Faith For You TODAY
The Revised Common Lectionary is a three-year cycle of Biblical texts that an interdenominational group of church leaders agreed were the best ones for congregations to hear. One year is based on Matthew, one on Mark, one on Luke and the Gospel of John is sprinkled throughout each of these years. This why your friend in the Methodist or Catholic church might hear the same Bible story as you do on a given Sunday. It is a good system – but not perfect. As you can tell by the word “Revised” – it has undergone changes at least once. But with four texts per Sunday for three years, not every story is included. So, the question arises: What gets left out?
Inspired by Anna Carter Florence’s book, A is for Alabaster, and encouraged by our worship committee, Vicar Karen and I are exploring some of the “left out” passages and people for the next few weeks.
One of the people that often gets left out – or at least overshadowed – is Rahab. As you can see from the readings, Rahab is mentioned in both the Old and New Testament and she is also one of only four women who are listed in Jesus’ genealogy. Tamar, Ruth and Bathsheba are the other women and all of them are there because there is a story about them… and not necessarily a “sweet” story.
However, one of the things that I appreciate about the Bible – especially the Old Testament Hebrew scriptures, is that the stories are not “prettied up”. Instead, it includes honest stories of human foibles and failures and also wonderful stories of faith as well as foreigners and outsiders– like the Moabite Ruth and Canaanite Rahab– becoming family. Rahab in particular is the ultimate outsider for the Israelites – she’s a Canaanite, she’s a prostitute and she is a woman who takes charge. And despite that or maybe because of that, Rahab becomes known as an example of faith.
Rahab lives in the least prestigious part of town – her house is built right up to the wall – and so it is the least safe location in the city but it also affords her the most access to what is going on both inside and outside the wall. Hers is the place – like the local bar or coffee shop – where people stop – and unburden their hearts – assuming “no one” is listening. But Rahab listens. And she hears the stories of how God led the Israelites out of Egypt and through the Red Sea. She learns the story of the defeat of other kings who refused to let the Israelites peacefully pass through their land. The spies may think that they are being really sneaky. But Rahab knows immediately who they are – and so do the authorities who waste no time in looking for them. But Rahab also knows how scared her people are at their arrival: “our hearts melted, and there was no courage left in any of us.” And, in the process of listening and learning and Rahab believes and proclaims, “The Lord your God is indeed God in heaven above and on earth below.”
Rahab plays an interesting role. In the midst of a people whose hearts were “melting” and whose courage falters, Rahab exhibits both courage and hope for the future for her and for her family. Rahab knew that life in Jericho was about to change. But she also knew that change could also bring new possibilities.
Anna Carter Florence makes the observation that “Rahab is like a certain kind of stock character in literature: not the lord or lady of the manor, but the servant downstairs whose cleverness and ingenuity will eventually save the day. On the surface, those characters may seem secondary and unimportant, but we underestimate them to our peril – as the owner of the house always discovers… They work the edges of the story, in the passageways meant for servants, when the grand staircases and fine rooms are revealed to be empty facades. They may be maids or chauffeurs or chimney sweeps or prostitutes; it doesn’t matter. The important thing is they’re survivors – and the ones with the key to our survival as well. Rahab is a character like this.”1
A fellow pastor told me about a study that said people are responding to the world today in one of four ways – either with hope, cynicism, anger or exhaustion. Curious, she took the quiz to see where she fell. She was surprised to find that – when it came to hearing the news of the world – she was exhausted.
In some ways, I’m not surprised. The steady drumbeat of “bad news” and negativity that our political process generates can be overwhelming. And, when fed a diet of this negativity it is easy to let our hearts melt within us and be filled with rage and the lawlessness of a mob chanting revenge. Anger is a motivating force – but not one that feeds our soul.
It is also tempting to fall into cynicism – which is also fed by the negative “spin” that hides the plain truth. Even if we avoid anger and cynicism, it is so easy to become so exhausted and overwhelmed that we want to hide our heads in the sand until the election is over. In a world like this, hope can be hard to come by.
When my pastor friend discovered that she fell into the “exhausted” category, it kind of woke her up to realize that if she felt this way, her people in her congregation probably did too. How many people are stuck in anger, cynicism or exhaustion instead of the hope and joy of discipleship?
There is a place for anger – righteous anger – but it cannot be our sole motivator. Cynicism may be even less helpful because it turns your creative energy negative. And exhaustion is a sign that you need to take sabbath – rest - and be renewed. But, none of these feed your soul. What we need is hope. And as my friend said, real and lasting hope is not found in the party of the elephant or the donkey but rather in the party of the Lamb.
Friends in Christ, this is who you and I belong to - we do not belong to the party of the elephant or the party of the donkey. We belong to the party of the Lamb.
We belong to Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. And this is where we receive faith and not fear. The party of the Lamb is the party of HOPE. The party of the Lamb is the party of resurrection life. The party of the Lamb is the party of faith.
So maybe we need to be more like Rahab. Unlike her neighbors who “melt in fear” over the possibility of invaders, Rahab persistently chooses possibility and action. As Anna Carter Florence says, “In scripture, this kind of persistence is seen as faith.”
This kind of persistent faith – despite the challenges and obstacles in our way – is what we need today. We can look to and be inspired by the faith of our fathers and mothers, and the great cloud of witnesses that have gone before us. But also let us embrace a faith that is distinctly ours, that we can claim as our own, a gritty, persistent faith like the faith of Rahab that sees possibilities where others see nothing but hopelessness. Rahab’s faith, our faith, is one that holds onto HOPE and that identifies with the Lamb of God, regardless of whatever else is going on in our world.
This past week we hosted Vacation Bible School for children who are connected to our church, and to Robbins Way and to Cross of Glory and House of Hope. It was beautiful to see these children come together – many of them encouraged and sometimes accompanied by grandparents. As they literally ran around the church singing “This Little Gospel Light of Mine” – a variation on the old “This Little Light of Mine,” I witnessed hope for the future.
Brothers and sisters, friends in Christ, let us embrace that hope and that faith which is found in following Jesus, the Lamb of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.
1 Anna Carter Florence, A is For Alabaster, Westminster John Knox Press, 2023. P. 75
2 Elizabeth Felt, text study, Advent Lutheran, July 17, 2024