Did Matthew Have to Include Her?!

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
December 4th 2005
Communion Meditation
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
“Did Matthew Have to Include Her ?!”
2 Peter 3:8-15a; Matthew 1:1-5a; Joshua 6:22-25

Today we are continuing our Advent journey by learning about one of the four women named in the genealogy of Jesus. The woman we meet today is a Canaanite woman Rahab. What most people know about Rahab is this: She was a prostitute. At this point some of us might be thinking: “Look, we know she is part of Jesus family tree but can’t we just leave her name off the list? After all, she just does not fit with our image of good church folk.” Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your take on this, her name is included. As such, we are going to include her in our study of the women in Jesus’ family tree.
Of all the women who could have been named in the long family tree of Jesus why is Rahab only one of four women named? What is it about Rahab that gives her special notice in the genealogy? Does her inclusion in the list tell us something about God’s intention for Christian community? What does it say about who God expects the community of faith to welcome with open arms? Today, I believe our encounter with Rahab, foremother of Jesus, will give us insight into the radically inclusive love of God.
To find the story of Rahab we must go back in the bible to the book of Joshua. Rahab comes on the scene after the death of Moses but before the people of Israel cross over the Jordan River. Before crossing the river, Joshua sends two spies into the city of Jericho. Upon their arrival in the city, the spies immediately go and visit a prostitute’s house. The prostitute’s home they visit is none other than Rahab, who we read about in the family tree of Jesus. When they meet her, it turns out that she has already heard about the people of Israel and their God.
Shortly after their arrival in the city, the king is informed of their presence. He commands Rahab to turn the spies over to him immediately. She tells the king the spies have already left. Rahab also deceives the king as to their route of departure. So, after sending the king and his men on a wild goose chase, she provides a safe escape route for the spies. However, before Rahab sends the spies on their way, she extracts a pledge from them. Rahab makes them promise that she and her family be spared when the city is destroyed.
While Rahab is often remembered for saving the spies that is not what is remarkable about this story. The reason that Rahab is remembered is that she acts to save these men because of her faith in God. Before she requests amnesty for her family she makes this statement:
“I know that the Lord has given you this land, and that dread of you has fallen on us… for we have heard… all about what the Lord has done at the Red Sea and on the desert journey.” She ends by saying: “The Lord your God is indeed God in heaven above and on Earth below.” It is this final affirmation of faith for which she ought to be remembered.
We know that Rahab was not at the Red Sea when God delivered the people of Israel from the great army of Pharaoh. Rahab did not travel through the desert and see the ways in which God provided for the community of faith. Rahab was not at the mountain where God formed the covenant with the people. Despite all of this, Rahab believes in this God about whom she has only heard. Her witness of faith is actually in direct contrast to Joshua. God promised Joshua the land yet Joshua seems unable to fully trust that God will provide even though he had seen what God could do first hand.
It is because of her deep faith that both the letter of Hebrews and the letter of James commend her faith. In both letters, Rahab’s faith is equal to and mentioned in the same breath as Abraham’s faith. She is given the same honor in those letters as the great patriarch of our faith. However, each time Rahab is mentioned in those letters she is referred to as: Rahab the prostitute. It appears that this designation is included each to remind the community about the reality of this ancestor of our faith.
The reality about Rahab was this: Rahab was an outsider in the community of Israel. She was a Canaanite which means she was a foreign woman. Foreign women in the later books of the Old Testament are said to be the reason for all the bad things which happens to the community. On top of that, Rahab was also an outsider in her own community because she was a prostitute. And yet, this foreign women, this prostitute, is not only listed as one of only four women in the family tree of Jesus, but is also known as one of the great ancestors of our faith. If this does not shock our sensibilities or strike us as scandalous, then we are not listening. So what does it all mean?
Tradition tells us that once Jericho was destroyed, Rahab and her family are the only people to survive the destruction of the city. It is her faith in God, and her willingness to act on this faith which has made her a legend. However, despite this witness there was one thing that I could not find. Nowhere was I able to find any evidence that Rahab gave up her profession or ‘changed’ her ways. As I searched in vain for some evidence of this I realized something. Despite my belief in God’s radically inclusive love, I found myself searching for a way to put boundaries around that love. It turns out that my searching for that evidence was all about my own cultural assumptions about who is acceptable and welcome in God’s community of faith.
Including Rahab and the other woman into the genealogy of Jesus, makes a powerful statement about the household of God. It is also a powerful statement about who is welcome in the community of faith. Any community of faith which claims to follow Jesus must always remember that Rahab, who was a prostitute, is welcome and included in God’s family. Because God calls and claims this prostitute as a child of God we must expand our understanding about who should be included in our faith community.
In the witness of Rahab, we are being called to share this truly radical story of God’s love with all people. If we really believe this story and our lives have been infused with the radically inclusive love of God, we will indeed share this truth beyond our small circle of friends. So, this season of Advent, as we wait for the coming of Jesus once again, let us tell others about the God who tells us that we are all welcome, that we are all loved and, that we are all children of God. This is what Advent is all about. Amen.