My Adopt-A-Student program kicks off this week. I don't know if I have mentioned it too much on here yet, but the plan is for a member/family of the congregation to "adopt" a college student. We have 14 students and 12 member/families signed up for the program. We do the pairing tonight and then Thursday is the kick off. This is a program I wanted to add to try to bring the members and students closer. However, approved by the elders it is also my Evangelism module. We are required over the year of vicarage to do one evangelism project where we incorporate something new to the church to try to reach more people. I really hope this goes well so that it will continue in the years to follow, even when I am not here. My roommate in college was "adopted" by a family from his church and they still have a strong relationship, keeping in touch even after he graduated and moved away. They would invite him out for meals, to watch football games, to do laundry, etc. They also gave him rides to the train station and other places since he didn't have a car. They would house him over holiday breaks when campus was closed, or even house his girlfriend when she would come to visit. It was a really positive thing for both him and the family and that is what I am hoping for each one of these pairing ups. So I kindly ask you keep this program in your prayers, that it may go well, strengthen the faith of the students, and work for the good of the Gospel.
I preached this last week for LWML Sunday on the text from Ruth. Not my best sermon ever, but it went pretty well. I have also been doing some writings on my devotions on the psalms, so I will try to post those over the next couple days. Here is my sermon for today:
Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from
God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Our text for today is: Ruth 1:16-17 = 16 But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave
you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you
lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your
God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there will I
be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but
death parts me from you.”
These words
that make up our
text for this morning are the beautiful confession of faith given by Ruth to
her mother-in-law Naomi. The Old
Testament reading that Pastor Wurm just read for us is the introduction to the
book of Ruth and it really sets the stage for the whole story. A man takes his family to a foreign land
because of a famine. It was meant to be
a temporary stay, but as the text tells us ended up being ten years. While they are there, this man dies, leaving
his wife and two sons now all alone in this foreign land. The two sons take wives from the local people
of this land. To make matters worse as
tragedy would have it, both boys die too.
Now there are three women stranded away from home, with no one to take
care of them or support them. However,
Naomi, the mother, finds slight relief when she hears the news that there is
food in her homeland again. She decides
to go home and rely on the mercy of her husband’s people to take care of her
and support her. She also makes the
decision that it would be best for her daughter-in-laws to not go with her, but
rather to return to their own families and depend on them for their
support. This is when Ruth steps forward
and says her confession to her mother-in-law that we will focus in on
today.
Now before we get to Ruth I think we first need to defend Naomi. I think it is pretty easy for us to give Naomi a bad rap for trying to send away her daughter-in-laws, but in her defense she was just trying to do what she thought was best. Naomi is stuck in an extremely tough situation. She has the responsibility of these two girls in her hands, and this responsibility forces her to decide between faith and health. If she was selfish and making the decision based purely on her own wants, she would have easily chosen for her daughters to go with her. I am quite sure she would rather have them with her to make the trip back instead of going alone. I think she would have preferred to have them live with her once she was back in Bethlehem. However, Naomi does not make the selfish choice, but rather considers what is best for these girls ahead of herself. This is where she is stuck between a rock and a hard place. She knows that if the girls go with her, they will struggle for the basic needs of life. Naomi is already depending on the mercy of her husband’s people to provide food, clothing, shelter, and other basic needs for her. She knows this is going to be a burden on the people to take care of one widow, let alone if they had to take care of three. These young girls will have a much better way of life if they return to their families, can be provided for, and have the chance for a second marriage and new husband who will provide for them and give them children. However, if she sends them back to their families where their needs will be provided, she also knows they will return to their family gods. Elimelech and his family were believers in the one true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. After Elimelech died, and his two sons took wives from the Moabites, Naomi and the sons taught these new wives who their God was and their faith in this God. Orpah and Ruth would have given up their family gods and accepted the God of their new family, the God that Elimelech had kept his family faithful too even in a foreign land. Even after her husband died, and both her sons died, Naomi was still faithful to God. We can see this in verses 8 and 9 as when she tries to send them away; she does so in the name of the Lord, asking her God to be with them. Even though she knows if they return home to their original families, they will return to their original gods, she still asks her God to be with them, deal kindly with them, and give them rest in the house of their new husbands. So Naomi must decide whether to send them back to their families where their needs will be provided but their faith in God will be lost, or else let them go with her where they can remain in the faith of the Lord but will struggle for daily necessities. This is the situation Naomi is stuck in and it is not an easy one for her. That’s why I think we need to give Naomi a little break in her decision. She did what she thought was best and tried to give them an easier life, even though it meant they would return to idolatry.
It is easy for us to say that Naomi made the wrong choice. That it would have been better for the girls to struggle for food and clothes and still be in the faith than to have daily needs and worship false gods. Jesus himself will later say, “For what will it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” Paul states in Romans from our Epistle for today, “For the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him.” Why didn’t Naomi trust in God to provide for them and keep them in the faith by letting them go back to Bethlehem with her? I mean we would never be foolish enough to do such a thing, or would we? If we were put in Naomi’s position, would we make the right choice? You have the choice to send your children to a Christian school where they can receive a deeper education in the Scriptures and their faith, or to the public school where they can play sports and hopefully get a scholarship to a better college so they can get a better job and make more money so they will be able to better provide for their family, which do you choose? You have the choice to bring your children to church on Sunday mornings and make sure they are in Sunday school, or take them to their hockey or soccer league, which do you choice? You have the choice at work to stand up against the boss when you see he or she is doing something unmoral and try to show him or her that they are sinning, or to just sit quietly, letting it go so you do not risk losing your job? You have the choice to do daily devotions with your family after supper, or to work on that project for work to make sure it gets done on time? We are faced with these decisions where we must decided if the quality of life is more important than risk suffering and simply trusting God to provide. We have choices where we must choose between what seems like the best option for everyone involved, even if that decision means letting God take a back seat. How often do we choose the one that puts God first and takes our safety net of assurance out from under us? When it comes right down to the wire how often do we walk by faith rather than by sight? This is where I feel we are really no different than Naomi and would have probably made the same choice she did.
However, thanks be to God, even when Naomi made the wrong choice, Ruth has the faith to do what is right. Orpah listens to her mother-in-law and returns, but Ruth stands up and speaks these words of confession. “For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried.” Naomi had been a witness to Ruth when she taught her about the one true God. She taught Ruth the faith and taught her what it meant to be faithful. Ruth saw her mother-in-law remain faithful to her Lord even after she lost her husband and two sons. Naomi was a witness to Ruth and brought her into the faith. However, then at Naomi’s weak point, Ruth became a witness to her. Naomi does what she thinks is best, and Ruth tells her that this is not what is best for her. What is truly best for her is to remain in the faith, remain with her mother-in-law and trust in God to provide for both of them. The teacher becomes the student, the witness gets witnessed to. And then of course as we know the rest of the story, God does provide for both women. He not only provides them with daily necessities, but gives Ruth a new husband. It is through this new marriage that the line of Christ will be passed on. God not only provided for them, He used Ruth, who had become a witness, for the purpose of His plan of salvation. Ruth’s witness to Naomi directly affected the spread of the Gospel, in the sense that she would be part of the linage of King David and eventually Christ Himself who is the Gospel. Ruth’s witness was for the glory of God and is a part of the Gospel narrative.
God gave Ruth the faith to be a witness to her mother-in-law in order to continue His plan of salvation, just as God gives us the faith to be a witness to the world around us in order to further the spread of His Gospel. Jesus was the perfect witness. He was a witness to Himself. Through His birth to a virgin, through His baptism where the Father spoke from Heaven and said, “This is my beloved Son”, through His death on the cross where He cried out, “It is finished”, and through His resurrection where He defeated death once and for all, He was a witness that God exists, God is faithful to His Word, and God has won salvation for His people. Then after His resurrection we see His message to His disciples in our Gospel reading for today. Jesus tells the disciples, “You are witnesses of these things, You are witnesses to my life, death, and resurrection which is the Gospel message of forgiveness of sins and eternal life.” Christ was a witness to them, preaching to them the truth of the Gospel, and then called them to be witnesses to all nations. We today are still called to be witnesses of the same Gospel, proclaiming Christ crucified to all nations, proclaiming forgiveness of sins to all those around us. But God does not expect us to do this alone. No, just as Naomi who had been a witness to Ruth, needed Ruth to be a witness back to her, we too witness to those who have never heard the message before, but need to still be witnesses to each other as well. When we make those decisions of an easier life, security over our faith, we need those around us to be witnesses to us. We need to be reminded when we make those wrong choices that there is forgiveness. When we are weak and make the bad decisions like Naomi did, there are witnesses around us like Ruth to remind us that God’s saving grace does grant us forgiveness. He is strong no matter how weak we are at times. We have the faith that calls us back to Him, and we have been given faithful witnesses to keep us firm to that faith. Some days you are going to be a witness to your children reminding them God has gifts to give them in church, but then the next day they might be a witness back to you reminding you that God will provide at all times. We are called to be witnesses to the world and to each other. The LWML does a great job of this through the use of their mites, their quilting, and their support of the Gospel worldwide, and yet they are still witnesses to each other sending birthday cards, visiting the shut ins, and supporting each other. These ladies have shown us how to be both a witness to the world and a witness to each other. Preaching and proclaiming the death and resurrection of Christ, preaching and proclaiming the forgiveness of sins to all nations, and holding each other firm to that Gospel message they proclaim. We all are witnesses. We are witnesses, both by our words proclaiming the truth of the Gospel, but also by our actions of trusting in God to provide all things, keeping Him as the most important factor in all our decisions. He calls us to be witnesses, but He also gives us the witnesses. He gives us each other as witnesses, and He also gave us the perfect Witness of our savior Christ. Knowing the truth of this Gospel, that it is by His grace and mercy alone that we have our salvation, we pray He gives us the strength to be witnesses in everything we do and say so that His Gospel may be heard, believed, and firmly clung to by all. In the name of the one, true, perfect Witness, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Now before we get to Ruth I think we first need to defend Naomi. I think it is pretty easy for us to give Naomi a bad rap for trying to send away her daughter-in-laws, but in her defense she was just trying to do what she thought was best. Naomi is stuck in an extremely tough situation. She has the responsibility of these two girls in her hands, and this responsibility forces her to decide between faith and health. If she was selfish and making the decision based purely on her own wants, she would have easily chosen for her daughters to go with her. I am quite sure she would rather have them with her to make the trip back instead of going alone. I think she would have preferred to have them live with her once she was back in Bethlehem. However, Naomi does not make the selfish choice, but rather considers what is best for these girls ahead of herself. This is where she is stuck between a rock and a hard place. She knows that if the girls go with her, they will struggle for the basic needs of life. Naomi is already depending on the mercy of her husband’s people to provide food, clothing, shelter, and other basic needs for her. She knows this is going to be a burden on the people to take care of one widow, let alone if they had to take care of three. These young girls will have a much better way of life if they return to their families, can be provided for, and have the chance for a second marriage and new husband who will provide for them and give them children. However, if she sends them back to their families where their needs will be provided, she also knows they will return to their family gods. Elimelech and his family were believers in the one true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. After Elimelech died, and his two sons took wives from the Moabites, Naomi and the sons taught these new wives who their God was and their faith in this God. Orpah and Ruth would have given up their family gods and accepted the God of their new family, the God that Elimelech had kept his family faithful too even in a foreign land. Even after her husband died, and both her sons died, Naomi was still faithful to God. We can see this in verses 8 and 9 as when she tries to send them away; she does so in the name of the Lord, asking her God to be with them. Even though she knows if they return home to their original families, they will return to their original gods, she still asks her God to be with them, deal kindly with them, and give them rest in the house of their new husbands. So Naomi must decide whether to send them back to their families where their needs will be provided but their faith in God will be lost, or else let them go with her where they can remain in the faith of the Lord but will struggle for daily necessities. This is the situation Naomi is stuck in and it is not an easy one for her. That’s why I think we need to give Naomi a little break in her decision. She did what she thought was best and tried to give them an easier life, even though it meant they would return to idolatry.
It is easy for us to say that Naomi made the wrong choice. That it would have been better for the girls to struggle for food and clothes and still be in the faith than to have daily needs and worship false gods. Jesus himself will later say, “For what will it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” Paul states in Romans from our Epistle for today, “For the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him.” Why didn’t Naomi trust in God to provide for them and keep them in the faith by letting them go back to Bethlehem with her? I mean we would never be foolish enough to do such a thing, or would we? If we were put in Naomi’s position, would we make the right choice? You have the choice to send your children to a Christian school where they can receive a deeper education in the Scriptures and their faith, or to the public school where they can play sports and hopefully get a scholarship to a better college so they can get a better job and make more money so they will be able to better provide for their family, which do you choose? You have the choice to bring your children to church on Sunday mornings and make sure they are in Sunday school, or take them to their hockey or soccer league, which do you choice? You have the choice at work to stand up against the boss when you see he or she is doing something unmoral and try to show him or her that they are sinning, or to just sit quietly, letting it go so you do not risk losing your job? You have the choice to do daily devotions with your family after supper, or to work on that project for work to make sure it gets done on time? We are faced with these decisions where we must decided if the quality of life is more important than risk suffering and simply trusting God to provide. We have choices where we must choose between what seems like the best option for everyone involved, even if that decision means letting God take a back seat. How often do we choose the one that puts God first and takes our safety net of assurance out from under us? When it comes right down to the wire how often do we walk by faith rather than by sight? This is where I feel we are really no different than Naomi and would have probably made the same choice she did.
However, thanks be to God, even when Naomi made the wrong choice, Ruth has the faith to do what is right. Orpah listens to her mother-in-law and returns, but Ruth stands up and speaks these words of confession. “For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried.” Naomi had been a witness to Ruth when she taught her about the one true God. She taught Ruth the faith and taught her what it meant to be faithful. Ruth saw her mother-in-law remain faithful to her Lord even after she lost her husband and two sons. Naomi was a witness to Ruth and brought her into the faith. However, then at Naomi’s weak point, Ruth became a witness to her. Naomi does what she thinks is best, and Ruth tells her that this is not what is best for her. What is truly best for her is to remain in the faith, remain with her mother-in-law and trust in God to provide for both of them. The teacher becomes the student, the witness gets witnessed to. And then of course as we know the rest of the story, God does provide for both women. He not only provides them with daily necessities, but gives Ruth a new husband. It is through this new marriage that the line of Christ will be passed on. God not only provided for them, He used Ruth, who had become a witness, for the purpose of His plan of salvation. Ruth’s witness to Naomi directly affected the spread of the Gospel, in the sense that she would be part of the linage of King David and eventually Christ Himself who is the Gospel. Ruth’s witness was for the glory of God and is a part of the Gospel narrative.
God gave Ruth the faith to be a witness to her mother-in-law in order to continue His plan of salvation, just as God gives us the faith to be a witness to the world around us in order to further the spread of His Gospel. Jesus was the perfect witness. He was a witness to Himself. Through His birth to a virgin, through His baptism where the Father spoke from Heaven and said, “This is my beloved Son”, through His death on the cross where He cried out, “It is finished”, and through His resurrection where He defeated death once and for all, He was a witness that God exists, God is faithful to His Word, and God has won salvation for His people. Then after His resurrection we see His message to His disciples in our Gospel reading for today. Jesus tells the disciples, “You are witnesses of these things, You are witnesses to my life, death, and resurrection which is the Gospel message of forgiveness of sins and eternal life.” Christ was a witness to them, preaching to them the truth of the Gospel, and then called them to be witnesses to all nations. We today are still called to be witnesses of the same Gospel, proclaiming Christ crucified to all nations, proclaiming forgiveness of sins to all those around us. But God does not expect us to do this alone. No, just as Naomi who had been a witness to Ruth, needed Ruth to be a witness back to her, we too witness to those who have never heard the message before, but need to still be witnesses to each other as well. When we make those decisions of an easier life, security over our faith, we need those around us to be witnesses to us. We need to be reminded when we make those wrong choices that there is forgiveness. When we are weak and make the bad decisions like Naomi did, there are witnesses around us like Ruth to remind us that God’s saving grace does grant us forgiveness. He is strong no matter how weak we are at times. We have the faith that calls us back to Him, and we have been given faithful witnesses to keep us firm to that faith. Some days you are going to be a witness to your children reminding them God has gifts to give them in church, but then the next day they might be a witness back to you reminding you that God will provide at all times. We are called to be witnesses to the world and to each other. The LWML does a great job of this through the use of their mites, their quilting, and their support of the Gospel worldwide, and yet they are still witnesses to each other sending birthday cards, visiting the shut ins, and supporting each other. These ladies have shown us how to be both a witness to the world and a witness to each other. Preaching and proclaiming the death and resurrection of Christ, preaching and proclaiming the forgiveness of sins to all nations, and holding each other firm to that Gospel message they proclaim. We all are witnesses. We are witnesses, both by our words proclaiming the truth of the Gospel, but also by our actions of trusting in God to provide all things, keeping Him as the most important factor in all our decisions. He calls us to be witnesses, but He also gives us the witnesses. He gives us each other as witnesses, and He also gave us the perfect Witness of our savior Christ. Knowing the truth of this Gospel, that it is by His grace and mercy alone that we have our salvation, we pray He gives us the strength to be witnesses in everything we do and say so that His Gospel may be heard, believed, and firmly clung to by all. In the name of the one, true, perfect Witness, Jesus Christ. Amen.
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