God, the Dumpster Diver

Preached at North Hills, September 12, 1998

Jesus in Matthew 1.



My first job after graduating from seminary was in The New York Center, an evangelistic
center in Times Square. In addition to offices and meeting facilities the Center had two floors of
apartments. So I rented a couple of rooms and moved in.
I transported everything I owned to New York in a Volkswagen beetle, so, as you might
imagine I was a little skimpy on furnishings. And being fresh out of seminary, I didn't have a lot
of money to spend. So I ate off boxes. Used a sleeping bag for bedding. Made do. I was young
and single. It was not a hardship.
But just a couple of weeks after my arrival there was a fire in the hotel restaurant next
door. Within days a huge dumpster was parked in the street and workers began filling it with
debris from the restaurant. My apartment faced the street, and from my sixth-floor window I
could see right into the dumpster. It looked like they were throwing valuable stuff away.
I was tempted to head downstairs immediately and see what I could find. But then I
wondered what all the people going by on the street would think if they saw a grown man
rummaging around in a dumpster. (After all, I wasn’t just a kid anymore.) Now if this had been
Memphis, Tennessee, the town I had grown up in, that would have been an easy problem. You
just wait until six thirty. All the workers would have gone home. The sidewalks would be
empty. Traffic on the street would be light and you could rummage to your heart’s content and
no one would notice.
But this wasn’t Memphis. Or Edgewood. This was Times Square. And the sidewalks
were never empty. Even after midnight people were still on the street.
But I couldn't stand to think of all that useful stuff being hauled to the dump. Finally,
after another day of hesitating, I headed downstairs about 6:30 in the evening. Stepped out onto
the sidewalk, looked both ways at the crowds of people streaming by, saw no one who seemed to
be paying me any attention, and climbed over the side into the dumpster.
Sure enough, I found treasure. Pewter pitchers, silverware, plates, bowls and cups. I had
been in the dumpster for only a few minutes, carefully stashing my treasures to one side when I
heard a vehicle pull behind the dumpster and stop.
I froze. Was combing through dumpsters illegal? Had someone called the police? I
heard a door slam. A minute later a head appeared over the back of the dumpster. It was an
orthodox Jewish fellow with yamulkah and the characteristic curly cues of sideburns.
“Whatcha after?” he asked.
“I’m looking for kitchen stuff.” I said. “Plates, bowls, silverware . . .”
“Oh,” he said. “I’m after scrap metal.”
And he climbed in the dumpster and pulling out metal conduit and copper wire.


I furnished most of my apartment from the garbage on the sidewalks of New York.


The reason I tell you this story? because God is a garbage picker. Or as this activity has
come to be called more recently: God is a dumpster diver.
God finds treasure where others see only trash.

One of the greatest examples of God’s dumpster diving is in the first chapter of the
Gospel of Matthew.
To understand the significance of the first twenty verses or so of Matthew, you have to
keep in mind who Jesus was before he was Jesus the Son of Joseph and Mary.
The Bible plainly declares Jesus was and is fully divine. Before he appeared here on
earth he enjoyed all the prerogatives and privileges of God. The billions of angels worshiped
him. He was present at the creation of the world. He was, in fact, the Creator. Nothing exists
that did not originally pass through his mind, through his hands, so to speak.
Which means he had that most unusual of privileges: Jesus chose his own ancestors!
Can you imagine that? Ancestors are pretty important. Stats on American genealogy
activity. I have a brother who got into tracing our family tree. He digs around in old census
records and county courthouse records. He even published a newsletter for people researching
the Mclarty clan.
My dad, a retired physician, has often remarked to me, if you want to live to a ripe old
age, the first thing to do is to very carefully pick your parents. You can do a lot about your health
and longevity by practicing wholesome health habits. Non-smokers do better than smokers.
Vegetarians do about ten years better than carnivores. Those who exercise do better than couch
potatoes.
But what about those old cogers your read about every now and then who live to be a
hundred years old? You ask them their secret and they tell you the secret to long life is a stiff
drink and a pack of cigarettes every day?
You check it out and you find they have heredity on their side. They come from a family
where nearly everybody lives long. The fact is that heredity makes a huge difference in how
healthy you’ll be and how long you’ll live. It probaby makes more difference than all the health
habits put together. So it would be kind of nice to be able to choose your parents?
Heredity can even affect things like temper, susceptibility to alcoholism, aggressive
behavior and shyness. You know the old saying, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
So here’s Jesus up in heaven before he comes to earth. He chooses this man Abraham,
and says. “You are going to be one of my ancestors. We’re going to start a blood line with you
that will carry all the way down to the birth of the Messiah, the Savior of the world.
Notice the genealogy in Matthew 1.

A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham.
Abraham was the father of Isaac,
Isaac was the father of Jacob,
Jacob was the father of Judah and his brothers,
Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar, . . .
Salmon was the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab,
Boaz was the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth,
Obed was the father of Jesse,
and Jesse was the Father of King David.

The genealogy continues on, listing all the kings of Israel, then through list of mostly
unknown figures all the way down to Joseph, the stepdad of Jesus.

These are the ancestors, these are the family members Jesus chose for himself. If you
examine the list closely you’ll notice that it does not follow the rule of primogeniture. That is the
line is not traced through the eldest son.
It’s not as though Jesus chose Abraham was then just kind of stuck with whoever came
along. In every generation Jesus was making a fresh choice as he directed the preparation of
Israel for the birth of a Savior. Isaac was Abraham’s second born. Jacob was Isaac’s second
born. Judah was the fourth born son of Jacob’s least favored wife. And Perez . . . Well there’s a
real story there.

Take a close look at the people Jesus chose as his family. Talk about garabage picking.
Talk about dumpster diving!

We honor Abraham for his courage in leaving his native city of Ur, where everhthing was
so civilized and advanced. But it’s easy to forget that in Palestine where he was supposed to be
setting an example of faith and devotion, he twice lied about his wife Sarah, allowing other men
to take her as their wife. Why? To save his own skin.
Isaac did the same thing. Lied about his wife Rachel, saying she was his sister--to save
his own skin.
Jacob’s very name meant schemer or trickster. And he lived down to his name.
And then we come to Judah. Now there’s a scoundrel if there ever was one.

Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar. I can’t believe Jesus
would choose a man like this as one of his ancestors? Perhaps you don’t know Judah’s story.
Let me tell you, it’s pretty sordid. How did he get on this list? Jesus had other options. He had
eleven brothers. Jesus could have chosen one them. But no, he chose Judah.
And Matthew wants to make sure you remember Judah’s scandalous activity. Judah is
not just another name in a long list of ancestors. No, Matthew underlines and bold faces Judah’s
name to make sure you get his point.
He does this by mentioning the mother of Judah’s boys.
Jewish genealogies do not include the names of women. Sorry about that, but that’s just
the way it was. If you go back and read the genealogies in Genesis or 1 Chronicles, you’ll find
pages and pages of names, but it’s all men. When Matthew writes that Judah was the father of
Perez and Zerah, WHOSE MOTHER WAS TAMAR it’s like marking their names with a
flourescent highlighter.
Matthew wants you to notice this story.

So let me share it with you. It’s found in Genesis 38

Tamar was a Canaanite who married the oldest son of a man named Judah. Her husband
died before they had any children, so following the practice of the time her late husband's next
younger brother, Onan, married her to provide her with children. Onan used Tamar sexually, but
he deliberately avoided getting her pregnant.
(A note for my teenage readers: Don't try Onan's approach to birth control. It is highly
unreliable. The only one hundred percent sure form of birth control is virginity. Which also
happens to be the best protection against STDs and the best preparation for a life of sexual and
marital satisfaction.)
Back to the story. Because of Onan's callous exploitation of his wife, God caused him to
die.
Tamar's father-in-law, Judah, then promised she could marry the youngest brother, when
he was old enough. Tamar went home to live with her parents. Years passed. Judah’s youngest
son reached marriageable age, and nothing happened. Tamar began to doubt Judah would ever
keep his promise. And she was desperate for a child.
Time passed. Judah’s wife died. Some time later, Tamar learned he and a friend, Hirah
the Adullamite, were going to travel to a distant town to check on a sheep shearing operation.
Sheep shearing was a festive occasion in the farm cycle. Judah would be in a good mood. But
he would also be lonely. His wife was gone, and he was trying to put his life back together. And
he would be on the road, away from people who knew him.
Carefully disguising herself, she dressed as a prostitute, then stationed herself at a
strategic spot along the road Judah and Hirah would travel.
Sure enough, she was right. Judah fell for her plot. He didn’t see through her disguise
even when he slept with her. Since he didn’t have any cash on him, he gave her his staff and
signet ring as collateral, and promised to send her a young goat as payment for her services.
When he got to the sheep shearing operation, he sent his friend Hirah back to the
prostitute with a goat, but Hirah couldn’t find her anywhere. And when he questioned the ment
in the place they didn’t know anything about any prostitue in business around there.
Judah shrugged it off. What could he do. He tried to pay.
Several months later, Judah found out his daughter-in-law was pregnant and no one knew
who the father was. He was outraged. He couldn’t believe it! His daughter-in-law had shamed
the good name of the whole family! He demanded she be put to death for prostitution. As
strange as it may seem apparently he had the legal right to do it. (The double standard is not
right, but it’s nothing new.)
So they planned an execution. But as Tamar was being led out to her execution, she
stopped the procession and held up the staff and signet ring and declared, “Listen, I just want you
all to know that the babies I am carrying are not just anybody’s kids. Their father left these with
me when we were together.”
Confronted with the evidence Judah confessed his responsibility and then declared the
obvious, "She is more righteous than I."

Now if you were God, what would you do with these two? What could you do? A
hypocritical, lying man. An abused, desperate woman. Would you write them off as hopeless
reprobates? As moral garbage? Would you look the other way and pretend it didn't happen?
What did God do? God bypassed Judah's three older brothers and chose him as an
ancestor of the Messiah. And as if that weren’t enough, God chose one of the twins born from
Judah’s illicit relationship with Tamar as the one to carry on the blood line of the Messiah.
It’s important to note that Jesus wasn’t stuck at this point. Judah’s other son, Shelah, the
one who was supposed to marry Tamar - - He did get married and have children. Jesus wasn’t
trapped. He had other options. But Jesus gave Judah and Tamar the honor of being his
ancestors.
Jesus made Tamar, a member of the pagan Canaanites, a woman who got herself pregnant
by her father-in-law—Jesus made this woman a distant grandmother.
God is not very careful about who he brings into his family.
And if he made room in his family for Judah and Tamar, it’s not too difficult to believe
he has made room in his family for you, too.

Personally, I find it easy to be sympathetic toward Tamar. The tragedy of the death of her
first husband, the cruelty of her second husband, and her father-in-law's refusal to carry out his
promises to her—she really had it hard. What she did was wrong, but I can almost understand it.
Judah, on the other hand, is disgusting. I would run him out of town. Amazingly, Jesus claims
even him as one of his ancestors, as part of the family.

My wife is afflicted with a strange psychological condition. It’s called zoophilia. That
means a love of animals. And all my kids have been affected by this syndrome as well. It’s
characterized by an unreasonable love for all kinds of critters. They love dogs that run. Cats that
scratch. Birds that screech and make all kinds of noise in the morning. Horses that are blind and
decrepit.
I’m the only normal one in the family. I like well-behaved, obedient dogs as long as
someone else is around to feed, clean and otherwise care for the beast.
We have one good dog. A mutt named Toby. This dog is smart. He’s fun to take
backpacking or on trips to the desert. You never have to worry about him. He won’t run off. He
can take care of himself.
I’d like another one just like him. The problem is we have no idea what kind of dog he is.
So I’ve come up with the perfect solution: We’ll have him cloned.
Which is not so far fetched nowadays. I just read in Newsweek that a couple has given
2.3 million dollars to Texas A&M university to clone their dog Missy. Missy’s getting old (84 in
dog years acording to the article). Her owners want another dog just like her.
Heredity matters.
If you want another dog like Toby. Or like Missy. At the very minimum you have to
start with similar heredity. If you want a smart smart puppy, you don’t breed dumb dogs. Right?
If you want smart kids, you don’t start with dumb parents. If you were going to pick
ancestors for yourself, you’d pick talented, noble, upright men and women who were beautiful,
musical, and smart.
Instead Jesus chose Judah and Tamar.

And if he was willing to pick them as ancestors. He’ll accept you as one of his children.


What kinds of mistakes have you made? Stopped your education too soon? Gotten into a
bad marriage? Gotten laid off from a great job? Had an abortion?
Maybe your mistakes were set up by the wrong doing of others. Your parents were
abusive or simply never there.
You are not a prisoner of your past. God still has plan for you. God is still willing to
claim you as his own. You are still his son. You are still his daughter.
And once we understand that God does, in fact, gladly claim even us as part of his family,
we will find it easier maintain our own family relationships. Is your wife perfect? I doubt it.
And if you’re a typical American, you’ve been at least tempted to dump your current wife and
look for someone better, more interesting, prettier, skinnier, nicer, richer. But as we learn to take
after God, we’ll claim our family connection with our less than perfect spouses. If God is willing
to claim you as his child, then who are you to separate from your annoying spouse?
(I’m not talking about cases of abuse. I’m not suggesting that people who are getting beat
up, or whose children are getting beat up, should stay and take it. But most American middle
class divorces are not these kinds of extreme cases. Most of our divorces come from chronic
petty annoyances, arguments over money and kids and in-laws and who does the most work.)
If God is willing to claim Judah and Tamar as members of his family, maybe we should
be a bit less picky about the people in our family.
What about your children? Have they messed up their lives? God is still has a plan for
their lives. God has something significant for them to do in his work to accomplish salvation!

This is our job as a church. To give the world the message: God has a plan for you, a
plan to give you a bright future. No matter if your parents divorced. No matter if you were
abused or molested, neglected.
No matter if you’re smart or not.
Pretty or not.
God has a plan for you. AND we have a place for you. As the family of God.


A final word: Are you in the dumpster? Thrown there by others or maybe by yourself? God is
dumpster diving. He’s looking for you. And unlike pewter pictures and restaurant silverware,
you have some choice about whether or not you’re found.
Allow him to find you.

The essence of the Gospel is that God is on our side. Jesus' genealogy reveals that even
before he appeared on earth as a baby, Jesus cared for broken people. He has always been a
friend of sinners. He has always loved the unacceptable. He has always seen treasure where
everyone else saw only garbage.
No matter what your past is like, Jesus has a plan for your life. He is eager to do you
good. His grace is truly amazing. He loves you.