Sunday 21 December 2025

Nollamara Church Of Christ Sermons.Raw transcript of meeting:

Date Of Sermon: 21^st December 2025

Speaker: Richard Tan

Sermon Title: The scandal of grace: five women, one Messiah

Scripture Reading: Matthew 1:1-17

 The Bible reading today is taken from the book of Matthew, chapter one, and I'm going to read verses one to 17. This is the Genealogy of Jesus the Messiah. The son 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, the father of Perez, and whose mother was Tamar Perez, the father of Hezron Hezron, the father of Ram.

Ram, the father of Amin dead. Amad, the father of Nhon Nash on the father of Salman. Salman, the father of Boaz whose mother was Rahab Boaz, the father of Oed, whose mother was Ruth Oed, the father of Jesse and Jesse, the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon whose mother had been Uriah's wife, Solomon, father of re Bowen.

Reba, the the father of Abida Ab Bja, the father of Asa, ASA, the father of Jehosaphat Pha, the father of Horam, Horam, the father of Siah, Siah, the father of Jotham, Johan, the father of Ahaz, Ahaz, the father of Hezekiah, Hezekiah, the father of Manasses. Manasa, the father of Aman, Aman, the father of Jo, Josiah.

And Josiah, the father of Jaco, AYA, and his brothers at the time, at the exile to Babylon after the exile to Babylon. Aya was the father of she, she the father of Rebel. Rebel, the father of Ab Ba. Uh, AB Abud, the father of EE, the father of Au, the father of Och Zoc, the father of Aiken Aum, the father of Eud, EUD, the father of Eza, za, the father of Madam, met him, the father of Jacob, and Jacob, the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary.

And Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah. Thus, there are 14 generations in all, from Abraham to David. 14 from David to the exile to Babylon, and 14 from the Babylon, from the exile to the Messiah.

I think we need to give lesley applause for reading the whole 17th verses. I must say along the way, got a bit, a bit a tongue twister and I think you did a great job. It's better you read it and I did it myself. I think often genealogies overlook in the Bible. Come on, Leslie. Honest. How many hours was truly inspired? Well, Leslie was reading to us, Matthew, other one of way through some US yawning already.

Oh no. This is gonna be a long sermon. Yes, I'm gonna preach us by versa. No, but rather catch to the content of the importance for us who understand that Jesus is not just God becoming, becoming man, but Jesus is also man leading us to God. As far as he is the creator of the universe, he this also one that work among us.

Genealogies are important I think, for almost every culture who talks about genealogy, whether, uh, you or you are Native American or, or, uh. Indians, but the Chinese keeps the best genealogy. If I want to trace my ancestry, it can just trace back thousands of years. If you want to do that, doesn't matter. The changes of the dynasties, the genealogy of the family in the Chinese culture is important because it tells us of where we come from or where we are going.

I know this personally because my father. Was originally from China and he settled it in Singapore in the late forties. And before he left, he was entrusted to be the Secretary General of the Pan Kling, uh, back in China. That means he's responsible every 10 years to send the name of the male that was born in Singapore related to the tan family, and he did his job very well.

Well, one day he had a call, or rather, every 10 years, he'll call all the ton relative, all the cousins and uh, many times removed and say, and you update any male being born in the family. But one day he had a call from a relative and say, I am angry with my son. I'm fed with my son, and I want you to remove his name from the clan genealogy.

Now this is a very serious thing, and my father was persuading him. He said, how bad can your son be? Oh, my son did a law, terrible thing, and, and now he's in prison and I, I wanna disown him. I don't wanna do anything with him. Please remove his name. And there was a very serious request because to remove someone from the genealogy of the family tree is to say that person was never been born.

That means that person never existed and once you remove that person's name, you are no longer associated with a person. You're not even allowed to talk to that person. As far as the family is concerned, that person is like a ghost. But when you look at the genealogy as recorded by Matthew, it is really interesting.

While many of us, if you read the Old King Jesus, who be God who cannot be truly inspiring. But yet as we study in depth, there is not only cultural significance, but also theological truth to it. It matters. Gospel. The genealogy of Jesus may appear just like a list of names, but it's. So much more than that.

Here, Matthew was introducing Jesus to a Jewish audience. You know that the Gospel, Matthew was written purely to the Jews. Unlike Mark was more the Gentiles, the Roman, or the Gentile readers, but here was Matthew, and to the Jews, who you are, where you come from is very important, and that's why he started telling this is Gen Jesus genealogy.

But what is interesting was Matt Netti was trying to do, if you look at the next slide, he put names of women, find women into genealogy. If you were a, a true born Jewish read in those days as you were reading the genealogy, I, uh, Abraham be, be God, Isaiah, be God. Suddenly they mention there's a tamer ho there's a mention of rehab ho there's a mention of.

Ruth, it does brings attention that if Matthew was introducing Jesus to. Jewish nonbelievers. He was doing a lovely job because he mentioned women in his genealogy, which was at that time being scandalous because you never ever mentioned. Women in the genealogy of their culture, of their time. Yet Matthew stopped mentioning these names of these ladies and those of us who know our Sunday school story well enough.

Right? We know a bit of Hannah, a bit of rehab, a bit of roof, a bit of Baba, Uriah's wife, and so like they say in. Television shows, and as well as a cinema. Today's sermon is rated for mature audience because it's a very scandalous thing in one sense that I do not know about ourselves, whether in our own family history, whether there have been any skeleton in the closet, as they will say now.

I was reading a book the other day. The guy said, if you shake your family tree long enough, some nuts will fall. Right. And it says that 20% of Australian population are descendants from people who were originally transported as convicted into this island, right? For a long time, people were not proud of our ancestry, but past 20 years, a lot of people say, I can actually trade my ancestry to one, or convicts in those days is now a batch of honor.

Alright. Any one of you have, uh, descend there? One there? Yes. I see your hand, brother. Anyone? Yes. Grant. Right. So this goes back, this story was being told about a very wealthy man. He wanted to leave a legacy behind to his children, grandchildren. And so he employed a famous genealogist to trace the ancestry of their family.

As this guy, this research, he came back to this rich man with a report and say, well, everything looks good except for one problem. There. This grand great grand uncle Dodge, he was a criminal, right? And he was executed in the, in the electric chair. And this man said, look, you do something about it. Can you solve?

Not say in such precise way. And then genealogy say, look to me. I'll clean up and put it in such a good way. And so he published the family history of this wealthy man by describing, saying, great Uncle George, occupy a chair of applied electricity at an important government institution. He was attached to his position by the stronger of ties to the very end, and his death came as a sudden shock.

Alright, so imagine going back to the time when Matthew was writing the gospel of Jesus as they were reading. Chapter one is very scandalous enough because number one, women were being mentioned, and those women that was being mentioned were having what I call unsavory background. So Matthew was in fact creating a, a sort of play here to E by then to read for them.

'cause it's very intriguing because this is not how you write a genealogy, but you must also understand the background why Matthew include all these women. Because by Jewish standard, all these women were deemed as outsiders. They have a word for it called muza. M-U-M-Z-E-R. Muza is mentioned actually in the Bible you throw me by every King James.

He used a very strong word. The word is busted. Okay. I'm glad that a mini translation, I tone it down. We use illegitimate children or children of, uh, born or whitelock in those days to be called a manza means you were outsider, you were a product of an illicit relationship, or you, or you were born to a union that was interracial and is what happened to Timothy in X remembered Paul met Timothy and he says that Timothy mom.

A Jew, but his father was a unconverted Gentile, a Greek guy. So Timothy was an outsider, and Paul had to circumstance him to say that Paul at the time also wore the title as a Jewish rabbi. He was a fantasy. So he said, I consider Timothy a Jew. Let's bring him in. And that helps because Timothy late accompany Paul to do a law ministry.

But to be called a man in those days means you are outsider. And the gospel of Matthew is interesting because it talks a lot about the outsiders, the lap, the woman who, who, who, who is, who is deemed as scandalous prostitute, or the people that were blind. The people that were redacted, but yet in the kingdom, they were invited in.

And those who think they were the insiders, right? The people who think they earned their position, that Pharisee Jesus, tell them war unto you. And Jesus also say those who think they were not invited, got invited, and those who think they got invited and deserve a seat to happen. They were cast out into the other darkness.

So the gospel itself is scandalous because it tells us, those of us who think we don't deserve grace, somehow discover grace and those of us who think we can earn God's grace, discover you can't earn. Grace is simply to receive it. Now, who are these women that's mentioned? There's Tema Rehab, Ruth RA's wife, and Mary, the five women Ofk.

But yet they were chosen. If you understand the history behind Tema was widowed in Genesis chapter eight, and she had to survive in the patriarchal society. And in those days the rule was one of. Her brother-in-law had to marry her to preserve her date husband legacy, but Judah, who was a father-in-law, cheated her twice and refused to or tamer to his, one of his son to marry her.

And Tamima disguised herself as a prostitute. That's why I say today's sermon is for mature audience, right? And slave. Judah and later he bought a twin, and that twin was supposed to represent one son from the two son that she was supposed to marry. If Judah has followed so-called the culture norm, by the time

the Bible, if you ever read it very clearly, never hide the truth. It tells stories as it is. He never tell you this about perfect people. These people in one sense were broken. These people did certain life choices. That seems questionable, but yet when ER disguised herself to do what she had to do, she was desperate.

But what happened was that she preserved a generational line, A line of Judah in which Jesus was so-called, came from. Famous inclusion in this genealogy. Emphasize, God's grace is for the broken, for the desperate overlook. Grace gives voice to those who have no voice. Grace, recognize those who have been overlooked by the rest.

But grace always open an opportunity, and that also lead us to the story of Rahe. Rahe was a prostitute. Alex who had a dec desire as one. She was a true prostitute. But what happened was this, she helped the Israeli spies when it came to Spain, Jericho, she even told a lie,

but what she did help Israel to gain victory. And so despite being a non-Jewish cat Knight. Her faith in the God of Israel led to her salvation and the story. Later she became the mother of Boaz Rehab's story being included in the genealogy. Here is God's grace as stands beyond ethnic and cultural boundaries.

Those who were outsiders, literally not of the same race. Not of the right occupation. Everything is wrong about them, yet the grace of God includes them. And then she had boas and we know the story of roof, right? Roof. Again, the outsider, a moy bite. The lifelong enemies of the of Israel. My rule was interesting because yet after her husband's death, she make a selfless decision to stay by Naomi, her mother-in-law.

And we all know their favorite line that she says, wherever you go, I will go. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. And through a line, a string of what call significant events rule was incorporated into the family. And we know the story of rule later became,

I see. Related to David? Yes. Grandmother, grandmother, grandmother. Through Jesse, and that's how you had David. So this is a story about how Groove's story demonstrate God's kingdom is open to outsiders, not only bringing them in, but breaking down the wall of cultural ethnic barriers, which later Paul captured it quite well, that now in cross all the walls of division has been broken.

Amen. So all of us come from different culture, different background, different history in Christ. We are all make one, so we don't have a try to become one. We have been make one. All we need to do is to manifest the truth. We one another and then we had a story of Sheba. But you realize Matthew didn't even even mentioned her name.

He say Uriah's wife Mar Matthew, trying to say is that she was always Uriah's wife. But David's scheme, David was a coning character. He schemed for the therefore Uriah, and yet out of that evil plot, God still weave his grace that despite the tragedy, but Shiba later became the mother of Solomon whose throne led to Jesus.

Yeshiva Inclusion in a genealogy shows that God's redeemed grace can turn broken situation into something beautiful. And now we come to the last woman being mentioned in a genealogy, and that is Mary. I don't know. What is your image of Mary Right to, after we know that she harmed herself after Angel, Gabriel appears to her and say, you shall bear off the son of God.

We don't know much about Mary's background, but we know from Matthew, Mary. Mary so-called was pregnant before she was married, and that was a scandal. And a great standard in those time and how Joseph was trying to let her go divorce her in such a way as not to expose her, because exposure means stoning by death.

But yet through that story.

Her willingness to serve God was smart by shame due to the pregnancy of marriage. Her willingness to submit to God despise the potential of social stigma and personal sacrifice serve as a mother of trust and faith in God. So if you imagine if you are reading Matthew's genealogy as a Jew in those days.

You can say that, wow, this story of Jesus starts with a war of shame, but you read the whole entire gospel. This war of shame become a much of triumph of God's grace. What seems to be scandalous, shameful, what seems to be something that we don't always talk about. Yet, Matthew, just say, this is the truth.

There's nothing to hide. It becomes a story of God's grace and goodness weaving through all this brokenness to bring us the beauty of the gospel of his grace.

After the ministry for nearly 40 years, I can tell you. I only learned a few lessons, not many lessons. I'm a slow learner. Oh, one lesson I learned there is two kinds of scandalous people in the world. Those whose story is so scandalous that God can work wonders and bring something beautiful out of that.

If you ask any pastors, I think we can tell you we meet a lot of scandalous people, but yet we saw the beauty of God's hand in the life because what seems impossible, God has made possible. The other kind of scandalous people are those who downplay God's grace. We don't play grace because we feel that he is a license to sin.

If we talk too much about grace, people will sin, but the truth is people s sin not because there's too much grace, they sin is because they have not understood and be embraced by the grace of God. A friend of mine went to a church in Singapore. He was telling me his nephew was an alcoholic and he was compuls gambler.

And he felt that he heard from people that this is a good church. You must bring your nephew to, because his church have a ministry to alcoholic and, and, and to composite gambler. So he brought his nephew to the church and he said that was mind blowing for him. He as experience. Why? Because the moment the pastor came forward and said, welcome to church right.

And you come to this church is unique. You see the man over there, he's a alcoholic. You see the woman over there, she's a coffee gambler. You see that old lady over there? She cannot help by borrow money from Moonshot. He was around telling everybody's weaknesses and then he tell the nephew, you come the right place because all of us are broken and we found grace in God and everyone from.

That group come and hug the man and pray with the man. So he asked me, wow, that was an interesting service. The pastor go around calling up everybody sin. I say, well, that is good because you know why? You never worry about anyone gossiping about you because out front, you know everyone's sickness. I don't think we do that, but we are saying that the story of God's grace is embedded in the genealogy of Jesus.

The story of this woman. Our powerful testimony of God's grace. They show that God can use anyone regardless of past mistakes. His grace isn't about forgiveness, it's about transformation. You see, we think God's grace is just to forgive us. God, I just need to forgive me, but I don't need a relationship with you.

But God say, no, I forgive you, so that we can have a good relationship, in fact, a healthy relationship, a healing relationship. So often we think grace is just stop at forgiveness. God forgives. You all know that, but God also want a relationship with us, and the gospel is scandalous in one sense because it's not looking for moral perfection from us first.

By it cause us to receive grace that empowers us to live differently. The story of Thema of Rehab, Ruth Uriah's wife and Mary invites us that what can God do in your story? I think for all of us, I think we have stories of. Victories, but we also have stories of defeat. We have stories where we are at our proudest moment, but we have stories where we are ashamed of ourselves.

But the beautiful part is God weaves all our story to the greater story of his redemption. You see, my friend. Yeah. It is not our weaknesses that hinders God, but it is our pride. His power, as scripture tells us, is make perfect in our weakness. That's why Paul says, the more weak I am, the greater God will manifest his grace through me.

Amen. You know, sometimes we say to the Lord, Lord, you know, uh. Oh, I, I, I sat down under a man of God once, say, you know, some often we say, Lord, uh, please use me. Then the Lord says, yes, I'll use you, but before I can use you, I have to kill you first. I like, I was shocked. He say, why? Because you need to die in my son.

It is only when you die in Christ, you make a lie to him. Amen. And because you are make a life in him, nothing anymore is impossible. And that's why if you go to scripture again and again, his Bible say he oppose us the prayer, James says that right? But he gives grace to the humble. And when we submit to God, Peter tells us he will exalt the humble in his due time.

There is no reason or there's no excuses why God cannot use us. Our story is a very reason why he came to save us, and our story cannot limit God or why he cannot use us. There is grace. We need some kind of good sender in the church. Is it? The scandal of God's base working in our midst, that Jesus came to share our humanity so that we may share in his divinity, his self-giving love, PAs away for us to written back to the Father and who that we have is the perfect Father.

Amen. And he is the righteous father like Hebrew. That's an closing slide. Next text, please Do I have it? On one slide, the last slide that Thank you from Hebrew chapter two, verse 10 to 12. Here, he says, in bring many sons and daughters the glory he was fitting by God, from whom and through whom. Everything exists should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect to what he suffered, both the one who makes people holy and those who are make holy out of the same family.

So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters. He says, I will declare your name to my brothers and sisters in the exem of your praises. I will tell you we take about 10 sermons. Unpack this to us, but quick one is this, basically no matter what genealogy we all have in our life or history, now you and I are listed in the perfect genealogy in the family of God that we are called sons and daughters.

We are called into glory and he said that we now we who are perfect, are yet to be made perfect. He is not embarrassed. He is not ashamed to call us brothers and sisters, but he quote from the sums that I will declare your name. To my brothers and sisters in exemplary we'll sing your praises. It means all of us now are in a family of God and you read Ephesian, it unpacks what it means, the implication or what it means to be family of God.

But invitation here is very clear. Jesus did not come merely to live with us, but as us. Yeah, and that enables him to die for us so that he might live in us. Let me say one more time. Jesus does not merely live with us, but as us enabling him to die for us so that he might live in us. Once we're in Christ, we have a divine advantage.

Say the neighbor, divine advantage. Come on, say it comes from conviction. Your neighbor, we divine advantage.

Don't let your own story stops you from what God can do, but open every chapters of your life story. Even though for those that are imponderable, those that cannot be explained, Lord, I open those chapters to you that you can make something beautiful in your time that I pray. Father, in Jesus' name,

just take a moment for us just to.

Let the word of God speak to those areas of our life, the Lord to you.

Or bring to mind the stories of your life that he wants to use, that he may use you, and those chapters are your life for his glory and for his name sake.

Father, we thank you.

We thank you that you can use, you can use all our stories.

And turn them into lessons of faith, lessons of growth, and we thank you that your grace.

Thank goodness they are woven into our stories, but some has been hard lessons yet. Lord I through the examples of this, five women.

Give us and grant us a fresh faith. Breathe life into our faith once again.

That we have this meaningful experience of you this Christmas and give us opportunities to tell those stories.

What was broken is now make whole nothing but by your grace. Amen.