Preaching Ruth

I went down to the Sunshine Mission this past Sunday with my church small group to feed the homeless and share a message. I have a great admiration and respect for the people who founded the mission. It is very well organized and well-maintained. We started the chapel with Josiah leading the men in worship. Instead of singing to them, we invited the men to sing the songs that they wanted to sing. One thing the team talked about afterwards was how the men preferred to sing songs that we see as songs you sing in children's church. Songs like "He's got the whole world in His hands" and "This little light of mine. I'm gonna let it shine."

I'm not sure if I've ever preached on Ruth before, but I thought it was particularly relevant for this particular group. The text I spoke on was 1 Corinthians 1:26 which says, "For you see your calling brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. but God has chosen the foolish things of this world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the mighty, and the based things of the world, and the things which are despised, God has chosen."

I titled the message "The person God chooses." I made the point that Ruth was an illegal immigrant living off the generosity of others (aka...welfare) , but God chose her to be in the royal lineage because she kept her integrity. I also made the point that Boaz is a type of Christ who chooses us despite our social standing.

Ruth reminds us there is a human face to the least and the despised among us. In an age of political discontentment and polarization, let's not forget about the Ruths among us.