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God Fills In The Blanks

6/24/2018

This week in our message series on female heroes of the Bible, we are introduced to the touching story of Ruth and Naomi. Naomi had lost everything. Several hundred years after the Hebrew people had entered the Promised Land, a famine struck the area. Naomi and her husband had been forced to emigrate as refugees from Bethlehem to the high plains of Moab in what is now modern-day Jordan.

Going from bad to worse, her husband died after arriving there, leaving her a widow in a strange land. Fortunately, her two grown sons cared for her, but they also soon died, stripping her even of the promise of grandchildren. It was as if God had cursed her. “My lot” is “bitter,” she cried out. “I went away with an abundance, but the Lord has brought me back destitute” (Ruth 1:13, 21-22).

Despite the many voids in Naomi’s life, God filled in the blanks. First, he gave her Ruth to accompany her. Naomi faced the difficult choice of remaining in a strange land or making the arduous, ten-day trek back to Bethlehem. It would be a dangerous journey that few women would dare to take without a man. The mountainous terrain was treacherous. There was the very real possibility of bandits lying in wait along the way. And then there was the matter of crossing the Jordan River, which would be raging and overflowing its banks at that time of year.

Though Naomi had tried to convince both her foreign daughters-in-law to remain in their own land and remarry, Ruth would not be dissuaded. “Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay,” she insisted (Ruth 1:16).

Indeed, Ruth remained her constant companion along the way and supported Naomi by scrounging for food after they returned to Bethlehem. Since it was the harvest, there was no time or manpower to plant and reap their own crops. The best they could do was join the ranks of the poor permitted by the Law of Moses to follow behind the harvesters and pick up what was left behind (Leviticus 19:9; 23:22; Deuteronomy 24:19-22).

God also soon gave Naomi a grandchild, who became the grandfather of King David. As Naomi took the child into her arms, the townswomen cried out, “Blessed is the Lord, who has not failed to provide you today with an heir! May he become famous in Israel! He will be your comfort and the support of your old age, for his mother is the daughter-in-law who loves you” (Ruth 4:14-15).

When all seems lost, believe that the Lord will fill in the blanks. Mourning, grief, and pain can devastate us. But we need not live like shells of our former existence. Though we may not be able to glimpse what the future holds, we can believe that God will restore us to wholeness and new life, if we allow it.

--Father Roger Gustafson, Pastor

A Hero Lives By A Moral Code

6/17/2018

At the head of a long line of celebrity judges dispensing mock justice on daytime television stands an equally popular and historic female magistrate whose wisdom and valor saved the ancient people of Israel.

The walls of Jericho had fallen two hundred years earlier in a spectacular victory for the Hebrews. After forty years of wandering in the desert following their release from slavery in Egypt, the Israelites led by Joshua had conquered the unconquerable city. Like a buzzsaw, they quickly mowed down most of the remaining native settlements in the land of Canaan.

But somehow the indigenous peoples of that region survived and grew powerful again. They soon infected the Israelites with their wicked and idolatrous practices, and the results were disastrous. The tribes of Israel were scattered in the hill country of Canaan and divided into separate enclaves. Worse yet, they had fallen into apostasy. From this impious mess, God raised up an unusual heroine to rescue his people.

From the time of Joshua’s death to the reign of Saul, Israel’s first king, the tribes were led by a series of twelve charismatic individuals called “judges.” They did not rule in tight succession but were raised up by God when things got really bad. A woman named Deborah was the fourth and only female judge of this era.

These judges were military deliverers who saved the nation from foreign powers, in order to stop the people from imitating their idolatry. Indeed, Deborah is best known for obeying God’s command to liberate the Israelites from a coalition of Canaanite rulers who had been oppressing them for twenty years.

In addition to leading military conquests, however, judges also settled difficult legal issues when disputes arose among the people of Israel. Rather than hearing cases from an elevated mahogany dais, Deborah held court under a palm tree. Located several miles northwest of Jericho, the site came to be known as the “Palm of Deborah.” Towering up to sixty-five feet in height, the majestic date palm was native to the region. In fact, the Promised Land was called the land of “milk and honey,” in part because of the sweetness of the date syrup produced by these trees.

But the palm tree also was a symbol of peace and justice. Deborah led her people in a quest for justice by sitting under a palm tree because, unlike the unbridled savagery of the locals, God expected his chosen people to act with justice. His law was a moral code that demanded generosity to the alien, partiality to the poor, and fairness to everyone. His were to be an ethical people, who would “learn to do good” and “seek justice.” (Isaiah 1:17).

Deborah was a heroine for God because she lived and administered justice by a divine moral code. By whose standard are you living?

--Father Roger Gustafson, Pastor

A Hero Is Quick To Believe

6/10/2018

On the first Sunday of our message series, Wonder Women: Female Heroes of the Bible, we heard how the Old Testament matriarch, Rebekah, remained faithful to God’s plan. Last week, we explored the heroism of four women that lived hundreds of years later when the Hebrew people were enslaved in Egypt. This week, we learn about a woman of ill repute but great faith.[1]

There’s no sugarcoating it. Rahab was a prostitute, a working girl, a lady of the night. But she also was sharp-witted, clueful, and quick to believe. Despite her chosen profession, she is a biblical celebrity, appearing not only in the Book of Joshua as a heroine of the Israelite people, but also in the genealogy of Jesus and two books of the New Testament, which praise her faith.

At great risk to herself, Rahab harbored two Hebrew spies sent by Joshua, the commander of the Israelite people, to scout out the land that had been promised to them by God. In exchange for her life and the lives of her family members once Jericho was invaded, Rahab provided the cover needed to protect these foreign infiltrators sent on a mission for God.

Rahab was a Canaanite, a feared people in that region. To call them “barbaric is to describe the North Pole as nippy.” Indeed, the people of Jericho “had no regard for human life or any respect for God” (Max Lucado, Ten Women of the Bible, Thomas Nelson, 2016, 33). Yet, despite their brutal reputation, the citizens of Jericho trembled in affright, having seen the flickering lights of the multitude of Hebrew soldiers camped for three nights on Jordan’s eastern banks. The city was abuzz with fear and dread. To put it mildly, they were “freaking out” and “popping Xanax like Tic Tacs” (Lucado 36).

The natural reaction would have been to stick with the crowd and blend in with the rest. In the face of impending danger, Rahab could have huddled with her own people, hunkered down within the safety of the enormously thick and hitherto impenetrable walls of Jericho, the oldest city in the world. After all, it had always worked before.

But Rahab somehow knew that this time would be different. Like the other residents, she had heard “how the Lord dried up the waters of the Red Sea” and won victory for the Israelites against their enemies. Unlike the others, however, Rahab was quick to believe that the God of the Hebrew people was, in fact, the one “God in heaven above and on earth below” (Joshua 2:10-11).

Indeed, a hero for God is quick to believe. In what part of your life can you follow Rahab’s nimble and lithesome faith and be a little more ready to believe in God’s awesome power?

--Father Roger Gustafson, Pastor

[1] For the complete story, listen to our weekend message above.

Hebrew & Egyptian Wonder Women

6/3/2018

On the first Sunday of our “Vacation Bible School,” we heard how Rebekah was faithful to the plan of God. This week, we explore the heroism of four women that lived hundreds of years later when the Hebrew people were enslaved in Egypt.[1]

Shiprah and Puah were two Hebrew midwives ordered by the Pharaoh to kill all baby boys being delivered by Hebrew women (Exodus 2:15). But they feared God more than Pharaoh and refused to carry out his immoral command. When questioned for not following orders, they made the excuse that the Hebrew women were strong and gave birth before the midwife arrived. Because of their fear of God, the Lord blessed them and built up families for them (Exodus 2:20).

Jochebed loved her children and would do anything for them. When Pharaoh ordered the killing of all male Hebrew babies, she wanted to protect her child and hid him. After three months, she put him in a basket among the reeds of the riverbank. Although obviously painful to be separated from her child, Jochebed acted heroically by trusting in God’s faithfulness and parting from her son for his own safety.

It was the Pharaoh’s own daughter, Bithiah, who discovered the basket, opened it, and saw the baby. Moved with pity, she defied her father’s orders and decided to care for the child, even though she knew it was a Hebrew boy. The boy’s sister, Miriam, saw Bithiah picking him up and offered a Hebrew woman to nurse the child. Bithiah agreed and Miriam brought his own mother to nurse him. Jochebed’s trust in God to preserve the life of her son was rewarded when she received him back in her arms. Bithiah also acted courageously and became an instrument in God’s plan that the child named Moses, which means “I drew him out of the water,” one day would liberate his own people from slavery.

We have a tendency to put our own safety and comfort first, even though it often is contrary to God’s plan. Some couples perhaps too easily resort to divorce rather than exert every effort to heal the relationship. A pregnant woman may decide to abort an unwanted child, seeing it as a burden rather than a blessing. An elderly person or terminally ill patient may be unduly influenced to commit suicide. We also may take life in other ways through gossip or hatred of certain types of people. Do we have the virtue to fear God and the courage to fulfill God’s will, even though it may cause hardship or ridicule from others?

These four women of the Bible were heroes because of their bravery and appreciation for life. Knowing that God is faithful, they remained faithful to him. Dare to be a hero in God’s eyes by protecting all life and witness how he will be faithful in your life.

--Father Pete Tieng, Parochial Vicar

[1] For the complete story, listen to our weekend message above.

Pastor's Blog

God Fills In The Blanks

A Hero Lives By A Moral Code

A Hero Is Quick To Believe

Hebrew & Egyptian Wonder Women

Father Roger Gustafson

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St. Brendan Catholic Church - San Francisco, CA

Pastor's Blog

God Fills In The Blanks

A Hero Lives By A Moral Code

A Hero Is Quick To Believe

Hebrew & Egyptian Wonder Women

Father Roger Gustafson

Archives

Categories