Sermon Tone Analysis

Scripture Introduction

Back in the 1960s — long before his name would be linked to sexual predatory behaviors, X-rated videotapes, and a still-unsolved murder — Bob Crane, the star of the popular sitcom Hogan's Heroes, seemed like the ideal leading man — handsome, clean-cut, likable.

As Col. Hogan, the wise-cracking leader of a ragtag group of Allied soldiers plotting subterfuge during World War II from inside a Nazi POW camp, Crane made Hogan's Heroes one of the decade's best-loved and highest-rated comedies … and remained well-liked on and off the set.

An old Peanuts cartoon shows Lucy, Linus, and Charlie Brown lying on the grass and looking at the clouds.

“What do you think you see, Linus?” asks Lucy.

Linus points at the clouds and answers, “Well, those clouds up there look to me like the map of the British Honduras on the Caribbean.

That cloud up there looks a little like the profile of Thomas Eakins, the famous painter and sculptor.

And that group of clouds over there gives me the impression of the stoning of Stephen, I can see the apostle Paul standing there to one side.”

Then Lucy asks, “What do you see in the clouds, Charlie Brown?” Says Charlie, “Well, I was going to say I saw a duckie and a horsie, but I changed my mind.”

But after his tragic murder in a motel room, it came out that he was living this dark, sinister, twisted life.

A married man with children, described by his children as an “ideal father.”

There were some interviews with Bob Crane’s children, who now are about my age.

They said, “You know, the thing that was so bad was back in the 70s people thought that what he was doing was shameful.

As a result, everybody made us feel the shame that our father did that sort of thing.”

If you ask a group of Jewish rabbis the question, “What is Chag Shavuot all about?”

You will hear some great answers with a ton of Talmudic polish and if you are like me after you finish hearing all of the opinions you feel like Charlie Brown, “I was going to say duckie and horsie, but I changed my mind.”

Shame is a powerful thing, especially when it is not even a shame we earned but something inherited.

Our story in Ruth is about a couple who had inherited shame, something from their past that only God could change to re-direct their future.

Today, I want to offer my best explanation for Shavuot’s ancient importance to it’s importance for us today.

I want to show to you how the ancient story of Ruth, given pride of place on Shavuot, is the bridge that links the Hebrew Bible to and to our hearts.

Get your copy of the Scriptures and say it together with me.

Ha-Foke-Ba

[Analytical questions instead of a formal proposition]

The Bible uses the story of Ruth to unlock the mystery of Shavuot and at the same time ends shame.

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How does the Bible use the story of Ruth to unlock the mystery of Shavuot and at the same time end shame?

As Col. Hogan, the wise-cracking leader of a ragtag group of Allied soldiers plotting subterfuge during World War II from inside a Nazi POW camp, Crane made Hogan's Heroes one of the decade's best-loved and highest-rated comedies … and remained well-liked on and off the set.

--

But after his tragic murder in a motel room, it came out that he was living this dark, sinister, twisted life.

A married man with children, described by his children as an “ideal father.”

I guess that all depends on what you think the book of Ruth is all about.

What is the story of Ruth all about?

There were some interviews with Bob Crane’s children, who now are about my age.

They said, “You know, the thing that was so bad was back in the 70s people thought that what he was doing was shameful.

As a result, everybody made us feel the shame that our father did that sort of thing.”

Bob Crane’s children who had nothing to do with the sin’s of their father point out something very powerful: they felt shame not guilt.

If you read your Bible you will find there is a difference between guilt and shame.

Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).

In guilt you’re dealing with something very specific.

“I broke a rule.

I’ve done something I shouldn’t have done.”

In shame it’s something different.

In shame we’re not so much saying, “I feel bad about something I’ve done.”

With shame I feel bad about something I am.

I feel bad about what I am.

In guilt we’re concerned about the negative.

“Here are the rules; I broke them.”

In shame we’re saying, “I aspired to be something.

I had a vision of what I should be.

I have a sense of where I want to go, and I’ve failed.”

With guilt the problem is obedience.

With shame the problem is me.

Shame is not always negative.

A soldier, stays on the battle field and fights to his death, knowing full well this battle can’t be won, rather than walking away and going A.W.O.L because of the shame that might bring.

I am not talking about the positive kind of shame today which is a positive biblical idea see Proverbs.

I am talking about the negative shame.

The shame that has caused everyone at some point in time to say, “What is wrong with me?

I feel ashamed of myself.”

Not ashamed of what just I did but I feel ashamed of myself, who I am.

Sometimes that sense of shame has nothing to do with sin.

Sometimes, like Crane’s children, it was the sin’s of the fathers.

Other times it might be sense of shame because you did not get that job promotion and you think, “what was wrong with me?”

Other times it could be something beyond your control all together like your physical build or lack thereof.

Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).

Shame, that sense of what is wrong with me, picks up emotional rocket fuel when the culture you live in enforces the shame cycle.

If you have ever felt this kind of shame you know there is not a man made bar of soap large enough or potent enough to rid the conscious of that feeling, that moment of shame, “What is wrong with me?”

That is actually the hope of Shavuot: the end of shame.

And, understanding how the Book of Ruth fits into all this is really the key to gaining the assurance that our time of shame is over.

It all depends on what you think the book of Ruth is all about.

Some people think the book of Ruth is about the conversion of Ruth to the religion of Israel.

The problem with this is that happens in (On Screen Bible).

If that was the whole point, end the book there.

Have a party, threw some confetti into the air and say, “Ruth is one of us.

And she lived happily ever after.”

The point of Ruth is not about this but about what she does after this.

More specifically, what is she doing when it says in

If we had never read through the Book of Ruth and Ruth was being made into a modern day television show it would be right here that they would go to flashback.

This moment is potentially very scandalous.

And, many people read a scandal into this moment.

A scandal that was instigated by Naomi and implemented by Ruth.

If you were a filmmaker you would want to show how scandal was in their blood, it ran through their veins.

What do we know about Ruth’s background that might determine her present?

What do we know about Ruth’s background that might determine her present?

The answer begins to unfold when we get our first introduction to Ruth: she is a moabite woman.

Seven different times, the author felt it necessary to remind the reader that was a Moabite: “Ruth the Moabite.”

Compared to Elimelech’s family that are only one time referred to as Ephratites .

Ephratithes were those living in the Bethlehem area in the ancient days of Judah.

[Analytical question setting up inductive discussion of first main point] What do we learn about our “hero’s” nerve in this earlier account

Bryan Chapell, Christ-Centered Sermons: Models of Redemptive Preaching (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2013), 43.

Ruth was a descendant of Moab.

You remember what brought Moab into existence?

Let me tell you the short version of the story.

It all started when Abraham was about 99 years old, the scriptures say, and he was recovering from a medical procedure he performed on himself called circumcision ().

While he was healing, three visitors came to his tent and though he was in recovery he serves his guests a meal and discovers that one of the angels is the Lord himself.

He has a kind of chesed, kindness that is almost other worldly After this visitation, we see that Abraham has such a special relationship with God he can barter God down for the salvation of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Two of the angels go to Sodom and Gomorrah where Lot finds them in the plaza and urges them to stay at his home and be his guests.

Like Abraham, he also prepared a feast for his guests.

Which the Rambam suggests this act of kindness broke with town policy of raping visitors to the city if they wanted to enjoy the pleasures and riches of Sodom.

Rambam suggests this is why the convened a town meeting at his door with all the city’s inhabitants ()

Remember what Lot does in response?

The best the Christian world can do with this is say that Lot was being a super great host to his guests and preferring his guests even over his own children even at the cost of his daughters facing a gang rape.

This is not noble, this is twisted kindness.