Ruth 1:1-14
1 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. 2 The name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there. 3 But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. 4 These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. They lived there about ten years, 5 and both Mahlon and Chilion died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband.
6 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. 7 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.
8 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. 9 The Lord grant that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband!” Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept.
10 And they said to her, “No, we will return with you to your people.”
11 But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb that they may become your husbands? 12 Turn back, my daughters; go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband this night and should bear sons, 13 would you therefore wait till they were grown? 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.”
14 Then they lifted up their voices and wept again. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.
Suppose Naomi said this to the Moabite daughter — in- laws, in verse 15.
Suppose :
1 Corinthians 15:33
Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good character.”
Suppose JESUS said this, instead, in Mark's Gospel in the 1st Chapter. Suppose:
Luke 6:27-39
27 “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. 29 To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. 30 Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. 31 And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.
32 “If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. 35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. 36 Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.
37 “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; 38 give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”
Suppose JESUS said this
in Mark's First Gospel to verses Mark 1:12 to 13.
Suppose:
Mark 1:12-13
12 The Spirit immediately drove Him out into the wilderness. 13 And He was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And He was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to Him.
Continuing on with Luke 6
Luke 6:27-39
39 He also told them a parable:
“Can a blind man lead a blind man?
Will they not both
fall
into
a pit?”
What are we saying here:
Ecclesiastes 3:1
For everything
there is a season,
and a time for every matter under Heaven
Let's use for example a real event that happened to my mother
With friends (and godparents to her children. ) (We had numerous God Parents.) (They have all passed on now.) This couple had not seen her in 30 years, after her 25-year marriage ended in divorce. Dropped like a stone. Usually, we met with them once or twice a week and my father was cooking.
The Saturday phone call came out of the blue.
My godmother called and said her husband had fallen and seriously injured his head. This situation was going to need a full-time friend to nurse him. Today ... they would like my mother's homemade onion soup and with the glorious cheese. Now, they knew this would take several hours, so a late lunch, about 1:30, would be perfect. Then, when they met, they could discuss their new needs with their old friend.
My mother was surprised and expressed her sympathy.
She said she would be happy to bring flowers next weekend, but this weekend had plans. My godmother tartly replied, this would not do. She had known all these years, when they had a need my mother would step in and care for them, like my mother had cared for her famous employer.
My mother said at this point she had to sit down.
And ask if this was the godmother or her husband who had assumed this. They both knew my mother was a servant heart, and she would care for them until she was too old to care for them. My mother pointed out they were all the same age. And she was told, her servant spirit would want to do this for them because of the glamor involved. Glamor? Yes, she was answered by them, my godmother and her husband were very glamorous.
The next weekend, my mother took nice flowers.
Something she would always love to do. They put the flowers in the sink and said this would not do. They would need her to take the menu in the morning and come by and spend several hours each day. My mother pointed out this would not work in her life as she had employment and a boyfriend and many appointments and engagements. They told her they would have to come first. When my mother said she would be glad to come by 2 times a month, they told her he would need help being lifted every
day.
When my mother refused, they never spoke to her again.
My mother tried over the next few years and wanted to take them to events and funerals of mutual friends. They refused. As time went by, the only answer was usury. Or horrible comments. Or revenge.
My mother was not really hurt. She did not feel there was a place for love to exist. And meant only to treat them kindly. Evidently, kindly was not what was wanted. Usury. Only.
How could we relate this to my mother, who did love Jesus and was like all of us, flawed and sinner, but Mother was in Church 52 weeks a year. Unless direly ill.
7 minutes in
but
Beauty in Worship
is throughout
†
Luke 10:25-37
25 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 He said to him,
“What is written in the Law? How do you read it?”
And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”
28 And He said to him,
“You have answered correctly;
do this, and you will live.”
29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus,
“And who is my neighbor?”
30 Jesus replied,
“A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead.
31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side.
32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.
33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him.
35 And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’
36 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?”
37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.”
And Jesus said to him,
“You go, and do likewise.”
We can become very, very, very familiar with Luke 10. Way too familiar.
Let's examine how this scripture could be bent to be used in Mark 1. By evil.
Suppose:
25 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
(Reminder, AS IF Luke 1 temptation)
Behold,
An ambulance chaser and plotter deluxe con artist, decided to put the unwary to usury and penury (while quoting Scripture, as in Luke 4).
Don't you think you should give me what I want because you are always to love your enemy and forgive them their total evil deeds. Do this if you are really the Lord's.
No one should have jail for evil, it's all about luff.
26 He said to him,
“What is written in the Law? How do you read it?”
This is all about luff. If you love God, and you are all that, you'd Love God so much you'd focus on being nice, nice, nice and do all we want to make us see God in you.
If you loved us, we could do whatever we wanted to you, and you forgive us and show us your servant heart.
Then maybe we would become better, and you could have done the Work of Salvation. Why aren't you a sanctuary city as someone who Loves Jesus?
Show us Jesus. Show us Jesus.
And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”
28 And He said to him,
“You have answered correctly;
do this, and you will live.”
29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus,
“And who is my neighbor?”
30 Jesus replied,
“A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead.
Suppose again:
We knew you'd be at the place.
So we planned Project Jericho.
AHA. Gotcha to do usury. To live in fear. To desire company with evil.
We strip you of the logic that doing all this might lead to requiring a loving heart. We strip out the goodness for you as well, and the true bridge of Jesus to His children. Seeking justice, respect, polite behavior, kind words leading to a deeper and more meaningful life and the Light shining for all of creation.
We will strip you of dignity.
Beat you until you want to surrender, leave your heart half dead in confusing of unkindness
and all forms of usury.
Carl Trotsky said as he planned the Russian Revolution,
if we confuse the logic of their morality,
we take their inner compass,
spin it until fear is the motivation
and desire to escape judgment.
Then rule them like, “Animal Farm.”
31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw Him he passed by on the other side.
Erasing the need for involvement. Hoping not to be thought too right or too left. Plan the next good deed for the public.
32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.
Hoping not to be thought too right or too left. Avoid criticism. Be well liked.
33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him.
The Samaritan knew genuine compassion for needed help. He had no desire to come back and have servitude from the injured man, jumped by several violent men. He could have been worried the gang would find him. Instead, the Samaritan chose to help.
35 And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’
The Samaritan knew money would a gift. Not for public acknowledgement. In the circle of Jesus, He could have said the Centurion. Instead, we know, Jesus knew the desire to help was for of His Father's Joy. Not to avoid criticism, not to control the narrative, not sway the planet to give drag parties to children in 3rd world countries or remove parental authority. Not to make all people more perfect. Not to create a uniform. But to love someone who is a child of God. Not with being called to the front of the Church. Love. For His Love. Love. Mercy. Compassion.
36 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?”
37 He said, “The one who showed him
mercy.”
And Jesus said to him,
“You go, and do likewise.”
Mercy.
In my childhood, we had a bully on the block. We were very young. All of us were just about in first grade. His mother became a renowned artist, and had her work in museums. She was divorced, and their support did not include childcare. The family was allowed to have cold cereal on summer mornings and weekends. Then they were shut out of the house. How seriously? Pee in the backyard. Leaves do wonders. The youngest child was 3 years old and so very hungry, the baby toddled into the next door neighbor's house and began to eat grass pre-emergent granules. When the man next door found out, he began to pound on their door and scream for the mother. She ignored him and the man took the child to the ER without the mother.
The problem began when the middle son, the Bully, began to hoard food in the backyard. And he discovered he could eat and eat unnoticed. In first grade, he was 30 pounds overweight. Much to his unhappiness, the 3 children next door, encouraged him to share his food with the toddler brother.
He had a sidekick from a couple of blocks, south of us. By then, our Bully was almost choked with anger. Their house was on a fairly steep hill. And we had all been told, by the entire neighborhood, to walk in front yards and do not ever walk in the road. And being sweet little children, we did walk in the front yards.
Our Bully found, with his cohort, he could run full tilt down from his front steps and bounce us down the hill, sometimes a good 10 feet. This hill was almost a 15', or 90' angle. No one landed gracefully. Our yards had good-sized trees and good-sized roots trailed along the front yards. No one landed gracefully or safely.
And the bully and cohort had game on.
The Parents? Everyone was not speaking to anyone near the home of the artist. Lawyers had been called to say, do not take my child to the ER and do not ring my doorbell. ALL the Parents, true mid century, 20th century parents, said you all work this out. Stop screaming. Get a band-aid if you land on a tree root.
We all weighed about 40 lbs. And the bully weighed 75 lbs.
These 75 lbs made our first grade bully much taller as well. He would run with a roar from the front steps. (You wonder why we did not cross the street. It was a creek. And out of bounds for, “you could drown.”) This went on from June to October. We would gauge if he was in the backyard and run past. This worked for a time.
One day, I was sporting a band-aid and bruised rear from being bounced down the hill. And he started roaring down the hill again. Suddenly, I wanted him to be a friend. And as he ran down the hill to me, I threw my arms around his middle and kissed his stomach. His cohort thought this was hysterical and decided to try bouncing me as I clung to our Bully. All our Bully had to do was put a hand on the cohort's forehead.
“Why did you do that?” Our Bully asked. Genuinely past the anger that perked him alive. I explained. “Why? Why? WHY do you want to kiss me?” I said put your cheek near. He did and I kissed his cheek. Why? I answered, "I like your face, really you have a kind face when you aren't bouncing us down the hill, and you have good hair." His cohort found this beyond funny and fell over laughing. Our Bully put his hand in his hair and stroked his hair. Our Bully confided, “I have my dad's hair.” He has good hair. Yes, he does. I said, I guess your dad knows you give the baby your food. Angry face. “Yes, he praised me for taking care of the baby.” I said you do, you never have the baby see you bouncing us. Yes, true.
Our Bully was thinking.
He said, “I tell you what, if you give me a kiss on the cheek, we will let you go past.” Remember, we were first-graders. After a few days, our Bully said, this is dull, really dull. And cohort doesn't like it. Giant nod from cohort. So we did agree, he could run down the hill screaming like a Troll. Our Bully liked being called a Troll. I went and got my 2 friends who lived next door to him and explained the new game. My friend, N., agreed quickly to kiss him on the cheek. She ran in and got her older sister. They could have been twins. And her sister, B., screamed, preached and refused. Then got insulting. I shrugged. I would talk to her. And that is Biblical too. One will, one is taken up!
Thus ended being thrown down the hill.
Eventually, the father told the mother he would move into the house if childcare didn't show him some razzle-dazzle. And things went along more normally.
Would Jesus approve? You bet.
But
If it had been do this and that, then,
I will continue to sneer
and be just as much of a bully and teach others to cohort in the bully world?
No way would Luke 10 apply.
Mercy is about teaching!
1) Treat others how they want to be treated.
2) To allow mercy as a teaching to co-exist in a treat us all kindly world.
3) Being nicey and allowing sneering, mocking, rudeness, cold, to become harm is only knuckling under to bullying.
That fake mercy is the evil Jericho Con Game. It isn't a Jesus Agenda.
Abba, Father!
WE PRAY
BLESSINGS
COVER
ALL
And
Gratitude
Every Day
and
Dignity
for ALL of
God's
Creation
WE PRAY
for
THE NATIONAL CATHEDRAL
To be
the Voice
of LOVE
Joy, Peace, Patience,
Goodness,
Faithfulness,
gentleness
and
SELF CONTROL
And ask You
for appropriate leadership.
Worldwide leaders
condemned the erratic and unfaithful Sermon
given by Bishop Budde.
Who previously condemned
President Trump
for saving St. John's Church from arson,
saying President Trump wasn't kind
to the homeless during arson,
and not a person to hold up the Bible.
Then condemning him for following the vote
the Vote of the People
for The Laws of the Land
and ceasing gender mutation on children,
as the Catholic Church Condemns
as a failure to provide Dignity to each Person.
Let's pray
for the departure
of what
is not
good.
Worldwide leaders said,
"The Sermon represents a church
not led by Jesus Christ and His Teachings
and Word.
A broken down
liberal refuge institution seeking only donations."
We pray the Blessing
of Growth
upon the Church
Proclaiming
The Entire Word of God
and
the
'Growing' Portion
of the Episcopal Church.
Remembering
the fall of the Church
from
17 million people
to 500,000.
The Anglican Church of The United States
fuels the genuine and compassionate
blessed outreach
of the Worldwide Anglican Communion
GAFCON
and not the portion of the
THE NATIONAL CATHEDRAL
The safety
of those
helping the earth
to heal.
Let evil and practicing evil
depart
far
from us
and our children.
With Your Help
We will act justly
and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with You, our God.
Cover us
in peace worldwide.
Please, Father, remember
North Carolina has flooded
California has fire we have never seen.
Detroit recovering from a frozen flood water main.
Virginia from Flood.
For the health
of Pope Francis.
Asking his physicians
to tell the truth about his
serious lung condition.
Healing in Jesus.
Give us more of
Your Strength
and Hope.
Dwell in me,
Dwell in us,
Dwell in those we Love,
Help us to seek You first.
And we will finish well,
in Jesus Christ.
Help us seek and find
and bring,
to become,
more Heaven
to this earth.
Gentle rain for California
putting out the fires
speedy insurance
claims
and fast rebuilding
realizing the standard building codes
even of Reagan
were safe.
Peace
THE GRAHAM MINISTRY
SAMARITAN'S PURSE
IS
DOING INCREDIBLE
SHAKE NORTH CAROLINA
SHAPE NORTH CAROLINA
SHAKE NORTH CAROLINA
SHAPE NORTH CAROLINA
Love and Mercy and Work.
GIVE TO
SAMARITAN'S PURSE
Please.
And in Jesus - This Hope.
Faith and Love - we will rise up Believing Jesus.
Amen
♔ Lord Jesus Saves †
Yes The Lord Fulfills His Purpose
Thank You Jesus The Lord
Send out
your
Dove
prayers!
Psalm 85 ~ peace to His people
Gratitude for
being unburdened
to remember this Riot
as
“A Peaceful Protest”
Arson fires all over D.C.
We are grateful
for this being past.
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