Looking Ahead to Advent

Ruth 4:7-14; I Thessalonians 2:9-13, 17-20; Matthew 23:1-12

There's an old story told about an old Scotsman who operated a little rowboat ferry service on a river. One day a passenger in the man's rowboat noticed that the good old man had carved on one oar the word "Faith" and on the other oar the word "Works." Well, curiosity led him to ask the meaning of this. The old man, being a well-balanced Christian and glad for the opportunity for telling about his faith, said, "I will show you."

So saying, he dropped one oar, marked "Faith" and plied the other oar, marked "Works." Immediately they began to go around in circles.	Then he dropped that oar and began to use the other oar, called Faith, and the little boat continued to go around in circles, only this time in the other direction.

Following this demonstration the old man picked up both "Faith" and "Works," and started using them together, causing the boat to speed swiftly over the water. Explaining to his inquiring passenger, he said, "You see, that is the way it is in the Christian life. Dead works without faith are useless, and 'faith without works is dead,' as well. But faith and works pulling together make for safety, progress, and blessing."

In the Bible there is a book that talks about both faith and works. It is the story of Ruth. In fact, it is such a beautiful story that I would suggest it as a story to read to your family or to yourself. It only takes a few minutes to read, and the plot is simple and beautiful.

But perhaps the most beautiful thing about the story of Ruth is that it was included in the Old Testament for a good reason. Certainly, it would be enough if the story of Ruth was about a foreign woman who was accepted and loved by persons other than her own people. Certainly, it tells about how we should be willing to help the poor, the destitute, and the widows. Certainly, it talks about a woman's deep faith in God and offers a wonderful example for us to follow. But, more than this, it tells us about a woman who's faith led her to become the great grandmother of King David, the greatest king of Israel, and the forefather of Jesus Christ, our Lord.

More than anything, the story of Ruth is about people who trust God, take a leap of faith, and go out into the unknown, for no other reason than simply because they believe it to be the will of God. But, even more, the story of Ruth is about how such faithfulness prepared the way for King David, generations before he would be born.

A missionary tells the story of how he was once working in the villages on a small island in the Philippines when he came upon a very old man. In answer to his question as to whether or not he was a Christian, the old man replied that he was not. The missionary then asked him if he believed in God. And the old man said that he didn't, saying, "Show me God and I will believe in Him."

"What?" asked the missionary, "do you mean to say that you will not believe in anything you cannot see?" He nodded his head in the affirmative.

A strong breeze was blowing so the missionary asked him, "Is the wind blowing?"

"Yes," he replied.

"How do you know?" asked the missionary.

The old man answered, "I cannot see the wind, but look see the moving branches of the palm tree? They are moving and the wind is causing them to move."

"Then you do believe in something that you cannot see if you can see something that it has done or is doing," replied the missionary.

"Yes," was the old man's answer.

"Then you must believe in God; for if you believe in the wind because it moved a palm branch a few inches how much more remarkable is it that God should move a missionary 9,000 miles to you!"

Many of us have forgotten how revolutionary God calls our faith to be. Just as Ruth went out into the unknown, led by her faith in God, God calls us to do just as risky things with our faith, as well.

Jerome Davis once wrote that "Christianity is a dangerous faith, if it is really followed. It demands no compromise with evil and utter loyalty to Christ. Even the positive declaration of guarded loyalty, "I will follow thee, Lord, but. . .," may debar. It will be remembered that the gospel tells of several men who were either called by Jesus or who volunteered to leave all and follow him. In each instance some reason is offered for delay. And they are good reasons, at least according to American Christian standards. One desires first to go and bury his own father, another first to bid farewell to his family. Here were young men who had a great chance. They might have been numbered among the disciples of Jesus, they might have laid their impression upon humanity for countless generations to come; yet they failed because of a "but," good in itself, but far from the highest loyalty.

We too have similarly volunteered to follow Jesus, to work under a revolutionary spiritual leader who was crucified for his cause. Yet, as has been true of Christian in every age, how easy it is for us to qualify or restrain that discipleship for various supposedly good reasons.

In our lesson from the book of Ruth, we have read how Ruth had every good reason in the world to stay back home with her family in Moab, but decided, instead, to remain loyal and true to the family of her diseased husband, simply because she felt that this was what God was calling her to do. Likewise, God calls us to do his work. And, certainly, we may often have our good reasons for doing something else. Yet, thank God, there are those who obey God's calling or neither the church nor the Christian faith would be here today, nor alive tomorrow to bear the gospel of Jesus Christ.

But, not only does the story of Ruth talk about how we need to listen to the voice of faith, and obey. The story also talks about the amazing way God can use us to perform tasks that may seem like nothing today, but may be crucial for things that are to happen in the life of God's people some time in the future.

The story of Ruth would have been long forgotten if it wasn't for the fact that Ruth was the great grandmother of the great King David. The beauty is that she allowed herself to be used by God. And though the circumstances may seem insignificant the outcome was crucial to the life of God's people.

Do we ever have anything like that happen in our lives? For many of us going to Sunday School may not seem like much. Indeed, there may even be those of us here who feel that we are so mature in the Christian faith that we don't need to spend that extra hour per week in church. But, for those of you who haven't been in the habit of staying for a Church School class I'd like to challenge you to the thought that the more a person grows in the Christian faith the more he or she realizes the need for more study. Indeed, sometimes that small, insignificant time spent in a class on Sunday morning can make all the difference in week. Indeed, something small, something seemingly insignificant, can be crucial for the life of the Body of Christ. We understand this from reading the story of Ruth, but this is also what Jesus was talking about in our gospel lesson when he said, "For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted."

In a very real way, the story of Ruth is an Advent story for it talks about the way by which God and God's people prepared for the coming of Christ long before there even was such a concept. Likewise, for us, Advent is just around the corner. In just a few short weeks we will be talking more and more about preparing the way for the Lord. But, are we ready to prepare? Do we have the tools necessary for the job? Are our priorities in order? Or are there obstacles in the way? Are we in an attitude for preparing for Christ's coming into our midst?

Our gospel lesson suggests that humility is one of the first things we need to be ready for the Advent of Jesus. Are we humble enough to admit that we need to learn more about Jesus? Are we humble enough to submit ourselves to the teachings of a peer? Are we humble enough to admit that we need a Savior? Indeed, Jesus said it very well: "Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted." Amen.