An unlikely grandmother
December 8, 2024 Advent 2
Advent Wreath Candle Lighting
One: In a weary and worn world, how do we begin again? Where do we start?
All: Let us begin together. Let us begin arm in arm. Let us begin by holding each other up, instead of tearing each other down. Let us begin with words of peace.
One: Yes, let us begin with peace. Today we light the candles of hope and peace.
All: May these lights remind us of what could be. May these lights mark a new beginning. May peace flow like a river, and may it start with us.
One: Arm in arm, hand in hand, side by side. May we begin again. Amen.
Candle is Lit
Sing 119 Hope is a star
Welcome and Announcements
Prayer of Approach
We love you, O God, and thank you that walk with us in the valley, dance with us on the mountaintop, sing with us through the night and rejoice with us in the morning.
We praise you for bringing us into relationship with you and with one another.
You have never wanted us to be alone. Thank you for bringing us together in Jesus Christ who comes to us only for love that is full of mercy and grace.
In this community, you know our names and we know your name. We know each other’s names. In your presence we choose to journey with each other, like Ruth with Naomi.
And we remember that no one can go through life alone. Thank you God, for lighting our way. Amen
Hymn: 122 O come O come Emmanuel
Call to Confession
Family of faith, one of the beautiful things about the prayer of confession is it is often a prayer we say together. There are times when we close our eyes, bow our heads, and exchange private words with our Creator.
But there are other times when praying out loud as a community allows us to right our relationship with God and with one another as well.
This is one of those moments.
So as a community, please join me in prayer of confession.
Join me in speaking the truth of our lives.
Join me in practicing grace.
Prayer of Confession:
Forgive me O God for not following your way. I have tried to make my own way. I have tried to lace my own shoes, to build my own house, to kindle my own faith. I have said a thousand times, “turn back,” as if I am fine on my own. But the days are long and I am forgetful. I need your help. Can you remind me?
amen.
Assurance of Pardon
We are reminded of this everlasting truth:
You are not alone. God calls you as his people, and he will be your God. Where you go, God goes. You are held in grace. You are blessed with mercy. Trust in this good news. In Jesus Chris we are forgiven. Amen
Passing the Peace
Hymn: 143 Infant holy, infant lowly
Scripture:
Ruth 1: 1-22
Ecclesiastes 4: 9-12
Matthew 1: 1-17
Sermon: An unlikely grandmother
At first the three scripture readings seem to be completely unrelated. Yet…in truth, no scripture is unrelated from another scripture reading. Sometimes we just need to take a deeper dive.
The general message from Ecclesiastes is that two are better than one. Solomon is talking about living and labouring in partnership.
He gives 3 specific reasons why that kind of partnership is important.
- When one fails, the other is there to lift them up.
- When it is cold, you keep each warm, this is a survival skill.
- Where one is vulnerable, two together are able to withstand an attack.
What is not specifically stated here, but is crucial, is that this relationship works only when the partners are loyal to one another.
The reading from Matthew outlines the ancestral tree of Jesus. What each of the people in that tree have in common is that they demonstrated loyalty to God. They lived according to the law and they enjoyed the loyalty of God to them. Because, after all, loyalty goes two ways.
Last week we looked at the ways that Ruth was an inappropriate person occupying a spot in the list of grandmothers of Jesus. We looked at how and why God often chose the inappropriate person. Usually, God did so for a good reason.
That very good reason that shows us that Ruth is indeed an appropriate grandmother for Jesus is that she demonstrates loyalty.
Loyalty is what ties these 3 readings together.
Loyalty is the demonstration of love.
Loyalty is what makes the promises of God come to fruition.
First we have to note that Ruth has no reason to be loyal to Naomi. Naomi was her mother-in-law; but with Ruth’s husband dead, that relationship no longer exists in a legal sense. That relationship does however, exist in a relationship born in the love that Ruth has for Naomi.
When Naomi decides to return to her homeland she gives each of her former daughters-in-law the option to return to their own families. Orpha chooses that option, but Ruth chooses to remain with Naomi.
The words of that loyalty that cements the bonds of love and even covenant between the women are memorable, and often used in a marriage ceremony.
That covenant: Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.”
Ruth was choosing life with Naomi, over her own family. She was choosing another country over her own family. She was choosing God over the gods of her country. She was choosing loyalty until death separated the women.
This is an example of what in Hebrew is called HESED.
HESED means; faithfulness, lovingkindness, covenant love, and loyalty.
This is a relationship of faithful love which begins between these two women, continues with God and Ruth, and then becomes the blessing of God to all generations when Ruth marries Boaz, a cousin of Naomi.
God’s faithfulness is present in both of these women, in their relationship with one another, their relationship with God and most importantly in them being selected by God as a means of blessing and redeeming the world through Jesus.
We are reminded that in a world where people often made choices that suited them and their desires, Ruth goes over and above the laws of God to make love and loyalty the hallmark of her living.
More importantly, we are reminded that Ruth as a Moabite, whose family worshipped other gods, was not required to live by God’s law.
Ruth chose God’s Law. Ruth chose God’s covenant. Ruth chose Naomi, her land, her people and her God.
In return God chose Ruth. His promise made to the people of Israel over and over again was given to Ruth… I will be your God and you will be my daughter.
Sometimes choices mean we need to let go of things and leave things behind. Choosing God is one of those life choices that will forever change and alter our lives. In return God gives us a new home and a new relationship with him in which he repeats the promise, “I will be your God and you will be my people.”
Even more than that through the loyalty of Ruth, God’s loyalty to all his people is demonstrated through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus for the forgiveness of all our sins, forever.
God’s loyalty calls forth in all of us, our loyalty in return.
Amen.
Hymn: 118 Hark the glad sound
Offering and Doxology 830
Offertory Prayer
Gathering Prayer Requests
Prayer of Thanksgiving and Intercession
Like flowers need the sun, we humans need relationships, and especially those relationships where we walk together with you. We need this community, the bonds we have enhance the worship we share.
So on this Sunday morning, we give you thanks for the connections we do have.
Thank you for the friends who know us.
Thank you for the families who claim us.
Thank you for the church who welcomes us.
Thank you for the neighbors who remember us.
Thank you for the mentors who believed in us, and for the saints who taught us.
Like Naomi needed Ruth, or Mary needed Joseph, we know that we cannot make the long journey to Bethlehem alone.
For that reason we share our joys with you and one another.
JOY
So for all who walk alongside us, we give you thanks.
However, at the same time, we also know that more than ever, we live in a lonely world. So today, as we remember our human need for connection, we also lift up every person who has need of your grace and mercy and your healing touch.
CONCERNS
WORLD
Remind us that with you, we are never truly alone. With you, we are seen.
We are loved. We are known. We are celebrated.
Where we go, you go. What greater love is there than that?
In that love for you, one another and the world that needs you, we pray as Jesus has taught us saying:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, for ever. Amen
Hymn: 124 People in darkness
Benediction
But here on this bright morning we have remembered that we do not walk alone. God is on the journey with us.
So in the week to come, let us remember to listen for God speaking. Centre your heart on God. Lean closer to God. Begin again with God every morning.
And may God’s mercy fill your lives. May the grace of Jesus overflow in your hearts. And may the wisdom and guidance of the Holy Spirit open up the way before you. Amen.
Blessing Song: 114 Emmanuel
Emmanuel, Emmanuel, his name is called Emmanuel. God with us, revealed in us, his name is called Emmanuel.
C: CA Music
3 Fold Amen