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[ Silence ] [MUSIC PLAYING] [ Music ] [MUSIC PLAYING]

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[MUSIC] (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music)

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(soft music) (soft piano music) (piano music) ♪ I love the Lord ♪

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♪ Oh, he heard my cry ♪ ♪ And gave me every hope ♪ ♪ Long as I live ♪ ♪ And all the wise ♪

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♪ I'll listen to ♪ ♪ His voice ♪ ♪ I love you ♪ I love the Lord.

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He heard my cry and the pitied every groan. ♪ Oh, long as I live ♪ ♪ And troubles rise ♪ ♪ I'll hasten to ♪

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♪ Ooh ♪ ♪ His throne ♪ ♪ Amazing grace ♪ ♪ How sweet the sound ♪

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♪ That saved a wretch like me ♪ ♪ Oh, thank you, Jesus ♪ ♪ And I once was lost ♪ ♪ But thank God I'm found ♪

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♪ Church, I was blind ♪ ♪ But now I see ♪ ♪ I love my Lord ♪ ♪ He has my pride ♪

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[ Music ] ♪ Weep no more ♪ ♪ Long as I live ♪ ♪ And troubles rise ♪

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♪ I'll be sent to ♪ ♪ To his throne ♪ ♪ Said I'm gonna hasten ♪ ♪ I'll hasten to his throne ♪

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♪ I'll hasten ♪ ♪ I'll hasten to his throne ♪ I said I'm gonna hasten, I'll hasten to His throne. Amen.

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Our scripture lesson today marks the beginning of a sermon series entitled "Women on Jesus' Family Tree." "Women on Jesus' Family Tree." I was planning to do this last Sunday, but we had a guest who brought the message.

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So, we're getting it today. This is the first in the series, and we will have two others leading up to our celebration of Christmas. I would like to direct your prayerful attention to a passage of Scripture which is tucked

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away in the Book of Joshua, the second chapter and a portion of the first verse, and they They went and came into a harlot's house named Rahab and lodged there. In James, the second chapter, the twenty-fifth verse, James, the second chapter, the twenty-fifth verse, the words, "Rehab the harlot was justified by works when she received the messengers

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and had sent them out another way. And in the book of Matthew, the first chapter, and the first, the fifth verse,

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is a portion of the genealogy of Jesus. And in that verse appears the name of Rahab. So our subject today is Rahab the harlot. Rahab the harlot.

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You know, some people are distinguished by their names because their names represent events. Others are distinguished by the fact that their names emphasize an occupation.

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And for some, it has identified with it a character trait. So when we say Rahab the harlot, Immediately, certain things come to mind. Judas the traitor. And we have certain things that arise in our minds. Alexander

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the coppersmith. We know exactly what he was doing in his life. So here we have in the genealogy of our Lord, Rahab the harlot. We always like to have good things said about us. We'd much rather have a name like Alexander the Great

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than to be known as someone who is small and little. Rahab the harlot. That was a man who distinguished himself, made a fortune, And he wanted the story of his family told,

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and he hired an outstanding writer for that particular project. And he gave him this information that he had someone on his family tree

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that had spent some time in the penitentiary, in fact, had been ill-executed. And he said he wanted that covered up as best he could. He didn't want that presented in a naked way.

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So this is what the man wrote. He said that there was a distinguished member of the family who was identified with one of the outstanding institutions of the state. And so attached was he to his profession that he literally died in the chair.

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So he did a pretty good job of covering it up. But in this case of Rahab the harlot, that doesn't cover anything up. In fact, that pulls the cover off so that you can really the holler. Holler-tory was practiced in biblical times. It was a thriving business. In fact, prostitution is regarded

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as one of the oldest professions in the world. It has been and still is, for the most part in this country, regarded as regarded as illegal, immoral, and it does exist because in many places the legal authorities look the other way. They see and don't see. We've had a great deal of prostitution just

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around us once the mayor called me and said, "Reverend, since you've been there, prostitution has increased 400%." And so it made me wonder about my ministry, getting that sort of word from the mayor of the city.

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And we had a play that was rather popular some time ago, "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas," located in a place not too far from here. place developed and prospered because the management looked upon the fact that they could be hooked up with the criminal justice system in that place

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and and they could survive. So you see rehab had the right connections. She had She had a strategic location. She was situated, her house was, on the walls of Jericho. She was on the border.

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She could observe what happened on both sides and she could attract business from both sides, the east and the west. Now Rehab was a good woman at heart.

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but she was involved in a bad business. Joshua sent out two spies to view the land, and they went to the house of Rahab the So it was a bordello located on the walls of Jericho. The spies could enter Rahab's house without any questions asked,

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because the prostitute is indifferent as to who comes and and goes. There is an openness in the relationships. There at Rahab's house, information is shared freely. Rahab knew how to keep a secret. She operated an establishment where the higher

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ups could go and let their hair down. Rahab the harlot. The Bible identifies her clearly so that there may be no question about her identity. Rahab the harlot. So So her name appears in the genealogy of Jesus, Rahab. It's on the family tree of our Lord.

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Now most of us would be inclined to cut that particular part of the tree off, cut that limb off. But it's left there. We'd like to think of her family,

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her family, those who were preserving the record, the sacred record we call it. We'd like to think of them editing that out of the manuscript. This word harlot, just leave the word Rahab there. we would suggest possibly that that part be sponged from the record.

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Some people are no doubt wondering now, "Why is Reverend preaching from this?" Ray had to holler. Because somehow in the mysterious hand of God, it's left here. It says something to us.

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Whether we get it or not, it's there. It speaks to us because it is here at the very opening of the New Testament. The first gospel, the gospel according to Matthew has the genealogy first of all, and then in the genealogy is the name of Rahab, a woman of disrepute, is in the family of

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the highest honored person in human history. And of all the persons available, we may well wonder about Rahab the harlot, but she plays a conspicuous and significant role in the entrance of the Israelites into the promised land. A course of dissenters may say, "You nevertheless, the spies are directed to the home of Rahab

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the harlot. God moves in mysterious ways, his wonders to perform. He plants his footsteps on the sea and rides upon the stars. He uses the profane in a strange way that exalts the And we live in a sex-crazed society. Our children stay up

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late at night watching HBO and sex-rated movies. And they're exposed to more at an early age than their parents were exposed to when they reached the mature age of 50. But possibly the spies met at Rahab's house because they were confident

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their mission would be kept secret. So Jericho's CIA, the Central Intelligence Agency, reports to the king the fact that two men have entered the city of Jericho and that they staying at the home of Rahab the harlot. They had come by night in order that

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their mission might be kept secret. The king immediately after receiving this intelligence report, sends the national security officials to Rahab's house. And she was instructed, "This is the message that has come from the king. You are to betroth those men that

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were seen going into your home." But Rahab heard the men. She The men came, but I don't know where they are. They came just about dark, the time of the setting of the sun and the shutting of the gate.

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They stayed here a while and left. Go quickly, you may be able to catch up with them. But that was not the truth. Some would call this a white lie.

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But there's no such thing as a white lie and a black lie and a green lie and all of that. A lie is a lie. And so this is no attempt to justify her telling a lie. But she did tell it to try to help rather than to hurt.

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She wanted to protect the men. But as I said, a lie is a lie. lie. Dietrich Bonhoeffer says that it is better to have a lie in the mouth of truth than to have truth in the mouth of a lie. Would you repeat that after me so you can think about

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it when you get home? It is better to have a lie in the mouth of truth than to have truth to have truth in the mouth of a lie. All right, you think about that. The truth is that she had brought the two spies up to the roof of the house and hid

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them in stalks of flax. The Jericho Department of Public Safety engaged in a hot pursuit, seeking these two spies. Empowered with a search warrant, they went all the way to Jordan in their search. But before the spies went to sleep, where they were on top of Rahab's house, hidden

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in the stalks. Reb came to them, and this is what she said. She said, "I know that the Lord has given you this land. Our people are in terror.

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They are faint of heart because of what they heard concerning what the Lord has done for you. He dried up the water of the Red Sea when you came out of Egypt. You defeated the kings of the Amorites. We've heard of your

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victories. We've heard of your God, Yahweh, and what He has done. We're convinced that He is in heaven, and He's also on this earth, and that He is under the earth. Your God is everywhere. He's omnipresent. "I beg you to swear to the Lord that when you

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take this land, you will show kindness to my family as I have shown kindness to you, that you will save them alive." And the two spies said to her, "It's a deal. You don't tell on us, we tell on you. We will preserve your life and that of your

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family." They were told to go to hide in the mountains for three days, and by that time the security officers from the palace would be gone. They instructed Rahab to place a scarlet thread in the window that would be a sign by which

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they would be saved when the Israelites invaded the city. And so it was that when Jericho fell, Israelite troops were commanded to destroy everybody but Rahab and her family. The spies Rahab and Hidden were instructed by Joshua to go to Rahab's house and get

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her family and bring them to the Israelite camp. They were saved through the scarlet thread in the window and the scarlet thread is a sign of redemption. It's an Old Testament symbol which foreshadows a New Testament experience. The scarlet thread indicates the depths to which God will go in order to save

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his people. The scarlet thread shows how God is able to use anybody who is open to Him in His redeeming work. And the name Rahab means room. Rahab was broad in her outlook, her heart was open to a new faith and a new venture. Rahab took risks, she risked her life

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in the service of the people of God. A scarlet thread in the window. It's present for all to see. The Canaanites see it, but they don't know the meaning of it. The Israelites see it, and they know the meaning. It's a sign of redeeming work. It's a sign, in the New Testament, it's a sign of Jesus Christ, who is mighty to save. So

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So the scarlet thread is a sign of Advent. The scarlet thread is placed in the window in expectation of the coming of redemption. It's placed in the window in expectation

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of the coming of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It's placed there in the window in expectation of the coming of the mighty warrior. In the Old Testament, that mighty warrior is Joshua.

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And Jesus Christ is the Joshua in the New Testament. Yahweh saves and that red scarlet thread, that scarlet thread is there in the window. It's for everybody.

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No one can drift so far from God that he does not reach for you. To the very depths God reaches and God preserves. Rahab expected the Israelite warriors,

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so she placed that scarlet thread in the window and waited for their arrival. It was in the window, they could see it. It's a sign of the blood shed for our redemption.

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the scarlet thread is a sign to the Christian community and for those who are outside the Christian community, should they come within it. Oh, we joyfully sing that song

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that has to do with the Exodus. "When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you." When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. Yes, it speaks of Advent, the coming of our Lord.

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The Egyptians had the death angel to come and slay their firstborn, but the Israelites were not touched. They remained alive.

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So the scarlet thread testifies concerning the redeeming power of the blood, The blood of Jesus Christ that runs through biblical history, the scarlet thread.

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Jesus dies on Calvary. And the story is that the blood runs down from the cross. And one of the ancient fathers said it just kept running down and it ran on down to the depths of hell.

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It touched Adam and he became alive and rose. that the blood has not only cleansing power, but the blood has redeeming power. That scarlet thread that runs through history,

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that scarlet thread was at Rahab the harlot's sign of salvation. So it's a sign for all sinners. The vilest of sinners, it's a sign.

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No, no matter who you are or where you are, it's a sign. The scarlet thread is there. Can't you hear Isaiah as he says, "Come, let us reason together.

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"Though your sins be as scarlet, "they shall be as white as snow. "Though they be red like crimson, "they shall be as white as wool."

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The scarlet thread is there. It's there for us all. And so it hangs in the window of Rehab the harlot. And when I think about Rehab the harlot and I think about our conceptions of that, I say if it's there for Rehab the harlot, then it's there for me. Because all of us have fallen short of the glory of God, and God out of His goodness, and out of His grace, and out of His mercy has put a scarlet thread in the window.

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Isn't that wonderful that He has put a scarlet thread? It's a sign of God's action. It's a sign of God's willingness to suffer for us. It's a sign of our willingness to suffer when we identify with the scarlet thread,

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because Reb risked her life. She risked her life. So it's a sign of our liberation. It's an advent sign of God's grace and a sign of His presence and a sign of His power, a sign of his suffering with us in the human struggle. And just while we can sing, "Thou my everlasting potion,

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more than friend or life to me, gladly will I toil and suffer, only let me walk with thee." So Rahab makes the decision to engage

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in the pilgrimage of faith. She joins the band of faith warriors. She has a place in the genealogy of Jesus. She was a Canaanite, but she was not ashamed

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to claim Yahweh rather than Baal as her God. God used her and she made the journey from being a profane prostitute to the holy community of a priestly people.

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And because she made that journey, she believed their report. And she not only believed their report, she became a part of their community

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and she accepted them and they accepted her. This is what Rahab did and so she makes the pilgrimage. Here we have over here in Joshua, but over here in the New Testament in Matthew,

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we have her listed with the genealogy of our Lord. Her name appears there. And over there, yes, over there where we have the roll call of the faithful in the book of Hebrews,

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that 11th chapter, and they talk about Abraham and Noah and all of the great ones of faith say it right along with all the, and there appears the names of Rahab the harlot.

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And then we go on over to the book of James, and right over there in the book of James, James said, "Well, it's faith, "but you gotta have some works."

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Rahab the harlot had faith, and she also put some works with her faith. And as she put work with her faith, she was able to provide deliverance for the spies

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and ultimately deliverance for her own family. So she's justified by her works. So God has a purpose for including Rahab the harlot in the genealogy of Jesus.

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God has a purpose for including her on our Lord's family tree. If Rahab can be so honored, salvation is possible for any of us and all of us. So if there is a place in the kingdom for her,

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there is a place for the violent sinner. Thank God for his kindness. Thank God for His grace. Thank God that there is a wideness in His mercy

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that is more than liberty. For the love of God is broader than the measure of man's mind. And the heart of the eternal is most wonderfully kind.

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Rahab the harlot makes the journey From the city of destruction to life eternal, from despair to hope, Rahab the harlot makes that pilgrimage that all of us can join in because of the sacrifice,

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that red thread that runs through salvation history. Rahab the harlot. on the family tree. That tree of life grows on both sides of the river. On this side we can hook up with it and it's also on the other side. I think that's what John was talking

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about when he said, "And I, John, saw the holy city." And he talks about the walls and that they are made of jasper and how beautiful that city is. And then he said, "I saw a river, pure as crystal." And then he goes on to say that,

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"Not only did I see a river, but I also saw a tree. "And that tree was growing on both sides of the river." And on that tree is Rahab, the harlot. And I feel that every person who accepts Jesus Christ,

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who loves the Lord, who somehow surrendered yourself to him, that you have a place on that tree. Thanks be to God. Thanks be to God whose love is so broad

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that he has room. That's what her name means. And he has room for everybody. Some people we don't have room for,

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but God has room! Plenty good room for everybody. Room enough for us all. Thanks be to God

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for the witness of Rahab the harlot. As we extend the invitation now, We invite you to accept Jesus Christ as Lord of your life. No matter how far you have drifted,

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no matter where you are situated, maybe you're situated on the walls of Jericho, or maybe you're situated just on the border, but wherever it is, God reaches out.

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And you can become a part of his salvation work As we sing, we invite you to come, by letter or by Christian experience. Unite with the people of God here at Ebenezer,

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accepting Jesus Christ as Lord of your life. At the cross. ♪ That the person in my saving need ♪ ♪ And in my suffering need ♪

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♪ Would he behold that sacred end ♪ ♪ For such a word as mine ♪ ♪ At the cross, at the cross ♪ ♪ Where the curse of the light ♪

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♪ And the burden of my heart ♪ ♪ Rolled away ♪ ♪ It will spare my pain ♪ ♪ I receive my time ♪

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♪ And now I am happy all the day ♪ ♪ For in the prime that I am now ♪ ♪ Be grown upon the tree ♪ ♪ Amazing can he praise the Lord ♪

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♪ That of the earth he brings ♪ ♪ At the cross, at the cross ♪ ♪ Where at first the light ♪ ♪ And the burden of the cross ♪

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[Chorus singing] Number four. The drops of grief and every pain, the debt of love I owe. Dear Lord, I give myself away.

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'Tis all that I must do. At the cross, at the cross, where the purse of the light And the banner of the program, It was there by you, I received my sight,

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And now I am happy all the day. Would you turn in your bulletin, in your hymnal to the-- [ Silence ]