Sermon Tone Analysis

Good morning and welcome to Mission Church!

My name is John and I serve Mission as the Lead pastor.

I am honored and humbled to be with you this morning.....especially as we enter the Advent season.

Traditionally... advent begins 4 Sunday’s before Christmas but this year we are going to start a week early.

It seems that every store and radio station has already started the Christmas season....so why not us?

Now.....what’s the deal with Advent?

Well....Advent means “coming” or “arrival” and this season has historically been a time in which we look back to the long-foretold first coming of the Messiah, and in turn.....we learn to look forward to his return.

Advent is a season of preparation....it’s a rhythm in which we as Christians pause.....we intentionally slow down....and recognize that the world in which we live is broken.

Let’s be honest.....We all know this.... we all feel the effects of living in a broken world.....and if we slow down long enough we can sense an almost cosmic ache…we can feel a deep desire for things to be made right and the incompleteness we find in the meantime.

Our collective tendency is to ignore ...or …to downplay the world’s brokenness… while we deflect or numb our feelings of despair.

But by focusing our hearts on the first and second coming of Jesus....Advent can be an opportunity for us to face up to the darkness in order to appreciate the light....You see....the world might try to dull the pain of our suffering, but the refreshing news is that Scripture never does.

So where might we be going this Advent?

Well we are going to spend time in a surprising portion of Scripture.....tucked away in the Old Testament…hundreds of years before Mary, Joseph, and the birth of Jesus is the story of a girl called Ruth.

And her story doesn’t hold back from the reality of suffering and despair.....in fact it’s a story full of sadness and tears...even death... but it is a story where hope is found in the darkest of places....ultimately....the story of Ruth will liberate us from the exhausting deception that Jesus came into a world of endless cheer, tinsel, and twinkling lights.

So....If you would......Please grab a Bible and open it to Ruth1.

If you don’t have a Bible we have some available for you ...along with some Ruth scripture journals.... on the book shelf in the foyer.

I will give you a moment to turn there and when you have it…and if you are able…please stand for the reading of God’s Word.

Ruth 1:1–6 (CSB)

1 During the time of the judges, there was a famine in the land.

A man left Bethlehem in Judah with his wife and two sons to stay in the territory of Moab for a while. 2 The man’s name was Elimelech, and his wife’s name was Naomi.

The names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion.

They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah.

They entered the fields of Moab and settled there.

3 Naomi’s husband, Elimelech, died, and she was left with her two sons.

4 Her sons took Moabite women as their wives: one was named Orpah and the second was named Ruth.

After they lived in Moab about ten years, 5 both Mahlon and Chilion also died, and the woman was left without her two children and without her husband.

6 She and her daughters-in-law set out to return from the territory of Moab, because she had heard in Moab that the Lord had paid attention to his people’s need by providing them food.

Pray

The Christmas season is often portrayed as a time of excitement, happiness, and peace.….it’s portrayed as a time when families magically get along as they wear their matching pajamas and feast around a table overflowing with desserts.

But…unless you live in a hallmark movie … the Christmas season is usually marked by stress, forced family activities and holiday cheer.

We can try and mask or ignore reality but the holiday season doesn’t press pause on the difficulties and realities of life.

Most of the time it heightens and magnifies our brokenness.

In fact according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, 64% of people report being affected by holiday depression.

Maybe our cultures desire to “bring Christmas early’ is symptomatic of trying to escape the reality of our brokenness.

But....no one can really escape reality for long....and …in a world that aches with sin…and the consequences of our sin…pretending that everything is endless cheer is both deceptive and exhausting.

Tell me....Do you ever have moments in your life when you look around and it seems like no matter where you look things are going crazy and are out of control?

If so…and if you can relate ....then....How can you trust that God is good, that He loves you, and has not left you when the consequences of your decisions have led to despair and depression?

What do we do when we are faced with …not only the world’s brokenness and depravity ....but our own brokenness and depravity?

Well....this morning…we’re going to see the truth that God is faithful.....And ....because God is faithful...we can trust that He works even in the darkest of times.

In fact....a dark time of distress and despair is how the book of Ruth begins.

Let’s take a look

Ruth 1:1–2 (CSB)

1 During the time of the judges...

The time of the judges can be considered Israel’s dark ages.

It was the period of time after Israel had settled in the promised land and before the monarchy was established.

It was a time that is best described as chaotic…dangerous…it was a time of social and religious disorder.

It was a period filled with violence, idolatry, moral depravity, and civil war.

In fact…the book of Judges describes it like this....

Judges 17:6 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did whatever seemed right to him.

During the “time of the Judges” there was a repeated cycle of man’s rebellion and God’s redemption.

At the beginning of each cycle God’s people would rebel against God....then God would hand them over to their oppressors …after some time God’s people would repent...then God would send a deliverer....he would send a Judge...to give the people a period of rest .

But inevitably they would once again rebel against God....and the cycle would repeat.

By the end of the book of Judges we see.... in graphic detail .....that Israel had comprehensively lost its way and had become every bit as bad as the Godless nations that surrounded them.

Everyone just did what felt right to them.

If we’re honest ........this sounds a lot like the time and space in which we currently live....Today we are also surrounded by false religions, biblical ignorance, political corruption, and violence.

Our culture still praises and promotes everyone doing what is right in his or her own eyes…and that’s exactly what’s going down in Bethlehem!

Look back at v1

Ruth 1:1 During the time of the judges, there was a famine in the land.

One might describe the context of Ruth as hopeless....but ....as the saying goes… “When it rains it pours.

You see....unfaithfulness to God resulted in famine....which is ironic.....given that Bethlehem.... literally means “House of Bread” ....You see.... this house of bread..... had no bread.

It would be like starving to death in a Golden Coral!

Now…understand that famines are God's way of bringing His people back into submission to HIS rule and reign...

And in our text ...we see.... not only a physical famine....which means there was no food..... but ...they were also experiencing a spiritual famine .....which was a result of them being so full of themselves and the worship of idols that they felt they no longer needed God.

This reality is seen more clearly as the camera zooms in on a specific man and his family.

Look back at our text

Ruth 1:1 ...A man left Bethlehem in Judah with his wife and two sons to stay in the territory of Moab for a while.

The man’s name was Elimelech, and his wife’s name was Naomi.

The names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion.

They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah.

They entered the fields of Moab and settled there.

Now..... Elimelech and his family…well they were in a tough situation!

There’s no food anywhere.....and his family is hungry!

And in their difficulty Elimelech has a choice to make…he has a road to choose.

.…He

could seek after God…He could repent and pray....He could stay in Bethlehem and mourn his sin and the sin that surrounded him.

Essentially he could trust God to provide for him and his family.... Or... he could uproot His family ....move to Moab.... where God had forbidden them to go.....design is own solution and trust in himself to fix his problem.

Now....Elimelech…he had no business leaving Bethlehem to go anywhere…least of all Moab.

You see....Moab was known for several things and none of them were good.

The Moabites had originated out of an incestuous relationship between a guy named Lot and his older daughter (Gen.

19:30–38).

Moab’s king had hired a guy to curse Israel (Num.

22–24); and when Israel was in the wilderness Moab’s women had been a stumbling block as they seduced Israel’s men to worship false gods (Num.

25); Not only that but Moab was one of Israel’s oppressors (Judg.

3).

Now…you tell me.....Does this sound like the place to go in order to raise a Godly family?

I don’t think so!!!!…yet..... Elimelech ....this husband and father took his family away from God’s people and God’s presence to a place where God’s people and God’s presence was not......he left the Promised Land in search of what seemed like greener grass.

Can you relate to these circumstances?

Have you ever found yourself in a season of turmoil and distance from God? Maybe it was a time where you were just not sure of anything....a time when you struggled to make ends meet?

Maybe you’re there right now! Tell me... Are you tempted to turn away from the Lord?

Are you tempted to chase greener grass?

Friends....the road to Moab may look like it is paved with greener grass but....the truth is....it’s a dead end!

You see......It seemed like Elimelech was doing the right thing....I mean....he provided for his family ....but only financially.....and for many husbands and fathers… this is enough.

“It’s my job to provide!

I put food on the table …I put a roof over your heads.”

And....This is what Elimelech did…there was no food so he moved to where there was food…he put food on the table.

And many might say.....he did his job.

But listen to me…if you are a husband and/or a father.....our job is not only to provide food for our families physical bodies but also spiritual food for their souls.

We are to provide a church community where our wives and kids can can sit under Biblically faithful teaching and grow to love Jesus....live like Jesus…and lead others to Jesus.

Elimelech....he followed God culturally…In Hebrew... his name literally means “My God is King” but it appeared that God was not really the king of his heart…there was no king in Elimelech’s life and therefore he did what he felt was right.

Instead of following the path of repentance and faith....instead of trusting the Lord to provide for his family’s needs.....he chose to trust in himself.

And he moved his family without considering his full job description as a husband and a father.

In other words.....He did the bare minimum....He put food on the table but neglected his families spiritual needs.