Tagged: Church
“Why Not?” (Rough Draft of a Sermon to a Black Congregation Inspired by This Morning’s Lackluster One)
The Blacks end their Sunday services with an actual, earnest invitation to follow Jesus. I have related that observation here many times. That is one of the many, many reasons why I attend their service, dragging my family in tow.
Yet, as noble and biblically sound as is the theology of Black Baptists, one thing the Blacks do not seem to understand is the “why” behind the diminishment of their congregations. I do. And yet given my irrevocable status as a white man, I am under no illusion that I will be preaching to a Black congregation anytime soon. But if I did, the below contains the flavor I’d bring.
****
(Always pause for what seems like an eternity before beginning. This is a known public speaking trick. People came to see you speak; they will be more and more silent and curious the longer you do not speak.)
“Why not?”
The gospels oftentimes connect the events of Jesus’ life with the word “immediately”.
In the original Koine Greek, the word translated means, “immediately”.
A few verses are in order.
“And immediately the little girl stood up and began to walk, for she was twelve years old. And immediately they were completely astounded.” Mark 5:42 LSB
“And immediately they left their nets and followed Him.” Matthew 4:20 LSB
“And immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed.” Mark 1:42 LSB
“And immediately Judas went to Jesus and said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed Him.” Matthew 26:49 LSB
(The Blacks love when a preacher drives a point home. There is almost an emotional roller-coaster feel to this technique. Just when you think the preacher is losing the group, he’ll insist on lengthening the list and the congregation will vocalize that they are not only picking up what he is laying down, but that they don’t want him to ever stop. So I’d continue.)
“And immediately the news about Him spread everywhere into all the surrounding district of Galilee.” Mark 1:28 LSB.
“Immediately the boy’s father cried out and was saying, “I do believe; help my unbelief.””Mark 9:24 LSB
“came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His garment, and immediately her hemorrhage stopped.” Luke 8:44 LSB
“And immediately he rose up before them, and picked up what he had been lying on, and went home glorifying God.” Luke 5:25 LSB
(Now I’d have to be shouting over the whipped-up-to-a-frenzy congregants)
And in Luke Part 2, commonly known as Acts, we find,
“and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.”” Acts 9:20 LSB
(Still loud, but signalling that the moment is passing, I’d belabor the word.)
Eeeee-mediately.
Immediately.
Immediately.
(Here I will share with the reader that Booker Taliaferro Washington in Up From Slavery has a chapter on public speaking and says the following. “If in an audience of a thousand people there is one person who is not in sympathy with my views, or is inclined to be doubtful, cold, or critical, I can pick him out. When I have found him I usually go straight at him, and it is great satisfaction to watch the process of his thawing out.” So here in the sermon I will search him out and pause until I find him or her. Then, looking at them, I will utter once and again…)
Immediately.
(Another long pause.)
Our problem is that we do not believe in immediately. It’s okay to admit it. We do not believe in immediately.
We are a culture with a great tradition of developing expertise. You know I am right, but to begin my defense of my claim, I offer for your consideration that a very popular book a decade ago made its claim easy to comprehend. The author said that all the best spent 10,000 hours on their particular skill or talent, before rewards came pouring in.
But we don’t need an expert who wrote a book to tell us anything.
We believe our kids should go to school for 17 years, add pre-k and it’s 18. And sometimes we encourage them to go for another 11 (“they’re called doctors”); that’s 29 years before we consider that they are ready to officially have a job.
I can tell you from experience that an Air Force pilot takes about 200 flight hours until they get their wings, but don’t be fooled, that process often takes 2 years of total time. And we don’t officially get the keys to the aircraft often for around 4 more years.
Immediately. Where is it? Not in us.
That’s why I say our problem is we do not believe in immediately.
Our problem is we do not believe immediately.
Indulge me as I give more examples.
True love…?
Waits.
Thank you. Please call them out as you are able.
A good thing takes…?
Time.
What’s the…?
Rush.
Don’t go too…?
Fast.
Tadpoles don’t turn into frogs…?
Overnight.
Only fools…?
Rush in.
Life’s not about the destination, life’s about the…?
Journey.
I don’t want to confuse anyone, but I know there are some biblical scholars here. So here’s one for ya’ll.
“Be of good courage and he shall strengthen thy heart…”
“Wait, I say, on the LORD.”
Back to our culture.
Good things come to those who…?
Wait.
I believe my claim stands.
We do not believe in immediately.
The reason we do not believe in immediately and the reason we follow our culture is two-fold. Firstly, we have bought—hook, line, and sinker—the man-made philosophy that the only things that exist are the material things. Worse, we raise are children under the assumption that the best teachers are those who know the most about the material world.
Secondly, we do not think when we read the Bible. And we do not read enough of the Bible. And we do not push the Bible’s claims far enough when we do read them.
Genesis 1:1. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
What are the heavens? What do you picture?
What is the earth? What do you picture?
Moreover, does anyone in this body of believers honestly think that their answers would match anyone else’s here?
All I you need to know for today is the heavens are immaterial. They cannot be calculated, measured, or weighed.
The heavens is from where the Word of God emanates. “Let there be light.” Where was God when he said that? The heavens. But where are the heavens?
We look towards the stars to see the heavens, as if the heavens lie beyond the material world. This is theologically unsound.
I need to be clear.
(The pacing of this next point is beloved by the Blacks.)
There is no telescope big enough; there could never be built a telescope large enough…
You hearing me people?
…you could fill an entire hemisphere of the planet earth with a telescope;
Anyone here understand yet?
…I am telling you, you can take half of all of the known universe and convert it into a telescope with the clearest lenses to see as far as possible and you still will not see the heavens.
(Slow way down here.)
We do not believe in immediately.
We don’t.
Why not?
Why not?
Why not?
“And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it happened, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived.” Numbers 21:9 LSB
Immediately. Implied.
“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.” John 3:14-15 LSB
Immediately. Implied.
Why not believe in the god who created the heavens and the earth? Why not believe in the most powerful, the all-powerful living god?
I know why you are hesitant. Every believer sitting next to you, in front of you, behind you, across the aisle from you, up in the choir loft, every believer here was also hesitant for the same reason. The reason is always the same. You’re hesitant because you think you know a thing or two about this god you’ve been hearing about. The trouble is you have limited him to the god of earth. Or maybe you’re some kind of uppity and have some method of imagining he is the god of the known universe. Well, I am here to tell you that you need to go bigger, and you need to start thinking biblically. God is the god of the earth and the heavens. The material and the immaterial. He is concerned with you and it takes no time for him to work. You might say he can start work on you, say it with me, immediately.
And on the immaterial side of life, love, faith, hope, and others, forgiveness, patience, compassion, he specializes in immediately.
So why not believe that Jesus can save you immediately? His call is irresistible. You know it, and I know it. His yoke is light, and his burden is easy. In fact, you’re doing the hard labor right now as you battle what you know to be right. You’re probably sweating. Am I wrong? Heart racing. Come on down, son. Jesus is calling.
****
Again, it’s a draft. For fun. And I would probably go a bit more orthodox Baptist somehow at the end. “Early, Early!, Sunday morning, he got up!” and all. But I felt like recording this idea anyhow and why have a blog if you only post stuff you’re comfortable with posting?
The Preacher Said, “Joy Cometh in the Morning” in Today’s Service. Was It Code Today?
This morning was my last morning with the Black Baptists before the election. (I work next Sunday.) Going in, I was curious what kind of political talk we’d hear. For the past several Sundays, the gist was always “Trump bad,” but never quite “Kamala good.” And Baptist preachers wouldn’t be Baptist preachers if they didn’t say, “Vote!”
Today’s service had two political moments. The first occurred way before the sermon, during a fairly random reading of a Black History Experience. I don’t recall the exact words, but I remember smiling as the lady said something about how important this election was.
I thought, “Hype!! It’s all hype. She’s a sucker. No different than at this Super Bowl or during these playoffs ‘we are witnessing something never before seen!’ It’s all hype. Don’t fall for it.”
The second moment requires a brief reminder. There are many sayings or scriptures or proverbs which the Black Baptists all around the country utter at least once during each Sunday service. “But early, EARLY Sunday morning…” is one. Another is, “God loves…a cheerful giver.” A third is, “You can’t out-give God.” Another is, “He woke you up this morning!” Another is, “As the old saints used to say…”
The one in question, and behind this post is, “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.”
Seriously. If a woman who has seen five or more decades and survived at least one round of cancer doesn’t say this into a microphone, with perfect timing and emphasis on “But Joy!!…comes in the morning,” then you weren’t at a Baptist church.
Today, however, the sermon was essentially a Stephen-esque recounting of all it took for Moses to strike the rock rather than speak to it. Then, as the capstone, she delivered the somehow never-tired, “Remember, weeping may endure for a night,” (wait for it) “But JOY comes in the morning.”
It was code. It was so clearly code. “Vote Kamala—the candidate of JOY. And stop worrying. The LORD won’t let him win.” Had she said it at any other time in the story, I wouldn’t have even noticed it. But it was delivered with an ever-so-slightly-out-of-place force, an ever-so-slight amount of “indulge me, Saints” that I am certain it was meant as a Gilead-made balm to the community.
My aforementioned Ethiopian wife didn’t see it that way.
What do you think?
Another Example of the Rewards of Reading in General, and Reading the Great Books of the Western World in Specific.
I have written or implied here that it is my belief that the Great Books of the Western World set is nearly as inspired as the books of the Holy Bible. No one cares.
But I care. And so I persist. Here, then, is another example of the rewards of reading them. I am currently in Vol 4 “Religion and Theology” of the companion guided reader set “Great Ideas Program”. After Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound, there was some Old and New Testament passages and now St. Augustine’s (aw-GUSS-tinz) Confessions.
Some backstory (“Learning is a change in behavior based on experience”) is relevant.
While at Seminary, studying the Bible in its original languages (which truly means being told aloud in English that translators fear “Yahweh was hot” will sound too human ((ergo, not separate—or the Holy in “Holy Bible” (((The “separate book(s)”))))) and so they have opted for the supposedly more esoteric and divine sounding “Yahweh was angry”), I persuaded myself that these early humans were exceedingly (and uniquely) concrete in their writing. And I still believe this to be true, the following reward notwithstanding.
For example of what I mean by this unique “concreteness”, I believe when Moses would tell the Genesis account, he would sweep his arm over his head, from horizon to horizon, as he said, “In the beginning God created the heavens” and then sweep his arm under his feet, from horizon to horizon, as he concluded, “and the earth.” Get it? In other words, I believe that he pointed at the night sky (in my mind I can never shake that all the Old Testament stories were told only after darkness near a pleasant campfire) as he said “heavens” and then the ground as he said “earth”. In short, I believe that Moses did not try to trick anyone or talk about anything unseen in order to talk about the unseen Yahweh. Put one other way, I don’t believe there are two steps of belief. It’s not “Let me explain one unseen. Got it? And then, stick with me, you’ll get God!”
No. For me, my theology—based on content of Bible, to include when it was written—all that the Bible authors ever did was use material world to explain spiritual world.
That backstory complete, let’s get to the heart of the post.
Augustine has a book (chapter) which translators subtitle, “Augustine proceeds to comment on Genesis 1:1, and explains the “heaven” to mean that spiritual and incorporeal creation which cleaves to God unintermittingly, always beholding his countenance; “earth,” the formless matter whereof the corporeal creation was afterwards formed…”
Like you’re undoubtedly thinking, I also thought, “That is an intense sentence. I had to read and re-read it too much to want more.” But I pressed on.
And as I read, with my gesturing Moses in mind, I couldn’t help but notice something. Augustine was spending a lot of time defining formlessness or describing how he couldn’t wrap his mind around it—despite wanting to understand it and then explain it to others.
Then it hit me.
My gesture theory is flawed, in one sense. At the stage of creation in verse 1 of Genesis, a careful reading reveals that this “earth” that Moses points to CANNOT be Planet Earth (however little Moses and mankind knew of it at the time) because the next part of the story is, “formless and void”. Planet Earth is not, formless and void, so something else MUST BE meant. But what?
I still say Moses gestured (and meant it) while he spoke. But I am now forced to clarify that he definitely added a clarification that means he does not believe he is talking about Planet Earth and the rest of the material universe when he gestures.
The new question on this Sunday of Sundays: According to the text, what did God create, by creating “the heavens and the earth”, because it certainly can’t mean material/corporeal/measurable bodies beloved by physicists?
Augustine wrote down his ideas. I have some reactions to those. Others have recorded their ideas. The idea here is not to suggest we can know what Moses meant. The idea is that we can live richer lives knowing that we don’t know what he meant.
“Learning is a change in behavior based on experience.”
In short: the reward for my reading from the Great Books of the Western World is that I learned, that despite my previous intentions and best efforts, that I was wrong. And the “right”, oddly enough, was plainly written and right in front of me for all this time, too. Fascinating.
I’m a Veteran and I’m Not Voting. (Trump Wins.) And What I Plan To Do If He Loses.
My acquaintances are disturbed when they encounter the fact that I am not voting. Here are my reasons for not voting, as plain as I can write them.
Firstly, I do not want Donald J. Trump or Kamala Harris to be the POTUS during the years 2025-2028.
Secondly, I do not support some higher principle on the issue of voting than that.
Got it? It’s not complicated.
On to the next question my acquaintances have often posed, “So you think life is fine and dandy and this election isn’t as meaningful as the general mood (which you confess to feel) suggests and that Kamala is a sacrificial lamb and the Dems are really just looking at 2028. I get it. But what does it mean if she wins? Like, what do you think it would mean since it would mean that you do not have your finger on the pulse, that you do not have accurate assumptions, and that you do not even know up from down? What then, Pete?”
Fair question. Firstly, action-wise, I plan to go to a store and buy an American flag and flag pole. Then I plan to return home and hang it upside down outside my door. One neighbor already does this. I have always liked and respected the silent power it holds. I also have always liked the idea of citizens silently solidifying through such tactics.
Then I will wait. I do not know for how long. What will I wait for? A hero. There are no heroes at the moment. It may be decades before one emerges. But one will come again. And on that day, I will support the hero—even so far as with violence against men who oppose the hero.
But, and mark my words, none of this is going to happen. My house will stay nondescript. Life is fine-and-dandy and you’re all suckers for believing the hype.
Two Church-Related Thoughts On a Sunday
1. About the Bible: Us Christians love the underdog. We teach ourselves the Bible through this perspective. As a seminarian, I prefer to read the Bible from as neutral of a stance as possible and see what it has to say—and persuade others to do the same. For example, Moses made his tribe (the Levites) the priests (or, cynically, the tribe that doesn’t have to work for their food). Another big not-underdog is David’s Mighty Men. Forget the whole “demonstrated proficiency with a weapon of war” aspect of the infamous David and Goliath battle. Instead move to the fact that, in the same inspired account, he kept mighty men around him.
I ask you, dear sensitive snowflake reader, can you see how, in and of themselves, these facts merely dethrone your love of the underdog, and have nothing to say about the content of Scripture still?
Content, people. Content.
2. The Black Baptists were at it again this morning. Many, I’d say most, are veterans, and so the whole Arlington thing was naturally on their mind. Obviously it was brought up as evidence against Trump. As I sat among them, I couldn’t help but imagine what I would say if given a chance to speak. (Keep in mind, I am not voting for Trump. I just maintain that he had this thing won for a long time. And I’m white.)
After some consideration, I think I would say, “I will happily list many, many negative aspects of Trump and the Republican Party as a whole (though I do not know much about the Republican Party) which will be seen when they serve in the administration next term. I am curious if you all would do the same about Kamala. I am under the impression that Blacks think she is perfect. I know you think she is beautiful. I know you think she is smart. I know you think she is joyful. I know you think she is kind. I know you think she is good. I know you think she is sexy. I know you think she is strong. I know you think she is motherly. I also know that those all *might* actually be true descriptions. But I just heard that you believe in one god, and you just said his name is Jesus. Please list some negatives.”
The DNC Is Overplaying the Black Card
At the modern, respected, and accredited evangelical Seminary I attended, the guest preacher at one Tuesday Chapel was a pastor of a large church in either Michigan or Wisconsin. His sermon was supposed to model to us future preachers a near perfect exegetical (as opposed to topical and/or liturgical) evangelical and biblical sermon. I remember the sermon encouraged “humility”. I also remember he used PowerPoint perfectly. (This means no words, just pictures. And take the picture down after you make your point.) But most of all, I remember that they said he went down south to start a church and never really got one off the ground. But when he went back to where he was from (WI/MI), he had a congregation of several thousand. The implication was “one’s language is far more than English”. (This concept is not new or debated.)
Likewise, the DNC is overplaying the Black Card. This is another reason why I (and you) know Harris loses. They are not speaking to the whole audience.
It is certainly true that the Blacks own pop culture—what influencer-wanna-be teens don’t act Black around friends? No Black teen attempts to ball by imitating Musk or Romney or Tom Cotton or (this is oddly difficult). White is Right, but it is not cool. Mic Drop evidence: Beyonce opened the intro of the USA to the Olympics. (She’s Black.)
The Blacks (even Black Lesbians) own sports. (Thank you, MJ.)
The Blacks own public speaking. From MLK Jr., to Jesse Jackson, to Malcolm X, to Obama, to Oprah, to Corey Booker, to Tim Scott, to any Black Baptist gospel preacher, all other cultures would only improve with diligent study of Black orators. (Tip: Chew the meat; spit out the bone. \m/)
The Blacks own simplifying. Or they own what could be called “sorting.” Try telling a Black a convoluted story or nuanced description of how things went and they will see through you like a window. Three words. They will restate what you said in three words.
The Blacks own Matriarchy. Tiger Woods made the headlines, not only for golf, but because he thanked his dad. Tiger Woods had a relationship with his dad. “Stop the press! A successful Black man has a relationship with his dad? That’s like us!”
But the Blacks, while a unified voting block, are a small group. And while woke Whites in attendance will nod along with the poetry and call-and-response (exciting-‘cuz-it’s-new and I-can’t-wait-to-tell-my-friends), the same woke Whites are not really able to speak Black.
I am certain of this. How do I know? Because no other whites are at the Black churches.
This isn’t manifestation of racism. It isn’t mean-spirited. It happens for the same reason precisely zero non-English speakers are at Black churches. It is why no English speakers are at Spanish services or Ukrainian services. It is why Catholicism dropped Latin. When you go to hear someone tell the truth (sit down for this), you want to be able to understand what they say.
Tonight, Kamala will bring the DNC to climax. For Blacks. The rest of the audience won’t really understand why they’re cheering.
Or why Harris lost.
The Rumored Sudanese Family Budgets
The great influx of Africans, in this case Sudanese, is taking on an almost uniform shape at churches across our great country. The general situation is the almost dead whites have their Sunday services as they have for the past 80 years. But then the vibrant-seeming African redeemed, fresh off the airplane, bring out the whole family, extended family, and more and use the same church buildings for their Pentecostal services.
The white pastors, then, in talking to the African church leadership have their finger on this aspect of the immigration pulse more-so than you or I. (If any of this interests you, track down a pastor. He’d love to chat after such a long break.)
The specific heartbeat one pastor revealed to a friend of mine that I want today’s post to illuminate is family money.
Want to know how these non-Western families handle the family budget? I’ll tell ya.
Rumor has it, the fathers are slaving themselves out as their wives spend without limit.
The situation, surely applicable to more than just Sudanese culture, is the wives expect to never be told “no” when it comes to money and then the husband has to figure out how to pay the bill.
Worse, the Sudanese wives, like all you lovely ladies out there, really want to work and have their own money, money which the husband is never allowed to acknowledge exists.
Reader: you know my point. That’s right. The next time you see a midnight-skinned African-looking man whose every fiber screams high strung, summon your compassion. He needs it.
And to you readers who are American wives: if anything I have written remotely describes you, then, seriously, WTF?
I Am Never Ready
These last three days I learned that despite my training and full belief in the Boy Scouts’ “Be Prepared” motto, there are three things I am never ready for.
Firstly, America’s natural beauty, specifically the Rocky Mountains.
I drove to Salt Lake City from the Springs (and back) and while my eyes were necessarily on the road, I could’t help but marvel at the grandeur passing by my right and left.
I have decided that this area will be my kids and I’s new playground.
Secondly, folk’s response to, “What is the gospel?”
“You are insolent,” the friend of my buddy told me, as we sat next to each other late into the wedding reception. This was preceded by, “You are proselytizing.” Which was preceded by a three to five minute recounting of his entire childhood interaction with the Church which concluded, as he could tell he was avoiding the question, with a tremendously subpar answer, which he knew was subpar as he delivered it even before my eyes surely indicated so. This being preceded by his rehearsal of the lunacy of the concept of the “chosen people” and my, “Well, and to be sure—I am giving you my best now, no pulling punches—you must understand the gospel before you can understand or be at peace with any of the rest of it. There is an order of events, so to speak. So I would ask you (you don’t have to answer) what is the gospel?” And of course this was preceded by his, “You’re religious, huh? My problem is…”
I guess I am just an optimist. It’s my only explanation why I am always surprised that such a simple question can evoke such a dark response.
Thirdly, once in a lifetime offers of unimaginable wealth and luxury.
“Are you happy there? Are you happy with your job?”
I said, “Sorry what are you asking?”
“Are you settled in for good? Do you like your job?” the man repeated.
I had just met him. I learned he was a doctor. He was immediately kind. I believe his opening banter was complimenting the toast I had just given/hosted as best man. And, I never confirmed, but I am pretty sure he was a Mormon.
Do you see it now?
He saw what I had just accomplished in the other room and was ready to put those talents to work for the faith—and we all get richer in the process.
But I stumbled. Someone else was nearby and asking those around if they knew the movie that the current bluegrass band’s song was from, and I couldn’t help but ignore my new friend and lean over to answer, “O’ Brother Where Art Thou?!”
By the time that reverie ended, the moment had passed. The “doctor is out”, and never to return.
Oh well. I do like my house and I do like my job. But I also feel shame that I have acted in the same way during similar moments enough times to recognize the physical sensation I get afterwards as the “missed/blown opportunity” one. And this shame is only made worse in that these moments keep happening to me.
Maybe next time, I’ll be ready.
Some Thoughts On Vindictive Little Hussy Tamar in Genesis, the One that Played the Harlot (Not Absalom’s Sister Who Was Raped).
My wife uses the Bible to argue with me. Anyone else have a woman like this at home? It’s wonderful.
Just this morning she brought up “Judas son of Jacob”, from which I can only assume she meant (talk to text doesn’t work well for those with heavy accents) Judah. We’re already in funny-land with this, as it clearly demonstrates why surnames ever came to be. Who? Judas? Which Judas? NT Judas? Iscariot? Oh, Jacob’s son? Oh, Judah. You mean Judah? Judah, son of Jacob? Judah Jacobson. Judah Ben Jacob. Ha.
Anyhow. So the story has it that Judah’s first son, Er Judah-son, is killed by Yahweh for being evil. Par for the course. And his second son, Onan, is unwilling that his biological son become his older brother’s heir and so he will not consummate the deed. Yahweh kills him, too.
Only then do we learn the full nature of the issue. It seems Judah has this idea, perhaps divinely inspired, perhaps not, and holds to it like his last breath, that Tamar (Er’s wife) is owed a son by one of his (Judah’s) sons. So he promises Tamar that when Shelah Judah-son grows big, he can donate his seed to the common cause.
Here’s where the story gets interesting, and not just in Azeem’s, “How did your uneducated kind ever take Jerusalem?” sense.
Er’s widow Tamar (Tamar has no surname, so “Er’s widow Tamar” will have to suffice…for now) hears that Judah Jacob-son is going on a trip. It is this moment of the story that deserves grave attention. Here is the focus of this exegesis.
So she removed her widow’s garments from herself and covered herself with a veil and wrapped herself. And she sat at the entrance of Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah had grown up, and she had not been given to him as a wife.
“For she saw that Shelah [Judah-son] had grown up, AND she had not been given to him as a wife.”
“Vindictive little hussy” Tamar sounds more appropriate than “Er’s widow Tamar” at this point. But let’s read on.
Judah, now a widower and past the time of mourning, apparently still gets the itch. So when he sees a harlot on his trip, he begins to negotiate. Unlike, or perhaps exactly like, men from every corner and age of the planet, he didn’t think ahead and so now he is stuck. “1. Get laid but have to give her my ID to hold until I can find my darn credit card.” Or “B. Don’t get laid.”
He gives her his ID.
She takes it, gives herself to him, and then runs, never to be seen again—even after he finds his credit card.
But this, to most illiterate preachers, is still merely the setup for the punchline of the story.
(Let’s pause here for an apropos Uncle Remus saying: “You can hide the fire, but wha choo gunna do bout da smoke?!”)
Vindictive Little Hussy Tamar is soon “showing” and the affronted Judah Jacob-son wants her burned.
She wants to live and so offers Judah Jacob-son his ID back.
The next killer-line is:
And Judah recognized them and said, “She is more righteous than I, inasmuch as I did not give her to my son Shelah.”
Oh, the qualifier.
We almost had a perplexing, a-historical, fantasy account on our hands. Without the qualifier, we might have real evidence that scripture is flawed, uninspired, and not the Word of God that we all believe it to be.
So thank the LORD and his precious son, Jesus, for the qualifier.
Judah Jacob-son does not elevate Vindictive Little Hussy Tamar unreservedly, no. That would be the work of the uninspired Woke mob, post-#metoo and George Floyd and all.
Instead, since we’re reading the Word of God—which was written by men who lived thousands of years ago at a time before Jesus fulfilled Yahweh’s plan—there is a qualifier.
Nowhere does the story suggest that Vindictive Little Hussy Tamar was righteous full-stop, but it does convey that Judah Jacob-son now recognized that he hadn’t fulfilled his vow. Or as Apollo Creed says, “Some people gotta learn the hard way!”
Granted, I still have no idea why my boo brought this up in the argument over the kids’ clothes today. And granted I honestly am not 100% certain I analyzed the right story, since “Judas son of Jacob” is not certainly “Judah Jacob-son.” But these are some thoughts on Tamar, the eency-weency-bit-more-righteous woman than the John, Judah Jacob-son, little horn-dog that he was.
Christian, You’re Wrong About the Rainbow Flag. It Is Wholly the Alphabet Mafia’s Symbol. Let Them Display it Proudly.
I put My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth. And it will be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow will be seen in the cloud…
So the bow shall be in the cloud, and I will look upon it, to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.
(The above should be thought of as “axioms” or “definitions”.)
What is most curious, to an Eagle Scout/combat veteran’s mind like mine, is the use of the word “bow”. It really drives home how early man was always struggling to find analogy for their language. They saw in the sky something new and in the shape of, well, what object would ancient man have had to analogize from? The shape of…hmm. Oh, I know. It looks like the bow and arrow’s bow! Perfect.
But more importantly, for you, Christian, is that nowhere is fabric or any tangible good mentioned.
If this doesn’t add divine peace to your life, something is wrong with you and you should use this moment to align yourself with some truth.
The Living God is not messing around, nor ever has, with his creation or his plan.
If you see a bow in the sky, like an archery bow, then be thankful that Yahweh is God (and a faithful one at that), and not some other punk deity.
If you see a colorful flag, then…do whatever conscience dictates. It really doesn’t matter and shouldn’t disturb you.
Captain’s Log 