The Scandal of Radical Love (Advent 4)

Matthew 1: 1-24
Roger Lynn
December 20, 2015
4th Sunday in Advent
(click here for the audio for this sermon)

This morning I’m going to do something you may never have experienced in worship before. I’m going to read one of the most boring sections to be found anywhere in the entire Bible – the genealogy at the beginning of Matthew’s Gospel. The exits have all been locked, so please don’t try to run away. Take a deep breath and it will all be over soon.

Actually, I surprised myself with this decision. Matthew’s Gospel has always been my least favorite of the four Gospels because it has seemed so stiff and rigid. But what I’m discovering is that there is an amazingly powerful message hiding just beneath the surface, waiting to be discovered. For instance, why in the world would the author choose to begin such an important work – the story of the good news of Jesus – in such a dreadfully boring way? Forty two generations of genealogy! Was he trying to turn people off before they even had a chance to hear the message? Well, as it turns out, I think he had something else in mind. He’s making a subtle, yet powerful statement about the truth he sees revealed in the life of Jesus: the good news of God’s love – everyone is accepted, everyone is welcome, everyone can play a part in bringing God’s love to the world. It isn’t about being righteous (following the rules), it isn’t about being “good” enough, it isn’t about meeting some pre-determined set of criteria. It is about bringing all of who we are to the table and allowing God to work in us and through us. And yes, all of this can be seen in the genealogy. Let’s take a look.

I don’t have a clue who many of these people were (which in itself may also say a lot about who God can use), but just the few I do know a bit about make the case loud and clear. I will offer some explanations and commentary as we go along.

(Matthew 1:1-17) “An account of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac (Sarah laughed at the idea of God giving them children in their old age, then both of them participated in forcing the issue by using a slave girl to conceive a child), and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers (Jacob and his brothers sold their brother Joseph into slavery), and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Aram, and Aram the father of Aminadab, and Aminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab (Rahab the foreigner who betrayed her own government by helping spies escape, also a prostitute), and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth (another foreigner), and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of King David. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah (the mention of “the wife a Uriah” reminds us that David was both an adulterer and a murderer), and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph, and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah, and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon (mentioning the deportation moves us from personal to national scandal – the entire people were conquered, subjugated and exiled). And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Salathiel, and Salathiel the father of Zerubbabel, and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah. So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to the Messiah, fourteen generations.”

Talk about skeletons in the family closet, and Matthew revels in them, putting them right out front. He seems to be saying, “These are Jesus’ kind of people! This is what Jesus is all about.” And just in case we missed the point, he follows up the genealogy with the whole Joseph and Mary story. 

(Matthew 1:18-24) Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’ All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: ‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel’, which means, ‘God is with us.’ When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife.

Who are Jesus’ parents – a young, unmarried, pregnant girl, and a man who chooses to marry her anyway even though it would have been unbelievably scandalous for him to do so. The law would have allowed him to have her killed. 

The lesson? What are we celebrating at Christmas? Being included on God’s list requires nothing except a willingness to be included on the list – which, considering the company we will be keeping, is pretty scandalous. So in keeping with the best pastoral, biblical, faithful tradition I know, my hope for you this year is that you will experience a scandalous Christmas and a radically scandalous new year, as together we revel in God’s outrageously inclusive love.