Hiss, Huh?, Hooray!
November 27 , 2005
Matthew 1:1-17
As you can tell from the amazing change in the narthex, sanctuary and fellowship hall something new is happening here at First. We have come along with Christians everywhere into the season of Advent. The season of expectation and waiting, that electric time of year when we know something big is about to be born, something big is about to happen. And, it’s so real you can feel it in the air, see it in the eyes of the people you love, understand it with your presence, you can sense it grow with each passing day. We are in that time of year only four weeks from our celebration of the coming of God with us, Emmanuel. And, this time we are celebrating the season in the dark. A season of wondering, discernment of turning inward. A time to find out what it is that is trying to be born within our own lives. Four weeks. Four weeks to be nurtured by the living waters and born into a new possibility for bringing about the radical welcome of God. Four weeks to step into our interior, to examine our shadow selves, to find out what’s within us just waiting to get born. And, it begins here today with all of these names.
Cindy did a fantastic job reading all of those names, 41 names! I bet most of you are so happy it wasn’t your turn to read! It takes guts to take that on and I honor her tenacity and courage to give it a whirl.
All of the names, all 41 are listed because of the first sentence written in Matthew and these words in particular: “An Account of the geneology of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” Really this is a set up. Matthew tells us in this sentence alone that God is initiating a new thing but it’s the same old God. For it’s the same God, the one who brought King David to power, the greatest King, who organized the workings of the entire world known to them under his rule, under God’s rule. He was and is considered by all those in power to be the greatest of Kings. And, King David was descended from Abraham. The father of all nations. God’s chosen one. By beginning the story with the statements that Jesus is the Messiah, you must connect a Messiah with the undisputed David. The one who everyone agrees God moved in his life. In order to proclaim Messiah, one has to connect with David. And, in order to proclaim that the people of Israel are involved one must begin with Abraham. This is a new story with a very old cast. A new chapter within the old, old story, connected to those with God’s favor. In fact, if we were to write the story of Matthew today it would begin: Genesis 2, The Sequel.
So to get inside this geneology we’re going to play a little game. And the name of the game is Hiss, Huh?, and Hooray! I’m going to read the geneology again, and this time, I want you to Hiss, Huh? or Hooray! according to the legacy of the person left in the story we have available. Ok. Let’s try it. Hiss….Huh? Hooray! Great. Now for real.
Abraham: Hooray! Father of a multitude, Patriarch and important figure in three living religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
Isaac: Hooray! Son of the 100 year old Abraham and 90 year old Sarah fulfilling the divine promise. His name in Hebrew means laughter. The only monogamous Patriarch of our faith. Always believed the best about his wife and sons. Father of Jacob.
Jacob: Hooray! The brother of Esau who embodies the nation of Israel. He is the settler farmer, the trickster, the reverent worshiper of God, the man of gallantry, the successful émigré and herder, the penitent brother and the benevolent father. He was the father of the twelve sons who become the twelve tribes of Israel like Judah.
Judah: Hooray! The fourth son of Jacob and Leah who becomes the nation of Judah. He overcomes the unstable oldest Rueben, the war mongers Levi and Simeon to become the strongest leader out of the twelve tribes. Father of Perez and Zerah.
Perez and Zerah: Huh? The Twin sons born of Tamar’s trickery of her father-in-law Judah. Perez “the breach” for he stuck out his hand and the midwife tied a cord around it but pulled it in and his brother, the breach Perez was born first then Zerah. No news about their lives other than they were branches off Judah with families following.
Hezron: Huh? Son of Perez the father of a Judean Tribe. Hezron father of Aram.
Aram: Huh? Really long for Ram in Hebrew the son of Hezron. Father of Aminadab.
Aminadab: Hooray! The father of Aaron’s wife and Nashon.
Nahshon: Hooray! Leader of the tribe of Judah during their wandering in the wilderness. Father of Salmon.
Salmon: Huh? The father of Boaz by Rahab. Rahab: Hooray! Huh? The prostitute who sheltered Joshua’s men when they came to spy on Jericho. She defied the orders of the king of Jericho, misdirected the king’s men, and then helped Joshua’s men escape by climbing down a rope from her home which was built against the city wall. She believed in God and believed that he would conquer the city. And, she was spared along with her family when the Israelites conquered Jericho, only Rahab and her father’s family were saved.
Boaz: Hooray! A kind man who married Ruth, the Moabite widow who pledged her covenant to Naomi the sole survivor of an Ephrahite family. Boaz extended protection to Ruth a foreigner, allowing her privileges normally extended to clan members. He took Ruth as his primary wife. He also succeeded in obtaining the right to redeem Naomi’s land through a brilliant legal maneuver at the city gate.
Obed: Huh? A man who has no story in the Bible apart from the record of his birth to Ruth and Boaz. However, he is the father of Jesse and Grandfather of David which makes him quite significant.
Jesse: Hooray! A prosperous farmer who could afford to send gifts to Saul. He was a distinguished elder of the community. He is the father of King David.
David: Hooray! He began a humble lyre player for the King and then rose as a favorite of God. However he yielded to the luxury of absolute power and as a father failed toward his over-ambitious sons. He was the most powerful King of Biblical Israel. Belonged to the tribe of Judah and is the youngest son of Jesse. David fathered Solomon with Uriah’s wife Bathsheba in an adulterous affair.
Solomon: Hooray! King following David, he had 700 wives, an extensive building program, a worldwide trading company, the palace and the temple. His reign clearly marks the peak of Israelite success, both politically and religiously. It is in Solomon’s reign that the promises made to the patriarchs come to their fulfillment. It also marks the beginning of religious decay. He fathered Rehoboam with Naamah an Ammonite princess.
Rehoboam: Hiss! Came to power after his father’s death. Lost the united Kingdom. Instituted boarder warfare with Israel.
Abijah: Hooray! The King of Judah. A pious King who trusted in the Lord and successfully routed his Israelite attackers and captured Bethen, Jeshana, and Ephron.
Asaph: Hooray! A strict follower of Yahweh!
Jehoshaphat: Succeeded his father on the throne. Reigned 25 years. He brought peace and prosperity through prayer, praise, and obedience to God.
Joram: Hiss! A King of Judah. He murdered his six brothers upon succession to the throne. He suffered an incurable disease and could not be buried with the other Kings.
Uzziah: Hiss! Became King at 16. He devoted most of his reign to agriculture and improving the land’s yield. He contracted leprosy which was interpreted as punishment for pride. He was forced to abdicate the throne in favor of his son Jotham.
Jotham: Hooray! Mediocre King but he did order his ways before the Lord. Only reigned for eight years.
Ahaz: Hiss! He committed abominable practices including sacrificing his son. He even gave away the altar from Solomon’s Temple.
Hezekiah: Hooray! Utterly loyal to God of Israel. He was ritually clean and faithful in practice.
Manasseh: Hiss! King for 55 years, the longest reigning king of the house of David. He reversed all of the reform of his father and burned his son as an offering turning away from God.
Amos: Hiss! Also Amon, a King of Judah, the son of and successor to Manasseh. Father of Josiah. He was king for two years when murdered by his servants. He was even more guilty of the atrocities of his father.
Josiah: Hooray! He became King at the age of eight and reigned for 31 years. He was known for his expansion and reform. He once again centralized all religious practices to the Temple at Jerusalem. He considered himself in covenant with God and recommitted along with all the people of his land on the eve of Passover and took all idols to other gods out of the Temple. He was regarded by the Prophet Jeremiah who lived during his reign as did Zephaniah. He was the father of Jechoniah.
Jechoniah: Hiss! Also Jehoiachin, came to the throne after the death of his father at the age of 18. After serving only three months he, his mother, wives, servants, princes, and officers surrendered themselves captive to Nebuchadnezzar. This led to the exile of ten thousand soldiers, officers, craftsmen, and smiths leaving the land impoverished of skilled labor and administrators. The Temple and palace were looted. The exile would last for 70 years.
Salatheil: Huh? The eldest son of Jechoniah.
Zerubbabel: Hooray! He receives the message along with the High Priest to rebuild the temple. He is considered an executive officer of God. He outwits another at the court of Darius and is granted leave to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple.
Abiud: Huh?
Eliakim: Hiss! He had economic policies to support his friends in Egpyt at the cost of the people of Judah. As well as an enormous religious decline.
Azor: Huh?
Zadok: Huh?
Achim: Huh?
Eliud: Huh?
Eleazar: Huh? One of seven Eleazars in the Old Testament including an ancestor of Joseph.
Matthan: Huh?
Jacob: Huh? Father of Joseph.
Joseph: Hooray! The son of Jacob, and in the eyes of his compatriots, the father of Jesus. A descendant of David. A just man who would not set aside his pregnant betrothed.
Shew! So what do we learn from this motley crew?
1. Did you know that Hebrew letters also correspond with numbers? Yes, and in the name David, the two D’s and the V are 4+6+4=14…Isn’t that quite funny considering we have 14 generations here nicely divided into 3 segments? Seems quite convenient and more like a play on words especially since when you start digging through this list you discover there are Kings and Queens that were definitely recorded and are missing. The first lesson is, it doesn’t matter who historically is part of your family. When you tell your story what matters is who you’ve included and what you learn from that information.
2. What do we learn from those horrible, wonderful, those without any legacy left in the naming? That God can work with all people. Did you notice there are women on the list? That’s right, in a completely patriarchical culture where geneologies are only traced through the male line we have four women. And, we might expect women like Sarah, Rebecca, Dorcas, or Elizabeth but no. We have Rahab, Tamar, Ruth and Bathsheba! Four women, two Jewish, two Gentile. As well as one Gentile and one Jew who are prostitutes and one who commits adultery which ends up getting her kid on this list. We learn from this particular list that God’s great plan of salvation included Gentiles, even those considered unrighteous. Even those beyond the margins and invisible like women. Why, why does the author care about this?
3. Because the writer of Matthew is in Antioch. The 3rd largest city of its day and time: several hundred thousand. It was filled with ethnic diversity; much tension; numerous disasters from floods, earthquakes, fires, diseases. It was overcrowded with 200 people per acre. Our church property is two acres. That would mean 400 people would live within the confines of our property without the luxury of waste disposal or running water. The conditions were worse than any contemporary city slum today. People had religious beliefs that demons and evil were pervasive. And, the Romans were everywhere, holding occupation of the territory, keeping the rich rich and the poor poorer. Out of this setting comes this story of Jesus. This story of Jesus coming out of the work of the God of Israel, the one who has been there when the world was strong and weak. The God who was there when times were horrible and people ruled and the dark nearly took over and when the light was so bright that people felt it within every aspect of their lives. And, everyone, everyone is included in the telling of this story no matter where or how you live, where you came from, who you grew up to be. Whether God shone, God didn’t, whether you were important or unimportant. You find all people in this story, bringing forth a new chapter on life, love, radical acceptance, compassion and mercy. So what?
4. So, a new season is here. And, it’s getting darker this time of year. The cold sets in a little earlier every night. What is it we will find when we snuggle into our covers. Who is it we will find when we spend some time looking up into the heavens. Who is it that is being born right into this darkness within our lives? It’s the sequel: Genesis 2. I wouldn’t miss a moment if I were you for if you stay tuned in, your life will be transformed through the coming of this star into your life. Let us pray.