Life can be messy and chaotic. You might
wonder why God would be bothered to get involved in the mess our lives can
sometimes be. Often the messiness comes because we walk our own journey without
really including God in it. Yet God works in our messiness for his own plans. I’ve
been blessed to see lives here impacted by hearing of God’s love and acceptance
and Jesus’ invitation to follow him.
Judah walks his own path separate from his family and God. He
definitely has many cracks in his life. He marries a pagan woman, walking apart
from God. He’s sold his brother into slavery and deceived his father Jacob,
letting Jacob believe Joseph is dead. Still God blesses Judah and he has three
sons; Er, Onan and Shelah. The problem is that Judah’s sons do the same thing
Judah’s done; walking their own paths without paying attention to God. Judah
finds his oldest son Er a wife named Tamar. When God kills Er because of his
wickedness, Judah tells his second son Onan to have a child with Tamar to keep
his brother’s name alive. But Onan uses Tamar like a prostitute, using her for
sex while making sure she never gets pregnant. Onan dishonours Tamar; shaming
her. So God kills Onan.
Judah’s family life is messy and chaotic, even worse than his father Jacob’s
family. Judah’s afraid and wants to protect his youngest son from Tamar who
seems to be attracting God’s anger. Judah sends Tamar back to her father until
Shelah is old enough to marry; Judah has no intentions to let his last son
marry her. Tamar goes home in disgrace, a shamed woman rejected by her
husband’s family. Judah neglects his daughter-in-law’s needs as a helpless
widow, needs he should be providing for. Rather than turning to God to make
sense of what’s happening, Judah continues to walk his own path apart from God.
Judah never stops believing in God, he
simply stops letting God guide his life. Judah takes control of his life into
his own hands, depending on himself to make decisions on how to live. Judah
loses touch with God. This is an echo of our fall into sin, we figure we know
better than God on how we should live. We want to be god of our own lives. This
is why Jesus comes, to bring order and healing into our chaos and hurt. Jesus
comes to bring the kingdom of heaven near again. The cross is Jesus’ way of
establishing the kingdom of heaven here, pouring out the Holy Spirit into the
world to help us recognize our need to Jesus and to help us become part of
bringing healing and hope back into the world. In our story today, a number of
years pass and, “Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shua dies.”
Reflecting on this story this week, I
came across an article stating that most churches today in North America depend
on their own wisdom and skill instead of God’s guidance. It’s not that they don’t
believe in God, it’s that they depend on their own wisdom and desires to guide
and shape their lives rather than God’s. This has led to churches that are no
longer certain of their identity because they are so closely identified with
our culture and society.
It’s not that churches in North America
don’t believe in God, it’s that they try to tell God what to do instead of
allowing themselves to be led and shaped by God. Too often we no longer have
regular contact with God. Many don’t talk with him on a daily basis; the idea
of praying constantly is completely foreign to most Christians today in our
culture. Charles Sheldon's 1896 book,
In His Steps is about a church that tries to live by the principle, “What
would Jesus do?” Surprisingly, many Christians don’t like this saying. They
believe we can’t know what Jesus will really do in different situations, yet if
we let the values of love, mercy, grace and forgiveness guide us through prayer
and Bible reading, I believe we can know what Jesus would do.
One of the church’s
traditions teaches us to pray this prayer all day long, “Lord
Jesus, have mercy on me, a sinner.” By doing this, you gain a sense of
God’s presence all day long reminding you about grace and mercy; great values
to guide you through the day. This is why our church leadership is embracing prayer
and worship as we look to determine where God is leading us and who he’s shaping us
to be as disciples of Jesus. It comes from a desire to be more in tune with God
and his will for us as a church.
Tamar’s actions struck me. When Tamar hears that Judah is going
to be nearby and recognizes that Judah has no plan to give her as a wife to his
youngest son to carry on the family name of Er, she crafts a plan to honour her
husband by dishonouring herself. Tamar disguises herself as a prostitute in
order to give her dead husband a child and carry on his family name by tempting
Judah. Judah, just like Onan his second son, uses Tamar, he gives her a pledge
for payment of his personal seal and staff. Tamar recognises she can’t trust
Judah. You know the story, God blesses Tamar and she becomes pregnant; Judah
condemns her, but she reveals that he is the father of her unborn children by
presenting his seal and staff and proof. Judah recognises a truth, “She is more righteous than I,” he says, “Since I wouldn’t give her to my son Shelah.” The theme
to seeing, or recognizing truth stands out in this story, as the crossroads
where Judah and Tamar meet is called, “opening
of the eyes.” Both Tamar and Judah’s
eyes were opened in different ways.
A former mentor said, “this sordid story where Judah
impregnates his daughter-in-law does not thwart God’s plans to bless the world
through Abraham.” Rather, this story gives us an expression of God’s grace
when Judah and Tamar’s illegitimate son finds a place in Jesus’ genealogy as
Tamar gives birth to twins; Perez and Zerah. Perez, ancestor of Jesus, becomes
a term of blessing by the time of the Judges as the elders bless Ruth and Boaz,
“We are witnesses. May
the LORD make the woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, who
together built up the family of Israel. May you have standing in Ephrathah and
be famous in Bethlehem. Through the offspring the LORD gives you by this young
woman, may your family be like that of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah.” Ruth and Boaz have
a son so that Ruth’s first husband’s line doesn’t end in his death, the same as
with Tamar and Judah. Ruth’s son is Obed, grandfather of King David, ancestor
of Jesus Christ. Judah goes back to his family and leads them to Egypt, a place
of food and safety where they can grow as a family. Perez leads the family into
a position of power and authority among the tribes of Israel. God works in and
through the messes we create when we walk our own paths first, to move his plan
forward. God always works to draw you back to him.
Tamar sacrifices her honour and dignity out
of faithfulness to her husband. Paul reminds us in his letter to the
Philippians that Jesus also sacrifices his honour and “made
himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant... and became obedient to
death---even death on a cross.” This was a shameful death, there was no
dignity in such a death, yet Jesus willingly walks that path out of his
faithfulness to God. Jesus comes into the messiness of life and experiences it
all; from the love of parents, to the loss of a parent in Joseph, rejection,
betrayal, the grace and hurt of friendship, and more. Jesus offers you a path
to God to help you work and see through the messiness, and when the messiness
is so chaotic and you can’t make sense of it, you still find hope and peace in
knowing that God is in control.
We need a revival to rediscover the
wonder of Jesus’ way into our hearts. We need our hearts to be impacted and
transformed by the gospel message and a high expectation of what Jesus can do
and is doing right now. Jesus doesn’t forget you or walk away from you when you
don’t pay him much attention; rather he continues to work in and through your messy
lives to carry out his plan to restore and redeem all creation. The Holy Spirit’s
constantly at work in your hearts, looking to stir a greater desire to know Jesus
and experience his presence, guiding, and blessing you through the gift of his
word and relationships to bless our community. Listen to the Spirit inside you,
calling you to embrace Jesus as your Lord; the one who can lead you through the
messiness of your life so you can lead others to Jesus, their Lord.
