It's the beginning of a new year! I hope your
celebrations were all you had hoped they would be. So, let me ask you this:
along with the fireworks and noisemakers, any resolutions ringing in your ears?
I know, I know. We get asked
this question every year. But before your mind automatically goes to those few
extra pounds gained, or those dreaded bills anticipated, let me offer a
different resolution. How about resolving for the next month to read in the
Bible the book of Matthew? It's not that long, only 28 chapters (and some of
them are pretty short!). When you do, I think you might be pleasantly surprised.
While Matthew starts with a
genealogy of Jesus (don't give up on me yet!), you don't get very far into it
before discovering something astounding. Actually it's more than astounding.
It's relieving. And I like it. Matthew goes out of his way to show us that
Jesus' very human family tree was made up of very dysfunctional people. It
included several less-than-honest, self-centered, or just plain old desperate
men and women. Just look at a couple of the women...
First, there is Rahab, the
harlot. Yes, a prostitute. She's the one who protected the two Hebrew spies in
Jericho in return for her own guarantee of safety. After coming to know and
trust the God of the Hebrews, she later married a Hebrew man. Rahab gave birth
to a son whose name was Boaz. And yes, this is the same Boaz who we know was
the great-grandfather of King David. Rahab's full story is found in Joshua,
chapter 2.
Another limb on Jesus'
family tree was the "wife of Uriah" (that's how she's noted!). As I
read that, I wondered why Matthew would refer to her in that way? To simply
call her Bathsheba would have been enough. But I believe that God wanted to
remind us that even someone like Bathsheba, a wife fallen in adultery, could be
forgiven. And not only forgiven, but placed in a position of importance. You
see, this forgiven adulterer was to become one vital link in a chain of
imperfect people. The chain that would introduce Perfection to the world.
What I love about these stories is the beautiful simplicity of grace. God, Himself, reached into each sin-stained situation and brought gentle healing. Healing not only to the innocent victims of selfishness, but also to the self-inflicted pain of His wayward children.
It's like the time our three-year-old
son tipped onto the floor a large, freshly-made pitcher of red Kool-Aid. Eric
stood in the middle of his scarlet lake, stunned. He didn't move a muscle. He
waited in his soggy socks for someone, anyone, to come and lift him out.
Completely helpless, Eric didn't know how to get out of his mess, much less
clean it up. He needed help.
But isn't that the place
where we all need to begin? We need to stop trying to put the Kool-Aid back
into the pitcher and just stand still. Like a child with his arms outstretched
for help, we need to let God lift us out of the middle of our mess, carefully
peel away our sin-soaked socks, and give us a clean start. That is what He did
for Rahab, Bathsheba, and countless others. And that is exactly what He wants
to do for us. But first we have to acknowledge our need for Him.
I believe that by detailing
these very imperfect people in the historical genealogy of Jesus, Almighty God
is telling us something. Perhaps He wants us to realize that no matter what our
past, there is Hope. And Hope has a name. His name is Jesus.
As we take our eyes off of
the red stain of our Kool-Aid mess and put them on the red flow of the Cross,
we realize something. The work has already been done. We just need to accept
it. Because of Jesus, out of our sin can come sinlessness. Out of our
brokenness can come restoration. Out of our shame can come redemption. All
because of the Baby whose birth we just celebrated. All because of what He did
for us on the Cross. All because He knows what we need most... is a new
beginning.
