Turning to Home

Devotion: Ruth 1:6-7

There are times when we must make decisions to change. After the tragedy of death visited Naomi for her husband and both of her sons she sits at the place of decision. Her choice is to continue to live in Moab as a widow without family support and with two, presumably, young daughter-in-laws who will now depend on her as the matriarch of their now greatly diminished family.

"Then [Naomi] arose with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the fields of Moab that the LORD had visited his people and given them food. So she set out from the place where she was with her two daughters-in-law, and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah." -Ruth 1:6-7 ESV

The Lord had caused the famine in the land, though the reason for doing so is not given. Yet, the mercy of the Lord always bends him back to His people. The famine is lifted and there is bread once more in Bethlehem, the 'house of bread.' When Naomi hears this, she makes the decision to head for home. There she will have the family support she will need to continue to live, though she will be living with the pain of loss.
The turn for home will mean a certain defeat for Naomi. She must abandon her new identity as a refugee in Moab and return to what she once was. Repentance is like this for the Christian--the one who trusts in the saving grace of Jesus Christ already. We wander away from our home with God and become a refugee in the foreign land of the world. Eventually, sin and death batter us around long enough that we make a turn for home. The Parable of the Prodigals contains this same idea (and interesting enough, it is a famine that finally convinces the younger son to return to the father). We abandon our home in the grace of Christ and the call to faithful obedience to God's revealed will and wander away and make our home in the land of sin. We tell ourselves that we are happier, better, smarter in this new home. We tell ourselves that we should have done this a long time ago. Yet, as so often happens, the new home in sin turns on us. Things are actually miserable, worse and silly. And then we wonder if we can go home.
Naomi hears their is bread again at home and this tells her, in God's gracious, providential way, that she can make a change and turn for home. The announcement of the Gospel to the wayward Christian is much the same. Come home and find that God has been waiting for you.

News for You:

CPC at the Okanogan County Fair, September 7 – Sept 10

This year CPC will have a booth at the Okanogan County Fair.  This is an opportunity for our church family to be a sign of God’s Love, a source of Joy and a beacon of Hope to those who do not yet know Jesus.  We will have a brief training for volunteers following worship on September 3.

Adam's Road Ministry Event, September 14, 7 p.m.

The musical group Adam's Road  will be at CPC soon. This group will be sharing the gospel in both testimony and music and should not be missed. Again, come out and bring some friends. The event is free (though a love offering will be taken) and everyone attending gets a free CD. 

Small Groups to Launch the week of September 17

Our Fall Small Groups will be concentrating on, "Your Church Experiencing God Together," the follow-up to last Fall's "Experiencing God." Sign ups will begin shortly, do not miss out!

One People under One King

Devotion: Ruth 1:3-5

In our passage this week the focus shifts to Naomi and her daughter-in-laws. We learn that the family stayed in Moab for quite some time, indeed, long enough for Elimelech and both his sons, Mahlon and Chilion to die.

"But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. They lived there about ten years, and both Mahlon and Chilion died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband." -Ruth 1:3-5 ESV

The time in Moab was at least ten years. The famine in Bethlehem we learn later had been lifted, but we are left to speculate at what point. Surely within that span of ten years, but exactly when is lost to history. What we see, then, is a family who fled to Moab as refugees and decided to make their home there. We should note that the Moabites welcomed these foreigners and the family felt at home enough to take Moabite wives for their sons.
In light of recent events concerning the rearing of the ugly head of white supremacy and anti-immigrant populism, this little passage of Ruth should stand out to us as a different way. The Scripture teaches us that in the end, the hope of Israel was to be a light to the Gentiles (Isaiah 49:6, but also Luke 2:32). Indeed, in the hope of glory we are to see that the old dividing lines that have kept us separate are falling away until we truly are one new nation (see Galatians 3:23-29, but also 1 Peter 2:9-10), a single people under a single King, King Jesus the Redeemer!
So in this little tragic story, we see a little glimpse of this glorious future. Ruth and Orpah join Elimelech's family through marriage. The people of God take in the foreign women even as the foreign people offered refuge to the people of God. Old hatreds and even deep animosities are left aside in favor of living in peace with one another.
As the Church, we are to seek to live at peace with others. We receive into the Church all those who claim King Jesus the Redeemer as their Lord and Savior. This is the only criteria for entry into the Church--race, nationality, language, gender are of no consequence. To be sure, Ruth and Orpah will each display their character and allegiance in the next few verses. At this point in the story, however, they are received as brides of the sons of Elimelech. In the Church we welcome all who come as the bride of Christ Jesus and count them as part of our family. This mean we too may have to set aside old hatreds, prejudices and animosities, but for the sake of the glory of our Lord who will be praised by every tongue and nation it is more than worth the price. The world has enough wickedness, the Church must not add to it.
And so we leave the family in tragedy and mourning. We explore next week just how they each cope with the grief. Now, however, let's take these lessons with us for the week:

1. The Church is made up of all who call on Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and this is the only criteria for membership.
2. We are to be a welcoming people, bringing in all who would come close to Jesus to his family.
3. The vision of Scripture is to create a single people under King Jesus. It is only loyalty to our sovereign that marks as belonging and all other ways we separate ourselves from each other must be laid to rest.

News for You:

Men's Shootout, Sunday August 20 1-4 p.m.

The men of the church are invited out for an afternoon at the range (Riverside Sportman's Club). Come for some fellowship and bring a friend.

CPC at the Okanogan County Fair, September 7 – Sept 10

This year CPC will have a booth at the Okanogan County Fair.  This is an opportunity for our church family to be a sign of God’s Love, a source of Joy and a beacon of Hope to those who do not yet know Jesus.  Two volunteers (or a family) are needed for each 4 hour shift.  There will be a signup sheet in the Fellowship Hall after Worship.  Be sure to include your T-shirt size on the signup sheet.  More details to come.

Adam's Road Ministry Event, September 14, 7 p.m.

The musical group Adam's Road  will be at CPC soon. This group will be sharing the gospel in both testimony and music and should not be missed. Again, come out and bring some friends. The event is free (though a love offering will be taken) and everyone attending gets a free CD.

No Bread in the House of Bread

Devotion: Ruth 1:1-2

This week we begin a new series in the book of Ruth. One of two books in the Bible to be named for women, the book of Ruth follows the story of a family and focuses on the life of two women, namely, Naomi and Ruth. This week we are going to begin by meeting Naomi and her family.

"In the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land, and a man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. The name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there." -Ruth 1:1-2 ESV

Elimelech was from Bethlehem a name that means, 'House of Bread,' in Hebrew. So the story of this family begins with a bitter irony. There is no bread in the house of bread. We are further told that this story takes place during the time of the judges and from data later in the book we can determine that it happened closer to that end of those days (a period of over 200 years). Three points can be drawn from these two pieces of information. First, the famine that hit Elimelech and his family led them to flee to a foreign land (Moab). This move is reminiscent of Jacob and his sons fleeing to Egypt during an earlier famine (see Genesis 43-46). We will learn next week that fleeing to a foreign land can often bring tragedy--but in the case of Ruth we will see throughout the book, it can also bring joy and relief. Moab is a curious choice for the family as they are among the most hated of Israel's enemies at the time (perhaps second to the Philistines), but given Bethlehem's location, it would have been the closest land to flee to for the family.
Second, we need to notice that the famine did not impact a close neighbor of Israel. For whatever reason, the famine only impacted Israel. From the Scriptures we know that Israel was dependent on rain for its agriculture (see Deuteronomy 11:10-17) and a lack of rain (the likely root cause of famine, but locusts are also possible) would signify that Israel had broken faith her God. The family's flight to the foreign land also shows that this particular family found it easier to depend on a foreign nation rather than seek the Lord through repentance. This pattern will be repeated in national Israel under various kings and would eventually lead to the downfall of both northern and southern kingdoms. When in trouble, we go looking for someone to help or perhaps somewhere to escape. The alternative, though difficult, is to continue in the difficult circumstance seeking the Lord's guidance, help and relief. This is not the course of Elimelech's family and tragedy will soon follow.
Third and finally, again like Jacob and his family, Elimelech's family settles down in the foreign land. We do not know for how long, but the text strongly implies that they made a new home in the foreign land rather than a brief stint as refugees who returned to the land God had given them once the famine was over. It is this final piece that puts everything that follows into perspective.
So what do we take away from all this. Again, three points:

1. In times of need, we need to return to the Lord. The Lord is the one who gave the rains and caused the crops to grow and led to the people having bread. If there is not bread in the house of bread, go back to the source. We should not be surprised that some of our difficulties and troubles are caused by sin. When we have a rift in our relationship with God it can lead us into pain and suffering. To be sure, following God can do the same thing. The whole point is that pain, sorrow and suffering need to drive again and again into the arms of our loving Savior. If we flee God, the intent is lost.
2. Be careful of relying on the wrong kind of help. To be sure, there was bread in Moab, but is that the bread Elimelech and his family needed? When we find our own solutions rather than turning to the Lord in prayer for Him to guide us we can find resolution, but it rarely is satisfying for long and can often lead to unintended consequences. Grace can make even those unintended consequences work together for the glory of God and our good, but how much more if we seek the Lord's will first.
3. Pray for refugees around the world. People who are necessarily displaced from their homes and must flee famine, persecution and/or war should have our deep compassion. Elimelech fled famine and for that he is worthy of compassion. The disconnect was settling down in Moab and not returning when the famine was over. Even Jesus' family fled the wrath of Herod for a time, but they returned to Israel when Herod died (see Matthew 2:13-15). We need to support refugees in their time of need, but also support them returning home (making that possible is a good prayer to the Lord) when the time is right.

We will meet up with the family next week.

News for You:

Men's Shootout, Sunday August 20 1-4 p.m.

The men of the church are invited out for an afternoon at the range (Riverside Sportman's Club). Come for some fellowship and bring a friend.

CPC at the Okanogan County Fair, September 7 – Sept 10

This year CPC will have a booth at the Okanogan County Fair.  This is an opportunity for our church family to be a sign of God’s Love, a source of Joy and a beacon of Hope to those who do not yet know Jesus.  Two volunteers (or a family) are needed for each 4 hour shift.  There will be a signup sheet in the Fellowship Hall after Worship Service this morning.  Be sure to include your T-shirt size on the signup sheet.  More details to come.

Adam's Road Ministry Event, September 14, 7 p.m.

The musical group Adam's Road  will be at CPC soon. This group will be sharing the gospel in both testimony and music and should not be missed. Again, come out and bring some friends. The event is free (though a love offering will be taken) and everyone attending gets a free CD.