Naomi and Ruth hatched a plan to secure Boaz as the kinsman redeemer. Boaz had been merciful and gracious to Naomi and Ruth and in this way showed a Christlike character. The plan involved going to Boaz in the night and uncovering his feet. In this way Naomi and Ruth choose Boaz as their rdeemer.
"So she went down to the threshing floor and did just as her mother-in-law had commanded her. And when Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. Then she came softly and uncovered his feet and lay down.At midnight the man was startled and turned over, and behold, a woman lay at his feet! He said, 'Who are you?' And she answered, 'I am Ruth, your servant. Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer.' " -Ruth 3:6-9 ESV
As Presbyterians we often are maligned for downgrading free will (or even erasing it). We believe that human beings are bound to sin and they can choose whatever they want, its just that the choice will inevitably be sin because we are totally depraved. It takes the movement of God to change the human heart to desire righteousness and thus choose something--or someone--else. God moves first and we respond to the movement of God in faith. So it is in the story of Ruth and Boaz.
As mentioned above, Boaz is filling in the role of the Christ in the story. He has already regarded Ruth and been faithful and kind to her and through her to Naomi. Boaz has already turned the heart of Naomi from bitterness to hope and the lot of Ruth from desperation to plenty. Ruth now responds to the gracious acts of Boaz by asking him to be her redeemer.
Consider your own faith and the many graces that God has given to you as you respond to the true Christ, Jesus, and claim him now as your redeemer as well.
News for You:
In addition to the morning service, there will be a candlelight Christmas Eve service on Sunday, December 24th, at 7pm.
The Okanogan Community Homeless Shelter is looking for volunteers to be overnight hosts
on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at New Life Church in Okanogan. Please see
the sign-up sheet at the Welcome Center for available dates.
There will be a nursery Christmas party on Sunday, December 24th
during the morning service. Nursery staff are requesting a cover
charge of two jars of baby food that will be donated to the food bank.
There will be a new Elder and Deacon training meeting on Wednesday, December 27th, from 1-5 pm at the church.
The new youth director position has been posted online. If you know of anyone who is qualified for the position, please contact the church.
In our passage this week Naomi continues to emerge from her bitterness. Gone is her self-pity and come is her craftiness. Ruth brought home a bounty, but Boaz continued providing food in his merciful stance toward both Ruth and Naomi. After a time, Naomi begins to feel secure in her place and the spell of self-focus is broken.
"Then Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, 'My daughter, should I not seek rest for you, that it may be well with you? Is not Boaz our relative, with whose young women you were? See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. Wash therefore and anoint yourself, and put on your cloak and go down to the threshing floor, but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. But when he lies down, observe the place where he lies. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down, and he will tell you what to do.' And she replied, 'All that you say I will do.' " -Ruth 3:1-5 ESV
Tragedy and crisis have a way of inviting selfishness. To some extent this is to be expected. When endangered or exposed we tend not to think beyond the self (and perhaps our family). The focus becomes securing what I need to survive. In my experience with people who have real questions about food/shelter, this self-focus because of that desperation is the rule. I have also seen it with families experiencing a significant, especially chronic, health condition. The focus turns inward and the disease and its effect on the family becomes almost an idol--a cruel and vicious one to be sure--that demands homage and inspires the family to invite others to its terrible worship.
What breaks the bad spell of self-focus in our passage is security. Ruth and Naomi have a place to live and food to eat. I have often said that by the standards of the history of humanity that if you have a place to sleep indoors tonight and you can reasonably expect that you will have enough to eat today you can consider yourself wealthy (or at least secure). Most anything beyond this (perhaps with the exception of adequate clothing) is luxury, but luxury is not bad. Indeed, Naomi's desire for Ruth is that she find rest. Ruth has been laboring to provide what the two women need and Naomi does not want to see her daughter-in-law (perhaps, just daughter at this point) continue to do so forever and never have the opportunity to marry and have children. Ruth is a young woman and the expectation of the time is that she be able to marry and begin a family.
Naomi's bad-spell of self-focus is broken in part by her secure position, but also by the good-spell (the Gospel?) of concern for Ruth. Naomi all of the sudden stops focusing on her own misery and sees the estate of Ruth and decides, "Alright, it is time I do something to help Ruth." That turn is one we all need from time to time. Naomi has legitimate reasons to grieve and mourn with the death of her husband and sons, but while the pain of loss may always be with her, it is time to get on with the life she still has to live. This is why she concocts the plan.
The plan is simple and could be titled: "Get Boaz to Marry Ruth." The plan begins with an observation that Boaz will be at the threshing floor that night. Winnowing is a process when the kernel of grain (barley or wheat) is separated from the husk around it (the chaff). This was accomplished on a large flat surface where the grain would be tossed in the air and the prevailing winds (stronger in the evening) would do the work. It was a process that could take quite a while and it was not uncommon for those winnowing to plan to stay at the floor until the task was done, even sleeping there if necessary. Since Boaz was a wealthy farmer with good lands and a bountiful harvest, Naomi knows it is all but guaranteed that Boaz would be at the threshing floor overnight guarding his crop. This is the moment that Ruth's life can change for the better.
The plan then involves ending Ruth's period of mourning. She is to wash and put on good-smelling anointment (a perfume-like oil). This is to indicate that her time of mourning for the loss of her husband is over and that she is eligible for marriage once again. The plan then gets bold. Ruth is to go to find Boaz in the middle of the night and expose his feet. Scholars go round and round about what this means, but it seems to me that if someone uncovered my feet in the middle of the night I would wake up to see what was going on (happiness is warm feet sometimes). What seems certain is that Ruth is making a bold proposal to Boaz that he should marry her. This is almost an outrageous thing for a woman, especially a foreign woman, to do in her day, yet Naomi is confident that Boaz will respond and instruct Ruth what to do next. Ruth, for her part, agrees to the plan.
Self-focus can make us numb to the plight of those around us, especially to those we hold closest and dearest. Naomi is snapped out of her self-focus and goes to work to help Ruth. Ministry to others can be a real blessing because our focus is repaired. Jesus is ever other-focused in his ministry to us. As his disciples we ought to be likewise.
News for You:
Christmas Eve Service will be at 7 p.m. this year.
There will be a Christmas breakfast potluck during fellowship hour on Sunday, December 10th. You can sign up at the Welcome Center or contact Sandee for more information.
The Okanogan Community Homeless Shelter is looking for volunteers to be overnight hosts on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at New Life Church in Okanogan. December dates are the 12th, 13th, 19th, 20th, 26th, and 27th. Please see Pastor Bill if you have questions or are interested in filling one of the spots available.
This week we conclude Ruth's report back to Naomi. As we have seen, the two women were blessed by God through Boaz with plenty of food because he was a kinsman redeemer to Naomi. The providential care of God extended beyond sustenance to Ruth's protection as well.
"And Ruth the Moabite said, 'Besides, he said to me, "You shall keep close by my young men until they have finished all my harvest." ' And Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law, 'It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, lest in another field you be assaulted.' So she kept close to the young women of Boaz, gleaning until the end of the barley and wheat harvests. And she lived with her mother-in-law." -Ruth 2:21-23 ESV
Ruth was a foreign woman operating in what could be a hostile environment. God created men and women to care for one another, but because of sin some men have used their superior strength to dominate and harm women. Ruth and Naomi are well-aware of this harsh reality, but Naomi is beginning to see just how great is the providential protection of her God. Not only would Ruth bring in enough food for them to last them, but she would also be protected from the abuses and assaults she could suffer in a different place.
God's providential protection of Ruth served His purpose as Ruth will factor into the line of David and, eventually, the birth of Jesus. Yet, I think we can all look to God for protection in our daily lives. While I believe in total depravity (every human being/human action is tainted by sin), I do not believe in utter depravity (everything is bad as it can be). It is God who keeps us from the second and for this we ought to give thanks and glory to His name.
News for You:
The Omak Chamber of Commerce’s annual Twilight Christmas Parade is Saturday, December 9th.We will be decorating the Blue Angel to fit
this year’s theme of “Country Christmas.”If you are interested in participating in this event, please contact the
church office.
The Okanogan Community Homeless Shelter is looking for volunteers to be overnight hosts on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at New Life Church in Okanogan. December dates are the 12th, 13th, 19th, 20th, 26th, and 27th. Please see Pastor Bill if you have questions or are interested in filling one of the spots available.
Parents of nursery-aged children: Please stay after the service today to enjoy homemade muffins downstairs with your children.
Manfisher is asking for heavy winter coats and gloves
for their inventory. If you, or someone you know, have any of these
items set aside to donate, please bring them to the church office for
pick-up.
The Salvation Army bell-ringing sign-up for Saturday, December 2nd is available at the Welcome Center. The location will be inside the Safeway entrance.
The women’s brunch & cookie exchange is Saturday, December 9th at 9am. Ladies, please join us for food and fellowship with one another. A sign-up sheet is available at the Welcome Center.
There will be a Christmas breakfast potluck during fellowship hour on Sunday, December 10th. You can sign up at the Welcome Center or contact Sandee Freese for more information.
A couple weeks back we left the story of Ruth and Naomi as Ruth came home to Naomi after a day's work with more food than they could use in a week. It was worth pausing with Ruth to enjoy the day's work, but it is also worth our time to go on further with the women.
"And her mother-in-law said to her, 'Where did you glean today? And where have you worked? Blessed be the man who took notice of you.' So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked and said, 'The man’s name with whom I worked today is Boaz.' And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, 'May he be blessed by the LORD, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!' Naomi also said to her, 'The man is a close relative of ours, one of our redeemers.' " -Ruth 2:19-20 ESV
Naomi is simply amazed at the bounty Ruth has brought home. Naomi quickly jumps to the conclusion that a man must have taken notice of Ruth for her to have received so much. That is true, but it would be more true to note that it is God who had taken notice of the two women and intervened through Boaz to care for their needs. At any rate, the bounty is cause for celebration!
Naomi then turns to prayer for Boaz. God had provided for her and Ruth through Boaz and so she prays for blessing for Boaz to the Lord who is kind enough to not abandon the living or the dead. Naomi's prayer is one of the first indications in the Old Testament that the Lord's providential care for His people is not limited by death. God had not forsaken the two women, nor had God forsaken Naomi's dead husband and dead sons. He was still active in providential care for Naomi and through Boaz, there was a hope that a redemption could come to her family.
It is Naomi's last words that should turn the Christian to think of Christ Jesus. In Genesis 1:27 we are said to be created in the image of God. What is meant by this term, image of God, (usually given the Latin name, "imago Dei") is a hotly debated topic in theology. I attended a whole conference devoted to the topic at Wheaton College some years back. There, an Old Testament professor named Catherine McDowell, argued that at least one understanding of the image of God is that we are created to be kin to God. As kin (though not of the same kind) we are able to be redeemed out of our debt by the Lord according to the Law. Naomi's hope that Boaz, as kin to her, could be one of their redeemers should point us to the Christ.
The Son of God, who is kin to us already as the very Word by which we were created, is our great redeemer because of his becoming our kind in the incarnation in the human Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus is our ultimate redeemer because he is our kinsman and because his wealth of God's favor is boundless. It is out of the great wealth the he can grant to us through faith the grace of God. What's more, Jesus also pays our debt upon the cross, not only leading us to break even, but to an abundance of riches in his grace. This is pure joy for the believer that God has provided in such an over-flowing fashion.
I hope in the coming week, perhaps over a meal of turkey, you can thank your God for the joy of His providence in Christ Jesus. You can thank Him for redeeming you and invite others into the joy of His bounty.
News for You:
Interested in being a fellowship hour host? Sign-ups
are available through the month of December on the whiteboard in the
Fellowship Hall. See Dolores Edelman if you’re interested in signing up
or have questions about how to be a host!
Manfisher is in need of heavy winter coats and gloves
for their inventory. If you, or someone you know, have any of these
items set aside to donate, please bring them to the church office for
pick-up.
The Salvation Army bell-ringing sign-up for Saturday, December 2nd is available at the Welcome Center. The location will be inside the Safeway entrance.
The women’s brunch & cookie exchange is Saturday, December 9th at 9am. Ladies, please join us for food and fellowship with one another. Sign-up sheet available at the Welcome Center.
Just a quick update this week. I am away this week at continuing education. The blog will resume its regular posting schedule next week.
A quick thought for you all:
The Apostle Paul states in Galatians 5:1 (ESV) "For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery." One of the challenges of the Christian walk is an attempt to return to the yoke of slavery of sin. We are a people who claim to love liberty above all else, yet when it comes to actual freedom--the freedom to do what is right--we often fall back to the lesser and demonic freedom of choosing between good and evil. Christ has set us free from this false freedom and its hidden yoke. You are free to live with Christ here and now and to express that freedom by doing what is right. The enemy wants you to be discouraged, depressed and ineffective. Christ not only wants you to be free, he has set you free in his death and resurrection. Be free and do not let anyone or anything force back into the yoke of sin.
News for you:
Potluck this Sunday to celebrate and give thanks. Last names A-M bring a side or salad, N-Z bring a dessert.
Manfisher is serving a turkey dinner on Sunday, November 19th and could use some help! If you would like to help cook and de-bone turkeys, please see Kathy Mintzer for more info.
The women’s brunch & cookie exchange is Saturday, December 9th at 9am. Ladies, please join us for food and fellowship with one another. Sign-up sheet available at the Welcome Center.
I will be honest that my original plan for the blog this week was to gloss over these verses and get back to the topic of being noticed that takes up in 2:19. Yet, as I read through these passages again this morning I found a Word from the Lord here. Perhaps it is because I am one of those people who never quite finishes anything. As a pastor my work is usually ongoing and so my profession is a good fit for me. Yet, there is something deeply satisfying about finishing the day's work. In our passage today, Ruth finishes her day's work:
"So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley. And she took it up and went into the city. Her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. She also brought out and gave her what food she had left over after being satisfied." -Ruth 2:17-18 ESV
Ruth was able to bring home about 5 dry gallons of barley grain. Her efforts in the field (with Boaz's intervention on her behalf) produced enough food for her and Naomi to live. In addition, Ruth kept her leftovers from lunch and brought those as well. It was a bounty for the two and perhaps more than Naomi had any right to expect. The day's work produced more than enough for the day's needs. This was a blessing for the women.
God works like that in our lives. We have been given work as a gift and as we work we hope that we have enough for the day (and usually we have a bit more). Yet, when it comes to the Lord, we always have an abundance. The provision of His own presence is more than we could ever hope for, yet it is ours out of His great grace. The Lord presents Himself to us in the Word that we have as an abundance. I pray you take up the study of the Word as a discipline and find that the Lord rewards your efforts with an abundance of His presence. You may then finish your day and rest in His abundant presence.
News for You:
Evelyn Minnich's 100th Birthday Reception will be this Saturday, November 11, from 1-4 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall of CPC Omak. Come join friends and family in the celebration of this amazing milestone!
Operation Christmas Child boxes are due in this Sunday, November 12th. We are collecting them in the Sanctuary to send them out with our blessing this week. If you miss the deadline, boxes can be delivered to Cornerstone through November 17th.
We will have a brief Congregational Meeting following worship on November 12 for the purpose of electing officers (elders and deacons). Please plan to attend.
Are you looking for a way to connect and serve with CPC? We will be hosting a Ministry Fair during the fellowship hour this Sunday, November 12. Come find ways you can serve and connect!
Salvation Army Bell Ringing sign-ups can be found at the Welcome Center of CPC. We are currently recruiting bell ringings for Black Friday!
The Okanogan Community Homeless Shelters is looking for volunteer screeners and overnight hosts for the 2017-2018 shelter season. A training for hosts will take place 11/11 from 2-3 p.m. at New Life Church in Okanogan. Screeners will have a training the same day from 3-5 p.m. Our shelter season will kick off on 11/15 and sign-ups for overnight hosts will be coming to a church near you soon!
Calling all Men: Men's Prayer breakfast 11/11 at 6 a.m.
We are always looking for help to prepare meals for our Youth Group gatherings Sunday evenings. Contact Jennifer Fudge if you are interested or sign-up at the Ministry Fair.
Our Fellowship Hour will be a Thanksgiving Potluck on 11/19. Should be great!
Our blog is a little late getting posted today because I had a member stop by this morning to discuss generosity. I had envisioned a different direction for the text today, but after that discussion I reread the passage and retooled the devotion. Boaz is generous toward Ruth and this is the point.
"And at mealtime Boaz said to her, 'Come here and eat some bread and dip your morsel in the wine.' So she sat beside the reapers, and he passed to her roasted grain. And she ate until she was satisfied, and she had some left over. When she rose to glean, Boaz instructed his young men, saying, 'Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not reproach her. And also pull out some from the bundles for her and leave it for her to glean, and do not rebuke her.' " -Ruth 2:14-16
When we think generosity we usually think in terms of money. Generosity means freely sharing what money we have others, especially those we consider less fortunate than ourselves. Yet Boaz' generosity goes much further. Boaz does not simply ensure that Ruth (and, by her gleaning, Naomi) have something to eat, but he sits and eats with Ruth.
Some years back in my Oregon days I was talking with a retired Methodist pastor who was starting up a weekly meal program for the "less fortunate." We were in a weekly Bible study together and when we got to the new ministry idea I asked him what he and the others would be doing after they had prepared the food. He replied that they would be serving the people. That's a great answer, but something (let's say the Holy Spirit) led me to suggest that perhaps they could sit and eat with the people they were serving instead. We talked through the idea and he admitted that it would mean that they could not monitor how much people were taking as everyone would serve themselves like, "at a potluck," he said. Ah, that's when the light when on for both of us. Sitting and eating together creates a bond of trust. There is enough food, everyone shares, we do this together. Weeks went by and I did not think of the matter anymore. After what must have been three months the other pastor approached me after Bible study. They had decided to go the traditional way (we serve you while you eat) for a few weeks before the rest of the group agreed to try it his way. Immediately, the ministry began to flourish. It's about relationships and being generous in those relationships.
Boaz sits and eats with Ruth and she has more than she can even eat. He does not give her basic sustenance, but the good stuff. I have read too many commentators who claim this is because Boaz has a crush on Ruth. If he did, the text sure has a funny way of showing it. Instead, in Boaz we meet a man who genuinely cares for Ruth and ensures she has not just what she needs, but that she knows she is cared for beyond basic necessity. Even further, Boaz makes sure that she is able to glean more than enough for her and Naomi (and not just the leavings, but the good stuff).
What would it mean for you (and for me for that matter) to approach ministering to others as not merely an act of necessity, but rather as a generous giver who thinks not only of meeting a need, but giving the good stuff. I am convinced that this can only happen when we add our time to our monetary generosity. To prepare a meal for someone is wonderful. Even better, invite someone over and give your time in conversation and fellowship. Jesus did this with his disciples and this Sunday we will remember what he did as we sit at table once again in the Lord's Supper. I hope you will join us and be generous with your time as you sit and eat with others this week.
News for You:
Operation Christmas Childboxes are available at CPC. The deadline to submit boxes will be Sunday, 11/12.
We will begin sign-ups for Salvation Army bell ringing soon. This is a great ministry that goes to support the needy in our community.
Youth Group Meals are needed. Our middle and high school
youth group meets at Kurt and Jennifer Fudge's house at 6 p.m. The youth
group shares a family style meal, a devotion and activities. Be part of
the joy by getting involved.
Evelyn Minnich's 100th Birthday reception will be Saturday, November 11, 1-4 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall. Please join family and friends in celebration of this special milestone
Shout Outs:
Thanks to all who helped at the Trunk-or-Treat. It was a monumental effort to serve over 670 trick-or-treaters. A huge thank you to the hot dog crew who served up enough dogs to feed 600 people! I snagged a couple of pictures Jennifer Fudge posted to Facebook in case you missed them (sorry, no kids we do not know because we want to respect the right to privacy):
In the celebrity-obsessed culture we have today people want to be noticed above all else. Indeed, surveys continue to tell us that our young people desire careers that will thrust them into the limelight over just about anything else. We want to be noticed. Perhaps this stems from our creation and bearing the image of God. Our first parents were created to be in relationship with God constantly. Adam and Eve were noticed by God. Once, however, sin enters the picture and the relationship is fractured, Adam and Eve no longer felt noticed and thus humanity has been doing things to get noticed ever since. We have forgotten (if we ever knew) that God is omnipresent and always notices us. We do not need the notice of others on a grand scale, so long as we know we are grandly noticed by God. This makes interactions like the one we have this week between Ruth and Boaz much more important. Ruth is not worried about being noticed, but Boaz notices her and then intervenes in her life.
"Then Boaz said to Ruth, 'Now, listen, my daughter, do not go to glean in another field or leave this one, but keep close to my young women. Let your eyes be on the field that they are reaping, and go after them. Have I not charged the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink what the young men have drawn.' " -Ruth 2:8-9 ESV
Boaz implores Ruth to stay in his field. Wandering away from the field will put Ruth, and thus Naomi, into potential peril. He has noticed Ruth and now takes steps to safeguard her. God is much the same way in our lives. As you may recall Boaz emerges on the scene and notices Ruth right away, but in this passage he intervenes in her life. God has always noticed you and intervenes in your life at just the right time to keep you in his care. God can and does orchestrate events and people to provide for you and to protect you--even and perhaps especially in the midst of pain and suffering. As Christians we are instructed to remain in God's field, the field of His care for us in Christ. There the Lord promises us provision for our great need for Him including living water and the bread of life--Christ Jesus himself.
"Then she fell on her face, bowing to the ground, and said to him, 'Why
have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me,
since I am a foreigner?' But Boaz answered her, 'All that you have done
for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully
told to me, and how you left your father and mother and your native land
and came to a people that you did not know before. The LORD repay you
for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the LORD, the
God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge!' " -Ruth 2:10-12 ESV
When Ruth comes to know she is noticed by the words of Boaz, she is overwhelmed. This happens to us to when we come to know that God has noticed us. It is not to say that we went beyond His noticing, but that at just the right time we come to know of it. Like David in Psalm 8:4, Ruth cannot fathom why Boaz would take note of her. Her status as a Moabite would have disqualified her in any other place and culture from the mercy of these foreign hosts, yet in God's field she receives mercy. Boaz quickly notes that Ruth has done the work of true Israelite and even goes so far as to invoke the God of Israel to bless and reward her because she has taken refuge under His wings. Ruth has been noticed not only by Boaz, but by God Himself. Indeed, may we all be noticed for the good we do for others.
"Then she said, 'I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, for you have
comforted me and spoken kindly to your servant, though I am not one of
your servants.' " -Ruth 2:13 ESV
Being noticed and knowing we have been noticed has a way of giving comfort. Celebrity is not the real noticing we want or need. We need to know that God notices and that knowing often comes from the way we comfort one another in trying times.
News for You:
A Memorial Service for Dave Hellyer will be held Saturday, 10/28 at 2 p.m. at First Baptist Church of Omak.
This Sunday we will forgo our regular evening service to join Our Savior Lutheran Church at 4 p.m. for an international service of worship to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Rerformation.
CPC is seeking to fill our church secretary position. A
successful candidate will be proficient in Microsoft Word and Excel with
experience in database programs. The position will be 25 hours per week
(9-12, 1-3) Monday-Friday. Applications can be obtained at the church
office. Call the church office for more information.
Youth Group Meals are needed. Our middle and high school
youth group meets at Kurt and Jennifer Fudge's house at 6 p.m. The youth
group shares a family style meal, a devotion and activities. Be part of
the joy by getting involved.
CPC's annual Trunk-or-Treat will be October 31 from 5-7 p.m. There are many ways to get involved:
Bring candy and your decorated vehicle to the church parking lot by 4:30 p.m. and provide some joy and community
Donate bags of candy to the church (we had over 400 kids last year, so we went through a LOT of candy)
Volunteer to help cook hot dogs or donate funds to help purchase hot dogs/buns.
Provide portable lighting to help light up the parking lot
Operation Christmas Childboxes are available starting next week at CPC. The deadline to submit boxes will be Sunday, 11/12.
Ruth has gone off to glean for Naomi. She took a personal risk to care for the woman she declared to be her family. Most of us will take a risk for our families, even sacrifice for our families when called upon to do so. Yet Ruth showed her amazing love that she did so for Naomi. Ruth embodies what Jesus will later commend-that the people of God are a new a family and that even if we should have to leave our family to follow Jesus of origins behind, we gain far more than we lose in doing so (see Matthew 19:28-30). Ruth exemplifies what Jesus will later proclaim.
Even so, Ruth is not the only protagonist in this little book. This week in our reading Boaz enters stage right:
"And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem. And he said to the reapers, 'The LORD be with you!' And they answered, 'The LORD bless you.' Then Boaz said to his young man who was in charge of the reapers, 'Whose young woman is this?' And the servant who was in charge of the reapers answered, 'She is the young Moabite woman, who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab. She said, "Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves after the reapers." So she came, and she has continued from early morning until now, except for a short rest.' " -Ruth 2:4-7 ESV
Ruth has specifically targeted Boaz's field based on his reputation. When Boaz finally emerges on the scene, we are struck at once by his piety. Boaz's greeting is traditional, yet faithful, invoking the name of his God (YHWH) and his reapers respond in a faithful way. As the landowner, Boaz would have taken almost a paternal role in the life of his workers. Their faithful, pious response to Boaz shows that his own piety has rubbed off on them. Think of the Apostle Paul stating, "Be imitators of me as I am of Christ" (1 Corinthians 11:1 ESV). Boaz is a man of God to be imitated.
There is one more thing about Boaz that we need to note as he is introduced. Boaz notices. Being observant of the environment and other people is a commendable habit. As Boaz approaches his fields he immediately notices that a woman he does not know is out gleaning in the field. Now Boaz, as a pious Israelite, would have considered allowing gleaning his sacred duty to the poor (see Leviticus 19:9-10). Yet, Boaz goes a step further and notices Ruth. It is one thing to help the faceless poor, and quite another to get to know the poor as people as we offer aid. This short passage certainly commends the latter.
The reapers also report one more thing-that Ruth is working tirelessly. When we have a job to do, especially if that job is coming to the aid of another, we need to put everything we have into the job. Ruth took one short rest (because rest is not a bad thing), but otherwise poured herself into the task before her. We can be like Ruth and work tirelessly to help others that, like Boaz, we notice.
News for You:
CPC is seeking to fill our church secretary position. A
successful candidate will be proficient in Microsoft Word and Excel with
experience in database programs. The position will be 25 hours per week
(9-12, 1-3) Monday-Friday. Applications can be obtained at the church
office. Call the church office for more information.
Youth Group Meals are needed. Our middle and high school
youth group meets at Kurt and Jennifer Fudge's house at 6 p.m. The youth
group shares a family style meal, a devotion and activities. Be part of
the joy by getting involved.
CPC's annual Trunk-or-Treat will be October 31 from 5-7 p.m. There are many ways to get involved:
Bring candy and your decorated vehicle to the church parking lot by 4:30 p.m. and provide some joy and community
Donate bags of candy to the church (we had over 400 kids last year, so we went through a LOT of candy)
Volunteer to help cook hot dogs or donate funds to help purchase hot dogs/buns.
Provide portable lighting to help light up the parking lot
Operation Christmas Childboxes are available starting next week at CPC. The deadline to submit boxes will be Sunday, 11/12.
As I drove home last night I listened to radio interviews with people traveling to Las Vegas for vacation after the tragic events of October 1 (if you do not know what happened, here is a link to a summary article, but, fair warning, it is deeply troubling and upsetting). One couple being interviewed noted the horror of the recent events, but then said, "Tough as it is to say, life goes on." I turned the radio off after that and thought and prayed the rest of my way home. Truly, life does go on for most of us. After three massive hurricanes did untold damage to property and claimed dozens of lives of our countrymen in Florida, Texas, the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, the truth is that some of us can just shrug and move on.
As a young student of economics and political science I was enraptured by Adam Smith, the 18th century Scottish economist. I loved his famous The Wealth of Nations (widely considered the foundation for modern market economies) and read through it a few times. Then, I had a professor ask if I had read his earlier work, The Theory of Moral Sentiments, and of course I had not. In that earlier work I found questions that I could not answer. Is it right or good for us to feel distant and impartial to the suffering of others? Smith seems to thread the needle explaining both how we can feel sympathetic and how we can feel distant. Famously, he discusses a man being tortured and an observer. So long as the observer keeps his thoughts on the self and does not let his imagination drift toward the other, he can be impartial, distant, unaffected, even cold toward the other's suffering. Once the imagination places him in the position of the other, however, such distance and impartiality is not only impossible, but wrong. Smith's religious affiliations are hotly debated, but I do want to note how thoroughly he was a product of the Enlightenment and Modernity. Smith seems to dismiss the idea that the suffering of others OUGHT to impact the self. His concern, it seems, is to illicit sentiment for the self while remaining impartial to the other. In the end, Smith, like so many of his generation and the generations that have been raised up following him in the sham of Modernity, falls into the trap of the sovereign self. It is the self that is the final arbitrator of what is right and wrong for the self. This is the position of the old man, the flesh, the carnal one who presumes the seat of judgment over others, but yet acquits the self for the same things (see Romans 2:1-11).
Now, you may be asking, what does any of this have to do with the opening of the second chapter of the Book of Ruth?
"Now Naomi had a relative of her husband’s, a worthy man of the clan of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz. And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, 'Let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I shall find favor.' And she said to her, 'Go, my daughter.' So she set out and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers, and she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the clan of Elimelech." -Ruth 2:1-3
We cannot be indifferent to the needs and crises of others. Indeed, life goes on, but it is precisely because of this that we need to care for the needs of others. Ruth and Naomi are destitute. They have returned to Bethlehem with nothing. They must presume on the kindness of Naomi's husband's kinsman, Boaz. The Lord commanded his people to give thought even in their business practice for the needs of the sojourner (Ruth, as a Moabite), the widow (Naomi) and the fatherless (see Deuteronomy 24:19-22). Hence, we do not have the option of indifference as followers of Jesus Christ. While we can and perhaps ought to disagree about how BEST to serve the needs of the vulnerable in society, we cannot debate God's will on this topic. God judges our society not on how the best of us are doing, but on how the least of us are doing (see Matthew 25:31-46). For the ancient and contemporary people of God, this continues to hold sway.
John Donne, a great Christian thinker once wrote in journal entry (we turned it into a poem):
"No man is an island, Entire of itself. Each is a piece of the continent, A part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less. As well as if a promontory were. As well as if a manor of thine own Or of thine friend's were. Each man's death diminishes me, For I am involved in mankind. Therefore, send not to know For whom the bell tolls, It tolls for thee."
Donne's point is that we cannot dismiss the suffering and death of others (here signified by the tolling of a church bell calling the community to a funeral service). No life is insignificant for every human life bears the image of God. We weep with those who weep.
As followers of Jesus we insist that every life matters and that every death matters as well. This is why at CPC we stand for the lives of the unborn with our partners at CareNet. Ruth and Naomi's lives matter to God. We cannot be calloused to the suffering of others. Those wounded and the families grieving for those killed in Las Vegas cannot be dismissed by the Christian. Our countrymen suffering in Puerto Rico cannot be ignored and dismissed by the Christian (by the way, if you want to help financially in Puerto Rico by working through our local EPC churches, you can do so here).
Ruth tells Naomi she is going to go at great personal risk because Ruth takes seriously that the embittered life of Naomi matters. She holds out hope that Boaz will do likewise. Friends, may we do the same for the suffering of others in prayer and support of various kinds. We can do this on a grand scale together, but perhaps, even more importantly as Ruth demonstrates, we need to do this on a personal level. Do you know someone who weeps? Do you know someone in need, be it physical, emotional, or spiritual? Do you know someone who is suffering in any way? Come alongside him or her and be a listening ear, a prayer partner and a pointer to God who loves us and walks with us even in the midst of tragedy, crisis and pain.
News for You:
CPC is seeking to fill our church secretary position. A successful candidate will be proficient in Microsoft Word and Excel with experience in database programs. The position will be 25 hours per week (9-12, 1-3) Monday-Friday. Applications can be obtained at the church office. Call the church office for more information.
Women's Bible Study launches Sunday, 10/8, at 6 p.m. in the Memorial Parlor at CPC. The study will cover Kay Arthur's "Ignite Your Passion for God." Copies of the study book are still available. Sign up at the Welcome Center at CPC.
Youth Group Meals are needed. Our middle and high school youth group meets at Kurt and Jennifer Fudge's house at 6 p.m. The youth group shares a family style meal, a devotion and activities. Be part of the joy by getting involved.
CPC's annual Trunk-or-Treat will be October 31 from 5-7 p.m. There are many ways to get involved:
Bring candy and your decorated vehicle to the church parking lot by 4:30 p.m. and provide some joy and community
Donate bags of candy to the church (we had over 400 kids last year, so we went through a LOT of candy)
Volunteer to help cook hot dogs or donate funds to help purchase hot dogs/buns.
Provide portable lighting to help light up the parking lot
Operation Christmas Childboxes are available starting next week at CPC. The deadline to submit boxes will be Sunday, 11/12.
Bitterness is unease with our circumstances left to fester. What results is disdain for other people, for the self and, most importantly, for God. Today that last one often takes the form of denying the existence of God as if one's declaration regarding God actually had an effect on His reality. Even if we do not deny God's existence or power or goodness or love explicitly, we do so practically by neglecting faith and faith's outward expression of worship. This is where the 'spiritual but not religious' crowd meets the 'I love Jesus, but hate the Church' crowd. Neither of these will actually help us deal with the pit of bitterness in our souls. Sure, we can hide behind lofty sounding words or strike back with sharp sarcasm or even numb ourselves with work or sinful pleasures, but in the end God will not be denied for He is the great I AM. So, if you cannot go around God, what is left? I think that is where our passage comes in this week with the continuing struggle of Naomi.
"So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. And when they came to Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them. And the women said, 'Is this Naomi?' She said to them, 'Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went away full, and the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the LORD has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?'
So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabite her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the country of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest. " -Ruth 1:19-22 ESV
Naomi cannot see beyond her present circumstance. The town of Bethlehem is stirred up because this long lost relative has come home. While the text does not supply the emotion of those in Bethlehem it is hard for me to understand the women's question as anything but joy. They are happy that Naomi has returned to them. If there is one thing bitterness cannot abide it is joy. A surefire test for bitterness is how we interact with the joy of others. Indeed, as Christians we are called to weep with those who weep, but we are equally called to rejoice with those who rejoice. The women of Bethlehem, I wager, are rejoicing that Naomi, long gone and perhaps presumed dead, has finally returned to them. Naomi, lost in her bitterness can only curse their joy and curse God at the same time.
Cursing God is the real danger of bitterness. It is not that the Almighty will be thwarted in His purpose or even in His love and grace. Rather, it is the bitterness that fossilizes the heart and strangles any joy we may feel. Naomi has that kind of bitterness. She wants to be called 'Mara' (meaning bitter) not as a lament for the tragedy she has borne. We may understand her renaming herself if she is merely calling the women of Bethlehem to weep with her. Rather, she has taken her new name as a testimony against the Lord. She blames God for what happened to her. She blames God for her husband and sons dying. She blames God for having to leave her adopted homeland and return to Bethlehem as a beggar who can only hope for redemption. She blames God for her present circumstance. Yet, she cannot take the modernist route of denying God's existence. She knows too well the promises of God and how God has kept His promises. She cannot deny God, so instead she despises God.
In Naomi's despising of God we learn the most important thing about God. Despite our emotional reaction to God, if He has determined to love us, to save us, to redeem us, God will not abandon us. We can rage against the Almighty, we can curse His name, we can even blame God for everything rotten in our lives--not a single one of these things will turn God away from us. Naomi does not have God's point-of-view and neither do any of us. It takes the intervention of God to turn our most horrific circumstances (and Naomi's circumstance is horrific) into anything good. This is God's work and it is marvelous in our eyes. We will follow Mara as God transforms her back into Naomi throughout the next three chapters. Yet let us take away a few things:
Bitterness directed outwardly or inwardly is poison to the soul.
Denying or cursing God does not change His power or His love toward us.
The test of bitterness is if we can rejoice in each other's joy.
It takes God to intervene in our lives to save us from our bitterness.
If you are feeling bitter right now, talk to God about it, talk to a friend about it, seek prayer and support from a local church. Bitterness is soul-killing, but God can raise the dead.
News for You:
Sign up now for our Fall small groups. We are studying "Your
Church Experiencing God Together." You can find dates and locations at
the Welcome Center at CPC or just call and we will help you out.
We are raising funds to help build the Okanogan Community Homeless Shelter. You can find out more at their website, okshelter.org!
Are you interested in getting to know CPC better? Try the New Membership Class on October 1st following the Fellowship Hour. Lunch will be provided if you let us know you are coming.
Our next community outreach event will be our annual Trunk-or-Treat. Decorate the trunk of your rig and help provide a fun, festive and safe experience for parents and kids on October 31. More details to come!
Pain can lead us down dangerous paths. Pain can take a person who has been getting along just fine in life and turn them to the demon of addiction. Pain can turn a person against friend and family and even God. Pain can lead us away from the life that God desires for us in community and lead us to isolation and self-destruction. That's the kind of pain that Naomi has.
"And she said, 'See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.' But Ruth said, 'Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the LORD do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.' And when Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more. " -Ruth 1:15-18 ESV
Pain can close us off to the desire and ability of others to come along side us in our pain and offer the deep, healing balm of the love of God. Pain can lead to cursing our circumstance (and maybe even God) and the bitterness that follows that feeling of helplessness. Pain hems us in and dims the redemptive imagination even as it turns the heart and the mind from the powerful and fierce love of God. As a pastor, I see this all too often. I have reflected much on pastoral ministry in prayer with God over the last few months. I am tired of the idea that the pastor is to be a visionary leader, a strategic change-agent, a program-pusher or a mission-minded salesman. These concepts sound good, but they fail to actually help people in pain. Each of these identities creates anxiety and pain, and I am convinced that this is not God's will. Surely the Lord can call us to endure suffering for His glory, but He always goes with us through the pain. And in the comfort we receive we are to be a comfort to others. I am weary of the idea that people are to be used for a vision, a mission, a strategy or a program. People bear the image of God, even when distorted by pain. It is the call of the pastor and all who call on the name of Jesus, the innocent sufferer and bearer of our sin and pain on the cross, to meet people in that pain and walk alongside them in the presence of God. We are to practice the determined love of God on display in Ruth in our passage today.
I understand my role as a call to be a Ruth in the lives of the flock that God has placed in my care. I am to equip the saints for the work of ministry, that is, to recognize pain and walk into it alongside the sufferer and not run from it. We have so much pain surrounding us--pain of alienation from God, pain of hopelessness, pain of lovelessness, pain of faithlessness, pain of isolation from true, life-giving community found in Christ's church. We try to fix the pain on our own, utilizing the good gifts of God in an improper way. Yet, in the end, God's covenant promise to be with us and through this promise, our promise to each other to be with each other through thick and thin, is really what we need.
Ruth walks into Naomi's pain. She does so at great personal risk, but she does so under the watchful eye of God. Ruth not only claims Naomi as her kin, but in doing so she claims YHWH as her God. I may be pushing the text too far, but Ruth can claim YHWH because He has already claimed her. Ruth's determined love of Naomi flows out of the Lord's determined love for her. It is this same determined love that Christ Jesus has for you and commands us to give to one another. You do not have to be a pastor to do this. We need only see the pain in those around us and determine, through faith in the Lord, to meet that pain in love in some pretty practical ways. More than anything else, I think that is the mission of the Church, to bring the love of God in Christ Jesus to bear on the suffering, pain and anguish of the world. It will not lead to flashy conversions all of the time (Naomi merely falls silent at Ruth's determination), but it does lead us to the deep love of God over and again and away from the destruction of isolation.
News for You:
Sign up now for our Fall small groups. We are studying "Your Church Experiencing God Together." You can find dates and locations at the Welcome Center at CPC or just call and we will help you out.
We are raising funds to help build the Okanogan Community Homeless Shelter. You can find out more at their website, okshelter.org!
Are you interested in getting to know CPC better? Try the New Membership Class on October 1st following the Fellowship Hour. Lunch will be provided if you let us know you are coming.
Our next community outreach event will be our annual Trunk-or-Treat. Decorate the trunk of your rig and help provide a fun, festive and safe experience for parents and kids on October 31. More details to come!
