Summer 2024

July 14, 21, and 28 — Pastor Becky preaching the book of Ruth

The book of Ruth is written as a parable rather than a history. Like any good parable, the story has lots of layers of meaning, much wordplay, and leaves spaces where the reader can think about the story applying to their lives. The book of Ruth cannot be dated accurately and is placed differently in the Christian and Jewish texts. It is at the end of the Book of Judges in the Christian Bible as a counter to the bad actions at the end of Judges in the time when there was no king in Israel. In the Jewish tradition, it is put in the writings section, possibly as a moral lesson to counter the story in Nehemiah about not taking foreign wives when the Israelites came back from exile in Babylon. No matter when it was written, or where it is placed in the canon, this book is rich with lessons on how God is faithful to us and how we as a community can live better when we follow God’s call to love each other.

• July 14 — Loss and Loving Kindness. Focus text: Ruth 1:1–19a. This first week we will hear the beginning of the story with the introduction to the main character Naomi and her daughters-in-law, Ruth and Orpah. Naomi and her husband Elimelech and her sons set off to Moab from Bethlehem since there was a famine. While they find food and wives for their sons, the family also suffers the loss of Elimelech and his sons. The three widows have choices to make. Orpah follows Naomi’s request, but Ruth — whose loyalty and loving kindness to Naomi is abundant and overflowing in a time of hardship and great loss — Ruth goes above and beyond by swearing an oath to stay with Naomi, follow her God, and go with her back to Bethlehem where she will be a foreigner.

August 11 — Interlude: Joseph’s Dreams with Rev. Rose Niles

Focus text: Genesis 37:1–11, 18–25

As summer is coming to a close and we are beginning to consider the work of the next program year, we will be taking up the challenge of Project Regeneration again, considering our life and work together and where we believe the Spirit is leading us into the future. Rev. Rose Niles will talk about the ways in which God spoke to Joseph in dreams and encourage us in our dreaming for what may come. We will also celebrate birthday Sunday in the sanctuary at the close of the service.

August 18 — Sodom and Gomorrah

Focus text: Genesis 18–19, selected verses; Ezekiel 16:49–50

The story of Sodom and Gomorrah has been used for centuries to justify homophobia and exclusion of queer people from Christian churches — which is odd because the story has everything to do with the mistreatment of strangers and hardly anything to do with sexuality. In the first part of the story, angels tell Abraham that God intends to destroy the cities and Abraham bargains to save them for destruction. In the second part, Lot and his family attempt to save the angels from the “abominations” of the residents of Sodom; the conduct of the residents seals their fate and the cities are destroyed. Lot’s wife looks back, and is turned into a pillar of salt. This morning we will revisit the story, together with what the prophet Ezekiel says about “the sin of Sodom”, and try to make sense of this peculiar narrative and what has been done with it.

September 1 — Strange Heroes: Lot’s Daughters

Focus text: Genesis 19:30–38

The story of Sodom and Gomorrah ends with God raining down fire and brimstone on the two cities, which are utterly destroyed and the land laid waste. Abraham and his family flee in one direction; his nephew Lot flees with his family in another direction. Lot’s two daughters wake up and believe that the world has been destroyed and it now falls to them to repopulate the earth; they plot together to make Lot very drunk and then sleep with him to become pregnant. From these actions, we are told, came the Ammonite and Moabite peoples. Although the English-language editor of Genesis adds a title calling it “Shameful Origins,” there is no evidence in the story that the daughters were anything but heroic in their actions. This probably began as a “just-so” story, but it offers a cautionary note to believers — we should always remain humble about whether our actions are glorifying God or simply adding to chaos. What seems wrong in one context may seem heroic in another, and vice versa.