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Matthew 1:1-17

17 Dec

1 This is a record of the ancestors of Jesus the Messiah, a descendant of David and of Abraham:

2 Abraham was the father of Isaac.
Isaac was the father of Jacob.
Jacob was the father of Judah and his brothers.
3 Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah (whose mother was Tamar).
Perez was the father of Hezron.
Hezron was the father of Ram.
4 Ram was the father of Amminadab.
Amminadab was the father of Nahshon.
Nahshon was the father of Salmon.
5 Salmon was the father of Boaz (whose mother was Rahab).
Boaz was the father of Obed (whose mother was Ruth).
Obed was the father of Jesse.
6 Jesse was the father of King David.
David was the father of Solomon (whose mother was Bathsheba, the widow of Uriah).
7 Solomon was the father of Rehoboam.
Rehoboam was the father of Abijah.
Abijah was the father of Asa.
8 Asa was the father of Jehoshaphat.
Jehoshaphat was the father of Jehoram.
Jehoram was the father of Uzziah.
9 Uzziah was the father of Jotham.
Jotham was the father of Ahaz.
Ahaz was the father of Hezekiah.
10 Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh.
Manasseh was the father of Amon.
Amon was the father of Josiah.
11 Josiah was the father of Jehoiachin and his brothers (born at the time of the exile to Babylon).
12 After the Babylonian exile:
Jehoiachin was the father of Shealtiel.
Shealtiel was the father of Zerubbabel.
13 Zerubbabel was the father of Abiud.
Abiud was the father of Eliakim.
Eliakim was the father of Azor.
14 Azor was the father of Zadok.
Zadok was the father of Akim.
Akim was the father of Eliud.
15 Eliud was the father of Eleazar.
Eleazar was the father of Matthan.
Matthan was the father of Jacob.
16 Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary.
Mary gave birth to Jesus, who is called the Messiah.

17 All those listed above include fourteen generations from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the Babylonian exile, and fourteen from the Babylonian exile to the Messiah.

Matthew 1:1-17

Dear God, Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba, Mary. The five women Matthew calls out as being part of Jesus’s lineage:

Tamar: Judah’s daughter-in-law who had to pretend to be a prostitute to get him to sleep with her and conceive a child because her husband had died and Judah wouldn’t follow through on his responsibility to have one of his sons marry her.

Rahab: I’m assuming this is the prostitute who hid the spies before Joshua led the Israelites against Jericho (although the lineage doesn’t quite fit with Boaz because of the gap in years, but there seem to be a lot of gaps in years here).

Ruth: The Moabite widow who followed her mother-in-law Naomi back to Bethlehem and ended up marrying Boaz. Frankly, the most obviously noble of the women so far, although that’s probably an unfair judgment of Tamar and Rahab.

Bathsheba: Should never have been part of this lineage if David hadn’t sinned so greatly, slept with her, killed her husband, and then married her. It’s interesting that the baby she got pregnant with died and so it was another baby (Solomon) who became part of the lineage when it was the baby Tamar had by tricking Judah who is part of the lineage.

Mary: Probably the youngest of the four. The most innocent. The virgin given an incredible assignment.

So what does this tell me this morning. The first thing I see is that none of these women had things turn out the way they dreamed. Tamar widowed and desperate. Rahab afraid of being killed by the Israelites and betraying her people. Ruth, widowed and having to leave her home. Mary, a dream of a normal life with Joseph. But look what you did with all of these lives. You redeemed mistakes. You loved. You provided. Most of it is so ugly, but that’s what you do. You take the ugly and turn it into something beautiful.

I heard about a young man yesterday morning who is walking a difficult path. He’s 18, still finishing his senior year in high school, but he’s been kicked out of the house by an alcoholic father. My wife and I reached out to the couple helping him to give them some support, but what he needs is so much more. Father, move in his story and redeem it. Redeem it and make the pain count for everyone he touches. For him. For his parents. For the family helping him. For those I cannot see.

Father, there are all kinds of stories that need redeemed. I have a story and pain that needs redeemed. Be with me and help me with this pain. Comfort me and everyone involved. Love others through me. Use this pain and make it count. Help me to lean into this pain and grow from it. Don’t let any of it be wasted. Use the scars from this pain and use them to make us all stronger.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on December 17, 2025 in Matthew

 

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Ruth 3

26 Aug

3 One day Naomi said to Ruth, “My daughter, it’s time that I found a permanent home for you, so that you will be provided for. 2 Boaz is a close relative of ours, and he’s been very kind by letting you gather grain with his young women. Tonight he will be winnowing barley at the threshing floor. 3 Now do as I tell you—take a bath and put on perfume and dress in your nicest clothes. Then go to the threshing floor, but don’t let Boaz see you until he has finished eating and drinking. 4 Be sure to notice where he lies down; then go and uncover his feet and lie down there. He will tell you what to do.”

5 “I will do everything you say,” Ruth replied. 6 So she went down to the threshing floor that night and followed the instructions of her mother-in-law.

7 After Boaz had finished eating and drinking and was in good spirits, he lay down at the far end of the pile of grain and went to sleep. Then Ruth came quietly, uncovered his feet, and lay down. 8 Around midnight Boaz suddenly woke up and turned over. He was surprised to find a woman lying at his feet! 9 “Who are you?” he asked.

“I am your servant Ruth,” she replied. “Spread the corner of your covering over me, for you are my family redeemer.”

10 “The Lord bless you, my daughter!” Boaz exclaimed. “You are showing even more family loyalty now than you did before, for you have not gone after a younger man, whether rich or poor. 11 Now don’t worry about a thing, my daughter. I will do what is necessary, for everyone in town knows you are a virtuous woman. 12 But while it’s true that I am one of your family redeemers, there is another man who is more closely related to you than I am. 13 Stay here tonight, and in the morning I will talk to him. If he is willing to redeem you, very well. Let him marry you. But if he is not willing, then as surely as the Lord lives, I will redeem you myself! Now lie down here until morning.”

14 So Ruth lay at Boaz’s feet until the morning, but she got up before it was light enough for people to recognize each other. For Boaz had said, “No one must know that a woman was here at the threshing floor.” 15 Then Boaz said to her, “Bring your cloak and spread it out.” He measured six scoops of barley into the cloak and placed it on her back. Then he returned to the town.

16 When Ruth went back to her mother-in-law, Naomi asked, “What happened, my daughter?”

Ruth told Naomi everything Boaz had done for her, 17 and she added, “He gave me these six scoops of barley and said, ‘Don’t go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed.’”

18 Then Naomi said to her, “Just be patient, my daughter, until we hear what happens. The man won’t rest until he has settled things today.”

Ruth 3

Dear God, still following this theme of Ruth not having any guile about her, this is the part of the story where Naomi teaches her to have a little strategy, and I think that’s okay. But there are still a couple of things I noticed about Ruth’s character here.

  • Boaz is right in that it would have been the more obvious path for her to have pursued younger men. Excitement. Happiness. Frivolity. I don’t know how old Boaz was. Maybe as young as 40. Maybe as old as 80. It’s difficult to say. But Ruth wasn’t waking up in the morning looking for a young husband. Maybe she had already been there and done that with her first husband, Kilion. She had been to the circus and looked behind the curtain. Now she just wanted to serve Naomi, and this is what Naomi was asking her to do.
  • There was no reason for Ruth to be there except to present herself to Boaz. It’s not like this was the end of a long harvesting day. Ruth got washed up, perfumed up, and dressed up. She went down after everyone had been drinking. I wonder if it was typical for women to come and offer themselves to men in some way at times like this. I’ll need to look that up.
  • This whole scene is probably a little more risqué than I give it credit for. How much was Ruth jeopardizing her reputation in the community by doing this? At least to some extent because she had to sneak away before daylight.

Father, I just love Ruth’s gentleness. She is just waking up and doing in each moment what she things is best. And you were using her and this situation this whole time. And this is actually the last story we get about Ruth herself interacting with someone in the book. The last chapter is about what Boaz does and then the fruit of their lives. I read one time that your design for us is to be born, grow up, have babies, and then get out of history’s way. And to some extent that is true. We are also called to love you and love others while we are here. That’s what our children are to do as well. Help me to simply love you and love others today.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on August 26, 2025 in Ruth

 

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Ruth 1:19-2:23

25 Aug

19 So the two of them continued on their journey. When they came to Bethlehem, the entire town was excited by their arrival. “Is it really Naomi?” the women asked.

20 “Don’t call me Naomi,” she responded. “Instead, call me Mara, for the Almighty has made life very bitter for me. 21 I went away full, but the Lord has brought me home empty. Why call me Naomi when the Lord has caused me to suffer and the Almighty has sent such tragedy upon me?”

22 So Naomi returned from Moab, accompanied by her daughter-in-law Ruth, the young Moabite woman. They arrived in Bethlehem in late spring, at the beginning of the barley harvest.

2 Now there was a wealthy and influential man in Bethlehem named Boaz, who was a relative of Naomi’s husband, Elimelech.

2 One day Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go out into the harvest fields to pick up the stalks of grain left behind by anyone who is kind enough to let me do it.”

Naomi replied, “All right, my daughter, go ahead.” 3 So Ruth went out to gather grain behind the harvesters. And as it happened, she found herself working in a field that belonged to Boaz, the relative of her father-in-law, Elimelech.

4 While she was there, Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters. “The Lord be with you!” he said.

“The Lord bless you!” the harvesters replied.

5 Then Boaz asked his foreman, “Who is that young woman over there? Who does she belong to?”

6 And the foreman replied, “She is the young woman from Moab who came back with Naomi. 7 She asked me this morning if she could gather grain behind the harvesters. She has been hard at work ever since, except for a few minutes’ rest in the shelter.”

8 Boaz went over and said to Ruth, “Listen, my daughter. Stay right here with us when you gather grain; don’t go to any other fields. Stay right behind the young women working in my field. 9 See which part of the field they are harvesting, and then follow them. I have warned the young men not to treat you roughly. And when you are thirsty, help yourself to the water they have drawn from the well.”

10 Ruth fell at his feet and thanked him warmly. “What have I done to deserve such kindness?” she asked. “I am only a foreigner.”

11 “Yes, I know,” Boaz replied. “But I also know about everything you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband. I have heard how you left your father and mother and your own land to live here among complete strangers. 12 May the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge, reward you fully for what you have done.”

13 “I hope I continue to please you, sir,” she replied. “You have comforted me by speaking so kindly to me, even though I am not one of your workers.”

14 At mealtime Boaz called to her, “Come over here, and help yourself to some food. You can dip your bread in the sour wine.” So she sat with his harvesters, and Boaz gave her some roasted grain to eat. She ate all she wanted and still had some left over.

15 When Ruth went back to work again, Boaz ordered his young men, “Let her gather grain right among the sheaves without stopping her. 16 And pull out some heads of barley from the bundles and drop them on purpose for her. Let her pick them up, and don’t give her a hard time!”

17 So Ruth gathered barley there all day, and when she beat out the grain that evening, it filled an entire basket. 18 She carried it back into town and showed it to her mother-in-law. Ruth also gave her the roasted grain that was left over from her meal.

19 “Where did you gather all this grain today?” Naomi asked. “Where did you work? May the Lord bless the one who helped you!”

So Ruth told her mother-in-law about the man in whose field she had worked. She said, “The man I worked with today is named Boaz.”

20 “May the Lord bless him!” Naomi told her daughter-in-law. “He is showing his kindness to us as well as to your dead husband. That man is one of our closest relatives, one of our family redeemers.”

21 Then Ruth said, “What’s more, Boaz even told me to come back and stay with his harvesters until the entire harvest is completed.”

22 “Good!” Naomi exclaimed. “Do as he said, my daughter. Stay with his young women right through the whole harvest. You might be harassed in other fields, but you’ll be safe with him.”

23 So Ruth worked alongside the women in Boaz’s fields and gathered grain with them until the end of the barley harvest. Then she continued working with them through the wheat harvest in early summer. And all the while she lived with her mother-in-law.

Ruth 1:19-2:23

Dear God, I’ve read this story several times, but it’s amazing to see what I never noticed before. Today, what stands out to me is that they arrived in late spring for the barley harvest (1:22) and she worked through the early summer of the wheat harvest (2:23). And it makes a point that she lived with Naomi the entire time. I don’t know what her options would have been and why she wouldn’t have lived with Naomi, but the author is pointing out that she was working hard and she was loving on Naomi.

Again, there was seemingly no guile in her. She was just loving Naomi and working hard. People were kind to her. She was grateful to them and for them. I am curious that Naomi wasn’t out in the field with her. I suppose Naomi was probably in her 40s at this point, and maybe she was infirm for some reason, but I know a lot of 40-, 50-, 60-, and even 70-year-old women who would be capable of gleaning in a field. And maybe there were cultural reasons Naomi wasn’t out there. I don’t want to judge her ignorantly. My point is, “Mara” was getting good care from you through Ruth.

Let me spend a little time with Boaz for a moment. Coming off a famine, he now had fields with plenty. I would imagine this harvest was much more enjoyable than the previous years. He was able to employ men. He was probably anxious to gather the crop, sell some and then save some just in case this year was a one-year aberration. But then he was a hardworking woman who was loving one of his family members and he appreciated her. He literally gave from his harvest to her and Naomi and he expected nothing in return. His first instinct was to reach out in love. A legacy of honor to pass to Obed, Jesse, and David later.

Father, I will have choices to make today. Help me to make the ones that turn loose of my own ambitions or even self-preservation, but do what is right by those around me. You know the needs I have at home. You know my needs at work. Even my needs in the things I do in the community like Rotary and Christian Men’s Life Skills. Help me, Father, be the man you need me to be in each of these areas. My wife needs a man who will love and serve her. My coworkers, clients, volunteers, and donors at work need a man who will love and serve them. My community needs a man who cares for it and will serve it. Make me that man, but do it for your glory and not mine. When people see me, I pray they simply see a reflection of you and are drawn to know you, worship you, and serve you.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on August 25, 2025 in Ruth

 

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Ruth 1:1-19a

24 Aug

1 In the days when the judges ruled in Israel, a severe famine came upon the land. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah left his home and went to live in the country of Moab, taking his wife and two sons with him. 2 The man’s name was Elimelech, and his wife was Naomi. Their two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in the land of Judah. And when they reached Moab, they settled there.

3 Then Elimelech died, and Naomi was left with her two sons. 4 The two sons married Moabite women. One married a woman named Orpah, and the other a woman named Ruth. But about ten years later, 5 both Mahlon and Kilion died. This left Naomi alone, without her two sons or her husband.

6 Then Naomi heard in Moab that the Lord had blessed his people in Judah by giving them good crops again. So Naomi and her daughters-in-law got ready to leave Moab to return to her homeland. 7 With her two daughters-in-law she set out from the place where she had been living, and they took the road that would lead them back to Judah.

8 But on the way, Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back to your mothers’ homes. And may the Lord reward you for your kindness to your husbands and to me. 9 May the Lord bless you with the security of another marriage.” Then she kissed them good-bye, and they all broke down and wept.

10 “No,” they said. “We want to go with you to your people.”

11 But Naomi replied, “Why should you go on with me? Can I still give birth to other sons who could grow up to be your husbands? 12 No, my daughters, return to your parents’ homes, for I am too old to marry again. And even if it were possible, and I were to get married tonight and bear sons, then what? 13 Would you wait for them to grow up and refuse to marry someone else? No, of course not, my daughters! Things are far more bitter for me than for you, because the Lord himself has raised his fist against me.”

14 And again they wept together, and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-bye. But Ruth clung tightly to Naomi. 15 “Look,” Naomi said to her, “your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods. You should do the same.”

16 But Ruth replied, “Don’t ask me to leave you and turn back. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. 17 Wherever you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord punish me severely if I allow anything but death to separate us!” 18 When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she said nothing more.

19 So the two of them continued on their journey.

Ruth 1:1-19a

Dear God, there’s actually so much here to see that it can be hard to keep up with. Questions that came to mind this morning as I read this story for the umpteenth time:

  • How did Elimelech’s people feel about him and his family leaving Bethlehem to find food and sustenance in Moab? My first thought was that they might see it as an act of betrayal and leaving when the going got tough, but I suppose it could also be seen as a kind act because there were four fewer mouths to feed in Bethlehem during the famine. And later in the rest of verse 19 the women seem to be happy to see Naomi and there’s never an indication that anyone bears her or Ruth ill will for having left.
  • The boys were married for about 10 years before they died. Why no children? Were they both sterile? Children, on the one hand, would have complicated the story. On the other hand, they might have given Naomi a male heir to return to Bethlehem with and not need Boaz as a kinsman redeemer later in the story. Then that would have kept Ruth from needing Boaz. That would have kept them from getting married. That would have kept them from having Obed. That would have kept Obed from having Jesse. Jesses having David. David being the lineage of Jesus. Did you keep them sterile and save Ruth as a mother for Boaz and Obed? I have no idea, but it’s interesting to consider.
  • Both Orpah and Ruth started the journey back to Bethlehem with Naomi. They were obviously close. I was talking with my wife over breakfast this morning about how they had probably bonded as Mahlon and Kilion died. Perhaps they worked together to care for the boys. Perhaps they were killed at the same time in a raid. Maybe they got the same disease and died. Regardless, it’s obvious the women were close and so they all packed up together and headed to Bethlehem.
  • Somewhere along the way Naomi has some sort of guilt about dragging these two women back to Judah/Bethlehem. Maybe it was something they said along the road. Maybe she started to get beyond the fog of grief she was in and started to just see how this would likely play out for these two young women, probably in their 20s. She tells them to go home and start new lives. She doesn’t only tell them that. She blesses them for their goodness. They all weep. It’s a very emotional scene if I allow myself to just sit with it a little bit.
  • They want to go with her. They must have a positive view of her people–the Jewish people from Judah. Maybe they had terrible home lives. Maybe they had complicated their futures by marrying men from Judah. Whatever it is, they both petition to go with Naomi.
  • Naomi makes a case for them to stay. She helps them play the tape to the end. The road ahead is likely difficult. The road behind has hope. Go with the road behind.
  • Verse 13 is the first time we get the view of Naomi’s anger and frustration towards you. She felt like you had raised your fist against her. Part of her argument to the young women was, “Save yourself. It’s me God is after.” I wonder if she thought there was some sin she had committed that had earned your wrath.
  • Orpah agrees to leave, but you can still feel her reluctance to go. These women have obviously bonded and they know they will never see each other again after this. Life can have pain like this. There are times when we see someone we love for the last time. All of these women had already lost husbands. There are some people I love still living that I wonder if I’ve seen for the last time. It’s heartbreaking. Oh, Father, reunite us in your kingdom. Make this wait worth the pain! Please!
  • When Ruth stays, Naomi makes an interesting argument to her. Not only does she encourage her to go back to her people, but to go back to her people’s gods. She doesn’t say, “Take the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob with you.” Is Naomi ready to trade you in for another god too?
  • Ruth declares her intention to stay with Naomi no matter what. I’m going to assume this is out of pure love for Naomi. Ruth felt like she needed to care for her maybe? I don’t know. But Ruth was all in with this path, including worshipping a God Naomi was not making a good sales pitch for.
  • Naomi sees Ruth is unmovable and accepts her decision. Was Naomi relieved or more stressed in that moment? I think she was relieved. I’m sure she felt loved. On a much larger scale, it’s like when people fight over a check at a restaurant and one person finally relents and accepts the blessing. To much greater depths, that’s what this feels like.

Father, what I said about Ruth yesterday still fits this morning. It just doesn’t feel like she has any guile about her, and I like that so much. She has completely pure intentions and she lays them all out on the table. She’s not manipulating anyone. In fact, today’s gospel reading is about Jesus saying the way to salvation is to strive for the narrow path. Now that I think about it, that’s Ruth. Without even knowing she was doing it, she was striving for the narrow path because she was drawn to it by following love of her neighbor. I guess she would learn to love and worship you more personally as she assimilated into Bethlehem society. So help me to guilelessly settle into that path today. Help me to just be a man who strives for the narrow path. Help me to lead with love for you, love for my neighbor, and mercy for all.

I pray all of this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on August 24, 2025 in Ruth

 

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Ruth 2:1-3

23 Aug

2 Now there was a wealthy and influential man in Bethlehem named Boaz, who was a relative of Naomi’s husband, Elimelech.

2 One day Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go out into the harvest fields to pick up the stalks of grain left behind by anyone who is kind enough to let me do it.”

Naomi replied, “All right, my daughter, go ahead.” 3 So Ruth went out to gather grain behind the harvesters. And as it happened, she found herself working in a field that belonged to Boaz, the relative of her father-in-law, Elimelech.

Ruth 2:1-3

Dear God, I wonder if I don’t need to spend some time with Ruth. I’ve spent a lot of time with Naomi, but I don’t know how much I’ve thought about Ruth.

I think what I like about Ruth is that there is no guile in her. She doesn’t think about manipulating or scheming. She just got up and worked with earnestness. She loved Naomi with earnestness. She didn’t sign up to return to Bethlehem with Naomi so that she could have any material gain. If anything she was setting herself up for an even more difficult life. But she loved her and wanted to help care for her. Then she got to Bethlehem and she had a job to do. So she got up and did it. Then when it came time later to approach Boaz, she doesn’t seem comfortable with Naomi’s plan (scheme?) but she goes along with it in the most humble way possible. She’s simply a good woman who does the best thing she knows to do in the moment without much regard for what the next moment will hold.

Father, help me to be like that. Help me to not let what I think the future will hold impact my decisions now. Help me to solve the problems that exist in front of me, not the problems I fear later. Help me to make the best decision you are guiding me to now without worrying about what it might cost me later. I think I’ll spend the next few days with Ruth. Teach me through this amazing example from thousands of years ago. Thank you that her life and the decisions she made literally led to the lineage of Jesus.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on August 23, 2025 in Ruth

 

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Ruth 1:19-22

28 Nov

19 So the two of them continued on their journey. When they came to Bethlehem, the entire town was excited by their arrival. “Is it really Naomi?” the women asked.

20 “Don’t call me Naomi,” she responded. “Instead, call me Mara, for the Almighty has made life very bitter for me. 21 I went away full, but the Lord has brought me home empty. Why call me Naomi when the Lord has caused me to suffer and the Almighty has sent such tragedy upon me?”

22 So Naomi returned from Moab, accompanied by her daughter-in-law Ruth, the young Moabite woman. They arrived in Bethlehem in late spring, at the beginning of the barley harvest.

Dear God, how easy it is for all of us to be like Naomi in verse 20 and see our lives as Mara (bitter)? We can be so selfish that we see only what we want that we do not have. We cannot see what you’ve done for us. So, in this case, Naomi sees only that she wants her husband and sons back. She wants her security back. She wants the life she had before their refugee trip to Moab back. She would do anything in that moment to have it all back. That’s what she wants more than anything.

I’ve been there. I’m still often there. I can only see what I want that I don’t have. I had a good cry yesterday over things I lament. And I think that’s okay. I think it’s okay that Naomi was mourning here. It’s fair. She lost her husband and sons. She was scared. lament and mourning are legitimate things to do. It was one of the first things Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount: “Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted.” (Matthew 5:4) So I’m not saying I shouldn’t be sad about the things that make me sad. But I am saying that I need to open my eyes to the amazing things you are doing for me–both that I can see and that I cannot see.

In Naomi’s case, you gave her Ruth. You brought her back at the time of the beginning of the barley harvest which would ultimately give Ruth the visibility to Boaz that you needed her to have. You were providing for her and setting up the lineage to Jesus at the time time:

Ruth & Boaz –> Obed –> Jesse –> David –> Jesus

And what have you given me? Well, even while I was typing this, I received a loving text from one of my closest friends, telling me how much our friendship means to him. I have tears in my eyes just typing this now. What a gift! Thank you. Of course, there is my wife, health, job, home, and all of the things I try to remember to thank you for regularly. Then there are the things you’re doing that I simply cannot see. But you’re there. You’re doing your thing. You’re loving a world that fails to love you. You are…beyond words.

Father, I thank you. Thank you for what you are doing. Thank you for what you are not doing that I want you to do but you know better. Thank you for your comfort. Thank you that it is okay to lament and mourn while I keep my eyes on you. Thank you, Father. Thank you for everything.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on November 28, 2024 in Ruth

 

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Ruth 1:19-21

09 Nov

19 So the two of them continued on their journey. When they came to Bethlehem, the entire town was excited by their arrival. “Is it really Naomi?” the women asked.

20 “Don’t call me Naomi,” she responded. “Instead, call me Mara, for the Almighty has made life very bitter for me. 21 I went away full, but the Lord has brought me home empty. Why call me Naomi when the Lord has caused me to suffer and the Almighty has sent such tragedy upon me?”

Ruth 1:19-21

Dear God, a friend’s wife asked me to share a scripture at his funeral next weekend. She asked if I have any ideas. While her husband and I talked about faith a lot, we never talked about our favorite scripture passages. She is going to talk with her daughter and get back to me about any ideas they have.

In the meantime, as I sat down this morning, I started wondering if I had any ideas. Any passages that reminded me of him. The first thing that came to mind was Naomi. See, he married his high school sweetheart, and they had a little girl whom he adored. Tragically, his wife died just a short time after the baby was born from a random brain aneurism. All of a sudden, he was alone with a little girl. He had to return home and move in with his parents to help him with his daughter while he figured out what the rest of his life held for him. As it turns out, it was a good life. Education. Marriage. More children. Even financial success, but coupled with extreme generosity, love for others, and devotion to and worship of you. We aren’t all guaranteed anything in life. It won’t always turn out this way. And I’m sure he would just as soon have had his high school sweetheart with him until his dying day. And I don’t believe you caused the deaths of Naomi’s husband and sons any more than you caused his wife’s death. But you used them. You didn’t let the pain be wasted.

So, back to Naomi. I love this specific passage from Ruth 1 that I used above because it says so much. Naomi is devastated and, as she describes it, bitter. Her life is bitter. She is bitter. She is grieving and in pain. But there is still a future ahead of her. Her life isn’t over. You weren’t done with her yet. She brought Ruth and arranged for her to end up with Boaz. Ruth and Boaz had baby Obed. And that’s where the Book of Ruth ends. With Naomi, the book’s real protagonist, cuddling Obed, caring for him as if he were her own. While we don’t always get to see what you are doing to redeem our pain, at least Naomi got to see Obed. Here’s the rest of how the Book of Ruth ends in Ruth 4:16-17, nearly all of which Naomi never knew this side of heaven:

16 Naomi took the baby and cuddled him to her breast. And she cared for him as if he were her own. 17 The neighbor women said, “Now at last Naomi has a son again!” And they named him Obed. He became the father of Jesse and the grandfather of David.

And then what the author of Ruth could not know is that David would be the lineage to Jesus. The blessing didn’t stop with David. It was only the beginning of the story, culminating even in me, a Gentile, sitting here today under grace.

Father, I don’t know what you will continue to do with my friend’s life, even now that he is gone. But I know that he had the privilege of getting to cuddle his metaphorical Obed. He got a good mother for his daughter. He got more children whom he adored–he talked about all three of them constantly when he was with me. He got a wife who absolutely delighted him, and she adored him as well. Yes, he had a successful career, but his life is more marked even more by the love he showed others with that success through generosity of time and resources. His is a life that knocks over a lot of dominos. The “butterfly effect” of his life will carry on for generations. Thank you that you rescued my friend from bitterness. Thank you that all of us have a reason to move forward in the midst of sorrow and pain. Thank you that you take our pain and offer us opportunities in each moment to redeem it. Those of us who are left behind are not done. If I consider my life worth nothing to me, then my only other option is to offer it to you. So I offer this day to you. Break me, melt me, mold me, fill me.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

In Memory of Royce Hunter: 1938-2024

 
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Posted by on November 9, 2024 in Ruth

 

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“Mara” (Ruth 1:20-21)

24 Nov

20 “Don’t call me Naomi,” she responded. “Instead, call me Mara, for the Almighty has made life very bitter for me. 21 I went away full, but the Lord has brought me home empty. Why call me Naomi when the Lord has caused me to suffer and the Almighty has sent such tragedy upon me?”

Ruth 1:20-21

Dear God, I was listening to one of my favorite Newsboys songs this morning that reminds me of Naomi’s situation. It’s called “Lord (I don’t know).” Here’s a link to the song:

The message of this song is wrapped up in the chorus: “Lord, I don’t know where all this is going or how it all works out. Lead me to peace that passes understanding. A peace beyond all doubt.” This could have been Naomi’s song to you. It is all of our songs–especially those in pain this morning.

What Naomi didn’t realize was you were there. You gave her Ruth. You had a plan for this pain. I’m not going to say you wanted her sons and husband to die, but you certainly used it for the benefit of Israel. You used it for the benefit of Ruth. Now, ultimately, it cost Naomi people–loved ones–she could never replace. But you made it count.

I know people today who are suffering. I know a family who just lost a relative in a terrible car accident one week ago this morning. I know of a woman who has a difficult cancer diagnosis and no funding or easy path to treatment. I know people who are recently widowed. I myself have some pain this morning–a metaphorical cloud over me. What am I to do? Am I to claim the name “Mara” and pronounce myself bitter to the world? Or am I to take a look around and acknowledge a few things. 1.) You have given me great love in this life. Love that is often beyond reason. 2.) You have given me a “Ruth” through a relationship with a relative that, well, if I didn’t have it I might be in total despair this morning. And 3.) you might just be using the pain I’m feeling to accomplish things I will never know or understand.

Father, help me to not miss you today. Help me to see you and your blessings all over the place. Please be a comfort to those I mentioned who are suffering and those I’ve forgotten are suffering. Show me the role you have for me to play in their lives. And please help the people in Ukraine. I don’t even know how to pray for the, but, Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit, please help these poor people. Provide for their needs. Make this stop. Please, make it stop. And use this for your ultimate glory.

I love you, and I thank you. I pray this by the name of Jesus,

Amen

 
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Posted by on November 24, 2022 in Hymns and Songs, Ruth

 

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Obi-Wan Kenobi and God’s Will

25 Jun

Dear God, this one is going to be a stretch, but stick with me on this. I just finished watching the new Obi-Wan Kenobi series on Disney+ and it got me to thinking about what you know that we don’t. What you can see that we can’t. In this case (and for those reading this who have not seen it, I’m not going to spoil anything because the one thing we know if we’ve seen the original A New Hope is that Obi-Wan, Darth Vader, Luke, and Leia all survive this movie), if Obi-Wan had the opportunity to kill Darth Vader, should he? Did Obi-Wan fail when he didn’t kill him at the end of Revenge of the Sith? Should we be disappointed that Darth Vader survives the sixth episode of the Obi-Wan Kenobi series?

It makes me think of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the role he played in the plot to assassinate Hitler in July 1944. While killing Hitler at any time might have looked good at the time, what we have since learned is that one of thing that helped the Allied Powers ultimately win World War II was Hitler’s erroneous influence on the German strategy. His ego became foolishness. If he had been killed, perhaps a more competent person would have emerged as his successor. They were trying to execute a coup d’etat to keep Germany from completely losing the war. Who knows what would have happened had they succeeded. Perhaps the war would have been prolonged. Maybe President Truman would have ultimately decided to drop the atomic bomb on Berlin as well as the two he dropped on Japan. One interesting point is that Hitler mistook his own survival as fate having spared him:

”I regard this as a confirmation of the task imposed upon me by Providence”—and that “nothing is going to happen to me… [T]he great cause which I serve will be brought through its present perils and…everything can be brought to a good end.”

In the fictional galaxy (far, far away) of Star Wars, ultimately, in Return of the Jedi, it is Darth Vader who kills the Emperor (I’m ignoring the movies after Return of the Jedi). If Obi-Wan kills him at the end of Revenge of the Sith or is able to somehow do it at the end of the Obi-Wan Kenobi series, would that remove the Rebellion’s path into the throne room? Would it take away the opportunity Luke would have to get that close to the Emperor and ultimately have Darth Vader kill him? It’s hard to imagine how it would happen otherwise. So is Obi-Wan’s failure to kill Vader really failure or fate? (Again, I know this is fictitious and the original story was created by George Lucas.)

So why am I praying about this? Because I come to realize more and more every day how little I know and understand. I don’t know why this thing or that thing happens. I don’t know why Hitler survives an assassination attempt and Bonhoeffer dies instead (just three weeks before Hitler took his own life, as it turned out). I don’t know why you made Saul king of Israel (1 Samuel 9) before you made David the king. Naomi didn’t know why her husband and two sons died in Moab (Ruth 1). I don’t know why a friend just recently found out she was pregnant with a Down Syndrome baby and then, after coming to a place of peace with the pregnancy, lost the baby. I don’t know why some relationships in my life are not what I want them to be. I don’t know why my country seems to be spinning in a downward spiral, drowning in its own hubris. I don’t know.

Father, what I do know is that all of these burdens–all of these stresses, worries, concerns, fears–are to be laid at your feet. You keep me on a need-to-know basis and I rarely need to know. My job is to worship you, trust you, repent to you, take up my cross, and follow you. If I do those things and try to listen to the Holy Spirit as He guides me in my actions, thoughts, and words, then I will find myself taking my eyes off of the cares of the world and sinking further into your presence even while I’m here on earth. So thank you for using this secular form of entertainment (Obi-Wan Kenobi) as a reminder that I don’t have to understand what is going on to be at peace. In fact, now that I think about it, isn’t that the sin Adam and Eve first committed? Weren’t they trying to know what you know? Help me to keep from repeating that sin any further.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on June 25, 2022 in Miscellaneous, Musings and Stories

 

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Mothers of the Bible — Naomi (Part 2)

09 Feb

One day Naomi said to Ruth, “My daughter, it’s time that I found a permanent home for you, so that you will be provided for. Boaz is a close relative of ours, and he’s been very kind by letting you gather grain with his young women. Tonight he will be winnowing barley at the threshing floor. Now do as I tell you—take a bath and put on perfume and dress in your nicest clothes. Then go to the threshing floor, but don’t let Boaz see you until he has finished eating and drinking. Be sure to notice where he lies down; then go and uncover his feet and lie down there. He will tell you what to do.” “I will do everything you say,” Ruth replied. So she went down to the threshing floor that night and followed the instructions of her mother-in-law. After Boaz had finished eating and drinking and was in good spirits, he lay down at the far end of the pile of grain and went to sleep. Then Ruth came quietly, uncovered his feet, and lay down. Around midnight Boaz suddenly woke up and turned over. He was surprised to find a woman lying at his feet! “Who are you?” he asked. “I am your servant Ruth,” she replied. “Spread the corner of your covering over me, for you are my family redeemer.” “The Lord bless you, my daughter!” Boaz exclaimed. “You are showing even more family loyalty now than you did before, for you have not gone after a younger man, whether rich or poor. Now don’t worry about a thing, my daughter. I will do what is necessary, for everyone in town knows you are a virtuous woman. But while it’s true that I am one of your family redeemers, there is another man who is more closely related to you than I am. Stay here tonight, and in the morning I will talk to him. If he is willing to redeem you, very well. Let him marry you. But if he is not willing, then as surely as the Lord lives, I will redeem you myself! Now lie down here until morning.” So Ruth lay at Boaz’s feet until the morning, but she got up before it was light enough for people to recognize each other. For Boaz had said, “No one must know that a woman was here at the threshing floor.” Then Boaz said to her, “Bring your cloak and spread it out.” He measured six scoops of barley into the cloak and placed it on her back. Then he returned to the town. When Ruth went back to her mother-in-law, Naomi asked, “What happened, my daughter?” Ruth told Naomi everything Boaz had done for her, and she added, “He gave me these six scoops of barley and said, ‘Don’t go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed.’” Then Naomi said to her, “Just be patient, my daughter, until we hear what happens. The man won’t rest until he has settled things today.” So Boaz took Ruth into his home, and she became his wife. When he slept with her, the Lord enabled her to become pregnant, and she gave birth to a son. Then the women of the town said to Naomi, “Praise the Lord, who has now provided a redeemer for your family! May this child be famous in Israel. May he restore your youth and care for you in your old age. For he is the son of your daughter-in-law who loves you and has been better to you than seven sons!” Naomi took the baby and cuddled him to her breast. And she cared for him as if he were her own. The neighbor women said, “Now at last Naomi has a son again!” And they named him Obed. He became the father of Jesse and the grandfather of David.
Ruth 3,4:13-17

Dear God, as a widow in that time, Naomi was really pushing water uphill. She had so few options for herself, and she knew that if Ruth didn’t act soon she would be in the same boat. Did they manipulate Boaz? Yes. Did they use Boaz for his money and position? Sure. But in that system, did she have much choice?

Here’s what I like about this story that is subtle. The name “Mara” (Ruth 1:20) didn’t stick. You didn’t make her life bitter. In fact, through Ruth, you gave her hope. Through her son Kilion (presumably Kilion is the one who married Ruth), you brought this woman into her life who would look out for her. She didn’t know it. Had her husband not died and had her sons not died, they might have stayed in Moab forever. But with those deaths she was forced back to Judah and Bethlehem. She was forced back to what would become the City of David. And why did it become the City of David? Because her daughter-in-law, Ruth, would marry Boaz and have a son. And what did the women of Bethlehem (the future City of David) say to her?

Praise the Lord, who has now provided a redeemer for your family! May this child be famous in Israel. May he restore your youth and care for you in your old age. For he is the son of your daughter-in-law who loves you and has been better to. you that seven sons!”

Not all of us will get to see even that beginnings of what you are doing like Naomi did. We don’t know if she ever saw David born, although it’s certain she never saw him as king or even kill Goliath. But she got to see Obed. She got to cuddle him and care for him. There was nothing about her any longer that fit the term Mara.

Father, my prayer right now is for everyone who feels like their name is Mara because they feel like you have made their life bitter. I saw a man in church this morning who was sitting alone. I noticed some things about him that made me wonder if he was there seeking you from a desperate place. I spoke to him briefly, and he didn’t indicate anything was wrong, but I at least wanted him to know that someone noticed him this morning and cared. I have some family members who are currently struggling. They might feel like the name Mara fits them. Help them to let go of that label. Help them to embrace your love. Help them to look for ways to extend love to others. Help them to take their eyes off of themselves and find ways to serve. And heal their wounds through your Holy Spirit and your presence. And help me to be there for them as well.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 9, 2020 in Mothers of the Bible, Ruth

 

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