and self-sacrificing seems to be accentuated when it is done for a sweet little child, or someone who deserves the efforts made to save them. But what valor is there for He who gives His life for His enemies? None, for he seems foolish to the world. But in this foolishness we are saved, saved from the foolishness of our sins and foolish attempts to get to Him on our own. He came to us, to save us from our sins, and bring us to Himself.

Isaiah's Perspective ... Shepherds' Perspective

Continuing this theme of understanding just how far it is from Heaven to earth ... consider what Isaiah saw and what the shepherds saw.

John said Isaiah saw Jesus' glory. When did that happen? Well, in the context of the passage we see John quoting a portion of Isaiah 6 ... so what happened in Isaiah 6? If you read 6:1-5 you see a pretty intense description Isaiah has of a King, a King on a throne ... in the temple. And this King is wearing a robe so majestic if fills up the entire temple. And there are angels, weird looking angels, declaring the glory of this King ... "holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty ... the whole earth is full of His glory." And as if that wasn't intense enough, the place starts to shake and fills up with smoke. That guy, that King, that's King Jesus ... in all His glory.

Now ... how does this same Jesus look in Luke 2? He's tiny. Helpless. Wrapped in strips of cloth, not robes of majesty. He's surrounded by animals and their food ... both pre-digested and post-digested I'm sure ... not smoke and shaking doorposts and six-winged flying worshippers. It's a different scene folks. Same Jesus. Emptied. Stepped out of glory into humility. Hebrews 2 says that he shared in our humanity, that "He had to be made like his brothers in every way." (v. 17) Jesus gave up more in the incarnation than we realize. And the reason He had to stoop so low? Our sin, our guilt, our need. He was born a little baby, helpless. He became helpless because we are helpless.

Now, there were some similarities in what happened in Isaiah 6 and in Luke 2. Consider the difference in the message of the angels. Isaiah 6 - declaring his holiness and glory, no mention of peace or good news. Luke 2 - these angels also declare his glory, but then ... “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” (v. 14) A declaration of peace. The journey from Heaven to earth brought the hope for peace on earth.

Another similarity is in the effect the encounter had on Isaiah and on the shepherds. Re-read these accounts and see for yourself. Good stuff.

More Distance Than We Think

I'm sitting here in our family room, tree lit, kids asleep, Joanna reading her Bible, and a pretty clean house. The house wasn't so clean earlier; it took a little work throughout the day to get it this way. But the distance between a dirty house and a clean house wasn't so great today, b/c the house wasn't in terrible shape. Exactly UNlike the world Jesus was born into. It was a wreck ... and the distance He came to get here was enormous ... we were literally worlds apart. The distance from dirty to clean wasn't much for us today because we were kinda close to clean already, but the distance from dirty to clean for humanity is enormous. And it's because this distance is so great that Jesus came to earth. But the fact that we don't realize just how far from clean we are is the reason we don't realize just how far from earth Heaven is. It's the reason we aren't as amazed as we should be at the incarnation. The distance covered in the incarnation was more than we think.

I fear that we underestimate just how great a distance it was. Often because we don't think we're really that bad; we don't live with an honest assessment of how desperate we are without Christ. Or we tend to think we deserved a Messiah; God's ultimate plan was my salvation and so of course Jesus came (and if it's such a given that He would come ... then it probably wasn't too big of a deal for him to get here). These presumptuous thoughts lead us to misunderstand that the life of Christ was defined by sacrifice, even in the incarnation. Jesus stepped out of glory, as Paul said in Philippians 2 ... "he emptied himself." He didn't slightly alter himself; He didn't forgo some of his glory; He didn't pretend to hurt while all the while maintaining a god-like resistance to human pain. We think we sacrifice when we go on a one week mission trip to a lesser developed nation ... for one week. How bout out of the glory of Heaven into a feeding trough ... to begin a 33 year journey. He went the distance, a whole lot of distance ... to get to us ... so we could get to Him.

John 12:41 offers some insight for understanding the great distance from Heaven to earth: "Isaiah said this because he saw His glory and spoke about him." What is John talking about? When did Isaiah see Jesus? More tomorrow.

The Christmas Bug

I got it early this year. So did Joanna. In fact, we bucked tradition and put our tree up today (instead of the day after Thanksgiving, which would be tomorrow). I know it's only one day, but we feel like we got in a whole extra week of Christmas celebration by our early start. This early Christmas excitement also comes with a fresh hunger for deeper insight into the all too familiar Christmas story, which coincides nicely with my desire to post more regularly. So, here we go ... it's November 25, a month til Christmas ... and this is the first of a month's worth of posts that will ultimately center around the miracle that sets the scene for my salvation ... the incarnation. God ... in the flesh. Here. On this earth ... from Heaven. I think my complacency with the story stems from a lack understanding about just how far it is, the trip from Heaven ... to earth. More tomorrow.

It Is Not Good for the Man to Be Alone ...

Last night was a great demonstration of the truth of this foundational biblical principle found in Genesis 2. This is, in fact, the first thing in all of creation that was declared by God to be "not good" ... it wasn't good then, and it isn't good now.

Joanna left Sunday afternoon to go to a church planters wives' conference in Arkansas. I was thrilled that she got to go, but slightly intimidated by the daunting task ahead of me ... being a single dad for a couple days. Of course she left me with detailed instructions, all supplies needed, meals in the fridge, and the promise of a sweet reunion in a few days.

So, last night was my first go round ... only mildly disastrous. Invited TC over to help out ... and cause I wanted to go throw football and Trey's not quite old enough, and Mary Grace said her arm was a little sore from all the clapping lately (she's just learned to clap, very cute). But here's the thing - I knew Trey needed to poop, and we're trying to get all that into the toilet for good. So I put him on, he had his normal stage fright, didn't perform (you gotta relax that thing son), and I put his underwear back on and headed out to the park to play football.

Really Robby? He had not "moved" in over 24 hours, what made me think he was gonna hold it til we got back home? And I left him in underwear?! Anyway, we played, he ran with us and had a blast, so cute, and then he kinda walked away and went toward the playground, next thing I know he's waddling ... and I'm kickin myself for being so stupid. There we are, no diaper, no wipes, no change of clothes ... and a load of crap in his underpants. I removed said underpants ... buried them along with their fresh contents, put his pants back on (giving him his first free*&#$%* experience ... hm, so it wasn't all bad) ... and headed home.

Well, that was just the first issue. Got home, put him in the tub, put his pants in the wash, disaster over ... so, what's for dinner? Mexican lasagna, excellent. It takes 45 minutes to cook. It's 7:00. Their bed time is 8:00. Long night ahead. So, we ate, fed them, cleaned their cute messy faces off, got jammies on, gave Trey his tea, gave MG her lotion, brushed Trey's teeth, made him his little covers fort, and put those boogers in bed. Nice, aside from a late dinner and getting them in bed late, not bad.

I went to grab my phone and see if Joanna called ... hmm, where's my phone? "TC have you seen my phone? Call my phone dude I gotta find it" Nope, nowhere. Uh, where did you have it last? Oh... yea, Trey had it. He was holding it in the stroller on the way to the park. Cue tape of Robby with headlamp on driving slowly toward the park looking for his phone on the road, expecting to find it in pieces. Got all the way to the park, nothin. Until I walked by the slide and saw it sitting on the ground ... with nine missed calls from TC. Disaster averted.

Well, needless to say, we all slept well. That is, until 11:53 when Mary Grace decided to wake up crying. But the miracle is that I heard her ... and was coherent enough to know to go check on her and make her a bottle.

Well, it's 11:30, and Trey just woke up crying, gotta go.

Hurry back mommy, we miss you.