The Women of the Neighborhood

As we continue our Eastertide sermon series “We’re Always in This Together” we turn this week to the Book of Ruth, chapter 4, verses 13-17. Building on the first sermon’s teaching about our need to acknowledge the ways we can be separated from each other’s well being, and the second sermon’s linking of “holiness” with hospitality and kindness, we now learn how the seeds of kindness sown in one time can bear good fruits for generations.

I would suggest (especially as some have more time on their hands right now) reading the whole Book of Ruth. It is an inspiring story, and not long.

Be sure to take time to find out the backgrounds of Naomi and Ruth, and about Boaz, in order to understand how this story aligns with the teaching in Leviticus 19:9 about hospitality to the foreign born and the poor.

What experience have you had working with immigrants or foreigners who visit the US?

What were some of the challenges? What were some of the joys?

How might your acts of hospitality to immigrants or foreigners sow seeds for future generations? How might they spread the Gospel?