pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: relative


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Clearly at Work

Readings: Ruth 3 and Ruth 4

Ruth 3:10 – “May you be blessed by the LORD, my daughter! You have acted even more faithfully than you did at first.”

Today’s passage begins with Naomi caring for Ruth. It is a bit of a role reversal but she is the one from this culture. Naomi lays out a plan for Ruth to find a husband and Boaz is the ideal choice. He has been generous and righteous, kind and protective. He has not taken advantage of this situation. Ruth receives instructions and works the plan. This is very risky. Women don’t go to the threshing floor – especially in the middle of the night. And women certainly don’t ask men about things like marriage. But that’s the plan. All goes well. Then the waiting begins.

Boaz goes that morning to the city gate. It is where transactions are made. He is intent on talking with the closer relative. Gathering ten elders as witnesses, Boaz explains the situation – mostly. The closest of kin is willing to buy the land to preserve the family inheritance. Next, Boaz says, you also get Ruth the Moabite too – to preserve the family name too. This is one step too far for the next of kin. They make a formal agreement – sandal and all – Boaz will redeem the land and he will marry Ruth.

The sticking point for the next of kin is marrying a foreign woman. Strictly speaking, he is adhering to the Law. Yet God is clearly at work in a new way here in the book of Ruth. Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz are a part of it. The women in town declare that Ruth is “better for you than seven sons.” In that time and culture ,what a statement! The child born to Boaz and Ruth is named Obed – “the one who serves God.” Our reading closes with some genealogy. It goes like this: Obed -> Jesse -> David. That line eventually ends with -> Jesus. If the line of David and Jesus includes a Moabite woman, then maybe we, as people of faith, should likewise welcome “the other.”

Prayer: Lord God, thank you for this beautiful story. It is living faith as it is meant to be lived – caring for one another, honoring you in all that is said and done, elevating righteousness and faithfulness as our guiding lights. Lead us day by day to walk in these ways. Amen.


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Enough?

Reading: Luke 10: 25-28

In our culture there is a large emphasis placed upon ‘success’.  This emphasis leads us to judge others and to compare ourselves and our status or position to others.  We begin doing this the first time someone compares us to someone else.  It may be a bike race, the height chart on the wall, or any other form of evaluation.  Not to say competition or success are bad things, but early on we are taught to compare ourselves to others.  And naturally, we want to be the best.

Of course there can only be a small handful of ‘best’ people.  There is only one at the top of each list.  And for almost all of us, none are at the top of any of these lists.  In turn our success becomes relative.  We work hard for the next promotion, the bigger house, the nicest yard, the next gadget.  Life too easily can become all about our stuff and how it compares to those in our little worlds.  But all of this is temporary and in the end bring no satisfaction because there is always a ‘next’ thing to buy or to accomplish to keep ahead.

By contrast our faith leads us to consider other before self and to find our contentment in our relationship with our Creator.  Once we understand and know God’s great love for us, we are led to share this love with others.  It is a great gift that compels us to share it with all we meet.  We treasure this gift of live above all else and we want others to experience it as well 

But sometimes the drive for success and the call to love God and neighbor collide.  We ask the question the lawyer asked: am I doing enough?  The harsh reality is that when we ask that question, the answer is almost always ‘no’.  When loving God and neighbor permeate our life, we seldom look within to find ‘success’.  We are simply led to offer all we can to all we can whenever we can.  When we miss an opportunity to do so, we note it and commit to not missing the opportunity the next time.  It is not a competition but a life of service to God and neighbor.  May we live our faith in such a way that we never have to ask that question.  May love always be our guide.