"A Desparate Woman"

Pastor Laura Guy

July 20, 2008

Here's an instant replay of what happened in worship:

We learned about Judah, son of Jacob and one of the dastardly brothers who sold Joseph into slavery. The story of Judah and Tamar is inserted into the middle of the Joseph story, making it one of the strangest interruptions in the Bible.
We heard how Judah had three sons. When the first one married Tamar, he died suddenly. His brother, Onan, was obligated to marry Tamar and produce children for his dead brother. But he didn't want to share his inheritance with anyone, so he refused to impregnate Tamar. This was against God's wishes, and Onan soon joined his dead brother. Judah did not want his youngest son to marry Tamar, so he told her to go live with her father until Shelah was old enough to marry.
We read Gen. 38:12-30 and saw how Tamar lived in fear that she would die a childless widow. Her very life depended on the protection of her husband's family, something that wouldn't happen unless Judah would finally allow Shelah to marry her. In desperation, she became a prostitute for the purpose of tricking Judah into sleeping with her and impregnating her. The plan worked. Judah was caught in the act, and he declared that Tamar was more righteous than he was.
We wondered why this story is in the Bible. For Christians, it's important to remember that, when Matthew gives us the genealogy of Jesus, he only includes four women in the list - Tamar is one of those women. How strange that a "prostitute" would be included in Jesus' family tree. Perhaps this story is in the Bible to remind us that desperate women are included in the family of Jesus, and we see them with the eyes of Jesus.
We also thought about Judah, how he was probably a pillar in the community. Only his family knew what he was really like - how he harmed his brother, lied to his father and now was forcing his daughter-in-law to take drastic measures because he didn't follow through with his promise. How many of us live double lives, too? We pretend to be someone upstanding on the outside, but our family knows the real life we live at home. The goal of following Jesus, of becoming more and more like him, is to reconcile these two lives into one life, a life that reflects the life of love and compassion that Jesus lived.
We celebrated communion around the table of love.