Monday, December 9, 2024
Scripture: Joshua 2:1-21

“What makes the Gospel offensive isn’t who it keeps out, but who it lets in.”

– Rachel Held Evans

“Knowing that we can be loved exactly as we are gives us all the best opportunity for growing into the healthiest of people.”

– Mr. Rogers

Rahab, who is first identified in the Bible as a prostitute (they don’t even bother to explicitly mention she is also a Gentile—prostitute is all you need to know, apparently!), is in Jesus’s family tree (Matt. 1:5). Matthew’s genealogy (Matt. 1:1-16) lists 42 people, clearly not enough to list every person in Jesus’s expanded family lineage, so the names that are included are intentional choices. The woman that is often referred to as a “harlot” is here on purpose.

In the Old Testament, God begins many teachings to the Israelites with variations on the phrase “remember you were strangers in a foreign land…”—it’s one of the most repeated sentences in the Old Testament (36 times!). If you have ever been left out or excluded, then you know of a painful feeling that can be transformative. Ideally, an individual should take such an experience and make sure no one else, if it is in the individual’s power to do so, experiences such a thing. The Israelites apparently forgot this concept completely once they got rich and powerful, and so have we. What does it feel like to be unable to communicate with others? What if you can’t read? Have you ever been judged by your physical appearance or race? When was the last time you were left out or excluded? This Advent, let’s remember what it’s like to be the outsider and offer a hand inside the circle of fellowship.

Danny Steis enjoys adventure, outdoors or just in living life, with his wife Johanna and daughters Marley and Ruby.