William H. Willimon - "Righteous Woman" (September 13, 1992)

Download
- Rights
- Limited Re-Use
  CC BY-NC 4.0
  More Rights Info
- Files (1)
- MP4
- Please be patient with media downloads. They are often large files.
Share

Embed Code
<iframe src='//idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4jq0t93p?embed=true' height='500px' width='100%' frameborder='0' marginwidth='0' marginheight='0' scrolling='no' allowfullscreen></iframe>
Permalink

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4jq0t93p
Skip to Item Info

Loading the media player...

Files for this Item

Transcript

Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.

	(bright organ music)	0:00
-	Good morning, and welcome to this service of worship	1:29
	on the 14th Sunday after Pentecost here in Duke Chapel.	1:32
	We're glad that you're with us.	1:36
	Call your attention to the various announcements	1:38
	in the bulletin, particularly two events	1:40
	being held this week.	1:43
	The discussion of Columbus on a Mission from God,	1:44
	and also Saturday the Duke Chapel Gleaning Day.	1:48
	Information about those events can be found in the bulletin.	1:52
	Also, if you've not filled out the information sheet,	1:56
	we invite you to do so today.	1:59
	Tear it our and drop it into the plate	2:01
	so that we can have a better knowledge of you.	2:04
	Today's offering in its entirety will go	2:09
	to the American Red Cross for Hurricane Andrew relief.	2:11
	Please mark your checks accordingly.	2:16
	Let us worship God.	2:20
	(choir singing)	2:31
-	Please stand.	3:10
	Join me in the greeting.	3:12
	The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you.	3:14
Group	And also with you.	3:18
-	The risen Christ is with us.	3:19
Group	Praise the Lord.	3:22
	(organ music)	3:24
	♪ When in our music God is glorified ♪	3:55
	♪ And adoration leaves no room for pride ♪	4:01
	♪ It is as though the whole creation cried ♪	4:09
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	4:17
	♪ How oft, in making music, we have found ♪	4:24
	♪ A new dimension in the world of sound ♪	4:31
	♪ As worship moved us to a more profound ♪	4:40
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	4:47
	♪ So has the Church, in liturgy and song ♪	4:54
	♪ In faith and love, through centuries of wrong ♪	5:02
	♪ Borne witness to the truth in every tongue ♪	5:10
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	5:19
	♪ And did not Jesus sing a psalm that night ♪	5:26
	♪ When utmost evil strove against the light ♪	5:33
	♪ Then let us sing, for whom he won the fight ♪	5:42
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	5:50
	♪ Let every instrument be tuned for praise ♪	5:57
	♪ Let all rejoice who have a voice to raise ♪	6:05
	♪ And may God give us faith to sing always ♪	6:13
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	6:22
-	Let us pray together.	8:23
	Immortal invisible God overall,	8:27
	we quake before your creative energy	8:31
	so far beyond our knowing,	8:35
	and evident beyond our willingness to perceive.	8:37
	We live in your presence whether or not we acknowledge you	8:42
	and we are subject to your rule,	8:46
	whether or not we choose to follow your way.	8:49
	Encounter us in this hour that we may not mistake	8:53
	our prejudices and preferences for your will.	8:56
	Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, amen.	9:01
	You may be seated.	9:05
-	Let us pray together the prayer for illumination.	9:18
Group	Open our hearts and minds, oh God.	9:22
	By the power of your Holy Spirit so that as the word	9:25
	is read and proclaimed, we might hear with joy	9:29
	what you say to us this day, amen.	9:32
-	The first reading is taken	9:43
	from the 38th chapter of Genesis.	9:45
	It happened in that time that Judah went down	9:50
	from his brothers and settled near a certain Adullamite	9:53
	whose name was Hirah.	9:56
	There Judah saw the daughter of a certain Canaanite	9:58
	whose name was Shua.	10:01
	He married her and went in to her.	10:03
	She conceived and bore a son, whom she named Er.	10:05
	Again she conceived and bore a son whom she named Onan.	10:10
	Yet again she conceived, and she bore a son	10:15
	whom he named Shelah.	10:18
	She was in Chezib when she bore him.	10:21
	Now, Judah took a wife for his firstborn son Er	10:24
	whose name was Tamar,	10:27
	but Er was wicked	10:30
	in the sight of the Lord,	10:31
	and the Lord put him to death.	10:33
	And Judah said to Onan, "Go in to your brother's wife,	10:36
	"and perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her,	10:40
	"and raise up your brother's offspring."	10:43
	But Onan knew that since the offspring would not be his,	10:47
	he would not come into her.	10:53
	Since Onan knew that the offspring would not be his,	10:57
	he spilled his semen on the ground	11:01
	whenever he went into her,	11:03
	and would not raise up the offspring of his brother.	11:05
	What Onan did was displeasing in the sight of the Lord,	11:08
	and the Lord put him to death, also,	11:11
	and Judah said to Tamar, "remain in your father's house	11:14
	"as a widow."	11:17
	In course of time the wife of Judah, Shua's daughter died,	11:20
	and when Judah's time of mourning was over,	11:25
	he went up to Timnah, to his sheep shearers.	11:27
	He and his friend Hirah, the Adullamite.	11:30
	When Tamar was told, "your father-in-law is going	11:34
	"up to Timnah to shear his sheep,"	11:36
	she took off her widow's garments,	11:39
	put on a veil, wrapped herself up,	11:42
	and sat down at the entrance of Enaim,	11:45
	which was on the road to Timnah.	11:47
	She saw that Shelah had grown up,	11:49
	yet she had not been given to him in marriage.	11:51
	When Judah saw her, he thought her to be a prostitute	11:56
	for she had covered her face.	12:00
	He went over to her on the road and said,	12:03
	"Come, let me come into you."	12:06
	And she said, "what will you give me	12:10
	if you may come into me?"	12:13
	And he said, "I will send a kid from the flock,"	12:16
	and she said, "only if you give me a pledge	12:19
	"until you send it,"	12:23
	and he said, "what pledge shall I give you?"	12:25
	And she said,	12:29
	"your signet	12:31
	"and your cord and the staff	12:32
	"that is in your hand."	12:35
	And he gave them to her, and he went into her,	12:37
	and she conceived by him.	12:40
	And she got up and went away, took off her veil,	12:42
	and put on the garments of a widow.	12:48
	Now, when Judah sent the kid by his friend Hirah,	12:58
	the Adullamite, so to recover the pledge from his wife	13:02
	Hirah could not find her.	13:08
	He asked the townspeople, "where is the temple prostitute	13:10
	"who was on the wayside near to Enaim?"	13:13
	The townspeople replied, "no prostitute was here."	13:15
	Hirah returned to Judah and said, "I have not found her.	13:21
	"Moreover, the townspeople said there	13:24
	was no prostitute here."	13:26
	Judah said, "let her keep the things as her own.	13:29
	"Otherwise, we will be laughed at.	13:32
	"You see, I sent the kid and you could not find her."	13:35
	About three months later, Judah was told,	13:41
	"Your daughter-in-law Tamar has played the whore,	13:46
	"and moreover she is pregnant as a result of her whoredom."	13:48
	Judah said, "bring her out and let her be burned."	13:52
	As she was being brought out,	13:58
	she sent word to her father-in-law	14:00
	saying it was the owner of these that made me pregnant,	14:03
	and she said, "take note, please, whose these are.	14:07
	"This signet and this cord and this staff."	14:12
	And Judah recognized them, and said,	14:17
	"she is more "in the right than I."	14:21
	This is the word of God.	14:25
Group	Thanks be to God.	14:28
-	Seven, verses 11 through 20	14:36
	found on page 798 in your hymnal.	14:39
	Please stand and sing responsibly the Psalm and Glory.	14:42
	(organ music)	14:47
	♪ I will remember the deeds of the Lord ♪	14:54
	♪ I will remember your wonders of old ♪	14:59
	♪ I will ponder all of your work ♪	15:03
	♪ and meditate on your mighty deeds ♪	15:08
	♪ Your way, O God, is holy ♪	15:13
	♪ What god is great like our God ♪	15:18
	♪ You are the God who works wonders ♪	15:24
	♪ you manifested your might among the peoples ♪	15:28
	♪ You with your arm redeemed your people ♪	15:34
	♪ the descendants of Jacob and Joseph ♪	15:39
	♪ When the waters saw you, O God ♪	15:44
	♪ when the waters saw you, they were afraid ♪	15:49
	♪ the very deeps trembled ♪	15:55
	♪ The clouds poured out water ♪	15:59
	♪ the skies gave forth thunder ♪	16:03
	♪ your arrows flashed on every side ♪	16:07
	♪ The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind ♪	16:13
	♪ your lightnings illumined the world ♪	16:18
	♪ the earth trembled and shook ♪	16:21
	♪ Your way was through the sea ♪	16:26
	♪ your path through the great waters ♪	16:28
	♪ yet your footprints were unseen ♪	16:31
	♪ You led your people like a flock ♪	16:34
	♪ by the hand of Moses and Aaron ♪	16:38
	♪ Oh, glory be to you, Creator ♪	16:43
	♪ And to Jesus Christ our savior ♪	16:46
	(group singing)	16:50
	♪ As it was a time began ♪	16:56
	(group singing)	17:00
-	This reading is take from the first letter of Paul.	17:21
	To Timothy, chapter one starting with the 12th verse.	17:24
	I am grateful to Christ Jesus, our Lord	17:29
	who has strengthened me, because he judged me faithful	17:33
	and appointed me to his service,	17:36
	even though I was formally a blasphemer, a persecutor,	17:38
	and a man of violence,	17:42
	but I received mercy	17:45
	because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief,	17:46
	and the grace of our Lord overflowed from me	17:49
	with a faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.	17:52
	His saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance	17:56
	that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners	18:00
	of whom I am the foremost,	18:04
	but for that very reason, I received mercy	18:07
	so that in me as the foremost,	18:10
	Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience	18:14
	making me an example to those who would believe	18:18
	in Him for eternal life.	18:20
	To the king of the ages, immortal, invisible,	18:24
	the only God, the honor and glory forever and ever, amen.	18:29
	This is the word of the Lord.	18:35
Group	Thanks be to God.	18:37
	(organ music)	18:42
	(choir singing)	19:00
-	I told you that in September	25:28
	we were going to just work	25:33
	our way right through the Joseph stories,	25:35
	Genesis 37 to Genesis 50,	25:39
	but those of you who happened to be here	25:44
	the last couple of Sundays know that I lied.	25:47
	We had a sermon on genesis 37 that was Joseph	25:51
	and his infamous coat and his outrageous dreams,	25:54
	but then we jumped over to Genesis 39 and 40,	26:00
	and we had a sermon about Joseph down in Egypt.	26:03
	And what happened to Genesis 38?	26:08
	Well, to my knowledge,	26:14
	there has never been a sermon preached	26:17
	on Genesis 38 in the history of the church.	26:19
	I've certainly not preached a sermon on it,	26:24
	and I expect you've never heard a sermon on it,	26:26
	but you're about to.	26:28
	You were there.	26:31
	This will be something you will be able to tell	26:32
	your grandchildren about.	26:34
	(audience laughing)	26:35
	I was there for a sermon on Genesis 38.	26:36
	Of this text, the biblical scholar Walter Brueggemann	26:42
	has said, Brueggemann who has preached frequently	26:46
	from this pulpit.	26:48
	Of this text he says,	26:50
	"this peculiar chapter just stands alone.	26:53
	"Without connection to its context	26:57
	it is isolated, enigmatic.	27:00
	"It is not evident that it provides any significant	27:03
	"theological resource.	27:06
	"It is difficult to know	27:08
	"in what context it might be	27:09
	"of value for theological exposition."	27:11
	Then Brueggemann adds, "the major problem	27:15
	"in dealing with this chapter is that even close study	27:18
	"does not make its intention evident."	27:21
	To which I say good.	27:25
	I don't have to study it closely.	27:26
	It's a perfect text for a sermon.	27:28
	(audience laughing)	27:30
	It is such an odd chapter.	27:32
	We were supposed to be having a series of stories	27:34
	about Joseph, and here is a chapter	27:37
	that doesn't even mention Joseph.	27:39
	Odd.	27:43
	Into this wonderfully constructed, tight,	27:46
	and also instructive saga of Joseph	27:50
	is inserted this marvelously uninstructive story	27:55
	of a woman named Tamar.	28:00
	Tamar who dupes her father-in-law, Judah,	28:03
	into having sex with her.	28:08
	I'm aware that there are many young people here today,	28:12
	and I'm aware that many of you no matter what your age	28:16
	have come here to chapel expecting to be morally leaned on,	28:18
	ethically edified, to be given some point to go	28:23
	that will help you through the week,	28:26
	that will make you a better person.	28:29
	Well, forget it.	28:32
	I can't find anything in this chapter	28:34
	that will help with that.	28:37
	This strange story is of a woman,	28:40
	but as it begins we notice that she appears	28:45
	to be a very unimportant character in the story.	28:50
	As if she is some sort of casual, just a passive bystander	28:54
	into a real story about a man, a man named Judah	28:59
	and his friend Hirah, and Judah's sons	29:03
	Er, Onan, and Shelah.	29:07
	Maybe somebody out there wonders,	29:10
	did Judah ever have any daughters?	29:12
	Well, we don't know, because the story	29:14
	is not interested in daughters.	29:16
	It doesn't say anything about daughters,	29:18
	it doesn't say anything about wives.	29:20
	This story is not interested in daughters and wives.	29:22
	It's about men.	29:26
	It's about men who are makers of history	29:27
	and doers of important things and heads of families.	29:30
	But that's just the problem.	29:36
	Family, because we know that this section of Genesis	29:38
	is dealing with God's determination to get a family.	29:43
	God wants a family, but this family keeps messing up	29:47
	and things keep going wrong.	29:50
	It's a story about a family.	29:52
	Judah has given a wife named Tamar	29:55
	to his eldest son named Er	30:00
	who was appropriately named Er.	30:04
	Er does something that angers the Lord and is struck dead,	30:08
	so Judah follows the Leverite marriage laws.	30:13
	Leviticus 25, which say that if you've got a man	30:17
	who is married and he dies without issue you are to turn	30:22
	over the widow to the next eldest brother.	30:26
	That brother must marry the widow, must impregnate her,	30:31
	and provide an heir.	30:34
	It being inconceivable that this widow might inherit	30:35
	her husband's goods.	30:40
	You will note that here in the beginning of the story,	30:43
	nobody lingers much over Tamar.	30:45
	Nobody wonders what she's thinking	30:48
	throughout all these successions of funerals and marriages.	30:51
	We wonder, perhaps, what's going on with her,	30:56
	this widow, this bereft woman alone and vulnerable,	30:59
	but nobody ponders what Tamar is thinking	31:03
	during all of this shuffling around	31:06
	from one unproductive brother	31:08
	to unfruitful brother.	31:12
	Judah tells Onan, next in line,	31:15
	to go take Tamar and make children,	31:20
	but Onan disobeyed.	31:23
	Committing what the bible calls a shameful act,	31:26
	birth control,	31:29
	because Onan knew that the issue would not really be his,	31:31
	and of course Onan is struck dead.	31:36
	Generations of little boys got confusing messages	31:40
	about the sin of Onanism.	31:43
	Now, in case you've been keeping score,	31:47
	we've got two weddings and two funerals here and no heir.	31:49
	After the last funeral, Judah says to Tamar,	31:54
	Look, go on back to your father's house, woman.	31:58
	Maybe when my third son grows up, I mean, anyway	32:03
	you're bad luck.	32:06
	You go back.	32:07
	Tamar is just cast aside.	32:10
	She's just sent back to her father's house,	32:12
	and what do you expect her future is going to be?	32:15
	Alone, childless, a widow.	32:18
	It's a bleak future of dismal old age awaiting Tamar.	32:24
	End of story.	32:30
	Tragic? Yes.	32:34
	Dead end.	32:36
	But if you know much about the history of women	32:38
	in most cultures, you have to at least admit	32:42
	that though it's not a particularly original story,	32:45
	it is a very typical story.	32:48
	This is always the end of the story for women	32:51
	in any patriarchal culture.	32:56
	Dependent, mostly valued as child bearers	32:59
	and husband carers.	33:04
	A mere backdrop to the larger story, what we call history	33:07
	about what men will do and will not do.	33:11
	It's one of those stories,	33:14
	but because this is the bible	33:20
	where nearly anything can happen and often does,	33:23
	you will note this story continues,	33:28
	and suddenly Tamar moves from being someone just waiting	33:32
	in the wings, shuffle back and forth	33:36
	to become the chief actor in the story.	33:39
	Judah's wife dies.	33:43
	Judah, the father-in-law whose sons	33:45
	were not much help to Tamar,	33:47
	and Judah happens to be over in Timnah	33:50
	for the sheep shearing season,	33:53
	and after the sheep are sheared,	33:56
	Judah goes out on the town with the boys	33:57
	for a night on the town,	34:01
	and I really hate that you first year students	34:03
	must hear this, but it's in the bible.	34:05
	So Tamar at last	34:09
	arises out of her patriarchal, culturally	34:12
	induced passivity, and she takes matters in hand.	34:15
	She throws off these mourning clothes.	34:20
	She dabs a bit of night of ecstasy behind each ear.	34:23
	She puts on this veil over her face,	34:28
	and she heads for the red light district of Timnah.	34:30
	Well, when Judah comes through there he sees her,	34:35
	but of course he doesn't recognize	34:38
	that his daughter-in-law is there before him,	34:39
	because of this veil.	34:42
	The haggle over a price for such services.	34:44
	One young goat.	34:47
	But Tamar having dealt with men in this family before	34:49
	asks Judah to leave a little collateral.	34:54
	His signet ring, his belt, and his staff	34:56
	until he pays up with his goat,	35:00
	and it's a done deal.	35:04
	A few days later when Judah's friend Hirah	35:07
	shows up with this goat looking for this perfumed	35:12
	Harlot to pay, he can't find her.	35:15
	He goes back to Judah.	35:18
	He says nobody's seen this Harlot with the veil.	35:19
	Judah says, look, let her keep the ring and the belt	35:23
	and the staff, this woman could make a fool out of me.	35:26
	So he goes home after his escapades	35:31
	at the sheep shearing convention with a hangover,	35:35
	pants sagging without a belt, no staff, no ring.	35:38
	Sadder but wiser,	35:41
	and maybe that was supposed to be the end of the story,	35:45
	but this is a bible story.	35:47
	It keeps going on.	35:49
	Six months later,	35:50
	Judah gets some gossip	35:52
	that his ex-daughter-in-law, Tamar is pregnant,	35:54
	because she's been working part time as a prostitute.	35:58
	Well, Judah is indignant.	36:02
	An upstanding progenitor of God's Holy People Israel,	36:08
	a future patriarch of the church.	36:12
	Judah can't have his daughter-in-law,	36:16
	ex or not, running about embarrassing the family name.	36:18
	In a singular act of righteous indignation,	36:22
	Judah says bring her back over here, and we'll burn her.	36:25
	That ought to teach her a lesson.	36:29
	They bring back Tamar, but now she's wearing	36:35
	these maternity clothes rather than that black veil,	36:37
	and they say do you have anything to say	36:41
	before we set fire to you and make an example	36:45
	for all our women folk?	36:48
	Tamar says well I do just have one thing to say.	36:52
	All I know is that the man	36:57
	to whom belongs all of this stuff	37:00
	is the father of my child,	37:03
	and with that she produces this masonic ring	37:07
	with a big J on it,	37:10
	and this large belt buckle	37:12
	with a J on that, and the staff.	37:14
	Judah says	37:19
	oops.	37:21
	(audience laughing)	37:23
	Okay, I think court is over now,	37:26
	and you can put away the torches and the gasoline,	37:28
	and this woman has got more right than I.	37:36
	Now, let's translate it more accurately is this woman	37:41
	is a lot more righteous than I.	37:46
	That's an amazing statement for somebody	37:53
	like Judah to make about Tamar.	37:55
	Unmarried, a widow, childless,	37:59
	she has no rights.	38:02
	She is outside the law.	38:05
	She is outside legal recourse.	38:07
	That ought to be the end of the story.	38:11
	The legal, proper, appropriate end,	38:15
	and that story's got a moral.	38:17
	All right all you disenfranchised people on the bottom,	38:19
	you better obey the rules, or you're going to get burned.	38:22
	Of course, sometimes people on the bottom note	38:29
	that most of the rules	38:31
	are made by people on top.	38:34
	But as I said, hey, this is the bible,	38:38
	and so this is not the end of the story.	38:41
	The story moves on.	38:43
	The story moves on to, in Walter Brueggemann's words,	38:45
	a fresh definition of righteousness.	38:48
	Who is the guilty one now?	38:55
	Who is on trial now?	38:58
	Well, show him the ring,	39:01
	the staff, the belt.	39:03
	Maybe it'll teach him a lesson.	39:07
	In this story, surprise,	39:12
	Tamar is vindicated.	39:16
	She is made righteous.	39:20
	She bares twins named Perez and Zerach.	39:23
	The family of Israel is going to be continued.	39:29
	The family will continue.	39:33
	God is going to get a family, but not in the polite,	39:34
	respectable, bourgeois, middle class way we thought.	39:37
	It won't be contended, it won't be continued	39:42
	through Judah's efforts and his self righteousness.	39:45
	It's going to be preserved through the crafty	39:50
	hutspa of a gutsy woman named Tamar.	39:53
	If there is a moral to be had here,	39:59
	if there is some point of edification for all of us	40:04
	good, church-going people,	40:06
	it can't be the one we wanted,	40:10
	because Tamar has committed all of those sins,	40:13
	which good, bourgeois, church people condemn.	40:17
	Lying, deception, illicit sex.	40:20
	Judah reacts as at first the world always reacts	40:25
	on these occasions, indignant condemnation.	40:29
	Not everybody who grew up in the 60's was a draft evader	40:34
	and using mind altering drugs and illicit sex.	40:37
	We're not like that.	40:42
	When the tables are turned, does it remind some of you	40:47
	of a story you may have heard from second Samuel,	40:50
	a story about King David, Righteous King David?	40:53
	Prophet Nathan comes in, tells him a little story.	40:57
	There was a man, he had all these flocks,	40:59
	but he wasn't satisfied with that.	41:01
	He went down to his poor neighbor, and he took this	41:03
	one little lamb that that man loved, and he killed it.	41:04
	Served it up for his Cronies.	41:07
	King David is filled with righteous indignation.	41:10
	That guy ought to hang for that, he says,	41:13
	and then Nathan says oh,	41:16
	thou art the man.	41:18
	Court was over.	41:22
	As I remember, in that story a woman was involved also.	41:26
	Note that this story does not glorify Tamar	41:32
	or exalt her action.	41:36
	That would be too much,	41:39
	but you do have to admire the way	41:40
	that she takes matters	41:46
	and Judah in hand.	41:50
	The way this woman wrenches a future for herself	41:52
	out of the clutches of male oppression.	41:57
	Masquerading as religious propriety.	42:01
	Masquerading as the way God wants the world to work.	42:04
	She doesn't whine about her circumstances.	42:09
	She doesn't join the ranks of the perpetual victims.	42:12
	She doesn't just passively accept the world as it comes.	42:17
	No, she goes out and she wheels and she deals.	42:22
	Recklessly risking all, and thus I think suggests	42:27
	a new definition of righteousness.	42:31
	You gotta hand it to Tamar.	42:37
	One of you was telling me about your home church.	42:43
	You said that it was a conservative bible believing church.	42:47
	A church which had taken stands against abortion,	42:52
	and against immorality,	42:56
	and in favor of marriage,	42:58
	but then you said when the pastor's son	43:02
	got his girlfriend pregnant,	43:04
	and then confessed it on Sunday morning	43:08
	and said they were going to get married,	43:10
	the Board of Deacons met that evening	43:13
	and fired the pastor.	43:17
	Well, we've got our righteousness,	43:21
	and I know somebody who's a school teacher	43:26
	teaching in one of the most poverty	43:29
	stricken areas of Appalachia.	43:31
	He doesn't go to church, though.	43:34
	He says he doesn't feel comfortable in church,	43:35
	because he is not, how shall I say it,	43:38
	of the same orientation as most of the people at church,	43:42
	and he was saying that when he was home	43:47
	for summer vacation he went with his parents to their church	43:50
	and in the sermon the minister there ridiculed,	43:55
	said things about people who weren't	44:00
	of that congregation's orientation.	44:03
	That's our righteousness.	44:11
	Now, I ask you why ... Now why would we ...	44:18
	Dean Wassalick may ask me this tomorrow morning.	44:23
	Why would you bring up a story like this	44:25
	with a group of people like us,	44:28
	particularly here early in the school year when we need	44:30
	to have a united front against student behavior?	44:33
	Why would you bring up an embarrassing story like this one?	44:37
	A story, I may add, that never mentions God,	44:43
	except of course as the one that killed Tamar's	44:48
	first two husbands.	44:50
	(audience laughing)	44:52
	Why would you spend a whole important Sunday in church	44:54
	discussing this kind of woman?	44:56
	Forget Tamar. Oh savvy? Yes. Been around the block	45:00
	a couple of times? Yes.	45:03
	Wise in the ways of the world? Yes.	45:05
	But for all of that a lying, deceptive, Harlot.	45:07
	Why bring her up?	45:12
	Why bring her up and on a Sunday, too?	45:14
	Well,	45:19
	because Matthew brings her up.	45:21
	Matthew, yeah that's right, Saint Matthew brings her up.	45:25
	First gospel of the New Testament.	45:28
	Matthew first chapter beginning at the third verse.	45:32
	Matthew begins his gospel by saying	45:36
	this is the book	45:41
	of the story of Jesus,	45:43
	and then he goes back and tells you about Jesus' family.	45:46
	This is the book of the story of Jesus,	45:50
	son of David,	45:52
	son of Abraham,	45:53
	Abraham conceived Issac.	45:54
	Notice all men.	45:56
	Who was the father of Jacob.	45:58
	Who was the father of Judah.	46:00
	Who with Tamar,	46:05
	conceived twins.	46:08
	The only woman to make it	46:13
	into Jesus' family tree at this point	46:15
	is Tamar.	46:19
	Now, the story can be told.	46:24
	The great, great, great-grandmother of Jesus	46:27
	was Tamar.	46:32
	If we hadn't had Tamar,	46:36
	we would never have had Jesus.	46:39
	So although God is never mentioned in this story,	46:44
	we have a hunch that God may be there	46:49
	behind the scenes,	46:53
	waiting in the wings,	46:55
	even in this story,	46:56
	busy working out his purposes for a family.	46:58
	God is going to get a family, but not through the people	47:05
	or the ways we good, righteous people expected.	47:08
	So when Jesus called forth a new family	47:14
	called church.	47:19
	A new family through baptism,	47:21
	based on a new gutsy kind of pushy righteousness,	47:25
	wouldn't Jesus' great-grandmother	47:30
	have been proud?	47:33
	(organ music)	47:41
	♪ Amazing grace how sweet the sound ♪	48:14
	♪ That saved a wretch like me ♪	48:23
	♪ I once was lost, but now I am found ♪	48:31
	♪ Was blind, but now I see ♪	48:40
	♪ 'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear ♪	48:48
	♪ And grace my fears relieved ♪	48:57
	♪ How precious did that grace appear ♪	49:06
	♪ The hour I first believed ♪	49:15
	♪ Through many dangers, toils and snares ♪	49:23
	♪ I have already come ♪	49:32
	♪ 'Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far ♪	49:41
	♪ And grace will lead me home ♪	49:50
	♪ The Lord hath promised good to me ♪	49:59
	♪ His word my hope secures ♪	50:07
	♪ He will my shield and portion be ♪	50:16
	♪ As long as life endures ♪	50:25
	♪ Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail ♪	50:34
	♪ And mortal life shall cease ♪	50:43
	♪ I shall possess, within the veil ♪	50:51
	♪ A life of joy and peace ♪	51:00
	♪ When we've been there ten thousand years ♪	51:09
	♪ Bright shining as the sun ♪	51:18
	♪ We've no less days to sing God's praise ♪	51:26
	♪ Than when we first begun ♪	51:35
-	The Lord be with you.	51:50
Group	And also with you.	51:52
-	Let us pray. Be seated.	51:53
	Oh Lord of love who instructs us in all the ways	52:06
	we can be taught, and who seeks us	52:11
	in all the ways we can be found.	52:14
	You are our teacher	52:17
	without whose instruction we would constantly	52:20
	be confused,	52:23
	and our guide without whose companionship	52:25
	we would daily go astray.	52:28
	Guide us and teach us now,	52:31
	as we seek to hear your word for us this day.	52:35
	Lord, in your mercy	52:39
	Hear our prayer.	52:41
Group	Hear our prayer.
-	We give thanks for the generosity and mercy	52:44
	you have shown to your people throughout the ages.	52:46
	Not only did you give our ancestors the law	52:50
	for shaping their life,	52:54
	but you gave them your love	52:56
	for reshaping their law.	52:58
	Help us learn from their mistakes	53:01
	and profit from their insights.	53:03
	Lord, in your mercy	53:06
	Hear our prayer.	53:09
Group	Hear our prayer.
-	Lord, we confess that like Judah,	53:11
	we are quick to judge others	53:14
	and to excuse ourselves.	53:17
	As Tamar exposed Judah's sinfulness and injustice,	53:20
	help us also see and acknowledge our own injustices.	53:24
	Lord, in your mercy	53:30
	Hear our prayer.	53:32
Group	Hear our prayer.
-	Forgive us for the ways we participate in social policies	53:34
	and systems that oppress women and children.	53:38
	Lord in your mercy	53:43
	hear our prayer.	53:44
Group	Hear our prayer.
-	Forgive us for tolerating a racial and class system	53:47
	built on the backs of the powerless people in our society.	53:50
	Lord in your mercy	53:55
	hear our prayer.	53:57
Group	Hear our prayer.
-	Forgive us for the ways we harden our hearts	53:59
	and close our ears to the cries of the suffering	54:03
	who fill our hospitals and jails,	54:06
	who lie in alleyways and parks,	54:09
	who cower in their homes in fear of loved ones.	54:12
	Lord in your mercy	54:16
	hear our prayer.	54:18
Group	Hear our prayer.
-	Forgive us for our callous response	54:20
	to people struck by tragedy	54:23
	in LA, Florida, Louisiana, Nicaragua.	54:25
	Lord in your mercy	54:32
	hear our prayer.	54:33
Group	Hear our prayer.
-	And forgive us for our tendency to justify our actions	54:36
	while constantly seeking to blame others.	54:40
	The Democrats, the Republicans, the poor, the rich,	54:44
	those other people we blame for all our ills.	54:49
	Help us acknowledge our own sin and our complicity with sin,	54:53
	and seek your forgiveness and healing.	54:57
	Lord in your mercy	55:01
	hear our prayer.	55:02
Group	Hear our prayer.
-	Oh, Lord, this saying is sure and worthy of acceptance	55:05
	that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners	55:10
	like Judah and Tamar and Paul.	55:14
	We stand before you in need of your mercy.	55:18
	We give thanks that we can come before you with confidence	55:22
	that whatever our sin, your forgiveness if greater.	55:26
	As far as the east is from the west,	55:31
	you have promised to remove our sin from us.	55:35
	You give us your forgiveness,	55:39
	and you make us righteous.	55:41
	We give you thanks for your amazing grace.	55:43
	In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.	55:47
	God seeks our steadfast love	55:53
	rather than our acts of duty.	55:56
	Let us make a true offering of ourselves and our gifts.	55:59
	(organ music)	56:04
	(choir singing)	57:36
	♪ Praise God from Whom all blessings flow ♪	1:00:05
	♪ Praise God all creatures here below ♪	1:00:11
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	1:00:17
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	1:00:20
	♪Praise God above ye heavenly host ♪	1:00:25
	♪ Praise Father Son and Holy Ghost ♪	1:00:31
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	1:00:38
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	1:00:41
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	1:00:44
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	1:00:47
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	1:00:51
-	Let us pray.	1:01:04
	Thank you God for your amazing grace	1:01:07
	that continues to unfold in our lives.	1:01:10
	We are grateful that you have brought us to this hour,	1:01:14
	and we accept your mercy and seek to respond to others	1:01:18
	with a generosity you have shown us.	1:01:21
	Receive our offerings as symbols	1:01:25
	of our larger commitment as your disciples.	1:01:27
	Use them to relieve the suffering	1:01:30
	of those who have lost so much	1:01:32
	through Hurricane Andrew.	1:01:35
	We pray these things in Jesus' name, amen.	1:01:37
	Let us pray together as Jesus taught us.	1:01:42
Group	Our father who art in heaven	1:01:45
	hallowed be thy name.	1:01:48
	Thy kingdom come, thy will be done	1:01:50
	on Earth as it is in Heaven.	1:01:53
	Give us this day our daily bread,	1:01:55
	and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those	1:01:58
	who trespass against us,	1:02:02
	and lead us not into temptation	1:02:04
	but deliver us from evil,	1:02:06
	for thine is the kingdom	1:02:08
	and the power and the glory forever,	1:02:10
	amen.	1:02:13
	(organ music)	1:02:16
	♪ Immortal invisible, God only wise ♪	1:02:48
	♪ In light inaccessible hid from our eyes ♪	1:02:55
	♪ Most blessed most glorious, the Ancient of Days ♪	1:03:03
	♪ Almighty victorious Thy great name we praise ♪	1:03:11
	♪ Unresting unhasting and silent as light ♪	1:03:22
	♪ Nor wanting nor wasting Thou rulest in might ♪	1:03:29
	♪ Thy justice like mountains high soaring above ♪	1:03:37
	♪ Thy clouds which are fountains of goodness and love ♪	1:03:45
	♪ To all life Thou givest, to both great and small ♪	1:03:56
	♪ In all life Thou livest, the true life of all ♪	1:04:04
	♪ We blossom and flourish as leaves on the tree ♪	1:04:12
	♪ And wither and perish, but nought changeth Thee ♪	1:04:21
	♪ Great Father of Glory, pure Father of Light ♪	1:04:32
	♪ Thine angels adore Thee, all veiling their sight ♪	1:04:40
	♪ All laud we would render, O help us to see ♪	1:04:48
	♪ 'Tis only the splendor of light hideth Thee ♪	1:04:56
-	May the grace of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ,	1:06:38
	the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit	1:06:42
	be with you now and always, amen.	1:06:44
	(choir singing)	1:06:52
	(organ music)	1:08:39

Item Info

Title:

William H. Willimon - "Righteous Woman" (September 13, 1992)

Description:

Sermon start time: 25:28. Sermon end time: 47:38.
The preacher retells Tamar’s story of getting offspring from her father-in-law and argues that the story doesn't justify her action, but instead, honors her way of wrenching a future for herself out of the clutches of male oppression. The preacher argues that Tamar’s courage suggests a new sort of righteousness in being the great great-grandmother of Jesus. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4jq0t93p

Date:

September 13, 1992

Speaker:

Willimon, William H.

Liturgical Calendar:

Ordinary Time

Biblical Book:

Genesis

Chapter and Verse:

Genesis 38:1-27

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 VHS-0295
ref9149_tjf
uachapelsermaud
duke:321562
dcrmv001282
ark:/87924/r4jq0t93p
44127643-ba60-4280-8d3e-2ae6f5b0016c

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

Source Collection:

Duke University Chapel recordings, 1954-2005

Related Resources:

See below

Language:

English

Location:

United States
North Carolina
Durham (N.C.)

Format:

Provenance:

The Duke University Chapel Recordings were transferred to the Duke University Archives beginning in 1970.

Rights:

Limited Re-Use

CC BY-NC 4.0

Rights Note:

This recording may contain 3rd party materials, such as music or readings that are therefore not covered by the Creative Commons license indicated here. For more information see https://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/research/citations-and-permissions.

Sponsor:

Sponsor this Digital Collection

William H. Willimon - "Righteous Woman" (September 13, 1992)

Transcript

Item Info

1. William H. Willimon - "Righteous Woman" (September 13, 1992)

Duke University Archives

More Info & Options

William H. Willimon - "Righteous Woman" (September 13, 1992)

Transcript

Item Info

Related Item

Duke University Archives

More Info & Options