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We have two wonderful texts this morning. The book of Ruth is a powerful story of loyalty and love. It also sheds light on the genealogy of David, the ancestor of Jesus. Ruth and Boaz have a son. They call him Obed. Obed becomes the father of Jesse. Have you heard of the Jesse Tree? It is a family tree often highlighted in Advent that connects the dots, if you will, from Abraham to Jesus. It makes a great Advent arts and crafts activity or sanctuary banner. Jesse becomes the father of King David. Joseph the carpenter is a descendent of David. Bethlehem, the City of David. Sound familiar?  A mere 42 generations pass from Abraham to Jesus. Those interested in the details can go to the first chapter of Matthew. Advent begins in one month, the first Sunday in December. Today’s Hebrew Scripture, read with Christian eyes, is a tale of Jesus’ roots.

More importantly, the book of Ruth is a glimpse into the plight and difficult decisions families make, everyday. Elimelech and Naomi find themselves in a drought. Food and jobs are hard to come by. Re-location is necessary. In a new country or part of the country, their sons marry local women named Ruth and Orpah. (Oprah’s namesake misspelled) Unexpected deaths deplete the family of its breadwinners. Now what? Naomi decides to return to her home turf. Her daughter-in-laws follow. But Naomi saw the foolishness in this. Her people are not the people of Ruth and Orpah. Widowed women had little future with a mother-in law that had no more sons. There may be possibilities still in their mother land. Can you feel and empathize with the situation?

Orpah weeps and kisses Naomi goodbye. Ruth weeps and clings to her mother-in-law. We then hear the courageous and love-filled testament: “Do not press me to leave you or to turn back from following you! Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die, I will die – there I will be buried.” These verses are read at many a lesbian holy union ceremony. They are also included in one of my all time favorite movies, Fried Green Tomatoes.

The Book of Ruth is a homecoming story. We make our home with those we love, where we are welcomed to love. It warms my soul when I hear people speak of their sitting in church after a long exile, being overwhelmed with a sense of “coming home.” It warms my soul when I hear persons making peace with God and their mortality say, “I am going home.” We are no longer strangers or wanderers. We belong. We are coming, we are going, we are HOME. God love us!

The second reading is probably even more familiar. Which is the greatest commandment of all? Jesus merges two into one. Love God and love your neighbor as yourself. Scripture is profoundly telling us this morning that love is the way to and the way of God.

Today we are lifting up the lives of the saints who have gone before us. We will soon pray out loud the names of seven of our family who have died this year. There’s a time warp in grief. It doesn’t seem possible that there are just seven people who have celebrated homecomings this year. A year is a false timekeeper. In my brief time with you, I readily look into faces and families and think, it was just yesterday … was with us. The hole does not go away. We don’t want it to. God dwells in and near holes in our lives. I’ve not thought of it this way before but maybe some of those holes are wells.

Jesus meets us at the well with love, with acceptance, with compassion. The same way Jesus meets us at the table.

Tonight’s Covenant Class topic is God of Judgment – God of Love. We are in the process of exploring the names, job descriptions and natures of God. The destination I seek to make is that God is a God of mercy. I think this is counter cultural, in the distant past and certainly in our present. We have made God in our image, complete with our need to be rewarded and judged. We cannot fathom, believe or internalize the love of God. We need a God that we can recognize. For many, God keeps score. Grace and forgiveness of sins are marketing tools.

Joan Chittister remarks in a video, Faith and Reason, that we are “Capitalist Christians, racing around trying to get God. I get God when I put enough money in the bank.” By money we mean indulgences and good works. We earn our salvation. We earn God’s love. We are destined to worry whether we have invested enough, and what, by the way, is enough? It pains my soul when I hear someone fearfully worry whether God will welcome them home at the end of their earth bound journey. It pains my soul when I listen to Christians deny communion to their brothers and sisters. Or when someone denies themselves the table’s welcome.

We are a very judgmental people. Sadly, I include myself in these ranks. God, however, is not. For if God was, none of us would have a chance. Revenge is a human characteristic. We may relish believing someone we despise will rot in hell. But God doesn’t operate that way. We may teach and believe God punishes sin. But I think, along with quite a few others, that sin punishes sin. Drives us crazy waiting for our desired outcomes, but it’s not God’s wrath we will see. Our judgment’s wrath, yes. God is a God of mercy. God doesn’t give up on anybody.

Today’s scriptures are not pabulum. They are the meat or the protein of our faith. By love, not judgment, is how Christians are supposed to be known. By our love, not our judgment we are identified as God’s people.

Think about this as you read of the in-fighting within the religious right. Think about this as you experience the chasm between our brothers and sisters of all faiths. Think about this as you go to the polls Tuesday. Think about this as you make plans for Thanksgiving.

May we open our hearts, our minds and all our soul to the strength and unfathomable-ness of God’s love. We will never understand it. It will never make sense. Let us rejoice in God being God!

Amen

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