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Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Today's Frontline Devotion Monday, August 4, 2003 "And You Thought Genealogies Were Boring" |
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Frontline Devotion for Monday, August 4, 2003 by Fritz Foltz
And you thought genealogies were boring! I certainly did most of my life. I skimmed through them without a thought. So-and-so begat so-and-so over and over again.
Then one night my eyes stopped at “by the wife of Uriah”. The writer does not even mention her name. Obviously his wording pointed to the adultery. Bathsheba was not a moral woman.
Next I realized only three other women were included: Tamar who seduced her father-in-law, Rahab the prostitute, and Ruth who tricked Boaz into marriage by making him think he had sex with her while passed out drunk.
Why include these women of ill- repute and only them? It’s not hard to figure when you read Matthew’s account of the nativity that follows. Obviously Jesus lack of a father was a critical issue in the early Church. Some of the gospels that did not make the Bible make plain this was the case. In fact, the Bible gives hints one of his enemies’ criticisms of Jesus during his lifetime was his mother’s reputation. The Son of God might well have been called a bastard throughout his life.
This is enough reason for Christians to resist judging those whom society labels impure or unworthy. It gives weight to Jesus’ caution that we should not judge others. Of course, that does not mean we lack values or do not appreciate the standards that contribute to a healthy life. But we never categorize people and never refuse to offer another chance. We know ourselves and our histories too well.
Let us pray: Forgive us our self-righteousness, Father, and help us to forgive those who sin against us. Help us to begin each day measuring those around us anew. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen
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