{"id":486,"date":"2006-11-05T17:20:41","date_gmt":"2006-11-05T17:20:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/?p=486"},"modified":"2020-12-03T09:18:15","modified_gmt":"2020-12-03T09:18:15","slug":"every-generation-of-saints","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/every-generation-of-saints\/","title":{"rendered":"Every Generation of Saints"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Ruth 1:1-18<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

November 5, 2006<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sermon preached by Rev. Donald Ng at the First Chinese Baptist Church in San Francisco.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How many of you lived through the years of World War II? News anchorman Tom Brokaw described you as the \u201cgreatest\u201d generation who braved the Depression and fought and prevailed during World War II.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now the children of this \u201cgreatest generation,\u201d are what we call the \u201cbaby boomers\u201d generation. That\u2019s me and many of you here today. Now if we are not the \u201cgreatest\u201d generation, perhaps we might be just \u201cgreat\u201d or at least \u201cgood?\u201d Some people unfortunately have described us as \u201cself-absorbed, childish, selfish, noisy, and materialistic.\u201d I don\u2019t think that\u2019s either great or good!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there\u2019s a new book by Leonard Steinhorn with the title, The Greater Generation: In Defense of the Baby Boom Legacy<\/em>, which claims that boomers deserve credit for a wide-range of positive changes in American life. Environmental protection, improved race relations, women\u2019s liberation, tolerance, openness, and equality\u2014these are all legacies of the baby boom generation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Steinhorn, a professor at American University, argues that our country is far more open, inclusive, and equal than any other time in our history, and he gives baby boomers credit for these positive changes. Baby boomers are, in his opinion, The Greater Generation<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biblical Boomers<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we open the pages of the Bible, we see women both in the Old and the New Testaments who shattered traditional expectations and moved with the liberating power of God into a new and more faithful future. Today we have the story of Ruth in the Old Testament and we\u2019ll look at Mary in the New. They were the boomers of their era. And both were part of a greater generation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The story of Ruth begins with a family of Israelites facing a time of famine, and making the decision to move away from the little town of Bethlehem. When you think of this famine, we think of the Great Depression of the 1930s. The mother of this family is Naomi and she travels with her husband and two sons to the land of Moab in search of a better life. Naomi\u2019s husband dies there, but her two sons married Moabite women\u2014Orpah and Ruth. (An interesting side note is that Oprah Winfrey was originally named Orpah but when her parents wrote her name on the birth certificate, they misspelled it \u201cOprah!\u201d) After about ten years, both of the sons die and so Naomi is left with only two daughters-in-law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We can say that Naomi is a member of \u201cthe Greatest Generation\u201d as described by Tom Brokaw, struggling to make it through the Depression, while Orpah and Ruth are the baby boomers in this story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Naomi realizes that her best chance of survival was to move back to Bethlehem where she can rejoin her extended family. She begins her journey with Orpah and Ruth, but then senses that these Moabite women will have a better chance at remarriage if they return to their homeland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGo back each of you to your mother\u2019s house,\u201d urged Naomi. \u201cMay the Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me\u201d (1:8). Naomi knows that her relatives in Bethlehem would have a negative view of immigrants. There\u2019s deeply entrenched prejudice about race and ethnicity. Naomi sends her beloved daughters-in-law away, because she wants them to be spared of this discrimination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Surprisingly, Ruth clings to Naomi. Orpah kisses her mother-in-law and returns home, but Ruth refuses to bulge. \u201cWhere you go, I will go,\u201d says Ruth to Naomi; \u201cwhere you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God\u201d (1:16).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This baby boomer Ruth did not turn away from a culture in which women are considered nothing without their husbands. She refuses to be intimidated by a town that is full of racial and ethnic prejudice. She commits herself to moving in a new direction, trusting completely in Naomi and in Naomi\u2019s God\u2014the God of Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ruth is not just a boomer but a member of the \u201cgreater generation!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The God of Israel smiles on Ruth\u2019s determination to follow Naomi to Bethlehem, and in time Ruth meets and marries an Israelite named Boaz. Together, they have a son named Obed, who becomes the father of Jesse and the grandfather of King David. Now you are getting my point here! Ruth contributes to the bloodline that will eventually produce the baby Jesus, a child in the house and lineage of David.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This branch of the family tree begins not with pure Israelite blood in the little town of Bethlehem. Instead, it starts with the bold and daring faith of a foreigner, a Moabite woman named Ruth, and her determination to embrace the God of Israel and make a bold journey to a new and better land. Our faith is far more tolerant, equal and open than we often understand it to be, and we can give our ancestor Ruth a great deal of credit for this change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we fast forward to the New Testament, we see the story of Mary\u2019s visit with Elizabeth. Mary has just received the news that she will become pregnant with Jesus, the Son of the Most High, \u201cand the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David\u201d (Luke 1:32<\/a>). Mary knows being pregnant without the benefit of marriage is not a great career choice, but she refuses to say no to this opportunity to be a servant of the Lord.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mary like Ruth is a baby boomer\u2014a member of a generation not afraid of taking risks and making changes. Mary goes with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she finds her older cousin Elizabeth, who is like the \u201cgreatest generation,\u201d also miraculously pregnant with John the Baptist. When Elizabeth hears Mary\u2019s greeting, the child in Elizabeth\u2019s womb leaps for joy, and Elizabeth cries out, \u201cBlessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb\u201d (v. 42). There is no generation gap to be found between Mary and Elizabeth\u2014both come to see that they are on a journey of faith together, one that\u2019s leading them into a future that only God can create.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One Generation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When people are walking this path, there are no \u201cGreat, Greater or Greatest Generations.\u201d There is only one generation\u2014the people of the One Lord God. This group is not divided into old and young, black and white, male and female, English-speaking and Chinese-speaking, American citizens and recently arrived immigrants. It does not make distinctions between liberals and conservatives, Protestants and Catholics, singers of praise music and singers of hymns. Instead this group is made up entirely of people who have discovered the truth of Mary\u2019s song of praise: God\u2019s mercy \u201cis for those who fear him from generation to generation\u201d (Luke 1:50<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During August of 1997, a white police officer in New York City beat up a black man whom he arrested. Later that evening, when both were in the bathroom at the police station, \u201cthe officer spotted a tiny crucifix that his victim wore around his neck.\u201d At that moment, the police officer changed the way that he looked at that man. Instead of viewing their encounter with each other as \u201cpolice against suspect, or white against black, he now saw two fellow Christians.\u201d The police officer proceeded to tell the man that he too believed in Jesus and apologized for what he had done.\u201d God\u2019s one and only generation is made up of people who are not looking for things that divide us but believing in Jesus Christ who unifies us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God\u2019s mercy is for those who fear him\u2026those who respect him\u2026those who honor him\u2026those who are in awe of him\u2026those who follow God in complete and total trust. Fear in this case has nothing to do with being afraid or scared. Instead, it has everything to do with standing in awe before the One Lord God, maker of heaven and earth, the One who loved the world so much that he sent his only begotten Son.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today we are highlighting the value and opportunity of Gifts Planning. Many of us have received an abundance of blessings, grace upon grace. In response to God\u2019s generous love, we follow Jesus and come to a complete and total trust in God with our lives. In our deep love for God\u2019s love, we want to praise God by giving of our resources. Inasmuch as we have received so much in our generation, we pray that we may also give to future generations to continue being faithful to the Lord. We hope that some of you might join us for a conversation about planned giving this afternoon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Past Generations<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the life of the church, today is \u201call saints\u201d day of remembrance. We remember the saints whose names we can remember and those whose names are known only by God. We remember their noble deeds, their witness, and their martyrdom. We remember Ruth and Mary of their heroic and courageous witness to stand up against prejudice and discrimination to become servants of the Lord. We often and quite rightfully can describe them as the greatest generation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But God calls every generation to fear him and to follow Christ. Our generation is no exception. From the story of Ruth, we know that she was a Moabite, a foreigner when she returned with Naomi to her home in Bethlehem. A raging debate across the country this year is about immigration. If we learn anything from Ruth, we know that God\u2019s purposes are not limited by national borders. Instead, it was because Naomi and her family had been willing to immigrate to Moab, and because Ruth had been willing to be an immigrant in Israel, that the sacred story of God\u2019s redemptive power was able to move forward to us today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The story of Ruth redefines for us the meaning of \u201cthe communion of saints.\u201d When Moabites are referred to as \u201cthey\u201d who ends up playing a major role in the history of \u201cus,\u201d we come to realize that from God\u2019s perspective, there\u2019s no \u201ctheys.\u201d The communion of saints for this one generation of God\u2019s people includes everyone who fears God and is following Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every Generation of Saints<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there\u2019s any generation that is favored by God, it is God\u2019s generation. Together, we should be open, equal and inclusive of everyone who trusts the one Lord God and believes in his Son Jesus Christ. There should be no generational barriers among those who fear the Lord and follow him. There should be no distinctions between those who are willing to abide by this simple faith statement: Fear God and follow Jesus. When you believe and do this, you are a member of this generation of saints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We welcome every voice that wants to join in praise of the God who sent Jesus to save us. Every voice is welcome, and every voice is needed: Moabite and Israelite, male and female, Red State and Blue State, young and old and middle-aged baby boomers like me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As one people of God, God is calling every generation to be saints so that we may take our faithful places in God\u2019s kingdom through our love, through our caring, through our giving. God is waiting to do amazing things in our lives that will have an impact not only during our lifetimes, but for generations and generations to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us pray.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gracious Lord God, we thank you for the many faithful saints who have come before us, the dedicated saints who are in our midst, and the saints who are to come with the hope and faith that your will shall be done. Teach us to live Christian lives in welcoming all of your children into your house. Send us into this world with the conviction to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ and to advocate for peace, justice, and equity for all people. Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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