Sermon for July 29

The reading

Ruth 2:1-23

2:1 Now Naomi had a kinsman on her husband's side, a prominent rich man, of the family of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz. 2 And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, "Let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain, behind someone in whose sight I may find favor." She said to her, "Go, my daughter." 3 So she went. She came and gleaned in the field behind the reapers. As it happened, she came to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech. 4 Just then Boaz came from Bethlehem. He said to the reapers, "The Lord be with you." They answered, "The Lord bless you." 5 Then Boaz said to his servant who was in charge of the reapers, "To whom does this young woman belong?"

6 The servant who was in charge of the reapers answered, "She is the Moabite who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab. 7 She said, "Please, let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the reapers.' So she came, and she has been on her feet from early this morning until now, without resting even for a moment." 8 Then Boaz said to Ruth, "Now listen, my daughter, do not go to glean in another field or leave this one, but keep close to my young women. 9 Keep your eyes on the field that is being reaped, and follow behind them. I have ordered the young men not to bother you. If you get thirsty, go to the vessels and drink from what the young men have drawn." 10 Then she fell prostrate, with her face to the ground, and said to him, "Why have I found favor in your sight, that you should take notice of me, when I am a foreigner?" 11 But Boaz answered her, "All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told me, and how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before. 12 May the Lord reward you for your deeds, and may you have a full reward from the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge!" 13 Then she said, "May I continue to find favor in your sight, my lord, for you have comforted me and spoken kindly to your servant, even though I am not one of your servants." 

14 At mealtime Boaz said to her, "Come here, and eat some of this bread, and dip your morsel in the sour wine." So she sat beside the reapers, and he heaped up for her some parched grain. She ate until she was satisfied, and she had some left over. 15 When she got up to glean, Boaz instructed his young men, "Let her glean even among the standing sheaves, and do not reproach her. 16 You must also pull out some handfuls for her from the bundles, and leave them for her to glean, and do not rebuke her." 17 So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley. 18 She picked it up and came into the town, and her mother-in-law saw how much she had gleaned. Then she took out and gave her what was left over after she herself had been satisfied. 19 Her mother-in-law said to her, "Where did you glean today? And where have you worked? Blessed be the man who took notice of you." 

So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked, and said, "The name of the man with whom I worked today is Boaz." 20 Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, "Blessed be he by the Lord, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!" Naomi also said to her, "The man is a relative of ours, one of our nearest kin." 21 Then Ruth the Moabite said, "He even said to me, "Stay close by my servants, until they have finished all my harvest.' " 22 Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law, "It is better, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, otherwise you might be bothered in another field." 23 So she stayed close to the young women of Boaz, gleaning until the end of the barley and wheat harvests; and she lived with her mother-in-law.

The message

Since the Book of Ruth is a story, I want to start with a quick review from last week (for those who were not here or forgot).  In Chapter 1, we were introduced to 2 of the three main characters, Naomi and her daughter in law Ruth.  Naomi and her family go to Moab to escape famine in Bethlehem. In Moab, one of Naomi’s sons marries Ruth, the other marries Orpah. Over the years Naomi’s husband and then her 2 sons die. Naomi and her 2 daughter in laws are in very a bad spot. Orpah returns to her home and family (with Naomi’s blessing) but Ruth refuses, vowing to stay with her.  Namoi and Ruth return to Bethlehem, in poverty and with few chances for survival.  

They will need to do something smart, creative, fast and get help to survive. Since Ruth will be the great grandmother of King David and a very much more distant ancestor to Jesus, we have to see this story is also about God's providence, provision and ultimate plan for us.  Today, we see those things start to happen. 

Today’s reading is sort of an ancient version of hard, good, faithful work being rewarded. These stories still come up today.  Last week, there was a news story out of Alabama about a young man whose car breaks down the night before his first day of work at a moving company.  He decides he will walk to the job, which is about a 20 mile trip. Leaving at midnight, he starts his commute and makes it about 14 miles down the highway before the police stop him (as they will do when people are walking the highway at 4 am).  After hearing and verifying his story, the police take him to breakfast and drive him the last few miles to the job. The couple who they were moving hears the story and posts it online, where it spreads fast.  That afternoon the CEO of the company gifts this man his own car.  People all around the country are impressed with this young man’s work ethic and willingness to do whatever it takes (and the CEO giving away his car, public relations and branding gold mine aside, it was a kind and thoughtful thing to do).  The story leaves us feeling like hard work and dedication can pay off, should pay off and sometimes does. Without forgetting all the people who struggle with transportation and getting to work every day, it’s a feel good story.  Proof that Jesus was right,  Luke 6:36-38  “Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back. Today’s reading is sort of an ancient version of the car-less moving man. 

Once in Bethelhelm, Ruth goes to work immediately. She  does not let being an outsider, pride or anything else stop her. She goes to do the only thing she can, gleaning the fields.  Under Israelite law, farmers were required to leave part of their harvest in the fields so that “gleaners”, the poor, widows and aliens or foreigners can pass through and pick the remainder.  Well Ruth is all three. (Today, we might think of gleaning as collecting empty soda and water bottles for the nickel deposit).   As she walks to the fields, Ruth is already looking beyond just getting a little barley, she also sees it as an opportunity to get noticed and maybe inspire compassion and help.   

By coincidence, Ruth ends up wandering onto Boaz’s property, a close relative of Naomi’s deceased husband.  During Ruth’s time in the field, Boaz happens to wander by his field to check on the harvest and work being done.  Ruth gets noticed by Boaz. Seeing a new, unfamiliar person, he asks the person in charge, who is that.  Immediately Boaz learns that Ruth is a foreigner, a Moabite from Moab and immediately he is generous with her.  Immediately, he learns that she is a part of his kinship group or family and he accepts that . Immediately, he knows she is in trouble (rumors spread and people doing okay are not picking scraps of barley left behind) and helps.  Our first introduction to Boaz in the book is one of understanding, mercy and care.  Like the CEO who gives away his car, Boaz has heard the story of Ruth’s dedication and he has gifts for her. 

At first, it is only the invitation to safely glean in his fields, in the best position (immediately behind the workers) with access to drinks (a big deal when harvesting in the incredibly hot sun).  To this Ruth reacts as most people would, with a little suspicion and thanksgiving, Why me? A stranger, why me, a foreigner, don’t you have your own people to care for.   Boaz tells her it is earned for her good work, her care of Naomi and faithfulness to the Lord (under whose wings she has come for refuge).

 

Now, when meal time comes, Boaz invites Ruth to come and eat, giving her sour wine and a huge portion of parched grain (it might not sound like much to us, but that was 5 star field eating).  She eats, literally, as much as she can, until there is left over. Boaz does not know if she is starving, when the last time she ate was,  or when her next meal might be, so he makes sure she has enough.  Most of the people there, the workers and servants, think this is odd. Ruth is a poor, foreign widow who happened to wander into his fields.  She is now protected, got the best gleaning spot, an open invitation, access to water and drinks and is hanging out with them for lunch. Of course, it is Boaz’s  field, his crop, his home and his decision.  No one questions it openly.  After the meal, things really get weird.  Boaz instructs the workers to let Ruth “glean the standing sheaves” (which is not gleaning, picking scraps, it is harvesting for personal use). While they are overlooking this, they are also instructed to harvest for her, literally taking some of what the workers picked and leaving it in front of Ruth so she can “glean it”.  Again, people are shocked but it is Boaz’s field and his grain, and he can do what he wants with it.  (You wouldn’t want to be the worker or servant who says, “hey boss, what are you doing with this woman?” It was a good place to work and you wouldn’t be working there much longer)   There is an important lesson we can draw, the grace and kingdom of God does not belong to us, it belongs to God.  In the same way, Boaz can do what he wants with his barely, his wheat and his resources, as his workers and servants did not question his sympathy and help for Ruth, we should be careful to not question what God does with God’s kingdom,    

After the first day, Ruth returns with an Ephah of barley (about 33 liters, it’s a lot of barley, I mean way more than normal gleaners could achieve), Naomi instantly notices and asks “where did you go today” (with that tone of how is this possible).  Ruth reveals that she made this connection with Boaz and Naomi reveals he is a close relative.  Unable to even dream up a better situation, Ruth finishes the barley season at Boaz’s fields, then starts and finishes the wheat season there as well.  From here, things will get a little devious and a little “romantic”.

 

A few hours ago, Ruth was a poor, widowed foreigner who happened into Boaz’s field, looking for a hand out she was legally entitled to.  Boaz does not just give Ruth what she is expecting, a few scraps of barley that can be put together for a meal. This day turned into grace and gift after gift. He gives Ruth access to all her (and Naomi) will need to survive, an abundance beyond what she would even ask for.  With these special Ruth rules in place, she will safely and comfortably glean more than enough for her and Naomi to live on. 

After the first day, Ruth stays in Boaz’s fields for the barley and then the Wheat harvest.  Her and Naomi immediately decided that it would be best. Where else would she go?  There is no other place Ruth would have those sort of benefits and advantages over others, there is no field where she would be that safe, so place she could collect that much, no work where she could be comfortable. 

O Lord, To whom shall we go, you have the words of eternal life. This is advice for us, when you are in a place where the death and resurrection of Jesus for the forgiveness of sins is clearly shared in word and deed, stay there. It might not be the prettiest (think of here) or the largest (again think of here) church or the best pastor around (well maybe we have that) but it is a place where God’s welcome and love are shared.  There is no better news. What else do you hope to find?  Some guy that is giving out double grace down the road, grace you can use in a new car, grace that is shinier or whatever.   We are invited to stay in the relationship with God that Jesus establishes for us, there is not better place to be, do not get tricked, deceived or fooled, stay in this good place.

   

Sermon for July 22

Ruth 1:1-22                                                                                                                                        

1:1 In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and a certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to live in the country of Moab, he and his wife and two sons.  The name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion; they were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there.

But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons.  These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. When they had lived there about ten years, both Mahlon and Chilion also died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband.

Then she started to return with her daughters-in-law from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the country of Moab that the Lord had considered his people and given them food.  So she set out from the place where she had been living, she and her two daughters-in-law, and they went on their way to go back to the land of Judah.  But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, "Go back each of you to your mother's house. May the Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me.  The Lord grant that you may find security, each of you in the house of your husband." Then she kissed them, and they wept aloud. They said to her, "No, we will return with you to your people."  

 But Naomi said, "Turn back, my daughters, why will you go with me? Do I still have sons in my womb that they may become your husbands?  Turn back, my daughters, go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. Even if I thought there was hope for me, even if I should have a husband tonight and bear sons,  would you then wait until they were grown? Would you then refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, it has been far more bitter for me than for you, because the hand of the Lord has turned against me."  Then they wept aloud again. Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.  So she said, "See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law."  But Ruth said, "Do not press me to leave you or to turn back from following you! Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God.  Where you die, I will die -— there will I be buried. May the Lord do thus and so to me, and more as well, if even death parts me from you!"  When Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more to her.  So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem.

When they came to Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them; and the women said, "Is this Naomi?"  She said to them, "Call me no longer Naomi, call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt bitterly with me.  I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty; why call me Naomi when the Lord has dealt harshly with me, and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?"  So Naomi returned together with Ruth the Moabite, her daughter-in-law, who came back with her from the country of Moab. They came to Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.

The message

We are starting a 4 week series on the Book of Ruth.  Over that time, we will read through most of the book.  Like several other series and readings in the Narrative Lectionary, this is the first time I remember hearing this book at church and certainly the first time preaching on it. 

To be honest, Over the years, I forgot what the Book of Ruth was about.  I knew it was centered on the commitment and faithfulness of the title character, a woman named Ruth, but I didn’t remember much else.  I needed to do a lot of research and a refresher on this book.  Ruth of Moab’s story is in the Bible because she is the great grandmother of King David.  In the start of Matthew’s Gospel, we see the genealogy of Jesus, Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Aram, and Aram the father of Aminadab, and Aminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of King David.  It’s mostly men named but there are 4 women including Ruth (that’s 4 out of 42, not a great percentage but the tradition of the time was to only name fathers / men).  Tamar, Rahab, Ruth and Bathsheba, each of the women named in the geneology of Jesus where extremely important, doing extraordinary things to maintain Jesus family line. Ruth is also one of the only non-Israelites on the list (an early reminder that Jesus opened the kingdom of God to all people).  

In the Jewish tradition and commentaries, Ruth is lifted up as the example of an ideal convert, who fully leaves her old religion behind to embrace her new faith.  She is also seen as an example of keeping promises and commitments.  Throughout the book, the foreignness of Ruth is mentioned repeatedly.  She is Moabite from Moab, she is not an Israelite seeking help in an Israelite city. Some scholars believe this is stressed as a reminder to people of their biblical call to welcome and care for all people, not just their own. It could also be side taking in an ancient dispute regarding the intermarriage between Israelites and non-Israelites.  Naomi serves as an example of perseverance. Boaz (who we will meet next week) is an example of generosity, compassionate wealth and care for strangers.  The book of Ruth has endured for many centuries across many cultures and religions as an example of commitment, loyalty, love for family and generous care for strangers.  To look back on 1^st John for a second, this is a story of active love, love that does.   

Today, in chapter 1, we hear the start of the drama. The story is set in the time of the judges, a period where Israel was led by a series of men and women like Samuel and Deborah known as judges. This is the time right before the start of the Monarchy. (Although people suspect the book of Ruth was written later).  There is a famine in the land and Naomi and her family move in search of sustainable food.  They settle in Moab. (This is similar to the experiences of the great patriarchs of Israel, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, all leave their homes to escape famine).  Naomi’s husband dies but she is okay because she has 2 sons. Mahlon (which means sickly) and Chilon (which means frail),  Naomi’s sons marry Moabite women and after 10 years, they live up to their names and both of Naomi’s sons die.  Now the three women are alone. This was bad.  Woman had few things they could legally or culturally do in society without a man. For Naomi being beyond child bearing age meant, at best, extreme poverty. In verse 6, we learn the famine is over. (this is one of only 2 mentions of the Lord intervening in the book).  With the famine ended Naomi prepares to return home to Israelite land, where they can hopefully stay and be cared for by her relatives. Wisdom gets the better of her and 

Naomi gives Ruth and Oprah very practical advice, I am of no use to you, leave me, go home to your family, your people, find new husbands and live well. Things would not be easy in Bethlehem, Ruth and Oprah would certainly be better off remaining in Moab. Naomi is filled with thanksgiving for their dedicated and offers thanks and blessing. Naomi would stand a small chance with them but she does not ask or expect them to make that sacrifice.   Oprah does what virtually any sane person would, she listens and goes home.

Ruth refuses powerfully, speaking the most well-known (or only known) verses in the book, Do not press me to leave you or to turn back from following you! Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God.  Where you die, I will die -— there will I be buried. May the Lord do thus and so to me, and more as well, if even death parts me from you part me from you.   Naomi can’t even argue with that one and they go to Bethlehem together,  This proclamation of faithfulness and commitment to do whatever it takes, to face their fate together is the legacy of Ruth.  

When they arrive at Naomi’s home city, there is no welcome home party, really there is no welcome at all. Instead, there are whispers, is that Naomi?, where is her husband? where are her 2 sons?  Are all three of them gone?  What is she going to do? Who is this foreign woman with her?  There is an awkward mix of judgment, empathy, pity and curiosity.  This is the moment after you have been fired and your cleaning out your office or committed a crime and have to face your victims. Naomi responds to the these comments, saying she is Naomi (a name that means pleasantness) but she is not the woman who left.  She is now Mara (a name meaning bitterness, a name expressing who she is, what she is enduring).  

They are poor in Bethlehem at the start of the harvest. It is a time of abundance, plenty of work they cannot do, the fortunes of a year made in 2 months, except they have no land to harvest and no right to sell barley.  There is no advice from the crowd, just questions and pity.  Its not like there was much that could be done anyway. Naomi and Ruth will need help. They will need to do something smart, fast, creative and get some lucky breaks to survive. 

Ironically, Bethlehem, the place of the famine that moves Naomi and her family to Moab, literally means house of bread or house of food. Anyone can end up in trouble. We do not have to look too far to find Ruths and Naomis in our world.  We know people who have had their lives upset and devastated by unexpected, undeserved things. We have people with nothing surrounded by abundance all around us.  We have people from other countries who walk in like Ruth, who have left everything behind and have nothing.  We have refugees like Naomi who flee something impossible for a slim chance at something better all around the world. We have people who walk into our churches or our lives that are greeted with whispers, where has she been, what did he do, how could he come back, I cant believe shes here, instead of welcome. The Book of Ruth will remind us that all people struggle, sometimes need a hand and are children of God (and may end up doing very special things).  More importantly, this is how we approach God.  We got nothing.  We cannot keep the law, pile up enough good deeds to earn a spot in heaven, we show up before God, sinners depending on grace we didn’t earn and mercy we don’t deserve. 

In Matthew 5, Jesus shares the Beatitudes,. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.  In our world, peacemakers are often called something else. The merciful are seen as weak, the poor in Spirit are annoying and better off left alone, This passage is about the Ruths and Naomis of our world, they are the blessed.  

Next week, we will meet Boaz for the first time and experience that moment of Ruth and Namoi doing something smart, fast, creative and getting some lucky breaks (also known as God's providence to people of faith)  to survive. 

Sermon for July 15

The reading

1 John 4

Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.       Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God's love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him.  In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another.  No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.  By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.  And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world. God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God.

So we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.  Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love.  We love because he first loved us.

Those who say, "I love God," and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen.  The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.

The message

This is our last week with first John. This letter was written as a follow up to John’s Gospel.  Once people read, heard and experienced the community of faith rooted in John’s Gospel, they came to believe in Jesus Christ the savior. Well sort of, maybe.  People came to some form of the faith taught by Jesus and his followers, but there were other teachers infiltrating the church communities who taught other things.  People were being taught that Jesus was not really human, that Christmas was not really what it seemed, that the word of God was never really made flesh and dwelling amongst us, Jesus was seen as a sort of spiritual being that just gave the illusion of being like us.  

First John was written to correct this and help protect the faithful from other teachings.  Last week, we heard the author of 1^st John give some tools to the community to judge what teachers and preachers were saying.  They had to ask “do they preach Jesus was the word made flesh”.  That was the way to measure and figure out if someone was from God. Recognizing the word of God becoming flesh is not just a sentence of doctrine on a list of 100s of other beliefs.  The word of God becoming flesh is a way of life. It is seeing and knowing God is in the world, in suffering, in storms, in the valley of the shadow of death, with the ignored and unlistened to, with separated families on our borders, with the struggling poor, with the mistreated, addicted and okay.  It is the assurance of God’s salvation, reassurance we can trust God’s promises and a sign of God’s great love for us. 

This week, we see the next tool given to the community to judge teachers and verify their words are from God.  We just heard 1st John’s famous verses on love.  We are used to them as readings for weddings or engagements, kind words directing us to care for each other, the kind of bible verses we see printed on coffee cups, t-shirts and church banners.  Really, these bold proclamations of God’s love, verses like “we love because he first loved us”,  “God is love” and the growing in popularity “Those who say, "I love God," and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars” have two purposes. They are expressions of Christianity’s main point, not that we loved God, not that we earned our salvation by decisions or good works,  but  rather that God loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins, that Jesus did what we could not. These verses are also tools given to the church to judge and evaluate the words of teachers. Like we ask “do they point to the word of God made flesh and dwelling amongst us, we also ask “does what teachers of God say point to love, create love, push God’s love above everything else, inspire love of neighbor”, We ask does what they say and do point to God’s active, saving love for all people. If the answer to any of those questions is no, or I’m not sure, the speaker should be shut up before they hurt more people, prayed for and taught. If that fails they should be chased away, shut down and dismissed. Others need to be warned as well.

These decisions and judgments are not made lightly. Not everything perspective I or you disagree with, decision I or you dislike or statement I or you are bothered by can be dismissed by these tools.  I'm not comfortable with this, im not used to this, is not the same as this is leading people away from God's love.  They are made in trusted community.  Wednesday, I had 2 very different church experiences, both were new or strange to me.  One  was in a community I knew and one with a group I did not.  In the morning I had the Elmhurst clergy prayer meeting. This is a the group of about 8 to 12 pastors in the neighborhood that meet for prayer, advice and discussion of our ministries.  We are from different traditions, worship styles and ministries.  This Wednesday, we had a very different morning, our normally quiet group turned into a full on contemporary praise and worship service. There were songs some people knew by heart (which I never heard before) and the leaders expressed their gifts and comfort with this spontaneous service.  It started with someone (obviously not me) saying “hey there’s a guitar in the corner, why don’t we sing a song”.  This was all really strange and awkward to me, it was not what I signed up for and not my thing if you will.  At the same time, I knew the pastors there, we had been meeting monthly for almost 2 years, we had prayed together, listened to each other’s struggles, celebrated each others joys and I understood they might not always love the way we normally did things. 

On the train in the afternoon, there was also an unexpected church service, Now, I’m used to one person giving out pamphlets and doing a little sermon, calling people to faith in Jesus.  This was different, this was 15 – 20 people doing a full on church service, singing hymns, saying prayers, doing sermons. This was strange, awkward, I had no connection to them and it just felt terrible.  This service ended with what I can only call a Jesus cheer, give me a J, give me an E, give me S,  whats that spell.  (thankfully at that point, I was at union turnpike and got off the train),  It  was loud, sloppy, weird, long and clearly unwanted, driving people away (Christians and non-Christians alike were fleeing the train car). The singing was horrible  (as a horrible singer, I know, recognize my own)    With respect for putting faith out there and publically expressing it, I just felt embarrassed for them, I couldn’t think of anything nice to say (generally, ill share a word or two of encouragement with people preaching on the subways).  Perhaps I was a bit jealous of their ability to openly share their faith in the best ways they could, saw fit, but having no relationship with them, I couldn’t bring myself to understand or follow.  

Relationship is the key to using these questions about the word made flesh and love to protect the faithful.  In Greek, there are 4 words for love.   Agape, One’s children and spouse, charity, active love, God and us, Eros (erotic or sexual love), Phila (brotherly love, equals hence Philadelphia is the city of brotherly love), storge (love of country, team, family relationships, accepting love).   

I thought about these different types of love as Jennifer and I had our wedding anniversary on the 10^th.  We decided to not do gifts this year, just have a nice little trip, dinner, etc. The day before I was out looking for an anniversary card.  Now choosing a card is not easy. There are so many to pick from, so many images, themes, poems and sayings:  I also consider price, expressive quality of message and any card gets extra points for having a cat or sheep on it.  I’m willing to spend more than $1.99 but it better be an amazing card.   Obviously anniversary cards focus on love, commitment, years together, mutual support and all the things we celebrate in marriages and other relationships.  There was one with a rabbit hugging a shrimp with the words “your shrimply the best” written underneath.  Cute but jen does not like shrimp and it was a little weird so I didn’t get that one. It also did not really express our relationship or what I wanted to say (and I wasn’t sure which one of us was the shrimp and which one was the bunny).  I settled on a relatively normal card instead.

First John ends with the same point as the Gospel of John, it’s an invitation to faith, to relationship with God and each other. Standing out among all the other ideas, teachings, and desires, the greeting card in the pile of all the others that you see and go, that’s it. It is God’s invitation to relationship with God and with each other.  Since God loved us so much, we ought to love one another. Our faith is a response to what God has done.