WEBVTT

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 There's an old story about a man who was doing his first parachute jump.

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 He was understandably very nervous and he memorised very carefully the instructions that he had been given.

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 Number one, when told to jump, jump.

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 Don't hang around because otherwise you get cold feet and you'll never do it.

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 Number two, count to ten and then pull your ripcord.

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 Number three, in the unlikely event of the parachute not opening, then pull your emergency ripcord.

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 And lastly, number four, when you eventually reach the ground, just stay where you are.

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 Don't try and make your way back to base.

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 We will know where you are.

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 A truck will come and collect you.

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 Well, he memorised the instructions and sure enough, when told to jump, he jumped.

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 Number two, he counted to ten and pulled his ripcord.

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 No parachute.

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 Number three, the unlikely event had happened, so he pulled his backup ripcord.

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 Again, no parachute.

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 He thought to himself for a few moments and then said out loud, great, and I suppose the

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 truck won't be there at the bottom when I reach the ground either.

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 Do you ever have that experience where life is one crisis after another, after another, after

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 another?

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 Just when you think life can't get any worse, it gets worse.

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 If that's ever been your experience, this story of Naomi and Ruth and the others involved

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 in that story, this story is for you.

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 One crisis after another, after another, after another.

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 To kind of really kind of get our heads around that, we need to think of what that book as

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 a whole is like.

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 It's not a long book, but one of the striking literary features of the whole of Ruth is its

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 brevity.

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 There's hardly any reflective discourse.

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 There are 85 verses in total.

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 55 of those 85 verses are dialogue between characters, such that when you read the whole

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 of the book of Ruth through from start to finish, at times it almost feels like reading the script

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 of a play.

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 But here in chapter 1, we have that very brief, blunt introduction which sets the scene before

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 we get to the dialogue.

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 Let me read to you those first five verses again.

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 Because as we read these first five verses, we see that it plunges straight into the crisis.

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 The writer wastes no time whatsoever in getting straight to the painful facts.

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 In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land.

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 So a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while

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 in the country of Moab.

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 The man's name was Elimelech.

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 His wife's name was Naomi.

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 And the names of his two sons were Malon and Kilion.

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 They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem, Judah.

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 And they went to Moab and lived there.

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 Now Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died.

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 And she was left with two sons.

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 They married Moabite women, one named Orpha and the other Ruth.

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 After they had lived there about ten years, both Malon and Kilion also died.

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 And Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband.

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 It's so blunt.

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 It's brutal.

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 There's no emotion.

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 Just cold facts laid out right from the get-go.

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 Five verses sum up a ten-year nightmare.

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 Let's just unpack some of that list of tragedy in a little bit more detail.

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 We're told firstly that it was in the days of the judges.

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 We're talking somewhere roughly about 1,100 years or so before the birth of Jesus.

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 That period known as the judges was a time in the life of Israel as a time of chaos.

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 There was no leadership by way of a monarch.

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 There's a certain irony that the word Elimelech means in Hebrew, my God is king.

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 So we've got that backdrop that there was chaos going on anyway all over.

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 But we throw into the mix famine.

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 Famine that is so bad that they are driven from their land.

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 And where do they go?

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 Moab.

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 A land that was known, that was renowned for its immorality.

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 But they're driven there by desperation.

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 And then we're not given any reason why we're just told that Elimelech died.

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 So Naomi is left stranded in an extremely vulnerable position.

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 There's no welfare state there to support her.

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 She's just got her two sons.

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 And they grow up and they marry Moabite women.

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 Something that would have been looked down upon within their own Jewish culture.

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 But then we're told that both the sons die.

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 Simple as that.

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 We're not given any reason.

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 We're not told how they die.

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 We're just told that they die.

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 And so little wonder that Naomi says towards the end of the chapter,

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 don't call me Naomi.

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 Call me Mara.

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 Which means bitterness.

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 But the fascinating thing about this particular journey that she then makes from Moab to Bethlehem,

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 which ends the first chapter of the book of Ruth,

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 is the turning that it takes.

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 Now we don't have time to unpack the whole story this morning.

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 So let's just stick with chapter one.

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 But I want to suggest that there's something particularly significant about what chapter one does.

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 You see, it begins with all of that tragedy and pain and loss.

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 And yet it begins with a sense of hope just around the corner.

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 We don't know yet exactly what that will be.

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 We don't know how it's going to unfold.

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 We read the whole story and we see it does unfold.

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 But the point is, is in that one chapter,

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 we have a story that begins with a famine

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 and yet finishes with a harvest.

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 In verse 22, the last verse of chapter one,

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 it says that,

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 The other interesting thing about Bethlehem is in Hebrew,

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 it literally means house of bread.

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 Every story, every story,

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 every story directly or indirectly in Scripture points to Jesus.

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 And so we have this setting of the scene over a thousand years before his birth,

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 where they're returning to the place of Bethlehem,

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 the house of bread.

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 Just a sense that there might be this thing called hope just around the corner.

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 Whenever we're immersed with circumstances that are tragic,

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 or full of crisis or pain,

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 the danger can be that our attention focuses in entirely on those circumstances.

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 Understandably,

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 Naomi feels full of bitterness plus nothing,

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 as those are the circumstances that surround her.

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 But God bids us to see beyond the immediacy of those circumstances

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 and to dare to lay hold of a hope,

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 ultimately as in Jesus.

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 Father Greg Boyle is a Catholic priest in America.

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 He's the founder and director of an organisation called Homeboy Industries,

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 based in LA.

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 The organisation gives rehab to former gang members.

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 And it's grown and grown and grown over the years,

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 to the extent that now every year,

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 the organisation engages with some 10,000 men and women,

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 getting them off the streets,

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 getting them out of crime,

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 breaking that cycle of violence,

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 crime and prison.

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 But Greg Boyle,

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 who set this whole thing up,

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 tells a story

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 about how he was at a funeral

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 and

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 the minister leading the funeral

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 shared a really,

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 really helpful

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 and fascinating

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 image of hope.

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 Drawing attention

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 to the difference

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 between

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 a full stop

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 and a comma.

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 He says that

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 often

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 in

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 our lives,

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 all we see is a full stop.

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 Somebody has died,

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 full stop.

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 End of.

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 I'm in terrible pain,

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 full stop.

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 I feel this situation

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 is never going to get any better,

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 full stop.

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 See,

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 a full stop

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 denotes an end.

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 There's nothing left to be said.

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 It stops there.

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 End of story.

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 And when we look at tragedy

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 and pain

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 and death,

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 that can be the way

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 in which we see it

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 if we look

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 only at the circumstances.

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 He goes on to say

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 that

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 when we see things

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 through the lens

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 of the risen Jesus,

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 that full stop

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 is changed

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 from being a full stop

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 to being a comma.

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 You see,

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 a comma

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 doesn't delete

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 everything that's gone before it,

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 but rather than it being an end,

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 it's a pause.

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 Yes,

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 death has occurred,

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 but

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 we draw breath

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 because we know

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 that that's not

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 the end of the story.

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 Resurrection

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 is on the horizon.

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 And this

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 was the situation

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 for Naomi.

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 Now,

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 the end of us,

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 we approach the end

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 of chapter one

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 of the book of Ruth.

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 We're not told

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 the detail,

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 but rather than

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 there being that

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 full stop

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 that just says

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 the death,

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 the grief,

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 the pain,

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 the famine,

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 the hardship,

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 the vulnerability,

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 that that's the end

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 of the story.

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 Rather,

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 it opens it up.

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 It says,

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 carry on,

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 there's more to say.

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 It reminds us

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 that no matter

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 how

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 we may be tempted

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 to focus in

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 on our circumstances

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 that say

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 there's a full stop,

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 there's nothing more

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 to be said here.

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 Resurrection

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 hope

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 calls us

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 to swap out

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 that full stop

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 and put a comma

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 in its place.

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 Yeah,

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 I've messed up

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 comma,

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 but things can change

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 and that changes now

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 and I'm going to

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 make a better job

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 things.

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 I feel

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 absolutely

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 racked with pain.

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 It's never going

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 to get any better

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 physically,

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 emotionally,

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 mentally.

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 Put a comma

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 in there.

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 We draw breath.

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 But there is

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 healing and wholeness

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 ahead.

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 we may say

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 to ourselves,

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 I've hit

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 rock bottom,

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 full stop.

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 But when you put

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 a comma in there,

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 you say,

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 I've hit

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 rock bottom,

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 but I recognise

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 that there is

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 such a thing

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 as a bottom

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 and when you

00:14:47.599 --> 00:14:48.019
 hit it,

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 then you can

00:14:49.099 --> 00:14:49.619
 turn upwards.

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 See,

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 there's that old

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 saying,

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 never judge a book

00:14:54.440 --> 00:14:55.460
 by its cover.

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 But we can also

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 say the same

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 thing

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 about a chapter.

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 You see,

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 if we only

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 took the

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 circumstances

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 of Ruth

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 chapter 1

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 and put a full

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 stop there,

00:15:09.340 --> 00:15:10.200
 we would see

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 a story that

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 ends with pain

00:15:12.039 --> 00:15:12.600
 and bitterness.

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 But that's

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 not what happens.

00:15:16.419 --> 00:15:19.319
 what we

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 actually have

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 is a comma

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 of hope

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 put there.

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 A drawing

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 of breath,

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 a pause,

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 which says,

00:15:25.839 --> 00:15:26.279
 keep going,

00:15:26.360 --> 00:15:26.699
 there's more

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 to happen here,

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 there's more

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 to come.

00:15:29.139 --> 00:15:29.799
 Things actually

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 can and will

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 and do

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 get better.

00:15:34.259 --> 00:15:35.079
 And as that

00:15:35.079 --> 00:15:36.319
 story unfolds,

00:15:37.319 --> 00:15:38.799
 we see

00:15:38.799 --> 00:15:39.419
 reconciliation,

00:15:40.299 --> 00:15:40.620
 hope,

00:15:41.039 --> 00:15:41.419
 redemption

00:15:41.419 --> 00:15:42.319
 and a new

00:15:42.319 --> 00:15:42.639
 beginning.

00:15:44.279 --> 00:15:45.240
 A story

00:15:45.240 --> 00:15:46.399
 which eventually

00:15:46.399 --> 00:15:47.840
 sees

00:15:47.840 --> 00:15:49.079
 how

00:15:49.079 --> 00:15:50.419
 Ruth becomes

00:15:50.419 --> 00:15:50.819
 the great

00:15:50.819 --> 00:15:52.019
 grandmother

00:15:52.019 --> 00:15:53.319
 of King

00:15:53.319 --> 00:15:53.659
 David

00:15:53.659 --> 00:15:55.000
 and we're

00:15:55.000 --> 00:15:55.620
 pointed towards

00:15:55.620 --> 00:15:56.199
 that ultimate

00:15:56.199 --> 00:15:56.720
 hope

00:15:56.720 --> 00:15:58.659
 of Jesus.

00:16:01.240 --> 00:16:01.500
 Yeah,

00:16:01.579 --> 00:16:02.360
 there's an old

00:16:02.360 --> 00:16:02.639
 saying,

00:16:02.720 --> 00:16:03.000
 isn't there,

00:16:03.019 --> 00:16:04.279
 that we tend

00:16:04.279 --> 00:16:04.519
 to

00:16:04.519 --> 00:16:07.699
 gaze

00:16:07.699 --> 00:16:08.519
 at our

00:16:08.519 --> 00:16:08.959
 problems

00:16:08.959 --> 00:16:10.259
 and take

00:16:10.259 --> 00:16:10.639
 the odd

00:16:10.639 --> 00:16:11.259
 glimpse

00:16:11.259 --> 00:16:11.899
 or glance

00:16:11.899 --> 00:16:12.519
 at God.

00:16:12.519 --> 00:16:12.559
 God.

00:16:14.360 --> 00:16:15.120
 What this

00:16:15.120 --> 00:16:16.539
 story reminds

00:16:16.539 --> 00:16:17.079
 us that we

00:16:17.079 --> 00:16:17.579
 need to do

00:16:17.579 --> 00:16:17.980
 is swap

00:16:17.980 --> 00:16:18.480
 those things

00:16:18.480 --> 00:16:18.919
 around.

00:16:20.519 --> 00:16:21.579
 To gaze

00:16:21.579 --> 00:16:22.639
 upon God.

00:16:24.639 --> 00:16:25.360
 Glimpse at

00:16:25.360 --> 00:16:26.340
 our circumstances,

00:16:26.539 --> 00:16:27.139
 our problems,

00:16:27.139 --> 00:16:30.199
 God,

00:16:30.199 --> 00:16:32.139
 who is the

00:16:32.139 --> 00:16:32.720
 one who

00:16:32.720 --> 00:16:33.340
 replaces the

00:16:33.340 --> 00:16:33.879
 full stop

00:16:33.879 --> 00:16:34.179
 with the

00:16:34.179 --> 00:16:34.439
 comma,

00:16:36.159 --> 00:16:36.699
 who is the

00:16:36.699 --> 00:16:37.220
 one who

00:16:37.220 --> 00:16:37.840
 takes that

00:16:37.840 --> 00:16:39.159
 first chapter,

00:16:39.299 --> 00:16:39.799
 that early

00:16:39.799 --> 00:16:40.240
 chapter,

00:16:41.240 --> 00:16:42.259
 but turns it

00:16:42.259 --> 00:16:42.819
 towards a

00:16:42.819 --> 00:16:44.299
 story of

00:16:44.299 --> 00:16:44.620
 hope.

00:16:46.299 --> 00:16:47.100
 Let's pray

00:16:47.100 --> 00:16:47.480
 together.

00:16:47.480 --> 00:16:55.519
 Lord God,

00:16:55.620 --> 00:16:56.220
 we thank

00:16:56.220 --> 00:16:57.720
 you that

00:16:57.720 --> 00:16:59.100
 you transformed

00:16:59.100 --> 00:17:00.740
 Naomi and

00:17:00.740 --> 00:17:01.879
 Ruth's lives,

00:17:03.440 --> 00:17:04.079
 meeting them

00:17:04.079 --> 00:17:04.420
 in their

00:17:04.420 --> 00:17:05.259
 brokenness,

00:17:05.640 --> 00:17:06.140
 emptiness,

00:17:06.599 --> 00:17:07.480
 and bitterness,

00:17:08.480 --> 00:17:09.880
 and leading

00:17:09.880 --> 00:17:10.400
 them to

00:17:10.400 --> 00:17:11.779
 hope and

00:17:11.779 --> 00:17:12.420
 new beginnings.

00:17:12.420 --> 00:17:17.060
 Lord,

00:17:17.160 --> 00:17:17.680
 forgive us

00:17:17.680 --> 00:17:18.160
 for those

00:17:18.160 --> 00:17:19.000
 times when

00:17:19.000 --> 00:17:19.800
 we allow

00:17:19.800 --> 00:17:21.080
 our gaze

00:17:21.080 --> 00:17:22.500
 to become

00:17:22.500 --> 00:17:23.480
 fixed upon

00:17:23.480 --> 00:17:23.759
 our

00:17:23.759 --> 00:17:24.700
 circumstances.

00:17:28.060 --> 00:17:29.080
 Help us

00:17:29.080 --> 00:17:29.940
 instead to

00:17:29.940 --> 00:17:30.940
 turn our

00:17:30.940 --> 00:17:32.120
 gaze upon

00:17:32.120 --> 00:17:32.759
 you.

00:17:38.380 --> 00:17:39.480
 We take

00:17:39.480 --> 00:17:39.779
 a few

00:17:39.779 --> 00:17:40.580
 moments now

00:17:40.580 --> 00:17:41.240
 as we lay

00:17:41.240 --> 00:17:42.060
 our lives

00:17:42.059 --> 00:17:42.799
 before God.

00:17:44.460 --> 00:17:45.259
 Thinking of

00:17:45.259 --> 00:17:46.259
 those situations

00:17:46.259 --> 00:17:47.700
 where perhaps

00:17:47.700 --> 00:17:48.339
 we may be

00:17:48.339 --> 00:17:48.839
 tempted to

00:17:48.839 --> 00:17:49.259
 see a

00:17:49.259 --> 00:17:49.940
 full stop.

00:17:54.740 --> 00:17:55.539
 We bring

00:17:55.539 --> 00:17:56.559
 those situations,

00:17:56.819 --> 00:17:57.839
 those circumstances

00:17:57.839 --> 00:17:58.700
 before him.

00:18:04.059 --> 00:18:05.139
 We ask him

00:18:05.139 --> 00:18:05.839
 to replace

00:18:05.839 --> 00:18:06.700
 that full stop

00:18:06.700 --> 00:18:06.980
 with a

00:18:06.980 --> 00:18:07.220
 comma.

00:18:10.879 --> 00:18:11.399
 Lord,

00:18:11.400 --> 00:18:11.780
 help us

00:18:11.780 --> 00:18:12.100
 to draw

00:18:12.100 --> 00:18:12.540
 breath,

00:18:12.800 --> 00:18:13.440
 to pause,

00:18:13.600 --> 00:18:14.040
 to wait

00:18:14.040 --> 00:18:14.640
 upon you.

00:18:14.640 --> 00:18:15.040
 Lord,

00:18:15.040 --> 00:18:33.220
 whatever chapter

00:18:33.220 --> 00:18:34.000
 of our lives

00:18:34.000 --> 00:18:34.720
 we may be

00:18:34.720 --> 00:18:36.259
 in right now,

00:18:36.259 --> 00:18:39.779
 we give you

00:18:39.779 --> 00:18:40.640
 our story

00:18:40.640 --> 00:18:43.140
 and we

00:18:43.140 --> 00:18:43.640
 ask

00:18:43.640 --> 00:18:45.539
 that we

00:18:45.539 --> 00:18:46.220
 may trust

00:18:46.220 --> 00:18:46.619
 you

00:18:46.619 --> 00:18:47.980
 with the

00:18:47.980 --> 00:18:48.359
 rest of

00:18:48.359 --> 00:18:49.059
 that story.

00:18:52.000 --> 00:18:52.879
 As we

00:18:52.879 --> 00:18:53.579
 live that

00:18:53.579 --> 00:18:54.619
 story out,

00:18:55.220 --> 00:18:55.879
 may we do

00:18:55.879 --> 00:18:56.619
 so with you

00:18:56.619 --> 00:18:56.920
 at the

00:18:56.920 --> 00:18:57.480
 centre of

00:18:57.480 --> 00:18:58.220
 our lives,

00:18:59.619 --> 00:19:00.379
 trusting you,

00:19:00.619 --> 00:19:01.359
 seeking you,

00:19:01.359 --> 00:19:02.460
 searching you,

00:19:03.660 --> 00:19:04.480
 knowing you.

00:19:04.480 --> 00:19:07.140
 now and in

00:19:07.140 --> 00:19:07.640
 the days to

00:19:07.640 --> 00:19:07.980
 come.

00:19:09.839 --> 00:19:10.839
 We thank

00:19:10.839 --> 00:19:11.140
 you.

00:19:11.900 --> 00:19:12.799
 In Jesus'

00:19:12.980 --> 00:19:13.240
 name.

00:19:14.440 --> 00:19:14.779
 Amen.