Sermon for August 26

The reading 

Mark 10:17-31

17 As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" 18 Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. 19 You know the commandments: "You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.' " 20 He said to him, "Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth." 21 Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, "You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me." 22 When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.

23 Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!" 24 And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God." 26 They were greatly astounded and said to one another, "Then who can be saved?" 27 Jesus looked at them and said, "For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible."

28 Peter began to say to him, "Look, we have left everything and followed you." 29 Jesus said, "Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, 30 who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age -- houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions -- and in the age to come eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first."

The message

Last week, we started our look at Stewardship with Jesus’ message about the conflict between faith and possessions during the Sermon on the Mount.  There, it is worry that interferes with faith, our struggle to trust God’s word over the material stuff we accumulate, save, store, protect and put our trust in. This is as true today as it ever was. This week, I just read an article  (one of 1000’s out there) about the huge amount of cheap stuff people are buying online, most of which no one needs and most of which has harmful effect on our environment, mental health.  

This week, the conflict between faith and possessions come up in response to the question of a rich man, what must I do to have eternal life.  Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, "You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me."  When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions. Now, what stands in the way of faith is money, well more specially, an obsession with wealth, a fear of living without it, grief at its loss.  I am not going to focus too much on that since, its sort of obvious and there is something much more important here, the question of how we you inherit eternal life.

This conversation between Jesus and the rich man happens right after the story I use at the beginning and end of each school year at Rainbow with our preschool children. People were bringing little children to him for him to bless but the disciples scolded those who brought them.  But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me and do not try to stop them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.”  After he took the children in his arms, Jesus placed his hands on them and blessed them. 

Having shared this story of Jesus welcoming the children so many times, I have had a lot of time to think about it but I honestly never thought about it in terms of how it relates to the encounter with the rich man that comes immediately after it. Mark’s Gospel is extremely fast paced and sometimes there is just no clear connection from story to story, in this case I think there is a connection. The first encounter with Jesus and the children is about who enters the kingdom of God (those who receive it like a child).  This is one example of Jesus becoming angry, indignant. This shows the importance of what he has to say. The only examples of Jesus anger are times when the good news is being misinterpreted or overshadowed, in this case by his own disciples, a public witness Jesus would not allow to pass. 

This one comes at the heart of the Gospel and Jesus must correct them. Other than some very rare instances, where young people have to fend for themselves and do, children are dependent on others for food, shelter, protection, all of the things needed to sustain life.  Like children depend on others for life, we all depend on God for eternal life.   Salvation is not possible without God’s intervention, we cannot buy it with money, claim it with great arugments or earn it with good deeds (if we could why would Jesus have died and rose again).  Children have an easy time understanding that, they do not earned great wealth to take pride in, they do not have a long list of good works and accomplishments to present, they have not studied the scriptures and history of the church extensively. 

The next story, today’s reading, is also about who enters the kingdom of God.  This starts off with a strange question, a rich man asks Jesus “ What must I do to inherit eternal life”.  Most of the questions people ask Jesus are more concerned with concrete, daily concerns “it is lawful to get divorced” , “how should we pray”, “should we fast”.   Jesus answers this question about eternal life twice. These answers are complicated,  a possible mix of sarcasm, humor and exaggeration, ultimately teaching that the law is ridiculous as the way to salvation.  Right after this, and completely oblivious to the last conversation,  James and John have a dispute with the other disciples over status, then we get to the start of Jesus passion, death and resurrection.   

Jesus first answer about eternal is you know the commandments and lists a few.  Perhaps because this rich man accumulated his wealth in a questionable way, Jesus adds, You shall not defraud, (the other ones are all part of the 10 commandments.)  In response to this, the man says “I have kept all these things since my youth”.   Now Jesus gives the second, extreme part of the answer,  Go, sell all that own, give it all to the poor and come follow me.  This is Jesus invitation for the rich man to enter the kingdom of God right then and there, to live depending on God alone, without worrying about protecting your stuff, caring for your money or the jealousy of others.  Now, instead of okay, ill get right on it, the rich man leaves quietly, grieving , there is nothing he can do to inherit eternal life.   Of course, there are people who have done this, who have given up, away great wealth and followed Jesus, Desert monks who leave everything behind to pray and study, St Francis are examples that comes to mind. 

Now, Jesus tells his disciples, “how hard will it be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God”. Jesus disciples who have given up everything, not exactly great wealth but whatever they had, to follow Jesus, start to get uncomfortable,  After all, Jesus has spoken so openly about the  arrival, welcome and power of the kingdom of God, now, we get to the fine print on the admission policy, it just got a whole lot more difficult to enter.  Did even they do enough to get in, how much more would Jesus ask of them.  

Jesus, seeing his disciples were confused and anxious, repeats the answer, this time with an illustration “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God”.  Now comes the question that is the whole point of this conversation, “then who can be saved (we can add by their works or behavior)”.  Everything, so far, has escalated, leading the disciples to think  “barely 2 or 3 people in the world can be saved by their work”.  Remembering the first story about Jesus welcoming the children, we notice that when Jesus talks about the camel and the eye of the needle, he addresses his disciples as children, the ones who would inherit the kingdom of God, the ones dependent on God’s grace, not their stuff or their work.  That salvation by grace through faith is how with God all things are possible.

I remember a workshop in school where we learned about test taking.  One of the odd lessons of the class that was not really part of anyone’s test taking approach, was to read the whole test first, look through it, learn the parts, judge the time it would take for each section, see if there were essays, etc.  At the end of the workshop, we were given a test (you had to get a certain grade to pass).  The long questions were incredibly hard fill ins (not even multiple choice) from some grade and subjects way above ours and we only had about 10 minutes to complete it. Everyone got started, ignoring the lesson about read the test first (which was in the instructions too), we just didn’t have time.  At the end of the test, there was some fine print, To get 100, leave the test blank, just write your name on top of each page. You will lose 2 points for each question answered (regardless of the answer being right or wrong).  The only way to fail was to complete the entire test, to try and jam a camel through the eye of a needle.  This blinds us to simple instructions.  This is the confrontation between our exhausting desire to do it ourselves and to rest in Gods promise.  Some people have even looked at the camel going through the eye of a needle and tried to do that.  First was the suggestion that the eye of the needle was the name of a gate in Jerusalem which Jesus was referring to and a camel could easily walk through (this fails when you know that gate was built almost 1000 years after Jesus said this).  A more modern attempt to answer this was to say an early camel embryo could easily go through the eye of a needle (which fails when you realize Jesus says an actual camel, not a microscopic group of cells that will one day may be a camel)

Here at the edge of Jesus passion, death and resurrection, he invites people to get out of their own way.  We learn that Jesus answer to the disciples question, who can be saved by their work, is no one, There is even finer print, You are saved by Grace.       

Sermon for August 19

The reading

Matthew 6:19-34

19 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

22 "The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light; 23 but if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

24 "No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.

 
25 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? 28 And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you -- you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear?' 32 For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

34 "So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today's trouble is enough for today."

The message

This summer, our Sunday worship readings have centered on a few series. We have completed  4 weeks on the 10 commandments, where we heard the spiritual and social importance of the law, how God’s laws expose sin and drive people to God’s grace.  We had 3 weeks on 1^st John, where we hear Jesus being the word made flesh and dwelling amongst us defended against false teachers. We had 4 weeks with the book of Ruth, an ancient and inspiring story of perseverance, commitment and promise keeping.  Now, we complete Summer 2018 with 3 weeks on Stewardship.   

For a lot of people the word Stewardship is a conversation we would rather avoid. It has come to mean me, or another pastor / church leader asking you, church members, to give more money.  This is not exactly what people want to hear (and most of the time, not what pastors want to talk about).  This is not fun. This is putting that awkward conflict between our faith and our possessions front and center.   It’s a familiar theme in many churches as they struggle to pay the bills and keep their doors open (not too much here, honestly, we are making good use of the property and resources entrusted to us).

I remember a weekend during my internship in CT.  I was traveling with the youth group to a Friday – Sunday event.  That Sunday worship, I missed a special speaker from the Bishop’s office there to talk about Stewardship.  When I returned, I was curious and asked a few of the members, How did it go?  One of their answers stayed with me for over 10 years. A member said, well the guy made me want to open my wallet and throw in another 5 or 10 dollars but that’s about all.  I hope to do better than that.  

I also remember a much more recent conversation about church giving, one where I gave a really bad answer. One of the guys working at the church asked me a quick question “how much do people usually give to church, where does the money go”.  He went on to say that he and his wife were Roman Catholic and, when they go to church, throw in 20 dollars or so, he wanted to know it that was what people usually do.  I was in the middle of doing a few different things and I was not really focused.  I shared a very business-like answer, explaining that in general about 20 percent of church members make up 80 percent of the giving, (a statistic I heard a while ago and never really fact checked but seems accurate), that people give what they can, that the offering goes to pay bills, insurance, property, priests and staff, fund missions, support a wider church organization, etc.   As soon as he was finished and left, I thought, oh that was a lost opportunity and a really poor answer. I was tempted to call him back or restart the conversation next time he was here but that just felt odd and hard to do. Over the next 3 weeks, I hope to give a better answer.

My response was right but missing the inquiry “why do you ask that question”,  a conversation about why people give (a response to God’s grace) and the spiritual foundation and benefits of sharing generously (a reminder to us and others that God is generous). Over the next few weeks we will look at how we use the resources God has entrusted to us.  Each of our readings will come from one of the Gospels and look at how Jesus teaches us to use faith to confront anxiety or worry, grief and fear.  They help us see the real comfort of the gospel, how good the good news of Jesus birth, death and resurrection really is.  

Today’s reading comes from the Sermon on the Mount. Right after Jesus talks to the great crowd about Justice, care for the poor, the power and importance of prayer and the value of fasting, Jesus goes on to the conversation we just heard about faith or religion vs possessions, what is what matters, what is temporary and what is forever.

Jesus starts this conversation by talking about some things we all know about our possessions, nothing lasts forever.  He looks at clothing (an important sign of status) and rust (which can destroy metal coin money and everything people have built). Jesus reminds the crowds that moths will eat your precious clothing. Clothing was not cheap back then. The style, cut, color, fabric of your garments were an important sign of wealth and status. The destruction of clothing means the destruction of status, things that separate us.  I did a little research about moths (I always knew they ate clothing and you could scare them off with moth balls, those terrible smelling things my grandmother always used, that scare people away from you too).  Apparently Moths do not really eat clothing, it is their babies or larve that eat any natural fiber, wool, cotton, cashmere, fur, skins, carpets, rugs.  A female moth can lay 40 to 50 eggs over a few short weeks.  Most of the damage they do is under collars, sleeves and unseen places.  By the time you know they are there, its usually too late.    

Jesus also reminds the crowds of something we are learning very quickly today, Rust destroys. Today, we have that problem.  Reinforced concrete (concrete with steel rebar inside to make it stronger) rusts really easily.  A lot of our modern world is made of it.  Any crack lets in air, which rusts the rebar, which damages the concrete, which weakens the structure and if not addressed immediately, bridges, damns, buildings or highways will collapse.  (that’s why we see those red /orange stains everywhere and workers constantly sealing cracks and repairing concrete).  Recently, there was a documentary about what would happen to the world without humans in it.  All signs of us, expect a few ruins here and there, would be gone in the matter of a few thousand years.    

Jesus also reminds the crowds that “You can’t take it with you when you die”. The ancient Egyptians thought you could, people were buried with items they would need in the afterlife, pharaohs and very wealthy people were even buried with their servants and pets (both of which would be killed for this purpose).  Jesus reminds the crowd, you are not a servant forever, you are not rich forever, you are not poor forever, the place Jesus has prepared for us, heaven is not just a neater, cleaner, safer, better version of our world. 

In contrast to the stuff that rusts, falls apart or gets eaten by baby bugs, Jesus invites people to store up treasure in heaven (doing things to serve God because you know you are loved by God)  It’s a zero sum game in many ways, we only have so many hours and so many things we can think about at one time.  Over worrying about possessions, about money, about work, can mess with faith.  Fighting the inevitable will occupy a lot of life.  The lament of many pastors, we are so distracted, busy dealing with buildings, issues, family, budgets, declines and challenges, we lose time to pray and share the Gospel. For Jesus, this conflict between stuff and faith is balanced by “So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today's trouble is enough for today." (yeah I know, easier said than done).   The lament by many people of faith, we are so distracted, busy dealing with buildings, issues, family, budgets, declines and challenges, we lose time to pray and share the Gospel. . For Jesus, this conflict between stuff and faith is again balanced by “So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own

I end with 2 comments,

Don’t let faith be like all those other possessions, Baptism can rust if you don’t live it our, if you don’t start and end your days “remember you are Baptized, claimed by God as a child of God”, faith can have holes eaten in it, if you just let it sit around.  You have to use it.  Our attention can be stolen, we can get absorbed by things that do not really matter.  

Also: Don’t try this at home. You have to trust God, a lot, to get through the sermon on the mount, to say and teach these things. We have things to worry about. We need church and community, let’s do it together. 

Sermon for August 12

The reading

Ruth 4

4:1 No sooner had Boaz gone up to the gate and sat down there than the next-of-kin, of whom Boaz had spoken, came passing by. So Boaz said, "Come over, friend; sit down here." And he went over and sat down. 2 Then Boaz took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, "Sit down here"; so they sat down. 3 He then said to the next-of-kin, "Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, is selling the parcel of land that belonged to our kinsman Elimelech. 4 So I thought I would tell you of it, and say: Buy it in the presence of those sitting here, and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if you will not, tell me, so that I may know; for there is no one prior to you to redeem it, and I come after you." So he said, "I will redeem it." 5 Then Boaz said, "The day you acquire the field from the hand of Naomi, you are also acquiring Ruth the Moabite, the widow of the dead man, to maintain the dead man's name on his inheritance." 6 At this, the next-of-kin said, "I cannot redeem it for myself without damaging my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption yourself, for I cannot redeem it." 7 Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging: to confirm a transaction, the one took off a sandal and gave it to the other; this was the manner of attesting in Israel. 8 So when the next-of-kin said to Boaz, "Acquire it for yourself," he took off his sandal. 9 Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, "Today you are witnesses that I have acquired from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and Mahlon. 10 I have also acquired Ruth the Moabite, the wife of Mahlon, to be my wife, to maintain the dead man's name on his inheritance, in order that the name of the dead may not be cut off from his kindred and from the gate of his native place; today you are witnesses." 11 Then all the people who were at the gate, along with the elders, said, "We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your house like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you produce children in Ephrathah and bestow a name in Bethlehem; 12 and, through the children that the Lord will give you by this young woman, may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah." 13 So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When they came together, the Lord made her conceive, and she bore a son. 14 Then the women said to Naomi, "Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without next-of-kin; and may his name be renowned in Israel! 15 He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age; for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has borne him." 16 Then Naomi took the child and laid him in her bosom, and became his nurse. 17 The women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, "A son has been born to Naomi." They named him Obed; he became the father of Jesse, the father of David. 18 Now these are the descendants of Perez: Perez became the father of Hezron, 19 Hezron of Ram, Ram of Amminadab, 20 Amminadab of Nahshon, Nahshon of Salmon, 21 Salmon of Boaz, Boaz of Obed, 22 Obed of Jesse, and Jesse of David.

The message

We are in our last week with the book of Ruth. So far this story has centered on 3 people.  Naomi, Ruth and Boaz. Their interactions and relationships maintain the family line of King David (Ruth’s great grandson).  In Chapter 1, the drama is set.  Naomi, her husband and 2 sons flee famine in their home city of Bethlehem.  They settle in Moab where their sons both marry Moabite women.  Over the years, Naomi’s husband and 2 sons die.  This leaves Naomi and her daughter in laws with serious problems (at the time, women had few rights and could not legally do much).   With thanksgiving and her blessing Naomi sends her daugher in laws back to their families, so they can remarry.  This is a great sacrifice on her part.  The younger women will be better off at home but Naomi will really be in trouble without them.  Orpah listens and goes home but Ruth refuses, insisting that she will go with Naomi, no matter what.  Ruth is committed to her family, promises and obligations.

In Chapter 2 Ruth and Naomi return to Bethlehem. They receive a no so warm welcome, more of an anxious stares and whispers welcome. Ruth immediately sets out to do the only thing she can, glean in the fields (widows, the poor and foreigners were allowed to collect left behind, unharvested grains, today, we can think of people collecting soda cans for the nickel deposit ).  During the first day Ruth happens to meet Boaz while gleaning in his fields.  Boaz gives her something to eat, drink and special privileges in the fields (she can pick where ever she wants and his workers will help her).  When Ruth returns to Naomi that first night, Naomi tells her that Boaz is actually a close relative on her Husband’s side.   

In Chapter 3, the harvest seasons are over and Boaz can no longer care for Ruth and Naomi through general charity. Ruth goes to Boaz at night.  This is an intimate meeting.  She goes to convince Boaz to marry her with an offer of sex, appeal to his compassion or charity and his legal obligation under the law.  Boaz is amazed again by Ruth’s commitment (Ruth had other options, but marrying Boaz was the only way to include and care for Naomi).  He tells her that he is not the first one obligated to marry her, he is second, there is another kinsman before him.  Boaz promises to find out if this kinsman will marry her, if not, Boaz himself will marry her.  If Boaz keeps this promise, Ruth and Naomi will be saved (and he will have a spot in history forever as an ancestor of King David and Jesus).      

Today, in Chapter 4, it is the morning immediately after Ruth and Boaz’s night meeting. He gets to work immediately on keeping his promise.  No wasting time, no putting it off, this is urgent.  Boaz sets out to find the next of kin and get a decision. This turns out to be really easy to do, he just walks right into him. I do not want to get lost in the mostly unclear or unknown details of Ancient Near East property and inheritance laws.  It is enough to say Boaz makes some very smart moves to protect Naomi and Ruth. He calls together a group of 10 elders in the city (that was the legal way to deal with these land or property matters). Then Boaz puts the first next of kin on the spot.  Initially, asking if that man wants to redeem Elimech’s land. The man says yes, of course, (I mean who doesn’t want free land). Boaz goes on to mention the catch, by the way, the land comes with marrying Ruth, the widow of the dead man, to maintain the dead man's name on his inheritance.  This makes the transaction no longer appealing or in the next of kin’s economic interest. He quickly gives up his claim. We are not sure if Boaz knew this would be a deal breaker.  Judging from how impressed Boaz is with Ruth’s commitment and dedication, it seems like Boaz wants to marry Ruth. We get the sense that he trusts himself to care for Ruth and Naomi more than this other man. After all, the other man immediately gives up his claim when faced with the possibility it might cost him something, it might be a sacrifice, it might interfere with his own property. This man’s initial agreement and rapid change of mind exposes him as selfish, unwilling to actually fulfill the law when it is inconvenient.  Boaz faithfully redeems Naomi’s family property and ends their suffering.

The Book of Ruth ends with the blessing of the people (who months before had that not so warm welcome for Ruth and Naomi). Their words of blessing connect Ruth to the history of Israel, seeing in the story of her and Boaz some of the most important interpersonal events in in the Old Testament, Tamar, Judah, Rachel, Leah and Perez (all instances when families were maintained by outsiders). We end with the marriage of Ruth and Boaz and the birth of Obed, a child who, as the last words of the book tell us, will be King David’s grandfather. 

A few weeks ago, as we started the Book of Ruth, I woke up really early Sunday morning and put on the TV.  I noticed that they had the televangelist / tv church programs on and I happened to catch mega church pastor Joel Olsteen.  I normally would have kept flipping but randomly enough, he was just starting a sermon on the Book of Ruth. (and there I was thinking no ever talks about the book of Ruth).  His message had none of the history, context or explanation that I have filled this sermon series with.  He focused on keep faithful in prayer, work hard, stay committed to God and be rewarded or blessed (of course an obvious sign of being faithful was to give generously to his ministry and an obvious reward for his work was his church stadium).   

I struggle with saying things like keep faithful and be rewarded with stuff. Knowing so many faithful people who are not rewarded here and now, who are sick, going through loss, trying to make ends meet and not getting there, who ask why their prayers go unanswered.  Even Chapter 1 of Ruth ends with Naomi questioning why she has been placed in such undeserved suffering, why God no longer cares for her.  We can claim, we should claim and celebrate that we are blessed but we are blessed by knowing God’s love, we are blessed by knowing our sins are forgiven, we are blessed by knowing God is with us in the valley of the shadow of death, we are blessed by knowing God’s kingdom that covers this place and the next.  We are rewarded first, blessed by salvation by grace through faith, freely given to undeserving people.

God does not promise us a stadium if we say our prayers right, an illness free 150 year life if we log enough church hours or a lotto win if we pass a certain donation threshold.  Our faith is not a series of deals.  Being rich and popular are not signs that you are loved by God, being human is a sign that you are loved by God.  Those things leave us little more than the guy who quickly says yeah to free land and then immediately drops out once he hears a hint of sacrifice or doesn’t get his way.    The next of kin is not willing to make the sacrifice.  God does make the sacrifice for us, Jesus death and resurrection for the forgiveness of our sins. The story of Ruth is an invitation to use our resources, urgently, fully, not because we are playing some cosmic lets make a deal with God, but because we have been blessed and we want to.  There are times in the story of Ruth where God intervenes to ensure history is right, ending the famine and ensuring Ruth conceives a child. In both cases, its joyful but it’s not about them, no one has any idea this will matter so much, that Jesus, the savior, the world made flesh and dwelling amongst us will come from this family line Ruth and Boaz maintain, Now these are the descendants of Perez: Perez became the father of Hezron, 19 Hezron of Ram, Ram of Amminadab, 20 Amminadab of Nahshon, Nahshon of Salmon, 21 Salmon of Boaz, Boaz of Obed, 22 Obed of Jesse, and Jesse of David.