Sermons from March 2022

Ruth 2 We are continuing our studies in the book of Ruth, where will discover new dimensions of hesed (“unfailing love for the helpless”). Even though Ruth is a barren widow, poor and an immigrant living in a foreign land, she takes bold and daring initiatives to provide food for her mother-in-law. Her boldness and industry do not go unnoticed by Boaz, who reciprocates her hesed in ways Ruth or Naomi could have never imagined. The text has much to say about the dynamic of God’s grace and human initiative and the importance of crossing social barriers and breaking societal rules to raise the dignity of the marginalized.

Ruth 1 For the last several weeks Bernard Bell has given us the broad sweep of the kingdom of God in heaven through the Daniel’s apocalyptic visions of ravenous wild beasts and destructive empires that rise and fall under God’s sovereign hand. For the next four weeks we will turn our attention to the book of Ruth, examining how God’s kingdom comes to earth in an age of moral deterioration, political disaster and civil war. Ellen Davis observes, “Like the Israelites in the time of the Judges, we are worn down and worn out by ‘great events’ on a national and international scale… and so, perhaps the teaching of this book of Ruth is especially apt now in a time of widespread disorder and personal loss, simple acts of mutual regard—the Hebrew word for that is hesed, the discipline of generosity that binds Israelites to one another and to God—acts of hesed can open up the future God intends.”