Genealogy of Grace

Most of the time I simply glaze over genealogy readings in the Bible.  For one thing, I can’t even pretend to pronounce their names.  For another thing, I am not concerned about who your daddy is.  But that is just me.  I remembered this week one reason why genealogies are in the Bible.  They tell a story.    

I read the narratives about Jesus’ birth during Christmas week.  It seems like a logical thing to do.  The opening lines of the New Testament where we read of Jesus’ birth are a genealogy.  42 generations are listed.  Apparently Matthew felt impressed to show Jesus’ earthly ancestry all the way back to Abraham through David (which is critical in the Jewish mind).    

The one portion that caught my attention was this statement:

                David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife.
The story of Uriah’s wife is found in the Old Testament (2 Samuel 11-12).  Her name was Bathsheba.  One evening King David saw her bathing on her patio from his castle.  I guess her beauty was captivating so he called for her and slept with her.  She ended up pregnant.  Where was her husband?  He was fighting in a war . . . David’s war.  Yep, while Uriah was being a faithful servant, his king was stealing his wife.  It was a treacherous act.  So what did the godly king do?  He attempted to cover it up by calling Uriah home from the front lines, but Uriah refused to sleep with his wife while there.  David’s plan failed.  In order to cover his treachery, he was forced to have Uriah killed in the fighting so he sent the soldier back.  Uriah’s body came home a few weeks later.  His wife was taken in by the good king.  Nine months later she gave birth to a son.  Unfortunately that son died due to this sordid affair.  What a disaster!  (Solomon was born later.) 

The only thing GOD can do at this point is to find someone else, right?  Who wants an adulterer, thief, and murderer to be in the ancestry of the Messiah?  And yet, according to Matthew, GOD not only intentionally included David and Uriah’s wife, but He included others like them.  People like Rahab, a prostitute.  People like Rehoboam whose mother was not even Jewish.  People like Manasseh who is described as doing “evil in the eyes of the Lord.”  On and on the list includes individuals who do not measure up to our standards of righteousness (Or GOD’S standards either). 

As I thought about this whole scenario, I found myself thankful for the grace of GOD that can take someone like David, Bathsheba and someone like me, with a multitude of flaws and failures and include them in His story – an epic story of grace where redemption, forgiveness and restoration run wild and out of control.

And I remembered to loosen my own halo.  Sometimes I wear it too tightly and expect others to be more than what they are.  I get judgmental and become sarcastic or self-righteous.  So I have to loosen my halo occasionally.  A tight halo can give a man a headache especially when his head swells.   

ADVENT - An Unyielding Force 

The pathway of love is not to be taken lightly.

Movies and music portray love as joy and romance.
And it is.

But it is more. 

Behind the scenes,
Love is more – much more. 

Love is no easy pathway to travel. 

It is an arduous journey of great price. 
Love costs more than we can imagine. 
The sacrifices are greater than we can even offer to pay.
The journey of love costs everything. 

Jesus’ journey took Him
From the throne of heaven
To a manger in a cave
To a cross on a hill.
It cost Him everything. 
He gave His heart.
Left it all. 

When love beckons,

Less than your whole heart will not suffice.    
It calls forth your best. 
It calls forth your all.
Count the cost.

Your willingness to sacrifice
Is the measure of your willingness to love.
Such is the power of love,
Controlled
Diminished
Directed
Manipulated
By none. 
Its force no one can measure.

The story of Christmas

Is a story of love –
“GOD so loved the world
That He gave His only begotten Son. 
That whosoever believes in Him
Should not perish,
But have everlasting life.” 

ADVENT
The Shepherd’s Story

“No one wants to play with me.“

It is the cry of the human heart. 

The sting of exclusion burns deep and long. 

I know it well.
Very few aspire to be shepherds
Like me.
Who wants a job that others mock?
I have seen those looks.
I have heard the sarcasm. 
I have watched the doors close. 
Society and religion have no value for people like me.

And so on this night I am bewildered. 

I sit in wonder, “Why me?” 
Wasn’t there someone more fitting?
Should outcasts be the first to know? 
What about us prompted the concert? 

I look at his parents
And those questions continue.
Shouldn’t his father be a king or general?
Shouldn’t his mom know how to be a mom?
I wonder, “Why them?”

Is there a message here?
Should the outcast feel a sense of belonging?
Is there something holy about being left out?
That You would choose such an entrance?

And to think that You would choose people like me,
To be right in the center of Your story,
It amazes me. 

ADVENT

“When the Seekers Are Sought”

Where is He?

Where is the one who has been born King of the Jews? 

Perilous journey of night and day,

Through dangerous worlds and places unknown. 
Threatened by man and beast,
Still we went in search of this King.

The stars beckoned us. 

The heavens told us that he had come.
The constellations have been our guide. 
 
And yet something else,
Something more
Calls to us from within.
The restlessness of our hearts has awakened us to this destiny.

More than a than a journey of steps,

It has been a journey of our hearts. 
Our ancestors told us to look to the skies.
For there they thought we would find peace and hope and purpose.
And we did.

But not in the stars,

Beyond the stars.
Far above the shining lights in the sky
Is One who created and now sustains all we behold.
It is He who called us to this journey. 
No longer are we the seekers. 
We are the sought.

The Divine One has come in search of us.

And He found us. 
And called us
To this passage of faith. 

We may never return home.

So be it.
We have found the King.    
Our restless hearts will no longer wander.
In Him we have found the peace for which we have searched.    

And we will offer Him our best,

Our treasures we will lay before Him.    
We will celebrate that we have found Him,
And that He found us. 

And you. 
You do not worship Him?
You do not know Him?
How can this be true?
Has He not found you?