Naomi, Ruth, and Restoration

This past Sunday our kids talked about Ruth and Naomi and how God gives us friends. This is a great passage to discuss friendship, and much more.

See, the book is named Ruth, and deals with her actions, but the story centers around Naomi. Naomi went from fullness (family, land, etc) to emptiness, or finding herself in a famine, leaving home, her family dying, and making the humiliating walk back home. Consider that Moab was one of the Israelites oldest enemies and the blood feud had been going on for a long while. So, to have taken refuge there, married off her sons to Moabite women, and then to slink back home would have had Naomi eating humble pie with every step. Why were Moabite women so hated? Well… there was a point during the wilderness period where the Israelite men had become… infatuated with the Moabite women and had… well… decided that if these hotties were worth cavorting with, they might as well worship their gods, too. That hadn’t worked out well and several executions later, things got back on track. However, the memory of that event lingered on.

That said, Naomi called herself Mara on returning home, a name which means “emptiness.” And she was, emotionally, physically, spiritually. Yet, there was a spark left – Ruth. And Ruth wasn’t a woman to take anything lying down. She got her happy self up, put on her farming clothes and went out to the local field to glean. The Mosaic Law had a provision for the poor in that edges of a field could not be harvested, but would be left out for the poor. So, being poor, Ruth collected what she could.

Here is where we get to what might be the start of a lovey-dovey romance story: man sees woman. And, yet, it’s more likely that Boaz really is a faithful God-follower and had an abundance of compassion because of that, hence his insistence that Ruth be given a little extra. Ruth comes back with a right haul, and Naomi is impressed.

“How’d you get all that?” said Naomi with huge eyes.

“Oh, this kind gentleman who owns the field left a little extra for me. He thinks he’s sneaky,” Ruth chuckled. “I’ll get dinner started.”

Naomi, however, began hatching a plan. If she remembered right, Boaz was related to her late husband, which meant that he might be next of kin to take care of both her and Ruth. After dinner she caught Ruth’s attention.

“Ruth,” said Naomi, “get your little black dress on, dust off the makeup kit, and we’ve got to do something with your hair.” Ruth, simply looked confused. “Don’t give me that look, you’ve got a mission tonight.”

Armed with her war paint and battle attire, Ruth went hunting. She crept into Boaz’s tent. He was in a tent out near the fields to prevent theft of the harvest, and so was mostly alone. Ruth threw the blanket off his feet and curled up at his feet. [If this sounds a little weird to you… good. Chances are it’s one of those biblical euphemisms like “he knew her” or “put his hand under his thigh.” One possible meaning is that feet is a euphemism for… guy parts. And, that would, in most situations certainly wake a guy up.]

Imagine Boaz’s surprise when he wakes up with a woman at his… feet. He did have the decency to ask her name at this point right before she asked him to “spread his cloak over her.” Ruth explained the situation, Boaz replies with a promise to solve the situation first thing in the morning. And Ruth stayed at his… feet… til the early morning, when she sneaked back home, with huge sack of barley from Boaz’s personal stash.

Boaz handled the problem and became Ruth’s husband. And then they had a baby, which Naomi cared for as her own. Naomi had now gone from empty to impossibly full again.

This is an amazing story about loyalty, faithfulness, and family. Ruth is loyal to Naomi, Boaz is loyal to his family, and God is faithful to Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz, even though God isn’t really mentioned much as an actor in this story. God remains in the background, but has clearly worked in order to bring about this restoration of Naomi.

Do you have a friend who is that loyal? Do your kids have a friend that loyal? What does it mean to remain loyal in a family? Does it mean always agreeing? Does it mean always doing this a particular way? How do you model faithfulness and loyalty in your home?

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How This Game Works

(A Note to those not at my church: these weird posts are part of a game we’re playing in our Children’s Ministry. Some parts will be difficult or impossible to play without actually being in our town/being a member here. But, regular blog posts will be coming out also, so just ignore any weirdness or odd grammar.)

Kids,

If you’re reading this, stop here. Don’t spoil the mystery.

 

Ok, now that that’s done…

Parents,

You are about to embark on an exciting adventure… hopefully.

We are starting an Alternate Reality Game (ARG) to help kids get more out of the take home materials and coming to church. An ARG is a type of game that uses normal, everyday items to hide codes or clues or puzzles for players to solve. The goal is to create an exciting alternate reality where anything could be a clue or message leading to one. For example, there might be a clue on the previous blog post… Or the handout you got this link from.

Each week, we will take advantage of technology, the Internet, our church building, take home materials, websites, and simple code-breaking ciphers to create a sense of mystery around the coming of Jesus as a baby, because that one moment in time changed everything. Suddenly, God has come as a human to share in our life, struggles, and pain to carry our suffering and share in our happiness.

Each clue will have some kind of information that leads to the next. If you miss a week/clue, please contact me and let me know. Your kids will need your help. Your family will also receive a prize for completing the search… but you’ll have to wait until the end of the game for that part.

Really, though, this is supposed to be fun, so if you get stumped, have trouble with tech or something doesn’t work right, let me know ASAP so we can get the game going smoothly. That said, make sure you’re part of the HVCC Kids Facebook group, make sure you keep and read all the hand outs, and be ready to help your kids search for clues!

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The Cowardly, Mighty General [Sunday School Review]

This past Sunday, your kids learned that “God sees the best in us” through the story of Gideon. My co-leader at Smoky Mountain Christian Camp works in this story every year, because it’s exciting and also incredibly encouraging. (Also, she’s really good at telling it and I hope she doesn’t mind me skimming a few sections.)

So Israel, per usual in Judges, is in the pits of a recurring cycle where they disobey God, get conquered, cry out, and finally are rescued. Midian and some other nations have come by to pilfer the Israelites food supplies, and the sheer number of enemies makes fighting back impossible. So the people cry out, and at first, God sends a prophet to remind the people just why this is happening, “You were told to faithfully commit to one God. You disobeyed.”

Immediately, though, the story shifts to a picturesque scene of a cowardly young man hiding in a winepress (dug into the ground) trying to thresh wheat. Threshing wheat is usually done on a hill, with wind, since the wind catches the chaff (the unwanted parts of the wheat) and leaves the grain, which is heavier. So, I imagine Gideon throwing the grain in the air and blowing on it really hard to separate the two parts and getting frustrated at his lack of success. As he’s focused on this task, an angel poofs into material being beside him and startles the heck out of him with an odd greeting.

“Greetings, mighty warrior. The Lord is with you,” said the angel.

Gideon, with as little sarcasm as possible, motions around to where he is and what he’s doing and politely explains that, no, he isn’t a warrior and asks where God has been during all of this pain and suffering. The angel replies that God has heard and is acting now… through Gideon. Gideon stares for a minute, trying to suppress his laughter. Gideon is remarkably self aware, recognizing his own cowardice and how that might be an impediment to waging war. Gideon proposes a test. A belief in the biblical period was that angels would/could not participate in human meals, so Gideon makes an enormous amount of bread and meat and brings it to his guest. As Gideon watches, the whole meal is consumed by fire and the angels poofs out of existence. Stunned, Gideon panics, thinking he’s going to die having seen God. But he’s relieved when God replies, “All is well.” And maybe adding, “Chill, man. You are so uptight.” Maybe. I’m not sure, but occasionally I sense some humor and sarcasm in the way God speaks to his people.

Anyway, Gideon is surprised when God calls him to wage war on Baal, whom some people in his town seem to be worshiping. Gideon is told to tear down Ball’s altar, and the Asherah pole next to it, and build an altar to the One True God and make a sacrifice. Gideon does… but he does it in the dead of night, with a little help from some servants. (Apparently Gideon’s family was loaded.) Anyway, the town is a little on the angry side when they woke up in the morning and obviously someone had let slip who had done the work because the town was crying for Gideon’s blood. Gideon’s dad, Joash, though makes a good point, “Let Baal fight his own battles. Check back in the morning. If Gideon’s dead, then Baal has made his point. Otherwise, maybe you shouldn’t have been bowing to that thing in the first place.”  Gideon survives. God 1, Baal 0.

The Midianite army gathers en mass and seems to be preparing for a raid. God tells Gideon its time to gear up and head out. Gideon asks for some more signs, using a square of fleece and some freaky weather patterns, and finally feels shaky enough to proceed. He gathers up 32,000 men and is ready to fight when God whispers, “That’s too many, tell anyone who’s scared to go home.”

Gideon, feeling a little confident, makes the declaration that anyone who is scared can head on home, God’s got this. And 22,000 men take him up on the offer. Gideon’s jaw drops as he watches over two thirds of his army walk away. He sighs, makes another count and feels much less confident but like this thing is still doable with the 10,000 he has left. God whispers again, “Still too many. Try this, take them down to the river and I’ll sort them out for you.” Gideon has a bad feeling about this, but does what God says.So after they all take a drink, God has sifted out all but 300 of the men Gideon started with.

Interestingly, the Hebrew for why people were chosen or not chosen is open to interpretation, maybe it was because they hadn’t “bent the knee” and worshiped another God, or maybe they were inept/cowardly. Either way, it would seem God sifted out the men who actually knew what they were doing and left Gideon with whatever was left.

After overhearing a dream while scouting out the enemy camp that highly favored Gideon and his men. Gideon explained the plan. “God is going to win this,” explains Gideon, “we’ll have no swords.” The 300 men, who were definitely not Spartans with CGI enhanced pecs and abs, squirmed a little and nodded slowly. “We’re going in dark with torches and trumpets.” The 300 men nodded slowly again, feeling their hearts sink. “When we get into place, we shout, break the jars on our torches and blow the trumpets and God will handle the rest.” One guys raises his hand. “Yes, Elias?”

“So, what happens then?” asks Elias, genuinely puzzled how this one’s going to turn out.

“Well,” said Gideon, “that’s uhm… a… surprise! Yes! God will surprise us!” A few skeptical looks let Gideon know his improvisational skills need work.

Everyone is in place. The signal is given. “For Gideon and for the Lord!” goes the cry! The trumpets sound. The torches alight, burning bright with more oxygen! The Midianite camp below sees the massive army overhead. The Midianites panic, run about, and begin killing one another.

God saw that Gideon could lead. He saw that Gideon could trust, which could overcome his cowardice. God saw the best in Gideon. He saw the best in the unlikeliest 300 casting call in history. Even when we cannot see our worth, or why we should be loved, God treasures us and loves us more than we could ever know.

Your child is a unique creation. You are a unique creation. Despite your hang ups, problems, failures, and quirks, you are loved and God sees the best in you. Work this week to see the best in your child and others in your life. Pray for them, especially when you’re annoyed.

How do you model seeing the best in others? When do you point out the positive in your kids? Are you on the hunt for the negative or the positive in others? Why?

A Little Off the Top, A Festive Meal, and a Horn Line to Bring the House Down (Sunday Review)

On Sunday, our kids heard the story of Joshua and the Israelites marching around the wall of Jericho, and that wall’s fateful collapse. The main Bible point is that God gives us courage. And how big a deal is that in today’s world where you might find yourself on the metaphorical firing line of public opinion? So let’s dig a little deeper into the story and get some context.

Jericho, historically, was probably a smallish town of no real significance. However, declaring war on this territory was of huge significance to the Israelites, because this land would have been under the authority of Egypt. In a turn the former slave nation has come to challenge the former slave masters.

Before any of the fighting happens, the Israelites cross over the Jordan River on dry land, echoing the act of leaving Egypt on the dry land through the Sea. From this moment, and from a few other scenes, we are meant to see Joshua as Moses’ true replacement. So after crossing the Jordan River, an order comes from the top brass that the men of the group were probably less than enthusiastic about… everyone’s getting circumcised! Woo hoo! Wait… I mean… Well, it needed to be done since none of the Israelites in the current generation who had grown up in the wilderness had been circumcised. It was an important moment of literally cutting the Covenant (God’s promise of protection, blessing the world, a land to live in, and a family to continue the promise) into the male’s flesh. (And as a side-bar to put to rest the idea that a man can let his sexuality run free. This is a literal “cutting down to size” of the male sexual ego.) So after the pain and bleeding, and, let’s face it fellas, the moaning, groaning and whining, died down, the whole people sat down to celebrate the Passover, using food and materials gathered in the land promised to them. This was a huge moment! Imagine: years of wandering and celebrating this meal in the wilderness with no home, and finally celebrating the defining moment of your people in the land you would call home! (As a side-note, this is a moment of God turning over responsibility to His people since the manna stopped after this celebration.)

As he was walking outside the camp, Joshua comes face to face with a messenger of the Lord with drawn sword. Now, Joshua wasn’t blessed with a faithful donkey to keep him from getting too close like Balaam, but Joshua wasn’t on a mission to disobey God, either. This moment shows that God is with Joshua and this is Joshua’s “burning bush” moment.

Joshua takes the orders to the people about marching around the city. The descriptions of this action, the length of time involved, and the repeating number 7 all point to a more ceremonial or a kind of ritual. In other words, this victory won’t be won with swords and spears, but with God’s own intervention. We humans like to take credit, and God wants to make sure His people understand whose leading this endeavor.

So the marching happens, the people follow the rules to the letter. (Which if you’re familiar with the biblical narrative is a rare occasion, indeed.) The walls fall down and the whole city is designated for destruction. Consider this city as a kind of “firstfruits” a giving of the first part of any harvest or growth to God. No spoils of war were to be taken, and any treasure given to the Tabernacle. (Also, this story has some echoes of Sodom and Gomorrah with Rahab playing the role of Lot and the spies playing the role of the angelic messengers who visited at night.)

Now, this whole action took courage. As Rabbi Sacks points out, this is a defining moment of Israel moving from slavery to freedom. They had responsibility now, God was pulling out the training wheels, while still maintaining the lead. Israel would now have to work, to build, to clear away. The reason for the wandering in the first place was because of a lack of courage, a slavish mindset of dependence. At this moment, though, God had spent the time and trained His people to be stronger, braver, and reliant on him in a more mature way.

How do you model courage through your home life? Your generosity? Your work? How do you encourage your family to show courage in the face of difficulty? What was a time recently you had to show courage? Have you told your kids about that time?

Your Kids Will Read What You Post

Being a Millennial parent, I’m going to throw out a word of warning to other parents of today: nothing is ever gone from the internet. Unless you’re highly trained [or have an enormous amount of petty cash] and willing to get into some questionably legal territory, what you post, even if “deleted” is still in a cache somewhere and can be accessed.

That said, it may be cute to talk about your kids online. It may be cathartic to bemoan your kids negative traits or new habits or obsessions. It may be fun to poke fun when they don’t have an online presence. Yes, indeed all of these things may be true, but it is also true that someday your children will be online and will have access to a large list of what you said. You remember the Miranda Rights speech from Law and Order: “…anything you say can and will be used against you…” Keep in mind that search engines and technology continues to improve, meaning that your child’s access to what you have posted online may be more thorough than you could ever imagine right now.

It could be devastating when a child is suddenly confronted by what they may consider a “more true” opinion of them from a parent’s online posting than what they hear from that parent face-to-face. Words have power. The way we speak about people when they’re not in the conversation often colors the way we think about them. This explains part of the Bible’s prohibition against gossip.

How do your online posts speak about your children? Do your posts show annoyance? Pride? Love? Hatred? What changes would you make knowing that your child could and would read the posts you have written and will write about them?

So Two Israelites Spend the Night in a Brothel… [Sunday Review]

Our kids learned about Rahab and her incredible faith in God on Sunday. But of course there were some details our lesson skimmed over in the pursuit of being age appropriate. So let’s look at the story with a little more depth.

First of all, Joshua sending more spies to check out Canaan seems like a poor choice at first glance. He was in the first group to do this, and the disastrous results left himself and Caleb as survivors of an extra 40 years wandering in the wilderness. Regardless, Joshua takes the risk and sends two guys (seems he at least realized less is more) to check out the first city they would come across, Jericho, and the area surrounding it.

The two spies logic in the story is sound, but a little suspect. From our familiarity with fantasy and the old west and spy thrillers, we all know that the best place to get info is usually the bar or inn. They say that in wine there is much truth. The spies apparently came from an even older school of thought that said, “If you wanna know what’s going down, talk with the ladies who sleep with the powerful and in-the-know.” So, they went to the brothel. We also have the hindsight of the Bible’s wisdom literature (Job, Proverbs, Ecclesisates, etc.) that implies that the foreign prostitute is a dangerous person to associate with. Still, the two spies merrily, but carefully, skipped into the local brothel probably run by our intrepid heroine, Rahab.

The spies, whose only active decision at this point was to visit a brothel, find themselves taking a backseat in their own heroic spy story to Rahab, who covers for the two of them. She even takes the initiative to hide the spies up on the roof and lie through her teeth to throw the city guards and the ruler of the city off of the spies’ trail.

Again, we really forget just how surprising this story is. We’ve heard it so many times, it kind of loses its punch. Let’s put it this way, how would you react if two male missionaries were trying to evangelize a region hostile to Christianity and took refuge in a brothel in order to escape the authorities? We’d all probably have a few follow-up questions, right?

Despite the questionable motives of the spies, they find a believer in Rahab who glorifies the God of Israel and declares His power and miracles and asks for her family to be spared. I mean, what else are the spies gonna do but agree? They give her a red rope to tie in her window as a sign to not mess with anyone inside. The spies return to Joshua delivering an encouraging message of the Canaanite’s fear and awe in the face of their God’s actions in Egypt and at the Red Sea. Once again Joshua is reminded that he can be strong and courageous because God is with him.

This story should be surprising. It should make us pause and think about what it means that a foreign prostitute saved these spies and encouraged God’s people. It should make us really think when we hear the speech Rahab gives concerning her knowing that God is the true God.

And yet, we pass over this story as if it were just the way things are. And then in real life we’re surprised when God works through unlikely people. We’re all pretty unlikely candidates to be on God’s invasion squad. Have you taken a good look at us? We’re not exactly [insert favorite branch of miliary’s elite force here]* are we? No, we’re more like the rag-tag militia group George Washington had to keep in line long enough to fend of the British… and that’s if we’re being really generous.

But we can take a lot of hope and encouragement from Rahab. No matter our gender, race, class, place of birth, or opinions on sweet tea, God can use any one of us to make a difference. The catch is, like Rahab, we have to acknowledge God and be willing to follow His lead.

How are you encouraging your children to serve regardless of their gifts? Do you encourage your child’s talents, interests, or uniqueness? How do you model treating every one you meet as a person made in the image of God?

 

* What, you think I’m gonna tick anyone in the military off by listing a particular one here? I don’t need that kind of fight in the comment section.