Alba 5-8-2022
Finding Comfort in God's Control
Genesis 38:27-30
A man came home from work and found his three children outside, still in their pajamas, playing in the mud. The door of his wife's car was open, as was the front door to the house and there was no sign of the dog.
Going into the entry, he found an even bigger mess. A lamp had been knocked over. In the front room the TV was loudly blaring a cartoon channel, and the family room was covered with toys and various items of clothing.
In the kitchen, dishes filled the sink, breakfast food was spilled on the counter, the fridge door was open wide, dog food was spilled on the floor, etc.
He quickly headed up the stairs, stepping over toys and more piles of clothes, looking for his wife. He was worried she might be ill, or that something serious had happened.
He was met with a small trickle of water as it made its way out the bathroom door. As he peered inside he found wet towels, scummy soap and more toys strewn over the floor. Miles of toilet paper lay in a heap and toothpaste had been smeared over the mirror and walls.
As he rushed to the bedroom, he found his wife still curled up in the bed in her pajamas, reading a novel. She looked up at him, smiled, and asked how his day went.
He looked at her bewildered and asked, 'What happened here today?'
She again smiled and answered, “You know every day when you come home from work and you ask me what in the world I do all day?” “Yes,” was his incredulous reply.
She answered, “Well, today I didn't do it.”
Mothers often need a break from the cleaning, cooking, laundry. There is a lot to do to keep a house and home under control. Things can go haywire quickly, and not just for mothers. But no matter who you are, you can find comfort in trusting in God's ultimate control.
Too often people find their value, not by who they truly are, but by how they are controlling the situations around them. The truth of the matter is this: You cannot successfully manage the world, not even those in your closest circle. That includes mothers.
Even doing the best that you can, sometimes will not make things go as you have designed. But don’t be alarmed, God is in control. He holds the world in His hands. You can find release trusting in the ultimate control of God.
We will leave our study of Romans today and go to a text that is unusual for a Mother's Day sermon. But it will make you aware that God is in control, no matter what. Let's turn to Genesis 38:27-30 where it tells the story of Tamar and Judah. Tamar was pregnant.
27 When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. 28 As she was giving birth, one of them put out his hand; so the midwife took a scarlet thread and tied it on his wrist and said, “This one came out first.”
29 But when he drew back his hand, his brother came out, and she said, “So this is how you have broken out!” And he was named Perez [which means breaking out]. 30 Then his brother, who had the scarlet thread on his wrist, came out. And he was named Zerah [it can mean scarlet or brightness].
I am sure that many mothers remember the events surrounding the birth of their children. This story is unique in many ways.
Our text is probably unfamiliar to you, especially for a Mother’s Day sermon, but instead of pressuring mothers with platitudes of the “Proverbs 31 Woman,” you need to realize that no matter what your parenting skills, it is wise to remember that God is your best ally.
While parents are responsible for bringing up children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord (Eph. 6.4), it is good to remember that the Lord is right along side, guiding, molding, disciplining in ways that you cannot see.
The ultimate control of God means that God’s authority and power is supreme over the entire universe. That includes you and your children's lives.
The text this morning is about much more than a woman giving birth to a set of twins. That had already been recorded in Bible History. The text hides deep within it a powerful truth that God wants us to know.
What it reveals is that God is sovereign over ultimate outcomes.
Let me tell you the short version of the story of how this woman, Tamar, came to be a mother.
It begins with Judah who is the son of Jacob, a.k.a. Israel, and brother to eleven other boys. Joseph, one of the brothers, had just been sold into slavery to the Ishmaelites when chapter 38 begins.
At this time in Judah’s life, he is at his lowest point spiritually. He had agreed to kill his own brother Joseph. And when that didn't work out, he consented to sell him to traveling traders.
Judah then married a Canaanite idol worshiper and had three sons. The oldest, Er, also a Canaanite idol worshiper married Tamar. Then Er dies because of his wickedness.
As was the custom, the next brother, Onan, was to marry his brother’s widow in order for her to have children. Onan refused and God judged him for his disobedience.
Judah promised Tamar that as soon as his last born was old enough, Shelah, he would marry Tamar. But Judah lied, never intending to give Shelah to Tamar. Tamar finally took matters into her own hands.
When Judah was returning home from a long trip, Tamar dressed as a prostitute along the roadside where Judah passed, and Judah took his one night stand with Tamar not knowing it was her.
When Judah later found out that Tamar was with child, he intended to burn her for her sin. But when Tamar produced the evidence that Judah was the father, Judah repented and said, “She has been more righteous than I” (38:26).
Reading and comprehending a story like this is complicated by the fact that the sexual mores of these folks appear to be mighty different from what we expect of God's people. We're startled that a man's wife would get passed from brother to brother in the event of her husband's death.
We're taken aback that Judah so casually sleeps with someone he thought was a prostitute (and we are further jolted by the fact that, apparently, had she been a real prostitute and not his daughter-in-law, there wouldn't have been much of a stigma attached to what Judah did).
But the real eye-popper is the fact that Tamar is commended when this story is all said and done. She engaged in deception, incest, and maybe a few other sexual shenanigans, and yet Judah declares her to be the righteous one!
This was a turning point in Judah’s life. Because later, when unbeknownst to the brothers that Joseph is now a ruler in Egypt, and they go there to get grain to survive a famine, Joseph tests them.
It is Judah who is willing to stay in Egypt, so Joseph's younger brother, Benjamin, can go back home. Judah unselfishly is willing to become a slave in Egypt so his father Jacob does not grieve himself to death over Benjamin.
And eventually, Judah is chosen as the tribe through which the Messiah will come. That is revealed in Genesis chapter 49.
That brings us to the good news that you probably wouldn’t know without the genealogy in Matthew chapter one. It states that Perez, the son of Tamar is an ancestor of Jesus.
You will also notice in the genealogy, a prostitute named Rahab, and another foreigner named Ruth is in the lineage too.
Matthew actually went out of his way to include in that genealogy of Jesus four women, each of whom was a non-Israelite originally, and three of whom had checkered pasts:
Tamar the daughter-in-law prostitute, Rahab the Jericho madam, and Bathsheba the adulterous partner of David (whose husband David murdered so he could take Bathsheba to himself ).
These were all "skeletons" in the family closet of our Lord. Matthew didn't have to mention any of them since women were typically excluded from formal genealogies anyway.
But Matthew wanted to open his gospel with a reminder of grace, and give a powerful testimony of God's love for the whole world (including non-Israelites).
It also gives a moving and startling portrait of God's providence. A divine will and plan that can, and often does, move forward through even the most tawdry of circumstances.
You could hardly call either Judah or Tamar biblical role models. From what is revealed about them, no one would look to either one of them in order to determine the best way to conduct one's life.
But precisely in their weakness, in the mistakes each one makes, and in the sin into which both fall-- perhaps somehow through all of that, we can identify with these two a bit.
No, they are not role models. We don't want to be just like Tamar, or just like Judah. No one would ever distribute bracelets with the letters WWTD: What Would Tamar Do?
No one would ever compose a song, "Dare to Be a Judah" similar to a song urging kids to be like Daniel. But although we don't want to imitate them, we may recognize that sometimes we are like them anyway.
We, too, make mistakes. We, too, sometimes find ourselves doing or saying things that place us on the opposite side of God's desires. Many mothers look back over their lives and are concerned that they didn't do well with their children. Mistakes were made.
But sometimes we, too, may discover that God accomplished something good in our lives despite how undeserving we are, despite how badly we messed up things.
Do you see the point that the text is making then? The ancestors of Jesus were deceivers, half-breeds, prostitutes and the like. You have to ask why do we want to know that the Christ came from such sordid stock.
The apostle Paul could answer from 2 Corinthians 4:5 and 7. He says, 5 For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake... 7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.
The Living Bible paraphrase has it this way: "We don’t go around preaching about ourselves; we preach Christ Jesus, the Lord. All we say about ourselves is that we are your servants because of what Jesus has done for us…
But this precious treasure—this light and power that now shines within us—is held in perishable containers, that is, in our weak bodies. So everyone can see that our glorious power is from God and is not our own."
Why didn’t Jesus come from a perfect family line? Because, there is no one that we can boast about except Jesus, Himself. Everyone else is sinful. Not just Judah and Tamar. That includes us!
One commentator answers it this way: "Because.. the emphasis is not on human worth, but on the will and saving work of God."
That saving work is that God was in Jesus Christ reconciling the world to Himself. And that Jesus lived the perfect life. In every way He was obedient to the Laws of a Holy God.
He was without sin, and yet was crucified on the cross. He died taking on Himself your sin and mine, paying the penalty of our ungodliness. The cross is where all of us can lay down the sorrow and guilt of our sins.
If you ever feel overwhelmed because you know that you have messed up, run to the cross of Jesus. Because He has taken your sin to the grave for you.
The text shows that this woman, Tamar, did what she thought was best. Does that mean that what she did was right? No, it most likely hurt the whole family. But the good news is that God worked out good in spite of what was done wrong.
Two children were born, and out of one came the Savior of the world. This is the gospel; that in spite of our life choices and wrongs we have committed, God can bring hope.
Tamar is not to be praised because she is in the lineage of Christ. God is the one to be praised. The Lord used her in spite of her sin.
That’s where our hope is. Not in “getting it right,” but in knowing that although we get it wrong—over and over, consistently, even blatantly—God’s power to accomplish His will is not limited to our meager efforts.
Isn't that a relief! We are made for one purpose: To worship and glorify God. Our challenge is to stop trying to make things work out for our good, and let God work things out for His good and perfect will through us.
Ultimately, He is in control.
CONCLUSION:
There are some things that are beyond our control. Because of genetics, we will pass on some traits to our children. Depending on our features, a child might have big brown eyes, or a funny-shaped nose, or curly red hair.
These things are hereditary. However, faith is not hereditary. Just because we follow Christ, this doesn’t mean our children will.
As children grow up, they will know whether we are sincere or whether we are just pretending. And if we are a fake, our children probably not come to faith. Why should they? It’s all just pretend.
Ben Mandrell, a minister in Tennessee, shared this story:
“A few weeks ago, I shared about a tough day I had. It was one of those days when fear was crippling me and I felt burdened for many things that were beyond my control.
“So, I escaped from my office, I went to a quiet place to pray, and I surrendered a handful of fears that were weighing me down. One of those had to do with my children.
“I am afraid for my children. Why am I afraid? Because I can’t control the outcome of their lives. I can’t bear to think of one of my sons or my daughter spending eternity in hell. I worry about them being alone in our own backyard, much less alone for eternity apart from God.
“And that day in prayer, like every parent in this room, I had to surrender my children to God. I said, 'God, if I can give my children just one thing, help me to instill a genuine faith in Christ.'”
That is a good prayer for any Christian parent. Pray, then let God take your prayers and your example to do what you cannot do.
