Sermon Tone Analysis

Proposition:

Because God is in control of all things we should faithfully follow him

Introduction:

The moment of air created by the wings of a butterfly may seem inconsequential, but some have theorized that it may have enormous impact, it is called The butterfly effect, and it basically says that an inconsequential act like flutter of a butterfly wing could set in motion a chain of events that slowly build into large weather events like a tornado or a hurricane.

Or we see this in the movie Back to the future as Doc Brown says to Marty Mcfly, don’t interact with anyone because even the smallest change can alter your entire future.

Or in real life we can see this too.

Frank Willis, a security guard at a hotel was making his rounds, as he was making his rounds he notices that a door was cracked ever so slightly.

He went over to it and found a piece of ducky tape around the door lock to prevent it from closing all the way.

He removed the tape and moved on, half an hour later he came back, and the door was open again with a new piece of duct tape.

So he called the police.

And that night 5 men were arrested setting off one of the biggest US political scandles, that we know today as Watergate.

Is the flap of a butterfly wing random chance?

Or was Frank Willis’s keen eye random chance?

Or is there an order to the universe?

The author of Ruth would have us believe that God orders and controls all things.

In our passage we see God in control of all things.

Even actions of individuals, mysteriously are also presented as something God does.

FCF:

But here is the issue that many of us have or will wrestle with.

How do you follow a God who is in control of all things, yet many times from our perspective there is so much that looks out of control.

Especially when the future is so unpredictable.

The future seems especially uncertain for Christian today in America.

It looks like orthodox Christian belief is “on the wrong side of history” as some have said.

This might not be how we would imagine things going if God was in control.

FCF:

What does it look like to trust God, when around you things arent

much of life looks out of control.

When the future seems very uncertain.

There is a cost to following God, especially if it looks like he is not in control, when the future seems uncertain.

It can look like quite a risk.

But our passage this morning shows us a God who is in control, of the good and the bad, the big and the small.

Following God does not always seem the most sensible thing to do, especially when we don’t know the future.

Many people look at the current state of our nation and think, it does not look like God is in control, if he is maybe he is just a bad driver.

Or maybe

The big question at the beginning of the sermon:

f God is really in control of all things, what should we do?

So, if God really is in control of all things even when things seem to not be going well from our perspective, what do we do?

Well our passage in Ruth shows us what we might do.

So Let’s jump in

Headline: The high and uncertain cost of going

Scene 1: 6-14

Ear

It had been over a decade since Naomi left with her husband and two sons.

The famine was harsh, but their deaths brought an empty loneliness was even harsher.

She was alone, well almost alone, her daughters in-law Orpah and Ruth were still by her side, why? she could not tell you, but they were there, but she was still alone.

Then one day she caught wind of some news.

The Lord, her lord, provided food for her cousins and aunts and uncles back in Bethlehem.

But this time she did not get her hopes up, but God was bringing her back home so she followed.

She got up early the next morning and started packing her things, she noticed Orpah and Ruth packing too, she did not say anything though, not yet, she kept her mouth shut so they would not try and persuade her to stay.

So after gathering her things

Naomi started walking, Ruth and Orpah right by her side.

They walk in silence for some time, all the while Naomi is thinking, why are they continuing to walk, why wont they just leave go back to their home.

After a couple of miles of pregnant silence, Naomi stops.

She gathers herself, and breaks the silence, and with as much gratitude as she can muster she speaks,

“Go

Go, go back to your home, thank you for coming this way, but you really need to go back.

And gently pulling their heads in near to hers and she sees their exhaustion and grief, they too are worn by loss, and with her hand on their heads and tears streaming down her checks Naomi sends her daughters off with a blessing “may the Lord grant that you find rest,”

Once they gather themselves, Orpah and Ruth now speak together, we will go with you to your people.

But Naomi, wants none of this, and like the scene from White Fang with Ethan Hawk yelling at the wolf-dog to go, get out of here, she tries to convince them to leave.

and tries to convince them to leave, she kinda goes off on them

Once they gather themselves, Orpah and Ruth speak to Naomi “we will go with you to your people.”

But Naomi, wants none of this, and like the scene from White Fang with Ethan Hawk yelling at the wolf-dog to go, get out of here, she tries to convince them to leave.

Don’t you know how dangerous it is to be a widow and a foreigner, in these times, back in my home everyone is doing whatever is right in their own eyes.

You would not make it for more than a few years maybe, if that.

I would be happy for you to marry one of my sons, but as you can see that is not going to happen because they are dead, and even if by some miracle I were to give birth today, would you even wait for him?

No, no you would’nt

And besides, you don’t want to be with me.

The Lord’s gives me only bitter water to drink.

I don’t know why, and I don’t know if that will change when I go back home.

But he is bringing me back so I have to follow.

Tears again fall as they embrace on the open road.

Orpah, she knows the cost of going, she wants to go, but as widow and a foreigner among a people who hate her simply because she is a Moabite, is just too much.

She loves Naomi, but the uncertainty, and oh the cost.

The future is too uncertain for Orpah, and there seems to be much more security and safety back in Moab, it would probably be an easier life, she thinks.

What to do?

Ruth holds on, but Orpah lets go.

Application:

The only problem with this is that “God’s wonderful plan for your life” probably does not always look wonderful.

It might look like Naomi’s.

There is a cost to following God.

To being a Christian.

For Orpah the cost was an uncertain future and the reality was that she would more than likely be a widow for the rest of her life.

We can almost hear the echo of Jesus words when he said that if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself take up his cross and follow me.

There is a cost to following God

There is a cost to following God

The days are dying when being a Christian, and being a part of a Church was not only socially acceptable, but possibly good for your social status, these days are gone in many places already, and they are dying here.

Right now the cost of following Jesus is not felt so much in affirming a belief, like the resurrection, people are actual more open to the possibility of miracles now than they have been in a while, but the cost is felt in the area of ethics, and particularly sexual ethics, is where a Christian can feel cultural pressure.

For some following what God says in his word when it comes to our sexuality will, like Orpah, make marriage seem like an uncertain possibility.

How will you get married if everyone expects that you live together before you get married.

Will you follow God when the future looks uncertain.

Is he in control of all things?

Or is the universe random chance?

Or when your good friend or adult child tells you he or she is living a gay lifestyle.

Will you be able to cherish their friendship and unconditionally love them, and always welcome them at your table with out affirming everything they do.

It would be a risk, for the future of the relationship may be uncertain.

In the American South it has been possible to be at a church for

There is always a cost to following God.

For you it may not be in the area of sexual ethics, but there is always a cost.

A number of years ago there was this famous evangelism method called the Four Spiritual laws, and the first spiritual law that was shared with someone being evangelized was “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.”

Orpah let go, but Ruth held on.