Anybody ever feel like you're running on empty? Isn't there a song like that?
Years ago we were traveling from Pennsylvania to San Diego for seminary internship. We were driving through Wyoming--out in the middle of nowhere. And we saw a sign--"last gas for 1000 miles". Well maybe it was only a hundred miles. But the gas there was expensive and besides where we came from there was a gas station every mile just about. So I kept driving and driving and driving. And as the gas gauge went lower and lower I looked in the rear view mirror at our one year old son in the back and I think "what have I done?!"
Thankfully we made it to the next station, but as we pulled in we were truly running on empty.
We all experience running on empty. Stretched to the limit. Trying to do too much with too little--too little time, money, energy, help. Just hoping you can hold out until the next filling station. Not even sure what you really need to be filled with.
This time of year we experience running on empty. Too many things to bake and buy and wrap. Too many places to be and people to see. And the tank is empty. It's been emptied by the death of someone dear to you. Emptied by the stress of work or lack of work. Emptied by health that leaves you weak and frustrated. Emptied by personal conflict.
The first person on our Jesse Tree today knew about emptiness. Ruth had just lost her husband. She had no children. Her mother-in-law Naomi was even emptier. Her husband and both her sons had died and she was living in a foreign land. Naomi had moved to Moab in the first place because there was famine in Israel and they could find food in Moab. But after losing her husband and sons she heard that things were better in Israel and she decided that she would go home where she had relatives who might be able to help her. So Naomi prepares to say good-bye to her daughters-in-law, Orpah and Ruth
Ruth 1:6-9
When Naomi heard in Moab that the Lord had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them, Naomi and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there. With her two daughters-in-law she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah. Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back, each of you, to your mother’s home. May the Lord show kindness to you, as you have shown to your dead and to me. May the Lord grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband.” Then she kissed them and they wept aloud.
Now we can't be sure what Naomi's motives were, but she seems concerned that Ruth and Orpah stay in their homeland where they had family and where their prospects for remarriage would be greatest. And that was probably a part of what she was feeling. But later in the chapter she reveals more of her feelings.
When they get back to Israel, Naomi says to her neighbors who come to welcome her back,
“Don’t call me Naomi,” she told them. “Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. (Ruth 1:20-21)
Naomi was running on empty. And when we or anybody feel empty, one reaction is to put up walls. Just withdraw and wallow in your sadness or try to fill yourself with stuff that will never satisfy.
Orpah takes Naomi's suggestion and returns to her hometown. But Ruth replies with one of the moving passages of the Bible.
Ruth 1:16-17
Ruth said “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.”
Ruth has reason to feel empty. She has lost her husband just like Naomi. She has no children. But she reacts differently than Naomi. Staying with Naomi is filled with meaning for Ruth. On the other hand, remember Naomi's statement to her neighbors? "I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty." I wonder how Ruth must have felt about that statement. There she stands right next to Naomi, having left her home, her relatives and friends, her culture and religion and having pledged to stay with Naomi forever. And Naomi says the Lord has sent her back empty? Oh really????? God has provided Naomi with a loyal, faithful, loving companion in Ruth and she says he hasn't provided?
Do we ever do that? Sure we experience all the grief and stress and health issues and conflict that can make us feel empty. But are we really empty? No! We are never truly empty because while some parts of life may be lacking, the Lord is always filling us in other ways and working to fill our other needs in the future.
What was the difference between Naomi and Ruth? Naomi experienced great loss and felt empty. But she wasn't open to the new ways the Lord would fill her needs. She had a very narrow view of what she needed. And so Naomi felt bitterness even with Ruth by her side. Even then, the Lord still filled Naomi's life when Ruth and Boaz had a son and Naomi cared for him.
Ruth experienced great loss just like Naomi but she was willing to put her needs aside and care for Naomi. And her life was filled. And most importantly, Ruth said to Naomi, "your God will be my God". Ruth's openness to God led to her marriage with Boaz, then the birth of Obed who was the father of Jesse--who was the father of King David--who was the ancestor of Jesus the savior of the world, the shoot from the stump of Jesse.
Because of her willingness to make herself secondary, because of her loyalty to Naomi, and because of her openness to God, Ruth went from running on empty to life at its fullest.
Our final person on the Jesse Tree is Mary the mother of Jesus. But instead of me trying to share her story, let's hear from Mary in person.
Mary, the Mother of Jesus----A One-Woman Drama
by Kathryn Marie Melheim
Strange, isn’t it, how God passed by all the wealthy families of the Holy Land, and chose me, a simple peasant girl from the little village of Nazareth, to be the mother of the Savior?
My name is Mary. Let me tell you my story.
Nazareth is a pretty little town in the hills of Galilee, north of Jerusalem. I often used to climb the hills above Nazareth and sit and enjoy the view of so many historic places on every side. And all around me, lovely green fields surrounded our little village like a carpet. I could see snow-capped Mt. Hermon, the highest point in Israel. (It’s the only place in Israel with snow skiing, you know.)
I could see Mt. Carmel where Elijah held his contest with the 400 prophets of the false god Baal. There, below I could see the ancient plains of Esdraelon where battles from the days of Nebuchadnezzar up to Napoleon have been fought. That was my home.
In the days when I was a child, marriages were arranged by parents – and this was often done when children were still very young. And so it was for me, a child. I was promised in marriage to an older man named Joseph. He was a well-respected carpenter from a very good family – a distant relative of King David. After I was betrothed, he had to wait for me to grow up so we could be married.
As a child I often day-dreamed about my wedding. Mother and I made many plans. Then, when I became a teenager, before Joseph and I wed, something very strange happened to me. But before I tell you about that, I think I better explain what happened to my cousin Elizabeth.
Elizabeth was much older than I, and she had been married a very long time but she had no children. We used to call women like that barren. Not a very nice thing to say about a perfectly good woman in all other respects! Some people thought a woman who couldn’t have children was cursed by God! Not a very nice thing to think, either!
One day Elizabeth sent me some pretty exciting news. She said an angel had appeared to her and to Zechariah, her husband. The angel said his name was Gabriel, and he told them they would soon have a son! This was, as far as everybody saw it, a miracle! No one believed her about the angel until it became apparent that she was pregnant. Then, the miracle of the angel seemed small compared to the miracle of her pregnancy. She was too old!
Why am I telling you this? Because about three months before Elizabeth had her baby, the very same angel appeared to me! Talk about frightening!
It happened like this: I was sitting at the spinning wheel one day, and I guess I might have been day-dreaming, when suddenly Gabriel appeared with a message from God to me! The angel said: “Congratulations, favored lady! The Lord is with you. The Holy Spirit shall come upon you and the power of the Most High will over-shadow you. A child shall be born to you, and He will be called the Holy Son of God.”
What a message! I was the chosen one! Me! Jewish girls had been waiting and wondering for centuries about who God would choose to fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah: “A virgin shall conceive and bear a son – and shall call his name Immanuel – God with us.”
I was dismayed and confused and frightened and thrilled all at the same time. When the reality of the message dawned on me, I became filled with joy and said, “Behold, I am a servant of the Lord. I am willing to do God’s will.”
After the angel left, I just had to talk to someone. But who? No one would believe me. You see, Joseph and I had never had marital relations. I had never been with any man. Who would I talk to? There was only one person. Cousin Elizabeth! She would understand. She could advise me what to do about all this – especially what to tell Joseph. So, I hurried to Elizabeth’s village and poured out my heart. The moment I greeted her, Elizabeth’s baby was jumped in her womb. It was almost as if her son was waiting for news of my son. I know it sounds impossible, but it’s true. I stayed with her for almost three months and Elizabeth’s son was born right after I left to go home. He became John the Baptist, the one who would prepare the way for my son, Jesus.
Yes, those weeks following the angel’s visit were difficult. What about Joseph? Dear, kind Joseph. How would he believe the miracle I was to tell him? What if he refused to marry me? Cancelled the engagement? What would people say? I could only cling to the promise of God revealed by the angel. I had nothing but God’s word to hang on to. The angel said I had been chosen by God as the mother of the Savior. That would have to be enough.
When I told Joseph, he was perplexed, to say the least! At first he was angry. Then he was sad. I left in tears. Of course he wouldn’t believe me. He thought I had been with another man. That was the only logical explanation. I was a liar and a cheat. But just when I thought all was lost, God sent an angel to Joseph, too, to remove his doubts and fears. He came to me in tears and held me. “I don’t have any idea what this is all about, but I believe you and I trust you. We will make the best of this. If it is God’s will, all will be well. We must listen to God.” I knew from that moment on that this was the man for me! I was truly blessed with a Godly gift in this carpenter.
At last all things ready for the birth of His Son. It was almost as if God had set this up from the beginning of time. I didn’t understand it, but I know now “with God, nothing is impossible.”
Joseph married me, and became the protector and legal guardian of my baby – so even the part of the prophecy which predicted the Savior would be born into the family of David was fulfilled.
I know some people today are troubled by what is called the “Virgin Birth” of Christ. I don’t know why they try to limit the power of God. Think of it this way: like a picture.
The miracle of the Virgin Birth is the frame of the picture. It isn’t the most important part of the picture, but it is the setting that holds the picture together. The picture is not me, Mary, although people throughout the ages have almost worshipped me. They, of course, are missing the point. What you must see is your Lord, Jesus Christ. His birth. His life. His death. His resurrection. His ascension and coming again. It is that picture, itself, that really counts. I’m part of the framing of the picture. And without the Virgin Birth, the picture falls apart.
Back to the story: Several months after our marriage, news came from the Roman conquerors that all people were required to report to their ancestral homes to register for tax purposes. Oh yes, we had taxes way back then, too. This taxing plan would be especially taxing for me, because I was due to deliver our baby any day. Since Joseph was from the line of David, we had to report to David’s town, Bethlehem, to be enrolled. I didn’t understand all this completely until after Jesus was born, but this taxing was also in God’s plan. The prophet Micah foretold that the Savior would be born in Bethlehem.
So it was that we set off for Bethlehem, nine months pregnant and 90 miles up hill and down. It’s a good thing I was young, wasn’t it? Before we left I baked some bread and packed it with some dried meat and cheese. Remember, there were no McDonalds along the road in those days. I also filled several goat skins with water, and even tied up some small bundles of baby things, just in case! Joseph closed up the carpenter shop and saddled his patient old donkey. He laid goat hair blankets on the poor beast’s back and we were off. Believe me, riding a donkey all day and camping out at night when your baby is due is not much fun!
Each morning Joseph would help me onto the donkey. It was a comic sight! He always walked along beside to make sure of my safety. I have to admit I may not have been the most pleasant conversationalist on that trip. We took the route along the Jordan Valley to Jericho, and then over to Bethlehem. This was warmer than going along the seacoast, Joseph said.
You have often heard the wonderful story of Jesus’ birth as told by Dr. Luke.
(Luke 2:1-15 may be read at this time by another voice, or by the whole audience together.)
The angels, the shepherds, the star, and all – it’s so far beyond understanding! Imagine! I was given the honor of bearing God’s Son, the Savior of the world!
Maybe that’s your job, too. Whether an angel ever speaks to you or not, I’m speaking to you. And listen closely:
May the child of Bethlehem be born in you today. And then, may you bear him to the world.
Be a bearer of God. I was. And my life has never been the same.
Amen.
Ruth and Mary's situations were different in some ways. Ruth's life went through an empty time when her husband died and she was left childless. But then Ruth's life was filled to overflowing through her devotion to Naomi which led to her marriage to Boaz---And Ruth's openness to God led to her being the great-grandmother of King David and ancestor of Jesus.
Mary's life on the other hand was filled with expectation of her marriage to Joseph, being wife of a respected carpenter, and mother in the small town of Nazareth. The key for Mary was her openness to her already full life being filled in a new way she never expected as she became the mother of Jesus--the bearer of God.
Whatever your situation, emptiness or fullness, the Lord is coming. Emmanuel means "God is with us". Christ is coming to be with you to lead you from emptiness to the fullness of his love----or to lead you from an already full life to new experiences of his grace and presence.
In either case--
Because the Lord is with us, we are never running on empty!
Amen.
