The first 16 verses of Matthew might seem like a Biblical wasteland for some of you. Some of the names might not be familiar to you and they are hard to pronounce. For those of you who read the Bible through, I don’t know how long it takes you to read these verses. And if you don’t know the Bible well and someone tells you to just start reading in the New Testament, what do you do with these verses? Do your eyes glaze over when you see them? To some people, they make about as much sense as the DaVinci Code.
Until a few years ago, I just eye-balled these verses like a photograph in the newspaper, not really reading them. Then I realized that every name in this genealogy is there for a purpose and that without these names we would be missing out on a lot of important information.
Let’s take a moment to check out just a few of these names.
(Responses from congregation)
Abraham. What do you think of when you hear his name? Faith, covenant..
Isaac. What word comes to mind? Sacrifice.
Jacob. Israel/schemer.
David. Adulterer, Goliath
Josiah. Godly king of Judah
As typical in such lists, the names are mostly men, but not all….
Tamar. Canaanite woman - had a child by her father-in-law. (Non-Jew)
Rahab. Heroine from Jericho who helped the spies. (Non-Jew)
Ruth. Woman from Moab who married Boaz (Non-Jew)
Wife of Uriah – (Wife of a Hittite) Do you know her name? How get in this list?
Mary. Mother of Jesus
Why this list?
1. This list connects us with God’s purpose from the beginning. Through these names we can track the steps God took and the people he called to carry out his plan of salvation. On the first day of a new year you may wonder if history makes sense, if time has order, if your life has a purpose. The answer is: Absolutely. Since we live in a world with so much uncertainty, it is comforting to know that God has not abandoned us. He wants to guide us.
2. In this list we can see that God uses all kinds of people to accomplish his purposes: men/women, weak/strong, obedient/disobedient. It doesn’t matter. Yet God incorporated them into his family and used them. You may wonder if you can be any good to God. You think you don’t fit the typical portrait of a religious person. You haven’t given God the time of day for years. You have done illegal, immoral, and stupid things. You wonder if God can accept you and use you. The answer is: Absolutely. This list is comforting because if you look around you this morning, you will find a lot of company.
Some of you know that my parents, now in their late 80s, have moved to an assisted living facility. As a result, they had to get rid of a lot of things that would no longer be useful to them. So when we returned from our visit to Iowa last Thanksgiving, we brought with us a slide projector and some slides my dad had collected. One tray consisted of pictures he took when my parents visited us in Japan in 1974. At Christmas time, our grandchildren enjoyed seeing what their parents looked like when they were children.
Another tray recorded my dad’s trip when he visited Israel.
But there was a third tray, completely different from the other two. It contained pictures of people unrelated to each other except for one thing: they were all part of the same church. The title on the box said “Every family of the church” and was dated 1970. (Begin slides while I talk.) And sure enough, slide after slide shows older/younger people, single/married, working/retired, without whom that congregation would not have existed. They didn’t have any special qualifications; they were just common, ordinary people from SE Iowa.
To understand that church, you need to go back to its beginning, when my parents and Sue’s parents and a handful of others, felt called by God to plant a new Mennonite church in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, about 20 miles away from home. They had a vision. This was back in the 50s when Sue and I were still in high school. And it was exciting.
The first five families were farmers and they all committed themselves to this mission project. They drove many miles back and forth. They got involved in the lives of people they would have never met otherwise. They gave generous offerings to meet needs and eventually to build a small church building.
• Sue’s dad was treasurer for many years; Sue’s mother taught Sunday school.
• Another couple, Earl & Mary showed compassion in many ways. She was a great quilter. They were wonderful, humble people, but the pain in their hearts came from one of their sons. Max was a wild guy. We all knew stories about how he outwitted the highway patrol. But he was unable to outwit the demon of alcohol and eventually died from cirrhosis of the liver.
• Then there were Clarence and Sally, very down to earth people, so down to earth that when Clarence died, his children insisted on dressing him in his farm overalls for his funeral. His wife Sally, may she rest in peace, was multi-talented, but she had one weakness – she was forgetful. She made promises she didn’t keep. I don’t know how often she forgot the flowers for the altar or forgot to arrange special music. Oh, she tested the patience of many in that congregation over the years.
None of these people were highly educated. In fact, my dad had only an 8th grade education, but he eventually became pastor. Not that it was easy. I knew where he kept a tattered Bible out in the barn. And he would read it while waiting for a truck to come for hogs or at other times. And many were the times we saw God’s hand at work in special ways.
I remember one time when my parents had invited a new member to our home and my dad was instructing her in the faith in our living room. I remember opening the door and looking in and my dad’s face was shining, glowing, like I think Moses’ face must have when he came down off the mountain. I couldn’t bear to look, so I closed the door!
My parents sold their farm to move closer to town. A couple of others did the same. Soon other Mennonite families heard about this church and got jobs in Mt. Pleasant, and moved there. Some of the older ones moved into town to retire. Then, people who had never attended church began to attend, some from broken families, others from complicated backgrounds. When my dad retired as pastor 20 years later, the church had grown to over 100 people.
As I looked at those slides, I realized that God had a purpose in establishing that church so they could be a presence in that small city, letting their light shine, as Jesus said in Mt. 5.
And I realized again that God uses all kinds of people to do his work: farmers, factory workers, office workers, construction workers, young, old, retired, married, widowed, and single. These were common, ordinary folks, but God was able to use them then and continues to use them now.
And then I recognized again that God has a purpose for the Elm Street congregation. Over 100 years ago, some people heard the call of God to establish a church here. We don’t know all their names, but God does. We don’t know where all they came from. We don’t know what kind of people they all were. It doesn’t matter. What matters is that they were willing to let God use them in his work because without them this congregation may not be here. Without the work of their hands, the building would not have been built. Without their financial commitment, expenses would not have been met. Everyone’s contribution to the life of the church is precious in God’s sight.
Just as there is a purpose for every link in a chain and for every bulb in a chandelier, so God has a purpose for each person in the life of the church.
• If you are called to teach, then do it regularly and faithfully. Children, youth, and adults depend upon your knowledge and instruction for their nurture.
• If you are called to prayer as a disciple of Christ, then don’t neglect it. Allow your life to conform to what Jesus wants.
• If you are called to do the work of an evangelist, then depend on the Holy Spirit for boldness, whether it means knocking on doors or speaking with someone across the table..
• If you are called to encourage and serve others in this congregation, then do it. Shake their hands, learn their names, give them a hug, write a note, serve them in whatever way you can.
• If you are called to minister to those in need around you, don’t pass them by.
Together as a congregation we have committed ourselves to continue the work of Jesus.
If this is all new to you, and you know that your name would not appear on a list of people who are serving God, then I invite you to come and learn with us. God has a purpose for you and he would like nothing more than to incorporate you into his family.
Don’t ever think that God can’t use you because of what you have done in the past. If that were the case, most of the list in Matthew would be disqualified.
Don’t ever think that God can’t use you because you don’t have special skills or understandings. If that were the case, then most of us would be disqualified.
In a moment, we are going to ask members of this congregation to join in renewing our covenant with each other, as we do every year. A covenant is a promise before God. If you are not a member, but would like to join with us in doing God’s work, you may also sign your name and give it as an offering.
