As a boy, ‘going viral’ meant chicken broth, thermometers under the tongue, cold rags, and isolation.  And if things really ‘went viral,’ a trip to Dr. Remy’s office was in order along with the certainty of shot.  Back in the day, no one wanted to go viral.  The phrase ‘going viral’ carried only bad connotations and unpleasant consequences. And even early in my IT career, the digital version of ‘going viral’ meant network outages, security breaches, and hours of tedious data recovery.  But in the age of social media, ‘going viral’ has shed its negative image and is now the goal of influencers, extroverts, and narcissists of all stripes.

What my generation strove to avoid has become the Millennial’s path to monetization, impact and glory.  Going viral means to make a rapid, broad-reaching impact and influence the attitudes and actions of a vast audience.  The site CreatorEssentials defines it this way.

For content to go viral, it means it has achieved widespread popularity very quickly across the internet, particularly on social media platforms.  Viral content typically experiences a rapid and exponential increase in views, shares, and engagement, surpassing ordinary content by a significant margin. This high level of engagement prompts social media algorithms to further promote the content, making it visible to an even broader audience.

In other words, like a real biological virus, viral content makes a big impact by spreading rapidly through replication.  The connectedness of the modern world has made this phenomenon possible. 

But there is something even more ‘viral’ that has been around for ages.  And that is the grace of God, expressed in his covenant love for his people.  Nothing has a greater impact, spreads faster, or replicates more powerfully God’s grace applied to his people.  It produces gracious people with an infectious impact on their spheres of influence.  The gospel is transformative.  It is attractional.  And it goes viral.

The Book of Ruth reveals this vividly.  Throughout this short book several words are repeated over and over.  Like beating drums, we read the words ‘return,’ ‘redeemer’ and ‘kindness.’  The ancient word translated ‘kindness’ is hesed.  A word used throughout the Old Testament for the special love God has for his people.  Covenant love, steadfast love, loving-kindness, grace. 

In the midst of great tragedy and suffering, God exercises remarkable loving-kindness toward his people.   Naomi hears of Yahweh’s grace in the fields of pagan Moab.  So she returns to Israel in her sorrow, grief and bitterness along with her Moabite daughter-in-law, Ruth.  During their return, Ruth expresses her faith in Naomi’s God as her own.  And as God applies his grace to Ruth, it works its way out graciously through her loving-kindness toward Naomi.  Grace that leaves the whole town of Bethlehem ‘buzzing’ as Naomi and Ruth arrive.  Then in the field of godly Boaz, the attention of this grace-filled man is attracted by the God’s grace evident in Ruth and he responds in loving-kindness toward Ruth and his kinswoman, Naomi. 

Upon their return Naomi had declared that God was “heaping up ruin” in her life.  But the rest of the story reveals that he was “heaping up grace” instead.  God’s grace applied begets grace, loving-kindness, expressed in Ruth and then in Boaz and finally in Naomi. That is how God’s covenant love is.  It goes viral.  It impacts.  It replicates.  As the Spirit gives us this grace, we too become grateful and gracious people.  Its impact is irresistible and sweeping.  As Sandra Macracken sings.

Grace upon grace, every sin repaired
Every void restored, you will find Him there
In every turning He will prepare you
With grace upon grace.

Naomi lamented that God returned her to Bethlehem empty yet in the end God’s grace repaired every sin and restored every void.  What about with you?  Are you still empty?  Or have you experienced God’s grace upon grace that repairs every sin and restores every void?  Has God’s grace gone viral in and through your life?

Join us as we examine Ruth 2:1-17 and see how God’s grace unfolds into “grace upon grace” in the lives of those it changes.  We meet on the square in Pottsville, right next to historic Potts’ Inn at 10:30 am for worship.  Get directions here or contact us for more info.  Or join our livestream on YouTube. 

Sweetness, sourness, saltiness, savoriness and bitterness are the five taste sensations that make our culinary world go around.  Each weigh in on our taste buds to make the difference between “mmmmm” and “ughhhh.”  When in balance, there is delight.  But if one is dominant, revulsion.  Too much sweetness is “sickly sweet.”  Too much saltiness, inedible.  Too much sour brings a tingle from head to toe.  While too much bitterness turns the stomach and the soul!

To be sure bitterness can have its benefits.  Bitter foods play an important role in our health.  Often, they support liver function and enhance bile flow which helps detoxify.   Bitter foods also stimulate the production of digestive enzymes and improve nutrient absorption.  And many bitter foods, such as “green leafys” are rich in anti-oxidents and phytochemicals which are anti-inflammatory.    From a culinary perspective, bitter spices balance sweetness and saltiness and can assist in tenderizing meats.

But bitterness in a person is quite another matter.  While a bitter person may be an agent of our sanctification, more often the bitter person only makes life miserable for everyone.  Themselves included.  Like Eeyore, a black rain cloud follows everywhere they go.  Their anger, resentment, and disappointment poison every spring in their life.  They refuse every attempt at consolation or comfort.  They are hardened in discontent.  Everyone is to blame.  Especially God.

The Bible warns us that a “root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled.”  Such bitterness is the enemy of grace.  And we are warned against it by examples from scripture.  Like a grieving Jacob whose “sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted,” Naomi, the mother-in-law of Ruth, returned from Moab to Bethlehem a bitter and hardened woman. 

She had heard in the fields of Moab that the Lord had visited his people and so she set out to return.  As she arrived, Bethlehem was buzzing over her return.  “Is this Naomi?” they cried.  But she snapped, “Do not call me Naomi (pleasant) but Mara (bitter), for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.”  Even Ruth’s moving expression of love and commitment did nothing to sweeten Naomi’s bitterness.   Her life was ruined and it was all God’s fault.

Yet even in the midst of her bitter complaint, her anger, her resentment, God is preparing to be gracious.  Are you bitter?  Are you inconsolable?  Are you resentful toward God for what he has done, allowed, decreed, chosen not to prevent or provide?  Has he disappointed you?  Seemed silent or absent?   Has this made you bitter?  Perhaps in your bitterness, God is preparing to be gracious.  Are you looking?  Are you praying? Expecting?   Don’t let your bitterness distort your view of God or rob you of hope. 

Join us as we examine Ruth 1:19-22 and consider the danger of bitterness on our relationships with others and with God.   We meet on the square in Pottsville, right next to historic Potts’ Inn at 10:30 am for worship.  Get directions here or contact us for more info.  Or join our livestream on YouTube. 

As children we learned about two varieties.  The African Elephant and the Indian (or Asian) Elephant.  African elephants are larger with rounded heads, bigger ears and tusks, while Asian elephants are smaller with distinct head shapes, smaller ears and fewer tusks.  The African Elephant is the largest land animal and can weigh up to 24,000 pounds. 

But we have an expression that mentions another kind of elephant.  One that is indigenous to all cultures.  One that we can’t actually see.  But we know is there.  In the room with us when conversations are tense and crises loom.  We call this species elephantem in conclavi or “the elephant in the room.”  A concern or conflict or crisis so large that we can’t ignore it, hard as we may try.

This elephantine crisis may be financial, relational or behavioral.  We deny its presence, but it feeds on our denial and grows ever bigger.  And the largest variety of species elepahtem in conclavi, is Mortalitas, or mortality.  The Bible calls ‘death’ the last enemy.  And the author of Hebrews notes that Christ has come to “deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.”  Mortality is no doubt the largest elephant in the room.

As a Hospice Chaplain, I am often the least welcome member of my team in the homes of my new patients.  The nurse brings pain relief, the CNA brings personal care, the social worker brings financial and caregiving benefits.  But what does the chaplain bring?  Guilt? Mortality?  Judgement?  At least that is what people think.  The chaplain’s goal, however, is to make the elephant in the room visible and advance the gospel.

We are all afraid of dying for one reason or another.  Either we are afraid of what is beyond death.  Or maybe afraid of what our death means for our family. Or afraid of the actual experience of dying.  Our looming mortality ultimately brings us to a crossroads.  Where are we headed?  And what road will take us there?  This week I asked a new patient, “what are you most concerned about today?”  He courageously answered, “I am worried about my soul.”  Oh, that we would all be so concerned!

Crises in our lives bring us to crossroads.  And in those moments navigating our way is important.  But no crossroad is more important than the one that offers the choice between life and death, heaven and hell, the love of Christ or love of self.  Naomi, Ruth and Orpah stood at this crossroads, though they did not perhaps grasp its gravity.

[Naomi had] heard in the fields of Moab that the Lord had visited his people and given them food. So she set out from the place where she was with her two daughters-in-law, and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah.  Ruth 1:6-7

God’s blessing had returned to his people.  After famine, sorrow and death, it was time for Naomi to go home.  But what would that mean for Ruth and Orpah?  At a crossroad on the way to Bethlehem, Naomi urges them to return to “their people and their gods.”  The implications of this decision were much more than food, security, acceptance and marriage. 

Orpah choses the road back to Moab and Chemosh but Ruth takes the road less travelled.  And here we see the grace of God unfold in the life of Ruth as she accepts as her own, the God of Abraham, Issac, Jacob and Naomi.  In her confession of faith, Ruth gives a timeless testimony of her faith and commitment to follow not just Naomi, but Christ.

Join us as we examine Ruth 1:6-18 and consider what it means to follow Christ and take the road less traveled. We meet on the square in Pottsville, right next to historic Potts’ Inn at 10:30 am for worship.  Get directions here or contact us for more info.  Or join our livestream on YouTube.