Yesterday, I, Pastor Todd, shared on John 20-21. We looked at how Jesus met Thomas and Peter where they were in their grief as he met them post-resurrection. You can hear the full sermon here. Today we’re going to reflect a little more on God meeting us where we are. This is a very important thing to know about Christianity and how our God works. It is also important to know if we are to take on interpreting the Scriptures. Today, I’m going to show a couple Biblical examples of God meeting people where they are. I won’t be giving many chapters and verses today, only the names and events.
Meeting Tamar
We read about Tamar in a side story within the Joseph Narrative in the book of Genesis. A casual read of Genesis doesn’t reveal much about this woman. In fact, many people I’ve talked to about this passage tend to focus either on Judah’s seeking out a harlot or on Onan’s death as a result of spilling his seed on the ground. Yet something deeper is going on here, namely injustice.
Tamar was the the wife of Judah’s first-born son Er. Er died without having offspring. The culture of the day had a thing known as Levirate Marriage. This meant that if a woman was widowed without a child, the brother of the deceased was obligated to marry the widow and have a child in his dead brother’s name. This served a 2-fold purpose. 1. I protected the widow from social and financial desolation. 2. It provided an heir to the dead brother who would be able to continue the property inheritance.
Upon Er’s death, Judah’s second-born son, Onan, was sent to Tamar to give her a child. Onan, realizing Tamar’s son would receive the double-portion of a first-born, thus reducing his children’s inheritance, did sleep with Tamar, but interrupted the copulation to prevent impregnation. As a result of his injustice to Tamar and the Levirate duty, God struck him down.
Judah had a third son, Shelah, who was too young for marriage. Judah sent Tamar back to her father with the promise of giving her to Shelah when he was of age. Judah never did. This left Tamar in the most socially vulnerable position someone could find themselves in. 1. A childless widow. 2. No financial or homestead provision. 3. No means of making a way for herself. 4. A reputation as being a dangerous woman. A major injustice was done to her by Onan and Judah.
It has been noted that in some Levirate marriage customs, it is the Father-in-Law who is responsible for providing an heir.
With all this working in the background, Tamar was perfectly legal to do what she did. In her great injustice God met Tamar where she was in her time and culture and in her circumstance. Let’s recap how:
- She was a widow without an heir
- Tamar was forced into a desolate and vulnerable position by Judah and his sons.
- She had a reputation of being dangerous to husbands
- God used Tamar’s shrewdness regarding Levirate marriage to meet her needs
- She needed a legal son through Judah’s line
- Judah’s lust sent him to look for a prostitute
- Judah slept with Tamar and she gave birth to twins
- Tamar was now provided for with sons, and financial obligations from Judah, since it is his offspring (in the name of Er, the firstborn). Tamar’s children will receive the double-portion inheritance from Judah.
- Further note, Tamar’s son, Perez is an ancestor to King David and Jesus
Meeting Gideon
In the book of Judges, Gideon was essentially a nobody. He was not from a prominent family. He was one of the later born sons. It was a time when Philistines were invading lands in Israel to raid and plunder. Gideon had taken to threshing wheat in a winepress (a terribly ineffective way to thresh wheat), so he could hide the harvest from the Philistines.
So we have a man who is fearful of his life and is cowering in the winepress just to keep enough harvest to take care of his family. But it wasn’t just Gideon who was facing these difficulties. The Isrealites of his entire region were subject to the same raides and plundering. Seeing the injustice done upon the vulnerable population of Gideon’s region, the Lord chose Gideon, least of the least, to be a judge and deliverer for his people.
In many situations, God calls people according to what He sees in them and not according to their current circumstances. Here the messenger of God calls Gideon a “Mighty Warrior.” Something that Gideon balks at. Yet it is through Gideon that a major deliverance happens. He is able to take only 300 men (way fewer than he had initially roused), and defeat the Philistine raiders. As a result, God met Israel where it was, and at the same time, met Gideon where he was. Where was Gideon?
- Gideon, along with his region in Israel was vulnerable.
- Gideon and family were in danger of not having enough food to live if they were raided
- Gideon was stuck separating out good wheat stalks in a (presumably discontinued) winepress.
- Gideon was scared witless at the Philistines
- Gideon was the least expected and capable person to lead an army
- God came along, called him capable, empowered him, gave him insight, and sent him with only 300 men to do a job that would be daunting for the initial 10,000.
- God used Gideon to deliver Israel from their Philistine oppressors.
- Starting as a nobody, Gideon died a national hero and famed Judge of Israel
I could go on with other examples. In the end, we see time and again that God is a relational God. He has said many times over in Psalms, Proverbs, and the Prophets that He hates injustice. He despises the weak and poor being taken advantage of. We also see he is a relational God, constantly calling people closer to Him. But to get closer to Him, a level of holiness is required. Holiness can be summed up as a complete commitment to the well-being of another in the context of relationship. To never do anything to harm another. Remember Jesus’ words about causing one of his little ones to stumble? “Better for a millstone to be tied around their neck and they be cast into the sea.”
Since God is a relational God, he is more than willing to meet us in our “miry clay,” and help pull us out. He is willing to lead us in a pace we can keep up with and is patient with our failings. He will also not be coerced or manipulated by us. God has strong boundaries, and is also very passionate about the weak and vulnerable. He will meet us wherever we are if we say “yes” and follow His lead. In his all-knowing-ness, he will give us what we ask for if it will strengthen our faith and bring us closer to him. If we are asking something for our own self-interest and aren’t really interested in drawing closer to him, He likely won’t answer our requests. He knows our hearts and motives, so we can’t fool him. As James says, we have not because we ask with the wrong motives. The best motive we have for seeing our prayers answered is to earnestly desire to be close to and to know God more.
That’s it for this week’s pastor blog. I hope in some way it has helped you experience God’s