Ruth 3: planning it out

As a refresher, we can look back over the last two chapters of Ruth pretty quickly and see 2 things regarding satisfaction:

1. In Ch. 1 Naomi lost everything: her home, husband, sons, and one daughter in law. She returned to Bethlehem bitter but still trusting the Lord. It is possible to be satisfied, have inner peace, even in the difficult and bitter days of life. This peace comes through intimacy with God, through Jesus Christ.
2. In Ch. 2 Naomi begins to see hope, and Boaz enters their lives and provides for Naomi and Ruth as a channel of God’s blessing. Boaz is a man who loves God and it is evident in his generosity, concern, and relationships with his workers. (2:4-5) Boaz had a materially abundant life, but his satisfaction wasn’t tied up in it – as seen in his generosity. Satisfaction cannot be had with money. It is an inner reality that is expressed outwardly – just as Boaz was generous.
For Naomi, Boaz became a blessing during bitterness. His attitude was “God, use me” and he gave generously to Ruth and Naomi. The clouds of bitterness began to rain with blessings.

In chapter 2 Naomi experiences a change in her spirit that leads us in to chapter 3.

Read Ruth 3

Naomi has experienced a change – she is no longer down and depressed. How did she get over it? I don’t think there’s a 2 step plan, but what is clear is that she was unwavering in her faith with the Lord. She believed His sovereignty and trusted His word. Psalm 119:28 says “My soul is weary with sorrow; strengthen me according to your word.” Let there be no doubt – Christ satisfies, His word strengthens, and even the darkest of days we can find ourselves in the shadow of His wing: trust, believe, and act.

Naomi went from bitterness to relief to ch. 3 she is starting to plan. Naomi has shown trust (the Lord’s hand caused this bitterness – she still trusted), she’s shown belief (2:20: The Lord bless Him! Boaz – he’s God’s provision today), and in ch. 3 she starts to act.

I. Depression and Paralysis
a. Have you ever made a plan to do something: whether it’s take a trip with your kids, pull off an event, a home project, a class project?
b. What’s the planning like? It’s normally the fun time, the energetic time. It can be stressful, but it’s the time to dream. Depression, which can rob us of satisfaction in Christ if we let it, kills dreams. Dreams turn into “I wish I had…” with no effort or purpose to follow through, and that only feeds the depression.
c. Ruth and Naomi have trusted and settled in the sovereignty of God, and the depression is beginning to be lifted and the satisfaction of their souls is giving them light.
i. Compare: 1:21 – “the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me” and 2:19 “Where did you glean today! Where did you work! Blessed be the man who took notice of you!” There is an attitude shift from depression to exaltation.
ii. They’ve trusted God the whole way, and now they can see His provision in real time.
d. We can look back over the past of our lives, believers, and see God’s working: preserving us, challenging us, growing us, encouraging us, lifting us, providing for us. Why is it so hard to trust this same provision for the future? Naomi, a great woman of faith, was no different; at the end of chapter one her world was hopeless for the future despite her satisfaction in God.
e. Clouds come; it takes faith to trust that good rain will fall.
f. When we’re stuck in an attitude of depression, we’re paralyzed. We can start to question God: does His word really promise this or that? We start to doubt our testimony, and we become silent with our witness.
i. Can Satan have a better day than to depress the people of God and silence the witness? Trust on those dark days the sovereignty of God, may it be His wing that is creating the shadow in your life and may you see the purpose he has for you in the difficult time. When I spent 28 days in the hospital, I did not go in anticipating meeting Christ in a life changing way – but praise God I did.
g. To keep trusting, even though you have serious questions, shows you believe in God’s sovereignty: his ability to preserve you, answer you, and his Love for you. Keep trusting. Naomi did and it led her to a day when she could plan (3:1).
II. Active and Passive Faith
a. Naomi no longer is thinking about herself: her concern and her plan is for Ruth. All through this book, Ruth has shown devotion to Naomi: at the end of ch. 2 she even lives in poverty with Naomi rather than staying with Boaz’s servant girls. Now Naomi, having seen light and come up out of bitterness – starts to think of others.
b. All along she has held faith in God, but a trap of depression or bitterness is to keep thinking about ourselves. Instead of blessing God for what we have, we dream of what we don’t have. We think, “If only I had – a husband, or a wife, or a day off – or whatever” when needs abound all around us.
i. Thursday our small group gave up the night to serve our community at Crossroads. IT took our focus and put it outward for a night – it was a challenge, but it certainly grew us.
ii. Naomi puts a plan in motion for Ruth. On the surface this seems crazy for a woman of faith: it’s doing all the things you shouldn’t do – go late at night, uncover a man and offer yourself to him. It’s dangerous and risky. But it’s also rooted in the righteousness that Ruth and Boaz have shown, and the trust that God will watch over the entire interaction.
iii. There will be risk when we live our faith actively. If you are a Christian, there are 2 ways that believers live: actively and passively.
1. Obviously, passive faith is easier: John Piper calls it passive righteousness: it is encompassed in avoiding evil when it appears.
a. This is the Christian who claims Christ, walks the good walk, but isn’t necessarily actively seeking to advance the kingdom and work for God’s renown. They’re passive, indulged – but not active.
2. Active faith makes plans and hopes and dreams. It’s more risky, but in the end it will result in growth of the Kingdom. Mt. 11:12 “From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.”
3. When you rest in the sovereignty of God, you are freed to dream and hope and plan and act.
c. Naomi is not sending Ruth into a situation of adultery, though it looks that way. Read v. 9. This phrase occurs one other time in the Bible: Ezekiel 16:8 (the Lord Is speaking) “Later I passed by, and when I looked at you and saw that you were old enough for love, I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness. I gave you my solemn oath and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Sovereign Lord, and you became mine.”
i. In Ez. God is declaring his marriage to His people, the bond would not be broken, just as today Christ is the Groom, and the Church is His bride. So Ruth is offering herself for marriage to Boaz, her kinsman-redeemer.
ii. Why at night? Why after he works, eats, and sleeps – all this presents problems because a tired person is not on guard, and it could be an easy time to fall into temptation. Yet the man who said “May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge” to Ruth, who became a channel of blessing for Ruth and Naomi, now realizes he is God’s possible agent to overshadow Ruth.
1. A satisfied man does not fall prey to simple temptation. You get the since that Boaz could use the internet productively and not to feed an addiction. That he could work for money to give it all away. Why? Because He is satisfied in Christ. Naomi is satisfied, Ruth is satisfied, and Boaz is satisfied – so the temptation that could be the downfall wasn’t even acknowledged in the text. How righteous! Read v. 10-13. Boaz let’s her know that he will only redeem her if the closer relative will not. In other words, he will do it the way the Lord wants it done.
a. But Boaz is also active, he will find out first thing in the morning.

Active faith is preferred in the kingdom. Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz all show it. Their satisfaction in God secures them despite the risks involved. They are righteous to the end – Ruth leaves before anyone can recognize her (her best clothes, shawl) – avoiding the hint of sexual immorality – Eph. 5.

But active faith does not mean life will always be good. Despite all the provision, the success of their plan, Ruth and Naomi and Boaz must now wait to see if this other guy, the closer kinsman redeemer who, for some unknown reason all of us are now rooting against, will take his lawful place.

There is no reward without risk. Satisfaction comes at a Price: Jesus on the cross and you laying down your life. But the reward is great. If you go a step further with Christ and take an active faith – and many of you are just by being involved in a church plant, the risks grow, but so do the rewards. I pray and hope that Grace Harbor grows active disciples, is a refuge for the lost and hurting like Ruth and Naomi were, and is actively advancing the kingdom. But that starts with each of us and the decisions we make:

1. Are you Satisfied?
2. Are you passive or active?

Pray.

For expansion see John Piper’s sermon on this text:

Everyday Life

Everyday Life
Ruth 2:14-23


Do you find much opportunity to rejoice in everyday life? Or to be happy? Sometimes funny things happen to us, or we get into a humorous situation – a friend this week was describing to me how he bought his wife a new car, and promptly backed into with his old truck. He smashed the grille and had to take it in because the hood was damaged. After taking it in, they realized the damage was worse than they thought because some other panels were smashed out of alignment. They got the car fixed, got it home and she took it to work the next day – where it got keyed and the paint job is ruined. He laughed about it – which is a good attitude, and promised to never buy a new car again.

Laughing isn’t always natural. Pessimism is always easier than optimism. Many of you know that Mandy and I work for the BCNE as collegiate ministers, our boss, the state director of collegiate ministries is undergoing a kidney transplant on Tuesday. It’s a pretty fearsome thing, but throughout the entire process – which we’ve been praying about for months – he’s maintained a thankful and optimistic spirit. To the point that his wife wrote an email announcing the retirement of Bob the kidney and hiring of Bill the kidney.

Sometimes we think optimists don’t live in the real world – kidneys don’t retire. But our attitudes and actions directly connect with this desire of our hearts to be satisfied. In our journey through Ruth we’ve seen how our relationship with God, our understanding of the transforming power of loving Jesus Christ, brings satisfaction in even the hard times. Last week we looked at the role that gratitude plays: grateful people are satisfied people. If you can cultivate thankfulness in your heart: thankfulness to God and to people you will cultivate satisfaction.

Last week we also saw the integrity of Boaz, his attitude of graciousness and love for God. He is a satisfied person: not because of fields or money or employees or productivity, but ultimately because of His love for God. Money won’t satisfy. Only a satisfied person can give money away: when we take up an offering we declare to God “You satisfy me” not the GW’s.

Ruth and Naomi are showing satisfaction and trust in God. Boaz shows the same: they are at 2 different points in life, but God has brought them together and neither despises the other. How easy for one class of people to say to another: you’re not like me, you’re not in my situation, therefore you can’t know me, we can’t be friends, we don’t need to relate. James 2:1 “Don’t show favoritism.” Boaz was full of love, and it overflowed.

We meet Boaz and Ruth and Naomi this week when their lives have come together, and it’s a normal day. Nothing extraordinary, nothing unusual, just a chance for people of faith to live out that faith. Everyday we have the opportunity to worship God: in our attitudes and actions: do we take it? Do we honor God?

Read Ruth 2:14-23.

Christian living cannot be from mountaintop to mountaintop. We can go on a mission trip and get a high, or on a retreat or conference or hear a really spirit-empowered speaker. Those times are great – but if it is just an emotional experience it will not last.

Tough times come in life – we’ve seen this illustrated in the journey of Naomi and Ruth: two widows who have left their homeland for a foreign land, and who have forged a commitment to God and each other. Naomi’s all-encompassing relationship with God opened Ruth’s eyes to His power, and now Ruth serves the living God, the God of Israel.

But life did not remain easy for them. This glimpse of a normal day – Ruth setting out to find food shows a lot of their attitude and keys to life. They found satisfaction first in God, and we see in this passage 2 keys to satisfaction.

I. Rest in God’s Provision (14-17, 22).
A. Ruth worked steadily till lunchtime, and Boaz invited her to lunch. She joined Boaz and was accepted into the group. Already 2x Ruth has expressed gratitude to Boaz, and Boaz made clear that he wants her to trust in the Lord, in “whose wings she has come to take refuge” (v. 12).
B. Ruth did not wander away to another field, or ignore Boaz’s generosity. I’m sometimes left bewildered when someone refuses generosity. It can be for good reasons:
1. They don’t know you or trust you. Ruth had to take a step of faith here – she just met Boaz that day. My mom told me never to take candy from a stranger – and here is Ruth eating grain and drinking wine vinegar. To be satisfied we must trust. We trust God to provide for us, and we express that trust by willingly accepting what he has provided. We also thank Him for it.
2. They don’t need what you’re offering. A poor person who turns down a penny doesn’t need a dollar. A rich man who gives a penny is stingy. Meet the need. If your friend needs a ride and you can meet the need, do it.
3. Pride. Pride can keep us from accepting generosity, and God’s provision. Ruth could have walked away saying – I don’t need you; I’ll make my own way. But she trusted this man who talked about the Lord. She was also humble and grateful – we saw here gratitude last week. She is satisfied, and now she eats all that she wants.
C. Resting in God’s provision also means that we realize that what we have is not our own.
There are 2 examples of this in the passage:
1. Boaz: he did not keep all the grain for himself, or save up the best grain for himself, but invited even Ruth to his table. He trusted God and just as God was gracious to Him, so He was gracious to others. In the Hebrew, v. 14 the NIV says he offered her grain. The Hebrew is more like: he heaped grain on her. He didn’t hold back his grace. He gave it to her. Here is a man who rests and trusts in God and is freed from the slavery of ownership to give to others. When we think of things as ours, they’re hard to let go of. People often chide me for letting others drive away in my car. I even let some of you here today drive my Jeep, when God let me have one. If we can separate ourselves and our tentacles from our possessions and believe that God has provided, we can see that we are much more free to give. We can spend money on ourselves extravagantly – don’t do it. Don’t be a slave to your money or your belongings: use them to honor God. That is resting in God’s provision.
2. Nor did Boaz hoard the grain. He told his workers: don’t embarrass her, even pull out some stalks from the already gathered sheaves for her. He is being graciously kind. Extravagance is meant for others, not yourself.
a. One of the tragedies we experienced in Russia was touring the armory museum in Moscow. The Armory holds the treasure of the tsars – rulers of Russia before Communism. The tsars oppressed the people and used people for their own end. We saw Bibles 3 feet tall and 10 inches think encased in gold. Never opened, just a decoration. We saw hand painted china, riches galore, and yet the people of Russia are poor. The rulers used all the wealth for themselves. That is not the kindness of God, who didn’t even spare His own son to show you love.
3. The 2nd example is Ruth. She takes the leftover grain and all she works for to Naomi, and gives to her. She doesn’t forget about Naomi when she’s eating. She’s caring for her. If your friend is hungry, feed them. Do you think about the others you live with when you’re eating without them? Would you order something they like to take the leftovers back to them? Resting in God’s provision is an attitude that says: the Lord gives, the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord. We saw this in the hard times of Naomi and Ruth’s lives, and now we see it in the good. Enjoy the good from God! Rest in Him.

II. The 2nd key toward satisfaction: Return Kindness (17-23)
A. v.17 – Naomi gave Ruth her blessing to go and gather from the harvest (v. 2). Ruth only asked to harvest.
1. When I was a kid, if it involved work like this and my dad had asked me to do it or if I had even thought of it myself, I would only have done what was asked of me. I would have brought back a lot of grain stalks, unthreshed. I would’ve said – “you only said to gather grain, not thresh it.” It’s like the worker who is digging a ditch and the water main is burst, water is pouring out everywhere, and their standing there watching it. You ask them: are you going to do something about it? And they say “I was only hired to dig the ditch, not fix the main.” A key to satisfaction is returning kindness: going the extra mile for the good of the other person.
B. Ruth returned Kindness to God: as the Lord provided for her she gave to Naomi. She returned kindness to Naomi, who was sheltering her, by bringing home ready to use grain. She took the blessing of God, through Boaz, and passed it on. We are not to be a store house of God’s blessing but a well-spring of God’s blessing: pouring into others what He has poured into us. Satisfaction, found in God, is evident when we return kindness to others.
C. Naomi blesses Boaz (v.19, 20). She again roots this blessing in God. She calls on Yahweh to bless Him. She has nothing to give, but such a relationship with God that she gives him everything she can!
D. Naomi accepts the kindness of Boaz and tells Ruth: stay there with his girls, they will look out for you. So Ruth stays: she in effect says to Boaz: “Thank you, I accept your offer and protection.” Again, Boaz recognized what he could do to be God’s advocate in her life, and he did it. He didn’t leave her in v. 12 with a blessing but acted on it. God was kind to all in this passage, and each showed it as they could.
E. A final note to this key: kindness doesn’t stop: Ruth lived with Naomi. She didn’t leave her for a full time life with Boaz’s girls, but stayed with her. The prospects may have been better in Boaz’s house, but she determined to honor her commitments.

There is a lot of integrity in this one-day glimpse into the lives of Boaz, Ruth, and Naomi. Remember the 2 keys: Rest in God’s provision, and return kindness.

Ruth 1:14-22


When we last left Naomi she was left. Her sons and husband died, she was in a foreign country with 2 daughters in law, and heard that the famine ended in Israel and there would be food. So she decided to return.

Last week we discovered how despite her tremendous heartache and grief, her understanding of God sustained her, and her relationship with God nourished her. She kept God at the center of the life, even to the point of accepting difficulty from God as well as blessing.

Someone once said everyone is a theologian: the atheist makes a deliberate choice to not believe in God; the agnostic makes a choice not to care about God; the Christian makes a choice to follow the God of the bible; and countless other religions lay claim to views of God. Everyone has a view of God – whether we are comfortable with our understanding of God or not, we all have some understanding.

Some of our understanding about God is deliberate: we make a choice to believe or not to believe. And we have a basis for the choice. “The fool says in their heart there is no God” (Prov. 14:1). Choosing to believe there is no God the Bible calls foolish. Yet many make that choice despite all the evidence around that there is a creator/designer to the world. It is a great leap of faith.

Some choose to follow only a God they like. A God that never really challenges them or changes them but rather supports their decisions and what they do. We make our own Gods. The Bible calls this idolatry.

In Ruth 1:14-22 Naomi’s view of God is further fleshed out, but even more it challenges those around her and their views of God.

Naomi has just finished urging Orpah and Ruth to return to their mothers.

Read 1:14-22
I. Decisions (14-18)
a. The Rational Choice (14)
b. Orpah made a rational decision. She knew Naomi, her family, and their faith. Naomi just told her point blank: God’s hand has gone out against me.
i. Look at the circumstances Orpah faced.
1. Naomi came to Moab in the 1st place because of famine: her God can’t feed her, yet Chemosh (the god of Moab) provides so much that this Israelite family has come to us for help.
2. Naomi has known nothing good in the 10 years I’ve known her: death has surrounded her, my own husband died: her God cannot save life.
3. Naomi is depressed and attributes it to her God.
4. Maybe my God is better.
c. Orpah quickly said goodbye and returned to the life she knew.
i. There’s a lot in this decision and I don’t want to over spiritualize the passage but there is a point that this brings up.
1. Sometimes the things we did before we came to Christ seem more appealing that life with Christ. We can get easily lured back, Christian, into the life we used to live. Temptation pulls and tugs and strangles us.
2. Following Christ is not easy. Believing in the God of the Bible and holding to Him by faith does not guarantee and easy life: in fact it is quite the opposite. Naomi can be called a hero of the faith because she never let go of Yahweh, the living God (Yahweh – from last week) is the name of God given to Moses and used by Naomi).
3. Are you quick to blame God when life gets tough? Do you abandon Him? Do you run from the life God wants for you to your old ways? Cling to God! Orpah saw the steadfast faith of Naomi and made the choice to go another way.
ii. Another point here is that Naomi was a good evangelist, even though she was urging them to leave and return to their own gods. A good evangelist is not measured by the number of converts but by the fruit they bear (there is a difference).
1. There are plenty of people who will at some point in their life make a decision for Christ but never act on that decision. They may say “I was confirmed” but their life speaks nothing of Christ. In other words there is no fruit.
2. The fruit of a good evangelist results in disciples: people who’ve made the decision for Christ and follow through. They grow in Him and cling to Him and tell others about Him. They become part of His church, His kingdom, and His working in the world. They give their hearts, not just their lips, when they say, “I follow Christ.”
3. A good evangelist presents the truth: Naomi did that: God does not promise a good life, but eternal life in Christ. Heaven will be awesome, but this life can and may be very hard. You may suffer, you may be persecuted, you may have death visit your family in painful and unexpected ways. Yet God is still sovereign.
4. When presented with the call to follow God or return home, Orpah had seen enough and went home.
d. The relational choice (15-18).
i. Ruth makes a relational choice. She decides to follow Naomi. She’s seen Naomi’s faith: Naomi never gave up on God, she held to Him. She’s seen Naomi’s life and witness. Ruth becomes a disciple. That is why I say Naomi was a good evangelist: despite herself she still led Ruth to follow God.
ii. Why would someone who believes in the living God say, “go back to your own people and your own god”?
1. Sometimes our life is more powerful than our words. Naomi said, “return” but she was not willing to leave God herself. Doesn’t that raise your curiosity? Why would someone hold to God despite all this trouble? Isn’t there something more?
a. Our international mission board has a team of missionaries that work in the Horn of Africa: Ethiopia and Somalia. Two places dominated by militants. One convert was arrested and thrown in jail where everyday he would sing a hymn when the sun came up, praising God for the day. Whenever he found paper he would write scripture on it and stick it to his concrete cell wall: the guards would remove it and beat him. The ritual would begin again. One day he was beaten severely, in his cell, in front of other prisoners. The prisoners had jeered him for singing. That day, the sun came up as the beatings continued. All around the guards, hundreds of prisoners stood and sang in unison the hymn they’d heard the Christian sing so often. Despite his trouble, the light broke forth.
b. Ruth saw the light and responded with an awesome declaration of dependence: I am with you (16-18). She used, in v. 17, the name Yahweh for God, not Chemosh, but the living God, the God of Naomi.
e. Naomi’s pretty bitter at this point, there’s a hint of reluctance in v. 18 – she just accepts that Ruth is coming, rather than rejoicing (we have opportunity to rejoice this evening at the Baptism Service).
i. Depression, Life, Trials, they can get you down, to the point of missing some of the most exhilarating times of life. What Ruth said was beautiful: but even as Christians we can get absorbed in our own worlds, especially where bitterness sets in. Satisfaction can seem hard to grasp. Our thirst overtakes us: we’re so thirsty we can’t see the cup of water in front of us. That’s a rotten place to be. At least Naomi held to God, and now Ruth joins her.
II. Praise and Blame (19-21)
a. Believing in God’s sovereignty and blaming God shouldn’t fall hand in hand.
i. We can blame God when things go bad: even when they go bad b/c of our choices.
1. I umpired baseball. Some teams were really bad, they couldn’t do the fundamentals and without fail they would want to blame me at the end of the game. It wasn’t my fault they lost.
2. God calls His people to live certain ways – in holiness. In righteousness and justice and love. When we put our ways first and his 2nd, bad things happen: we shouldn’t fault God for our bad decisions.
3. But here Naomi accepts the difficulties, and we also see her bitterness seep through.
ii. Bitterness can control your life if you let it. Your stomach will wrench at night, your patience will thin in the day, and you’ll become myopic. Bitterness is the result of self-centeredness. Somehow, despite being very bitter, Naomi keeps God at the center and keeps living life. She did not give up, or lash out. She stated the truth: I went away full, the Almighty brought me back empty.
b. When life is hard: can you praise God? Naomi’s return set the whole town to talking: a daughter has come home, but she sums up her 10 year famine experience with: The Lord. We leave Naomi at this point with a cynical attitude. Bitterness is a poison that spreads. Aren’t you down just hearing her words? Wouldn’t the women of the town be discouraged? Bitterness, even when we don’t want it to, seeps through our life, quenching love and leaving us truly dissatisfied. Bitterness feeds thirst. It lingers and lasts and can only be removed, not quenched. Bitterness requires a changed life, not a glass of water. It requires a fresh view of life and God. Naomi held to God, understood that God was in control, and accepted the misfortune, but also welcomed bitterness. It’s hard to accept misfortune and still praise. Naomi wasn’t perfect, but stronger than probably most of us.
III. Faithfulness (v.22)
a. Chapter one closes on a down note, with a slight hint of hope: the barley harvest was beginning. Lest we forget from last week: the Lord had come to the aid of His people. The Lord is Faithful: he cures bitterness.
i. There’s also more hope here: all the people in Bethlehem went through famine: this was the first barely harvest in 10 years: yet the people were faithful to sow seed year after year after year so that when the famine would end, the harvest would be there.
b. Your life may seem dark right now, but keep going: God is faithful.

Ruth 1

Satisfaction
Ruth 1:1-13

Satisfaction can be found in the midst of tough times in life. We’re going to walk through the book of Ruth and see from the lives of, mostly godly, people how God does work and completes purpose, and importantly, the types of attitudes we’re to maintain and treasure in life.

Ruth is an ancient book, written with similarity to Samuel, and occurring during the time of the Judges, well before Israel gained a king. It has a lot of customs that we’ll unpack for their meaning because they certainly aren’t customs today. And it has a lot of drama. It has been called the best short story ever written; but even that misses the mark because it is historical, not fictional. One sign that it is historical is caught up in the names of the people: Ruth being a main person and Orpah a minor person. They are Moabite names. The other names in the book are Hebrew and have meanings that add to the life of the book. But Ruth and Orpah are thoroughly Moabite and we do not know the meanings nor have they been passed down through the church or people of God. It’s all speculation. And Ruth is in the genealogy of David, and Jesus. Why would someone create a fictional account that would be celebrated in the genealogy of Israel’s greatest King, David? They rationally wouldn’t. It is just evidence towards the historicity of the book.

The lives of Ruth, Naomi, Boaz, and the others were lived during the time of judges. The last verse of the book of Judges gives us the framework we need for the study: In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.

It was a time like ours: ultimate relativism. Absolute truth was only recognized out of dire need, not love for God and His truth. People lived life their way, not God’s way. There was an attitude of complacency with regard to spirituality, and acceptance of all ideas as equal. This attitude goes against the grain of Biblical Christianity, and Lawful worship in the days of the Judges. The living God is one, and His truth is unified, and that turns a lot of people off: both in the days of the judges and today. The book of Judges is a time of Chaos and anarchy, and yet Ruth is a life of beauty in suffering and providence. Even in times of cultural chaos, God watches over His children, and there are beautiful lives faithfully lived that point to Him.

John Piper said the book should be called Naomi – because the book is about her – from the beginning to the end. Leon Morris, a commentator, said it should be called “God” because it is a book of His sovereignty and worship played out practically. There are no worship services or church rituals that we’ll see, but rather faithful lives. In other words, believers who lived Monday through Saturday like they do on Sunday. Ultimately, that is what brought them satisfaction. It was not found in riches or clothes or homes, but in the God of Israel, God Almighty, the Lord. Yahweh is the name of God used by Israel. It comes from the name God gave to Moses when God said to Him “tell them ‘I am’ sent you”. Yahweh is the I am. The living God, creator God, the God who is. Jesus, especially in the Gospel of John, makes it clear that He is. Jesus says ‘I am.” Connecting Himself with God, being the Son of God but equal with the Father.

In Ruth we see Yahweh called Yahweh. This is important, not only in view of satisfaction and sovereignty, but also in the view of God that was held by believers. It should help shape our view as well.

So satisfaction, it turns out, comes from our view of God. Ruth happened during chaotic, pluralist times. Tragedy strikes, as we’ll see, quickly, and yet during it all there was contentment, satisfaction. Why? Ultimately satisfaction came from God, the true God, and was available because the people held a correct view of God that was evident in their lives and words.

Read Ruth 1: 1-5

I. Setting and Tragedy (1-5)
a. Famine: meaning there wasn’t a crop, and without a crop commerce stopped, and that forced life changes.
i. Things happen in life that force changes. These can be good milestones, which bring a manner of satisfaction in themselves: graduating is a good change. Children are a great, though challenging, change; as is marriage. Getting new job is a great change. Children leaving home is a milestone, and hopefully satisfying. But even in each of these cases the satisfaction usually lasts as long as the event. Graduation puts you into the real world with new decisions and challenges. A degree only takes you so far. The euphoria of graduation only lasts for a time. Marriage is exciting but challenges come as the honeymoon ends. Children bring a new level of commitment and challenge to raise them. Satisfaction based on any of these milestones is fleeting, and maybe never attained, leaving you unsatisfied.
ii. There are also events that bring unwelcome challenges, such as famine: losing a job isn’t welcome. Not having the funds to pay for an emergency isn’t a good challenge. Dealing with disobedient children stretches us. Life and circumstances test marriage bonds. Alcoholism, drug addiction, and poverty are unwelcome, and we have to respond. Elimelech took has family and headed to, literally, the fields of Moab, where, presumably, there could be work and food and prosperity.
1. Moab was kind of a neutral place. It is interesting to note that in the law, the Israelites were not strictly prohibited from marrying Moabites, as they were other people (Deut. 7:1-3). Elimelech likely felt this was the best possible scenario for his family, because Moab was neutral. Not America, but not al-Qaeda either. Maybe like Canada: a place where you won’t be hated but has less than 5% believing Christians.
2. Though marrying a Moabite wasn’t forbidden, the children of such a marriage were not permitted into the Israelite assembly until the 10th generation (Deut. 23:3). So, the kids would pay – to the 10th generation – for the decision to marry, but it wasn’t forbidden.
3. The decision to live for a while in Moab means they were planning to return, probably before the sons would marry.
b. Isn’t it satisfying to make a plan that honors God, to commit your way to God and carry it out? That’s what Elimelech was aiming for, when tragedy struck again: he died. That leaves Naomi with her sons, who were likely young, but approaching the age to marry. And still, the famine was happening in Bethlehem.
i. God is sovereign, even over our plans. Naomi will be sustained through her love and understanding of God.
c. The sons marry: which, again, is not forbidden, just highly risky for the 10 generations to follow. But they, Mahlon and Kilion, also die. So Naomi is left living without husbands, without sons, just foreigner daughters in law.
d. She was grief stricken, yes, but we get no sense that she was unsatisfied. Jaded, very much so – she calls life bitter, herself afflicted, and her circumstances unfortunate. But she keeps God at the center.
Read Ruth 6-13
II. A God-centered Worldview (6-13)
a. This family was a believing family. Elimelech’s name, which means God is King, reflects religious conviction. Naomi’s worldview – they way she sees and responds to life – is thoroughly Biblical and God-centered.
i. There is now way that we can see with our eyes hope in the midst of desperate grief. Life seems helpless, yet there is a contentment that comes from Naomi’s worldview. Suffering can strengthen our faith.
1. A lady whose husband attended church but she never did. When he died, she became faithful.
ii. This was not likely the first suffering Naomi encountered in her life. Mahlon and Kilion have curious names. Mahlon means sickly. What grief parents go through when their children are sick. We’ve have friends who have lost children to sickness. Many of you know people who’ve experienced that loss. Yet Naomi held to God (and Mahlon lived to marry). Kilion means pining and annihilation. I don’t know where to go with that – but he must have been a handful as a youngster to get that name. They are not common names in the Bible.
1. Naomi’s suffering with her children strengthened her understanding of the sovereign God. And when all her men died, she held fast to God.
b. V. 6 – The Lord brought aid.
c. V. 8 & 9 – The Lord shows kindness.
d. V. 13 – The Lord’s hand.
i. Naomi did not curse God; she recognized His working, and Lordship. She used, in these three verses the name of God: Yahweh. She did not succumb to the Moabites who worshiped Chemosh. She knew the living God and stood for Him despite all her experiences and the pressure of the world around her. She wasn’t afraid to call Him by name, and to accept the good and the bad from Him.
1. The name Jesus is not celebrated in our world. We are challenged when we pray in His name in public. We are criticized for following Him. When our life goes bad we are tempted to blame Him, rather than accepting good and bad from Him. Standing for Him is not easy: even in our own thoughts. But that is where the battle begins and Naomi had firmly decided: she would be for the Lord, the God of Israel and none other.
2. She already had victory over the circumstances because she had peace in her heart. Grief could not shake her faith, loss of all possessions could not shake her, death couldn’t shake her, the depressing prospects of dying a widow without children couldn’t shake her: she worshipped and loved God. His love is better than life. She lived it.
e. There is no room for pluralism in a biblical worldview. That sounds harsh, especially today. But when Naomi lost husband and sons and was stuck in a foreign land without her possessions (from v.20-21 we can see that she had been a leader in Bethlehem and from a well known family) pluralism wouldn’t suffice.
i. God alone could sustain her. And the Lord alone had the power to comfort her. The thought that many roads would lead to heaven isn’t comforting when your loved ones die; you’re stranded and impoverished. You need a God who lives and acts and cares and loves with certainty. Only the God of the Bible stands ready and able to help. Where was Chemosh, god of Moab during this time? Nowhere. Naomi accepted life and stayed satisfied because she knew the Lord. He is a Lord who shows kindness and mercy and is sovereign over the events of life. She could accept death knowing that God, the Lord, stood beside her and was sovereign over the situation.
1. Saying “it’s God’s will” isn’t always comforting. But Naomi didn’t separate life from God: she believed God’s hand went out against her. She knew how “to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” Phil. 4:11-13
f. She could say that with Paul because she believed it and lived it. Satisfaction will not be found in this world. Satisfaction is found in God: Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble? [Job. 2:10]
g. Peace despite circumstances. Naomi had it, deep down under her grief she held a Scriptural worldview that would not let her be shaken. Depression would come; possessions would go; yet through it all she was content.
h. Christian, are you content? Do you take the good and the bad with a glad heart? Do you see God’s hand at work in your life and point to Him? Can you trust Him in your current situation? Naomi had no good prospects, and was even encouraging her widowed daughters-in-law to leave her. Yet she trusted.

Satisfy

Isn't this the one quest: satisfaction? I had meetings this morning that stressed the importance of planning now so that you will have plenty in the future - be satisfied, I suppose, in retirement. I've talked with couples looking to marry, who believe in marriage they will be satisfied [that is possible, but it takes work and planning - like retirement I suppose]. Google gave me 341,000,000 pages in 0.13 seconds talking about satisfaction. Surely I don't have to read them all to be satisfied or find the way to satisfaction. Right?

This morning I read through a Psalm. It screamed: satisfaction is in God alone. Money won't buy it, jobs won't secure, victory won't keep it [a lesson I learned in 2005-06 with the formerly championship Red Sox and Patriots]. With God, will I always feel it? Was Jesus satisfied when he said "it is finished"? That is not a pretty picture of satisfaction to think about enduring, but a beautiful one to behold. How can I be satisfied in life: a husband, a father, a minister, a friend, a hard worker [okay, maybe in my own eyes - but look, I figured out enough html to make things bold]?

That's the voyage I'm taking and the answer I seek: Lord, satisfy me.

Holy Spirit

God the Holy Spirit is among His people today. He does not ever leave us, we were sealed with Him when we believed, so there's not really a need to work ourselves up and get into an attitude that we think allows us to experience HIm. We just need to ask Him to fill us - in other words, remind us that He is God, He is in us, and we should follow Him. Another way of saying the Holy Spirit is here, is to say: God is my Leader.

Jesus promises the Holy Spirit to His followers: John 14:15-31. He is the Counselor and Spirit of Truth. That's comforting. Paul calls Him "Spirit of life" in referring to the law of the Spirit of Life. Romans 8:1-2 "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death." The rule of the Holy Spirit is one of life and peace and righteousness.

In Acts, the Holy Spirit works all kinds of miracles and gives direction to His people. The book of Acts is structurally reliant upon Acts 1:8:: but you will be my witnesses into Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. The Holy Spirit empowers this progression. Miracles and signs accompany His work. At pentecost, evidence of the Spirit is in tongues - actual spoken languages that each person understood: the Spirit spoke to each person's heart language. The gospel spreads throughout Judea and Samaria, and the evidence is that the recipients speak in tongues or show great faith. Then, through Paul's missionary journeys, the Gospel is carried throughout the world. But the signs accompanying the Spirit are more evident in the Fruit of the Spirit (see Galatians 5) rather than signs and wonders. Why? The barrier had been crossed from Jew to Gentile in the spread of the good news. The early church now became multi-cultural [it started out among Jewish people only]. The signs of the Holy Spirit encouraged the church in realizing the Acts 1:8 progression of the Gospel. Not everyone who believed spoke in tongues or worked wonders. All were baptized. Hmmm...

So, what about today? Scripturally, passages like John 14:15-31, Romans 8:1-17, Galatians 5:16-26 should guide our understanding. To say "God is my Leader" is one thing. To live like God is my leader is another. The Spirit impacts my life, attitudes, and actions. Being filled with the spirit is emptying the sin [confessing it] and asking God to lead. Exhale sin, Inhale leadership.

So many passages, so little time.

Trinitarian Statement

God
There is one and only one living and true God. He is an intelligent, spiritual, and personal
Being, the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe. God is infinite in
holiness and all other perfections. God is all powerful and all knowing; and His perfect
knowledge extends to all things, past, present, and future, including the future decisions
of His free creatures. To Him we owe the highest love, reverence, and obedience. The
eternal triune God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct
personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being.

A. God the Father
God as Father reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow
of the stream of human history according to the purposes of His grace. He is all powerful,
all knowing, all loving, and all wise. God is Father in truth to those who become children
of God through faith in Jesus Christ. He is fatherly in His attitude toward all men.

Genesis 1:1; 2:7; Exodus 3:14; 6:2-3; 15:11ff.; 20:1ff.; Leviticus 22:2; Deuteronomy
6:4; 32:6; 1 Chronicles 29:10; Psalm 19:1-3; Isaiah 43:3,15; 64:8; Jeremiah 10:10;
17:13; Matthew 6:9ff.; 7:11; 23:9; 28:19; Mark 1:9-11; John 4:24; 5:26; 14:6-13; 17:1-
8; Acts 1:7; Romans 8:14-15; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 4:6;
Colossians 1:15; 1 Timothy 1:17; Hebrews 11:6; 12:9; 1 Peter 1:17; 1 John 5:7.

B. God the Son
Christ is the eternal Son of God. In His incarnation as Jesus Christ He was conceived of
the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. Jesus perfectly revealed and did the will of
God, taking upon Himself human nature with its demands and necessities and identifying
Himself completely with mankind yet without sin. He honored the divine law by His
personal obedience, and in His substitutionary death on the cross He made provision for
the redemption of men from sin. He was raised from the dead with a glorified body and
appeared to His disciples as the person who was with them before His crucifixion. He
ascended into heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God where He is the One
Mediator, fully God, fully man, in whose Person is effected the reconciliation between
God and man. He will return in power and glory to judge the world and to consummate
His redemptive mission. He now dwells in all believers as the living and ever present
Lord.

Genesis 18:1ff.; Psalms 2:7ff.; 110:1ff.; Isaiah 7:14; 53; Matthew 1:18-23; 3:17; 8:29;
11:27; 14:33; 16:16,27; 17:5; 27; 28:1-6,19; Mark 1:1; 3:11; Luke 1:35; 4:41; 22:70;
24:46; John 1:1-18,29; 10:30,38; 11:25-27; 12:44-50; 14:7-11; 16:15-16,28; 17:1-5,
21-22; 20:1-20,28; Acts 1:9; 2:22-24; 7:55-56; 9:4-5,20; Romans 1:3-4; 3:23-26; 5:6-
21; 8:1-3,34; 10:4; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 2:2; 8:6; 15:1-8,24-28; 2 Corinthians 5:19-21;
8:9; Galatians 4:4-5; Ephesians 1:20; 3:11; 4:7-10; Philippians 2:5-11; Colossians
1:13-22; 2:9; 1 Thessalonians 4:14-18; 1 Timothy 2:5-6; 3:16; Titus 2:13-14; Hebrews
1:1-3; 4:14-15; 7:14-28; 9:12-15,24-28; 12:2; 13:8; 1 Peter 2:21-25; 3:22; 1 John 1:7-
9; 3:2; 4:14-15; 5:9; 2 John 7-9; Revelation 1:13-16; 5:9-14; 12:10-11; 13:8; 19:16.

C. God the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, fully divine. He inspired holy men of old to write the
Scriptures. Through illumination He enables men to understand truth. He exalts Christ.
He convicts men of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. He calls men to the Saviour,
and effects regeneration. At the moment of regeneration He baptizes every believer into
the Body of Christ. He cultivates Christian character, comforts believers, and bestows the
spiritual gifts by which they serve God through His church. He seals the believer unto the
day of final redemption. His presence in the Christian is the guarantee that God will bring
the believer into the fullness of the stature of Christ. He enlightens and empowers the
believer and the church in worship, evangelism, and service.

Genesis 1:2; Judges 14:6; Job 26:13; Psalms 51:11; 139:7ff.; Isaiah 61:1-3; Joel 2:28-
32; Matthew 1:18; 3:16; 4:1; 12:28-32; 28:19; Mark 1:10,12; Luke 1:35; 4:1,18-19;
11:13; 12:12; 24:49; John 4:24; 14:16-17,26; 15:26; 16:7-14; Acts 1:8; 2:1-4,38; 4:31;
5:3; 6:3; 7:55; 8:17,39; 10:44; 13:2; 15:28; 16:6; 19:1-6; Romans 8:9-11,14-16,26-27;
1 Corinthians 2:10-14; 3:16; 12:3-11,13; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 1:13-14; 4:30; 5:18;
1 Thessalonians 5:19; 1 Timothy 3:16; 4:1; 2 Timothy 1:14; 3:16; Hebrews 9:8,14; 2
Peter 1:21; 1 John 4:13; 5:6-7; Revelation 1:10; 22:17.

True Fathers stay close

Ps. 31:11-12
"I am the utter contempt of my neighbors; I am a dread to my friends - those who see me on the street flee from me. I am forgotten by them as though I were dead; I have become like broken pottery."

We all do things that put us in crazy situations. Feeling isolated from friends, family, neighbors, is pretty normal at times. Gossip abounds, and it gets to the point where we feel isolated, alone, abandoned. That's not a new feeling. David penned these words over a millenium ago - he says he's like broken pottery: sharp trash that only causes hurt as it is throne out. Ouch.

But the Father is faithful. He stays close. David goes on to say "But I trust in you, O Lord; I say "You are my God." My times are in your hands; deliver me from my enemies and those who pursue me. Let your face shine on your servant, save me in your unfailing love."

We are never too far from God to call to Him. When everything is crumbled and against us - we can still call to Him. Whether I've made the situation, or life made it happen, God listens. Staying close to God reveals the father. Jesus revealed the father, and did what he saw the Father doing. Ps. 31:19: "How great is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you, which you bestow in the sight of men on those who take refuge in you."

God is my refuge. God stands with me even when I'm alone. That doesn't mean that he always advocates what we do - but He always loves us. Good fathers stay close. If my son disobeys, I discipline him because I love him. I stay close to him. God does the same. He sent his Son to save us, to bring us to Him. And gives His spirit to draw us to Him consciously and actively. That is love, the love of a Father.

God is my Father

When I think about God, it's easy to be thinking things like: powerful, awesome, mighty. It's a little harder to think things like: personal, near, gentle. But God is both. Actually, He's three: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Grasping this reality is a challenge, but I like living in reality so I'm going for it. Here's how Wayne Grudem, a Christian theologian, defines the Trinity: God eternally exists as three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and each person is fully God, and there is one God. Say what? 3=1. Yes, 3=1. There are three persons, one God

God is my Father. Jesus taught to pray this way; He started the famous prayer with Our Father who is in heaven. As a child, Jesus was on a trip with his parents, and when they left he stayed back hanging out and teaching in the temple. His parents noticed he was missing [that can really happen to parents in crowds, especially if they have several kids. I don't have several kids so it hasn't happened, yet]. They turned to go back and found him in the temple. Jesus' reply "Did you not know that I had to be in My Father's house?" Literally, house means affairs - so it would be something like in the things of My Father. Jesus was about doing His Father's will.

Psalms 68:4-6 makes an interesting statement regarding God the Father. I'll quote it in entirety.
Sing to God, sing praises to his name; Lift up a song for Him who rides through the deserts, Whose name is the Lord and exult before Him. A father of the fatherless and a judge for the widows, Is God in His holy habitation. God makes a home for the lonely; He leads out the prisoners into prosperity, Only the rebellious dwell in a parched land.

God is worthy of praise and great and can do things we can't. Sorry, I can't ride through the desert. But I can worship, and who is the Father I worship? The One who is just, a father for the orphan and advocate for the widow. He's that way in His home. Not just for show, but in His holy habitation. The Father cares for His people. Just as Jesus is the Good Shepherd, so the Father is good for His people. In Psalm 68:35 we see that "The God of Israel Himself gives strength and power to the people." Any good father empowers His children. A good father also instructs and disciplines His children in love. God does all of this. Those who rebel face discipline, not as a sign of hatred, but of enmity. The rebellious choose to go against their father, and face the consequences. God loves such that the lonely are befriended. God loves such that He gives strength and power to His people. This power comes through the Holy Spirit, but we'll get to Him later. [while we're at it, Psalm 68:19 completes the trinity with "Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burden, the God who is our salvation." - Jesus is our salvation].

The Father does not abandon His children, He is sovereign over everything, and Jesus prayed to Him. But He is not remote; God is love and personal: making homes for the lonely and caring for the orphan and providing for the widow. God loves. "See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God." [I John 3:1-2a]. All children have a father, and God that father has made Himself known. For those who rebel or reject, there is only a parched land. Sin is leaving the water fountain and drinking dirt when you're thirsty. The Father turns on the fountain for His children. Those who reject decide they like dirt. "Only the rebellious dwell in a parched land." Ps. 68:6. "But as man as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name." John 1:12.

count me in... count us in

Throughout the New Testament there is a little guy who doesn't get a whole lot of press. His name is Barnabas. He was a Levite, meaning he was from the line of Israelites who served the priests in the temple. He probably grew up learning how to serve others. He was also from Cyprus - an Island in the Mediterranean, yet the Levites still had particular responsibilities in Jewish worship, no matter the locale. Though things changed by the time Barnabas was living compared to the time when the Levites were first assigned duties in worship, the line was still responsible in religious affairs.

But Barnabas was a believer. His real name was Joseph but he was called Barnabas by the Apostles. Joseph means "may he add" and Barnabas means "son of encouragement." It's interesting, this little name play, because the first we hear of Barnabas, he has sold a field [things changed, originally the Levites weren't given any land] and brought the money and put it at the apostles' feet. Not necessarily an action indicative of a man known as "may he add." Better to call him an encourager.

He was an encourager: he saw the potential in people and sought to lead them in God's way. He mentored Paul, encouraged the early church, and was highly trusted. He vouched for Paul - pretty important at the time because the first leaders of Christianity weren't about to accept Paul [aren't we glad Barnabas stood up for his friend!]. He was so trusted by the early church that they sent him around investigating, to see if the reports of Greeks believing on Jesus were true. He went to Antioch and "saw the evidence of the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts." [Acts 11:23]. He was described as a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith. He co-taught the church at Antioch with Paul, this is where the disciples were first called Christians. Even though prominent in the church, they weren't called Pauline's or Barnabasians {okay, I'm making that one up} but Christians. His focus was christ. His life wasn't about himself - he sold his land and gave the money to be given to the poor. He wasn't obsessed with material or money or power or fame, but Christ. Because of his obsession Paul was accepted, and the disicples were knows as Christians 'little Christ's'.

The church in Antioch sent a gift to the Jerusalem church, and they sent Barnabas and Paul to take it. Barnabas saw the potential in people, and raised up leaders, so the church wasn't "his" but God's. It didn't need him or Paul to survive, but Christ. And they had leaders to take them further and deeper with Christ. Most of us today, we'd stick with Paul. We'd work to keep Paul as our Pastor. Some would even move to where Paul went. That's called cultish. Paul and Barnabas - they were Christians, and people who followed them knew they were only pointers - pointing to Christ.


Paul and Barnabas returned to Antioch, and the Spirit told the church to set them apart. They took what became Paul's first missionary journey. They went first to Cyprus - Barnabas' home. An encourager isn't scared to encourage his hometown in the way of Christ. No matter how close the friendship, an encourager seeks to speak truth. Along the journey there was a huge response to God's word and God worked miracles through Paul and Barnabas. At one Greek town, Barnabas was called Zeus and Paul was called Hermes, because he did all the talking. Encouragement is more about action than talking, doing than saying, and being than doing. The Greeks also recognized the leader of the two was the encourager. Barnabas was, in our terms, the "older, more mature" Christian [doesn't feel right saying that compared to Paul]. Anyway, the priest to Zeus brought them a bull and wreaths. Normally, when people pay me for religious services, like a wedding, a prayer, a memorial service, for preaching at a church - I'm pretty happy to take the money. The worker does deserve their wages. However, Zeus and Hermes weren't working for Zeus, they were working for Jesus. So Barnabas and Paul didn't take the bull. If you're hungry, a bull is a pretty attractive thing. If you want fame, a wreath is great to wear around town because people look at you. But if you want to glorify Jesus, don't take the bull. They went a step further - Paul and Barnabas tore their clothes and yelled at people to turn from their worthless things to the living God. Some Jews showed up and turned the crowed against Paul - stoning him and dragging him out of the city thing he was dead. But the disciples gathered around him and he got up and went back to the city. whew. that was close. Anyway, the next day Barnabas and Paul left - encouragers aren't afraid to help out in the worst of circumstances. Encouragers are also team players.

They took along a friend - John Mark, who would later cause them some problems. He left for Jerusalem, leaving Paul and Barnabas to complete the journey. The next time around Paul wanted nothing to do with him, but Barnabas, ever the encourager, did. And he took John Mark and went a different way. That's pretty much where the close attention to Barnabas ends. John Mark was later an encouragement to Paul, in prison at the time - Barnabas rubbed off. Later in Antioch Barnabas was pulled astray, along with Peter, and followed some Judaizers - he stopped eating with Gentiles. This is the big weakness of encouragers: being a people pleaser. The big lure: encourage people: affirm them, don't confront them. That's why Paul and Barnabas were a great team. Paul: he could confront. Barnabas: he could encourage. And neither of them cared about things, they cared about people. Our strengths, together, when we all say "count us in" grow stronger. God calls us to join Him and join His church and do our part. It doesn't have to be done alone. Life doesn't have to be lived alone. We all need some encouragement, and we need to encourage.

Running on empty minus one

Working through a theme called "count me in" [a response to god's love in Christ]; I've been challenged to sum up my life purpose and goal in a sentence. What would it be? It's a hard question to answer, especially at times when I feel like my life is going in 30 different directions and the demands are increasing on every side. But for a purpose - how about - loving God with everything. That sounds good, but can I do it. What about now, right now, I'm tired, frustrated, feel like I'm not connecting with others in conversation. What about now, I'm running on empty, and God is all about fullness.

Ephesians 6:10 is an odd kind of challenge: Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Or better, be strong in the Lord and the strength of His might. Or, as some put it, be empowered in the Lord and in His mighty power. It all starts with one word of conclusion: finally.

After 6 chapters of ephesians Paul has just dealt with some of the hardest relationships we will ever encounter in life: marriage, children, and employers. Each one causes stress in unique ways, and the overarching call to the Christian in all of these relationships is: submint one to another. There is stress in relating to the opposite sex, whether boyfriend/girlfriend or husband and wife of 50 years. There's a beautiful mystery always inside the opposite, and loving them exposes that mystery. But sometimes life happens and it gets hard. Their affections stray, our eyes stray. We build emotional walls as boyfriends and girlfriends to protect us from hurt, and then they have to come down or else marriage doesn't have the intimacy it deserves and requires. And then there's divorce... it just hurts. How can we survive? be strong in the Lord.

An after thought of divorce is children. I've talked with a lot of adult kids whose parents broke the news at the worst possbile time, though there is never a good time for news like that. So instead of escaping the stress of a relationship all the anger and hurt is poured onto the kid's shoulders, and the parents do their best, but one usually ends up doing everything while the other becomes just like a child, shirking responsibility. Not just the financial sort, but the emotional, spiritual type of responsibility that only comes by journeying through life with your child, not on the phone or email. Kids also do things that make parents unhappy - we all have. We probably enjoyed it. I remember one time hiding a... well, that doesn't matter. Family life is hard.

And then, on top of all that, is work. Work usually drains some energy, if it doesn't you might find yourself without it very soon. And there are always other people to work with and sometimes they are all kinds of annoying, we'd rather lock ourselves in a cublicle and hide under the desk than spends 5 minutes talking to them. It can be draining, but there must be more than just trying to appease a co-worker or a boss. How does the toll-collector get motivated to go to the booth every morning? How does the janitor find joy in cleaning up a middle school locker room? How does a hospice nurse find hope? There can only be one place... Finally, be strong in the Lord. Faith in the Lord is the only place to find strength in difficulties. I've never been powerful enough on my own to overcome difficult times, especially relationship difficulties. It's required faith and humility and strength in the Lord. But being strong in the Lord is also about shining for God, who alone fills me enough to carry on when I'm empty. In many ways being empty is good - God's strength is that much more evident, all praise to Him.

What's the deal with bread and wine?

I've grown up in a specific Christian heritage that views the elements of the Lord's Supper [or Communion] as physical symbols of a spiritual reality. I wholeheartedly agree with that view, and believe it to be Biblical. I live in a place where most disagree with me. They view the elements [bread and juice or wine] as physically the body and blood of Jesus. Coupled with this is a belief that taking communion is accepting the body and blood [the sacrifice] of Jesus and assures salvation. Dangerous ground to be treadding? Why?

1. Ephesians 2:8: For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.
Salvation, then, is only by God's grace - which is represented in the Lord's supper - through faith. Faith in what? Faith in Christ: back up to Ephesians 2:6-7 and we see that we are seated with God in Christ Jesus in the heavenly realms, which is totally gracious. And ultimately this grace is in Christ Jesus: v. 7 reads "in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. The grace is expressed in Christ, the means of Grace is Christ, the object of faith, then, is Christ.

2. Okay, so Jesus is our salvation, He brings us to God, by His death and ressurection [I Peter 3:18]. So what is the Lord's Supper? Matthew, Mark, and Luke all have written record of the Last Supper, which is the model for the Lord's supper. Jesus takes bread, gives thanks, and breaks it - passing it out - saying "this is my body, given for you." and with the wine he says "this is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you." The bread and the wine represent the sacrifice Jesus would [and now has] complete[d]. The Passover, which they were celebrating, was the time when the Passover lamb was sacrificed. The religious people all celebrated the passover, but they did not eat THE passover lamb, but representations of the lamb. They celebrated God's forgiveness and looked forward to the completion of the the sacrifice, which was completed in Jesus. So now, we look back in the Lord's supper to what Jesus has completed on the cross and in resurrection. Hence, Luke records Jesus saying "do this in remembrance of me." [22:19] The Lord's Supper, then, is a visual picture to remind the believer of what Jesus has done. The Bible does handle the subject in the Epistles as well. See "The Fundamental Significance of the Lord's Supper" by B.B. Warfield for more info. Check it at google.com.

3. Is the bread body and the wine blood? Jesus gives a hint of this himself: Matt. 26:29, and Luke 22:18 - He, Jesus, will not drink the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes. So Jesus saw the wine as wine. Moreover, would Jesus need His own blood to enter the kingdom? Is He not God incarnate? Why would Jesus need blood, he lived perfectly and it's only by His blood that we have entrance. Jesus' view was that the bread and wine were representations. In Luke 22:16 he says "I will not eat it [bread] again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God." Jesus, again, does not need His own body for salvation. He purchases and gives salvation because it's His. So he must be saying that the bread is physically bread, representing His body.

4. The Epistles reiterate that the Lord's Supper is in remembrance: I Corin. 11:24. There is a serious tone regarding the Lord's supper in Paul's 1st letter to the Corinthians, but it is about the spiritual nature. Taking the Lord's supper without thinking on Christ is judgment - there are no benefits without the requirements. The requirement is Christ and the benefit is the spiritual blessings, eternal life, God Himself, and the joy of the Lord's Supper. The Lord's Supper is a physical picture of a spiritual reality [and the physical reality of the death of Christ - I Corin. 11:26, but it is a proclaimation of His death, not participation in it by eating the body or by eating the bread. It is proclaimed in the Lord's supper, and Christ's death is participated in by faith, just as His resurrection is joined by faith.]
4a. The wine represents the new covenant more than the blood. "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me." I Corin. 11:25. The new covenant supercedes the covenant of the passover. In the Last Supper, the passover was completed and the new covenant commenced, and we celebrate it in the Lord's Supper today. The new covenant commenced with the death and resurrection of Jesus. We look back to that historical point in faith for our salvation, and the Lord's Supper points us that way. It doesn't save us, but it points to the Savior.

5. Also in Corinthians, Paul remarked that the church was gathering for the Lord's supper, but weren't really taking it: their spirits were wrong before God. Evidence of this was in the church's fight to be first at the table and getting drunk at the Lord's supper. Wine causes drunkeness, not blood. Spiritually, the Corinthians were not examining themselves and confessing sins and trusting Christ on the cross and celebrating in the Lord's supper - they were missing it's purpose. They took it to excess, and made a mockery of it. The Lord's supper is a valuable tool toward sanctification in the Christian's life.

Their, All, and My time

O.k, so I'm going to try out this new thing I read about in a book called Habitudes. It's about reading a passage, and then journaling what the original audience responded, what principles are for all time, and what I need to do about it. Kind of public being on the web and all, but typing is easier than writing.

Passage Matthew 3:1-6

Their Time: John was preaching in the jungle, and people were coming to hear him. They were leaving the city and going to the jungle and being baptized in the Jordan river. John didn't dress cool either. He wore camel hair - I think camel leather would be cooler, but he wore the hair, all itchy. He did wear a leather belt, and ate bugs (locusts) and wild honey. So he wasn't someone you'd bring home to mom. His sermon was "repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." And the people came from Jerusalem, all Judea, and the Jordan district. Why? God's hand was upon him and he was appointed by God to minister. He was fulfilling scripture Isaiah wrote hundreds of years earlier.

All Time: Going with the flow isn't always God's way. John and Jesus really upset the religious establishment. But in John's case, it didn't matter about his clothes, his location, or his table mannerrs - his message was from God and people hungry for God came. Preach the truth. So I guess a principle is to be concerned with the message, not the messenger. Also, John was walking in his God-prepared destiny: preparing people for God. A timeless principle is to be concerned with pleasing God, not man [in v.8 John urges religious leaders to bear fruit in keeping with repentance]. The fruit of a changed life and a life living for God is timeless.

My Time: 1. make the message clear and speak truth
2. prepare people for God
3. live for God's pleasure, not man's
Lord, help me in all things to please you, to speak of your glory in a true way, and to love people in such a way that they desire you. God, may my life be for you - I pray that you take pleasure in me. Amen

Sum Total

Sometimes I wonder how my life would be summed up. What would people say? If I had to describe my whole being in one sentence, what would it be? Sure, I'm a human, and that means that I'm complex. My wife and I have been married 7 years and are just getting to know each other. How could I sum her up in a sentence? I couldn't - there is no single sentence that would do justice. But, what about my passion? Could that be summed up in a sentence? Is my life that focused that my passion drives it all and that passion is so focused that it can be put in a sentence? Was that last sentence even focused?

John the Baptist's whole passion and life and ministry came down to his message: "repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." That's his passion - it doesn't tell us a thing about his parents who were really old priests, the potential everyone saw in him, his life in the woods, his life with God and relationship with Him from a young age. None of that, but the passion bleeds through and his concern is simple: God is coming, repent. Not tomorrow or next week, but today, right now. He knew God and loved God so much and saw that all of life was meaningless without God. He didn't have a big bank account, gap jeans, or A&F shirts. He didn't eat at the nice restaraunts. His life had to be pretty bland - except that it impacted so many people and changed the course of history. His concern, wasn't himself. It was God, and it showed. And, because he lived his passion, people believed. There was proof in the pudding. The religious leaders, you know, the pastors and bishops and priests all went to go see him and hear his message. They didn't always get along, but John's life and simple message couldn't be swept under the carpet.

When I'm done, will people be able to sweep me under the carpet? Or will the message stand and force decision? What is that message?

Destiny

People who follow God are a pretty zealous bunch. They aren't usually lazy about it. They aren't usually half-hearted about it. They're like pro-athletes: its what you do. People have been known to walk away from jobs, money, family - all to follow God. What is it about God that is so attractive? Probably, everything. Deep in my heart I have this urge, this desire to live life significantly. If I make a lot of money, great - maybe my kids will enjoy it. If they don't, someone will. If I survive the disease I've got, great! Maybe some day they'll find a lasting cure and method of control that works for everyone. But what's significant about my life in all of that? God. He's significant in all of it. I now know that I am meant to be more than a worker. My life is meant for significance - to change lives and turn light on all around. This is the life of a God-follower: to follow the One who satisfies and gives significance which isn't found in money, success, or survival. But rather significance is found in Him - His purpose and peace spread to others.

Before Jesus changed everything, there was his cousin - John the Baptist. He was a preacher, but a relevant one which means he wasn't long-winded. This is what he said: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near." That's His whole message. My blog's bigger. (by the way, he didn't wear much either - clothes of camel hair and a leather belt - perhaps this visual added effect to his message). But His message had significance: it was truth, hope, encouragement, and challenge all at once. John wasn't calling half-hearted people to give up somethings, like, say stealing paperclips or bandwidth. He was calling for passionate people to change everything about themselves. Why? Because good times were coming - the kingdom of heaven: a place of belonging, community, and connection with God. Beats the desert where he lived. John the Baptist had a God-given destiny for His life, and His life had signficance: call people to the kingdom of heaven. That's the kind of significance I pray for: spreading hope and encouragement and love for God's glory.

Other things to consider: his Biblical destiny (Isaiah 40:3), his appearance, and his diet - the last two probably didn't matter as much as I think about my appearance and what I eat. Also, he had major doubts when he was in jail, his disciples left him, and followed Jesus. His destiny was done. He got answers to his questions, but am I willing to end significance in insignificance?

God's Mountain

Your righteousness is like the (mighty mountains) or (mountains of God); Your justice (or judments) like the great deep. Psalm 36:6

Let's face it, God is pretty righteous. The best picture He gives us on earth is, say, Mt. Everest. Big, climbing past altitude levels where most of us can breathe, and then some. It's cold and solitary at the top (ever seen the pictures of people who get to the top - there's not a village or a city up there.) His righteousness is just like that - lofty, grande, and singular. No one else is righteous like God. No one really comes close. His righteousness stands true and faithful like the mighty mountains. God, in other words, never chooses to take a short cut, the easy way, or "sin" against His nature. He is true, through and through. He is righteous, through and through. And He has personality. The mighty mountain of God can show pleasure and displeasure. When Jesus was baptized, the righteous God said 'you are my son, with you I am well pleased.' Pretty exciting! Imagine Everest bowing down and asking to take you for a climb! The pleasure of God is just that - righteousness abounding in joy that is rooted in, you guessed it, righteousness!

God is also just. Righteousness and justice can be a pretty deadly combination. The ultimate standard of right and wrong (there is such a thing) and true justice applied by the standard. God also makes the right decision every time. Like the ocean depths, the justice of God can seem unfathomable - God, why did my baby die (true question asked)? What's just about that? I'm neither Everest nor the Pacific. I don't know fully the heights of righteousness and the depths of justice. But I do know that God's love is infinite, so there is no reason to doubt His judgments and justice and righteousness. Rather, I desire to know Him and His righteousness and justice. God's righteousness protects the weak and humble. God's justice serves the broken and lost. Better than Everest, better than the Pacific, the best picture of righteousness and justice is Jesus.

[faithful:love]

Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. Psalm 36:5

God's love doesn't stop, ever. Never. I can't escape it or leave it, it's so big He always loves me. Spatially, the heavens and the skies are a long way off - I won't ever travel through the "heavens" = space. Even if I were to go to the moon, God's love is there. Emotionally, I can feel distant from God. When I'm not still, listening to Him. When I run, run, run through life - caring for kids, family, friends, and not taking time to listen. Or just run through life to, you know, "get things done." And the whole time it seems like life is passing me by, I'm never on the edge, in the lead, setting pace, but always trying to keep up. Even then, God is faithful in love.

Are their limits to God's faithfulness? No, He is true to Himself and always true. "Even when we are faithless, He remains faithful." How about rejection? Does God ever reject us? No,

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neighter height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39

Nothing can separates us from God's love. Nothing, but there is one important word in the above quote - the second to last: "our." Until God is mine, I'm not His. He remains faithful, yes, but I am outside of Christ, and therefore outside of the love of God that is in Christ. God's love is seen in Christ. God's faithfulness is in Christ. In Christ, nothing separates from the love of God. Count me in.

the veil & the darkness

Only God does things in increasing glory. I tend to peak, God always outdoes. It's like the best is yet to come - when Jesus turned water into wine, it was the best wine of the party - and the last wine served! When God sent the law it came with glory, but the glory faded: Moses covered himself with a veil so that people wouldn't see the glory of God fading on Him. When God came in Jesus, the glory grows, to the point that the law seems to have "no glory" compared to the glory believers have in the spirit. My glory grows as I become more and more like God - like Jesus. Imitation only gets better - it starts good and grows better. But the glory is God's. No one raves about people who love like God does, they rave about God who loves so greatly [i hope]. God assures me that I am "being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."

Imitation #1

Ephesians 5:1-2 are such loaded verses. They read:

Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children, and live a life of
love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragant offering to
God.

In the NASB, the verses start with "therefore." The whole book, it seems, is building up to this command, which seems awfully strong and how do you keep it? How can you imitate God. It starts with knowing God, His character, His heart. Only when my heart and His are united can true imitation begin, anything else is not fully imitating, it's more impersonating. Therefore - God's love before time began, God's love in action, God's power for us, God's grace to us. All, therefore.

[Success]

Welcome to Blackaby Ministries: "Delivered into Your Hand
And the Lord said to Joshua, 'Do not fear them, for I have delivered them into your hand; not a man of them shall stand before you.' (JOSHUA 10:8)
'No greater confidence will ever come to you or to any other Christian than the confidence of knowing you are doing God's will. God will not commission you to do anything without ensuring your success. God assured Joshua that there was no reason to fear as he prepared to battle the Canaanites. God would allow the Israelites to fight the battle, but the outcome was settled before they ever picked up their weapons. What confidence this gave them as they fought! Even though their enemies fought relentlessly, Joshua's army was certain of eventual victory.
God does not promise you victory in every task you devise, but He does promise that you will be successful whenever you follow His will (Deut. 28:7, 2 5).
Does it appear that people are keeping you from obeying God's will? Rest assured that God will not allow anyone or anything to prevent His children from accomplishing His purposes.
Be careful to evaluate success in the way that God does. Perhaps He is working to produce His peace in your heart as you face troubling times. Perhaps He is working to develop a forgiving spirit in you when others mistreat you. Perhaps He is working to eliminate a particular sin in your life. If you accept the world's understanding of victory, you may feel defeated. If you look to see what God is accomplishing through your situation, you will find that He is succeeding. When you face opposition but know you are doing what God has asked, have confidence that He will accomplish everything that He desires.'"

[Wow! Victory is totally redefined in God's hands. This is something for me to think about for awhile.]