i need the saint of impossible causes


the saint of no return



A sermon on the Second Chapter of Ruth


One cold, winter evening a group of us decided to go out to a new trendy restaurant… Getting ready, we made sure to dress up in our best duds. You know; play the part. 
Of all my friends, though, I was the most prepared… 

That Christmas, in an inspired moment, I asked my folks for a double-breasted, black wool coat—which I still have. And let me tell you, with that jacket, my one pair of nice slacks and dress shoes, I was the “real-deal.”
While the rest of my friends were out there aping at sophistication; I was really pulling it off. 

Walking in, I knew anyone would be able to see who really belonged there. UntilUntil I stepped on a patch of ice. 
For which my traction-less dress shoes were no help. And those pockets of my refined wool coat were just deep enough to keep my hands pinned to my sides, instead of helping me keep my balance—or catch my fall…

As I gracelessly fell to the ground; I could only think of one thing: Please don’t let anyone NOTICE me.
Because that the thing about attention, isn’t it? 
It’s only under very specific circumstances that we want it.

When we’ve got it all together; sure, let everyone take a look. But when we come crashing down under the weight of our own pretenses; we al prefer not to be noticed…

And sadly, we’re that way when it comes to God, too. Aren’t we?
We only want God’s attention when we’ve got it all together. And the rest of the time, we try and keep out of God’s sight. Hide from God…

I remember during my first year or so of being a pastor; when one day out of the blue, I got a call from a stranger who wanted to meet with a pastor. Being young and earnest, I was only too happy to meet them…

He wanted to meet because, like has happened to all of us, his life had gone off the rails. 
He hadn’t been faithful. His, now ex-wife, had found out and kicked him out. His job wasn’t going well. And we were meeting at his folk’s place, because that’s where he had to live, for the time being.

After his litany of woes and regrets, I said, “you’re making a confession.” It’s been heard, and now hear these words.” And I informed him God had sent a messenger to declare to him that he had been forgiven. 
Well, the man wasn’t expecting THAT. 
Maybe some advice to get his life back in order. But not that. 

And the offense of it culminated when, one way or another, our conversation turned to baptism. I had said something assuming he was baptized. 
To which he told me, he wasn’t. 

I started talking about making arrangements to take care of that, but he protested. He said he wanted to wait until his life was in better shape before he was baptized. 

Well, now I have a confession for you. Your pastor was green. I failed. 
Oh sure, I had the sense to know that’s NOT the way it works. That we never get our lives in such good of shape that Jesus decided to come back a day early and begs us to get baptized. BUT!
But, I didn’t have the nerve to tell him as much. I tried to persuade him. To convince him to baptism. But I left it at that.

And what I should have done was to tell the guy to quit flirting with God! To tell him, in love—of course, that, that isn’t how it works. To be the Ethiopian Eunuch to that Peter and ask, “Your folks have a running water, don’t they? What’s to prevent you from being baptized NOW?”
But I didn’t…

That day I watched a sinner turn from grace because he thought he had it in him to do without, taught me a lesson.
That every time I talk to one of you as “pastor,” I’m talking to folks like the guy, aren’t I? 
Because we’re all like that.
We all want God’s attention. BUT, only on our terms, when we’ve got it all together. And those other times. When we’re struggling, when we’re doing something we’d prefer to keep secret, then we want to keep out of God’s sight. 
It’s Adam and Eve hiding from God all over again; isn’t it? But that’s what sinners like us do…

And herein lies the wisdom of our tradition, you lutherans! To baptize squirming little babies. Folks who do not have it together.
To not leave it to our decision. To do the deed before any of us have a chance to put our life in order. 
*And if you’re NOT baptized, we can take care of thatthere’s water, there’s NOTHING to prevent you from being baptized. 

Because baptism ISN’T something we do, it’s NOT a decision we make. It’s something that happens TO us. Something that happens to us when God first sees us, and decided to do something about what God sees…

The book of Ruth, its a case study in those times in life when we’d prefer to stay out of God’s sight, isn’t it? It’s all about folks reacting when disaster drops on the scene. Naomi, who ought to know better, runs FROM it. Boaz, charmingly, runs TO it. And Ruth; Ruth, strangely and poignantly ACCEPTS it. 

Because Ruth is NOT a descendant of the family of losers God first chose in the old and impotent Abraham and Sarah!

But accept it she does! When Naomi tells Ruth to go back home and worship her old gods, the gods of success Naomi has been worshipping all along, Ruth will have none of it! Sure, disaster has befallen them, but that won’t make Ruth leave!
 And then, when they get to Bethlehem, Ruth’s first idea is to go and glean.

Now gleaning was an ancient form of social-security. Farmers, if they missed something in the harvest, were not allowed to go back and get it. They had to leave it there for those lowly folks who couldn’t provide for themselves. 
In fact, they weren’t even supposed to harvest the edges of their fields. They were supposed to leave that too. 

And Ruth, when she lands in Bethlehem, ain’t too proud to beg! She knows her situation. She doesn’t try and hide it, or hide from it! She just goes out there, like Blanche DuBois in “A streetcar Named Desire,” counting on the goodwill of strangers! 

While she’s out there hustling; Boaz, the landowner, comes to check on his fields. And of all that calls for his attention, Ruth nabs his! 
Boaz calls his foreman over and asks about Ruth. 
Like all good management, the foreman has all the details. He tells Boaz what a hard worker she is. But he also lets Boaz in on the juicer details. 
“She’s that widow who married into that family of losers and doesn’t have the sense to leave them…”

And hearing it all, Boaz sees something in Ruth he hadn’t before. Make no mistake, though, it’s not pity. It’s something more.
In Boaz’s eyes, Ruth is people like him

There’s this a song on the radio, “Bad at Love.” 
It’s this litany of doomed relationships, with a chorus where the singer croons, “I don’t mean to frustrate, but I / Always make the same mistake / because I’m / bad at love.”
It’s a little cynical, but it’s also welcome. Not just because it has this great big, epic hook. But because on airwaves crammed with odes to love; it’s nice to hear a confession how our love often isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. 

Because the truth is, our love looks a lot more like Naomi’s, than Boaz’s. Doesn’t it? At the first sight of anything unworthy of our Facebook feed, we’re turned off. We turn away.
And that's the trouble. 
So hear the Good News; God’s love is a lot more like Boaz’s - than our’s! God acts a lot more like Ruth than us!

Martin Luther noticed the way love works a long time ago. He noticed how human love, always ONLY begins when it finds something appealing to it. That human love searches for what it attractive to it. 
Now that sounds obvious, I know, but Martin only made this observation by dwelling on the way God’s love works. Which is totally opposite of ours!

God’s love, unlike ours, doesn’t search for what it’s after, but creates it!
Here’s a quote, “…the love of God which lives in humans loves sinners, evil persons, fools, and weaklingsin order to MAKE them righteous, good, wise, and strong(!). Rather than seeking its own good, the love of God FLOWS FORTH and BESTOWS good(!).”

And listen to this part: “Therefore sinners are attractive because they are loved; they are not loved because they are attractive.” 
“Therefore sinners are attractive because they are loved; they are not loved because they are attractive.”

Isn’t that wonderful?
Not only are you loved, you’re beautiful to boot! You’ve got it all!

Folks, you have a God who is far-sighted. In other words, the further off we are from God, the better God sees us! Like Ruth, we are most noticeable to God, when we have the least to offer!

You SEE, God’s already seen you! 
And when God laid eyes on you, God said “very good.”
You’ve already found favor in the sight of God! Maybe not when you weren’t expecting it. Probably even when you didn’t want it. 
And that’s the Good News!

We spend our lives trying to get gussied up for God, don’t we? As if we have to flirt with God. But God will have none of it! God refuses to look at us like that. 
Because before we even started trying. While we were still far off. When we were looking for love in all the wrong place, like the old cowboy sings, God spotted us; and God fell in love!

When God looks at you, all God sees is a beloved, lovable creature! And this love God see you with, it makes you lovable, makes you beautiful!

So for you, from now on, it’s too late! The deals done! God’s already taken a shining to you! Over the moon for you! Head over heels for you!

And now, there’s nothing left to do! No more footsie to play. No more make-up to put on. No more clothing to put on to try and hide your fallibility. 
(get it?) 

Because God has already fallen for you! 
God’s made arrangements on your behalf. Told the hired hands to stop bullying you from the pulpit! God has even invited you to sit down and share a lover’s meal of bread and wine!

It’s a humble meal. It doesn’t have the pretensions of the latest trends. It has something better; a host who’s head over heels for you! A host whose saved the place of honor just for you!

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