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A Grace Too Small

Last evening our sermon passage was found in Genesis 38.  It is an ugly passage.  It tells the story of Judah, his sons Er, Onan, and Shelah, and Er's wife Tamar.  Judah marries a Canaanite woman and has three sons.  His sons are so evil that God kills both Er and Onan for their wickedness.  Because Judah fears the loss of his remaining son, he fails to fulfill his obligation to Tamar of marrying her to his last son so that an heir might be raised up to Er.  Seeing the failure of her father-in-law, Tamar takes matters into her own hand by dressing as a prostitute and sleeping with Judah.  Judah, unaware of with whom he has had sex, subsequently hears that Tamar is pregnant by immorality. He demands that she be brought out and burned for her crime (can anyone say "hypocrite?").  Tamar then produces the evidence against her father-in-law and he relents.  The story ends with the birth of twin boys.

I jokingly called the sermon the "Jerry Springer Patriarch."  Judah certainly could give any "trailer trash" a run for their money.

But this is where my concept of grace is oh so small.  This horrible situation ends up producing a child that will appear in the genealogy of Jesus.  Tamar will become one of only four women mentioned in that genealogy.  Is there anyone too low for God's grace to lift?  Is there any situation so wicked that God's grace cannot work?  God delights in taking the utter moral catastrophes and turing them into trophies for his love and grace.

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