Sermon Tone Analysis

Series Review

(e.g. while on a church retreat in the spring of 2010, I was talking to a man who was wearing a t-shirt with the words "2008 Father of the Year” , given by my kids; I asked jokingly: “who won the award last year?; “definitely not me”, ; in 2009 he was carrying his toddler down the stairs and he fell, with his full weight on the child; leg badly broken; months of surgery, therapy and pain; he described his own shame and pain of watching his son experience this, and watching his son miss out on the experiences other kids his age would have; he was constantly depressed; constantly in a state of self-hatred and guilt; he was in a dark place and, like Naomi in the story of Ruth, he was in a place of bitterness, darkness and hopelessness.

He had no hope.

No expectation that this dark world he was living in would ever change.

I moved to another church a few months later, but I’ve wondered if he found hope.I can accept that we live with pain, but I can’t stand the idea of living without hope: hope that our lives have no purpose, just never ending pain.

Naomi has lost her husband and sons, she only has a faithful daughter in law and her own bitterness.

She has no hope.

That’s where we left our main character Ruth and her mother in law Naomi last week.

Naomi has lost her husband and sons, she only has a faithful daughter in law and her own bitterness.

She has no hope.

My aim is to preach through the book of Ruth this month —one chapter each Sunday.

This series is about.

And it's a story for people who can't imagine that anything great could ever come of their grief or suffering.

It’s for anyone who can’t imagine anything being better, or this is as good as it gets; It's an encouraging book, and I want you to be encouraged this January.

Sermon Introduction

Sermon Introduction

It’s interesting to me how the mind seems to choose what it remembers and what it does not remember.

Have you ever experienced something or heard something - something that seemed inconsequential at the time, but for some reason you remember it?

Just a couple of months ago I remembered something that happened to me, something that didn’t seem important at the time, but for some reason I had a vivid recollection of it.

I remember seeing an old man coming to my church during the week, taking the floor mat outside, shaking the dirt off it, sweeping it and putting it back inside.

He was bent over, he moved very slow, walked with a cane.

I would see this every week, and that’s all I saw him do.

I remember asking someone who that was, and I learned that he was one of the founding members of the church.

He was a leader a teacher for many years, and even though his health was failing he still wanted to serve the church.

That was what he did, until one day I didn’t see him again.

My point is not that you should keep working in the church until your back literally breaks.

But the lesson is this: Pain does not mean powerlessness.

Have you ever heard this verse?

This morning I want us to see how God has provided for us.

Specifically I want us to take a deep look at ourselves and see the power that God has given us.

And I don’t mean looking at our strengths or our talents.

It is important that we realize that God has given us strengths and talents to be used for the kingdom of God.

But have you ever looked at the weak and damaged parts of yourself and said, “This can be used for the kingdom of God.” “This pain can be used to transform lives.”

This morning I want us to take a deep look at ourselves and see the power that God has given us.

And I don’t mean looking at our strengths or our talents.

It is important that we realize that God has given us strengths and talents to be used for the kingdom of God.

But have you ever looked at the weak and damaged parts of yourself and said, “This can be used for the kingdom of God.” “This pain can be used to transform lives.”

That’s the lesson I learned from that old man.

The things that we see has weaknesses may just be sources of great power.

God Chooses and Uses the Lowly.

we live in a culture that invites laziness (e.g.

purchasing a recliner while in college on credit.

it was interest free for 12 months, so I paid it off in $20 installments.

It’s sitting in the parsonage right now; guess what brand name is on the lablel?

- Lazy Boy) I’ve countless hours of non-inspiration sitting on that thing.

we live in a culture that invites laziness, in fact we can put the name lazy on something at it has marketing appeal.

If you think about it, a remote control is silly for those who are able bodied; saves us the trouble of getting out of the lazy boy and walking across the room to change the channel.

My point is not to decry technological advancement, but we could think of hundreds of conveniences that are designed to give us more comfort, more convenience and require less effort.

Sometimes that’s good, sometimes it’s just expensive and lazy.

A strong work ethic is not something we can assume in a culture that invites laziness.

It’s also hard to maintain a strong work ethic when you are grieving.

When you are depressed.

When you are suffering internally.

Some people deal with these problems by working harder, but for some it just slows them down.

It’s like walking in molasses.

God Chooses and Uses the Lowly.

“Ruth the Moabite

Some of the cultural aspects might trouble us: Ruth bowing before Boaz, calling herself unworthy.

Why does she do that?

This was indeed a patriarchal society, but there’s more to it than that.

Ruth was a person of insignificance.

Last month we read another story of a person of insignificance being used for the kingdom of God.

A few months ago I taught a class called “How to Study the Bible.”

The class wasn’t about me telling a group of people what the Bible says, but equipping the class with tools so that they could go home and study on their own.

Teach a man to fish...

One of the basic rules of biblical interpretation is to pay special attention to proper nouns: places, names, nations.

This is especially true anytime you see a word beginning with capital letter.

That rule would apply in the book of Ruth.

Who was she?

She was a Moabite.

Last week we read how the phrase “during the time of the Judges” was more than a “once upon a time,” but it gave helpful background.

Ruth is a Moabite: that’s more than just saying, “Once there was a poor woman.”

Why is being a Moabite important?

No Ammonite or Moabite or any of their descendants may enter the assembly of the Lord

There was a bad history between Israel and Moab.

Throughout the Old Testament we read of bitter land disputes, bloody wars between the 2. They also had serious religious differences.

For all of these reasons Moabites were not allowed to be a part of the worshipping community.

At the same time we see the 2 countries intermarrying, like we see in Ruth.

This was forbidden, but it happened anyways.

Rut doesn’t even belong in this story.

She belongs in Moab.

She shouldn’t be here.

That’s one of the reasons why she bows: she believes herself to be inferior.

We look to the powerful for answers and solutions.

We defer to the experts.

Believe me I want the experts.

(e.g.

If the electric goes bad in the parsonage, don’t worry trustees.

I’ll take care of it myself.)

God chooses and uses the lowly.

Stop looking in the wrong place for the answers and solutions.

We might think that because we lack status, or lack the expertise that we are disqualified from a certain task.

God does not call the qualified, but God qualifies the called.

Think you don’t know enough?

Think you don’t have the necessary skills?

Think you’re not important enough?

Listen to the Apostle Paul:

God chooses and uses the lowly.

Stop looking in the wrong place for the answers and solutions.

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