A man came home one day and found his front door locked. He went around the house and found the rear door locked. He called his wife who was inside and did not get an answer. He decided to call her on her cell phone, but she was not picking up the phone. He called his son who answered the phone. “Mum told us not to open the door for you.” The son told the poor guy. He did not ask his son why. He decided to text her. “Honey, this is my house too. Actually this house is all mine. I picked it, pay the mortgage, pay all the bills, and buy everything in it. So what if I bought the Mercedes Coup without telling you! It is my money. I could sell you too. You live because I work.”
The woman had told him it was fine. But the way the fine had been communicated was not the fine, fine, but the women fine. It is the same response that the Lord God received from Sarah. The Lord shows up at Abraham’s home one late Afternoon. Two angels accompany him. He gets treated to chapatti and Nyamchom. Then he asks, “where is your wife Sarah. Next year at the same time I will visit her and she will have a child.” Sarah who was listening to the men shrugged, and laughed. She basically said, “Yeah right.” Basically, “nonsense”! Genesis 18.
Sarah had grown weary of waiting for the promise. In fact she was used to her husbands innuendos. One time the guy had sold her. Seriously! It was while they were passing in the country occupied by the Canaanites. These were the generation of Ham who was the brother of Japheth and Shem. His people were not the best of neighbors. Therefore Abraham sweet-talked his very beautiful wife Sarah. “Honey, you love me right?” Sarah said, “Of course Baby, I love you.” Well, Abraham had her right on. “You see, if you say you are my sister, the King will show us mercy.”
Actually what I believe happened was that Abraham miscalculated how much food and water he needed for his servants and herd (he was a rich ‘Maasai’). Realizing his problem, he thought, if he could give Sarah to the King, the King would provide for him and his multitude (basically sell her). Therefore the proposal was not based upon love but survival, and it worked! When the King heard that Abraham had a beautiful sister with him, he took her in to be his wife. And Abraham was welcomed and treated very well. If it were not for the Lords intervention, Abraham would never have said a thing. He was well taken care of at the expense of his “sister.” Imagine this is the same man of whom God calls a friend!
But this is not the only story that shows the misery and mystery of families. If you read King David’s life, you discover that this guy did not only kill and take some other guys wife, but he is fighting with his son’s over women! And he is called a man after God’s own heart! What? Why God created the system of wife and husbands is a mystery. In fact it is a mystery because St. Paul argues, “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.” Ephesians 5:31-35. No wonder no one understands marriage! Mystery!
God’s grace is shown even in circumstances that do not merit it! That’s Grace for you! We are not saints because we are Holy, but because He calls us thus! We keep the faith because He shows us mercy!
The best story though of wife selling is told in the movie, ‘Indecent Proposal.” Robert Redford is great in this one. A young couple has a house that needs to be finished. They have $50K and they need to up it to be enough for the job. Therefore they decide to take the money to Las Vegas, Nevada for a profit. They gamble the money and now they are broke. Then a rich man finds them wondering around and admiring the beauty of this guy’s wife, he makes an offer. He will give the man 1 million dollars for a night with his wife!
Would you take the money and run?
Teddy Njoroge Kamau (PhD) HTBluff Associates. An EMG Consortium @HTBluff. Diaspora Messenger Columnist
