Ruth 3-4: Redemption, Marriage, and Some Sandals

Redemption. I’m sure some of you out there in Internet-land know what his word means. But honestly, “redemption” is one of those big Christian words that us adults use all the time and often forget to explain. So before we start our story today, let’s make sure we’re clear about what we mean by “redemption.” 

To redeem something literally means “to pay off a debt” or “to buy back.” So, if you sell that super cool scooter that’s been collecting dust in your garage but then realize that you really want it back, you would be redeeming the scooter when you buy it back.

Now we could spend an entire one of these story times just talking about how Jesus redeems us – in fact, we’ll be doing that soon since Easter’s just around the corner. But before we get to that, we need to finish up the story of Ruth and find out what redemption has to do with her story.

So, to tell us more about that, let’s hear from a guy named Boaz. He’s been waiting for a cousin of his at the city gates of Bethlehem for a long time now to have a really important conversation about redemption, marriage, and some sandals. Now, the Bible doesn’t actually tell us what this cousin’s name was, but I’m going to call him Loshami so that it’s easier for us to listen in:

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Boaz: Come on Loshami, where are you?!? What’s taking him so long? I mean, sure, it’s not unlike Loshami to be late for things, but he was supposed to be here an hour ago! I’m already nervous enough, and this isn’t helping! Wait… I think that’s him over there!

Loshami: Boaz! There’s my favourite cousin! Sorry I’m late... Things were pretty crazy back at home and I just lost track of time.  

Boaz: It’s okay Loshami… I’m just glad you made it here alright. Did you get everything sorted out?

Loshami: More or less. I got stuck talking with one of my neighbours. One of my goats went missing a few days back and I hadn’t been able to find him. Then this morning, this neighbour – Ameeth his name is – Ameeth comes by all angry that one of my goats had gotten into his fields. I told him I’d been looking for that goat for a week and thanked him and told him it wouldn’t happen again. But then I had to bring the goat back to its pen so it wouldn’t run away again when all of a sudden I realized how late it was and hurried right over.

Boaz: Missing goat, huh? Well, glad to hear you got it all sorted out.   

Loshami: Thanks cousin. So am I! But we’ve got more important things to talk about than goats… If memory serves, you have some important business you wanted to talk over with me. Family business.

Boaz: Yes… It’s about Naomi and Ruth.

Loshami: Ah yes, Elimelek’s wife and the Moabite girl who came back with her. It’s too bad about Elimelek and his sons dying. How’re the two women doing?

Boaz: Fine, for the most part… Ruth’s been working in my fields for a while now collecting grain. That’s been giving her and Naomi food to get by in the meantime.

Loshami: Good good. We wouldn’t want anyone in our family to suffer, now would we?

Boaz: Actually Loshami, that’s partly why I’m here.

Loshami: But you just said they were doing fine! Are they fine or aren’t they?

Boaz: Well, yes, they’re fine right now. But I don’t know how long that’ll last. There’s still the whole issue of their kinsmen redeemer to be worked out.

Loshami: Well yeah, of course… Kinsmen redeemer. Gotta get that figured out… Definitely…

Boaz: …You do know about what a kinsmen redeemer is, don’t you?

Loshami: Oh, it’s something very important, I’m sure. I know it’s talked about it in the Law somewhere. It’s just that, well, goat herding takes up so much of my time, and I’m just not as well versed in all those laws Moses gave us as other people… Someone like you for instance.

Boaz: (Sighs…) Alright, then let me explain. Long story short, our Law states that when a man dies, like Elimelek did just before Ruth and Naomi came back from Moab, all of that man’s land and belongings are to be given to that man’s sons and daughters.

Loshami: Well yeah, that’s an inheritance. I know all about that! I got one of those a few years back myself. But what does any of that have to do with this kinsmen redeemer thing?

Boaz: Well, when Elimelek died, he didn’t have a son or daughter to give his inheritance to. Both of his sons had died already, and Ruth only married into the family so she isn’t allowed to receive the inheritance.

Loshami: What!?! But then who gets Elimelek’s land and stuff?

Boaz: That’s what the kinsmen redeemer is for! Someone related to Elimelek needs to redeem his land and goods – needs to buy it back so that some other family doesn’t take everything away from Ruth and Naomi.

Loshami: (short pause) …and you’re coming to me because you want me to be the kinsmen redeemer!

Boaz: (Slight pause) You are Elimelek’s closest relative, so that job would fall to you, yes.

Loshami: Hoooo, boy! Well, if it isn’t my lucky day! I get my goat back, and now I have the chance to double my land size in one go!

Boaz: Now hold on a second Loshami. There’s something else you need to know.

Loshami: Eh…? What’s that?

Boaz: Well, there’s still the matter of what happens to Ruth and Naomi…

Loshami: Oh, I won’t kick them off their land or nothing. And I’m not a terrible cousin. I won’t charge ‘em too much for rent!

Boaz: No… That’s not what I meant… Look, if you’re going to be their kinsmen redeemer, then you’re going to have to marry Ruth.

Loshami: …I’m sorry… I have to marry Ruth? What’s that got to do with anything? I’ve never even met her!

Boaz: It’s part of the Law. The kinsmen redeemer doesn’t just redeem the land by buying it back. He also has to marry into the family so that Elimelek’s family line can continue.

Loshami: So if I marry Ruth, I continue Elimelek’s family instead of growing mine.

Boaz: Correct.

Loshami: Oh… Uh, listen Boaz, I’m not sure this is a good idea after all… I mean, did you hear my story? I can barely take care of my goats… How do you expect me to take care of Ruth and Naomi? No… If marriage is involved, I don’t want any part of it! Isn’t there someone else who can be their kinsmen redeemer?

Boaz: (blushes) Actually, that’s the other reason I’ve come to talk to you. If you said no, I’m the next closest relative. And between you and me, Ruth’s made quite an impression on me. She’s a hard worker, she’s kind and considerate. She even came to visit me the other night asking about this whole kinsmen redeemer thing. I wanted to say yes, but I knew I had to talk with you first.

Loshami: Don’t say another word Boaz. If you think you’re up to the job, then you have my blessing! You redeem the land and marry Ruth!

Boaz: Well I appreciate that, but we still need to make it official.

Loshami: Official? You mean we have to do the sandal thing? I thought that was only for business deals like buying homes.

Boaz: Well, in a way, that’s what we’re doing. Not the home part, but sealing a deal. To show that you agree to let me buy back the land and marry Ruth in your place, you need to take off your sandal and hand it to me.

Loshami: Never did understand what sandals have to do with anything but… (Takes off sandal). Done. (Hands it to Boaz).

Boaz: (smiling) Thanks Loshami. You have no idea how glad I am. I can’t wait to tell Ruth!

Loshami: Glad to hear it cousin. You’re a good man Boaz. And may God bless you and your soon to be wife.

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I hope you understood most of that. There’s a lot of stuff in this story that’s confusing because we’re dealing with laws and deals that happened thousands of years ago. But even if you didn’t quite catch it all, what’s important is that Boaz did everything that was necessary to help take care of Ruth and Naomi. He didn’t just let Ruth pick grain in his fields; he redeemed everything they owned so that it wouldn’t be taken away from them.

Not only that, but in our story from two weeks ago, we learned Naomi had prayed that Ruth would find a home with another husband, and that prayer was answered through Boaz, the owner of the field that Ruth just happened to choose to work at. But this wasn’t just coincidence; this was God at work fulfilling His plans in amazing ways!

What’s even crazier about all of this is that Ruth and Boaz are a pretty important couple in the Bible. They had a son named Obed, and eventually Obed had a son named Jesse, and eventually Jesse had a son named David. And yes, I mean that David… King David – one of the greatest kings in all of Israel’s history.

But even more importantly, one of David’s descendants hundreds of years later was Jesus Himself! It was God’s plan for Boaz to redeem Ruth and her family so that, hundreds of years later, their great grandson Jesus would redeem everybody!

That’s right, kind of like how Boaz redeemed Ruth and Naomi, Jesus redeems each of us! But Jesus does this in a much bigger way. When we sin – when we do wrong things – it’s like we become trapped by sin and are stuck under its control. And no matter how many good things we try to do, we can never escape from that control on our own. But when Jesus died on the cross, He redeemed us – He bought us back from the control of sin so that we can serve and love God instead.

As a result, it’s our job is to tell others about how they can also be redeemed! How when any of us believe in Jesus, we get to experience redemption from sin right then and there!

So when you think of Naomi or Ruth or Boaz, I hope you’ll remember some of the things we’ve talked about… I hope you’ll remember that God gives us reasons to be joyful or that God always knows how He’s going to provide for us. But above all, kind of like how Boaz redeemed Ruth, I hope you’ll remember that Jesus is the ultimate redeemer who saves us from sin’s control.

Ruth 2 - When Turkey Dinners Don't Fall from the Sky

Jesus promises us in Matthew 6 that when we trust in God, God will always give us what we need. We don’t have to worry about whether we’re going to have food or clothing or shelter, because God makes sure that we get those things. But don’t think this means that God will just drop turkey dinners out of the sky or make clothes magically appear in our closets. He can do that (like when he sent that fish to save Jonah way back in our second story), but God often provides things like food and clothing and shelter through more ordinary ways.

Last week, we started the story of Ruth. We heard from Naomi about how God’s goodness gives us reasons to be joyful. Naomi told us about her time in Moab and how, when she returned to her home in Israel, her daughter-in-law Ruth came with her. Well, this week, we’re going to hear about some of the stuff that happened after they came home.

Things weren’t easy for Ruth and Naomi. They didn’t always know where they would get their next meal from or how long they could live at the place they were staying. But that all changed when… Well, I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s let Ruth tell us her story herself:

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Ugh… I hate sweat! Don’t get me wrong, I’ll work as hard as I have to to make sure we’ve got food on the table. I just wish it didn’t have to be so hot. It would sure make picking up all this grain a whole lot easier.

The name’s Ruth. Yeah, that Ruth. It’s cool having a book of the Bible named after me and all, but I’m not really sure I did anything worth naming a book after. I just did what needed to be done.

I mean, have you heard my mother-in-law’s story? Naomi sacrificed so much for her family! When that famine hit all those years ago, Naomi gave up everything and went somewhere totally new so that her family could have enough food to eat! If that’s not love, I don’t know what is! I still can’t believe that God blessed me so much by letting me join their family.

And yeah, it was super hard when my husband Mahlon died. I still miss him lots. But I had learned so much about God from him and Naomi and their whole family. I just knew that God wanted me to stay with Naomi when she decided to go back to Israel. Now it was my turn to leave behind everything I had grown up with, but I trusted that God would take care of us.

But let me tell you, those first few months in Israel weren’t easy… We found a place to stay for the time being, but we still had a much bigger problem ahead of us. Naomi and I were on our own, and Naomi just wasn’t strong enough anymore to do lots of tough work like picking grain in the hot sun all day. So that left it up to me to make sure that we had enough to eat.

There was one problem though. I’m from Moab, and let’s just say that the Israelites and the Moabites haven’t always been the best of friends. So yeah, I was pretty scared that I wouldn’t be able to find anywhere in Israel where someone would let me work.

As far as I could tell, I had only one thing going for me. See, God gave Israel a ton of laws which told them how He wanted the Israelites to live. Mahlon had told me lots about it back in Moab, and I remember quizzing him about some of the weirder laws that God had given. One of these laws was that farmers weren’t supposed to harvest all of their crops. The Israelites weren’t supposed to collect grain or vegetables from the outer edges of their fields, and they weren’t supposed to go back over their fields a second time to pick up anything they missed (Leviticus 19:9-10 NIrV). This way, anyone who was poor or who was passing through from another country would have places where they could get food too!  

Now at the time, I remember thinking this law was a little silly. That’s a lot of food that could be wasted right there! But boy was I glad now that God had put that law in there. ‘Cuz honestly, if the farmers didn’t leave some of their food behind, I don’t know how me and Naomi would’ve survived!

So you can probably guess my first job after coming back to Israel. That’s right, I picked a field and started collecting the leftover grain that the other women who were gathering had left behind. And honestly, the whole time I was out there, I was just praying that I wouldn’t get in trouble. Sure, I had got permission from the supervisor of the field that I could work there, but some of the other gatherers and supervisors could tell I wasn’t from Israel and kept giving me dirty looks.

Anyways, I had probably been working an hour or so on that first day when I saw someone new walking towards the fields. He talked to some of the women working closest to the edges, and all of them bowed their heads in respect as he walked by. That could only mean one thing: the owner had just showed up! It was already hot, but I remembered sweating even more right then. I was super nervous that this man was going to find me and send me away! I even started crouching over, hoping the owner wouldn’t see me while I stuffed as much grain as I possibly could into my bag in case I had to make a run for it!

Turns out I had no reason to worry. The owner was a man named Boaz, and honestly, I don’t think I could’ve found a better man to work for. I’d just seen that Boaz was super kind to everyone who worked for him. And I found out later from Naomi that Boaz was actually related to our family!

Of course, I didn’t know that then. All I could think was that this guy was gonna throw me in jail for trespassing or something. So when Boaz called out my name, all I could think was, That’s it! I’m done for! I’m sorry Naomi. I hope you’ll visit me in jail!

But when I walked over to Boaz, trembling the whole way, I was shocked to find that he didn’t want me arrested or kicked out of his field or anything like that. In fact, he told me to stay and pick up whatever grain I could find. And if I was thirsty, I was welcome to get some water from the jars nearby.

I was in shock. All I could think to do was bow in thanks… But between you and me, the bigger reason I bowed was because I didn’t want Boaz to see the tears in my eyes. As calmly as I could, I asked Boaz, “Why are you being so kind to me? In fact, why are you even noticing me? I’m from another country” (Ruth 2:10).

But Boaz only smiled and said, “I’ve been told all about you. I’ve heard about everything you have done for your mother-in-law since your husband died. I know that you left your father and mother. I know that you left your country. You came to live with people you didn’t know before.” Then he paused for a moment, lifted my chin so I was looking at him, and wiped away my tears. “May the LORD reward you for what you have done. May the LORD, the God of Israel, bless you richly. You have come to him to find safety under his care” (Ruth 2:11-12).

I couldn’t believe it! All I could think about since I had been in Israel was whether the people would hate me. Whether I would be able to find a place to work. Whether I would be able to take care of Naomi like she had cared for me for so many years! And now, I realized that God had sent me to the perfect field to meet the perfect person who could look out for not just Naomi but for me too.

Naomi and Mahlon had always told me they trusted that God would provide for them no matter what. And sometimes, this meant doing really tough stuff, like leaving their home and going to a new land where God would take care of them. But it was only after leaving my home, going to Israel, and having no idea where our next meal was going to come from that I learned this lesson too. That even when we have no idea how things are going to turn out, God always knows how He is going to take care of us.

Sure, sometimes God provides through something miraculous. Sometimes he makes money for food or for homes seem to come out of nowhere. But more often than not, God provides through more “normal” ways. He gives us jobs or friends who are there to take care of us when we need it most. But I learned in Boaz’s field that we can always trust God to provide, no matter how He chooses to do it.

I still remember how happy Naomi was when I told her about Boaz! She thanked God for Boaz and his kindness and told me to keep going back to his field for food. So I did. And after many days of collecting food and receiving Boaz’s kindness, I began to feel safe with Boaz. Comfortable. And it wasn’t too long before…

Actually, I’m not sure I want to spoil the surprise. Boaz loves telling that part of our story. So I’ll leave it up to him to finish off next week. But until then, know that God has only continued to take care of us. And believe me, you can trust Him to do the same for you too!

~Brentagious

Ruth 1 - Reasons to be Joyful

Some days just aren’t good days. We’re tired, we’re grumpy, and everything seems to be working against us. But even on the hardest of days, when you feel sad or lonely or afraid, it’s important to remember that God has a bigger plan than you can possibly imagine. Give God time, and He will turn your misery into joy.

But I want to clear something up guys. Joy isn’t just happiness. It’s not a feeling. It’s not about always smiling all the time. No, joy is about remembering that God is good no matter what’s going on in your life. It’s about thanking God when you’re happy and praising Him when you’re sad. It’s about remembering the good things God has done and has given you, even when everything seems to be going wrong. And when you believe in Jesus, He will help you to grow joyful in all things!

But sometimes, especially when things are hard, we forget this important truth. When everything seems to be going wrong, it can become really tough to remember that God always loves us and will always take care of us. That’s why I think it’s so great that in the story of Ruth, God constantly reminds us that He is good, that He provides, and that He’s the only one who can truly save us.

So over the next three weeks, we’re going to be looking at these three different parts of who God is: His goodness, love, and saving power. And we’re going to do this through the eyes of three different people: Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz. So let’s begin by hearing from Naomi about a really tough time in her life and the good God who helped her through:

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It was 10 years ago that I left my home. 10 long years since I left my family and my friends in Israel. I remember being sad then. I didn’t really want to go. But the famine was so harsh – it was so hot and dry and there was so little food. The only way we were going to survive was if we left. I said good-bye to my home that day. I honestly thought I’d never come back.

My name is Naomi, and this is the story of my life so far.

My husband was named Elimelek. Oh, how I miss that man. Elimelek always had a way of making me smile. I remember how kind he was to our sons, Mahlon and Kilion, when they were young. Elimelek would come in from the fields after a long day’s work, exhausted and probably wanting nothing more than to just sit down for a few minutes, but he would always make time for our two boys. Mahlon would show off one of his carvings, while Kilion looked over his dad’s shoulder in awe at his brother’s work.

I would watch those boys – my boys – and smile. Oh how I’d smile.

But then the famine came. The sun grew hot, the crops stopped growing. Elimelek worked longer days to bring home less food. Eventually, we had no choice. We packed up and left for a new country: Moab. Moab would never be home – not really – but God was in His heaven watching out for us, and we made a good life for ourselves I guess. We were happy. Elimelek found work, and ours sons found love.

I remember how proud Elimelek was when Kilion married Orpah. How proud we both were! She was a great girl for him, so kind and giving. But Ruth… Oh, even then Ruth was someone special. She loved Mahlon with all her heart. And she quickly showed that love to me and Elimelek too. Ruth truly was like a daughter to us – both her and Orpah were. I couldn’t have asked for better daughters-in-law. They made our time in Moab a time of love and thankfulness.

If only we could have stayed that way! I often wondered – I still sometimes wonder – why God let that happy time end. Why he took Elimelek to heaven so soon. Why both he and my sons had to die. There are still some days it hurts to think about it. I’m not sure that pain will ever really go away.

Those were dark times for me. I was angry at God. All I wanted to do was scream to the heavens, “WHY!?!” I’m not sure I’ll ever know the answer fully. But recent days have shown me that I can still find joy in God, even if I don’t understand everything He does. And if any of you have faced things in your life that have hurt you and you can’t understand, I hope you’ll listen closely to my story.

I learned what it means to be truly joyful the day I left Moab to return home. God had finally stopped the famine in Israel, and there was plenty of food there. That was the first gleam of hope I had felt in a long time – that even though my husband and sons were dead, I could finally go home and know there would be enough food to eat.

But I couldn’t bear to ask Orpah or Ruth to come with me. My sons – their husbands – were dead. Ruth and Orpah had grown up in Moab. They had no reason to stay with me any longer, and it wasn’t fair for me to ask them to come to a strange new land with me. And so, I said to them, “Both of you go back. Each of you go to your own mother’s home. You were so kind to your husbands, who have died. You have also been kind to me. So may the LORD be just as kind to you. May the LORD help each of you find rest in the home of another husband” (Ruth 1:8-9, NIrV).

There was much crying that day. We all loved each other very much, but I knew that letting them stay in Moab was the best thing for them. But I wept to say good-bye, knowing that I would be all alone when I returned home.

After some time, Orpah kissed me and left. But Ruth… Ruth wouldn’t go. No matter what I said or how many times I told her that I would be okay, Ruth just clung on to me even tighter. I’ll never forget her words: “Don’t try to make me leave you and go back. Where you go I’ll go. Where you stay I’ll say. Your people will be my people. Your God will be my God” (Ruth 1:16). Ruth promised to stay with me as long as she lived and to help take care of me. And I knew that she meant every word.

I’m pretty sure I cried even more after that. But these new tears weren’t tears of sadness. They were tears of joy! I was glad to be going home, but Ruth made me even happier when she said she wouldn’t leave me. I knew that from that day forward, I wouldn’t be alone. That even though things had been so difficult, Ruth was never going to leave. And for the moment, I could take comfort in that.

I wish I could say that Ruth taught me something about God’s love and goodness that day. After all, the love that Ruth showed me– a love that refuses to leave or give up – is exactly like the love God shows to us. And in time, yes, I did begin to see this.

But at that time, I was still so sad. I was still angry and hurt and missed my family. But Ruth helped me grow a little less sad. She gave me a reason to be joyful, even when everything else seemed awful.

And honestly, I believe that God put someone like Ruth in my life to teach me just that. That even when everything seems to be falling apart, even when it seems like everything is against us – God is still good. And He will show that goodness in little ways all the time: in the blessings He gives us and the godly people He places in our lives. We just need to be willing to see His goodness in the hard times.

That’s something I really hope that you will remember: that even when we’re super sad or angry, God’s goodness gives us reasons to be joyful.  And yes, sometimes those reminders of God’s goodness might be hard to see, but they’re always there. It could be remembering something special that happened to you. It could be the words of a song or a story that remind you of how great God is. Or it might even be that God gives you an encouraging friend like Ruth to help you get through these tough times. But whatever that reminder of God’s goodness is, hold on to it when things do get tough.

And if you are hurting today, know that God will get you through. I was still very sad and angry when Ruth and I returned to Israel, but I held on to my memories of God’s goodness. And in time, I saw that God’s plan really was best, and I grew less sad and angry. In fact, it wasn’t long before I was praising and thanking God once again with a joyful heart!

But I’ll let Ruth tell you that story another time. Until then, remember God’s goodness, and be joyful no matter how you may be feeling.  

~Brentagious

SSS: Impractical, or Why an English Grad Student is Retelling Bible Stories

“English, huh? And what are you going to do with that?”

I can’t tell you how many times in the last five years I’ve heard some iteration of this question. Actually, it was no better when I started out as a History major. In my experience, people in the “real world” seem to view studies in the humanities as pointless pursuits. Most can’t fathom how a degree in English, History, Philosophy or any of these writing and thinking heavy subjects can be of any value.

So let’s make one thing clear, shall we? I’m well aware that my degree seems impractical. It’s not obvious to the general public (or always myself for that matter) what I’m going to do for a living when I’m done my Masters degree. People who go off to nursing school have a fairly good idea of what they’re going to do when they’re done. When you study robotics or law or engineering, people can safely guess what your end goal is.

Not me. People hear “English major” and assume all I do is read Oliver Twist and then write a paper about it. Which, honestly, doesn’t feel all that far from the truth some days. And logically, if that’s all I do all day, then the only thing I’m qualified to do after I finish my degree is teach others about books too, right? Hence, 9 times out of 10, the follow up question to the above is, “Are you going to be a teacher?”

Or maybe they’ll give me a bit more credit. Maybe they realize that since I’m studying English, one of the most writing intensive degrees out there, then I’m probably a decent writer. So if being a teacher has been ruled out, then obviously I’m going to work at a publishing company. Or maybe as a proofreader/writer/editor for some other business. 

The fact that I didn’t stop with a BA makes this conversation even more interesting. People have a hard enough time coming up with what an English major can do for a living, let alone what good an English Masters will be. “So you just read and write some more?”

I know I’m being cynical. And honestly, after five years of studying English and hearing this kind of feedback, it’s easy to think that teaching, writing, and editing really are the only viable doors open for me. If I don’t catch myself, I can start believing that the last five years really were impractical.

Hence this post. If you’ll bear with my self-reflections, I want to take a few minutes to let you know why I chose this degree. I want to mention why I think studying English (or any of the humanities for that matter) is, contrary to popular belief, a valuable pursuit. And I want to explain why an English grad student finds writing Bible stories for kids so fascinating. So at the risk of this sounding like the introduction to a three point essay, let’s get started.

1)        Why I Chose English in the First Place
 

I mentioned above that I started university as a History major. It’s always fascinated me how our world has developed over the centuries and how major battles or sociological factors have influenced the course of historical progress. You know, the kind of practical knowledge that gets you so far in the real world. But since most university applications need you to pick a program you want to study even if you don’t know what you want to do with your life yet, I settled on a subject I knew I liked.

English, on the other hand, had always been a mixed bag for me. Some years were great, a highlight being a Grade 12 project where a friend and I made a part narrative, part symbolic PowerPoint telling of Oedipus Rex. But other years, like where I had to put together a poetry journal for the fifth time or read weird novels about an alien race taking over the minds of all the children on Earth, weren’t quite as interesting. (Bonus points if you correctly comment below the title of that novel.)

University English, however, changed everything. Suddenly, I was learning about the greatest works that have been written throughout history from perhaps the greatest professor I’ve ever had. He didn’t just make us read books and ask us how we felt about them; he taught us the history behind the texts, showing us what was going on at the historical moment that led to the writing of any given work. In short, he taught us to see how literature reflected and predicted historical development.

Needless to say, this combined my love of history with my lifelong fascination with fiction and story. I chose to study literature because it helped me trace and understand how society’s current ways of thinking came about. I’ve learned through literature why Western society today values practicality and factuality over knowledge and faith. And I’ve loved every second of it, even if the knowledge I’ve gained from studying English is undervalued in a world so focused on what’s practical.

2)      Why Studying English Isn’t Pointless
 

You may be able to guess where I’m going with this. I definitely think we overemphasize practicality today. As a result, any degree that doesn’t serve an overtly practical function becomes a source of confusion. This is why people jump to the conclusion that all an English major can do is teach, write, or edit. These are the practical and easily identifiable skills of an English degree, and their corresponding professions are jobs where people can easily understand how these skills can be used to benefit society.

Now don’t misunderstand me. I realize that practical degrees and jobs are vitally important. If we didn’t have people studying to become doctors, we’d be in a lot of trouble. Heck, if we didn’t have people training to become mechanics or plumbers or farmers, none of us would have the time to comment on Bobby-Joe’s choice to pursue a degree in the humanities. We’d all be freaking out because we can’t start our cars or stop our exploding toilets or, you know, eat.

But the fact is that we’ve placed so much emphasis on practicality that we’re now undervaluing those degrees that are devoted to training people how to think. This has always been the goal of the humanities. Disciplines like English, History, and Philosophy are all about making connections between abstract ideas and practical life, about seeing how our world has thought and then pushing those ideas further, about how to develop the intellectual life of not just individuals but entire societies. In short, the goal of the humanities is to study culture and improve the mind so as to ultimately make humanity better.  

But this isn’t really what people think of when we talk about the humanities today. Sadly, this branch of learning has been largely diminished to a bunch of insulated disciplines that people assume can’t produce anything other than academics, teachers, or (if all else fails) baristas. (Again, nothing wrong with these professions, but it bothers me that these are typically the only career paths anyone can envision for me). Never mind that the humanities teach you to think, never mind that the humanities train you to make connections between seemingly unrelated ideas, and never mind that the humanities have produced some of the greatest writers and thinkers who have ever lived.

There is value in English, and not just in the practical training of reading, writing, and researching. English majors, like so many others in the humanities, can apply their skills to so many professions. And we have an understanding of people and culture that, I believe, makes us a valuable asset to any profession. Even a programming company needs a person on their team who can write well and write in a way that will make the blurbs on their websites connect with their clients-to-be.

English: where practicality meets thinking. Maybe I should’ve made that the title for this post.

3)      So Why this Bible Story Thing?
 

Now then, let me get off my cultural soap box and explain what any of this has to do with Shed the Sunday School Glasses.

What I’m about to say often feels more like a self-criticism than anything else. I can go on and on about how English is a discipline that improves thinking and yadda yadda yadda, but it’s another thing to explain to people why an English grad student spends his free time writing up versions of Bible stories for kids, let alone that finding a job in this field is my dream. Call it an element of pride that I need to fight against, but my level of study and my vocational desires aren’t normally two things that people connect together.

Yet, there are many times I wonder why this is the case. Sure, my studies in the humanities have taught me how to think, but it’s my studies in English that have taught me so much about story. So much of my time studying English is spent reading stories and dissecting how they do business. And guess which famous theological book has lots of stories in it… THE BIBLE!

Bear with me here. Just before writing this, I was reading through a portion of Jane Eyre and analyzing the way that Charlotte Brontë’s narrative style influences how we perceive the various characters in her book. For those of you who don’t know, Jane Eyre is narrated by the titular character, Jane Eyre herself, and she’s quite opinionated. But what’s fascinating is how Jane’s narratorial judgments of Mr. Rochester and John Rivers in particular condition us to read these latter characters’ words and actions according to her bias. We love or hate them based on Jane’s descriptions of them.

Now you might not find that fascinating, but as an English major, I do. And that’s exactly my point. I don’t just get captivated by the events of a narrative; I’m drawn in by how that story is told. I love trying to decipher characterization and plot twists and narrative pacing in stories of all kinds. It’s gotten to the point where I can’t help but make predictions when I’m watching a TV show or reading a new book, and I consider it a sign of good storytelling when a movie, Netflix series, or novel takes an unexpected but interesting turn.  

But it’s only as I’ve spent time formally writing curriculum for camp (and now writing these blog posts) that I’ve realized how much I enjoy applying what I’ve learned about story to the Bible as well. It’s one thing to be a critic; it’s another to actually apply these narrative techniques to the greatest story ever told!

I’m about to say something that may sound controversial: the Bible isn’t always the most accessible book, especially for kids. Don’t get me wrong, the message of grace and forgiveness is something that can appeal to anyone at any stage in their lives – and frankly put, there are times I think that kids understand matters of faith better than adults. But the fact is that if you just hand a kid a Bible and tell them to read, there’s going to be lots they probably won’t understand. And if they read certain parts of the Bible, they won’t learn an important theological message; they’ll just be scarred. Have you read through 1 and 2 Kings? There’s some brutal stuff in there!

This is why I don’t think my English degrees are wasted on telling Bible stories. The Bible makes it clear that God places a great value on children (check out Mark 9:42 or 10:13-16), so I can’t think of a better way to apply what I’ve learned in studying English than to show how the various stories in the Bible reveal God’s character and teach all of us, kids and adults alike, how to live. And if I can find a job where I can constantly point people to Christ because of my English training, where I can tell stories that highlight the glory, love, and grace of God in a way that’s easy to understand without ever sacrificing truth, then you’re going to be hard pressed to convince me that that’s not a high calling. 

Sure, this may not seem like the most practical or conventional job, but it’s something that I find great joy and passion in. And I honestly believe that, while I didn’t know it for most of my studies, this is what God’s been preparing me for my entire student career.

So that’s what I hope to do with my English degrees. Here’s to the career search ahead!

~Brentagious

Judges 3 - Sinistrality

When I was in Grade 8, I did a project on sinistrality (sin-iss-tral-i-tee). How about that for fancy words you don’t hear every day? Sinistrality means “being left handed,” and I learned some really cool things while working on that project. Like, did you know that only 1 in every 10 people is left handed? That means that if you’re in a class of 30 kids, only 3 of you should be lefties. Don’t believe me? Then check for yourself the next time you’re bored in class how many of your classmates write with their left or right hands.

                                

At my house though, I’m actually the odd one out. I’m right handed, but my parents are both left handed. As a result, I’ve learned to do some things with my left hand – like using a computer mouse – without even meaning to! My parents keep the mouse on the left side of their keyboard, and I just thought everybody did it that way. It was only after I started seeing mice on the right side of the keyboard while at school that I learned to use a mouse with my right hand. Which means that now, I’m ambidextrous with computer mice! (That’s another fancy word that means I can use both hands equally well to do something.)

Actually, it’s because I’m a rightie and my parents are both lefties that I decided to do that project in Grade 8. But it’s also the reason I like today’s story. Well, that and because some of the things that happen in this story are absolutely ridiculous.

So today, we’re going to be talking about how God prepared a guy named Ehud in an unexpected way to do an unexpected job. This job was being a judge. No, not like those people who sit behind a big desk in a courtroom and bang a hammer on the table. Judges back in Bible times were very different.

See, for a really long time in Israel’s history, the Israelites were stuck in what we call the “cycle of disobedience.” God had promised the Israelites that as long as they worshipped Him and obeyed His law, then God would protect the Israelites and they would live happily in their own land. But after a while, the Israelites started to disobey God. They mainly did this by worshipping the false gods of the nations around them made out of wood and stone. Soon after that, the Israelites would start breaking God’s law even more by being mean to each other, stealing from each other, and doing a whole bunch of other terrible things.

Now because the Israelites were disobeying so much, God stopped protecting them, just like He had said He would. And when that happened, one of the nations around Israel would come in and conquer the Israelites. This other nation would turn the Israelites into slaves and make their lives so miserable that they would cry out to God for help.

This is where the judges came in. When the Israelites were truly sorry for disobeying God and begged Him to save them, God would raise up a judge who would rescue the Israelites from their enemies. Sometimes the judges even stuck around to make sure that Israel got back on the right track and started listening to God again. And because the people were worshipping God and following His laws, God would protect Israel! At least, that is until the Israelites started to disobey again…

Side note: Each of us has to deal with our own mini cycle of disobedience too. Even though God has told us how we should live, every single one of us has disobeyed God. And because of that, our lives have been taken over by an enemy power too: sin! But thankfully, when Jesus died on the cross and rose again, He broke this cycle for us. This means that when we call out to God for help, Jesus rescues us from sin’s power! And even more importantly, when we believe in Jesus and ask Him to forgive us for all the times we’ve been bad, there is nothing we can do that will separate us from God’s protection and put us back under sin’s power. The cycle of disobedience, for us at least, can be broken!

Unfortunately for the Israelites, however, Jesus hadn’t come yet during the time of the judges. This means that even when the Israelites said they were sorry and tried to live rightly again, they would fail and get taken over by another nation again. Sometimes Israel would obey God for a long time (like 80 years), while other times they stopped obeying after only a few years. But eventually, the Israelites would start worshipping other gods and disobeying God’s law. And then the cycle would start all over again.

This is exactly what was going on when the Bible introduces us to Ehud. The Israelites had disobeyed, which meant God stopped protecting Israel, which allowed the Moabites to come in and conquer Israel. But now the Israelites were crying out for help, so God chose Ehud to be the judge who would defeat the Moabites!

And let me tell you, the way that God wanted Ehud to get rid of the Moabites is pretty great. See, because the Moabites had conquered the Israelites, the Moabite King – his name was Eglon – demanded that the Israelites give him a bunch of money every year. So God told Ehud to pretend to be one of the messengers who was supposed to drop off some of that money.

But there was one big reason that God chose Ehud to be this messenger, and it has to do with that sinistrality thing that we talked about earlier. Ehud was left handed. Now you might not think that’s a huge advantage. After all, how does writing with your left hand instead of your right help you sneak into a castle? But the fact is that it was Ehud’s left-handedness that let him get into Eglon’s room with a weapon!

I should probably explain. Like I said earlier, most people in the world are right handed, which includes the soldiers of Bible times! And when a right handed soldier wasn’t using his sword, he would keep it in a scabbard (a fancy word for “sword holder”) on the left side of his body. Keeping the sword on the left side made it way easier for a right handed soldier to draw his sword quickly if he needed it!

But Ehud was left handed… This means that he would have kept his sword in a scabbard on the right side of his body. Now again, you might be wondering why that matters…

Well, Ehud couldn’t get into Eglon’s room until he got past some guards, and no guard was going to let a guy with a sword into the king’s room, no matter how much money Ehud was supposed to be bringing. Now Ehud knew that the guards would be expecting a right handed soldier, meaning they would be checking the left side of his body for a sword. But Ehud was left handed!  The guards probably wouldn’t expect a left handed messenger, meaning they probably wouldn’t check the right side of his body for a sword, meaning that Ehud would probably be safe.

Now that’s a lot of probably’s, and I’m sure that Ehud was still super nervous as he walked up to the guards. Ehud knew that if he got caught trying to sneak a sword into Eglon’s room, he could end up in jail or worse! But remember: God knows what He’s doing. God chose Ehud for this job because God had made Ehud left handed! So even though Ehud’s heart was probably pounding the entire time the guards were searching him, God had chosen the perfect person to do His work. There was never any reason to be worried! But even so, I’m sure Ehud was relieved when the guards let him pass without discovering his sword.

As Ehud entered, he told King Eglon that he didn’t just have money to give the king. Ehud also had a message to deliver. This would probably have confused Eglon. What could this mysterious message be? Was it a spy report? Was there a problem with the money delivery? Did Ehud want to recite a poem about Eglon’s greatness?

Whatever the case, Eglon wanted to hear it. And from the look on Ehud’s face, this message seemed extremely important! So Eglon told all the guards to leave. The guards probably looked at each other nervously – leaving the king alone with this stranger didn’t seem like a good idea – but they obeyed their king’s command.

When all the guards had left the room, Ehud took a step closer and said, “I have a message from God for you, King Eglon.” From God, thought Eglon. I don’t believe in that Israelite God! What kind of messenger is this? And Eglon was so angry that he got up from his throne. And, as we all know, standing wasn’t something that King Eglon did very often. I’m sure you can guess why…

No? Oh, sorry, I probably should have mentioned that King Eglon was kind of fat… Well, more than just kind of. Eglon was a REALLY big man. He was so fat that when he stood up, his whole body jiggled a little bit!

“What is the message?” Eglon said, growing angrier and angrier by the second. But before Eglon could say or do anything, Ehud grabbed his sword (with his left hand of course) and plunged it into Eglon’s stomach.

Now this is where this story gets kind of gross. The Bible tells us that Ehud didn’t even pull the

sword back out of Eglon’s stomach again. In fact, because Eglon was so fat, his belly ended up closing overtop of the sword! (Judges 3:22, NIrV). Ugghh!!

And with that, our story wraps up pretty quickly. Ehud left Eglon out on the porch, locked the doors, and then got out of the palace as quick as he could. It took the guards a really long time before they found out what Ehud had done, and by that time, Ehud was well on his way to rounding up the Israelites and getting them ready to fight. And when they did, God gave Israel the strength to beat the Moabites and kick them out of Israel!

But what’s so great about this story is who God chose to be his judge here. Some of you will remember that we talked about Samuel a few weeks ago and how God is willing to use anyone to do His work, no matter how old! But what we learn in the story of Ehud is that God makes each of us special for a specific job God has chosen for us.

God knew exactly the kind of person that He needed to lead the Israelites to freedom. He didn’t need the strongest person or the biggest person. The guards would have probably stopped those kinds of people right away. Instead, God made Ehud left handed – something super uncommon and unexpected – so that Ehud could easily do the job God wanted.

God used the thing that made Ehud different – that made him unique! – to defeat the Moabites. Now you might not be left handed, but there are all kinds of things that make us all unique. And you probably can’t even imagine how God might use those things that are unique about you to do something incredible!

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And speaking of unique people doing incredible things, we’re going to be diving into a three part story starting next week from the book of Ruth. God used the people in these stories to do some amazing things, and I hope you’ll come back next Thursday to hear how it all begins. I know I’ll be there!

~Brentagious

Matthew 18:21-35: Forgive for Always

So picture this: You’re walking through the countryside on a sunny day. You come over a hill and see Jesus sitting on a nice, comfortable rock, teaching His disciples. He’s probably been talking for an hour or so about how they’re supposed to be like sheep and kids and a whole bunch of other things they don’t really understand.

But then Jesus talks to them about forgiveness. And I mean real forgiveness, not that thing where adults make you say “sorry” and you kind of mumble it under your breath because you don’t really mean it. No, real forgiveness is when you are actually sorry for doing something mean to someone, and then that person says that they forgive you - that they aren’t going to hold that mean thing you did against you. 

Forgiveness can be a tough thing to do, though, and forgiving someone doesn’t necessarily mean that you will stop feeling sad or hurt when mean things are done to you. But God still wants us to forgive others, just like He’s willing to forgive all of us for all the bad things we’ve done when we ask.

Anyways, Jesus is just about to move on to a new topic when, all of a sudden, Peter says, “Hold on there, Jesus. I get that forgiveness is important and all, but what happens if someone keeps on being mean to us over and over! How many times am I supposed to forgive that person? Up to 7 times?”

Now Peter probably thought that he was being pretty generous. 7 times! If we listen to what Peter was saying, this would mean that you’re supposed to forgive someone 7 times for bullying you on the playground or taking the toy you wanted to play with or deleting your Minecraft server AGAIN!!!

So imagine the look on Peter’s face when Jesus says back, “I tell you, not 7 times, but 77 times” (Matthew 18:22, NIrV). Peter’s eyes probably widened. His face went white. 77 times? That’s a whole lot of times!

But let’s get one thing clear. This doesn’t mean that Jesus wants you to start making a list of every single time you forgive someone. He doesn’t want you to sit there and say, “That’s it, buddy! You’ve crossed the line! You have now officially done 78 different mean things to me, and the Bible says that I don’t have to forgive you anymore!”

No, Jesus chooses a big number like 77 to explain that we should ALWAYS be willing to forgive others. After all, God is willing to forgive us for every single bad thing we’ve ever done! And I’m sure that we’ve all done way more than 77 bad things in our lives.

So to prove this point, Jesus tells His disciples a parable, one of His famous stories. He tells them about this king – let’s call him Jerome – who has lent a bunch of money to some of his servants. One of these servants – let’s call him Jake – had raked up a pretty big debt over the years. 10 000 bags of gold worth! Now I don’t know about you, but I don’t have any bags of gold lying around my house, let alone the 10 000 that Jake owed! That’s a ton of money!

To make matters worse, every time Jerome would try to get his money back from Jake, Jake always had some excuse for why he couldn’t pay Jerome back right then. “Oh, the price of bread went up, so I used the money to pay for that.” “My donkey broke his leg, so I couldn’t get to the castle.” “My roof started to leak, so can I actually have a little more gold to fix it please?”

This had been going on for months, and eventually King Jerome got tired of waiting. “I’ve given you plenty of time to pay me back,” Jerome said, so he commanded that everything Jake owned be sold and Jake’s family be made into slaves to pay off Jake’s debt!

Jake was terrified. Tears came into his eyes as he thought about his family. Jake fell to his knees and begged, “Please King Jerome, have mercy! I know I don’t deserve it, but give me more time! I’ll pay it all back, I promise!”

Never let it be said that King Jerome was a mean man. He looked at Jake and felt sorry for him. “I’ll do you one better,” Jerome said. “Your debt is forgiven. You don’t owe me anything anymore! Go home to your family.”

Now I can imagine that this made Jake super happy. He probably ran up to the king, gave him a big hug, and thanked him over and over. 10 000 bags of gold was worth so much money that Jake would probably never have been able to pay King Jerome back! But Jerome had decided that he wasn’t going to hold this massive debt against Jake anymore! Instead, Jerome decided to forgive Jake’s debt!

In this first part of the story, then, Jesus is trying to teach that God’s forgiveness is a lot like King Jerome’s. All of the sin – all of the bad things we do in our lives – is like that huge debt of 10 000 gold bags. Our debt of sin is so big that we could never pay it back, no matter how many things we do, meaning we would be separated from God forever! But when we come to God truly sorry and ask Him to forgive us, God always will, no matter how many bad things we do. And that’s great news!

But unfortunately, the story doesn’t end there. It seems that Jake hadn’t really learned his lesson yet. You see, as Jake was leaving the castle – probably laughing and skipping a little bit – he saw another servant – let’s call him Billy – at the gate.

Hey! Jake thought, suddenly forgetting everything King Jerome had just done for him. That leak in my roof still isn’t fixed, and Billy owes me 100 silver coins. That’s more than enough to fix my roof!

So Jake ran up to Billy, and without even giving Billy a chance to say or do anything, Jake grabbed Billy’s shirt and started shaking him! “Pay back what you owe me!” Jake yelled.

“Give me time, please!” Billy cried. “I’ll pay it back, I promise!”

Sound familiar?

But Jake was so angry that he called over some of the castle guards to have Billy thrown into jail. “Keep him there until he pays back every cent he owes me,” Jake grumbled, and then went off to find some new way to pay for his leaky roof.

Now I know what you’re probably thinking… What a jerk! Billy asked Jake for more time to pay back his debt, just like Jake asked King Jerome. And Billy’s debt was so small compared to Jake’s – 100 silver coins vs. 10 000 bags of gold! But unlike Jerome, Jake didn’t show Billy any forgiveness. Which, if you think about it, is kind of weird. Jerome had just forgiven Jake for a huge debt, so you’d think that Jake would be quick to show Billy forgiveness in return!

And yet, that’s exactly why Jesus told this story. It’s not easy to forgive others. We would often rather stay mad at someone for being mean to us, just like Jake stayed mad at Billy instead of forgiving him. But Jesus told this story because He wanted His disciples to realize that forgiveness doesn’t just work one way.

When Jesus died on the cross and came back to life, this made it possible for God to forgive us for everything bad we have ever done or ever could do. And because our debt of sin is so big – like 10 000 bags of gold big – we should be extremely thankful for that forgiveness. But part of that thankfulness means showing the same forgiveness to others. God doesn’t want us to be like Jake and stay mad every time someone is mean to us. Instead, Because God forgives us, He wants us to forgive others too.

And to drive this point home, we see that Jesus’ story doesn’t end well for Jake. See, some of the other servants saw how Jake had treated Billy, and they went straight to King Jerome. And when Jerome heard about what Jake had just done, Jerome became really angry. So angry that he demanded Jake be thrown into prison and punished until he could pay back everything he owed!

Now please understand this. This doesn’t mean that if you don’t forgive someone, then God will stop forgiving you. If you believe in Jesus and have asked God to forgive you, there is no bad thing you can ever do that will take that forgiveness away from you.

But Jesus ends His story this way because He wanted His disciples and us to understand that forgiveness matters to God. Only forgiving sometimes isn’t enough. It doesn’t matter if someone has been really mean to you or only a little mean. It doesn’t matter if someone has been mean 1 time or 1000 times. What matters is that God forgives again and again, so He wants us to forgive that way too.

That’s not easy. People are going to do mean things to you. And, sadly, you’ll find that this doesn’t stop as you get older. But if you ask for God’s help now to forgive others, no matter what they do or how many times they do it, you’ll soon find that you’re willing to forgive way more than 77 times. You’ll be able to forgive for always, just like God. 

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That's it for today. Next week, we're going to be jumping way back in time to talk about one of the Judges. Don't know who those guys are? Well then make sure you come back to find out next Thursday!

~Brentagious