We break from our study this morning of 1st Samuel to focus our attention on Christmas, believe it or not. Today is a strange kind of a day, because though it's the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend, it's also December 1, like we mentioned just a moment ago. And as December 1, it shifts our focus not so much, a little bit away from Thanksgiving, and we start thinking about Christmas, or what you may hear is called Advent. Advent comes from the Latin term meaning arrival or coming. And it's a special time to prepare our hearts in advance for Christmas Eve and Christmas day. And again, you're going to hear me say it time and time again, and hopefully it saturates your mind and it impacts your life that during this time, we need to be seeing Christmas as something that's being told in the large story of redemption, of salvation that Christmas needs to lead us to that Calvary scene. If not, you're going to miss that point. Well, the challenge this morning is that pastors who stay at churches for a long time, this is my 20th year, believe it or not, as your pastor, and no, I don't say that for that. I say it for this, because I'm not that spiritual sometimes, right? So I say it because the reality is, what do you preach on every Christmas? Pastors who stay at the same place. Now, you have pastors who've pastored 20 years, 2 years in each, in 10 churches. Well, that's easy. Right? You just repeat, rinse and repeat your sermons type of stuff. And I've repeated some of these and I've rinsed some of them. So, after you read the birth narratives in Matthew and in Luke, and you go from John, and then you look at the Old Testament, the last couple of Christmas seasons. We've been focusing on the Old Testament. Two seasons ago, we looked at Christmas BC, and we looked at those prophecies about the Messiah. Last Christmas season, we zeroed in on the King with four names, Isaiah chapter 9 verse 6. So what do you do? What do you preach on? I mean, same thing happens every Resurrection Sunday. 20 years later, what are you gonna do? So the the prayer that that I had going with the Lord since late September Probably sometime in October is Lord. What would you have me say to your people? What would you have me say? That's the same thing in a different way Because Christmas is Christmas. I mean, you're not gonna hear we're not gonna dig into Titus We're not gonna go through the book of Deuteronomy Well, we could, but it's hard to say. Even 1 Samuel, how do you talk about David having to go and slay some people, and we're talking about Jesus coming now. So what do you do? Well, I've been wrestling with this, and God was kind and gracious. in his providence. Send me some things, I read a lot and I listen and I read a couple of things of people talking about this, the relationship between Christmas and, wait for it, on the screen, the book of Ruth. Christmas story now I had not made the connection I'm gonna be honest with you I had not made the connection all right now you might be wondering like I did what what does Ruth have to do with the prices of potato in Idaho absolutely nothing quite honestly but what does Ruth have to do with the Christmas story there's much more there because Ruth you say you'll show well Christmas story is in the New Testament Ruth is in the Old Testament well I Yeah, the Christmas story is in the New Testament, a yes and a no. You want the details, you read the Gospels. You're introduced to the major players, Joseph and Mary, the angels, shepherds, wise men, and then you have Jesus' birth in Bethlehem. But the Christmas story has deep roots. It's rooted in the Old Testament because the Old Testament points to Christ and his... Share with you that it's good and I'm comfortable here on this Christmas season. We're going to do it through the month of December. We'll do it today, Ruth 1. Ruth 2 is next week, Lord willing. Ruth 3 will be the 22nd because the 15th is... You Sunday? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay? And then the 29th, we'll do Ruth 4. And by the way, on the last Sunday of the year, we're also going to be observing the Lord's Supper. So hopefully you're here for that. In fact, if you're planning to travel, cancel your plans. No, just kidding. Just kidding. But it's appropriate for you and me to look at Ruth as connecting and the parallels, the connection between Ruth and Christmas story for a couple or three reasons. Number one, it's a story. It's a story. This is not fiction. Just like the Christmas story is a story. I don't like to sometimes use the word story because you and I think fiction. This is non-fiction. This is narrative. If we believe that the birth of Christ is real, so is the book of Ruth. So it's a real story. It's a short story with 4 brief chapters focusing on a few main characters. and the role that they played in God's plan to provide salvation to a bunch of sinners. Such a story. Number two, there's no coincidence that the events of Ruth and the events of Christmas both take place in the town of Bethlehem. Yeah, I had not made that... I had not made that connection. In fact, the whole reason why Jesus is born in Bethlehem, it has to do with the book of Ruth. Again, this week, That's why they travel. Why do they travel? Because they got a BOGO? Because they had a good traveler, travel agent? No, they travel because of what happens in the book of Ruth. And lastly, as we make our way through the book of Ruth, we'll find some remarkable parallels between the story of Ruth and the Christmas story. The most important one is the following on the screen. Christmas is the story of a young woman who made a radical commitment of faith to God and then journeyed to Bethlehem where she gave birth to a child who would change the world. Agreed? If you don't agree, read the Christmas story. Likewise, next slide. Likewise, the book of Ruth is the story of a young woman who made a radical commitment of faith to God and then journeyed to Bethlehem where she gave birth to a child whose descendant would be the child that changed the world. There's a connection right there. Just like that baby changed her world, the baby Mary bore changed our world. That's the beauty of it all. And the kicker is that Ruth is an unlikely candidate for this story. You know why? First and foremost, she ain't even a Jew. She ain't even a Jew. She's a Moabite. She's from Moab and Moab and the Moabites were long-term enemies of Israel. And if you trace their origin story, it is a sordid one. Back in Genesis, both the Moabites and the Ammonites are the result of a sexual relationship between daughters and their dad. You want to read that? Read it on your own time. All right? It's in Genesis, I promise you, I promise you. She's from Moab, so how does she come to have a faith in God, in Yahweh? And what brought her to the town of Bethlehem? Well, to answer those questions, we have to begin with another person's story. Namely, Naomi. And it's through Naomi that the book of Ruth begins. And that's where we're gonna go. So Ruth chapter 1, before we dig in too much, here's my sermon summary on the screen there. God is actively at work in the darkest times and among the most hopeless people, even when it's not obvious to them. Can I get an amen? Because just because God is silent doesn't mean He's absent. Okay? Because after all, after all, The question to keep before us in Ruth chapter 1 is the following here on the screen there. What do you do when life seems to fall apart and God seems distant? I mean, Ruth chapter 1 is not the most positive chapter in the Bible. So let's dig in. What do you do when life falls apart and God seems distant? Let me give you three key words. Three key words. Number one on the screen there. Tragedy. Tragedy. You know why? Because life sometimes hurts. Life sometimes really hurts. If you're one of those that think that life doesn't ever hurt, you're... I don't know what you're smoking. Because life hurts. When you least expect it, life sometimes really hurts. And that's what you see in the first five verses. I was reminded of this as I texted back and forth today with a widow. Friend growing up in the church. I was grew up in Sterling Rose Spanish Baptist Church my friend Thomas Younger than me. I think now maybe older a year or one way or the other died last year Didn't expect it didn't even know how sick I hadn't seen him for years Stayed in touch with his widow today would have been his birthday So I texted her hey on this special day. I May the Father of mercy and the God of all comfort be with you. Hey, thank you. Life sometimes hurts. I was reminded of that as in my phone, that fancy thousand-dollar phone that I keep just about everything on here. It said, Thomas Fernandez's birthday. Life sometimes really hurts. Let's read the first five verses. I'm going to read it. You're going to follow along. In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. and a man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. The name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Malon 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 was the other Ruth. They lived there for about 10 years. And both Malon and Kilion died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her two husbands. Let me tell you a little bit about Ruth. It's set there in the same time period as 1 Samuel. It's the book of Judges. It's during that time. And if you've learned something, and hopefully you have, the book of Judges is a very dark time in the life of the nation of Israel. Tribal rivalries, they're not doing well. It's one of those darkest times. They keep falling into a cycle of disobedience and oppression, and then repentance, and then deliverance. And yet you would think that after they go through that cycle, they'll go, hey, let's just stay on the straight and narrow. But like you and me, we then choose unwisely again. And they go through disobedience and then they get oppressed because God loves them that much that He confronts their sin through other nations. They become oppressed, they cry out, they are delivered. That's the cycle in the book of Judges. That's the cycle I fear in too many of our own lives. But you see it there. You see it. That's what's going on. Everything seems hopeless. Everyone acts as their own king. Doesn't that describe my life sometimes? I'm my king. I'm my own king. Nobody tells me what to do. Not the Lord that redeemed me. Not the Lord that saved me. Not the Lord that delivers me. Not the Lord that keeps me safe. Not the Lord that provides me all the blessings I need. No, no, no. I'm king. Yeah. See, the events of the book of Ruth takes place around this time. Verse 1 says, there was a famine in the land. In fact, most Bible commentators believe that that's a sign of displeasure from the Lord. Because if you trace famines in the life of the people of Israel, every time there's a famine, it's because God is disciplining. So most Bible scholars, though it doesn't say it there, most Bible scholars say the reality is that there was a famine in the land because once again, the people of God were not where they needed to be. Again, this goes against our American notion of that God is so for us that He won't come against us. No, no, no. He loves us enough to come against us. And if you're a parent, you understand this. Because if you don't come against your child, you're raising a brat. A person who will not understand life. The first thing, Eva, the first thing you need to understand in life is that life is unfair. You don't always win. You don't always get the raise. You sometimes get unnoticed. And the one that... I can't say the word because it's Sunday. But the one that kisses people, They're the ones who go. Learn that. You have to teach her that. God loves us enough to say, I'm not going to let your relationships flourish. I'm not going to let your life flourish. Because the more you do, the more you forget me. So if I'm God, if what keeps you close to me is tragedy, if what keeps you close to me is depending in the hard times, what is God going to send our way? Whatever I need to stay close to him But God is super gracious because I don't know of any of you right now that are doing our living Ruth But you see how we lose it in the American version of Christianity Everything seems Bad they're in Bethlehem, which is the house of bread They moved to Moab. They were never told by God to move to Moab. They become refugees and They go to a land where they were not supposed to be. But you know, sometimes you just have to make the hard choice. So, you know, before we get on our very, you know, self-righteous horse and we go like, I can't believe these people. No, no, no, no. The reality is sometimes we make some hard choices and sometimes those hard choices are wrong hard choices. But they did it. Maybe they showed up and they said, hey, we're just going to be here for a little while. Let's just let's brace ourselves for this culture shock. Let's brace ourselves for what's going on and coming down the pike. But we'll go back 10 years later. They became refugees, and sure enough, sure enough, Things get worse. Elimelech, the husband, dies. Leaving behind Naomi and her two daughters. And Naomi's name means pleasant, lovely, or delightful. Life was none of that at this point. Why? Because she's now part of a group that's most disadvantaged and marginalized groups in her day. Imagine, ladies, travel back in time. If you think you have it bad today, Travel back in time to that man's world. And there she is. Marginalized, disadvantaged. She faces poverty, few rights, low social status. In a foreign land. It's a bad, bad time. But she still had her sons. At least, right? There's a silver lining. Maybe it's thin in that dark cloud of tragedy. There's a silver lining. They marry Moabite women. Something that God's Word, the Torah, Forbade. Deuteronomy chapter 7 verses 3 and 4. They were bad news. Moabites were bad news to God's people back then. But they do that. They do that. Because their reputation as Moabites was to lead God's people astray. Well, sometime after, we're not told in the 10-year period, that her sons die. Now, not only does she is a widow, now she's also childless. Not a grandma. Not a mom. Childless. An Israelite widow with no sons. She's vulnerable and unprotected. Ruth chapter 1 is a downward spiral of tragedy. By the end of chapter 1, it looks like all hope is gone. She's facing poverty and hardship, possibly even slavery. That was the day. That's how it happened. You sold yourself off as a slave to be able to pay your bills. She wondered, what could she do to survive? And on top of all this, God seems completely absent. Naomi serves as a microcosm for Israel. Is there any hope? Would the Lord ever redeem someone like her? Would the Lord ever redeem someone like Israel? See, here's a harsh reality on the screen. We have no control over the times in which we live. We might be living in dark times and facing a desperate situation. We may feel at times that God has abandoned us. We can influence our situation, but some events are just beyond our control. See, Naomi, we, like Naomi, may find ourselves in situations like that even this morning. The book of Ruth begins with a flight from Bethlehem. The Christmas story also contains a flight from Bethlehem. Naomi left Bethlehem to escape trouble, but ends up losing her husband and her two sons. In the book of Ruth, we open with a series of terrible losses for Naomi. The flight from Bethlehem in the Christmas story also includes loss. Have we forgotten? Well, let me just remind you in your Bible, Matthew chapter 2. Matthew chapter 2. Let me remind you again, parallels between Ruth and the original in that first Christmas story. Matthew chapter 2, verse 13. Chapter 2 begins with the visit of the wise men, the magi, and they're there to proclaim the king. They're the official king makers of their day. Verse 13, Now when they had departed, they, meaning the Magi, the wise men, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child to destroy him. And he rose and took the child and his mother by night, and departed to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, Out of Egypt I called my son. Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah. A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation. Rachel weeping for her children. She refused to be comforted because they are no more. See the people in Ruth, They and the people in the Christmas story were no stranger to loss. And it's in the midst of that that we know that God is still working in our lives, even when He seems absent. You know why? Because we have the Scriptures to confirm that to us. Romans 8.28, and we know that. For those who love God, all things work together for good. For those who are called according to His purpose. That's the comfort. No matter what comes my way, the Lord remains sovereign. God was working in Naomi's life, even though she couldn't see it at the time. And sometimes, life really hurts to the point that we can't see beyond the tears, because the tears are that many that I can't see beyond them. But yet, God is still there. And He would do that. He would be a blessing. He would bring a blessing to Naomi, not through a Jewish woman, but from a woman from Moab. So we have tragedy. Now, faced with that tragedy, the next key word is decision. And how we respond to devastating times matters. How you and I respond. I've told you this, the church in America needs to learn and will learn one way or the other that how to suffer well and how to die well. Again, I refer to that happy group. that ministered and served to Sylvia and Rachel. If you were there and you were part of that, you saw both a woman suffering well in her wheelchair and a woman dying well in a recliner. You and I need to learn that, because we don't know how we're going to die. But we need to know that God is with us no matter what. Look at verses 6 and 7, chapter 1. Then she arose with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the fields of Moab that the Lord had visited His people and given them food. So she set out from the place where she was with her two daughters-in-law, and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah. Naomi makes a decision she wants to go back to to Israel. She hears how she heard she hears it even back Then they had Twitter. I don't know. Okay, she hears she hears. All right The question is how long had the famine been over before she made the move? Has she grown comfortable in Moab? Listen, like Lot grew comfortable in Sodom in Genesis 19. Was Naomi returning out of necessity? Yeah. I mean, those are valid questions. The reality is we don't know the circumstances about the deaths and why it happened. But listen, can you feel the pain? Can you feel the pain? Here again, it's a woman left alone in a man's world. We see later that she does own some property back in Judah, but even that's run by men. Note that Naomi tries to convince her daughter's-in-law not to follow her. In fact, most of chapter 1 is the conversation between, hey, I don't want you to follow, but I want to follow you. No, but I don't need you. Look, I'm old, but I don't care how old you are. But even if I gave birth to a child right now, He could have married you as the kinsman redeemer. It's that back and forth. It's back and forth. In fact, look at verse 8. Most of chapter 1 is just that conversation. But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, Go, return each of you to her mother's house. May the Lord deal kindly with you as you have dealt with the dead and with me. The Lord grant you that you find rest, each of you, in the house of her husband. Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept. And they said to her, No, we will return with you to your people. Stop there. There's nothing. Why the emphasis of this conversation back and forth, back and forth? Hopefully you feel the pain. Yes, it's black ink on white paper. But you have to feel the reality of a mother-in-law saying, Leave. I am nothing. I am no good. I have nothing to give you. There is no future with me. And the daughters-in-law trying to remain faithful. We will still go with you. Why does this appear? Why the emphasis? Let me give you two reasons. Number one, to emphasize Naomi's hopelessness. That's the pain. Look at verses 11 through 13. But Naomi said, Turn back, my daughters, while you go with me. Have I yet 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. If I should say, Hi, I have hope, even if I should have a husband this night, I should bear sons. Would you therefore wait till they are Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me." Ooh, she's interpreting some circumstances there. It's hopelessness. It's hopelessness. The writer wants to show how bad things have become for Naomi. She's saying, no, my daughters, go back to your hometown. Go back to where you belong. Go back to your families. Forge a new future without me. I can't provide you one. That's one of the reasons. The second one is, right here in this section, it gives us the first glimmer of hope in an otherwise hopeless story. And she's there. And then you have verse 16. Well, let's read 14. Then they lifted up their voices and wept again. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. And she said, see, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods. Return after your sister-in-law. And these are the, I mean, if you don't have these highlighted in your Bible, you should. You should. These are these verses that are great. But Ruth said, do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go, I will go. And where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people. And your God shall be my God. Where you die, I will die. And there I will be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you. And when Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said, no more. When tragedy strikes, and our life unravels, and when God seems hidden, it's so easy to conclude the wrong thing. But Ruth reminds me, and reminds you and me, the reality of a beauty and a trust in a God who is sovereign. She renounces the gods of Moab, and she embraces the monotheism of Yahweh, of the Hebrews. Remember, she's from Moab. Okay, she invokes the name of Yahweh in verse 17. It says When you die, I will die and there will be buried me the Lord capital L lower small caps or D. That's Yahweh the Covenant God May he do something to me where listen, it's it's a it's a reality It's a reality of a life commitment that Ruth is making where you die. I will die. I But it goes even beyond that, because I can look at someone and say, you know, where you go, I will go, where you die, I will die, and then I'll go back home. Because my role has been done. No, no, she says no, and where you'll be buried, I'll be buried. That's commitment. That's commitment. That's not, oh, I'm with you until you are done, because my commitment to you is to care for you. Because you're the elderly woman and I'm making a commitment before God to care for you. But once your life is done, will you die? Okay? I'm leaving. No, no. Will you die? I will die and I'll be buried here. I'll be buried there. See, that's the beauty. That's the beauty of it all. To be buried in Israel meant complete separation from her own people and her own gods forever. What a radical commitment to faith in God. Fast forward to the Christmas story. Don't we have a young lady who makes a radical commitment of faith to God to do His will? Lest you think I'm just making this up. In your Bible, Luke chapter 1. Luke chapter 1. It's a long chapter, Luke chapter 1. Starting in verse 26, In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed, to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you. But she was greatly troubled at the saying and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. Yeah, if an angel showed up to my house, I'd try to figure some things out too, you know? And the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great, and he will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end." And here comes, I mean naturally, right? And Mary said to the angel, How will this be since I'm a virgin? Can you explain some biology to me? Because I was born on a night, but not last night. I know how some things work. And the angel answered her, the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the child to be born will be called Holy, the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age is also conceived. A son. And this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God. Stop right there. So there you go. Those are the words. That's the word given to this young woman named Mary. How does she react to this? Verse 38. Verse 38. And Mary said, Behold, I am the servant of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your word. And the angel departed from her. Mary not only believed the Word of God, she submitted to the Word of God in obedience. In obedience. That's the pattern, child of God. When you and I say we believe God's Word, it means that we're going to obey God's Word. I mean, if you're not, you're not really believing God's Word. You might be believing my Word, or you're believing something about God's Word, but when you believe God's Word, God is speaking. Therefore, when God speaks, He's the ultimate authority. And when He looks at you and says, this is what I'm expecting of you, that's exactly what He's expecting of you. He doesn't stutter. He doesn't blehblehblehblehblehblehbleh. No! He's gone out of his way to reveal himself. This is who I am, this is how I act, and this is how I am expecting you to live. You want to make excuses? Go ahead. But please, don't think that I don't know what to say. See, she submitted to His Word in obedience. That was an act of obedience, by the way, that could endanger her life. Again, can you imagine? Can you imagine if Ava came home with this story, Diana? Hey, Mommy, I'm expecting. First of all, Johnny, down. Grab him, throw him down to the ground. Call me. About three of us guys will have to hold him down. Okay, Mommy? What would happen? It's God. Yeah, okay. Come here. I'm going to give you a God. In those days, they were endangering her life, her reputation. Can you imagine? Can you imagine Joseph? Much too little is made of Joseph. Hey guys, how about if your woman came home, hey by the way, I'm pregnant. Girl, we haven't been that in I don't know how long. What? Oh yeah, it's God's. Oh yeah, I'm gonna give you a God. Give you a God too. All right. So listen, she's she's endangering everything She's laying it all she's risking it all why because her faith in the Lord If you want to make a difference in this world, you need you need to be a person of faith in the Lord You cannot accomplish anything of lasting significance without faith in the Lord You may not change the world, but you take God at his word and it'll change your world So we have tragedy We have decision. And the last part, the last part is a return. Back to Bethlehem. Look at first part of verse 19. We got to go back. I almost started reading Luke 1 again. All right. So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. Stopped there. In the darkest times, when there appeared to be little hope, Naomi and Ruth arrived in Bethlehem. The journey would have been about 50 miles. I have a hard time driving 50 miles, by the way. Martha was making fun of me as she drove back from North Carolina. I drive 50 minutes and I'm like, I've told you the story. The last time I was driving, I didn't forget where we were going. We were probably going to Gainesville to visit my niece. Honey, where are we on the turnpike? Sunrise? No! Sunrise Boulevard? No! Where's the nearest Ramada? We're calling it. We're calling it. We're done. D-U-N. Done. 50 miles. 50 miles. Would have taken a few days. Like me. Like me in a car. Okay. It was a far enough trip to walk, but the cultural distance was even greater. What do they get when they get there? What do they find? Look at the end of 19 and into 20. And when they came to Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them. And the woman said, Is this Naomi? She said to them, Do not call me Naomi. Call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. Call me Mara. Naomi meaning pleasant, Mara means bitter. Naomi had left Bethlehem about 10 years prior, just full of dreams, full of family, full of hope. And she returns broken, widowed, and childless. They're in a stir. They're in a stir. And she says there at the end, the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went away full and the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi when the Lord has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me. Naomi was in a dark place when she came back to Bethlehem. Aren't you glad that there's people like Naomi in the scriptures? Because you and I can find ourselves in dark places sometimes. When life seems to fall apart and God seems that distant, you and I can get that dark. Aren't you glad that there's Naomi? You're not alone in this thing. And listen, she doesn't know. She can't figure out where is God in all of this. I come back to my hometown and I'm a wreck. I'm a failure. Where is God in all of this? She doesn't see the full situation. But in the darkest times, God is at work in every detail of her life. May have seemed distant and hidden from Naomi, but doesn't mean He stopped. And sometimes that's you and me. You and me can go through such a dark time that we forget, we stop seeing that God is still rescuing people from other religions. See, if Naomi would have stopped and said, all is dark, but yet she could have just looked at Ruth and said, but Yahweh is up to something because this girl from Moab is now trusting the Yahweh of the Hebrews. But the situation blinded her to that very thing. Child of God, sometimes our situations blind us to that very thing, that God is still at work. Redeeming people from all tribes and all nations and all people groups and all languages And he's making a church for himself God was preparing Naomi and Ruth for a child to be born in Bethlehem a child who will play a decisive role in the history of the world Naomi and Ruth couldn't see it They thought God had abandoned. I mean, that's the best thing you can think right now from Naomi's like God has abandoned me. In fact, she puts that work. She puts that on God. Don't call me Naomi. Call me Mara. I am bitter for God has come against me. You think God can't handle your complaints? Of course he can. If he can bear the sins of the world on the shoulders of his son, he can bear your complaint. You're not gonna freak him out go to him honestly when life doesn't make sense See in the coming weeks you and I are gonna see that there's a baby It's gonna make a difference on the screen there one baby born in Bethlehem can change everything It changed everything for Naomi and Ruth and it came and it can't change everything for us as well What can we take with us this morning Is there any hope in a world of darkness? Is there hope in the hopelessness that we see? The book of Ruth would say, yes, yes. On the screen there says, yes, the sovereign God of the universe is at work, even in the darkest times, even when we can't see it. And even when the most hopeless of people, with the most hopeless of people, and he's working out his grand story through the birth of a baby in Bethlehem. Is there hope? Christmas is hope. Christmas is hope. Because what sinners needed was a savior. Not entertainment. Not a good 401k. Not education. They needed a rescuer. And that's exactly what God sent. Merry Christmas. Let me leave you with a few things to ponder. Number one. Do not place yourself in an adversarial role with the Lord. When bitter time comes, and bitter times will come, Be careful you don't interpret life through your circumstances. You see, the judge of all the earth always does what is right. We must cling to his character when we don't understand his ways. Has he ever let you down? You may feel so. But you see, when you and I go through hard times, we don't go through our feelings. I was talking to someone the other day who was going through a hard time and said, listen, this is not a time to go with your feelings. This is a time to go with what you know is true. Your feelings are gonna come and go. Just eat pizza at midnight. Your feelings are going to come and go. But know what you know of God, that's what remains. You see on the screen there, trust holds on even when it feels like everything else is slipping away. We must trust God's character rather than the circumstances of life. Child of God, stop being happy if everything is happy and being sad if everything is not happy. The greatest people you encounter in the world and in the Bible are people who said, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. Bring it to me. I've learned how to be contempt in the big things and in the small things. I don't need the 5 bedroom house. I just need God and He's enough. And you put me in a little corner right over there. Me and God, that's enough. I don't need to live here. I don't need to drive that. I don't need this. I need God. Whom do we have in heaven but God? And on earth, nothing else we want. And when our heart and our spirit fails, God gives us the strength. The psalmist taught us that. The great heroes of the faith teach us this. Stop living your life on circumstances. And when circumstances are not right, don't, don't put yourself in an adversarial role with the Lord. You're going to lose. You're going to lose. Number two, in times of grief and bitterness, do not withdraw from all human contact. This happens to many of us. We isolate from others. And part of the reason is that sometimes we got well-meaning idiots. People who instead of just remaining quiet, they have to open their mouth. Do you understand in a time of crisis, the last thing people need is your idiocy? My idiocy? The best thing I can give you is the gift of presence. Just sit there. Listen. Shut your mouth. That's why you have two ears in one mouth. Let's go And that's why people isolate because they don't want to hear you're more than holy and holy than thou deal What they need is a friend. The need is a comforter. They don't need someone say, you know, I told you so That's why they isolate Others is you know, we find people in pain and we have to one-up them. Have you been there? Have you known that have you been that I? Doug and Kelly I can't imagine what you're going through but I remember when I was you know your age and Man life was this and before you know it. It's not about them anymore. It's about me That's an act of pride by the way So no wonder they'll never come to me why so he can just talk about himself again and So there's reasons, really, that people isolate, but I'm here to tell you, child of God, don't do it. We need each other. When we go through a tough time, people withdraw from the church, from the faith family. Why? Why? This is the place where you don't have to pretend. And if you think you do, talk to me after church service, and I'll let you know you don't have to pretend. We're a bunch of sinners saved by grace, just making it through life because God is good. We need each other. This is the place where we find His grace to meet our headaches and our heartaches. So in times of grief and bitterness, don't withdraw. And thirdly, when times get tough, we should trust the Lord, not our feelings, and not run to Moab. Okay? Listen, turning away from God to the ways of the world never pays. Well, but God hasn't done this, and in this area of my life, I'm this, and I can't believe it's this. Listen, listen, listen. Relax, take a deep breath, trust the Lord, not your feelings, and don't run to Moab. We've all had a Moab. In fact, what drastic measures were taken to bring back Ruth and Naomi to Bethlehem? The reality is that you and I, you and I, need to know that going with the world is not a good choice. And lastly, God's arms are open. God's arms are open. That's gonna be seen in the rest of the book. Perhaps it was wrong to go to Moab. Perhaps it was wrong for the boys to marry Moabite women. Naomi should not have been embittered against God. But you know what's the good news? That God did not turn His back on her. So even when you and I are that dumb, that stupid, that dense, God still remains God and his covenant faithfulness to you and me is greater than our covenant faithfulness to him and That's what keeps us in line His arms remained open You see here's a reality on the screen there. You may have lost sight of him, but he has never lost sight of you See when when life really hurts we lose sight of him We have to bury a loved one Life really hurts. We have to battle a disease that's gonna do us in. It hurts. You may think, you may lose sight of God, but He's a good God and He doesn't lose sight of you. And you know this because look how the Ruth chapter 1 ends. Look at verse 22. She says in verse 21, God is against me. Look at the calamity. Look at verse 22. So Naomi returns. Stop there. How does God inspire the writer to refer to Naomi? Naomi, not Mara. You know why? Because God was not done with her. See, there's the optimism. There's the optimism. She says in verse 20, don't call me Naomi. Call me Mara. What does God do? Naomi, Naomi, Naomi. It says, Naomi returned in Ruth to Moab by her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the country of Moab, and they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest. The beginning of the barley harvest was a sign of God's goodness and the grace and new beginnings. They didn't come back to a drought. They didn't come back to famine. God has not turned His back to His people. They showed up during the time of the barley harvest. God was at work. You see in this final verse the reality that God was still at work. And even though when life really hurts and when life seems devastating and God seems distant, God is still at work. Amen. Let's pray. My friend, if you're here this morning, you haven't trusted in Christ. You need to see this this all this message is for for God's people. See God is very faithful to his people Outside of Christ. He doesn't owe you or me a stick of gum He doesn't have to be good he doesn't have to be kind but in Christ he's made a covenant with you and me and And we have to enjoy all that God is for us through Jesus Christ. So my friend, if you're here this morning and you haven't trusted in Christ, do so even today. For the day will come that your life will come to an end. And then what? And then what? And my brother and sister in the Lord, as we begin a journey through Ruth, would you see a big God? Would you go to Him? Let him know that even when life seems to be falling apart and he seems to be distant, his arms remain open. His back is not turned toward you, but you commit to walking faithfully with him. Lord God, we need you even now as we turn our hearts to you in another song. We need you to continue to impress the truth of your word upon our hearts. Thank you for the book of Ruth. Thank you that in it, we see the parallels to that first Christmas story. Thank you for the faith for young woman named Ruth, who made a life commitment to you, oh Lord. And what a blessing that turned out to be. Thank You for the life of Mary, another young woman, who obeyed Your Word. And for many of us here this morning, life is different because of the baby that was born in Bethlehem, who lived the perfect life, died the perfect death, and we have believed that to be so. Father, help us now to worship You in spirit and truth. Thank You. Thank You for this time. Thank You for Your Word. In Jesus' name and God's people said,