Ruth 4:1-6

Ruth 4:1-6 

English Standard Version 

  We don't know the reason the relative of Naomi declines to take responsibility for Ruth.  There are cultural practices where relatives would marry the widow of their brother and have children by the widow, ensuring that the brother's lineage carried on.  In this case, the relative declines, likely having something to do with Ruth being a Moabite, a foreigner.  The man doesn't want this responsibility.

  God, however, looks to include.  It starts here in the Old Testament, but Jesus is teaching the same thing in the New Testament -- that God will gather people from the north and south and east and west.  The genealogy of Jesus is remarkable in that Ruth is included in it, despite her status as a foreigner!  God is at work in and through her, and her demonstration of faithfulness to Naomi lives on to this day.

  May the church have the same Holy Spirit guided heart to look for ways God is at work in every corner of this world.  May we be careful not to exclude, ready for the continually surprising ways God expands the Kingdom, day by day.

Ruth 3:10-18

Ruth 3:10-18 

English Standard Version 

  In the story of Ruth, the blessings of the Lord flow to Ruth and Naomi through Boaz.  Boaz protects Ruth reputation here, while also providing ample barley for Naomi.  Boaz is a channel through which blessings flow to others.

  On Easter, we celebrated the gift of the resurrection and the hope we have in Christ.  Our sin no longer determines our fate, and so we can be certain that our true treasure is secure in Christ.  

  Our responsibility, therefore, is to be a channel of blessings to others.  Just as Boaz looked out for others as a way to bless them, we're called to look out for those in our midst, be they immigrants or widows as they are here, or whomever we meet.  Grounded in the confidence that we have been claimed as Christ's own, may we boldly serve and channel the blessing we've received into the lives of others.

Mark 15:21-39

Mark 15:21-39 

English Standard Version 

  I was listening to a sermon the other day that was linking this to John 4, the woman at the well.  Jesus is telling her that if she drinks the water from the well, she'll thirst again.  But if she drinks from the water that Jesus gives, she'll never thirst again.  Here, Jesus, in his final moments, rejects the earthly wine that is offered him here, for he is the living water, offering himself for the thirst of all people.

  Good Friday is when we remember, when we mourn, when we hope.  On this side of Good Friday, we know how the story ends, but it still comes at great cost. 

  Never forget that God pays that price willingly to redeem you, to save you, because God loves you.  May that thought stay with you on Good Friday, through Holy Saturday, and into the joyous celebration of Easter.

Ruth 3:1-9

Ruth 3:1-9 

English Standard Version 

  "All that you say I will do."

  This is the response that our hearts cry to Jesus.  We believe that God created us, and we believe that God designed us to live in community, and so we know that obeying God is the best way to live in community with one another, honoring God in all we do.  

  And yet, we sin, right?  Over and over again.  We trip over our own efforts and we we trip because we're not paying attention to one another and we trip because we're trying to walk through a room in the middle of the night and we bang our shins into the coffee table.  We are imperfect, and we sin.

  

  On this Maundy Thursday, I pray you'll take a moment and realize the miracle of a Jesus who sat down at the table with a group of disciples who said they would do everything Jesus commanded, and yet by the end of the night, they would have all abandoned him and one would have betrayed them.  And yet he comes to them, and dies for them, just as he comes to you, and saves you by dying for you.

  And so our hearts cry out that we will do as Christ says, for such love we have seen, such love we have witnessed, and such love we daily experience in the depths of our hearts, that we long to follow Christ, our redeemer.