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Hello Buckie! How’s everybody doing out there today. After yesterday’s high winds, I hope you’re well and that nobody’s house blew to Oz. Wow, that was a wild day. Anyway, thanks for tuning in. You’re listening to Radio Free Buckie, and I’m your host, Sam Burton. Glad you’re here.
We’ve got a couple events coming up real quick that I want to take notice of. First of all, this weekend is the Christmas Cracker. Wow, can you believe it’s already that time of year? I remember last year, it was cold. Brr. But what a load of fun it was. Anyway, I do hope you get out and enjoy all the festivities. As usual, at our Church, the Buckie Church of Christ, on West Church and Pringle Streets, Glenn Campbell is having another fund raiser for the youth drama team and they’ll be hosting a luncheon. Brittan and I plan to be there for a good part of the day, so do say hello.
On Sunday, the Second of December, we’re hosting a movie night at the Church. We’re showing, I Can Only Imagine. It’s the movie about how the song came to be. It’s really a great film and you’re invited to come join us. The film will be starting at 6:30, but the doors will be open by 5:45 for everyone to come on in and get some freshly popped corn and/or get some fresh candy floss and find a good seat. The back rows fill up quickly, so get there early.
And finally, On Saturday, 8th December, we’re holding our second annual, Bake Off, cake competition. I’m sure you’ve seen some posters around town, but if not, it’s a baking competition for fun and prizes. Last year we had about 15 cakes. We’d like to double that this year. So we have some new categories. First, we have two categories for children up to age 15. We have one for adults. There is also a category for non cake bakers, like cookies, puddings, or other desserts. And we have an open competition for: The biggest cake disaster. It is only 5 pounds to enter, and all proceeds go to the Fishermen’s Hall. So please come and join the fun.
If you have any questions about any of those events just write me at radiofreebuckie@gmail.com.
Have any of you noticed all the interest and hubub about tracing your ancestry? This whole DNA thing is really starting to catch on. For the low low price of about 49 to 100 pounds, a company will post a kit to you. Basically, you spit in the cup and post it back to the company. In a few weeks they will send you a complete DNA profile, including the names of relatives, racial background, where your ancestors come from, whether or not you have any Neandrathals in your family tree, etc. It’s all good fun and making these companies filthy rich. We’re fascinated by it.
At the same time, one of the parts of the Bible that drives most of us crazy are all the genealogies, sometimes called the BEGATS. You know. Someone begat so and so and he begat whats his name and etc. etc. They drive most of us crazy. They are boring and we can’t even pronounce half the names. So usually, we just skip over them. You know you do.
But I want to try and change your mind about the genealogies in the Bible. Today, we’re going to talk about the one that starts the book of Matthew, the very first book of the New Testament. I mean the book starts right off with it right in verse one. Most of us see that, and we close our Bibles right up, or we decide to skip to the book of Mark.
But Matthew was very smart in his genealogy, giving people a great deal to think about. In his day, this would have been thought provoking and controversial. He is showing that Jesus is the heir to the throne of Israel. No controversy there, the Jewish Messiah should be heir to the throne. But he mentions 5 women. 5 significant women. Nobody did that. Especially this list of women.
First there is Tamar. She is Judah’s daughter in Law. She’s a gentile. And Judah father’s twins by her. This is a long and sordid story. The short version is, She was married to Judah’s oldest son, he died before children, so as the custom was, she was then married off to his younger brother. He also died. Because Judah’s next son was too young, she was sent home to her family with a promise that she’d be married to his next son once he was old enough. That’s a tough thing for us to understand that custom. To us, it sounds weird and kind of gross. But to all of them, it was quite normal. Anyway, Judah in time forgot about Tamar. After his wife died, in order to get Judah’s attention, Tamar dresses up as a prostitute and slept with him. I know, it sounds like something straight out of netflix. Anyway, she turns up pregnant. There is a big scandalous showdown, and Judah admits they are his babies. But although its a huge scandal in town, She is in the family tree of Jesus.
The next woman is Rahab. She is also a gentile. And she is a prostitute. She ran a hotel and brothel in Jericho. We read about her in the book of Exodus. She protected the spies, and because of that she was spared when the Jews took the City by force. Then she marries a Jew named Salmon, and has a son named Boaz.
The third woman mentioned is Ruth. She has a whole book of the old testament that tells here story. She is a gentile. She is married and her husband dies. She moves in with her mother in law, Naomi. They are both widows and become very poor. Naomi has a rich relative who has a farm. She talks Ruth into working at his farm. Short version, she and the farmer fall in love and get married. The rich farmer is, Boaz. Ruth gives birth to a son, Obed, who is the Grandfather of King David.
The next woman mentioned is Bathsheba. Bathsheba may or may not have been a gentile. Her name means daughter of Sheba which could be her father’s name, or could mean she is from sheba in Africa. Either way, she was married to Uriah the Hittite, one of David’s most famous soldiers. He and Bathsheba were neighbors of David. David has an affair with Bathsheba while Uriah is away in the army, and she gets pregnant. As a result, in the end, David has Uriah killed and marries Bathsheba. Their son dies. It is a tragic scene in the Bible. Anyway. David does love her, despite all the scandal of tragedy. She has a second son, named Solomon. Yes, THAT solomon.
Would you look at that list of women. All 4 of them are gentiles. Three of them are of quetionable morality. Who would list them in their genealogy as the only women. Oh wait, there’s another. Her name is Mary. She is a young woman from Nazareth who is told she is going to have a baby, and her child would be the son of God. She can’t understand this message because though she’s engaged, she’s a virgin. The angel says, God will take care of that part so she will be pure when the child is born and still be a virgin for her wedding day.
See, Jesus is not the product of perfection. The family tree is loaded with liars, cheats, false religious leaders, adulterers and even murderers. His family is a mess. Just like yours and mine. He knows what we feel like, what we endure. He gets it. But you see, when the Bible mentions these women, Matthew is telling us, Jesus died for ordinary people, and he died for some pretty wicked ones. The gospel is for everyone. Whoever we are and where ever we’re from. The people who read his gospel in his day, understood exactly that. And he ends the same way, The book of matthew ends with these words from Jesus. “Therefore go and make disciples of every nation, baptizing them in the name of the father, son and Holy Spirit, and teach them to obey every thing I’ve commanded you. Surely I will be with you, to the very end of the age.”
That is so awesome, Matthew declares at the beginning and the end of his memories of Jesus, that Jesus came, not just for the religious elite, or the rich and famous, but for every single one of us. Now that’s some good news to start of this Christmas season. Think about it.
That’s all I’ve got for today. I sure hope to see you at one or more of the events coming up. That’s the Cracker, at the movie, or at the Cake Off. If you have any questions to ask about any of the events or about the stuff in Matthew’s Gospel, write me at radiofreebuckie@gmail.com , or use the comments section at www.radiofreebuckie.com or pm me at the radiofreebuckie FB page. Until next week. I’m done. I’m out.
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