Choose Your Own Adventure: A Scarlet Cord (MPLS)

Joshua 2:1-21

Joshua son of Nun sent two men secretly from Shittim as spies, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” So they went, and entered the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab, and spent the night there.

The king of Jericho was told, “Some Israelites have come here tonight to search out the land.” Then the king of Jericho sent orders to Rahab, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who entered your house, for they have come only to search out the whole land.” But the woman took the two men and hid them.

Then she said, “True, the men came to me, but I did not know where they came from. And when it was time to close the gate at dark, the men went out. Where the men went I do not know. Pursue them quickly, for you can overtake them.” She had, however, brought them up to the roof and hidden them with the stalks of flax that she had laid out on the roof. So the men pursued them on the way to the Jordan as far as the fords. As soon as the pursuers had gone out, the gate was shut.

Before they went to sleep, she came up to them on the roof and said to the men: “I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that dread of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt in fear before you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites that were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. As soon as we heard it, our hearts failed, and there was no courage left in any of us because of you. The Lord your God is indeed God in heaven above and on earth below. Now then, since I have dealt kindly with you, swear to me by the Lord that you in turn will deal kindly with my family. Give me a sign of good faith that you will spare my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death.”

The men said to her, “Our life for yours! If you do not tell this business of ours, then we will deal kindly and faithfully with you when the Lord gives us the land.”

Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was on the outer side of the city wall and she resided within the wall itself. She said to them, “Go towards the hill country, so that the pursuers may not come upon you. Hide yourselves there for three days, until the pursuers have returned; then afterwards you may go on your way.”

The men said to her, “We will be released from this oath that you have made us swear to you if we invade the land and you do not tie this crimson cord in the window through which you let us down, and you do not gather into your house your father and mother, your brothers, and all your family. If any of you go out of the doors of your house into the street, they shall be responsible for their own death, and we shall be innocent; but if a hand is laid upon any who are with you in the house, we shall bear the responsibility for their death. But if you tell this business of ours, then we shall be released from this oath that you made us swear to you.”

She said, “According to your words, so be it.” She sent them away and they departed. Then she tied the crimson cord in the window.”

This summer we’re reading stories we don’t often hear in worship, and today is certainly one of those. You might remember the story of Joshua and the battle of Jericho when the walls came tumbling down. The story of Rahab bookends that story. 

Part 1:

After living in the wilderness for 40 years eating manna and being instructed in how to live together as free people, it was time for the people of Israel to cultivate gardens and live as people with land. Moses had died, and Joshua was now the leader. He sent two spies to view the land in Canaan, and they went to Jericho to the house of Rahab, a prostitute. The king of Jericho caught wind of their presence and sent orders to Rahab to bring them out, but instead she hid them. Then she made a deal with the spies to spare her family when they returned in battle. “Our life for yours,” they agreed. “If you keep quiet about our business, we’ll deal kindly and faithfully with you when the Lord gives us the land.” Since her house was built into the wall that surrounded the city, she let them down by a rope through her window and sent them to the hills where outlaws always hide until the king’s men gave up on finding them. Then she tied a crimson cord in her window to mark the place where she lived so she and her family would be spared in battle. 

The story is a folk narrative about a heroine who colludes with a couple of outlaw spies to outwit a king. It’s a story that pits the poor against the rich, the marginal against the dominant. It’s a story with exaggerated characters that shows the underdog can really come out in the end. It’s a story of encouragement for those without power. 

If you wonder why the story is in the Bible, you’d do well to remember the Bible contains lots of different things, like:

• Songs and poems that give voice to our prayers to God; 
• Letters of encouragement and instruction; 
• Chronicles of things that happened; and 
• Stories that tell us something true in ways that only stories can move our hearts to understand. 

Rahab is brassy. She’s the trickster who wins the day, the weak one who outsmarts the powerful. Like Jacob who tricked his brother of his birthright, Rahab uses her agency to improve her situation. Like the midwives Shiphrah and Puah, she outwits kings and armies to save life.

Maybe it bothers you that Rahab is a prostitute. If you’re imagining the madam of a brothel who mingles with socialites, Rahab is not that. She is a daughter on whom it has fallen to support her family in whatever way she can. She is supporting her impoverished parents and siblings. In the ancient world, poverty was most often the reason women engaged in prostitution. When one lives hand to mouth, sometimes the only way to survive is to become a sex worker or a debt slave – even today. 

I told the story of Priya in India a few minutes ago. For Priya’s family, the family had no choice but to indenture Priya to their creditor until their loan was paid off. She was forced to work for them and sleep on the street. It’s called bonded labor, peonage, or debt slavery. In theory, one can pay off one’s debt and be liberated, but often the terms are uncertain, and the creditor is in control. 

Debt bondage can be passed from generation to generation. It happens here, too – often with immigrants trying to find a better life.

For those living in grinding poverty, prostitution or debt slavery are sometimes the only options; sometimes both are necessary. 

Rahab represents the poorest of the poor, and she calls on God’s steadfast love to rescue her. But not only that, she is Rahab the preacher. When the spies come to her, she tells them the story of God’s mighty act to rescue their ancestors from slavery in Egypt. 

Forty years have passed since God separated the waters and brought Israel up out of the land of Egypt. A whole generation has passed, and none of those living remember the hunger in their bellies assuaged by unleavened bread, the sound of horses’ hooves as they ran toward the sea, and the feel of dry ground beneath their feet as they crossed the river to safety. 

Her people have heard the stories of this God who freed the slaves, and their hearts have melted in fear. She reminds the spies of the mighty acts their God has already done, and then she gets folded into the story of Passover and enacts it again. 

Part 2:

Three days later, the spies will return to Joshua. He’ll call the people forward with the ark of the covenant leading the way. With the stone tablets and a jar of manna inside, the ark will be a reminder of whose they are and from where they’ve come. The priests carrying the ark set foot in the Jordan River, and the waters part, allowing the people to pass through on dry ground. Twelve stones are removed from the middle of the river, and a cairn will be built to remind them again. When all of the people have crossed through the river, the ark is brought to the other side, and the waters close up. Clue: it’s Passover once again. 

They go to Jericho and wait for the Lord’s commands. Circle the city once each day while blowing horns, and then wait. On the seventh day circle it seven times while blowing horns, and then shout. The walls fall down. The city is destroyed. But there in the window of a house on the outside of the city wall is a crimson cord. Like the blood of the lamb on the door lintels of the Israelite homes in Egypt, the crimson cord signals that this house’s residents must be saved. Rahab and her family are brought to safety. She and all of her family are spared. Freed from debt, she lives as one of God’s people in Israel. 

Honestly, war is gut-wrenching, and this is one of the stories from the Old Testament that’s hard. This week, the world watched with dismay as Afghanistan fell into chaos as the Taliban claimed control of the country in a matter of days. Pundits, elected officials, military leaders, and ordinary citizens will long debate and analyze the ends and the means of what is unfolding before our eyes. What’s certain right now is that wholehearted empathy is felt around the world for lives that are at risk. What will happen to women and girls? Will Afghans who helped western forces during the war be protected?…and their families? What about Afghans at risk for hunger and displacement?

It’s complicated in so many ways, and of course there’s concern for our allied troops and contractors and expats, as well. But the sheer vulnerability of the Afghan population begs the question: How could these lives not matter?

We see with clear eyes a truth about ourselves and the human condition: All is not well in the world. War makes it plain that we have missed the mark. We do not live as God intended. We have not loved God with our whole hearts and our neighbors as ourselves. We live with sin. 

The story of Rahab acknowledges that reality about us and tells us something about God, too. The God who meets us in the Bible and the stories of our faith is a God whose character is steadfast love. God establishes justice and defends the vulnerable. God keeps promises and is faithful. Rahab shows us that God’s steadfast love is more expansive and inclusive than we might have imagined. Rahab is an outsider, but even she is included. Her poverty matters. She and her family are enfolded in a community where debts are erased, and slaves are freed. Rahab’s story is part of the ongoing story of the God whose “tenacious solidarity”* with the poor will never end. 

Some days it’s hard not to feel despair for the world, but Rahab’s story tells us that God hasn’t given up on us yet. Her story is not “one and done” in the Bible. She shows up again in the Gospel of Matthew in the very first chapter. If you’ve never poured the first chapter of Matthew it wouldn’t be surprising. It’s genealogy – so-and-so was the father of this one, and this one was the father of that one. That one was the father of another one. Another one begat yet this other one. And so on for 42 generations until it says that Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary of whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah. 

Three sets of 14 generations that trace Jesus’ ancestry through the father’s line – with the inclusion of four women: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah. Rahab is one of Jesus’ ancestors. She is one of four women – outsiders all of them – through whom God has chosen to continue the promise of God’s steadfast love. Rahab’s story reminds us that God is gracious and merciful to us, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love for all of God’s creation. Rahab’s story reminds us that God hasn’t given up on us and never will. 

This morning, two babes were washed in the waters of baptism and named beloved children of God. Like us, the Spirit sends them out to let their light shine in the world and to live as followers of Jesus. 

“Come, learn from me,” Jesus says, “and join me in the work of God’s kingdom. Feed the hungry and give the thirsty something to drink. Welcome the stranger, and clothe the naked. Care for the sick, and visit the prisoner. Learn from me about the God who keeps promises, who defends the vulnerable, whose steadfast love lasts forever.”

May that God bless us and guide us to use our agency on behalf of the world God loves. Amen. 

*Walter Brueggemann