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. 

Chuck Pugh was a masterful negotiator.  He was neither articulate nor prescient.  He was no maven of technology, but he wielded the one tool in his negotiation toolbox with devastating effect.   Chuck knew the power of silence.   He understood that prolonged silence would awaken profound uncertainty in the minds of vendors regarding their proposals.   We witnessed this time and time again. 

Vendors would make their pitch to our team – hardware, software, development environments, networking gear.   As engineers we would sit like a silent chorus in a Greek tragedy as Chuck worked his magic.   They offered and Chuck would sit, stare, and create a looming silence.   He never spoke first.  Like men on the anxious bench, the vendors would offer up concession after concession.  All born out of the insecurity his silence conceived.

Salesmen are afraid of silence.  It is the one objection they are not trained to overcome.  But then most of us are afraid of silence.  It unsettles us.  It makes us insecure, uncertain, afraid.   Nothing heightens tension and drama like silence.   We declare, speak, express and the void says nothing back.   Nothing is more invalidating than silence.   We think more silence is to be desired.  And then we spend the day alone.  

But no silence is more unsettling than the silence of God.   One of the most comforting truths of Scripture is that God is a not silent.  He is a God who reveals Himself, who is knowable, who is known.   One of the great fears of paganism is uncertainty about who a god is, how he feels about humans, and what he requires.   But the God of scripture is not like the false gods of the nations.  He is the God who is not silent.   He reveals himself in his works and his word.  Yet sometimes He seems silent.  The words of Psalm 22 reflected this feeling.

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
    Why are you so far from saving me,
    so far from my cries of anguish?
My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
    by night, but I find no rest. -Psalm 22:1-2

Even the Lord Jesus, in his human nature felt the weight of these words as he bore the wrath and curse of God for our sin.   Has God every appeared silent in your life?  Have you ever felt he was far from saving you?  So far from your cries of anguish?   Like one who will not answer your cries, day and night?   How does this square with Scripture’s promises that he will never leave us or forsake us, that he is always at work, his ear attentive to the cry of his children?

Scripture invites us into the lives of many to whom God seemed silent.  Into the grief of Mary and Martha at the graveside of Lazarus and into the deep bereavement of Naomi and Ruth. God seemed silent.  Their adversity was bitter.  And with every new day, God’s mercy and deliverance seemed withheld.  Is God silent?  Is he far from saving?  Is he unconcerned?   Is he not all that we believed him to be?   What are we to think when God seems silent?

Ruth lived in the dark days of the Judges.  Times when God’s people were beset by “violent invasions, apostate religion, unchecked lawlessness, and tribal civil war.” Times characterized by frightful social and religions chaos.  The Book of the Judges begins with the sad statement that “there arose another generation after [Joshua] who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel.” (Judges 2:10)  And ends with the indictment that “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” (Judges 21:25) 

God’s people had forgotten their God.  God’s promises to settle them into a land of plenty seemed empty and broken as famine gripped even Bethlehem, “the house of bread.”  Elimelech and Naomi move their little family into the hated land of Moab.  But things go only from bad to worse.  Where was God?  Why was he so far from saving?  Why was he so silent?

Why does God allow times of adversity and suffering in the lives of his people?  We all ask this and many experience this personally.   Join us as we examine Ruth 1:1-5 and wrestle with the question of why God sometimes appears silent and how we should respond. 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. 

Providence means different things to different people. To some it is a sanctified word for luck.  For others it is fate. For Christians, providence is “God’s most holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing all His creatures, and all their actions.” But can we trust it?  Is it gracious? What does it mean for our prayer, relationships, finances, and vocation?  Join us as our guest, Rev. Bill Holiman, leads us through Ruth 1:1-18 to consider “Faith in God’s Providence.”