Sermons
The Forgotten Chapter
THE FORGOTTEN CHAPTER
Sermon Outline By Terry Siverd
Cortland Church of Christ / December 04, 2016
In these post-Thanksgiving days, many of us are turning out attention to Christmas.
Did any of you actually participate in Black-Friday shopping?
Isnt it odd and disturbing that such a joyous and festive time of the year should have a BLACK Friday.
This “Black Friday” term was coined several years ago because of the rage that often accompanies the shopping.
As I mentioned to you earlier, Lord willing, Jeannie and I and Mark and Tim and two other friends,
will be leaving for a week-long vacation on the day after Christmas to spend the final week of the year
in a cabin in Highlands, NC. We are hoping that the forest fires will be a thing of the past by that time.
Not just for our benefit, but more so because of the devastation that has impacted so many lives.
Last year, when we stayed in Bryson City, we scouted out Highlands are (about 5-10 miles north of Georgia).
It is a beautiful part of our country with mountains and waterfalls and panoramic vistas (at least it was last year).
Because the fires have been so extreme in western NC (near Highlands), we’d considered a change of plans - -
maybe switching to the Gatlinburg area where typically lots of rentals are available on short notice.
Sadly, we have all seen the carnage that has now struck Gatlinburg.
We’re going somewhere - - if not Highlands, we may end up in Savannah or Charleston or somewhere else.
With the start of the new year, I am planning to begin a new sermon series (to be announced soon).
Nic Wildman will be preaching on January 1st and I will return to the pulpit on the following Sunday.
As I stated in today’s FamilyMatters, I want to do some preaching from Ruth, Esther and Job.
These three books will be the focus of the 2016 L2L Convention and I want to help prepare our “kids”.
Next Sunday, I intend to speak on the book of Ruth. I hope all of you L2L attendees will be present.
This morning I have titled my message, The Forgotten Chapter.
The full title of this sermon is, “The Forgotten Chapter Of The Christmas Story”.
I will have a Christmas sermon on December 25th, but this is an early-bird lead-in to Christmas.
Open your Bible to Matthew Chapter One
Mt.1:1ff details the genealogy of Jesus.
Never, in forty years of preaching, have I had a sermon on the genealogy of Christ.
It’s not exactly the kind of text that lends itself to a sermon per se - - a college thesis, perhaps.
But don’t despair, our intention is to highlight a few select entries from these genealogical archives.
If you choose to begin a yearly Bible reading for 2017, you will likely skim over Matthew’s first 17 verses.
This is not a section of Scripture that lends itself to reading, much less memorizing.
I don’t know of a single hymn writer who has ever attempted to set this passage to music.
One little boy was asked by his Sunday school teacher, “What did you study in class today?”.
He stated, “I learned about all the ‘forgots’ of the Bible: you know,
Abraham forgot Issac … and Issac forgot Jacob … and Jacob forgot Judah.
In many ways, the genealogical records of Jesus have been forgotten by modern Christians.
But these records were vitally important to the Jews of the first century.
Rather than being a forgotten chapter, this was a key and critical text - - absolutely essential to the story of Jesus.
The genealogical records were prime Biblical real estate, because they determined one’s real estate (property).
These records were also essential to the functioning of the priesthood & sacrificial system of the Jerusalem Temple.
The geneaology records also connected to the Christmas story in a very specific way.
Lk.2:1 & 3 tells of a census decree made by Caesar Augustus that required registration - - everyone in his home city.
Thus Joseph & Mary made that arduous journey (with Mary nearing delivery) from Nazareth to Bethlehem.
And it was in Bethlehem, as the Old Testament prophesied (Mic.5:2), that the Savior would be born.
If it were not for this genealogy we would not be singing, “O Little Town Of Bethlehem”.
But this is not the central focus of our message this morning.
Matthew’s genealogical record shows that Jesus had deep roots that descended from the royal line of King David.
Our emphasis today is on a few select members of Jesus’ family tree - - four women in particular.
Some of you have done ancestral research. It can be quite enlightening, but it can also be somewhat disturbing.
We all have some skeletons in our closet. Some black sheep. Some characters we might prefer to disown.
Seldom does one do a thorough research of their family tree without finding a few “diseased” limbs.
Regarding the genealogy of Jesus, Ray Pritchard states, “It’s almost as if God pulled together a rogue’s gallery”.
We don’t know details about everyone person on “the list”, but of the ones we do know, it’s not always good.
Abraham lied about his wife Sarah. Isaac did the same. Jacob was a cheater. Judah was a fornicator.
David was an adulterer. Solomon was a polygamist. Manasseh was the evilest of the kings of Judah. Etc..
Interwoven throughout this list is what we might call, A SCARLET THREAD, testifying of God’s marvelous grace.
We’ve often noted that if we were given the task of selecting the twelve apostles, none of them would have made it.
Such is also the case with the genealogical record of Jesus. Most of these names appear to us as “unworthies”.
Matthew’s list includes four women. This, in itself, is odd because Jewish genealogical records
did not typically include women. They simply traced the family tree from father to son.
But, here in Mt.1:1-6, we read of four women. With the exception of Ruth, none possessed exemplary character.
TAMAR
Vs.3 / to Judah were born Perez and Zerah by Tamar…
The story of Tamar is found in Gen.38.
Tamar was the wife of Er and a daughter-in-law to Judah. After Er’s death (he was evil), Onan rose up to do his brotherly duty by taking Tamar as his wife, but then he died leaving her husbandless and childless (a double-bind).
By law and custom, Tamar should have been given to Judah’s next surviving son, Shelah, however Judah reneged on his obligation. Rather than waiting for God to help her, Tamar hatched a scheme to sleep with her father-in-law.
She disguised herself as a temple harlot to seduce her father-in-law and thereby secure her rights.
She became pregnant and gave birth to Judah’s twin son, Perez and Zerah.
Judah can be faulted here (he confesses his evil / Gen.38:26), but Tamar’s actions were evil, wrong and immoral.
This is a sad but true story of human frailty and weakness - - of the sinfulness of humanity.
That people like Judah and Tamar would be included in the line of the Messiah is a message of God’s pure grace.
Neither deserved it, but both on the list and woven into the branches of the family tree of Jesus.
RAHAB
Vs.5a / to Salmon was born Boaz by Rahab…
Most of us known the story of Rabab found in Joshua 2. We studied about her in this morning’s Bible class.
She is known as Rahab the harlot (Josh.2:1 - - cf. Heb.11:31 and Js.2:25).
She was a Canaanite - - a nation of people who were hated enemies of the nation of Israel.
Yet, despite her sins, Rahab became a woman of faith. It’s her story that introduces us to the scarlet cord of grace.
She married Salmon and gave birth to Boaz. A Canaanite; A harlot; A liar. Yet there she is in the lineage of Christ.
RUTH
Vs.5b / And to Boaz was born Obed by Ruth…
Ruth was a Moabite. The history of these people goes back to Gen.19 and the destruction of Sodom & Gomorrah.
Lot escaped with his wife and two daughters, but his wife looked back and was turned into a pillar of salt.
As sick and sinful as it may sound, Lot’s daughters conspired to lure their father into sleeping with them.
The feared being childless. On successive nights they got him drunk and slept with him and both became pregnant.
Both daughters gave birth to sons, born of incest, Moab and Ammon.
These two sons grew up to become wicked and became bitter enemies of the nation of Israel.
Next Sunday I’ll tell you the fuller story of Ruth. Ruth the Moabite married Boaz the Israelite.
God’s providence brought them together and they gave birth to a son named Obed.
Obed had a son named Jesse and Jesse had a son named David, making Ruth King David’s great-grandmother.
Though Ruth came from the detested nation of Moab, she is also found in the lineage of Jesus.
BATHSHEBA
Vs.6 / And to David was born Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah…
The story of Bathsheba’s adultery with King David is recorded in 2Sam.11.
Most of us know this story quite well, so we do not need to rehearse all of the details this morning.
A scandal that began with lust and adultery evolved into a cover-up and ultimately murder.
The child that was conceived that night died soon after birth and David’s family and empire began to crumble.
Eventually David marries Bathsheba and they have another son, Solomon.
There is dirt all over this episode, yet here again we find Bathsheba in the lineage of Christ.
Let’s summarize briefly. Four women. Tales of incest, immorality, deception, harlotry, adultery and even murder.
Gentiles - - a Canaanite, a Moabite. Yet all four are in the bloodline that leads to Christ Jesus!
Why would God include such women (and men) in such a list?
(1) God did this to send a message to self-righteous people.
Think how the Pharisees must have viewed this genealogy filled with liars, murderers, thieves, adulterers & harlots.
It wasn’t a pretty picture and it certainly wasn’t an un-tarnished family tree.
This was a stinging rebuke to all high-minded and self-righteous Jews.
Jesus, their Jewish Messiah, was born by means of a badly flawed family tree. He came from a long line of sinners.
(2) God did this so that His grace might be richly displayed.
If you read this record looking for a pure lineage filled with perfect men and women, you will miss the point.
The focus of the lineage is not on the sinlessness of the family tree, but rather on the grace of God.
The only hero in this lineage is GOD.
No matter what your past might look like, Jesus can save you. He’s made a place for us - - there’s room in His inn.
No matter how dysfunctional your family tree, no matter how much brokenness and pain, Jesus is the answer.
This is at the very heart of the story of the incarnation of Jesus.
It is a sometimes forgotten chapter than needs to be remembered well.
So when we gather this season with our dysfunctional families
(I keep thinking of Chevy Chase & National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation),
remember that this season, the Christmas story, is a story of God’s grace.
