Ruth 2: Life with a Generous Spirit

Explain the scripture:

Boaz goes beyond what is normal, beyond what is expected. He includes her as a part of his family/community and invites her to eat with him. She is a foreigner, yet he incorporates her as one of his own. He protects her and tells his reapers to do the same. He doesn’t just give her access, he gives her privilege, and he makes her an equal with all of his reapers and allows her to take from the best, not just the leftovers. And, he asks others to provide for her as well, he admonishes them to take a handful of their own barley and leave it for her. Interestingly, they aren’t asked to simply hand it to her, like an act of charity, but to leave it, so that she might glean for herself---allowing her to feel pride for what she has done and gleaned for herself and her mother in law.

Boaz is a model for us—he’s giving and generous not out of obligation, but out of a heartfelt desire to care for Ruth. He has no secondary motivation—he’s not looking to make a trade or even to have Ruth pay him back. He is satisfied simply to give. He saw a need and he met it.

There have been only a handful of people in my life who have lived with such a generous spirit. I met one when I was a junior in college. That year, I did a study abroad program. I lived in Costa Rica my first semester and came home for Christmas and my sister’s wedding and then went to live in Spain for the spring semester. Because of the wedding, I arrived in Spain a week later than the rest of the students, which meant I missed their week of touring and had to get myself to Granada. To say it was a long day is an understatement. My flight was 15 hours and had started the day before. I was nervous when I got to Spain and got sick immediately after I got off the plane. From the airport to the bus station, I was swindled by the cabbie (something we were told to expect). And then, though fully fluent, at the bus station I struggled through my fatigue to buy a bus ticket to Granada. After much confusion, I got my ticket and finally boarded the bus. I was tired and hungry as we set out for the 5 hour ride.

We stopped once for bathrooms and food and I struggled to order since there were no lines to stand in. In Spain, everyone just sort of makes a mental note of who’s next and takes their turn when they should—only I didn’t know that. So, I waited and waited and finally ended up ordering a coke and some chips to tide me over.

After a few more minutes we re-boarded the bus and set off again and after 2 more hours arrived in Granada. I caught another cab and he took me to the address on my letter. He rang the doorbell at the apartment for me and no one answered. He rang and rang and still no one answered. Having no other place for him to take me, I had him leave me where I was and I hoped someone would return soon.

I buzzed some more and still no answer. I lugged my backpack and 2 50 pound bags and extra jacket across the street and sat on a bench and watched the door. No one appeared. After 10 minutes or so, hoping against hope (and logic since I had been watching), I rang again. Nothing. But when I pushed on the door to the apartment complex, it opened. So I took my bags in and left them downstairs and climbed to the 5^th floor apartment and knocked. No one. So I walked back down and took my bags across the street yet again.

I don’t know if you’ve ever suffered extreme exhaustion or been in a place where you have no resources and no contacts, but it’s emotional. I can’t say that I was scared, but I was definitely unnerved. After another 10-15 minutes outside, I decided I might as well take my bags upstairs since they were heavy and would have to get there sometimes and I needed something to do. So, I lugged them back to the apartment building, rang again, just in case, and carried them inside.

Just then, a woman came downstairs to take out the trash. She asked who I was and what I was doing and I explained. She took pity on me and invited me to her apartment to wait. (Did I mention it was the beginning of January and quite cold outside?) She helped me carry my 50 pound bags up the stairs and had me sit at her table under a heated blanket. She brought me pineapple juice to drink and brought me a warm wash cloth to freshen up and then went to make me a sandwich. She sat with me as I ate and we shared about ourselves. A couple of times we went up and checked the apartment to see if anyone was home—still no one.

Amalia continued to care for me. She brought me more to drink and eat and offered me love and care I could never repay. I was so exhausted and worn, I was ready to fall apart, and yet there was Amalia ready to hold me up.

For me, Amalia is an amazing example of hospitality. She represents Boaz in my journey. She saw me and saw my needs before I said anything or had to ask. She assumed I was hungry and didn’t make me ask for food or help. She gave me a warm place to sit after sitting out in the cold. She welcomed me as one of her own family. She easily could have seen my need and brought me food to eat outside, but instead she invited me in. She made me feel safe, included, and welcome.

To me, that’s a generous spirit. She went beyond what was expected or required and put her whole heart into helping me. Just like Boaz she acted out of love and compassion rather than obligation.

We can each give and do and be what is expected and no one will fault us. As a teacher you can teach all day and grade homework and tests and go home by 3:00 and that is enough. But people will be overwhelmed and changed forever by your generous spirit when you come in early to help a student learn to read or stay late so they can improve SAT scores. Any of us can have a picnic in the park and clean up our trash and we would fulfill our responsibility, or you can pick up the unclaimed trash of others and help make the park cleaner and better for the next person to visit.

We can go through life doing “enough”. We can meet what is required and expected of us as parents, children, students, employees, partners, and bosses. We can meet the mark and there will be no room for complaint. Or, we can allow God’s love to flow abundantly out of us and give generously of ourselves. We have so much to offer: sustenance, protection, inclusion, warmth, and welcome. We can give only what is required of us, but we can also give more. And the reason to give more isn’t because we should, it’s because there is a blessing 10 times greater when we give and do because we can rather than because we have to.

Boaz was only obligated to allow Ruth to pick up the last remnant of barley and wheat. He could have left it at that and she would have had food to eat and he would have complied with the law. Instead, he protected her and ate with her and gave her an equal place from which to glean and then asked others to give her a bit extra. To any of us, his generosity is extravagant, but to a widow, in a strange land, on her own, struggling to survive, he gave her a 10-fold blessing. One that went beyond physical needs but also blessed her emotionally and relationally.

Amalia unlike Boaz, had no obligation to me. Nothing was required or expected of her and yet she gave abundantly and freely—offering food, rest, warmth, care, and love in ways that will stay with me forever.

By giving generously, we have the opportunity to change and shape people. We have the chance to be more than enough to live beyond what is expected and I guarantee you the rewards are great. We will meet many people who are like Ruth—tired and struggling, alone and without help and we have the opportunity to be a blessing, to go beyond meeting material needs and instead give emotionally and offer relationships that matter and make a difference. Fall is the time when we examine the ministries of the church and make a commitment for the coming year. We will see ways people in our community and around the world are like Ruth, and we will be invited to live like Boaz with a generous spirit giving more than what is required. And I promise you, that when you give generously of yourself from a heartfelt desire to help, you will be blessed in ways you could never have imagined.

Lead Us Not into Temptation

One of my best friends from high school emailed me yesterday and told me she had a good 9/11 sermon illustration if I wanted to use it. I called her and told her I wasn’t going to preach on 9/11, that I was continuing with the sermon series on the Lord’s Prayer, but that I wanted to hear her story and thought I could save it for sometime in the future. It turned out her story was fitting both for 9/11 and for the Lord’s prayer.

Jenny works for the 9/11 museum in New York and she comes into contact with the many stories that are shared. She reminded me that Todd Beemer is the man from flight 93, the one that crashed in Pennsylvania, who is credited with storming the cockpit. He had an air phone at his seat and he spoke with a GTE operator named Lisa Jefferson. Their conversation lasted nearly 20 minutes as the two talked through what to do. In their conversation, they learned that both were Christian and they decided to pray together. As they prayed, they said the familiar words of the Lord’s prayer. Todd’s call is probably the most recognized, but after the plane crashed there were still survivors above the impact zone and they too called for help and there were multiple 911 calls that day. And as operators realized there was no way they could help and as people shared their final words, they prayed together. When no other words would suffice, when no action was possible, when hope for life and rescue waned, people prayed.

We’ve been looking at the Lord’s prayer for a month now. We’ve been trying to dig deeper into the meaning so that we have a stronger connection to the words we say. And hopefully, in saying those words, we also recognize the connection we have to Christians around the world. Hopefully these familiar words can bring peace and comfort in a time of crisis as they did for Todd Beemer and Lisa Jefferson and the many others who prayed on the plane that day. Hopefully they bring us peace and comfort and when we have no other words left to pray, may these words flow from our mouths.

When we remember 9/11, we see both the amazing ways we connect with one another, strangers and friends brought together by a common pain and a common hope. We also see the power of evil, of corruption, of the perversion of religion. We see what happens when a few detach from the larger community and corrupt the doctrines of the faithful. We see a patch work of good and evil—the best and worst we are capable of. And in many ways, it’s fitting that our focus today is on the words, “lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” We need to be drawn away from malice, and harm, empowered to choose for God’s will and not for our own.

There are various translations for these verses:

• “And do not bring us to the time of trial, but rescue us from the evil one”
• “And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one”
• “Keep us safe from ourselves and the devil”
• “And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil”

Though some translations imply that the “time of trial” refers to the final judgment that doesn’t seem to be the heart of this verse. All of the times “time of trial” is used in the New Testament the meaning seems to be like a show of proof. Time of trial is less like persecution and more like a chance to put our money where our mouth is and practice what we preach. Temptation is something that plagues our weaknesses and lures us in—baiting us to do that which we ought not. And the test is whether we will remain faithful.

Our inclination is to think we always practice what we preach and that of course we’d be faithful. But temptation is strong. It is powerful and potent and very hard to resist. And we need God’s intervention to make us strong and draw us away from it. We are even tempted to think we are independently good and righteous. But without God, all we are is sinful. As we read through the beginning of Romans, we hear all about how sinful we are. According to Paul, after the fall, we are basically a lost cause. Paul puts it this way in Romans 1:24, “Therefore, God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the degrading of their bodies. Verses 29-31 say, “They were filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice. Full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, craftiness, they are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, rebellious toward parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.”

When we read this, we hear “they” and maybe assume we are not a part of them. But if we read carefully, we will see that “they” here refers to all humanity—that includes us. Paul is talking about the broken human condition before God intervenes on our behalf. Without God we can’t help but sin. But when God intervenes on our behalf, we are empowered to do good instead of evil. We are capable of fighting the temptation of sin. Through God we are justified. Through God we are renewed. Through God we are given a second chance.

So when we ask God to “lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil” in essence, we are saying, “Please don’t leave us to our own devices, please help us turn away from evil.” We are acknowledging we are prone to sin and we need God’s help to live differently. We acknowledge we are broken and in need of rescue.

Try as we might, we cannot do this on our own. We cannot wade through the mire of lust, greed, sloth, gluttony, wrath, envy, and pride without help. The power of evil is overwhelming. Temptation is not simply interesting, it is tempting—it draws us in. It’s alluring and enticing. And we need help resisting it. We need God.

“Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil” reminds us that we are prone to sin, that we need God’s help to resist the lure of temptation and God’s protection from the calamities of the world.

Let us pray:

As We Forgive Others

Forgive = apheimi = forgive, forsake, lay aside, let alone, omit, put away, remit, yield up

Debts = opheilema = something owed, a due, a fault, a debt.

If we think of debts in Old Testament terms, we need to think of a one for one exchange. An eye for an eye. A tooth for a tooth. If one is taken, one is replaced. We must always keep the balance through an equal exchange. But in a broken and fallen world, if we maintain this system of justice, we only end up with an eyeless and toothless society. We will never be able to offer an equal exchange for all of our wrongs. And so we end up with a debt. We owe more than we could possibly give. We owe more trust, more truths, more moments, more assurance than we could ever offer. We have offended more times than we could ever repay.

It sounds bleak. It sounds hopeless. We cannot repay what we owe, our fate cannot be good. And if we were left to our own devices, it wouldn’t be. If justice were executed based on a one for one exchange from what we can give, there would be no justice. We would be tirelessly working to set right our wrongdoings.

Fortunately, it isn’t left up to us. Instead, we have a benevolent and merciful God who looked down on the depravity of our situation and instead of feeling anger, God felt compassion. God saw how weak and inept we are and chose to intervene on our behalf. God, through Christ, paid the price. God paid the debt, so that we might be free to live in reconciled wholeness. God liberates us through Christ’s blood. The price is paid on our behalf. All of the eyes, the teeth, the truths, the moments, and the trust are restored through Jesus.

God empowered Jesus to pay on our behalf so that we might be free. Jesus offers pardon. He offers freedom. He lays aside what we owe so that we don’t have to be consumed paying for our sins. And so, even today, we turn to Christ for that freedom from sin. We turn to Christ for the payment of our transgressions. We turn to Christ for the power to forgive. And he offers it freely. But he doesn’t just offer it to us so that we might use it, but also so that we might give it. Christ empowers us to go and do likewise. We are called to action. We are called to forgive using the power God gives us through the blood of Christ.

God is ultimately the one who pardons us and forgives us. But scripture also tells us that Christ has the power to forgive and so do we. We have the power to forgive or to hold the debt. That power now lies with us and because of that we must use it. God has gifted it to us and we must use that gift.

We have the power to forgive! And as we look at the New Testament scriptures, we find that our forgiveness is contingent upon the forgiveness we offer others. “As you forgive, so you will be forgiven.” Whatever forgiveness we offer is the forgiveness we receive. That’s huge. And a bit uncomfortable. We want to be forgiven after all and we generally tend to think we are forgivable, but there are some folks who aren’t so forgivable. They have done horrible, ugly things that we see as completely unforgiveable. So how on earth can our forgiveness reasonably be tied to theirs? Forgiveness is a gift from God, a gift we are called to share and not to hoard. The more forgiveness is offered, the more it multiplies and can be offered. True freedom is not when just one has liberty to walk about and be in the world as they choose, but when all of us do. If all of us were imprisoned and only one were released, what would be their freedom? They couldn’t shop. Couldn’t travel very far (not without someone to drive the bus, or deliver the gas, or fly the plane). That person couldn’t have friends over for dinner, or enjoy a night at home with family. The enjoyment of their freedom is contingent upon the freedom of others. The same is true with spiritual freedom. If only one of us is set free, we cannot truly enjoy that freedom. For us to profit from the freedom gained, we must be freed alongside others. We must use our freedom to liberate them as well. We have the power, by offering forgiveness, to have other people join us. We can be selfish and hold onto our freedom for ourselves. But by holding onto it we will continue to be isolated and will fail to profit from the blessings of community and collaboration.

So, if forgiveness is such a blessing, why don’t we do it more often? Forgiveness is hard. Often our wounds go very deep. The hurt we feel or the shame we bear weighs so much that we can’t hardly move it to even place it at the foot of the cross. Sometimes, holding resentment feels good. We want the other person to be punished and so we relish the thought of their demise. Or maybe it’s personal and we can’t see anyway anyone could ever forgive us for what we’ve done and so we hold onto the shame we feel. We aren’t sure we want to be forgiven because we don’t believe we deserve it. Often fear prevents us from forgiving. We are afraid of being hurt again. We are afraid that if we give away what we have that there will not be enough left for ourselves. We hold back not knowing what the future will hold or what the consequences, for good or for bad, will be.

But the thing about the gospel is that forgiveness is possible even when it seems impossible.

Everyone has gone through something. We all have sins to forgive. We have been betrayed, disrespected, neglected, abused, abandoned, lied to, mistreated—for some it has been a coworker, for others their children, for others spouses, for others church members and for other friends. We have all been hurt by someone and they need forgiveness. They need pardon. They need to know that their misdeeds aren’t hanging over their head. They need to be free from the anxiety and insecurity of the relationship. And we can offer that to them.

And we need it too. We are not only the offended, but also the offenders. We have lied, been disrespectful. We have betrayed trust. We have neglected those we care about. We have been selfish and self-centered. It’s the nature of being human. We are broken and we sin. And we need forgiveness. We need to be free from the weight of guilt and shame. We need to be free from the anxiety and fear that our sins will come back to haunt us. We need freedom. We need forgiveness.

Sometimes we have people and situations in our lives that are impossibly hard to forgive. We are continually batted around or hurt and every time we feel close to forgiveness, something new happens. We are betrayed again, hurt again, rejected again. And we feel like there is no hope. It seems the person will never change and things will never get better. And when forgiveness seems impossible, we must remember that the power to forgive is not our own. The power to forgive comes from God. Yes, we are called to use it, but the source of the power is above us—beyond us and can handle the situations that are beyond us as well.

We are given the power to forgive not so we can be deemed merciful and generous, but so that God might be glorified. In simple situations, where we offer forgiveness, it can be easy to take the praise for being merciful, but when a situation is impossible, we have no choice but to thank God for the freedom and forgiveness we experience. To offer true and profound forgiveness we must turn to God as the source of all mercy.

If we need more forgiveness to offer, then we must go to the source. God will continue to supply grace, power and forgiveness enough for all of us. But we have to be willing to get it from God and share it with others. We must be willing to think outside the box, to risk losing in order for others to benefit. Like many things in our Christian journey, forgiveness only seems easy. It is simple in our heads, but as a lifestyle takes work and much practice. Forgiveness can take time. Some wounds may take years to heal, but freedom from guilt and shame and anger and resentment are available now. They are offered freely and abundantly through Christ. But we must accept it. And we must share it.

Our Father in Heaven

Memorization can be a good thing because when we memorize something it becomes natural and engrained in who we are. We can do it without thinking because it’s so much a part of who we are. It can be like tying our shoes, or riding a bike, or even driving a car. Remember back to when you learned to drive a car. When you first started driving you focused on every detail…every little thing you do has to be thought about. But once we have enough practice, we don’t have to focus on all the details. We can just drive and it becomes more relaxed, simpler. Right?

It can be like that with our faith life too, including this prayer. At first it can be awkward we have to focus on all the details and the exact words. It can be cumbersome and difficult because we have to focus so hard. But once we memorize the prayers and train our mental muscles, we can pray the prayer without thinking. It becomes easy and natural, second nature to us.

All of those are good things. The trouble comes when it is so natural that we never think about it. Think back to the driving analogy…have you ever been driving for awhile, or on the same roads you always drive that you can’t even remember driving a certain section of road or how you got from A to B? Your driving became so natural that you have no recollection of the details? It can be scary to realize that you have no idea where you just drove or what you saw…being an auto pilot is simpler, but not always safer…we need to be aware when we drive, right?

Well, we also need to be aware when we pray. We need to be intentional about talking with God. When our prayers are automatic, we risk losing sight of what we are actually praying. We can lose intentionality, focus, and meaning.

So, this month, we are focusing on the Lord’s prayer. We are going to go one line at a time to try and refocus on the words Christ taught us pray. My hope is that we will snap back to attention when we offer this pray, even when it is easy and natural, that we would still invest ourselves in speaking and meaning the words of this prayer.

Today’s line is: “Our Father who art in Heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name.”

The first word of this prayer reminds us of our communal life…Our. It’s not “my”. Simply by choosing “Our” we are reminded that we are called to be a part of community. We are able to have an individual faith, but we are always called to the collective life together. Does anyone remember why?

• Accountability
• Support
• Only way we can truly grow in love (we aren’t stretched to love or be patient or forgive if it’s just us)

The second word is “Father”—sort of obvious in the sense of a parent, a giver of life. But in the cultural sense of Jesus’ day, the father was the tradesman and the sons would learn that same trade. In essence, they were to grow up and do their father’s work. So, when we call God father, we don’t just think of a giver of life, but we also should see a role model who should be mimicked. In essence, we should grow up to do God’s trade, to do God’s work.

· Forgiveness

· Inclusion

· Justice

· Mercy

· Compassion

The last part of that line is: “who art in heaven”—this underscores where God is, and that God is distinctive from us. We dwell on earth, but God dwells in heaven. But heaven in this sense is both the ethereal heaven, and it is defined in the Greek as the gospel. In other words, God dwells in the good news…Gospel meaning Good news…the good news of forgiveness and redemption. God is present wherever there is Gospel. And in that sense, God is with us. God has a place in the heavens, a dwelling place distinctive from our own, but God also has a place in the midst of us….wherever there is Gospel…life, and truth, and compassionate community, God is there.

The next line begins “Hallowed”…which means to make holy, to purify, or to consecrate. When I looked up the Greek I was a bit surprised…I guess I have always heard “hallowed be thy name” as a statement meaning “your name is holy”, but in the way Hallowed is defined in the greek, it’s more like, “may your name be made holy” “may it be sanctified”. I don’t know if you hear a difference there, but what I hear is that we have desecrated the name of God and it needs to be redeemed. It reminds me of the third commandment, “thou shalt not take the lord’s name in vain”—that isn’t just a caution not to curse, that is a reminder that God’s name is powerful, and that that power should not be taken lightly. Like we shouldn’t shout “fire” in a crowded theatre, we should not call upon God’s name in frivolous or meaningless ways. So, when we pray “may your name be made holy”, I hear a reminder to us to honor who God is and to use God’s name with meaning, significance, and impact rather than in idle chatter.

In addition to simply understanding the meaning of the words, we also need to look at the bigger picture of this prayer. To start “Our Father in Heaven” helps establish a relationship between us and God. (*I feel like a need to do a side note here. We often use father language for God. And for many, that is difficult and challenging for their relationship with God. Not all of us have a healthy or good relationship with our Fathers. Some of us have been abused by our fathers, and so to call God father only reminds us of bitterness and hurt and for some, that may mean we want no part of a relationship with that kind of God. Which is understandable. I wish none of us had that kind of obstacle in any of our relationships, particularly our relationship with our father. But I also want to say, that even bearing that in mind, we need to be aware that “father” in this sense is meant to be positive. It is meant to reflect a loving and nurturing relationship, where we learn good habits and practices of love. So, if saying father is a barrier for you, think of a relationship that does signify love and care and a good model for you…whether that is mother, aunt, uncle, grandmother, best friend…and try and understand God in that way. It’s not about the word here, it’s about the relationship.