Midst of the Mess - Week 1 - The CORE - Pastor Michael Ewart
In the Midst of the Mess
Week 1 - The CORE
Pastor Michael Ewart
Again, Welcome to our brand new sermon series In the Midst of the Mess as we study through the Book of Ruth. We do all sorts of different kind of sermon series here at The CORE. But I think my personal favorite is when we do cover a whole book of the Bible, we did that last summer too if you remember Esther. And we look the 1st and 2nd Peter and Jude.
And this year we're doing Ruth and then immediately after this one we’re to spend four weeks on Ruth, and then we're going to go through the Book of Jonah. Both are two incredible Old Testament stories and we have so so much that we can learn from these stories. I love going through a whole book of the Bible because we're able to look at the setting, the context we’re able to look at every verse as God originally gave it to us. And so many practical applications that we can take from it. Sometimes though when we say we're going to study the Book of Ruth it's tempting or maybe you. It goes through your mind what you think. Yeah, but what is this gonna have to do with my everyday life? History of book of the Bible. Okay. But is it going to be practical and I can assure you it absolutely will be. So here are some of the things that we'll be talking about over the next four weeks as we study the Book of Ruth and you tell me if it maybe applies to something in your life have you ever lost a loved one? No, you know, Meghan has and in her family and you probably have as well. And if you haven't, I can assure you that you probably will. It's in the Book of Ruth. Have you ever had to say, a really hard goodbye to a loved one? It's in there, too. Have you ever had to move and live in a new community? Try to make new friends, get adjusted to a new location. It's really hard to do. It's covered in the Book of Ruth as well. We're going to learn about that.
Have you ever felt hopeless and stuck. And that you saw it. No, no possible solution to your current situation and you are scared and frustrated. And you didn't know what was going to come next. We're going to bring me talking about that too. So there's so much so much for us in this in this incredible book of the Bible that we call Ruth. I hope that you're going to be able to come to all four messages in this series in the next four weeks.
So why don't we Jump Right In? We're going to study the Book of Ruth. And let me just give you a little bit of the setting before we start reading the verses so that you kind of understand when it happened and some of the real history around it. So first of all, it happened around probably 3100 years ago is when this story actually took place, it is not a parable is not a made-up story. It's real history with real people in real places, 31-32 hundred years ago. It happened during this time in Israel, when the people of Israel were in a Time called the period of the Judges. I don't know if you're familiar with that at all, but when the people of Israel first got to the promised land they are now their own nation in their own land and for the first four hundred years or so that they inhabited the promised land that the land of Israel. They did not have a king.
God had said you are not going to have a king. You're not going to be like the nations of the world. I am your king. Trust me, listen to me, obey me, follow me. I am your king and it will go well for you and this land, if you will. And they didn't. They rebelled against God again and again, they forgot about God they didn't worship God. They started to go after false gods, gods, that aren't really Gods time and again, they kept doing this. And every time they did, God would allow some kind of hardship to come upon them. Usually, in the form of foreign invaders, that would come in. And then the people would say, y'all, yes, we have sinned, we're so sorry God. They would turn back to him and and God would send what we call judges and don't think of Judges like we think of them today, but a rescuer, a ruler, a leader who had come and rescue them from that foreign oppression and the people would be so thankful to God. I would worship him again and until they didn't. And if you read the Book of Judges, you're going to see this cycle repeating again and again and again.
So we do know that the Book of Ruth, what we're about to read took place sometime during that four hundred years, and we get the impression probably toward the later part of those 400 years. That setting kind of helps us understand what's happening in this story. It says that in those days, Israel had no king and everyone did as they saw fit. Okay? Does everyone just did whatever they thought was right. And that's what the time of the judges was like, so at that setting with that background, let's jump right In.
Ruth. Chapter 1 start starting at verse 1, we're going to read all 22 verses of chapter 1 where it says, in the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and I'm going to pause periodically in this already be one, don't let the word famine just slip by without noticing it. I think in our day and age the word famine doesn't carry much weight. You do you hardly ever even? See it on the Evening News, where they report, all the bad stuff hardly ever famines this for us, famine means the price of bread goes up 20 cents, we won't even notice right with modern technology and farming, and global agriculture and the ability to preserve foods. We just don't notice famine anymore, but back when this was written in an agrarian culture with unprocessed foods and limited ways to store them. Famine meant my family might starve to death. This is what was happening at the beginning of the book of Ruth a famine.
So a man from Bethlehem and Judah together with his wife and two sons went to live for a while in the country of Moab. The man's name was Elimelech. His wife's name was Naomi. And the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilian again, this is real history were given real names. They were Ephrathies from Bethlehem, Judah and they went to Moab and lived there. So that name, Bethlehem ring a bell. I hope it's the birthplace of Jesus. He would be born there, 1,100, 1,200 years, after this story took place, In fact, what we are studying here are some of the ancestors of Jesus and I'll bring that out in some future in the future messages that are coming. But they leave it. They live in Bethlehem Bethlehem. If you translate it into English, literally means House of Bread. It was apparently a pretty fertile place, where, where barley would grow where they could make plenty of bread, except they couldn't because famine had struck, and it makes me wonder if maybe this is one of the times of apostasy, when Israel was turning away from the Lord.
Maybe this was one of the Judgments that came upon them. We don't know exactly when it was, but this, this famine comes upon Bethlehem. So he hears that 40 to 50 miles to the east with with mountainous terrain climates, can change drastically from place to place in a country called Moab, the neighboring country. They're apparently, they're still there, still rain. There are still crops there's food to eat. So Elimelech packs up his family and he moves to Moab for a time. Now, understand that he is leaving. His culture, he's leaving his people, he is leaving the promised land, where God has promised to be with his people, and in a sense, he's not directly, but he's kind of leaving the one true God, because this is the country that he gave them. Now, it's not that he's totally becoming an unbeliever at this point, but he is leaving the place where God dwells among his people to go to this foreign place called Moab. And God did warn people about the people of Moab. He warned the Israelites not to take wives from the people of Moab, because they worship false gods and they would lead you astray. So lots of warnings about going to a place like this and just this far into the book. We can already see that tragedy has struck the mess has begun. There's famine, they're living in a foreign culture. Things are not good for Elimelech and his family, but there's more.
Now Elimilech, Naomi's husband died. And she was left with her two sons in a foreign Land by herself without her family and friends around her. She's there and her husband dies. But it gets worse. They, her two sons, married Moabite women. The most god-pleasing thing they could have done, one of them is named Orpah and the other, Ruth, I wish this book is named. A moabite woman. So after they had lived there for about 10 years. They long famine, they've been there a while. Both Mahlon and Chilian, her both of her two sons also died. And Naomi was left without her sons. And her husband.
Can you picture Naomi at a time like this? How she must have felt. Not only did she lose the people that she loved the most, they say that there's nothing harder than losing a child? She lost both of her sons. Not only did she have that but she's also living in the foreign culture, not only that. But in those days, a woman was not able to earn a living. A woman was not able to hold land. How was she going to survive? There was a serious question about that. She was doomed for a life of poverty for sure. Life that would rely on the good graces of others if they wanted to help and if they didn't, she might die of starvation. This was the future that Naomi was looking forward to.
So, It says, They, so, let's follow this. Take away, though. Let us for go any further first, takeaway is this, when life is a mess, do you ever try to fill out? The fill in the blanks before the pastor says them? You're not going to guess this one? When life is a mess, you'll be in distress. It rhymes may be good against Now, first glance, when I say that when life is a mess, you'll be in distress. You say, did you really have to do a fill-in-the-blank for that one? Isn't that one kind of self-evident Pastor? You have to waste our time with that bear with me though, there is a reason I put this here because I think the truth is that we live in a culture today in modern day America where we kind of get it into our minds that life is just always going to kind of be pretty easy life. We kind of life should be pretty good. We kind of deserve a good life here in this country.
And, and it comes as a surprise like they did with Naomi when a bad thing happens, then another bad things happens, is it just be two they usually come in threes then another bad thing happens. And as such that's challenging and we feel like we're in distress and we and yet we feel like glass shouldn't be that way. One telling you right now that when life is a mess, you will be in distress expect it, anticipate it, sooner or later it is going to happen. And here's another truth that goes along with that, when don't we as Christians sometimes? Think, and I've heard so many Christians feel this way or think this way or assume that this is to be true that when life is bad just be glad.
How to make it rhyme for a source memorable. When life is bad. Just be glad. And that was what a Christian is supposed to do. And don't we sometimes do that with people that when they're going through something hard, we instead of crying with them. Giving them a shoulder, which is what they really need by the way, instead we say oh that's okay. They're in heaven now. Everything's good smile. Look up. Be cheery, be happy. No, it's okay. When life is a mess, it's okay. If you're sad.
It's okay, if you cry, it's okay. That you experience distress. Wasn't that in the song that we read earlier? In Psalm 13? We heard these words. The questioning of God in the midst of the mess. How long Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts? And day after day, have sorrow in my heart. Ever felt that way. In the midst of the mess. Did you feel this stress? I just want to tell you. First of all, that's okay. You're allowed to. If you felt the stress, it's not because you're a weak Christian or you're not a strong person, it's because you're human and it's what you're supposed to feel when your life is a mess.
But the story doesn't end there. Let's go on. Ruth chapter 1 starting at verse 6, when Naomi heard, in Moab that, the Lord had come to the aid of his people prefer by providing food for them. She and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home to Bethlehem from Moab with her two daughters-in-law, she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road, that would take them back to the land of Judah. So with no more Family Ties in Moab with nothing to live for there. With no one to provide for them there. She hears that in Bethlehem things are turning for the better. God Is providing for his people. There, let's go back home. Let's go back to Bethlehem. Now the culture in that day would say that if a someone that is very near and dear to you is going to be leaving, especially for good or on a long trip, the culture would say, well, we need to walk with them for a ways. It's kind of the way of saying, your good-byes, walking with them on part of their journey and then you turn back and go home as they would continue on their way. I wonder if that's what's happening because of what we read next. Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law has their traveling go back. Each of you to your mother's home that you. You've been kind, you've fulfilled your cultural obligation now you can go back home. Now may the Lord show you kindness as you have shown kindness to your dead husband's and to me. May the Lord grant that each of you will find rests in the home of another husband. And she kissed him goodbye and they wept aloud and said to her. We will go back with you to your people. Okay, so after walking that required distance Naomi's like okay, you know, let's be honest here, you fulfilled your duty. You walked with me this far, go back. Go back to your home country, go back to your people and you can find husbands there and she's ready to say her goodbyes. But at first, they insist no, we're both going with you. We're not going to leave. Might have been a polite thing. Again a cultural thing that they said that. So reading on and says but Naomi. She's insistent, no, no, no return home, my daughter's. Why would you come with me? And then she has some logical reasons. Am I going to have any more sons? Who could become your husband's return home my daughter's? I am too old, too old to have another husband and even if I thought there was still hope for me that she might find another husband. Even if I had a husband tonight, which I obviously wasn't going to happen and then gave birth to Sons. Would you wait until they grew up? Would you remain unmarried for them. You gonna hang around for another 20 years until I would have children and then then you could marry them. That's not going to happen. No, my daughters. It is more bitter for me than for you. Because the Lord's hand has turned against me. She is having so much trouble seeing the light that there's any possible hope for the future. In fact, she kind of lays it out in her mind. And don't we do that, too? Sometimes that we look at our current situation and we try to see a bright side. We try to see how this could possibly turn out for good. Sometimes we can think of some That's what we hang Our Hope on. And yet, sometimes it's like with Naomi. She couldn't figure out a way. So ok. A crazy idea. Best case scenario I could possibly come up with today. I find a new husband. We get married tonight. I get pregnant tomorrow and I have kids in nine months. What are you going to wait around and marry sons that are 20 years younger than you? And then you're going to marry them. No, this isn't realistic. My daughter's. You need to go home. You need to go back to your own people, your own country, and and she is, she's bitter. She's angry. She feels like the Lord is against her and then verse 14 says that this they wept aloud again then or below one of the two their Orpah and Ruth or below kissed. Her mother-in-law. Goodbye. She heads home, but Ruth clung to her,
Ruth refuses to leave and we finally have a turning point in this story. It's not great yet. It's not about to get great tomorrow, but we have a turning point in the story, starting at verse 15 look said Naomi, your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her Gods. Go back with her Naomi is. So insistent, she knows their future with her is not going to be good Ruth. Go back with her by the way, she's not the greatest. Here is she go back with her to your gods? That's where she's at right now. She sees no hope. But Ruth replied. Now zero in on this snap to attention some of the most important words I think in the whole Bible, some of the most beautiful words ever written by human beings on the planet of any culture of any time this incredible promise and oath that Ruth now makes to Naomi says this Ruth replied. Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go, I will go. Where you stay, I will stay your people will be my people and your God. God my God where you die. I will die and I and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me ever so severely that was code for an oath being made to the one true God. Make the Lord deal with me. Be it ever so severely if even death separates you and me I promise and swear this to the one almighty God. She says When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her. That's an understatement. She stopped urging her. Alright alright we're I guess we're in this together.
Ruth this moabite woman who obviously had come to know the one true God while living in a Elimilech’s household married to one of his sons. She makes this amazing promise of faithfulness and commitment to a foreign woman who just happened to be her mother-in-law, but she will never leave her. What's even more amazing is, she's ready to give up the God that she had grown up with or the false gods, she had grown up with and she is ready to dedicate her life however long, it may be To this one. True God, the god of Israel, the Lord she's there. She's leaving behind her community, her culture, her Customs, her family, and she's going to go with Naomi no matter what. Naomi didn't deserve it. Naomi's, being bitter and angry. She's telling them to suit with to go home. But Ruth is persistent and she will not let go, and she's going to love her mother-in-law. No matter what, what a beautiful, beautiful promise and story.
How could Ruth make a promise like this? I have no other explanation but to say she must have known the one true God. She must have known his grace and his Mercy is undeserved, loving kindness for her. What she could then show to her mother-in-law and Promises lifelong faithfulness to her. So I want you to write this down as your next big takeaway.
When you, when life is a mess. When life is a mess. Believers, make you blessed. This is so important, when life is a mess, Believers will make you blessed those who know the Lord God other Christians can be with you to walk with you through it. And they will bless you as they do, not forsake, you even in your hardest times. So here, this is so key. In fact, write down these three words to find Faithful Friends. In your life, find faithful friend. So that when the mess comes, you will have Faithful Friends that will walk with you through it. So no matter what happens in your life, maybe you've got a relationship that's going off the rails, baby, you're about to get a divorce. Maybe your estranged from your adult child and you it's a struggle and you don't know how to get through it but if you have a faithful friend that will stick with you, no matter what it will be so much better. A Christian friend that will stand with you. You know, that the court dates coming up? And you're really afraid about what the result is going to be fine. Faithful Friends have a faithful Christian friend there with you. You got the health diagnosis and you know that things aren't going to be pretty. It's going to be hard. Find Faithful Friends that will walk with you during that difficult time. You seen the things that you need to change in your life. You know, you can't go on like this in that area, whatever it is, you know, that addiction that you need to get over, right?
You know. You said it for years, you need to quit smoking, it's time. You know, the drinking is out of hand, you need to, you need to get that under control. The gambling its a real problem. You know, you need to lose the weight. Find Faithful Friends that will walk with you in the midst of the mess. And you will be blessed. God promises us. Believing friends will stick with you. Even when life gets hard, So my homework assignment for you is two quick things. First of all, would you identify somebody in your life? That's in the midst of a mess. Who is it? Somebody just popped into your head. Love them this week. Be faithful to them this week. Do something for them. They they they're pushing me away, they don't want it, they've said, no, I don't care. If be forceful be a Ruth. Push yourself on them because they will be blessed as you are. A faithful friend that walks with them in the mess. And the second part of your homework assignment is what is your mess right now? What are you going through right now? Invite somebody in.
Find a faithful friend that will walk with you through it.
Okay. All right. Let's go on. We've got, we got four verses left. One final point. Ruth 1:19. So the two women went on until they came to Bethlehem but we can have journey when they arrived in Bethlehem. The whole town was stirred because because of them, people walking in a couple of women walking into town, what's this all about? And the women exclaimed can this be Naomi. She's really aged. She's not looking so good. And so she says, don't call me Naomi, you know what Naomi means. Pleasant. Stop. Stop calling me. Pleasant. Stop calling me Naomi. Call me instead, Mara which in Hebrew means bitter. Because the almighty has made my life very bitter. I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back. Empty, why call me Naomi the Lord has Afflicted me. The almighty has brought Misfortune upon me, o. She's bitter. All right, isn't she the midst of the mess? She is better. So imagine today, somebody named joy and they go through a lot of calamities in their life. I'm getting a name change. Everybody stop calling me joy. You start calling me bitter?
My name is bitter old woman but that's what Naomi tells people to call her. That's where she's at right now. Have you been there? You're a felt like that or felt all alone and that God's just against you and everything that's happening to you. Is it really hard to be positive and pleasant? Sometimes it is, isn't it? So verse 22. So Naomi returned from Moab accompanied by Ruth, the moabite, her daughter-in-law arriving in Bethlehem, as The Barley Harvest was beginning. So last verse of this chapter, so we had this whole sermon we've been doing this, we've been doing this nosedive about to slam into the ground. Things are bad and getting worse and she's getting bitter and how is life ever going to get better? And then all of a sudden right right here at the end we're doing this quick pull up. Now we got three more chapters so you're going to have to come back and I want to wrote it all for you. But we leave today with just with this glimmer of hope there's two things in chapter one that give us a glimmer of hope when we've already talked about and that is that Naomi is not alone. She's got A faithful friend, a faithful believer that is walking with her, her daughter-in-law Ruth who's not, even a an Israelite, but a foreigner who has adopted the Israelite. God she's walking with her. That's one bright point. And the second one is that barley Harvest
Remember back in, verse 6, we read that the Lord had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them. God's time of judgment is over. His people have turned back to him. He's providing food for them. Once again, there is hope. God Is providing things are turning around. So it's that glimmer of hope that I want to leave you with today and it's our third takeaway if you want to write it. So in this blank, when life makes you bitter, God promises better. God promises, you better even when you're in the midst of the mess. Even when you don't see any hope it isn't that the way it is for us, when we're in the midst of it all we can't see a solution to it all. We can't imagine how better could result from this. We lack the imagination. We can think of all the possible outcomes, but none of them are good. But, with us here through this book of Ruth in, you're going to find how God worked even her situation for blessing and good. God promises better. And he promises better to you, too. In fact, there's a verse that I love for you to memorize. If you haven't already, Romans 8:28 somebody reminded me rear were using the same verse with the Esther series exactly one year ago. It's with Ruth to remember this first. And we know, we know that in all things If God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called, according to his purpose. God works for the good of those who love him. That's his promise to you. Now, you haven't seen the evidence of it quite yet. In the Book of Ruth. We're going to get there. So make sure you keep coming back. But go with that. Glimmer of hope God is at work to bless you too. Even if you can't figure out how it's going to happen, it's his promise. And to assure you in that promise. There's one thing you need to remember when you doubt that , Keep taking your eyes back to the cross. The empty cross, the empty tomb three days later where you see the proof in the evidence that God is at work for you to bless you. He sent his son.
He went to the cross. He took your guilt, your shame, your failures. He took your bitterness. He took that too. He took it to the cross and he bore Or at all for you so that you can be right with God. So that the heavenly father will only smile upon you. And promises you an eternal future with him. This world doesn't always get better. But there's something so much better that is yet to come. And that's God's promise to you. So I don't know if I've shared this with you before but I think it's worth repeating. I'm convinced through my studies of scripture that when we get to Heaven, There are two things that are going to come out of our lips. The two things I think we're going to say is soon as we get to have him the first two things out of our mouths. Well and oh, But I didn't say it with the proper expression. So the first thing I think we're all said we break into the Eternal Kingdom. The first thing we're going to say is It's so much better than I ever could have imagined. We're gonna see the beauty of everything. The beauty of God we’re to see him face-to-face. Perfect for vision, our loved ones that are there, all these things. Whoa! Our minds are going to be blown by what we see as soon as we enter into the Eternal Kingdom. And I think the second thing that's going to come out of our lips is Now, I get it. Now, it all makes sense. God promised better? Huh? Oh man. Did he deliver? Oh, now I feel. I connect all the dots. Now I see why all that happened. Why I suffered thats why I went through that. Why? This thing happened like that. God, you're so good now, I get it. So, go today with that little bit of Hope in your heart. And we're going to unpack this more over the coming weeks, whatever your mess is today, know that God has promised better, and he is with you, even when you don't feel it, he's there. And he's helping you and he'll be with you. Every step of the way you do have a good future ahead of you. A sure and certain hope. God promises.
